I my desires screw from thee, and direct
Them and my thoughts to that sublime respect
And conscience unto priesthood.
But he adds:—
When my diviner muse
Shall want a handmaid as she oft will use,
Be ready then for me to wait upon her,
Though as a servant, yet a maid of honour.
I do not of course suggest that all this is to be taken quite literally, or that we are to affirm positively that all Herrick’s best lyrics date from an earlier period; but that it is generally true I see no reason to doubt, more especially as in the many hundred lyrics which
Sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds and flowers,