Then again, see how in his soberer and meditative moods, he can turn the rich and resonant Litany of the Anglican Church into measures of sweet sound: “In the hour of my distress, When temptations me oppress, And when I my sins confess, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! “When I lie within my bed, Sick in heart, and sick in head, And with doubts discomforted, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! “When the house doth sigh and weep, And the world is drown’d in sleep, Yet mine eyes the watch do keep, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! “When the passing bell doth toll, And the furies in a shoal Come, to fright a parting soul, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! “When the judgment is reveal’d, And that opened which was seal’d, When to thee I have appeal’d, Sweet Spirit, comfort me!” Now, in reading these two poems of such opposite tone, and yet of agreeing verbal harmonies, one would say--here is a singer, serene, devout, of delicate mould, loving all beautiful things in heaven and on earth. One would look for a man saintly of aspect, deep-eyed, tranquil, too ethereal for earth. Well, I must tell the truth in these talks, so far as I can find it, no matter what cherished images may break down. This Robert Herrick was a ponderous, earthy-looking man, with huge double chin, drooping cheeks, a great Roman nose, prominent glassy eyes, that showed around them the red lines begotten of strong potions of Canary, and the whole set upon a massive neck which might have been that of Heliogabalus.[42] It was such a figure as the artists would make typical of a man who loves the grossest pleasures. The poet kept a pet goose at the vicarage, and also a pet pig, which he taught to drink beer out of his own tankard; and an old parishioner, for whose story Anthony à Wood is sponsor, tells us that on one occasion when his little Devon congregation would not listen to him as he thought they ought to listen, he dashed his sermon on the floor, and marched with tremendous stride out of church--home to fondle his pet pig. When Charles I. came to grief, and when the Puritans began to sift the churches, this Royalist poet proved a clinker that was caught in the meshes and thrown aside. This is not surprising. It was after his enforced return to London, and in the year 1648 (one year before Charles’ execution at Whitehall), that the first authoritative publication was made of the _Hesperides, or Works, both Humane and Divine, of Robert Herrick, Esq._--his clerical title dropped.