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Herbert: Poems
George Herbert (1593-1633) has come to be one of the most admired of the metaphysical poets. Though he is a profoundly religious poet, even secular readers respond to his quiet intensity and exuberant inventiveness, which are amply showcased in this selection.
Herbert experimented brilliantly with a remarkable variety of forms, from hymns and sonnets to pattern poems, the shapes of which reveal their subjects. Such technical agility never seems ostentatious, however, for precision of language and expression of genuine feeling were the primary concerns of this poet, who admonished his readers to “dare to be true.” An Anglican priest who took his calling with deep seriousness, he brought to his work a religious reverence richly allied with a playful wit and with literary and musical gifts of the highest order. His best-loved poems, from “The Collar” and “Jordan” to “The Altar” and “Easter Wings,” achieve a perfection of form and feeling, a rare luminosity, and a timeless metaphysical grandeur.
Herbert experimented brilliantly with a remarkable variety of forms, from hymns and sonnets to pattern poems, the shapes of which reveal their subjects. Such technical agility never seems ostentatious, however, for precision of language and expression of genuine feeling were the primary concerns of this poet, who admonished his readers to “dare to be true.” An Anglican priest who took his calling with deep seriousness, he brought to his work a religious reverence richly allied with a playful wit and with literary and musical gifts of the highest order. His best-loved poems, from “The Collar” and “Jordan” to “The Altar” and “Easter Wings,” achieve a perfection of form and feeling, a rare luminosity, and a timeless metaphysical grandeur.
- GenresPoetryClassicsNonfiction
261 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 18, 2012
33 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
George Herbert
511 books143 followersGeorge Herbert (1593-1633) 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 admission in 1609 as a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in languages, rhetoric and music. He went to university with the intention of becoming a priest, but when eventually he became the University's Public Orator he attracted the attention of King James I and may well have seen himself as a future Secretary of State. In 1624 and briefly in 1625 he served in Parliament. Never a healthy man, he died of consumption at the early age of 39.
Born into an artistic and wealthy family, Herbert received a good education that led to his admission in 1609 as a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in languages, rhetoric and music. He went to university with the intention of becoming a priest, but when eventually he became the University's Public Orator he attracted the attention of King James I and may well have seen himself as a future Secretary of State. In 1624 and briefly in 1625 he served in Parliament. Never a healthy man, he died of consumption at the early age of 39.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 16, 2016
Half a century later I recall the deceptively simple, spondaic
1st line, & perhaps the best tail rhyme in English:
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright
The bridal of the Earth and Sky,
The Dew will weep thy Fall tonight
For Thou must die.
Sweet Rose, whose view lofty and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And Thou must die.
Sweet Spring, full of sweet Days and Roses,
A box wherein sweets compacted lie
My Music shows Ye have your Closes,
And all must die.
Only a sweet and virtuous Soul,
Like Seasoned timber, never gives;
And though the whole World turn to Coal,
Then chiefly lives.
The main word here is the musical term, Closes: closing cadence, resolution, I, V, I,
like a Beethoven symphony, or in his time, a Dowland song, a Byrd round. We now in the US have Evangelicals wishing for the world to turn to Coal…the more Global Warming, the better.
But as Herbert shows, it is not the Soul that lives here, but the Soul's imprint, its words.
Highly recommend if you visit England, go to Gray's Country Churchyard near Eton, and near Salisbury, Bemerton: See Herbert's tiny church, and his much larger parsonage across the street, overlooking the Nadder river. Anglican parsonages reflect the social scale of the clergy. Even the great exiled Royalist Robert Herrick's, at Dean Prior, Devon..though not as grand as Herbert's, while the Devon church, much grander.
Or barring that travel, "there is no Frigate like a Book"(our ED, of clerical, large house, family): Memorize these 12 lines (paene-sonnet). Takes an hour or less; lasts a half-century.
1st line, & perhaps the best tail rhyme in English:
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright
The bridal of the Earth and Sky,
The Dew will weep thy Fall tonight
For Thou must die.
Sweet Rose, whose view lofty and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And Thou must die.
Sweet Spring, full of sweet Days and Roses,
A box wherein sweets compacted lie
My Music shows Ye have your Closes,
And all must die.
Only a sweet and virtuous Soul,
Like Seasoned timber, never gives;
And though the whole World turn to Coal,
Then chiefly lives.
The main word here is the musical term, Closes: closing cadence, resolution, I, V, I,
like a Beethoven symphony, or in his time, a Dowland song, a Byrd round. We now in the US have Evangelicals wishing for the world to turn to Coal…the more Global Warming, the better.
But as Herbert shows, it is not the Soul that lives here, but the Soul's imprint, its words.
Highly recommend if you visit England, go to Gray's Country Churchyard near Eton, and near Salisbury, Bemerton: See Herbert's tiny church, and his much larger parsonage across the street, overlooking the Nadder river. Anglican parsonages reflect the social scale of the clergy. Even the great exiled Royalist Robert Herrick's, at Dean Prior, Devon..though not as grand as Herbert's, while the Devon church, much grander.
Or barring that travel, "there is no Frigate like a Book"(our ED, of clerical, large house, family): Memorize these 12 lines (paene-sonnet). Takes an hour or less; lasts a half-century.
June 26, 2024
I’m working to read poetry to myself a little everyday. Usually I like to read fast but poetry is a different practice that is good for my soul and spirit. It makes me slow down and many times I find myself crying while I’m reading aloud. I will carry several of George Herbert’s poems with me.
September 1, 2022
Truly excellent! Even if not all the poems struck me, many of them did hit their mark and made me think or reminded me of some truth, and Herbert really is a master of his craft.
December 20, 2023
George Herbert's words ring with the wisdom and emotion of a Psalmist. This is a beautiful collection to pair with morning Bible reading.
September 2, 2025
"Love is that liquor sweet and most divine, which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine" ❤️❤️❤️
April 22, 2010
I have always loved the poetry of George Herbert since I was introduced to it in my English lit class in high school. I have always been fascinated with his poems that visibly "look like" the title of the poem. "EasterWings", for instance, looks like wings! See http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/... for an example of how the poem is supposed to be positioned on the page. See also "The Altar" at http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/... . I love this visual poetry!
George Herbert was godly Anglican priest who lived from 1593 to 1633. His time as rector of Fugglestone St. Peter near Salisbury was noted for his unfailing and loving care of his parishioners. He died of TB a mere 3 years after taking his orders.
This collection of his poems is an excellent one. His poems are finely crafted jewels of language, imagery and conceits that were used by the metaphysical poets. Each can be held up to the sun and it sparkles and throws millions of rays of beauty and truth into the heart and mind of the reader! Now in re-reading his poems not as an academic exercise for school, I find instead great instruction as a spiritual exercise. That is indeed why he wrote them.
They are wonderful for reading and contemplation.
George Herbert was godly Anglican priest who lived from 1593 to 1633. His time as rector of Fugglestone St. Peter near Salisbury was noted for his unfailing and loving care of his parishioners. He died of TB a mere 3 years after taking his orders.
This collection of his poems is an excellent one. His poems are finely crafted jewels of language, imagery and conceits that were used by the metaphysical poets. Each can be held up to the sun and it sparkles and throws millions of rays of beauty and truth into the heart and mind of the reader! Now in re-reading his poems not as an academic exercise for school, I find instead great instruction as a spiritual exercise. That is indeed why he wrote them.
They are wonderful for reading and contemplation.
August 1, 2022
With Hopkins, one of the greatest Christian poets; you can actually use the poems for prayer or meditation. “And all my sour-sweet days, I will lament and love” is a very good summary! We also get to sing him in various hymns. Favourites: “I got me flowers to straw thy way” from “Easter”; “Prayer, the church’s banquet”; “Let all the world in every corner sing” (there is a fantastic Vaughan Williams anthem setting of this); “Virtue”; “King of glory, King of peace”; “The Call”; “The Flower”; “I will complain, yet praise” from “Bitter-sweet”; “The God of Love my shepherd is”; “The Elixir”; “Love bade me welcome” and “Whether I fly with angels, fall with dust” from “The Temper”.
February 4, 2022
This book will probably sit on my bedside table for a long time, as I want to come back to it again and again. G. Herbert was truly blessed with an amazing poetical gift and I find this book so inspiring!
June 1, 2023
Some of Herbert’s poems are favorites & I delight thoroughly in them; others fall flat, catching on odd rhythms or ill-suited rhymes. I do love his subject matter, regardless, and look forward to poetry making with him in Paradise. ❤️
January 20, 2026
Solid almost prayer like poems, some cool “experimental” forms for the time too
January 5, 2018
These poems are so layered and nuanced, many flew past me upon first reading. These are best nibbled on daily while consulting the notes. There's no doubt the author had a first rate mind and a deep passion for Christ. One that I keep coming back to is "The Storm," particularly these lines: "A throbbing conscious spurred by remorse Hath a strange force:
It quits the earth, and mounting more and more,
dares to assault thee, and besiege thy door."
It quits the earth, and mounting more and more,
dares to assault thee, and besiege thy door."
August 24, 2011
This lovely little hardcover by Everyman's Library showcases the poetry of 16th century Anglican priest, George Herbert. I liked the rich language and inventive forms of the poems, but the religious themes just didn't speak to me. Poetry's like music, very subjective. This was like a pleasant bit of verbal chamber music, but not anything I'd imagine myself returning to.
October 4, 2017
Herbert was a talented poet who happened to put God before all else. Some of his poems are lyrics to recognizable choir hymns. His brilliant vision is marred only by the archaic spelling. Note: the last 70 pages are in Latin. Unfortunately, I did not keep up with Latin once I left high school in 1971.
March 12, 2015
A clever versifier but strictly for the cognoscenti and devotees. They don't travel too well in time and his subject matter is anything but diverse. I am afraid John Milton puts Herbert in the shade. That said I commend Avarice to anyone.
March 6, 2015
I LOVE George Herbert, but I find it difficult to find good printings of his work. I gave this three stars because Herbert's work is amazing as always but the actual printing/layout/typeface on the page detracts from the experience of reading it.
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December 25, 2017Great, but I didn't connect with it
I appreciate what Herbert did as a poet, and admire his sincerity and fervor of devotion, but was surprised to find that reading him did not connect for me on a personal level. But that is only a matter of my own subjective personal taste.
I appreciate what Herbert did as a poet, and admire his sincerity and fervor of devotion, but was surprised to find that reading him did not connect for me on a personal level. But that is only a matter of my own subjective personal taste.
September 12, 2014
Really beneficial. My favorite phrase is, well one of them, is "Love's a man of war."
All sorts of awesome-cool imagery pops into the brain.
All sorts of awesome-cool imagery pops into the brain.
June 5, 2017
Would love to buy this poetry book!
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November 23, 2020I have no idea what I read. Poetry is lost on me.
December 6, 2022
Wonderful. Wisdom of the ages.
September 23, 2024
If you have a passion for poetry and desire to feel God's love expressed through it, dive in and begin reading.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews