Introduction to George
Herbert (1593 – 1633)
Texts on the English Renaissance Course
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Thomas Nashe – The Unfortunate Traveller
Francis Bacon – The Major Works
William Shakespeare – Sonnets
William Shakespeare – Hamlet
George Herbert – The Complete English Poems
John Donne – The Complete English Poems
Christopher Marlowe – The Jew of Malta
Cyril Tourneur – The Revenger’s Tragedy
Ben Johnson – The Alchemist
The Comparison Question
The comparison question aims to test your ability
to identify, compare and critically assess key
features of each text. Questions may be about:
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Concerns / themes / motifs
Style eg imagery, symbolism
Structure
Reader response – engaging emotion, sympathy
etc
Characterization
The period
Sample Comparison Questions (1)
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Compare how any two Renaissance texts you have studied
reflect the times in which their writers lived.
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Compare the ways in which any two texts you have
studied can be considered “Renaissance”.
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Compare the presentation of relationships in any two texts
you have read from the Renaissance period.
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Compare the ways in which major themes are presented
by any two modern writers you have studied.
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Compare the impact of science or scientific thought on any
two Renaissance texts.
Sample Comparison Questions (2)
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Compare the ways in which two texts that you have studied
treat conflict.
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Compare and contrast the ways in which the writers of two
texts you have studied engage the emotions of a reader or
a member of an audience through their works.
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Compare the ways in which any two writers in this period
present aspects of human suffering.
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Compare or contrast the ways in which any two writers in
this period make use of imagery in their work.
Herbert Background (1)
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George Herbert was born in Montgomery, Wales, on April 3, 1593,
the fifth son of Richard and Magdalen Newport Herbert. After his
father's death in 1596, he and his siblings were raised by their
mother, patron to John Donne (1572 – 1631) who dedicated his
Holy Sonnets to her.
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Herbert was born into a powerful and respected wealthy,
aristocratic family and had a distinguished career at university.
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He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College,
Cambridge and was elected Public Orator to the University, a post
which permitted powerful contacts and often led to high public
office.
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While Herbert initially entered public office and served as member
of Parliament for Montgomery, he later decided to give up his
secular ambitions and turned to a life of ministry. He took holy
orders in the Church of England in 1630 and spent the rest of his
life as rector in Bemerton near Salisbury
Bemerton Rectory
Old St Paul’s Cathedral
Painting of Old St Paul’s
Aerial View of St Paul’s Cathedral in
London
Herbert Background (2)
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In 1629, Herbert married Jane Danvers, cousin of his
stepfather and took holy orders in the Church of England in
1630 after which he served as rector of Bemerton Rectory.
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Herbert cared deeply for his parishioners and at Bemerton,
he preached and wrote poetry, helped rebuild the church
with his own funds and came to be known as "Holy Mr.
Herbert" around the countryside in the three years before
he died of consumption on March 1, 1633.
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Herbert’s first two sonnets, sent to his mother in 1610,
maintained that the love of God is a worthier subject for
verse than the love of woman. He was a role model known
for his dedication to the church as a priest and avoided
using poetry for secular means. He devoted much of his
poetry to God, and, in essence, became reputable for
paying homage to his Creator.
Herbert’s Poetry (1)
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Herbert’s most famous work is his collection, The Temple
which focuses on various parts of the church building. On
his deathbed, he sent the manuscript of The Temple to his
friend, Nicholas Ferrar, asking him to publish the poems
only if he thought they might do good to "any dejected
poor soul.“
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The collection was published in 1633 and met with great
popular acclaim - it had 13 printings by 1680.
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According to Robyn V. Young, author of, George Herbert:,
"most scholars of Herbert's poetry have accepted the
division of The Temple into three major sections: "The
Church, "The Church Porch, and "The Church Militant" (98).
Herbert’s Poetry (2)
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The structure of "The Temple" is divided into three parts, as
though the reader is going to be led step-by-step through a
physical temple. "The Church-porch," offers a a great deal
of advice on moral matters to prepare someone who is
otherwise not yet ready for more serious devotions. After
this initiation, the reader is ready to enter the section called
"The Church,"a collection of poems that describes various
places or objects in the church. This dramatizes the
spiritual conflicts of a believer trying to secure his faith.
Finally, the "The Church Militant" turns from the life of the
individual believer to the corporate body of the church
which, like each individual, must endure a series of
successes and failure throughout its history.
Herbert’s Poetry (3)
Herbert intended the poems in The Temple as expressions
of his love for God as well as his neighbour. In Herbert’s
characteristic imagery, they are both fruits and flowers of
the Christian life, wreaths of worship for God’s altar and the
harvest of fruits of edification for others. As acts of worship,
they were to symbolize in their elaborate forms the beauty
of the divine creation. As acts of edification…they were to
inflame [others] with the desire to follow the beauty of
holiness. The poems thus fulfilled for their readers the
traditional classical aims of pleasure and profit. For nothing
could be more pleasant than to contemplate the order of
God’s providence in the universe, the church or personal
life; and nothing could be more profitable, since such
contemplation should increase the reader’s faith and cause
him to order his own life after the divine pattern.
(Summers, 169)
Herbert’s Poetry (4)
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‘Dedication’ to God printed in The Temple:
Lord, my first fruits present themselves to thee;
Yet not mine neither: for from thee they came,
And must return. Accept of them and me,
And make us strive, who shall sing best thy name.
Turn their eyes hither, who shall make a gain;
Theirs, who shall hurt themselves or me refrain.
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Printers’ Note to the Reader:
Quitting both his deserts and all the opportunities that he had for worldly
preferment, he betook himself to the Sanctuary and Temple of God, choosing
rather to serve at God’s Altar, than to seek the honour of State employments.
His obedience and conformity to the Church and the discipline thereof was
singularly remarkable. Though he abounded in private devotions, yet went he
every morning and evening with his family to the church; and by his example,
exhortations and encouragements drew the greater part of his parishoners to
accompany him daily in the public celebration of Divine Service.
Herbert’s Poetry (5)
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On the whole, Herbert’s poems explore and celebrate the ways of God's
love as Herbert discovered them within the fluctuations of his own
experience
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He wrote exclusively religious poetry and many of his poems come very
close to forms of worship. The "essential" elements of Herbert's prayer-like
poems are contrition, confession, thanksgiving, adoration, and petitioning.
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There is a wide range of feelings in his poetry from the celebratory to the
agitated but Herbert is mainly known for his quietness of tone which is a
contrast to Donne’s drama.
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Like Donne, Herbert uses poetry as a way of working out conflict but each
poem is not simply an expression of conflict but is always directed towards
resolution.
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Herbert’s God is an image of patriarchal power as well as a figure of
maternal nourishment. To him, God is at once threatening and consoling,
both powerful and loving and his poems often emphasise man’s weakness
in contrast to God’s power.
Herbert’s Poetry (6)
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Herbert’s devotional meditation includes seeing the invisible in the
visible – his poetry puts forth the idea that the love of God can be
found in mundane objects and numerous material subjects are
used as instruments of spiritual love.
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In Herbert’s poetry, the ordinary is charged with meaning and
there is a conscious attempt to find God in the world around us.
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Herbert thus aims to bring God closer to us but also maintains the
authority of God and sees man as subservient. His poems deal
with the private relationship between the individual soul and God.
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The poems in The Temple represent a picture of the many spiritual
conflicts that have past between God and Herbert’s soul and
indeed most of his lyrics reflect the complex and subtle processes,
changes of attitude, struggles, and surrenders of the inner
spiritual life.
Herbert vs Donne: Metaphysical
Features
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The works of both poets display typical metaphysical
characteristics such as the sense of drama and the abrupt
personal openings which convey a sense of intensity and
directness.
‘Although Herbert consistently views his God as a great king,
utterly incommensurable with his creatures, paradoxically he also
writes as if God was his familiar friend, sitting somewhere near
the poet’s elbow.’
The use of colloquial language and the direct address of the
mistress or God is evident in many of Donne’s as well as Herbert’s
openings:“Busy old foole unruly sunne” and “For God's sake hold
your tongue ...” and “I struck the board, and cry'd, No more”,
“Throw away thy rod”
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Likewise, the poems also have an argument, more striking and
interesting in some more than others.
Herbert vs Donne: Poetic Features
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Imagery:
In terms of imagery, Donne is eclectic (wide-ranging) and
apparently obscure. He did not write for publication, but showed
poems to friends whom he supposed to be well-read enough to
understand these references. Donne's imagery draws on the new
learning of the English renaissance and on topical discoveries and
exploration. We find references to alchemy, sea-voyages,
mythology and religion (among many other things).
Herbert's imagery, by way of contrast, draws on the everyday and
familiar. Many of these images are also associated with the bible,
while others may have acquired religious connotations. At the
same time, Herbert’s poetry also serves as a reflection of his
times and there are examples of conceits and scientific imagery
eg The Pulley, The Windows (the annealing process)
Herbert vs Donne: Poetic Features
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Stanzas and Poetic Form:
Donne uses varied stanza patterns with the structure of the poem
often carrying the argument eg The three stanza structure of The
Good Morrow which moves from past to present to the future and
eternity.
Herbert also uses varied stanza patterns but is often more aware
of the appearance of the poem on the page, as well as the effect
on the ear. Poems such as The Altar and Easter Wings, for
example, are written almost wholly for the sake of appearance. ‘In
Discipline the cramped, lean lines reflect the severity which the
poet begs God to refrain from using. In The Collar, there is an
apparent randomness, a lack of order on the page, which mirrors
the disordered outburst of the poet. The jerky quality which
derives from rhetorical questions - frequent use of full-stop, colon
and question-mark even in mid-line - gives way only in the final
four lines to a fluent conclusion which comes with the poet's
account of his submission to the divine pull on the collar.’
The Altar
A broken ALTAR, Lord thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with teares:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workmans tool hath touch'd the same
A HEART alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow'r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy Name:
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctifie this ALTAR to be thine.
Easter - Wings
LORD, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more,
Till he became
Most poor :
With thee
O let me rise
As larks, harmoniously,
And sing this day thy victories :
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.
My tender age in sorrow did beginne :
And still with sicknesses and shame
Thou didst so punish sinne,
That I became
Most thinne.
With thee
Let me combine,
And feel this day thy victorie,
For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.
Original Print Version of Easter Wings in
1633 Manuscript
Herbert vs Donne: Themes
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Apart from stylistic comparisons, Donne and Herbert also share similar
themes.
Both poets deal with their own relationship with God but with differing
emotions. Herbert’s poetry is sometimes troubled (but never tortured as
Donne's seems to have been), often joyful; not thinking of himself or his
own importance overmuch, yet never doubting God's majesty, justice and
power.
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The obvious thematic comparison is thus the religious one but this is a
very large area which can be broken down into several other areas such
as:
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Relationships (man’s relationship with God in both Donne and Herbert and
also relationship between men and women in Donne – sacred and profane
love)
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Conflict / human suffering / pain (stemming from rejection, betrayal,
salvation anxiety etc)
Herbert vs Donne: Themes
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Resolution (resolution both within and across poems,
possibly also resolution in the love poetry – Donne’s
movement towards a combination of the spiritual and
physical).
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Love (sexual vs spiritual love in Donne, man’s love for God
and God’s love for man in both Donne and Herbert)
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Death (as something to be feared or conquered or looked
forward to as a transition from one state to another)
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Faith (religious faith vs faith in women eg Donne’s
inconstant women)