George Herbert

George Herbert (1593-1633)

   George Herbert was a leading English poet of the 1600's. His collected poems were published shortly after his death as The Temple. In this vol­ume, Herbert gracefully and lovingly built his short lyrics into a grand hymn of praise to God. His metrical variety and his intimate, homely, at times almost quaint tone gave a special quality to his verse. As one poet of Herbert's day wrote: Herbert "speaks to God like one who really believeth a God. . . . Heart-work and heaven-work make up his book." His poems include "The Collar," "Vertue," and "The Pulley."
   Herbert was born into a noble Welsh family. Ordained about 1626, he gave up a career at court and at Cambridge University to become a devoted parish priest, from 1630 to his death.