Dorothy was in her ninety-ninth year when she
communicated this fact to Mr. Barron Field, the author of the paper on
Herrick published in the "Quarterly Review" for August, 1810, and in the
Boston edition (1) of the "Hesperides" attributed to Southey.
(1) The Biographical Notice prefacing this volume of The
British Poets is a remarkable production, grammatically and
chronologi-cally. On page 7 the writer speaks of Herrick as
living "in habits of intimacy" with Ben Jonson in 1648. If
that was the case, Her-rick must have taken up his quarters
in Westminster Abbey, for Jonson had been dead eleven years.
What else do we know of the vicar? A very favorite theme with Herrick
was Herrick. Scattered through his book are no fewer than twenty-five
pieces entitled On Himself, not to mention numberless autobiographical
hints under other captions. They are merely hints, throwing casual
side-lights on his likes and dislikes, and illuminating his vanity. A
whimsical personage without any very definite outlines might be evolved
from these fragments.
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