A History of English Literature
A History of English Literature
A History of English Literature
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<strong>of</strong> somewhat artificial courtliness which was soon to mark the lyrics <strong>of</strong> the<br />
other poets <strong>of</strong> the Cavalier party. An avowed disciple <strong>of</strong> Jonson and his<br />
classicism and a greater poet than Fletcher is Robert Herrick, who, indeed,<br />
after Shakspere and Milton, is the finest lyric poet <strong>of</strong> these two<br />
centuries.<br />
Herrick, the nephew <strong>of</strong> a wealthy goldsmith, seems, after a late graduation<br />
from Cambridge, to have spent some years about the Court and in the band <strong>of</strong><br />
Jonson's 'sons.' Entering the Church when he was nearly forty, he received<br />
the small country parish <strong>of</strong> Dean Prior in the southwest (Devonshire), which<br />
he held for nearly twenty years, until 1647, when he was dispossessed by<br />
the victorious Puritans. After the Restoration he was reinstated, and he<br />
continued to hold the place until his death in old age in 1674. He<br />
published his poems (all lyrics) in 1648 in a collection which he called<br />
'Hesperides and Noble Numbers.' The 'Hesperides' (named from the golden<br />
apples <strong>of</strong> the classical Garden <strong>of</strong> the Daughters <strong>of</strong> the Sun) are twelve<br />
hundred little secular pieces, the 'Noble Numbers' a much less extensive<br />
series <strong>of</strong> religious lyrics. Both sorts are written in a great variety <strong>of</strong><br />
stanza forms, all equally skilful and musical. Few <strong>of</strong> the poems extend<br />
beyond fifteen or twenty lines in length, and many are mere epigrams <strong>of</strong><br />
four lines or even two. The chief secular subjects are: Herrick's devotion<br />
to various ladies, Julia, Anthea, Perilla, and sundry more, all presumably<br />
more or less imaginary; the joy and uncertainty <strong>of</strong> life; the charming<br />
beauty <strong>of</strong> Nature; country life, folk lore, and festivals; and similar light<br />
or familiar themes. Herrick's characteristic quality, so far as it can be<br />
described, is a blend <strong>of</strong> Elizabethan joyousness with classical perfection<br />
<strong>of</strong> finish. The finish, however, really the result <strong>of</strong> painstaking labor,<br />
such as Herrick had observed in his uncle's shop and as Jonson had<br />
enjoined, is perfectly unobtrusive; so apparently natural are the poems<br />
that they seem the irrepressible unmeditated outpourings <strong>of</strong> happy and idle<br />
moments. In care-free lyric charm Herrick can certainly never be surpassed;<br />
he is certainly one <strong>of</strong> the most captivating <strong>of</strong> all the poets <strong>of</strong> the world.<br />
Some <strong>of</strong> the 'Noble Numbers' are almost as pleasing as the 'Hesperides,' but<br />
not because <strong>of</strong> real religious significance. For <strong>of</strong> anything that can be<br />
called spiritual religion Herrick was absolutely incapable; his nature was<br />
far too deficient in depth. He himself and his philosophy <strong>of</strong> life were<br />
purely Epicurean, Hedonistic, or pagan, in the sense in which we use those<br />
terms to-day. His forever controlling sentiment is that to which he gives<br />
perfect expression in his best-known song, 'Gather ye rosebuds,' namely the<br />
Horatian 'Carpe diem'--'Snatch all possible pleasure from the<br />
rapidly-fleeting hours and from this gloriously delightful world.' He is<br />
said to have performed his religious duties with regularity; though<br />
sometimes in an outburst <strong>of</strong> disgust at the stupidity <strong>of</strong> his rustic<br />
parishioners he would throw his sermon in their faces and rush out <strong>of</strong> the<br />
church. Put his religion is altogether conventional. He thanks God for<br />
material blessings, prays for their continuance, and as the conclusion <strong>of</strong><br />
everything, in compensation for a formally orthodox life, or rather creed,<br />
expects when he dies to be admitted to Heaven. The simple naivete with<br />
which he expresses this skin-deep and primitive faith is, indeed, one <strong>of</strong><br />
the chief sources <strong>of</strong> charm in the 'Noble Numbers.'<br />
Herrick belongs in part to a group <strong>of</strong> poets who, being attached to the<br />
Court, and devoting some, at least, <strong>of</strong> their verses to conventional<br />
love-making, are called the Cavalier Poets. Among the others Thomas Carew<br />
follows the classical principles <strong>of</strong> Jonson in lyrics which are facile,<br />
smooth, and sometimes a little frigid. Sir John Suckling, a handsome and<br />
capricious representative <strong>of</strong> all the extravagances <strong>of</strong> the Court set, with<br />
whom he was enormously popular, tossed <strong>of</strong>f with affected carelessness a<br />
mass <strong>of</strong> slovenly lyrics <strong>of</strong> which a few audaciously impudent ones are worthy