Art。　　And　hence　something　constrained　and　artificial　blends　with　the　freshness　of　the　Elizabethan　literature。　　For　its　great　underlying　elements　it　necessarily　reverts　to　those　embodied　in　our　own　earlier　poets；　Chaucer　above　all；　to　whom；　after　barely　one　hundred　and　fifty　years；　men　looked　up　as　a　father　of　song：　　but　in　points　of　style　and　treatment；　the　poets　of　the　sixteenth　century　lie　under　a　double　external　influencethat　of　the　poets　of　Greece　and　Rome　（known　either　in　their　own　tongues　or　by　translation）；　and　that　of　the　modern　literatures　which　had　themselves　undergone　the　same　classical　impulse。　　Italy　was　the　source　most　regarded　during　the　more　strictly　Elizabethan　period；　whence　its　lyrical　poetry　and　the　dramatic　in　a　less　degree；　are　coloured　much　less　by　pure　and　severe　classicalism　with　its　closeness　to　reality；　than　by　the　allegorical　and　elaborate　style；　fancy　and　fact　curiously　blended；　which　had　been　generated　in　Italy　under　the　peculiar　and　local　circumstances　of　her　pilgrimage　in　literature　and　art　from　the　age　of　Dante　onwards。　　Whilst　that　influence　lasted；　such　brilliant　pictures　of　actual　life；　such　directness；　movement；　and　simplicity　in　style；　as　Chaucer　often　shows；　were　not　yet　again　attainable：　　and　although　satire；　narrative；　the　poetry　of　reflection；　were　meanwhile　not　wholly　unknown；　yet　they　only　appear　in　force　at　the　close　of　this　period。　　And　then　also　the　pressure　of　political　and　religious　strife；　veiled　in　poetry　during　the　greater　part　of　Elizabeth's　actual　reign　under　the　forms　of　pastoral　and　allegory；　again　imperiously　breaks　in　upon　the　gracious　but　somewhat　slender　and　artificial　fashions　of　England's　Helicon：　　the　DIVOM　NUMEN；　SEDESQUE　QUIETAE　which；　in　some　degree　the　Elizabethan　poets　offer；　disappear；　until　filling　the　central　years　of　the　seventeenth　century　we　reach　an　age　as　barren　for　inspiration　of　new　song　as　the　Wars　of　the　Roses；　although　the　great　survivors　from　earlier　years　mask　this　sterility；masking　also　the　revolution　in　poetical　manner　and　matter　which　we　can　see　secretly　preparing　in　the　later　'Cavalier'　poets；　but　which　was　not　clearly　recognised　before　the　time　of　Dryden's　culmination。
  In　the　period　here　briefly　sketched；　what　is　Herrick's　portion？　His　verse　is　eminent　for　sweet　and　gracious　fluency；　this　is　a　real　note　of　the　'Elizabethan'　poets。　　His　subjects　are　frequently　pastoral；　with　a　classical　tinge；　more　or　less　slight；　infused；　his　language；　though　not　free　from　exaggeration；　is　generally　free　from　intellectual　conceits　and　distortion；　and　is　eminent　throughout　for　a　youthful　NAIVETE。　　Such；　also；　are　qualities　of　the　latter　sixteenth　century　literature。　　But　if　these　characteristics　might　lead　us　to　call　Herrick　'the　last　of　the　Elizabethans；'　born　out　of　due　time；　the　differences　between　him　and　them　are　not　less　marked。　　Herrick's　directness　of　speech　is　accompanied　by　an　equally　clear　and　simple　presentment　of　his　thought；　we　have；　perhaps；　no　poet　who　writes　more　consistently　and　earnestly　with　his　eye　upon　his　subject。　　An　allegorical　or　mystical　treatment　is　alien　from　him：　　he　handles　awkwardly　the　few　traditional　fables　which　he　introduces。　　He　is　also　wholly　free　from　Italianizing　tendencies：　　his　classicalism　even　is　that　of　an　English　student；of　a　schoolboy；　indeed；　if　he　be　compared　with　a　Jonson　or　a　Milton。　　Herrick's　personal　eulogies　on　his　friends　and　others；　further；　witness　to　the　extension　of　the　field　of　poetry　after　Elizabeth's　age；in　which　his　enthusiastic　geniality；　his　quick　and　easy　transitions　of　subject；　have　also　little　precedent。
  If；　again；　we　compare　Herrick's　book　with　those　of　his　fellow…　poets　for　a　hundred　years　before；　very　few　are　the　traces　which　he　gives　of　imitation；　or　even　of　study。　　During　the　long　interval　between　Herrick's　entrance　on　his　Cambridge　and　his　clerical　careers　（an　interval　all　but　wholly　obscure　to　us）；　it　is　natural　to　suppose　that　he　read；　at　any　rate；　his　Elizabethan　predecessors：　　yet　（beyond　those　general　similarities　already　noticed）　the　Editor　can　find　no　positive　proof　of　familiarity。　Compare　Herrick　with　Marlowe；　Greene；　Breton；　Drayton；　or　other　pretty　pastoralists　of　the　HELICONhis　general　and　radical　unlikeness　is　what　strikes　us；　whilst　he　is　even　more　remote　from　the　passionate　intensity　of　Sidney　and　Shakespeare；　the　Italian　graces　of　Spenser；　the　pensive　beauty　of　PARTHENOPHIL；　of　DIELLA；　of　FIDESSA；　of　the　HECATOMPATHIA　and　the　TEARS　OF　FANCY。
  Nor　is　Herrick's　resemblance　nearer　to　many　of　the　contemporaries　who　have　been　often　grouped　with　him。　　He　has　little　in　common　with　the　courtly　elegance；　the　learned　polish；　which　too　rarely　redeem　commonplace　and　conceits　in　Carew；　Habington；　Lovelace；　Cowley；　or　Waller。　　Herrick　has　his　CONCETTI　also：　　but　they　are　in　him　generally　true　plays　of　fancy；　he　writes　throughout　far　more　naturally　than　these　lyrists；　who；　on　the　other　hand；　in　their　unfrequent　successes　reach　a　more　complete　and　classical　form　of　expression。　　Thus；　when　Carew　speaks　of　an　aged　fair　one
  When　beauty；　youth；　and　all　sweets　leave　her；　　　　Love　may　return；　but　lovers　never！
  Cowley；　of　his　mistress
  Love　in　her　sunny　eyes　does　basking　play；　　　　Love　walks　the　pleasant　mazes　of　her　hair：
  or　take　Lovelace；　'To　Lucasta；'　Waller；　in　his　'Go；　lovely　rose；'we　have　a　finish　and　condensation　which　Herrick　hardly　attains；　a　literary　quality　alien　from　his　'woodnotes　wild；'　which　may　help　us　to　understand　the　very　small　appreciation　he　met　from　his　age。　　He　had　'a　pretty　pastoral　gale　of　fancy；'　said　Phillips；　cursorily　dismissing　Herrick　in　his　THEATRUM：　　not　suspecting　how　inevitably　artifice　and　mannerism；　if　fashionable　for　awhile；　pass　into　forgetfulness；　whilst　the　simple　cry　of　Nature　partake　in　her　permanence。
  Donne　and　Marvell；　stronger　men；　leave　also　no　mark　on　our　poet。　The　elaborate　thought；　the　metrical　harshness　of　the　first；　could　find　no　counterpart　in　Herrick；　whilst　Marvell；　beyond　him　in　imaginative　power；　though　twisting　it　too　often　into　contortion　and　excess；　appears　to　have　been　little　known　as　a　lyrist　then：　as；　indeed；　his　great　merits　have　never　reached　anything　like　due　popular　recognition。　　Yet　Marvell's　natural　description　is　nearer　Herrick's　in　felicity　and　insight　than　any　of　the　poets　named　above。　　Nor；　again；　do　we　trace　anything　of　Herbert　or　Vaughan　in　Herrick's　NOBLE　NUMBERS；　which；　though　unfairly　judged　if　held　insincere；　are　obviously　far　distant　from　the　intense　conviction；　the　depth　and　inner　fervour　of　his　high…toned　contemporaries。
  It　is　among　the　great　dramatists　of　this　age　that　we　find　the　only　English　influences　palpably　operative　on　this　singularly　original　writer。　　The　greatest；　in　truth；　is　wholly　absent：　　and　it　is　remarkable　that　although　Herrick　may　have　joined　in　the　wit…contests　and　genialities　of　the　literary　clubs　in　London　soon　after　Shakespeare's　death；　and　certainly　lived　in　friendship　with　some　who　had　known　him；　yet　his　name　is　never　mentioned　in　the　poetical　commemorations　of　the　HESPERIDES。　　In　Herrick；　echoes　from　Fletcher's　idyllic　pieces　in　the　FAITHFUL　SHEPHERDESS　are　faintly　traceable；　from　his　songs；　'Hear　what　Love　can　do；'　and　'The　lusty　Spring；'　more　distinctly。　　But　to　Ben　Jonson；　whom　Herrick　addresses　as　his　patron　saint　in　song；　and　ranks　on　the　highest　list　of　his　friends；　his　obligations　are　much　more　perceptible。　　In　fact；　Jonson's　non…dramatic　poetry；the　EPIGRAMS　and　FOREST　of　1616；　the　UNDERWOODS　of　1641；　（he　died　in　1637）；　supply　models；　generally　admirable　in　point　of　art；　though　of　very　unequal　merit　in　their　execution　and　contents；　of　the　principal　forms　under　which　we　may　range　Herrick's　HESPERIDES。　The　graceful　love…song；　the　celebration　of　feasts　and　wit；　the　encomia　of　friends；　the　epigram　as　then　understood；　are　all　here　represented：　　even　Herrick's　vein　in　natural　description　is　prefigured　in　the　odes　to　Penshurst　and　Sir　Robert　Wroth；　of　1616。　　And　it　is　in　the　religious　pieces　of　the　NOBLE　NUMBERS；　for　which　Jonson　afforded　the　least　copious　precedents；　that；　as　a　rule；　Herrick　is　least　successful。
  Even　if　we　had　not　the　verses　on　his　own　book；　（the　most　noteworthy　of　which　are　here　printed　as　PREFATORY；）　in　proof　that　Herrick　was　no　careless　singer；　but　a　true　artist；　working　with　conscious　knowledge　of　his　art；　we　might　have　inferred　the　fact　from　the　choice　of　Jonson　as　his　model。　　That　great　poet；　as　Clarendon　justly　remarked；　had　'judgment　to　order　and　govern　fancy；　rather　than　excess　of　fancy：　　his　productions　being　slow　and　upon　deliberation。'　　No　writer　could　be　better　fitted　for　the　guidance　of　one　so　fancy…free　as　Herrick；　to　whom　the　curb；　in　the　old　phrase；　was　more　needful　than　the　spur；　and　whose　invention；　more　fertile　and　varied　than　Jonson's；　was　ready　at　once　to　fill　up　the　moulds　of　form　provided。　　He　does　this　with　a　lively　facility；　contrasting　much　with　the　evidence　of　labour　in　his　master's　work。　　Slowness　and　deliberation　are　the　last　qualities　suggested　by　Herrick。　　Yet　it　may　be　doubted　whether　the　volatile　ease；　the　effortless　grace；　the　wild　bird…like　fluency　with　which　he
  Scatters　his　loose　notes　in　the　waste　of　air
  are　not；　in　truth；　the　results　of　exquisite　art　working　in　co…　operation　with　the　gifts　of　nature。　　T