Literature and Faith: The Poetry of George Herbert (Podcast)

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What can poetry tell us about the Christian life? A great deal. The Anglican priest-poet George Herbert, one of the metaphysical poets and a truly holy man, offers us images that help us see that faith is deeper and more complex than we may think, that there is room in our faith for doubt, struggle, and pain as well as joy and love. In “Love (3)” and “Affliction (4)” Herbert helps us experience and think through the process of turning toward the Lord, and inviting Him to transform us. In “Prayer (1)” Herbert shows us the marvelous complexity and beauty of prayer – giving us a rich answer to the question of “Why should we pray if God already knows what we need?”

This talk was given as the inaugural “Salon Night” lecture at Rivendell Sanctuary, on April 14, 2011, with an introduction by Matt Harbour of Rivendell Sanctuary. Click here to find out more about Rivendell Sanctuary, which is taking a new (and exciting, and much needed) approach to college; I found the atmosphere of the college to be extremely positive, with the students excited about learning and eager to engage in serious, thoughtful discussion.

Below I have included the text of the three poems that I discuss in this talk. Scroll down to the bottom to get to the podcast player, or click here to open the podcast player in a new window.

Love (3)

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat.
So I did sit and eat.

Affliction (4)

Broken in pieces all asunder,
Lord, hunt me not,
A thing forgot,
Once a poor creature, now a wonder,
A wonder tortured in the space
Betwixt this world and that of grace.

My thoughts are all a case of knives,
Wounding my heart
With scattered smart ;
As wat’ring-pots give flowers their lives.
Nothing their fury can control,
While they do wound and prick my soul.

All my attendants are at strife
Quitting their place
Unto my face :
Nothing performs the task of life :
The elements are let loose to fight,
And while I live, try out their right.

Oh help, my God !  let not their plot
Kill them and me,
And also Thee,
Who art my life : dissolve the knot,
As the sun scatters by his light
All the rebellions of the night.

Then shall those powers which work for grief,
Enter Thy pay,
And day by day
Labour Thy praise and my relief :
With care and courage building me,
Till I reach heav’n, and much more, Thee.

Prayer (1)

Prayer, the Church’s banquet, Angel’s age.
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heaven and earth;
Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six days’ world-transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss.
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, men well dressed,
The Milky Way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices, something understood.

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Related posts:

1. Guides through the Shadow (3) – George Herbert’s “Affliction (4)”
2. The Language of the Nicene Creed and the Anglican Liturgy: Unlocking the Riches of Old-Fashioned Language, Part 2 (Podcast)
3. Experiencing the Trinity in Poetry: John Donne’s Holy Sonnets (Podcast)
4. Christ the King: A Meditation on George Herbert’s “The Collar”
5. Experiencing the Trinity in Poetry (2): John Donne’s Holy Sonnets 10 and 11