Getting to Know George Herbert: An Interview

• Published in: Cithara Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 7 - 91
• Main Author: Doelman, James
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: St. Bonaventure St. Bonaventure University 01.05.2019
• Subjects: 17th century; Aesthetics; Authenticity; Bible; British & Irish literature; Christianity; Death & dying; Donne, John (1572-1631); Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns) (1888-1965); Literary devices; Literary translation; Narrative techniques; Poetry; Poets; Readers; Religion; Religious literature; Rites & ceremonies; Scholars; Sonnets; Spirituality; United Kingdom > UK; England
• ISSN: 0009-7527

Herbert uses that phrase to describe the Bible, suggesting that in reading scripture, "This verse marks that, and both do make a motion/Unto a third, that ten leaves off doth lie" ("The H. Scriptures [II]"). [...]I would recommend the five poems entitled "Affliction," where the poet wrestles with the meaning of human suffering in the individual life. [...]near the end of "The Church" Herbert offers a sequence of poems on "last things": "Death," "Dooms-day," and "Judgement." There is no escaping the reality that Herbert's poetry is consistently religious in nature, and that it is based on a Christian theology, a Protestant understanding of personal devotion, and the liturgy or the seventeenthcentury Church of England.