Fourth End

[glander]

Does anyone have any theories on what "Fourth End" means?  I've gone over his poems with a fine tooth comb and can't figure out what that second poem is.  Please save me.  Maybe after he wrote "Women Useless" Anthea or Judith ended him.  Lol. 

[choice]

Fourth poem titled "To Anthea" is #678 that ends with "die". Maybe a hint to first poem not 2nd.

[thrillofthechase]

One of Herrick's patrons was a diplomat named Endymion Porter. Herrick wrote four poems specifically in his honor...

To the Patron of Poets, M. End. Porter
An Ode to Master Endymion Porter, Upon His Brother's Death
An Eclogue or Pastoral Between Endymion Porter and Lycidas Herrick
The Country Life, To The Honoured M. End. Porter

[byrnietuney]

From post above;
'An Eclogue or Pastoral Between Endymion Porter and Lycidas Herrick'
https://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herrick/endlyc.htm
features a conversation between 'Lyc.' and 'End.'

(Taking care to correct for the typesetting mistake in that text's shown
poem,) the (actual) Fourth End, (a single line of 27 letters), reads thusly;

...
(Lyc.) "I mean the court : let Latmos be
`````My lov'd Endymion's court."
(End.) "But I the courtly state would see,"
(Lyc.) "Then see it in report."

---------

Other than the above, the only other fourth I've noticed is the poem
to Lord Bernard Stewart,
219. A DIRGE UPON THE DEATH OF THE RIGHT VALIANT LORD, BERNARD STUART.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22421/22421-h/i.html
(from Notes at end of that URL);
'219. Lord Bernard Stewart, fourth son of Esme, third Duke of Lennox, and
himself created Earl of Lichfield by Charles I. He commanded the king's
troop of guards, and was killed at the battle of Rowton Heath, outside
Chester, Sept. 24, 1645.'

---------
I have zero confidence anything I've noted above is relevant.

[choice]

There's another:

224. GOD'S KEYS
God has four keys, which He reserves alone:
The first of rain; the key of hell next known;
With the third key He opes and shuts the womb;
And with the fourth key he unlocks the tomb.

[tahoeeyes]

Apr 18, 2023 13:20:40 GMT -5 choice said:

There's another:

224. GOD'S KEYS
God has four keys, which He reserves alone:
The first of rain; the key of hell next known;
With the third key He opes and shuts the womb;
And with the fourth key he unlocks the tomb.

Dont we need at least 6 lines though?

[choice]

4 lines could work too.

5-4 3-2
1-7 6-2
6-3 2-3
3-3 5-3

You have 4 lines of numbers. Theoretically you can use two sets of numbers for each line. So 1:7 could be line 2, word 7, letter 1.
Since there are two sets per line perhaps use the second set from the end of line.
I haven't tried any of this since I don't want to get fired for goofing off!

[tahoeeyes]

Apr 18, 2023 14:48:35 GMT -5 choice said:

4 lines could work too.

5-4 3-2
1-7 6-2
6-3 2-3
3-3 5-3

You have 4 lines of numbers. Theoretically you can use two sets of numbers for each line. So 1:7 could be line 2, word 7, letter 1.
Since there are two sets per line perhaps use the second set from the end of line.
I haven't tried any of this since I don't want to get fired for goofing off!

Very true.

[glander]

So, the 4th poem from the end of Volume II is #268. It's not titled, and it's in the shape of a cross - much like the Herricksfourthend/EVQFD letters. But I can't get it to work with the book cipher. Am I completely off track? Or, am I doing the book cipher incorrectly? I feel like I'm chasing my tail.

[tahoeeyes]

May 4, 2023 10:24:52 GMT -5 glander said:

So, the 4th poem from the end of Volume II is #268. It's not titled, and it's in the shape of a cross - much like the Herricksfourthend/EVQFD letters. But I can't get it to work with the book cipher. Am I completely off track? Or, am I doing the book cipher incorrectly? I feel like I'm chasing my tail.

I think we all feel that way.

[choice]

There are 8 sentences in the cross.

[foolsmoon]

Apr 17, 2023 21:25:37 GMT -5 glander said:

Does anyone have any theories on what "Fourth End" means?  I've gone over his poems with a fine tooth comb and can't figure out what that second poem is.  Please save me.  Maybe after he wrote "Women Useless" Anthea or Judith ended him.  Lol. 

After the most recent set of hints, I'm confident that "Fourth End" refers to the end of the fourth line of #678 To Anthea, which is the only Herrick poem that is part of the puzzle. I was using the version of this poem on Project Gutenberg, but the typesetting is too modern. We've seen that older print versions of the poem, like the one that Samantha provided, include what is described as a smiley at the end of the fourth line. That should be the answer, but I have no idea how it is relevant.