Grosart, it is the younger William who "died young" and
was addressed in this poem, but I must own to feeling some doubt in the
matter.
was addressed in this poem, but I must own to feeling some doubt in the
matter.
Robert Herrick
The first
verse is, of course, a soliloquy of Herrick's, not, as Dr. Grosart
suggests, addressed to him by Porter. Dr. Nott again parallels Catullus,
_Carm_. v.
186. _To his dying brother, Master William Herrick. _ According to Dr.
Grosart and Mr. Hazlitt the poet had an elder brother, William,
baptized at St. Vedast's, Foster Lane, Nov. 24, 1585 (he must have been
born some months earlier, if this date be right, for his sister Martha
was baptized in the following January), and alive in 1629, when he acted
as one of the executors of his mother's will. But, it is said, there was
also another brother named William, born in 1593, after his father's
death, "at Harry Campion's house at Hampton". I have not been able to
find the authority for this last statement, which, as it asserts the
co-existence of two brothers, of the same name, is certainly surprising.
According to Dr.
Grosart, it is the younger William who "died young" and
was addressed in this poem, but I must own to feeling some doubt in the
matter.
193. _The Lily in a Crystal. _ The poem may be taken as an expansion of
Martial, VIII. lxviii. 5-8:--
Condita perspicua vivit vindemia gemma
Et tegitur felix, nec tamen uva latet:
Femineum lucet sic per bombycina corpus,
Calculus in nitida sic numeratur aqua.
197. _The Welcome to Sack. _ Two MSS. at the British Museum (Harl. 6931
and Add. 19,268) contain copies of this important poem. These copies
differ considerably from the printed version, are proved by small
variations to be independent of each other, and at the same time agree
in all important points. We may conclude, therefore, that they represent
an earlier version of the poem, subsequently revised by Herrick before
the issue of _Hesperides_. In the subjoined copy, in which the two MSS.
are corrected from each other, italics show the variations, asterisks
mark lines omitted in _Hesperides_, and a dagger the absence of lines
subsequently added.
verse is, of course, a soliloquy of Herrick's, not, as Dr. Grosart
suggests, addressed to him by Porter. Dr. Nott again parallels Catullus,
_Carm_. v.
186. _To his dying brother, Master William Herrick. _ According to Dr.
Grosart and Mr. Hazlitt the poet had an elder brother, William,
baptized at St. Vedast's, Foster Lane, Nov. 24, 1585 (he must have been
born some months earlier, if this date be right, for his sister Martha
was baptized in the following January), and alive in 1629, when he acted
as one of the executors of his mother's will. But, it is said, there was
also another brother named William, born in 1593, after his father's
death, "at Harry Campion's house at Hampton". I have not been able to
find the authority for this last statement, which, as it asserts the
co-existence of two brothers, of the same name, is certainly surprising.
According to Dr.
Grosart, it is the younger William who "died young" and
was addressed in this poem, but I must own to feeling some doubt in the
matter.
193. _The Lily in a Crystal. _ The poem may be taken as an expansion of
Martial, VIII. lxviii. 5-8:--
Condita perspicua vivit vindemia gemma
Et tegitur felix, nec tamen uva latet:
Femineum lucet sic per bombycina corpus,
Calculus in nitida sic numeratur aqua.
197. _The Welcome to Sack. _ Two MSS. at the British Museum (Harl. 6931
and Add. 19,268) contain copies of this important poem. These copies
differ considerably from the printed version, are proved by small
variations to be independent of each other, and at the same time agree
in all important points. We may conclude, therefore, that they represent
an earlier version of the poem, subsequently revised by Herrick before
the issue of _Hesperides_. In the subjoined copy, in which the two MSS.
are corrected from each other, italics show the variations, asterisks
mark lines omitted in _Hesperides_, and a dagger the absence of lines
subsequently added.
