by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
Go, pretty child, and bear this flower
Language: English
Go, pretty child, and bear this flower Unto thy little Saviour; And tell Him, by that bud now blown, He is the Rose of Sharon known. When thou hast said so, stick it there Upon His bib or stomacher; And tell Him, for good handsel too, That thou hast brought a whistle new, Made of a clean strait oaten reed, To charm His cries at time of need. Tell Him, for coral, thou hast none, But if thou hadst, He should have one; But poor thou art, and known to be Even as moneyless as He. Lastly, if thou canst win a kiss From those mellifluous lips of His; Then never take a second on, To spoil the first impression.
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Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "To a Child" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "To a Child", op. 387 (1953) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Betty Roe (b. 1930), "To His Saviour, a Child; A Present, by a Child", published 1972 [ for counter-tenor, mezzo-soprano or baritone voice and piano or harpsichord ], from Noble Numbers, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-15
Line count: 18
Word count: 120