Herrick

Herrick, Robert (1591-1674), an English poet, was born in London, where his father was a goldsmith, and educated at Cambridge. He came to London in 1620, and there made the acquaintance of Ben Jonson and his circle; but in 1629, apparently against his taste, he took orders, and was relegated to an out-of-the-way living in Devonshire, where, nevertheless, he seems to have worked well and to have been appreciated. From 1647-62, during the Puritan ascendency, he was in London, returning afterwards to his parish. His poems were published in one volume, containing the Hesper'ides and some half-hearted religious poems called Noble Numbers, though even in these latter there are some noble pieces. But it is the former that show the great charm of his manner. which is almost Shakespearean. Oberon's Feast, Oberon's Palace, Gather ye Bosebuds, Cherry Ripe, Bid me to Live, and the like, eire universally known and as widely admired.