“John Donne” and “George Herbert”
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Lecture_Herbert.pptxGeorge Herbert
Life
George Herbert was born in 1593 to a powerful and wealthy family.
His father died when he was three, and by age six his mother relocated the family near Oxford.
His mother, Magdalen, was known to be an influential woman.
Herbert’s mother began a friendship with John Donne when she moved near Oxford, and that friendship would become a major influence in George Herbert’s life.
Magdalen had a consistent correspondence with Donne, and Donne stayed at the Herbert family home more than once.
Herbert had a great deal of schooling, first taught at home by tutors and then studying at the Westminster School, where the instructors gave priority to poetry.
At age sixteen, Herbert became a scholar at Trinity College, where he would live for fifteen years.
He received his Bachelor’s degree in 1613, and by 1618 became a lecturer.
Herbert served in a couple of public roles during his young life. He was an Orator at Trinity College, and a member of parliament, representing his home of Montgomery.
In 1624 Herbert was made a deacon in the Church of England, which then excluded him from secular public service.
In 1629 he became a Rector, and seriously considered taking orders within the Church of England.
Ultimately, George Herbert did not take religious orders. Instead he married and cared for his orphaned nieces.
In 1633, at the age of 40, George Herbert fell ill and died.
Writings
George Herbert published one text during his lifetime, “The Country Parson.”
But his most famous work is The Temple, a series of religious poems that sketch out both a religious institution and a religious experience.
The Temple was only published after Herbert’s death. He gave the manuscript to his friend, Nicholas Ferrar, and asked for the text only to be published if Ferrar deemed it worthy of distribution. Otherwise, he ordered Ferrar to burn it.
Ferrar published it the same year as Herbert’s death, so he must have deemed it acceptable.
The Temple is known for its diversity of poems; there are many different forms – shape poems, sonnets, and free verse, for example.
In many ways The Temple is an experimental work as several main themes are worked through in many different ways. These themes include faith, grace, and good works.
Because Herbert did not entirely intend to publish The Temple, we get a unique access point to Herbert’s religious experience and his practice of worship through writing.
His poetry is highly personal, and intended for personal use. The suggestion for publication suggests that there is potential for personal use by readers as well – that the poems Herbert wrote devotionally could serve a devotional purpose for readers.
His poetry also does not represent the same kinds of struggles as many other religious writers; his work is in many ways more theoretical and theological than the severe struggles of Lock or Southwell, for example.
Conclusions
George Herbert is an interesting figure because much of his life was spent becoming educated, and in his education he was very much invested in language and poetry.
Thus, his own writings demonstrate an investment in language that some other poets’ works do not.
Herbert represents a different perspective among our religious poets; he was privileged, educated, and somewhat idle. He has a constancy in his writing, an assuredness in his faith, that allows him to explore different areas of religious experience.
