Robert Herrick was born in London and served as an apprentice to his uncle, a goldsmith and jeweller to the king, before entering St. John's College Cambridge as a fellow-commoner in 1613 (B.A. 1617; M.A. 1620); he was ordained in 1623 and was chaplain to the Duke of Buckingham on the Isle of Rhe expedition in 1627. Herrick was (unhappily) the rector of Dean Prior, a remote parish in Devonshire from 1629 until 1647 when he was ejected and lived in Westminster, and again from 1662 to his death in 1674.
TEXT RECORDS:
1648A Nuptiall Song, or Epithalamie, on Sir Clipseby Crew and his Lady.
1648An Epithalamie to Sir Thomas Southwell and his Ladie.
PUBLICATIONS:
Hesperides: or, the works both humane and divine. 1648.
Select poems from the Hesperides, ed. John Nott. 1810.
Works. 2 vols, 1823.
Works. 2 vols, 1825.
Poetical works, ed. L. C. Martin. 1956, 1965.
Complete poetry, ed. J. Max Patrick. 1963.
PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:
English
Anglican
St. John's College Cambridge
Bachelor of Arts
Master of Arts
Trinity College Cambridge
clergyman
poet
Rev. William Alabaster
William Browne of Tavistock
Thomas Carew
Charles Cotton
Sir William Davenant
Sir John Denham
Rev. Thomas Heyrick
Ben Jonson
Henry Lawes
Endymion Porter
George Sandys
John Selden
REFERENCE:
DNB; NCBEL; DLB.
[Portrait in Hesperides (1648)]; Edward Phillips, Theatrum Poetarum (1675); William Winstanley, Lives of the most famous English Poets (1687); Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses (1690-91; 1721); James Granger, Biographical History (1769; 1824) [portrait]; George Ellis, Specimens of Early English Poetry (1790; 1801); "Robert Herrick" Gentleman's Magazine 66 (June, August 1796) 461-62, 645-46, 67 (February 1797) 102-03; Samuel Egerton Brydges, "Herrick and Theatrum Poetarum" Gentleman's Magazine 74 (1804) 912-13; Nathan Drake, "On the Life, Writings, and Genius of Robert Herrick" Literary Hours (1804); Peter L. Courtier, ed., Lyre of Love (1806); Censura Literaria 3 (1807) 234-38; "Robert Herrick" The Cabinet NS 1 (January-February 1809) 22-24, 112-17; Barron Field in Quarterly Review 4 (August 1810); "Anecdotes of Robert Herrick" Gentleman's Magazine 80 (December 1810) 541-42; T. B., "Robert Herrick" The Reflector 1 (1811) 242-44; "Remarks on Robert Herrick, and his Poetical Compositions" Universal Magazine NS 16 (April 1811) 276-78; Alexander Chalmers, General Biographical Dictionary (1812-17); Bliss, Athenae Oxonienses (1815); Thomas Campbell, Specimens of the British Poets (1819); Ezekiel Sanford, British Poets (1819); Retrospective Review 5 (1822) 156-80; Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); "Robert Herrick" Literary Chronicle 8 (19 August 1826) 523; Robert Aris Willmott, Lives of Sacred Poets (1834); Richard Cattermole, Sacred Poetry of the Seventeenth Century (1836); Robert Chambers, Cyclopaedia of English Literature (1844); Mary Russell Mitford, "Robert Herrick — George Wither" in Recollections (1852) 142-51; Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); Thomas Corser, Collectanea Anglo-Poetica 7 (1877) 201-08; The English Poets, ed. Thomas Humphry Ward (1880); A. W. Pollard, "Herrick and his Friends" Macmillan's Magazine 67 (1892); H. M. Sanders, "Robert Herrick" Gentleman's Magazine 280 (1896); Wright, West-Country Poets (1896) 244-45; Moulton, Library of Literary Criticism (1901-05); F. W. Moorman, Robert Herrick (1910); Venn and Venn, Alum. Cant. (1922-27); Bush, OHEL (1945); George Walter Scott, Robert Herrick 1591-1674 (1975); Elizabeth H. Hageman, Robert Herrick: A Reference Guide (1983); Saunders, Renaissance Poets (1983); Roger B. Rollin, Robert Herrick (1992; Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry Database (1995).
COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Rev. Robert Herrick:
BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Rev. Robert Herrick:
AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)
1. | 1640 ca. Bp. Joseph Hall: Robert Herrick, "To Jos: Lo: Bishop of Exeter" 1640 ca.; Herrick, Hesperides (1648) 69-70. |
2. | 1647 John Fletcher: Robert Herrick, "Upon Master Fletcher's incomparable Plays" Beaumont and Fletcher, Comedies and Tragedies (1647) sig. E. |
3. | 1648 Rev. William Alabaster: Robert Herrick, "To Doctor Alablaster" Herrick, Hesperides (1648) 302. |
4. | 1648 Sir John Denham: Robert Herrick, "To Mr. Denham, on his Prospective Poem" Herrick, Hesperides (1648) 275. |
5. | 1648 Ben Jonson: Robert Herrick, "Upon Mr. Ben. Johnson. Epig." Herrick, Hesperides (1648) 173. |
6. | 1648 Henry Lawes: Robert Herrick, "To M. Henry Lawes, the excellent Composer of his Lyricks" Herrick, Hesperides (1648) 326. |