I met George Herbert briefly in my 17th century poetry class at Rutgers in 1965.
He was unique for his pattern poems, which I thought were just a gimmick.
How wrong I was. This was inspirational artwork and poetry that has stood the test of time.
What has endured for ever is his care for his parishenors and love of Jesus.
When I see him in heaven I hope to thank him for his life, poetry, and testimony.
George Herbert, 1593-1633, was born in Wales into a noble, wealthy, and artistic family. John Donne* (1572-1671) was his godfather and close family friend with his mother.
An asterisk* after a name means the person is in SPIRITUAL LIVES.
George
George Herbert's Youth
His father died when George was three, but his mother gave him a solid education that prepared him for Cambridge. He went in 1609 and gained a Bachelor's and Master's degrees by 1616, when he was 23! He intended to become ordained in the Church of England but got sidetracked.
A talented speaker but sickly young man, George was so successful as the University's Public Orator that he drew the attention of King James I* (1566-1625) He sat in the Parliament of England in 1624 and briefly in 1625. When the King died that year he renewed his interest in the minisry, was ordained in 1630
George Herbert's Ministry
He was rector in Bemerton, near Salisbury. This was a rural parish, and he had to change his way of life. He married Jane Danvers at Edington Church on 5 March 1629. She was ten years younger than him, the daughter of one of George's stepfather's relatives. They loved and were devoted to one another but had no children. They did take in three orphaned nieces, whom they raised and took to St. Andrews Church twice a day.
George regularly went to the cathedral in Salisbury to worship and play his lute and viol (gamba) with the musicians there. He was known for his poetry and care of his parish. He wrote a guide to rural ministry, A Priest to the Temple or The County Parson: His Character and Rule of Holy Life, based on his personal adaptation from a privileged upper-class life to humbling himself to minister to the rural people who made up his flocks .He was never a healthy man and died of consumption at age 39.
He wrote poetry in English, Latin, and Greek and published his English poems in The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations in 1633; the book went through eight editions by 1690. According to Izaak Walton,(1593-1683) when Herbert sent the manuscript to his friend to evaluate, he said that "he shall find in it a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed between God and my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus, my Master."
In this Herbert used the format of the poems to reinforce the theme he was trying to portray. Beginning with "The Church Porch", they proceed via "The Altar" to "The Sacrifice", and so onwards through the collection.
George Herbert's Poems and Songs
Herbert came from a musical family. His mother knew some of thee best composer of the time and over the 90 of his poems have been made into songs. 40 published by the Wesley brothers. Among them this one that is blessing me today:
Teach me, my God and king,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee.
A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye;
Or if he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heaven espy.
To scorn the senses’ sway,
While still to Thee I tend:
In all I do be Thou the way,
In all be Thou the end.
All may of Thee partake;
Nothing so small can be
But draws, when acted for Thy sake,
Greatness and worth from Thee.
If done to obey Thy laws,
E’en servile labors shine;
Hallowed is toil, if this the cause,
The meanest work divine.
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be sold.
Commenting on his religious poetry later in the 17th century, Richard Baxter (1615-1693) said, "Herbert speaks to God like one that really believeth in God, and whose business in the world is most with God. Heart-work and heaven-work make up his books".[2
According to Good Reads, T.S. Eliot considered George Herbert one of the liveliest and most profound of English poets with whose work he felt an instinctive accord. Describing The Temple as ... 'not simply a collection of poems but ... a record of the spiritual struggles of a man of intellectual power and emotional intensity who gave much toil to perfecting his verses .". Eliot considered Herbert's religious verse above John Donne's and placed him firmly in the ranks of the great English poets. .
Both these men had an impact on my life in 1965 when I discovered Herbert and when Eliot died. I am very thankful for Eliot's book on him but more importantly for his role in making the metaphysical poets take the position of influence on modern poetry that the Romantics once had,
Herbert's "Easter Wings" printed sideways on facing pages:
There are various collects for the day, of which one is based on his poem "The Elixir":
Our God and King, who called your servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in your temple: Give us grace, we pray, joyfully to perform the tasks you give us to do, knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for your sake ... Amen.
The quote "All may have, if they dare try, a glorious life, or a grave" from Herbert's "The Church Porch" is inscribed on the outer wall of St. John's Church, Waterloo.
About the image:
The church of 17th century poet-priest George Herbert w:George Herbert
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