Lyric Poem · Love
How Springs Came First
These springs were maidens once that loved,
But lost to that they most approved:
My story tells, by Love they were
Turn'd to these springs which we see here:
The pretty whimpering that they make,
When of the banks their leave they take,
Tells ye but this, they are the same,
In nothing changed but in their name.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“How Springs Came First” by Robert Herrick — quilloak.com/poems/how-springs-came-first
Quick facts
- Poem
- How Springs Came First
- Poet
- Robert Herrick
- Length
- 8 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Love, 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
- 8 lines · one 8-line stanza
- Line length
- Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
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
- PoetryDBHow Springs Came First 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 69772592d4ffd055…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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