Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Christian : Protestant

17th Century

Wales
(Europe)

George Herbert

Timeline (1593 - 1633)

Poems by George Herbert
Books - Links

George Herbert, George Herbert poetry, Christian, Christian poetry, Protestant poetry, poetry, poetry

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George Herbert is probably considered to be the most influential religious/spiritual poet of the English Metaphysical Poets.

George Herbert was born in Wales to a wealthy family. He had six brothers and three sisters. Their father died when George was only three years old.

His mother supported the arts, particularly known for her patronage of the hugely influential poet John Donne, who essentially started the Metaphysical poetry movement.

George Herbert studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. It was during this time that Herbert wrote his first known poems. In them, he declared that love of God was a more worthy subject for poetry than love of women -- a decided shift from the often erotic focus of the earlier works of John Donne and other early Metaphysical poets.

After Herbert's graduation from Trinity, he started gaining influence as a key university orator. Around this time, he also had some connection with Sir Francis Bacon (who has sometimes been linked with secret spiritual societies); a year before his death in 1626, Bacon dedicated a translation of the psalms to Herbert.

Instead of using his connections and rising position to attain high political office, he did an about face and took holy orders within the Church of England and became a country parson. He devotedly served the local community as a rector at Bremerton outside of Salisbury for the rest of his relatively short life. The care he showed his parishoners was so sincere that he was referred to as "Holy Mr. Herbert." In fact, he wrote a manual of advice for how to serve the community of a country parish.

Throughout this time George Herbert continued to privately compose poetry, but it wasn't until he was on his deathbed that he sent his unpublished poems to a friend, telling him to publish them only if he thought they might help "any dejected poor soul."

The manuscript was first published as The Temple the same year as Herbert's death. It was immediately influential in both British poetry and spirituality, inspiring other spiritual poets, like Henry Vaughan and Richard Crashaw.

Poems by George Herbert

	Church-Monuments
	Prayer (I)
	The Altar
	The Elixir
	The Flower
	The Pearl. Matthew 13

Recommended Books

	The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell Amazon.com
	The Essential George Herbert, by George Herbert / Edited by Anthony Hecht Amazon.com
	George Herbert: A Literary Life, by Christina Malcolmson Amazon.com
	George Herbert: The Complete English Poems, by George Herbert / Edited by John Tobin Amazon.com
	George Herbert: The Country Parson and the Temple, by George Herbert / Edited by John Nelson Wall Amazon.com
	Metaphysical Poetry: (Penguin Classics), Edited by Colin Burrow Amazon.com
	Metaphysical Poetry: An Anthology (Dover Thrift Edition), Edited by Paul Negri Amazon.com
	The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert, by George Herbert / Edited by Henry L. Carrigan Amazon.com

Related Links:

	George Herbert http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/ An excellent site with a biography, timeline, all of the poems from The Temple, links to essays about Herbert. Worth a visit.
	George Herbert http://swc2.hccs.cc.tx.us/rowhtml/Herbert/ A biographical sketch, and several helpful links.
	George Herbert & The Temple http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/HQ.html Lots of links related to George Herbert's collection of poetry The Temple and its influence on Anglican liturgy.
	The Academy of American Poets - George Herbert http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/628 A brief biography, along with a small selection of poems and links to other Metaphysical poets.
	George Herbert Journal http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/george_herbert_journal/ A print publication of essays related to George Herbert. You can access a free sample issue online.
	The Life of Mr. George Herbert http://www.bartleby.com/15/2/21.html An in-depth biography of George Herbert written in the 1600s.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

George Herbert

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Sacred Poetry from Around the World