A SELECTION FROM THE LYRICAL POEMS OF ROBERT HERRICK -- 1892 -- TO THE LADY REATRIX MAUD CEClL, My dear Matdd This selectioir, oveer which L have hesitated for nzany nonths, has been made in t h ko c of rendeying a poet, hitherto little known in rojortion to kis ckavm and his deserts, accessible tc readers in. g-eneraL Herricks merits nay be said to have laced him beyond the symjnthy of his own age his blemishes, beyond that of later times. Ye. he was eminent for the felicicity with which he uniten natural gzyts to mastery over his beautQiul art and, from this ka y union, unlike the majority of hzs corz nfiol-nries, he mcy be still listened to with h leasure as a true living voice, afer the lnpse of more than two centuries. Nor, unless I greatly overrate the value of his z rsew, i ll re ages z ilZi zgZlye t it die, whilst the love of beauty, aand the maj oJ the past, two strong ewers, rsf zliz their hold a o 2 EngZish. rn. Fair maidens, we rend in the ancient tak, even whilst the drogolt kept ward against all others, were free to range within thefanzous Gnrdens of the West. Such, 1 please mnyself with anticipnting, alone wzth Nature in those fortunate times oy leisure W lich fall oftnest to their share, womans quiet hours, will enjoy the golden ajpies which are here rathered together froln Herricks old Hesperides. England rs fi ziizffd by hii lz as she was left by Elizabeth 12 aL re and the I umnn heart, spring and autumn, joy and sorrow, he jai zts as they are now and aiwnys have been. He may be g end and read rtgczin h booi is of that jeculiar delzkhvul and nttrac live i d we Uiek OL rrtther, tns a comjanzon or a friend. These reasons, to which, ns a filemure to ng seg 1 m z atd dyour own pure taste and abiliq if art, have made me desirous to dedicate my book to you. It is not, indeed, a moment special propitious to poetry -The gate of Europe, liLv that other seen in vision by Millon, is now With drtadJudfacrs threngd, andjery arms mens minds am not zn tune wzth the music of Helicon. Yet hence, aLo, a corztrast arises which makes Poetry even more precious. The sweet Muses bg09. e everythir g, duLces ante olnnia Musae, carry us with thetpz to another and a better, if n more shadowy, world. We can there, it is true, have no abiciilzq knbitalion yet al times, quittiltg reality, with its ltarddissonances, its restless revolution, it is Lawful for us to dwell in thc larger aether and ur le l which clothe thc EZysinn jields of art. That atg zos here some, a d yozc amonp. them, breathe rather us zatives than as visitors there at least, whatever the loud world muy be ursuing, are grace and harmony there nre cacr and pe nz, zttence. Peri zanence, indeed, so far ns tnans work M s L ee m to affain i t, is to be found on in sud vecor-d of noble dens or love thoughts and images, zs scu to and pilinter, music nnd sweet poetry, an provide.-Is that g of end-ing charm, beauly that will not fade, reservecl for the verse contrtined in this little book -I s k o M tot have cared to grace it with your name, were 1 not convinced fhai such will be Herricks ortion. R O B E R T THOSE w ho most admire the Poet from whose many pieces a selection only is here offered, will, it is 210-bable, feel most strongly with the Editor that excuse is needed for an attempt of an obviously presumptuous nature... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.