― 85 ―Herrick as a Natural Historian

Herrick as a Natural Historian :Examination of word-of-mouth traditions and relationshipwith Kumagusu Minakata ＊Mikiko FURUKAWA（平成25年12月16日受理）

Various ceremonies and pastimes, which used to be widespread in England when the poet lived, arewoven into Robert Herrick's (1591-1674) poems. This is not only one of his poetry's charms but also
can be data for description of folkways and natural scenery. This paper examines Herrick's works fromthe standpoint of his concern with folklore, a fundamental characteristic of his poems, and throughunderstanding of these characteristics, consider the grounding in which he cultivated his thinking.
Reference is given to some interesting material which seems to refer to Herrick in the essay written by
Kumagusu Minakata(1867-1941), a natural historian of the Meiji Era. The aim is to attempt to explore
Herrick's natural historical aspects.

1.

Introduction
for London, a window to the world, when he was 26, after
The subject matter of this poet's choice is given in four-

studying in Tokyo and the United States, he found a 17th

teen lines of "The Argument of his Book," the opening pro-

century English precursor. This precursor was Herrick.

logue of(1648). It is "streams," "ﬂowers of the

Examination of their work reveals agreement between Her-

trees," "birds," "shade," "April, May, June, July and ﬂowers

rick and Minakata. Minakata drew together various factorsof the month" and "the carts for harvest," indicating that theto arrive at a form of social anthropology with emphasis on

poet's concern is to describe the rural scenery of England in

precise reproduction of human potential such as the family

the 17th century.

system and village organization. Precisely, this was a de-This paper considers Herrick's spiritual background,tailed descriptive examination of folkways through the eyes

possibly the basis of his poetry, with attention given to theof a natural historian, the "Minakata original ethnology". It

above mentioned characteristics of his poetry. Reference isis equivalent to the type of original study Herrick created.

given to "Ebi joro"1) by Minakata, a natural historian of the

When Herrick's poems are compared with metaphysicalMeiji Era, as it gives a description of the natural historicalpoems, his characteristic method of simplicity, short forms,

factors found in Herrick's work.

small-scale subjects and sensitivity rather than logic, match

Comparative examination of Herrick and Minakata, who

exactly the method of natural historical description. The viv-

had diﬀerent nationalities and lived in diﬀerent eras, is in-

id literary style of airy rhythmical expression of minute sub-tentional. It is diﬃcult to categorize Minakata because hejects creates Herrick's own beautiful literary space, however,

was a learned and creative scholar who created original

the virtue of Herrick's poems can not be judged simply fromacademic features by collecting and analyzing the natural

the standpoint of literary value. This paper includes an ex-

sciences and humanities before those disciplines were sub-amination of the common points, natural historical factors,

divided as they are today. He has been called the initiator ofwhich connect Herrick and Minakata. Finally, examination

Japanese ethnology, ranking with Kunio Yanagita and Shi-of the signiﬁcance of natural historical factors in Herrick's

nobu Orikuchi. The hypothesis is that when Minakata left

works in 17th century England is given.

秋田高専研究紀要第 49 号

― 86 ―
Mikiko F URUKAWA

2.

Herrick and Minakata meet in
The Saint, to which the most he prayes
And oﬀers
The essay "Ebi Joro (Lady in the Lobster)" by Minakata,

The

Nights and dayes,of theis,which contains a description of Herrick, was included in

Whose foot-pace he doth stroak & kisse;"Shuko" which was originally published in August, 1925.

And, humbly, chives of Saﬀron brings,

The title of the essay, "Ebi Joro," refers to a spiny lobster

For his most cheerfull oﬀerings.(93, 129-134)4)

with its eyes exposed, decorated with a paper dress likened
According to the notes to Herrick's collection in the Mar-to a doll display for the Girls' Festival in Japan.2)

tin edition, the "Lady in the Lobster" might indicate "Ouras "inLady" because the digestive organs of the lobster resemble

China they make cups out of lobster shells, called lobster

a lady sitting in a chair. 5) Speaking concretely, it seems thatcups, and use its spine as an ornamental hairpin (kanzashi)

the shape of the organ resembles a noble lady sitting in aand in Vietnam people make canes out of it for monks‚ I

chair. This part depicts the Mariolatry in Herrick's work.

have never come across a description of a toy made using

However, the Holy Mother Maria in King Oberon's fairy

the eyes. In Europe, I saw an "Ebi Joro (Lady in the Lob-world, which Herrick imagined, overlaps with Minakata'sster)" but it was quite diﬀerent from the Japanese doll. The"Ebi Joro (Lady in the Lobster)". This indicates that both theeyes of European lobsters are in their stomachs. There are

English and Japanese versions of the "Ebi Joro" have one

three calcareous protrusions like the molar teeth of humans

common philosophical background despite the diﬀerences

and animals in the stomach area, which grind food. In Eng-in their conﬁgurations and methods. Unfortunately, as Mi-

land, people call it a "Lady in the Chair" or a "Lady in thenataka mentioned, the example of the "Lobster" described

Lobster" (Ebi Joro) because it looks like a lady is sitting on

by Herrick was not as old asa chair. Last March, I found a question in

However, it is apparent from these descriptions that the po-

regarding two books which had articles about a "Lady in

ems of Herrick are not only literary works but also worthy

the Lobster"(Ebi Joro). Mr. Bensley answered that according

reading matter as records of folk legend and the manners

toand customs of those days.

Though a description is found in

the oldest reference to a "Ladyin the Lobster" was in1704.

by J. Swift in

Incidentally,

by Shirley.

mentioned in Minakata's

essay was an academic magazine with explanatory an-‘"

notations and questions and answers regarding literature,
history, anthropology, geneology and heraldry, etc. It has"

been published in London since 1849 as a venue for theexchange of academic information. It seemed to be in its
golden age when Minakata contributed to it. At present, it

The questioner quoted

is a monthly magazine (it was a weekly publication whenby Shirley in 1628 as the oldest evidence.

Minakata contributed and later switched to monthly pub-

There was a picture of a "Lady in the lobster" which was of-lication) published by the Oxford University Press after

fered by Herbust at the end of the 18th century inseveral changes of publisher. In this connection, Minakata's

by Stebbing, published in 1893. I mentioned
there is only old description of the real thing, so those whowant to realize what it looks like should look at this picture

writings were published in the magazine 323 times between the years 1899 and 1933.
The magazine

which connected these(picture 5). But my reply was not published.…… (Itallics

two people, had the sub-title "A Medium of Inter-Communi-mine)3)

cation (Among) Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Generalogists, Etc.," indicating that it was intended to oﬀer general"The Fairie Temple" in this quotation from Minakata

coverage of a wide range of concerns in the humanities.

seems to be "The Fairie Temple: or, Oberons Chappell". Fol-

As a matter of fact,

lowing is part of the description.

miscellaneous information including the one that vaguely

contained all sorts of

平成 26 年２月

― 87 ―
Herrick as a Natural Historianmatches this classiﬁcation. The contents were divided into

(Lady in the Lobster)" by Minakata is actually an annotation

three parts: "Notes," "Queries" and "Replies". In "Replies,"of Herrick's description which is not recorded inarguments on the subjects presented in "Notes," "Queries"
could be exchanged freely. This style of publication became
quite popular after the success of

and

3.

Pliny: the scholar who connects Herrick andMinakata

many similar magazines were published with the titles"Notes and Queries of .....".

Minakata is known as a person who had great knowledge

In some sense, the focus of miscellaneous interest was aabout England as he spent his youth in London from thecollection of folk belief under the term "folk-lore". The nameage of 26 to 33 when he had a strong desire for learning. Is"folk-lore," which was later used widely as a general term,

there a line of connection between Herrick and Minakata?

was coined by William John Thomas (1803-1885), theThere is a connection between Shakeseare and Minakata,founder ofor his ideological inﬂuences, because he described buying

The word "folk-lore" was modeled on the German "Volk-

several of his books including

in his journal; thereskunde", meaning folk knowledge, and was a coinage ofis no evidence, unfortunately, about his connection with"folk" with "lore," used since around 1848 with the concise

Herrick. 6)

meaning of popular antiquities.

However, it can be concluded that there are points inIn the age when Thomas lived, sub-division and special-common between Herrick's works and Minakata's throughization of learning were already in progress. Once a subject

examination of writings of Minakata with inconsistent titles

had been given the name "folk-lore," contributors were able

such as "Natural Historian" and "Ethnologist". The inﬂuences

to argue loquaciously by comparing their own experienceson Minakata by Herrick may be tendencies in their works or

and reading experiences. The fountainhead ofsimilarity of style inﬂuenced by prior works they had bothwas not only a monopoly of specialist topics but
also various people's comments and lively discussions. In
this meaning,read.
The Pliny's

often appears in quotations

was a venue which encour-by Minakata and Herrick must also have had been familiar

aged the passing of "lore" inherited by "folk" from mouth towith this book. Herrick is often thought of as a leftover frommouth.

was accepted among the people

the Elizabethan Era, or rather to be a descendant of the Ro-

of England, where a lot of devotees to learning lived, due

man poet who survived in England despite living in the mid-

to its method of argument through reader contributions.

dle of the 17th century. He was counted as one of the "Tribe

The character ofplaces it in a positionof Ben" and was a poet considerably inﬂuenced by the clas-

between amusement and examination and the comments

sical poets such as Ovid, Horace and Martial. In Herrick's

contributed are not perfectly written and depend on mutual

poems, descriptions appear which seem to be inﬂuenced byenlightenment through debate. Arguments are formalized

Pliny's.

through accumulated discussion. They are neither monologue nor mutual conversation. The venue is formalized asHang up Hooks, and Sheers to scaremass debate and open to everyone at all times. Sometimes,

Hence the Hag, that rides the Mare,

there are no responses to topics addressed and at other

Till they be all over wet,times there are endless discussions involving many people's

With the mire, and the sweat :opinions. The magazine is a kind of intellectual playground

This observʼd, the Manes shall bewhich stimulates mutual curiosity.

Of your horses, all knot-free. (284)Each reader, from amateur to specialist, accumulates
his knowledge with cooperation or expansion of debate

Wash your hands, or else the ﬁrethrough

Will not teend to your desire;and in the end, a detailed docu-

mentary relating to topics presented is collectively createdUnwasht hands, ye Maidens, know,

by the contributors. In this sense, it is possible to say that

Dead the Fire, though ye blow.(263)

Herrick and Minakata discussed a subject of common interest over space-time in
秋田高専研究紀要第 49 号

because "Ebi Joro

The former deals with the superstitious belief that iron― 88 ―
Mikiko F URUKAWA

prevents evil, which appeared earlier in book 34(Liberesque way. Natural history is a study by observation where-

XXXIV) ofin 77 A.D., and says that infantsby the student fully appreciates natural disorder and na-

and adults are protected from the action of poisons when

ture's diversity. In Herrick's later years, he was attracted toan iron circle is drawn around them or when someone with

the nature of Devonshire and intoxicated with its beauty. He

an iron weapon turns around them. The latter also refers tocontinued to write poems whenever the desire seized him.

the beneﬁcence of water in book 31(Liber XXXI).

In this sense, it is very interesting to ﬁnd Herrick's name in

It was around 3000 B.C. when iron, which often appears
in the oral literary tradition in England, appeared, hence thethe essay written by Minakata showing his full knowledgeof natural history.

Iron Age. The chisels, hoes and sickles of the Stone Age andPliny the natural historian, who probably inﬂuenced bothBronze Age were made of iron then. The strength, solidity

Herrick and Minakata, was a poet who tried to generalize

and durability of iron for cooking tools, farming implements

knowledge. In the process, he also left many records ofand weapons were valued and the usefulness of iron was

man's changes of feeling while observing nature despite,

recognized from the beginning of the Iron Age. Iron cameor rather, because he tried to describe nature as it is. There

to have special attributes such as the magical power toare objective descriptions of the characteristics of animals,

remove eerie air and malevolent spirits, especially when it

plants and minerals in their books as well as full oral tradi-

is cold. People believed that luck would visit the man who

tions and images. That is why these works, although they

picked up iron materials such as containers and nails on

belong to natural science, can be read as not only accumu-

the street. Iron horseshoes were believed to be especiallylations of folklore but also as behavioral psychology anduseful for preventing evil because it was thought that theliterature. Natural history was surely an accumulation ofiron nailed to horses' hooves was a spiritual sign which

various kinds of stories which were woven by people to try

protected the foot from the ground. In England around theto understand nature.

17th century, there were many houses with horseshoes

The reason Minakata did not have any main outline of

installed on the step in front of the gate and the entrance. In

theory was his precaution against stereotyped thought

Scotland, sailors used them as amulets tied to the topmast

according to his ideological theory. This is intimately con-for the prevention of shipwrecks in bad weather. There isnected with a healthy British style empiricism, however,also an oral tradition that an iron gate in front of the houseit seems this point is closely related to the new style ofwould keep witches out because there was a superstitious

learning which he aimed to achieve. He insisted on science

belief that witches could not pass through things made ofwhile he refuted mysticism. He always maintained the 19th

iron.

century belief in science but in his ﬁeld of natural science

In Herrick's works, there is one piece relating to iron su-(zoology and botany), he maintained the style of a natural-perstitions (ʻAnother［Charmes］ʼ) and three relating to wa-

ist in observing and collecting outdoors himself rather thanter (ʻTo Perilla,ʼ ʻAnother［Charmes］and ʻThe New-yeeres

as a biologist who uses a microscope, chemicals and a slide

Gift, or Circumcisions Song, sung to the King in the Pres-

rule in the laboratory. In this sense, he was more of a poetence at White-Hallʼ). ʻThe New-yeeres Giftʼ is included inthan a theoretical scientist. He achieved, however, a world

which appear afterin one boundwide reputation as a collector of slime molds and, at thevolume. There are nearly thirty poems relating to supersti-

same time, was an inspired pioneer in the study of folkloretion and traditional beliefs amongin Japan.

, with subject

matter such as ﬁre, rosemary, bread, roses, brides, ash, salt
and wheat.

Minakata called his way of learning "learning of everything". It was a creation of a new method of learning, which
is neither natural science with its narrow range of substance4.

Herrick as a natural historiannor the spiritualism of observation and contemplation. He
called his attitude toward learning the "learning of every-

Herrick had natural historical aspects because, as men-thing" and his accumulated knowledge in the ﬁeld of natural

tioned above, there are many folkloric descriptions inhistory was a suitable ﬁeld for the "learning of everything".

and his characteristic style of writing was to

Minakata the philosopher paid attention to the potentials

describe the beauty of the minute and the lowly in a pictur-of natural science in all ages and countries. He always con平成 26 年２月

― 89 ―
Herrick as a Natural Historian

templated the general descriptions of nature in books on

3)natural history. He searched for folklore in books on natural

09.

vol. 2, 608-

history and natural historical methods in literature.
On the other hand, what was natural history for Herrick? It appears that Herrick's method was the same as
Minakata's. Minakata is known for laying down the deﬁnition that learning has to be of practical use to the nation.
Both natural history, with an emphasis on substance,
and folklore, with stress on the mind, existed together in
Minakata's original method of "learning of everything". Herrick seemed to have been just like Minakata. That is to say,
Minakata was, if anything, strong in science and he knew

Picture 5: Ebi Joro in England

folkloristics through natural history, while Herrick was, ifanything, strong in liberal arts and he traced opposite roots4)All references to Herrickʼs poems are towhile producing his works. The posture of them as trying, ed. L.C.Martin (Oxford: Clarendon P,

to weave these two types of learning into two sides of the1956) and quoted by page number(s) and line(s) in paren-same coin is a common. I think the method always used

theses.

by both Minakata and Herrick in many works could have5)

I. I0: ʻThe calcare-been to trace how the diverse world of things left its tracks

ous structre in the stomach of a lobster, serving for thein the world of the human heart. The reason why Minakata

trituration of its food; fancifully supposed to resemble themet Herrick throughoutline of a seated female ﬁgure.ʼ The expression occurs in

was that they had acommon spirit which was encouraged in

Dorothy Osborne's

Notes＊
This paper is based on “Herrik's Naturalistic Elements ─With Reference to Kumagusu Minakata ─ ” (Study Notes)
Ed. TheJapan Society of Seventeenth-century English Literature.
Tokyo: Kinseido, 1997. 221-242.
1)“Ebi joro,”
vol. 2 (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1971) 604-09.

(ed. Moore Smith, p.42).

has no example earlier than 1704. Herrick's context suggests ʻOur Ladyʼ and perhaps also Phil. ⅲ.19: ʻwhose God istheir bellyʼ.” L. C. Martin , 521.
6)

4 Vols (Yasaka Sho-bo, 1987-89). Especially see vol. 1, 109, 149, 232 and vol.
3, 16-18, 20, 40.

Works Cited
Herrick, Robert.

Ed. L.

C. Martin. Oxford : Clarendon P, 1956.

2)

vol. 2, 604.

Marcus, Leah S.,. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1986.
Minakata, Kumagusu.
Ed. Teppei Iikura. Vol. 2. Tokyo : Heibonsha,
1971.
….

4 vols. Tokyo : Ya-saka Shobo, 1987-89.
Opie, Iona., and Moira Tatem, eds.
Oxford : Oxfrord UP, 1989.
Pliny.

Vol. 8 (Libri XXVIII-XXXII). Trans.

W. H. S. Jones. Loeb Classical Library. Massachusetts : Harvard UP, 1963. Vol. 9(Libri XXXIII-XXXV). Trans. H. RackPicture 1: Ebi Joro made in Shinagawa
秋田高専研究紀要第 49 号

ham. 1952.