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George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
. His poetry is associated with the writings of the
metaphysical poets The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrica ...
, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotional lyricists." He was born in Wales into an artistic and wealthy family and largely raised in England. He received a good education that led to his admission to
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, in 1609. He went there with the intention of becoming a priest, but he became the University's Public Orator and attracted the attention of
King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
. He sat in the
Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...
in 1624 and briefly in 1625. After the death of King James, Herbert renewed his interest in ordination. He gave up his secular ambitions in his mid-thirties and took holy orders in the Church of England, spending the rest of his life as the rector of the rural parish of
Fugglestone St Peter Fugglestone St Peter was a small village, manor, and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, lying between the town of Wilton and the city of Salisbury. The civil parish came to an end in 1894 when it was divided between the adjoining parishes, and ...
, just outside
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
. He was noted for unfailing care for his parishioners, bringing the sacraments to them when they were ill and providing food and clothing for those in need.
Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...
called him "a most glorious saint and seer". He was never a healthy man and died of consumption at age 39.


Biography


Early life and education

George Herbert was born 3 April 1593 in Montgomery,
Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...
, Wales, the son of Richard Herbert (died 1596) and his wife Magdalen ''née'' Newport, the daughter of Sir Richard Newport (1511–1570). He was one of 10 children. The
Herbert family The Herbert family is an Anglo-Welsh noble family founded by William Herbert, known as "Black William", the son of William ap Thomas, founder of Raglan Castle, a follower of Edward IV of England in the Wars of the Roses. The name Herbert orig ...
was wealthy and powerful in both national and local government, and George was descended from the same stock as the
Earls of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...
. His father was a member of parliament, a
justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...
, and later served for several years as ''
custos rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...
'' (keeper of the rolls) of Montgomeryshire. His mother was a patron and friend of clergyman and poet
John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathe ...
and other poets, writers and artists. As George's godfather, Donne stood in after Richard Herbert died when George was three years old. Herbert and his siblings were then raised by his mother, who pressed for a good education for her children. Herbert's eldest brother
Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...
(who inherited his late father's estates and was ultimately created Baron Herbert of Cherbury) became a soldier, diplomat, historian, poet, and philosopher whose religious writings led to his reputation as the "father of English
deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning " god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation o ...
". Herbert's younger brother was Sir Henry Herbert,
Master of the Revels The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain ...
to Kings
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
and II. Herbert entered
Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...
at or around the age of 12 as a day pupil, although later he became a residential scholar. He was admitted on a scholarship to
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, in 1609, and graduated first with a Bachelor's and then with a Master's degree in 1616 at the age of 23. Subsequently, Herbert was elected a major fellow of his college and then appointed Reader in
Rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
. In 1620 he stressed his fluency in Greek and Latin and attained election to the post of the University's Public Orator, a position he held until 1627. In 1624, supported by his kinsman the 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Herbert became a member of parliament, representing Montgomery. While these positions normally presaged a career at court, and
King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
had shown him favour, circumstances worked against Herbert: the King died in 1625, and two influential patrons also died at about the same time. However, his parliamentary career may have ended already because, although a Mr Herbert is mentioned as a committee member, the ''Commons Journal'' for 1625 never mentions Mr. George Herbert, despite the preceding parliament's careful distinction. In short, Herbert made a shift in his path away from the political future he had been pursuing, and turned more fully toward a future in the church. Herbert was presented with the
prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of t ...
of
Leighton Bromswold Leighton Bromswold (also known as Leighton) is a small village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Leighton lies approximately west of Huntingdon. Leighton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambr ...
in the
Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leic ...
in 1626, whilst he was still a don at Trinity College, Cambridge, but not yet ordained. He was not present at his institution as prebend, and it is recorded that Peter Walker, his clerk, stood in as his proxy. In the same year his close Cambridge friend
Nicholas Ferrar Nicholas Ferrar (22 February 1592 – 4 December 1637) was an English scholar, courtier and businessman, who was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. He lost much of his fortune in the Virginia Company and retreated with his extended fam ...
was ordained Deacon in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
by
Bishop Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 164 ...
on Trinity Sunday 1626 and went to Little Gidding, two miles down the road from Leighton Bromswold, to found a small community. Herbert raised money (and contributed his own) to restore the neglected church building at Leighton.


Marriage

In 1628 or 1629, Herbert lodged at Dauntsey House in the north of Wiltshire, the home of his stepfather's brother Henry Danvers and Henry's elderly widowed mother Elizabeth. A day's ride to the south, at Baynton in
Edington Eddington or Edington may refer to: People *Eddington Varmah, Liberian politician * Eddington (surname), people with the surname Places Australia * Eddington, Victoria United Kingdom * Eddington, Berkshire * Eddington, Cambridge * Ed ...
, lived the family of Henry's cousin
Charles Danvers Sir Charles Danvers (c. 1568 – 1601), was an English MP and soldier who plotted against Elizabeth I of England. Early life He was born the eldest son of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey, Wiltshire and Elizabeth, fourth daughter and coheiress of ...
(died 1626) who is said to have had a desire for Herbert to marry his daughter Jane. It was arranged for Herbert and Jane to meet, and they found mutual affection; Jane was ten years younger than George. They were married at Edington church on 5 March 1629.


Priesthood

In 1629, Herbert decided to enter the priesthood and the next year was appointed rector of the rural parish of
Fugglestone St Peter Fugglestone St Peter was a small village, manor, and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, lying between the town of Wilton and the city of Salisbury. The civil parish came to an end in 1894 when it was divided between the adjoining parishes, and ...
with
Bemerton Bemerton, once a rural hamlet and later a civil parish to the west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, is now a suburb of that city. Modern-day Bemerton has areas known as Bemerton Heath, Bemerton Village and Lower Bemerton. History In 1086, t ...
, near
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
in Wiltshire, about 75 miles southwest of London. He was responsible for two small churches: the 13th-century parish church of St Peter at Fugglestone, near Wilton, and the 14th-century chapel of St Andrew at Bemerton, closer to Salisbury at the other end of the parish. Here he lived, preached and wrote poetry; he also helped to rebuild the Bemerton church and adjacent rectory out of his own funds. His appointment may have again been assisted by the Earl of Pembroke, whose family seat at
Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...
lay close to Fugglestone church. While at Bemerton, Herbert revised and added to his collection of poems entitled ''The Temple''. He also wrote a guide to rural ministry entitled ''A Priest to the Temple or, The County Parson His Character and Rule of Holy Life'', which he himself described as "a Mark to aim at", and which has remained influential to this day. Having married shortly before taking up his post, he and his wife gave a home to three orphaned nieces. Together with their servants, they crossed the lane for services in the small St Andrew's church twice every day. Twice a week Herbert made the short journey into Salisbury to attend services at the
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...
, and afterwards would make music with the cathedral musicians.


Death

Herbert's time at Bemerton was short. Having suffered for most of his life from poor health, in 1633 he died of consumption, only three years after taking holy orders. Jane died in 1661.


Poetry

Herbert wrote poetry in English, Latin and Greek. Shortly before his death, he sent a literary manuscript to his friend
Nicholas Ferrar Nicholas Ferrar (22 February 1592 – 4 December 1637) was an English scholar, courtier and businessman, who was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. He lost much of his fortune in the Virginia Company and retreated with his extended fam ...
, reportedly telling him to publish the poems if he thought they might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul", otherwise to burn them. In 1633 all of his English poems were published in ''The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations'', with a preface by Ferrar. The book went through eight editions by 1690. According to
Izaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'', he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been coll ...
, when Herbert sent the manuscript to Ferrar, he said that "he shall find in it a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed between God and my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus, my Master". In this Herbert used the format of the poems to reinforce the theme he was trying to portray. Beginning with "The Church Porch", they proceed via "The Altar" to "The Sacrifice", and so onwards through the collection. All of Herbert's surviving English poems are on religious themes and are characterised by directness of expression enlivened by original but apt conceits in which, in the Metaphysical manner, the likeness is of function rather than visual. In ''The Windows'', for example, he compares a righteous preacher to glass through which God's light shines more effectively than in his words. Commenting on his religious poetry later in the 17th century,
Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, ...
said, "Herbert speaks to God like one that really believeth in God, and whose business in the world is most with God. Heart-work and heaven-work make up his books". Helen Gardner later added "head-work" to this characterisation in acknowledgement of his "intellectual vivacity". It has also been pointed out how Herbert uses puns and wordplay to "convey the relationships between the world of daily reality and the world of transcendent reality that gives it meaning. The kind of word that functions on two or more planes is his device for making his poem an expression of that relationship." Visually too the poems are varied in such a way as to enhance their meaning, with intricate rhyme schemes, stanzas combining different line lengths and other ingenious formal devices. The most obvious examples are
pattern poem Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...
s like ''
The Altar ''The Altar'' is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Banks, released on September 30, 2016, by Harvest Records. Banks collaborated with several producers on the album, including Tim Anderson, Sohn, and Al Shux, with whom ...
'', in which the shorter and longer lines are arranged on the page in the shape of an altar. The visual appeal is reinforced by the conceit of its construction from a broken, stony heart, representing the personal offering of himself as a sacrifice upon it. Built into this is an allusion to
Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
51:17: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart." In the case of "Easter Wings" (illustrated here), the words were printed sideways on two facing pages so that the lines there suggest outspread wings. The words of the poem are paralleled between stanzas and mimic the opening and closing of the wings. In Herbert's poems formal ingenuity is not an end in itself but is employed only as an auxiliary to its meaning. The formal devices employed to convey that meaning are wide in range. In his meditation on the passage "Our life is hid with Christ in God", the capitalised words 'My life is hid in him that is my treasure' move across successive lines and demonstrate what is spoken of in the text. Opposites are brought together in "Bitter-Sweet" for the same purpose. Echo and variation are also common. The exclamations at the head and foot of each stanza in "Sighs and Grones" are one example. The diminishing truncated rhymes in "Paradise" are another. There is also an echo-dialogue after each line in "Heaven", other examples of which are found in the poetry of his brother Lord Herbert of Cherbury. Alternative rhymes are offered at the end of the stanzas in "The Water-Course", while the "Mary/Army Anagram" is represented in its title. In " The Collar", Joseph Summers argues, Herbert goes so far as to use apparent formlessness as a formal and thematic device: "the poem contains all the elements of order in violent disorder" until the end, when the final four lines' regularity restores the reader's sense of "the necessity of order". Once the taste for this display of Baroque wit had passed, the satirist
John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...
was to dismiss it as so many means to "torture one poor word ten thousand ways." Though Herbert remained esteemed for his piety, the poetic skill with which he expressed his thought had to wait centuries to be admired again.


Prose

Herbert's only prose work, ''A Priest to the Temple'' (usually known as ''The Country Parson''), offers practical advice to rural clergy. In it, he advises that "things of ordinary use" such as ploughs, leaven, or dances, could be made to "serve for lights even of Heavenly Truths". It was first published in 1652 as part of ''Herbert's Remains, or Sundry Pieces of That Sweet Singer, Mr. George Herbert'', edited by
Barnabas Oley Barnabas Oley (1602–1686) was an English churchman and academic. A royalist figure of the First English Civil War, he was also the first editor of George Herbert and Thomas Jackson, and a personal friend of Nicholas Ferrar. In old age he was ar ...
. The first edition was prefixed with unsigned preface by Oley, which was used as one of the sources for Izaak Walton's biography of Herbert, first published in 1670. The second edition appeared in 1671 as ''A Priest to the Temple or the Country Parson'', with a new preface, this time signed by Oley. Like many of his literary contemporaries, Herbert was a collector of proverbs. His ''Outlandish Proverbs'' was published in 1640, listing over 1000
aphorisms An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tr ...
in English, but gathered from many countries (in Herbert's day, 'outlandish' meant foreign). The collection included many sayings repeated to this day, for example, "His bark is worse than his bite" and "Who is so deaf, as he that will not hear?" These and an additional 150 proverbs were included in a later collection entitled ''Jacula Prudentum'' (sometimes seen as ''Jacula Prudentium''), dated 1651 and published in 1652 as part of Oley's ''Herbert's Remains''.


Musical settings

Herbert was a skilled lutenist who "sett his own lyricks or sacred poems". Musical pursuits interested him all through his life and his biographer, Izaak Walton, records that he rose to play the lute during his final illness. Walton also gave it as his opinion that he composed "such hymns and anthems as he and the angels now sing in heaven", while Walton's friend
Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to ''The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential ''The Com ...
described him as a "soul composed of harmonies". In view of such tributes, it is no surprise to find that more than ninety of Herbert's poems have been set for singing over the centuries, some of them multiple times. Beginning in his own century, there were settings of "Longing" by
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...
and "And art thou grieved" by John Blow. Some forty were adapted for the Methodist hymnal by the Wesley brothers, among them "Teach me my God and King", which found its place in one version or another in 223 hymnals. Another poem, "Let all the world in every corner sing", was published in 103 hymnals, of which one is a French version. Other languages into which his work has been translated for musical settings include Spanish, Catalan and German. In the 20th century, "Vertue" alone achieved ten settings, one of them in French. Among leading modern composers who set his work were
Edmund Rubbra Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak o ...
, who set "Easter" as the first of his ''Two songs for voice and string trio'' (op. 2, 1921);
Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
, who used four by Herbert in ''
Five Mystical Songs The ''Five Mystical Songs'' are a musical composition by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), written between 1906 and 1911. The work sets four poems ("Easter" divided into two parts) by seventeenth-century Welsh poet and Anglic ...
'', of which "Easter" was the first and "Antiphon II" the last;
Robin Milford Robin Humphrey Milford (22 January 1903 – 29 December 1959) was an English composer and music teacher. Biography Milford was born in Oxford, son of Sir Humphrey Milford, publisher with Oxford University Press. He attended Rugby School ...
, who used the original Fitzwilliam manuscript's setting of the second part of "Easter" for his cantata ''Easter Morning'' (1932), set in two parts for soprano soloist and choir of children’s or women's voices;
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
and
William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...
, both of whom set "Antiphon" too;
Ned Rorem Ned Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Althoug ...
who included one in his "10 poems for voice, oboe and strings" (1982); and
Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish paren ...
, whose 2005 choral work ''Vertue'' includes three poems by Herbert.


Legacy

The earliest portrait of George Herbert was engraved long after his death by Robert White for Walton's biography of the poet in 1674 (see above). Now in London's National Portrait Gallery, it served as basis for later engravings, such as those by White's apprentice
John Sturt John Sturt (6 April 1658 – August 1730) was an English engraver, apprenticed to Robert White. Becoming associated with John Ayres, he engraved the most important of his books on calligraphy. He is popularly known as an illustrator of '' The Pi ...
and by Henry Hoppner Meyer in 1829. Among later artistic commemorations is
William Dyce William Dyce (; 19 September 1806 in Aberdeen14 February 1864) was a Scottish painter, who played a part in the formation of public art education in the United Kingdom, and the South Kensington Schools system. Dyce was associated with the Pre-R ...
's
oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...
of "George Herbert at Bemerton" (1860) in the
Guildhall Art Gallery The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...
, London. The poet is pictured in his riverside garden, prayerbook in hand. Over the meadows is Salisbury Cathedral, where he used to join in the musical
evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...
; his lute leans against a stone bench and against a tree a fishing rod is propped, a reminder of his first biographer, Isaac Walton. There is also a musical reference in Charles West Cope's "George Herbert and his mother" (1872), which is in Gallery Oldham: the mother points a poem out to him in a room that has a
virginal The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ha ...
in the background. Most representations of Herbert, however, are in stained glass windows, of which there are several in churches and cathedrals. They include
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
,
Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buil ...
and
All Saints Church, Cambridge All Saints' is a church on Jesus Lane in central Cambridge, England, which was built by the architect George Frederick Bodley. The church was constructed in stages between 1863 and 1870 and is a notable example of English Gothic Revival style. ...
. His own St Andrew's Church in Bemerton installed in 1934 a memorial window, which he shares with Nicholas Ferrar. In addition, there is a statue of Herbert in his canonical robes, based in part on the Robert White portrait, in a niche on the West Front of Salisbury Cathedral.


Veneration

In the
liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
Herbert is remembered in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
and the Episcopal Church on 27 February; also on 1 March in, for example, the
Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...
of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
, being the day of his death. There are various
collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...
s for the day, of which one is based on his poem "The Elixir":
Our God and King, who called your servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in your temple: Give us grace, we pray, joyfully to perform the tasks you give us to do, knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for your sake ... Amen.
The quote "All may have, if they dare try, a glorious life, or a grave" from Herbert's "The Church Porch" is inscribed on the outer wall of St. John's Church, Waterloo.


Works

* 1623: ''Oratio Qua auspicatissimum Serenissimi Principis Caroli''. * 1627: ''Memoriae Matris Sacrum, printed with A Sermon of commemoracion of the ladye Danvers by John Donne... with other Commemoracions of her by George Herbert'' (London: Philemon Stephens and Christopher Meredith). * 1633: ''The Temple, Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations''. (Cambridge: Printed by Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel). * 1652: ''Herbert's Remains, Or, Sundry Pieces Of that sweet Singer of the Temple'' consisting of his collected writings from ''A Priest to the Temple'', ''Jacula Prudentum'', Sentences, & c., as well as a letter, several prayers, and three Latin poems.(London: Printed for Timothy Garthwait) * * *


References


Citations


Sources

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Further reading

Editions *1941: ''The Works of George Herbert'', ed. F. E. Hutchinson. *2007: ''The English Poems of George Herbert'', ed. Helen Wilcox. Cambridge University Press Studies * Clarke, Elizabeth, ''Theory and Theology in George Herbert's Poetry: "Divinitie, and Poesie, Met"'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. * Falloon, Jane ''Heart in Pilgrimage: a study of George Herbert'', Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse, 2007. * Grant, Patrick. 1974. ''The Transformation of Sin: Studies in Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, and Traherne''. Montreal:McGill-Queen's University Press. * Lewis-Anthony, Justin ''"If You Meet George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him": Radically re-thinking priestly ministry'', an exploration of the life of George Herbert as a take-off for a re-evaluation of the ministry within the Church of England. Mowbray, August 2009. * Sullivan, Ceri. ''The Rhetoric of the Conscience in Donne, Herbert, and Vaughan''. Oxford University Press, 2008. * Orrick, Jim, ''A Year with George Herbert: a guide to fifty-two of his best loved poems''. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011. * Sheldrake, Philip (2009) ''Heaven in Ordinary: George Herbert and his writings''. Canterbury Press * Oakley, Mark "My Sour-Sweet Days: George Herbert and the Journey of the Soul". SPCK, 2019. * Jackson, Simon, ''George Herbert and Early Modern Musical Culture''. Cambridge University Press, 2022.


External links

* *
The Works of George Herbert

George Herbert and Bemerton
– about Herbert's priesthood and parish

by Izaak Walton (1593–1683)
George Herbert
at the Cambridge Authors Project
George Herbert
– Bio and Poems

at Representative Poetry Online
Lives of John Donne, Henry Wotton, Richard Hooker, George Herbert, &c, Vol. 2, Project Gutenberg

A Short introduction to George Herbert's verse
*
"The Call" by George Herbert
in
Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
' arrangement from ''Five Mystical Songs''. YouTube video (2:24 min.)
Easterwings (poem by George Herbert)
with commentary upon and pics of its modern and 1633 arrangements * George Herbert poem ''My Elixir'' as hymn 'Teach me, My God and King'


The Remains of That Sweet Singer of The temple, ed. Barnabas Oley

Outlandish Proverbs Selected by Mr. G.H.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, George 1593 births 1633 deaths 17th-century Christian mystics 17th-century deaths from tuberculosis 17th-century English Anglican priests 17th-century English poets 17th-century Welsh Anglican priests 17th-century Welsh poets 17th-century Welsh writers 17th-century male writers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anglican poets Anglican saints Anglo-Welsh poets Cambridge University Orators Christian writers English male poets English MPs 1624–1625 Greek-language poets Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar People educated at Westminster School, London Protestant mystics Sonneteers
George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devoti ...
Tuberculosis deaths in England Poet priests