Lyric Poem · Death & Loss
An Epitaph Upon a Child
Virgins promised when I died,
That they would each primrose-tide
Duly, morn and evening, come,
And with flowers dress my tomb.
— Having promised, pay your debts
Maids, and here strew violets.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“An Epitaph Upon a Child” by Robert Herrick — quilloak.com/poems/an-epitaph-upon-a-child
Quick facts
- Poem
- An Epitaph Upon a Child
- Poet
- Robert Herrick
- Length
- 6 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Death & Loss, Nature, Childhood, Short
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
- 6 lines · one 6-line stanza
- Line length
- Mostly 7-syllable lines.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Robert Herrick1591–1674
- Source record
- PoetryDBAn Epitaph Upon a Child 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 41634bd8c1c29b26…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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