New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-15
pOBERT HERRICK
r,. life and Character of the Eng
Iish Lyrfst.

z,pRIt-K. A Biographical and Critical
| roBERI nv r ". Moor1nan, b. A. IN. p
stSasstsnt professor of kngllSh iteratnr IL
ths li.i.ns including a frontispiece In photo
Husneaat Svo Up. xiii, 3s3. The John Lane
Company.
| 40 ,an Ferrick saw his 'rHesperides
il .he nress. there was printed as 'front.'
tsFo"s che volume the engraving by William
peg which we reproduce on this page. AS
hA'1-i If the poets personality it is. in
6 So Noorr1an's words worse than moth
f~ N for il can be little better than c
s." We might, perhaps, accept the
e.. o,,e the thick, tight curls and the curl
liz rose which calls TO mind the buSts
GU ,,-,naror Eespasian,'' but further We
N .+o acoufescence--th fat Stolidity OF
S'H' - ,be face. together with the grotesque
1e 10. ,,s incredulous or indignant" And
reoN ,,,,r nortrait Of Herrick that has come
-, 70 rs, All the more reason therefore why
'0"+- sent study should have been put to-
..a- q work not only embodylns a oehca's
e-1-i ~ ~ poet but contrivfng, in the face
r-sst c-ulties, to make US better &C
-su..5 with the traits of Robert Herrlck d
nan 49,, ~, S,,,,,roa5 nm in
IONS failure of his contemporaries to en-
." .ho,- memoirs, letters and other souvenirs
~" .,osa anecdotes and references which
=. have helped the modern biographer Il
ING fajrl, full narrative of Herrick's life
= h,,self though not by any means lnolher-
Ut go Vas content TO put all that he had
- o,out his traits into his verse He kep'
:,,-nals. There are but scanty surVlvals OF
~ oa-reenondence. And yet We may glimpse
=. baracter regardless Of the OMISSIONS OF
...o-v It is an honest and lovabie character
-. n a man Of genius who cherished hlsh en-
,,.os-,s hut never took himself too seriously
..;.tf,rIv wreaking himself instead on the dalls
-, :, hand There is wholesome sturdlness
-. t5e-rick Perhaps that was what Mar
=, ,r-ss sroring toward in his unlucky PRINT
~. h-awnv Roman therein portrayed was
=. a;ccirle of Horace and Catullus, but he was
:. t..+orn 2 1ruer Briton, essentially a produc'
- .bo English soil. All through his life there
&c The strain of fortnight energy that yor
.o-,s mon in the study Of his origins
rIorrick WAS the son Of q London goldsmith {
,-osperous craftsman and merchant IN cheap
ssa who. save for the chances OF tate, "ouie
tsre enabled his son TO court the Muse with n'
,,-5i5 thoughts Of the morrow Unfortunately
tyrerer a wear after the poet was born, gooe
usster Nicholas Herrick fell from one OF th'
inner windows Of his house and shortly AFTER
-gr5 WAS rlaced in his grave. For little Whll'
A., uisov, Was threatened with another catas-
,rube Il was whispered that the goldsmith
had not fallen out Of the window but had thrown
himself therefrom with suicidal intent and
under the law all the property OF an lnoiNldua
saf-destroved was confiscated to the crown
Mistress Herrick succeeded in retaining hel
t-,sf,and's estate but there was something pro-
rbe-ic about the tragic circumstances IN Whlci
she acuuired il The heritage, though not
small one. was not ample enough TO keep th'
family in luxury, and by the time young ROPER
nag o,,+ of school il was necessary to apprentice
him N his uncle William another goldsmith
For six o,,t Of the ten wears to which the docu'
mont r,ox, rreseryed at Beaumanor, COMMITTED
hin. he appears TO have strlVen Iailili uil.
erorc. N attend 10 his masters business Blu
even through this period it is doubtful II h'
observed in every detail the rules imposed upoi
him. such as the following: He shall not play
al the cardes dice tables, or any other uiiia
games whereby his said master may have an!
losse with his own goode or others curing LII
said terrne without license of his said master; h
shall neither beS nor stele; ne Shall ho' ii"u
Tavernes nor absent him selfe from his sal'
masters service dale nor nighte unlawfully
Il is fair conjecture that he had his hlns
among the wild young apprentices of London
and ne know that when his term was only
year more than half over he turned his bacl
uIOn CheaIsde and went up 20 Cambridge.
We know also that at the university he pur'
sued his education under conditions Of some
thing like poverty his letters to the goldsmith