Grosart's gloss, "_Benjamin_, the favourite
youngest
son of the
Patriarch," is unfortunate.
Robert Herrick
Cp. Juvenal, III. 140 sqq.; Plaut.
_Menaechm._ IV. ii. 6.
331. _To his honoured kinsman, Sir William Soame._ The second son of Sir
Stephen Soame, Lord Mayor of London in 1598. Herrick's father and Sir
Stephen married sisters.
_As benjamin and storax when they meet._ Instances of the use of
"Benjamin" for gum benzoin will be found in the Dictionaries. Dr.
Grosart's gloss, "_Benjamin_, the favourite
youngest
son of the
Patriarch," is unfortunate.
336. _His Age: dedicated to ... M. John Wickes under the name of
Posthumus._ There is an important version of this poem in Egerton MS.,
2725, where it is entitled _Mr. Herrick's Old Age to Mr. Weekes_. I do
not think it has been collated before. Stanzas i.-vi. contain few
variants; ii. 6 reads: "Dislikes to care for what's behind"; iii.
