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Lyric Poem · Love

A Dialogue Betwixt Himself and Mistress Elizawheeler, Under the Name of Amarillis

by Robert Herrick

My dearest Love, since thou wilt go,

And leave me here behind thee;

For love or pity, let me know

The place where I may find thee.

AMARIL. In country meadows, pearl'd with dew,

And set about with lilies;

There, filling maunds with cowslips, you

May find your Amarillis.

HER. What have the meads to do with thee,

Or with thy youthful hours?

Live thou at court, where thou mayst be

The queen of men, not flowers.

Let country wenches make 'em fine

With posies, since 'tis fitter

For thee with richest gems to shine,

And like the stars to glitter.

AMARIL. You set too-high a rate upon

A shepherdess so homely.

HER. Believe it, dearest, there's not one

I' th' court that's half so comely.

I prithee stay. AMARIL. I must away;

Let's kiss first, then we'll sever;

AMBO And though we bid adieu to day,

We shall not part for ever.

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Quick facts

Poem
A Dialogue Betwixt Himself and Mistress Elizawheeler, Under the Name of Amarillis
Poet
Robert Herrick
Length
24 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Love, Nature

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
24 lines · 6 quatrains

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Text, source & rights

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Author record
Robert Herrick1591–1674
Source record
PoetryDBA Dialogue Betwixt Himself and Mistress Elizawheeler, Under the Name of Amarillis by robert-herrick, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 6247647263a15a7b
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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