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.
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Tag Archives: George Herbert
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).”
My Cries Cannot Pierce Thy Silent Ears
George Herbert poetry is admirable in the way he wrestles with his spiritual doubts. He may owe a debt to “The Book of Job,” where we also see such wrestling.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Denial", Book of Job, despair, Prayer, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge Comments closed
A Guest Worthy To Be Here
Jesus learned to accept a Canaanite woman at his table and George Herbert learns that he belongs at that table. We can use them as models as we face refugees and immigrants.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Love(3)", immigrants, Jesus, Pope Francis, refugee crisis, refugees, Spirituality Comments closed