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Title	:	The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
Author	:	George Herbert
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Deluxe 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

The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert

George Herbert

Paperback | Pages: 212 pages

Rating: 4.14 | 403 Users | 21 Reviews

Description To 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.

List Books Concering 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

Rating Regarding Books The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert

Ratings: 4.14 From 403 Users | 21 Reviews

Criticism Regarding Books The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert

A really wonderful collection of devotional poetry. George Herbert's poetry sinks deep roots into the glorious doctrines of the Christian faith, and then raises us up to soar with poignant praise. He is witty, lucid, and demonstrates that good doctrine with a beating heart is a potent combination. Herbert also mingles in a healthy dose of that good, ol' fashioned earthiness of English poets. In almost every selection you find some sort of proverbial statement which are often quite Solomonic. I'd

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.

nera vertimo.

George Herbert was a Welsh-born English poet and orator. Herbert's poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognized as "a pivotal figure: enormously popular, deeply and broadly influential, and arguably the most skillful and important British devotional lyricist."Born into an artistic and wealthy family, Herbert received a good education that led to his

An amazing collection from a great, and I think under valued, metaphysical poet. I do like George Herbert a lot.

Ew. Did not realize that "modernized" meant "rewritten for the dull reader". I'm all for normalized spelling and punctuation, but this was gag inducing. Am now in the market for a different edition.

i keep a copy of this in my satchel.