Chapter - 11

"Virtue"

- George Herbert

Question- Discuss George Herbert as a metaphysical religious poet.

Or
George Herbert as a metaphysical poet.

Answer -

George Herbert is considered as a religious poet because of the subject matter of his poetry which is fully devotional and religious in nature. By his poetry, he completely surrenders himself to God and his master, Jesus, although he was associated with metaphysical group, he was exceptional for his treatment towards religion in his poetry. For his devotion to God, he is known as the saint of the metaphysical group and his religious thought afterward influenced other metaphysical poets, his devotion to God reflects in his poems and we find a great touch of religion in almost all of his poems.

He was a churchman of the Anglican Church, and his religious faith had grown and developed this church. He was influenced by it right from his childhood under the benign guidance of his pious mother and seasoned family chaplains and longer after the complication of his university graduation, he was ordained and placed over the little church of Bemarton.

George Herbert, one of the leading metaphysical poet, wrote in the 17th century. These poets were educated and intended to show their wit through poetry. Metaphysical poetry is a special branch of poetry that deals with the pedagogic use of intellect and emotion in a harmonic manner. The basic praxis of metaphysical poetry is to highlight the philosophical view of nature and its ambience concerning human life. George Herbert was perhaps the most conspicuous. He was the saint of the metaphysical school. His work is often marked by metaphysical conceits. He uses many lyrical forms and often shows considerable artistry. The poetry of this school appeals to the heart, intellect indulging in far-fetched expression and conceited thought. Wit predominates in this school of poetry most of the metaphysical poets are often called mystical poets. In the poetry of George Herbert there is an expression of communion with God. In George Herbert the orthodox Anglican addressing with intimate tenderness.

George Herbert wrote poetry in English, Latin, Greek. In 1633 all of Herbert's English poems were published in the temple: Sacred poems and private Ejaculations, with a preface by Nicholas Ferror. All of Herbert's surviving English poems are on religious themes and are characterized by directness of expression enlivened by original by apt conceits in which, in the metaphysical manner, the likeness is of function rather than visual.

Genesis and concept of metaphysical Poetry : The term 'metaphysical' refers to dealing with the different facts of nature or a philosophical view of the nature of things. George Herbert was considerably influenced by Donne. His work is often marked by metaphysical conceits; one of his poems Prayer, for example, consists of a mere string of images in which prayer is successively called the 'the church's banquet' "God's breath in man returning to his birth", "the soul paraphrase; heart in pilgrimage", "christside piercing spear" exalted manna and so on. George Herbert's poem, "The search, demonstrates though differing lineal geometric conceits, and the subsequent use of specific circular conceits, the imperfect nature of love between a human persona and the divine God..

Herbert Poems: Herbert finds and gets satisfaction writing religious poems. Even the two sonnets that he sent to his mother when he was only seventeen year's old are the symbol of what kind of poet he wanted to be. After years he writes divine poems and sees beauty in God.

He is all for God, his king, whose praise he will seing in a plain, homely language. Herbert is called the devotional or the religious poet because he deals with such subjects. His poetry is a sequence of religious poems. His motive is always to make the divine seem original, the secular imitation. He sees the things of daily life in direct relation to a supernatural order. His poems - "Easter wings" is one of such poems. The theme of his poems is that paradise was lost through Adam's sin but was regained by Christ's sacrifice. His another poems "The Altar' shows his devotion to God and urges to take his broken heart into his own satisfaction. There are some other poems like Discipline, Affliction, Prayer etc. in which Herbert shows his extraordinary love towards God. He praises God in many styles in many of his poems, as for example "The temple" is a collection of 169 religious poems out of which 140 have been composed in different patterns of stanza and out of which 116 patterns have been used for only single time. It appears that Herbert wanted to employ his skill in God's praise in as much different forms as possible. The theme of most of his poems is religion. He deals with the soul, God, life after death, the relation between human spirits and senses and so on. He talks of man's relation to God, of body to the soul, of the life here and to the life hereafter. In his relation, he often shows rebellion, reconciliation and the final submission.

George Herbert is one of the most genius metaphysical poet. He is admired for his colossal contribution in metaphysical poetry. In his numerous writings he has added lots of mysterious, passionate feelings and striking conceits etc. to highlight the nature and reality revolving around human lives. Herbert's deals with religion in his poetry. He writes in simple way. His poetry is not as complicated as Donne's poetry. He highlights the relationship of man to God. In organic unity is found in "Easter Wings". Herbert in "The Pilgrimage" talks about the vanity of human wishes and the idea of death which is a road to man's expectation and goals. The poet realize that in order to reach his goals, he needs to take another road, or set off a new journey. This journey is associated with his death. In dealing with religious ideas, George Herbert is a very successful poet.

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