What do you think?
Rate this book
The Classics of Western Spirituality
The Country Parson and the Temple
The most in-depth and scholarly panorama of Western spirituality ever attempted!In one series, the original writings of the universally acknowledged teachers of the Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic and Native American traditions have been critically selected, translated and introduced by internationally recognized scholars and spiritual leaders.
The texts are first-rate, and the introductions are informative and reliable. The books will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of every literate religious persons". -- The Christian Century
The texts are first-rate, and the introductions are informative and reliable. The books will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of every literate religious persons". -- The Christian Century
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
3 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
George Herbert
508 books142 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 1, 2024
Big milestone achieved: thanks to the rev'd Herbert, I finally was brought to tears by poetry.
The Temple is simultaneously one of the best works of poetry and theology I have ever read.
The Temple is simultaneously one of the best works of poetry and theology I have ever read.
November 28, 2019
George Herbert became my favorite poet after I heard one of his poems (Love Bade Me Welcome) sung on an opera radio station.
For such a varied and prolific writer, George Herbert's life story wasn't all that noteworthy. Born one of the many children of a noble Welsh family, his father died when he was young and his mother eventually remarried to a man who was younger than her own son. Herbert held a job as a speech writer in the court of King James I, but he gave up that position to become a simple country parson, marrying one of his stepfather's relatives and adopting his two orphaned nieces. He died fairly young (late 30s) of tuberculosis and while he was beloved by the parishioners he ministered to, it seemed likely his memory would die with them. But while on his deathbed, he gave a mysterious stack of papers to a visiting friend, asking that they be read, and if they were deemed good enough, published. Those poems are the ones contained in this volume, along with a pamphlet he wrote and published within his lifetime that serves as a guidebook for being a parson.
For me, I can open this book to any page, start reading, and be completely enthralled. I don't know what it is. These beautiful poems are comforting to me, and that's all I really want in a poem.
For such a varied and prolific writer, George Herbert's life story wasn't all that noteworthy. Born one of the many children of a noble Welsh family, his father died when he was young and his mother eventually remarried to a man who was younger than her own son. Herbert held a job as a speech writer in the court of King James I, but he gave up that position to become a simple country parson, marrying one of his stepfather's relatives and adopting his two orphaned nieces. He died fairly young (late 30s) of tuberculosis and while he was beloved by the parishioners he ministered to, it seemed likely his memory would die with them. But while on his deathbed, he gave a mysterious stack of papers to a visiting friend, asking that they be read, and if they were deemed good enough, published. Those poems are the ones contained in this volume, along with a pamphlet he wrote and published within his lifetime that serves as a guidebook for being a parson.
For me, I can open this book to any page, start reading, and be completely enthralled. I don't know what it is. These beautiful poems are comforting to me, and that's all I really want in a poem.
September 11, 2023
I like the series (The Classics of Western Spirituality); I love the texts (The Country Parson and the Temple); but the introduction stinks. The editor minimizes the evangelical and Protestant themes in Herbert's writings in an attempt to squeeze him into a more liberal, and perhaps more Roman Catholic, mold. He does not succeed, and thus the Herbert you meet the text is considerably different than the one you meet in the introduction.
August 27, 2023
Herbert’s poetry is about the church and for the church. Christians can often get numb to the ritual and rhythms of church life. Herbert takes away this “film of familiarity” (as another poet said) that covers our view of church things like a layer of thick dust. He removes the false familiarity and helps us see the “King in his beauty” with new eyes (Isaiah 33:17). At least that is what he does for me.
September 6, 2009
This volume contains both The Country Parson and The Temple. I have read The Temple before, and so this read through was of The Country Parson only. It was quite a striking treatment of pastoral ministry in another context entirely, and yet a reminder how certain things are always constant. Very valuable.
April 5, 2011
I encourage you to discover my favorite poet. If you have never read George Herbert you have missed out on a brilliant mind!
April 19, 2023
George Herbert, a devoted 17th century Anglican priest, died young. His two major works, unpublished in his own lifetime, are included in this volume.
The former, The Country Parson, is his meditation on the proper manner for a rural Anglican priest to conduct himself and shepherd his parish. Herbert knew how to turn a phrase, so there are memorable lines, but on the whole it is relatively useless for two reasons: first, he wrote it prior to pastoring, and as such it is his meditation on what a pastor should be without actually having been a pastor yet, and second, it hews strictly to the time/place in which he was and is thus of little practical value in our day.
The latter, The Temple, is a loosely joined collation of his poetry. As a poet, Herbert writes not just deftly but revealingly as well as memorably. He shows us his inner struggles. We see his triumphs and his defeats. Most of all, we see a soul in love with God, one who craved fellowship with His creator and laid all at His feet. The Temple is as moving of a work today as The Country Parson is not.
It is my custom to read some volume of poetry every year, always out loud. Herbert's The Temple was a good choice.
The former, The Country Parson, is his meditation on the proper manner for a rural Anglican priest to conduct himself and shepherd his parish. Herbert knew how to turn a phrase, so there are memorable lines, but on the whole it is relatively useless for two reasons: first, he wrote it prior to pastoring, and as such it is his meditation on what a pastor should be without actually having been a pastor yet, and second, it hews strictly to the time/place in which he was and is thus of little practical value in our day.
The latter, The Temple, is a loosely joined collation of his poetry. As a poet, Herbert writes not just deftly but revealingly as well as memorably. He shows us his inner struggles. We see his triumphs and his defeats. Most of all, we see a soul in love with God, one who craved fellowship with His creator and laid all at His feet. The Temple is as moving of a work today as The Country Parson is not.
It is my custom to read some volume of poetry every year, always out loud. Herbert's The Temple was a good choice.
January 13, 2020
I could read this book a thousand times and then a thousand times more and still be struck by Herbert’s words. Every time I read the Country Parson I learn something more about what it means to be a priest. Every time I read Herbert’s poetry I learn something more of God.
May 3, 2023
Two quite distinct works stand side by side showcasing the wide talent of this gifted priest and poet. If The Country Parson captures Herbert's pastoral heart, The Temple confirms this pastoral heart as fundamentally the heart of an artist.
February 9, 2026
I got this volume to read The Country Parson, which is an interesting historical piece that still has some value for ministry today, I think. It did make me ponder some ideas regarding a priest’s role. Having said that, I like his poetry more.
May 3, 2023
I read the Delphi Classics version of this book. Although it is written in an older English, it is full of practical advice for faithful ministry.
November 28, 2023
I didn't read all the poetry, but what I did read was fantastic.
November 19, 2009
"When thou dost tell another's jest, therein//Omit the oaths, which true wit cannot need://Pick out of tales the mirth, but not the sin." Perirrhanterium, 61-63
Laugh not too much: the witty man laughs least://For wit is only news to ignorance.//Less at thing own things laugh; lest in the jest//Thy person share, and the conceit advance.//Make not thy sport, abuses: for the fly//That feeds in dung, is colored thereby.//
Pick out of mirth, like stones out of the ground,//Profaneness, filthiness, abusiveness.//These are the scum, with which coarse wits abound://The fine may spare these well, yet not go less.//All things are big with jest: nothing that's plain,//But may be witty, if thou hast the vein.//
Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking//Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.//Hast thou the knack? pamper it not with liking://But if thou want it, buy it not too dear.//Many affecting wit beyond their power,//Have got to be a dear fool for an hour.//
Perihahahohumtetum, 229-246
"A broken altar, Lord, thy servant rears,//Made of a heart, and cemented with tears" The Altar, 1-2
"I answer nothing but with patience prove//If stony hearts will melt with gentle love." The Sacrifice, 89-90
"Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,//Which my God feels as blood; but I as wine." The Agony, 17-18
"Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?//He is brittle crazy glass://Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford//This glorious and transcendent place,//To be a window, through thy grace." The Windows, 1-5
"Prayers chas'd syllogisms into their den,//And Ergo was transform'd into Amen." The Church Militant, 55-56
227-316
"Man is the world's high Priest; he doth present//The sacrifice for all;" Providence, 13-14
"Who wants the place, where God doth dwell,//Partakes already half of hell." Time, 23-24
"But to have nought is ours, not to confess//That we have nought. I stood amazed at this,//Much troubled, till I heard a friend express,//That all things were more ours by being his.//What Adam had, and forfeited for all,//Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall."
The Holdfast, 9-14
"Beauty and beauteous words should go together." The Forerunners, 30
Laugh not too much: the witty man laughs least://For wit is only news to ignorance.//Less at thing own things laugh; lest in the jest//Thy person share, and the conceit advance.//Make not thy sport, abuses: for the fly//That feeds in dung, is colored thereby.//
Pick out of mirth, like stones out of the ground,//Profaneness, filthiness, abusiveness.//These are the scum, with which coarse wits abound://The fine may spare these well, yet not go less.//All things are big with jest: nothing that's plain,//But may be witty, if thou hast the vein.//
Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking//Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.//Hast thou the knack? pamper it not with liking://But if thou want it, buy it not too dear.//Many affecting wit beyond their power,//Have got to be a dear fool for an hour.//
Perihahahohumtetum, 229-246
"A broken altar, Lord, thy servant rears,//Made of a heart, and cemented with tears" The Altar, 1-2
"I answer nothing but with patience prove//If stony hearts will melt with gentle love." The Sacrifice, 89-90
"Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,//Which my God feels as blood; but I as wine." The Agony, 17-18
"Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?//He is brittle crazy glass://Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford//This glorious and transcendent place,//To be a window, through thy grace." The Windows, 1-5
"Prayers chas'd syllogisms into their den,//And Ergo was transform'd into Amen." The Church Militant, 55-56
227-316
"Man is the world's high Priest; he doth present//The sacrifice for all;" Providence, 13-14
"Who wants the place, where God doth dwell,//Partakes already half of hell." Time, 23-24
"But to have nought is ours, not to confess//That we have nought. I stood amazed at this,//Much troubled, till I heard a friend express,//That all things were more ours by being his.//What Adam had, and forfeited for all,//Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall."
The Holdfast, 9-14
"Beauty and beauteous words should go together." The Forerunners, 30
August 29, 2014
A classic of spiritual theology. Composed of two main sections, "The Country Parson," and "The Temple," which is a series of poems about the life and ministry of Jesus, the mission of the Church, and the teachings of the Bible. Written nearly 400 years ago, these texts still speak powerfully to the heart of Christian life and discipleship. The Country Parson still, after four centuries, has words of truth and wisdom for any and all who would aspire to leadership in the church. And "The Sacrifice," the second poem in The Temple, is a biblical/devotional/spiritual tour-de-force which brilliantly, and powerfully, expresses the grief of Christ as He undergoes His Passion. Truly wonderful stuff.
My biggest problem with The Temple is that I don't read a lot of poetry, so I frequently had trouble with the meter of the verses. The poems are written in a wide range of style and variety... each with it's own unique meter. So, I struggled a bit with that. The beauty of these poems, however, is that, even if you read them as prose, they still speak with a powerful and beautiful voice.
Finally, as the late Princeton Seminary theologian Diogenes Allen never tired of pointing out, the poems of The Temple are positively drenched in Scriptural references, allusions, and teachings. To read through these poems is to do a Bible study of the highest quality. Great work by a true saint and pastor of the Church.
My biggest problem with The Temple is that I don't read a lot of poetry, so I frequently had trouble with the meter of the verses. The poems are written in a wide range of style and variety... each with it's own unique meter. So, I struggled a bit with that. The beauty of these poems, however, is that, even if you read them as prose, they still speak with a powerful and beautiful voice.
Finally, as the late Princeton Seminary theologian Diogenes Allen never tired of pointing out, the poems of The Temple are positively drenched in Scriptural references, allusions, and teachings. To read through these poems is to do a Bible study of the highest quality. Great work by a true saint and pastor of the Church.
February 1, 2010
Fantastic poetry!
November 3, 2009
Meditative poetry, but not as broad as Donne.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews