An early (lived November 13th 354 to August 28th 430 CE) Christian theologian whose works are overwhelmingly influential in the development of Western Christianity and philosophy. He is viewed as one of the most important of the Church Fathers and his two most important writings, Confessions and City of God, are very influential in Western Christianity and commonly read to this day.

This poem, first portrayed as a piece pondering the wonders of the daffodil, is really a dramatized account of Herrick’s perception of the conflict between life and death. Examining the short-lived nature of life, Herrick compares the life of a flower (the “you” of the poem) to the life of a human (the “we”), both of which are short and fleeting. The general concept, then, is best depicted in lines eleven and twelve:

“We have short time to stay, as you,
We have as short a spring;”

An early 17th-century English playwright and poet with a thorough Classical education that can be found running through the veins of his works. He is widely regarded as one of the most important English playwrights after William Shakespeare.

Despite his intellect and education he is known to have worked as a brick layer and fought for his country in the army. Howeve, by the time he was 25 he had joined a theatre company in London, The Admiral’s Men.
His comedies were admired by contemporary audiences, and he also wrote a number of masques for the court, simple plays in which the lords and ladies acted. Jonson’s work influenced poets and playwrights of the 17th century.
Jonson was married, but it is unclear who his wife was. Their marriage was beset by tragedy, though his they were common in his time. His eldest son, also called Benjamin, died of the plague at the age of seven. ‘On My First Son’ was written in memory of him. His daughter and his second son both died in childhood too.

Roberr Herrick was born in 1591 to a London goldsmith, the youngest of seven children. When Herrick was fourteen months old, his father died. At age 16, Herrick was apprenticed to his uncle for ten years, but he completed it after only six year.
He graduated at Saint John’s College, Cambridge in 1617.

For the next ten years Herrick was strongly influenced by by Ben Jonson. In 1623 he took holy orders, and six years later became vicar of Dean Prior in Devonshire. During the Great Rebellion in 1647 he was removed from his position because of his Royalist sympathies. Following the restoration of Charles II, Herrick was reinstated, where he remained until his death in 1674. He never married, and the women about whom he wrote in his poems are believed to be fictional.

Herrick is known principally for his Hesperides and his religious poems published in 1647. The entire collection contains more than 1200 short poems, The influence of classical Roman poetry and of pastoral themes is strong. The main focus is on English rural life and customs.