Herrick, Robert

(1591-1674)

   Robert Herrick was granted the living of Dean Prior in Devon in 1629, a move which he regarded as a form of exile, 'in this dull Devon-shire' he wrote. He was removed from the living in 1648 by the incoming Puritans, and lived in London for a while, only to be reinstalled in Devon in 1662 at the restoration of the monarchy. Herrick published one great collection of poems in his lifetime, entitled Hesperides (1648), and many of his poems include everyday folkloric references which are valuable evidence of custom and belief in his day. In some cases, such as The Hock Cart and The Country Life, the whole poem describes an event or a season, but in others it is the occasional line which sheds light on an otherwise obscure topic.

   In the morning when ye rise

   Wash your hands, and cleanse your eyes,

   Next be sure ye have a care,

   To disperse the water farre.

   For as farre as that doth light,

   So farre keepes the evill spright.

   (Another [Charme])

   Several of his poems are concerned with fairies, but in this area he was clearly drawing on the literary tradition of Spenser and Shakespeare rather than the folk traditions of his Devonshire parishioners.

   ■ W. Carew Hazlitt (ed.), Hesperides: The Poems and Other Remains of Robert Herrick Now First Collected (1869); L. C. Martin (ed.), The Poems of Robert Herrick (1965).