the complete poetry · george herbert

George Herbert, an Anglican country priest who died in 1633, left one book of devotional lyrics, The Temple, published after his death. Plain in diction and endlessly inventive in form, the poems stage a running argument between the soul and a patient God about affliction, vocation, grace and the difficulty of accepting love.

George Herbert, The Complete Poetry, edited by John Drury and Victoria Moul (Penguin Books, 2015). Read in Sophomore Spring at Torrey Honors, a selection from The Temple: The Altar; The Sacrifice; The Thanksgiving; The Reprisal; The Agony; The Sinner; Good Friday; Redemption; Sepulchre; Easter; Easter-Wings; Affliction (1); Prayer (1); The Holy Communion; The Temper (1); Jordan (1); Holy Scriptures (2); The Church-floor; The Windows; Sunday; To all Angels and Saints; Denial; The World; Coloss. 3:3; Vanity (1); Lent; Virtue; The Pearl; Affliction (4); Man; Mortification; Jordan (2); Conscience; The British Church; Dullness; Peace; Divinity; Church-rents and Schisms; The Pilgrimage; The Holdfast; Longing; The Bag; The Collar; The Call; The Pulley; The Priesthood; The Cross; The Flower; The Son; A true Hymn; The 23d Psalm; Aaron; The Odour; The Forerunners; Discipline; The Banquet; Death; Doomsday; Judgement; Heaven; Love (3).