UPON CUPID.
by Robert Herrick


OLD wives have often told how they
Saw Cupid bitten by a flea ;
And thereupon, in tears half drown'd,
He cried aloud : Help, help the wound !
He wept, he sobb'd, he call'd to some
To bring him lint and balsamum,
To make a tent, and put it in
Where the stiletto pierced the skin
Which, being done, the fretful pain
Assuaged, and he was well again.


Tent, a roll of lint for probing wounds.
 Peter Paul Rubens. Cupid Making his Bow, 1612.
Rubens. Cupid Making his Bow, 1612.

Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 19.
Backto Works of Robert Herrick

Created by Anniina Jokinen on September 27, 1998.
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