POET OF THE MORNING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 3 April 1926, Page 4

POET OF THE MORNING

|;om:i;T HERRICK AM) ms ENt.H'IKITE YERSES llccci-,t I v. m I In* 1 111 risli church "I Dean I ’nor. a (i:lict. out "I 1 lie-wax \il ~|| the edge ill' Dart II l < Mir, there was i |ii I ion led ;i elm ncrl window to the inemorv id Robert Herrick, (UK 1 nt til' 1 sweet e-st singers among tin* English ports, wlin ilii'il ; i ml was buried there in 167 d (■•laics .I>>llll 1/ himdi.n s Weekly). Ilcn'icl; was i.iorn in Chcapside. Lniiiii.n. iii 1504. ami although lie is not known In 11.-. as nne gt Hie most delight lul < t ?.’\c 11 (cci. I ')i reinury puds, he see 1 ns I" have calleil for little mention It 1 ■ 1 n I. is t el.! e 1111 it ■ 1 a lies. imleeil. Ins work was alnmst e*'iiijilelel.v unknown tin Inn ijuil uries ailer his ileath. Herrick unit In Cambridge. Iml iiiil 1 i"l lake Ins master's degree nil lie was almost iliirix. Ii was mil until nine years later lint lie lock hilly orders and was given ol living nt' llie Devonshire village of Dean I’rior. then scarcely any different from what it is to day. Here he remained until the Civil War. when the I’arli; mini inns (lie was. of course, a Ihiv:;list) deprived him of his church. 3 11 |(>()2. however, he was restored to Dean I'ricr. where lie remained in an Arcadian seclusion tdl his death, at the age 1 ' evci eighty, lie left heliind him some (eioieeu hundred poems, liotl: seetil.it and religions. To I UK LADIES In Ins von!!: Herrick was our. of Mir -.on:. ” of Hen .hmson, whose friend ship lie ceiehraled in the fanioiis (if in 1 ii n.-.|\ eliaped) ode. beginning ■ Ah. Men ! Say how or when Shall we, thy guests. Meet at those lyric feasts. Made at the Sun. The I tog. The Triple Tun : W here «r sin li clusters had As made 11s nobly wild, not mad? Ami let eaeh verse of Mime t hitiiid t he meat out did t he frolic wine. It was .11 these riotous days, one ima gilies, that In must have written those mnet delightful of all the Caroline love i\ 1 ics to a variety of mistresses with sweet moulding names -.Julia. Althea. Elect ra. Ida in me, Ant lien, and the rest. Or perhaps it may have been one mist less, masquerading in many guises. It was to .Julia that lie wrote that exquisite lyric, ‘The Night-piece';— Her eyes llm glow-worm lend thee, The shooting stars attend thee, And the elves also. Whose little eyes glow’ Kike file sparks of (ire befriend thee. hi t imt t he dark t lice cumber. What though the moon, does slumber? The stars of the night W ill lend their light Kike tapers ideal 1 wit.limit nuuilier. Then. Julia, let me woo thee, llitis. thus to come unto me; And when I shall meet Tiiy silv’r.v foot. My son! I'll pour into thee. II is surely to Devonshire that we owe most o| Herricks fresh and delightful descriptions of the countryside. 1 ural si ones that will live ; n Jituia-

tlire as long as the English language is spnkeii. In Ihe 'Argument to the ’ll.espelides lie I ells US : I sing ci brooks, of blossoms, birds, and how c 1 s'. Of April. .May. of dur.e, and July llowcrs . i sing of maypole*, hock carts. wassails. wakes. Of bridegrooms, lua.les, and of then bridal cakes. I write of '1 until, of hove, and have access liv these to sing of cleanly wan loti I sing of (lev's of rains, and. piece by piece. Ising id limes lra ns sli ill mg ; and I write (low rues lirs! rani" red and lilies white. 1 write .f grows of twilights, and I sing Tim c,.iir! "f Mali and of the Fairy K mg. I write ill Ihll; I sing, and ever shall. Of Heaven- and hope to have it after all. It was surely in his "exile ' in Devons! ithat lie wmle To Daffodils' : Fai- Dallejils. we weep to see N 1 hi haste a way si 1 soon : And yet the early rising sun Has in-! attain'd his noon. Stay. slay. Fiilil the hasting day Has run Iml In tin- evensong: And having pray'd together, we Will go with you along. We have short time to slay, as you; W e have as short a spring ; As quick a growth to meet decay. As von or .-nothing. W e die .\ s \om hours do. and drv ,\ w ay. Like to I lie summer's ra in: < *r. as the pearls of morning s dew. Xe’ej to he found again. Till'. KAO AX ELEMENT gfV ’ ‘V) - '.U enac v..;-v v - o‘v'U**l. S-’rcJ In his in ii ss’ beautiful To Daisies' we ret hi m mice more 11> .Jtilia : Shut in 1 ( so fooii: the dull eyed night !b s not as yet begun 1 ake as‘ i/.m eon the light. Or to seai tip I lie sun. No marigolds yet closed arc. No shadows great appear: Nor doth the early shepherd's star Shine like a spangle here. Stay hat tiii my Julia close Her life-getting eye. And lot. flic whole world then dispose Itself to live nr die. Although a minister of the Christian religion, there was much of the paganism of tlie ancient Creeks, of Catullus, m Horace, and of Omar Khavvain rn Herrick. (.lather ye rosebuds while ye may. Old time is still u-flving; And this same (lower .that- smiles today i o murruv will he dying. 1 hen let us quote this charming 'Orate for a Child' :

Here, a little child. I slat'd. 1 leii ving up my eit her ha lidi : Cold as paddocks though they la.', Here I lift I hem up to Thee, Km- a beuison to tall On our meal and on our all. Amen. 11l nil k was the poet, of April mornings. of Youth, voiing Low, nt Mali and her court of elves, just as he was the singer of smogs about Autumn. Harvest Home, Old Age. and Death. Few poets m the language' sang with so clear a note or with such ease of utterance.