The Complete Poetry

by George Herbert, John Drury (Editor), Victoria Moul (Editor)

A wonderful edition of Herbert's poetry, edited by his acclaimed biographer John Drury and including elegant new translations of his Latin verse

George Herbert wrote, but never published, some of the very greatest English poetry, recording in an astonishing variety of forms his inner experiences of grief, recovery, hope, despair, anger, fulfilment and - above all else - love. This volume, edited by John Drury, collects Herbert's complete poetry - including such classics of English devotional poetry as 'The Altar', Easter-Wings' and 'Love'. It also includes the verse Herbert wrote in Latin, newly translated into English by Victoria Moul.  

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Religion, Christian, 17th Century, Fiction, Renaissance

578 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2015

About the author

George 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.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved George Herbert for many years and it is always a pleasure to sit with him. This time I made it through his English poems and the Latin ones, too (in translation). In earlier readings, his wordplay did not charm me, but on this reading I found it endearing. It is fitting, too, that I recently read a book titled after a line in "The Holy Scriptures (2)," All Thy Lights Combine.

There are too many favorites to choose from, for me to reproduce here as I like to do with poetry collections. Herbert was prolific. I did not love the Latin poems; even with the crutch of poetry in translation, many of them just weren't very good. Poetry written as reaction rather than contemplation yields poor results. Not all were poor, some were quite interesting, moving, or funny, but reminded me of why I try to rant to real people in my life rather than leaving a permanent record of my angst.

Okay, fine. I will share just one poem that stuck out to me on this reading.

"The Call" (149-150)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
Such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light, as shows a feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joyes in love.

This book marks my three-thousandth (!!!) rating on Goodreads.

[Frankie · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best renaissance poet. so beautiful

[Tommy Kraemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of George Herbert’s poetry! I have been slowly working through his work, and it did not disappoint. Herbert is a master of form and imagery. His poems shined with passion, elegant word play, striking irony, and Christ-centeredness. Even a person who is not a believer will be captivated by Herbert’s work. He does not write about God as an abstract entity, but explores mankind’s relationship to him. If you were considering reading this collection, do it––it contains some of the best poetry I have read.

Some of my favorites included: “The Altar”, “The Sacrifice”, “Prayer (1), “Trinity Sunday”, “Coloss. 3:3”, “Paradise”, “The Holdfast”, “The Call”, “The Pulley”, “The Elixir”, “Heaven”, and “Love (3)”.

[Élizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5. English is not my first language so it was often hard to understand the verses. Yet some of these poems are so exquisite, so brilliant, that, in my mind, they make up for the more obscure lines. I loved that the poetry was fully complete and even included Herbert's lesser known works.

[Chet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as an ebook and shifting my way through the entire thing I could not find English translations of the Latin poems. If you want to preserve the original Latin in this edition fine but at least give me English side by side. I have the hard copy at home and I'll see if that version has English translations of the Latin poems. If so I'll revise my rating. The English poems are of course gorgeous there's no praise I can give to Herbert's poetry that hasn't already been said.

[evelyn siegel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

i love poetry but this isn’t really my type of poetry :) i was kinda bored throughout most of it, however, i found a few poems i really liked and were really beautiful. george herbert seems like a fantastic christian poet, just not for me.