Poetry & Meaning
Selected Teasing Poems
Love PoemsSong to Celia
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope that there
It could not withered be;
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself but thee.
Overview Short Summary
The speaker says Celia’s eyes can replace wine and that a kiss left in a cup would be enough to satisfy him.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Eye contact, kissing, fragrance, thirst, admiration, and elegant flirtation.
Playful Reading Why It Feels Teasing
The speaker turns ordinary drinking into a private romantic game. The request is indirect, polished, and full of playful suggestion.
Interpretation Symbols and Their Meaning
The cup represents shared intimacy, while the returning rose wreath suggests that Celia’s breath can make beauty feel alive.
Delight in Disorder
A sweet disorder in the dresse
Kindles in cloathes a wantonnesse:
A Lawne about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction:
An erring Lace, which here and there
Enthralls the Crimson Stomacher:
A Cuffe neglectfull, and thereby
Ribbands to flow confusedly:
A winning wave (deserving Note)
In the tempestuous petticote:
A careless shooe-string, in whose tye
I see a wilde civility:
Doe more bewitch me, then when Art
Is too precise in every part.
Overview Short Summary
The speaker finds loose ribbons, a careless shoelace, and slightly disordered clothing more attractive than perfect arrangement.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Natural beauty, clothing, imperfection, movement, attraction, and spontaneity.
Playful Reading Why It Feels Teasing
The poem notices tiny details that the beloved may not realize are being watched. Its playful attention makes imperfection part of the flirtation.
Critical Reading AP Lit-Style Central Argument
Herrick suggests that attraction becomes more convincing when beauty appears effortless. Too much control removes the lively surprise that desire responds to.
Go, Lovely Rose!
Go, lovely rose!
Tell her that wastes her time and me
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
Tell her that’s young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts, where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.
Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired;
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.
Then die! that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!
Overview Short Summary
A rose is sent to a shy beloved with a message: beauty should not remain hidden, and admiration should not always be avoided.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Beauty, shyness, praise, time, desire, and invitation.
Playful Reading Why It Feels Teasing
Instead of speaking directly, the admirer sends a flower to do the flirting. That small act gives the poem a charming, teasing distance.
For Her Best Reader Use
This fits teasing poems for her when the message is admiring and persuasive without becoming overly serious.
To Anthea Who May Command Him Anything
Bid me to live, and I will live
Thy protestant to be;
Or bid me love, and I will give
A loving heart to thee.
A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
A heart as sound and free,
As in the whole world thou canst find,
That heart I’ll give to thee.
Bid that heart stay, and it will stay,
To honour thy decree;
Or bid it languish quite away,
And ‘t shall do so for thee.
Bid me to weep, and I will weep,
While I have eyes to see;
And having none, yet I will keep
A heart to weep for thee.
Bid me despair, and I’ll despair,
Under that cypress-tree;
Or bid me die, and I will dare
E’en Death, to die for thee.
Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
The very eyes of me;
And hast command of every part,
To live and die for thee.
Overview Short Summary
The speaker tells Anthea that she can command his love, tears, hope, despair, life, and even death.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Devotion, playful surrender, loyalty, emotional power, and romantic exaggeration.
Playful Reading Why It Feels Teasing
The speaker gives Anthea complete control in language so extravagant that it feels like a dramatic lovers’ game.
For Couples Best Reader Use
It works as a playful love poem for a wife, girlfriend, or long-term partner who enjoys old-fashioned romantic exaggeration.
The Clod and the Pebble
Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.
So sung a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattle’s feet:
But a Pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet:
Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.
Overview Short Summary
A soft clod describes love as selfless and heavenly, while a hard pebble describes it as possessive and controlling.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Competing views of love, generosity, selfishness, innocence, experience, and argument.
Playful Reading Why It Feels Teasing
The poem stages a witty disagreement without deciding the winner. Couples can recognize themselves in the clod, the pebble, or both.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
Compact, clever, ironic, and slightly mischievous.
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