Like Jesus, George Herbert (in “Scion”) sees the temple, not as a physical structure, but as the human heart.
Tag Archives: George Herbert
Standing Beside Us, Even As We Grieve
In a sonnet written for All Souls’ Day, Malcolm Guite writes that, when we grieve, we are supported by all who have passed on, who reflect Christ’s light.
Cheer and Tune My Heartless Breast
About prayer, Jesus at one point said to pay as though you are a desperate widow before an indifferent judge. Much of Herbert’s poetry sees God in this light.
Strike My Heart So the Tears Will Flow
Good Friday In her poem “Good Friday,” Christina Rossetti laments that she responds to Christ’s death like a stone, not a faithful sheep. Why can’t she be like the women who wept at the foot of the cross, or Peter who wept for his betrayal, or the sun and the moon that hid their faces? […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Altar", "Sonnet 14", Christina Rossetti, Good Friday, Holy Week, John Donne Comments closed
Returning to the Misty Past
John Gatta’s “Spirits of Place” is helping me understand why I have chosen to retire in my home town. Wordsworth, Stowe, Homer, and Frost help out as well.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Death of the Hired Man", "Pulley", Harriet Beecher Stowe, home, Homer, John Gatta, Odyssey, retirement, Robert Frost, Sewanee, Tintern Abbey, Uncle Tom's Cabin, William Wordsworth Comments closed
You Must Sit Down, Says Love
Psalm 23 has an image which may help power one of George Herbert’s most beloved poems.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Love (3)", Jesus washing the feet of the dsiciples, Psalm 23 Comments closed
Love Was with Me in the Night
May Sarton’s imagines love without weight in her poem “Christmas Light.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christmas, Christmas Light, Henry Vaughan, May Sarton Comments closed
Let Me Not Love Thee If I Love Thee Not
George Herbert, never afraid to go toe-to-toe with God, grapples with his tormenting faith in “Affliction (1).”
