Robert Herrick,
The Hesperides & Noble Numbers…
“ Phil, the late dead, the late dead dear, O! may no eye distil a tear For you once lost, who weep not here! Had Lesbia, too-too kind, but known This sparrow, she had scorn'd her own: And for this dead which under lies Wept out her heart, as well as eyes. But, endless peace, sit here and keep My Phil the time he has to sleep; And thousand virgins come and weep To make these flowery carpets show Fresh as their blood, and ever grow, Till passengers shall spend their doom: Not Virgil's gnat had such a tomb. Phil, otherwise Philip or Phip, was a pet name for a sparrow. ”
