Hello and welcome to the Discourse. George Herbert was a poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England who took birth on 3rd April 1953 and died on 1st March 1633. He is one of the most celebrated Metaphysical poets and is considered one of the foremost devotional lyricists. All of his poetry is religious. He was the son of Richard Herbert and Magdalen Newport. While he belonged to a rich family, his father died early in 1596 when he was just 3 years old. Magdalen had a great interest in poetry and literature and she was a known patron of clergyman and poet John Donne and many other poets. After his father’s death, John Donne became his Godfather and mentor.
George Herbert attended Westminster school and later on won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1609. He completed his post-graduation in 1616 at the age of 23. He was known for his fluency in Greek and Latin and hence was appointed as the Public Orator of Cambridge University. King James Ist was highly impressed by him and often favored him. In 1624, George became a Parliamentarian from Montgomery. However, he didn’t have much interest in governance and politics, and soon after the death of King James I, he chose the devotional path to Church and became a priest in 1629. He died of consumption in 1633.
The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations by George Herbert
Herbert wrote poems in English, Latin, and Greek. However, he almost remained unpublished throughout his life. All his major works were published posthumously. He used to collect the manuscripts of his poems and shortly before his death, he sent the manuscripts of all his poetry to his friend Nicholas Ferrar who was also a priest. He asked Nicholas to read them and publish the poems if he thought they might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul", otherwise to burn them. Soon he died in 1633 and after his death, Nicholas Ferrar published all his English poems in the book The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations with a preface by Nicholas Ferrar. All these poems are religious. Being under the influence of John Donne, George Herbert mastered conceit and all these poems are metaphysical. In these poems, Herbert said that Nicholas will find “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.
In the book, all poems offer deeper spiritual meaning through various conceits, and visually too the poems are varied in such a way as to enhance their meaning, with intricate rhyme schemes, stanzas combining different line lengths, and other ingenious formal devices. The most obvious examples are pattern poems like The Altar and Easter Wings. In The Altar, the shorter and longer lines are arranged on the page in the shape of an altar. The visual appeal is reinforced by the conceit of its construction from a broken, stony heart, representing the personal offering of himself as a sacrifice upon it. Built into this is an allusion to Psalm 51:17: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart." In Easter Wings, the words were printed sideways on two facing pages so that the lines there suggest outspread wings. The words of the poem are paralleled between stanzas and mimic the opening and closing of the wings.
The Windows
The Windows is one of the most talked-about poems of The Temple by George Herbert. In this poem, Herbert explores a definite link between the preacher and his work as a communicator of Christian faith. The Windows is written in iambic tetrameter with alternate rhyme. The rhyme scheme is AXABB XCXCC CDCDD. There are three stanzas in the poem and each stanza 5 strings (lines). Thus, the total number of lines in The Windows is 15.
Summary of The Windows
Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?
He is a brittle crazy glass;
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace.
The poet begins with a deep question and asks How can the man in all his frailty reflect God in all his glory? The poet then answers and explains that despite his imperfection, God has allowed him to be in the holy temple (church) as a window. Further, the poet describes the grace of God. He says by his grace, he is in the holy place of God. When the story of God is inscribed on the glasses of the windows, the window shines. In other words, the poet’s life shines when the story of God is inscribed in his soul. By the light, glory, preachings of god an ordinary window turn out to be extraordinary. The ordinary glasses are waterish, bleak, thin, and full of dust. But by the grace of God, the window becomes sacred and reverential. The poet suggests that because of god’s grace and his preachings, he becomes sacred.
Herbert uses conceit and compares man with a ‘brittle crazy glass’.
But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie,
Making thy life to shine within
The holy Preachers; then the light and glorie
More rev’rend grows, & more doth win:
Which else shows watrish, bleak, & thin.
During those times, window glasses were used to be heated at a high temperature to fix the paints and colors. This process is known as annealing the glass. The poet indicates his intense desire to mingle with god. His union with the god is similar to the combination of colors and light on the window. So the inner life of the preacher must shine with the rich color of the life of God. Only that richness will win the hearer. The hearer will not be won by life and words which are 'waterish, bleak, and thin'.
Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and aw: but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the eare, not conscience ring.
The poet further suggests that doctrine and life, preaching and practice should mingle with each other in his life inseparably. This is also an indication of the poet’s total union with the god. The poet suggests that the words of God should become a part of his conscience. The poem ends with more weight being put on the emptiness of words without the backing of a holy life. Without the latter, the words do not penetrate to the inner heart and conscience so have the effect of a flare or firework which might momentarily fizz and crackle with life but will quickly vanish.'
It is a common saying that Preachers must practice what they preach. In this poem Herbert is saying the same thing, but with rather more elegance.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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