George Herbert
Paperback | Pages: 212 pages Rating: 4.14 | 403 Users | 21 Reviews
Define Books Supposing The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
| Original Title: | The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert (Christian Classic) |
| ISBN: | 1557252599 (ISBN13: 9781557252593) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Interpretation Toward Books The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
Metaphysical Poetry!What’s that mean? Well, for the great poet T.S. Eliot, the term perfectly characterizes that moment in history when poetic writing became split into a Cartesian duality - ‘A disassociation of sensibility.’
And that, he says, happened back in the late Renaissance.
I think he’s right, and I’ll use one example from this book to show you the prelapsarian (in a literary sense) genius of George Herbert.
But let’s first take a look back to the early Renaissance before the Reformation clicked into high gear...
At that time, artists heartened back to the classical ideal of the Whole Human Being - “mens sana in corpora sano.” But the intellect was always their watchtower.
So early Shakespeare is full of Eden-like natural settings in which wit ruled the roost:
“It was a lover and his lass
That through the green cornfields did pass
In Springtime...”
So, there you have it: a pastoral setting and an opportunity for risqué punchlines.
But near the end of the Tudor Era, Europe started to come of age, and so while writers like Herbert stressed an Edenic sound morality and intellect - nature and wit - other authors were growing cynically sophisticated, like Donne before he was converted in his deep malaise.
A deep rift had begun.
Watch carefully, now, as George Herbert uses sensory images to lead you into a carefully-laid trap IN WHICH IDEAS, AND NOT FEELINGS (as in the first stanzas) STILL REIGN SUPREME - THOUGH THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO REMAINS INTACT:
VIRTUE:
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky,
The dew will weep your fall tonight
For you must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave
Makes the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Your root is always in its grave,
And you must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie,
My music shows you have your closes,
And all must die.
Only a sweet and virtuous soul
Like seasoned timber never gives,
But though the whole world turns to coal
Then chiefly lives.
There! Did you see the Trap sprung by that strange symbol of Coal? A ‘false note’ for sure!
Did you see how it took you from the Dying of sweet Bodily things into the Immortality of the Soul?
Right where Herbert wants to take us - by stealth!
***
When I discovered the great George Herbert - seems strange, doesn’t it, to ‘discover’ someone whose soul has been at peace for 400 years? - I was humbled!
Here I was, 50 years ago, riding the merry coattails of the boisterous, rambunctious throng of ‘great writers’ who enlivened the seventeenth century with their testosterone-charged vigour -
And ignoring the still, silent voices of such intelligent quietists as Herbert.
He was the Jan Vermeer of Renaissance word-painting. Full of a variety of symbolic meanings, and totally free of worldliness.
My hat’s off to you, dear friend and ange guardien of my youth!
The still waters you were trying to lead me to were infinitely clearer, deeper and more satisfying than those tempest-tossed oceans Shakespeare & Co. so pride themselves on.
Your simple faith could have guided me to a peaceful harbour, instead of straight into the midst of heretical storms of anger against countless soulless antagonists.
If only I had known.
But Thank Heaven I do NOW.
Declare Epithetical Books The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
| Title | : | The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert |
| Author | : | George Herbert |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 212 pages |
| Published | : | December 3rd 2005 by Paraclete Press (MA) (first published 1633) |
| Categories | : | Poetry. Classics. Religion. Christianity. Literature. European Literature. British Literature. 17th Century |
Rating Epithetical Books The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
Ratings: 4.14 From 403 Users | 21 ReviewsAssessment Epithetical Books The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
Herbert offers the reader some of the best spiritual poetry ever written.Read this in the classics of Western Spirituality edition. Herbert is a genius wordsmith and a master of form. There are some very beautiful poems in this collection.
Read this in another edition. But always fantastic. Some glorious lines in here.
Herbert and I share thoughts, but the potency of his words far exceed that of mine.The lines are of impeccable form. The prayers are honest, somewhat erratic, and saturated with devotion.
Full of well known works like "Love (III)" and "Easter Wings" (which, together with cummings' "l(a," is one of the only concrete poems I've ever liked) and other gems like "the Dawning," this is one of the absolute masterpieces of Christian poetry. It is a prolonged demonstration that word play and wit are not mutually exclusive with a devotional work. For example, here's a stanza from "Evensong": "But thou art Light and darkness both together:/ If that be dark we cannot see:/ The sun is darker
i keep a copy of this in my satchel.
George Herbert was my favorite poet in the Early British Literature class that I took, and so I was delighted when my book group to read him. We read about thirty of his poems and I loved revisiting his works. In particular, what I find striking is the nuances and challenges of faith, and his notions of God and spirituality, which really speak to me and encourage me. Sometime I plan to read the entire book.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.