THE WORKS OF GEORGE HERBERT AND JOHN DONNE

George Herbert

- (born April 3, 1593, Montgomery Castle, Wales—died March 1, 1633, Bemerton, Wiltshire, Eng.), English religious
poet, a major metaphysical poet, notable for the purity and effectiveness of his choice of words.

- A younger brother of Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, a notable secular metaphysical poet, George
in 1610 sent his mother for New Year’s two sonnets on the theme that the love of God is a fitter subject for verse than
the love of woman, a foreshadowing of his poetic and vocational bent.

Features of Herbert’s Poetry

- religious devotion

- linguistic precision

- metrical agility

- ingenious use of conceit.

George Herbert’s Works

Affliction (I)

- “Affliction I” is one of 17th-century English poet George Herbert’s most memorable and loved poems.
Herbert was a Welsh poet and priest. His single collection of poems, known as The Temple, was published in
1633 after his early death at the age of 39. "Affliction I" is the first of five poems with the same title.

The Altar

- The Altar” is a pattern poem, also known as a “hieroglyphic” poem. These are poems shaped like the thing
they describe: in this case, an altar. The first known pattern poems were written in Ancient Greek between 325
BCE and 200 CE.

The Collar

- The Collar” appears in George Herbert’s collection of poetry The Temple, published in 1633. The poem likely
draws on Biblical sources including the parable of the prodigal son (Luke xv 11-32)

Easter Wings

- “Easter Wings” is perhaps 17th-century English poet George Herbert’s most beloved poem. It is famous for
its shape: the words on the page are arranged like a pair of wings. Besides “Easter Wings,” Herbert is also
well-known for a second pattern poem, “The Altar,” which is also shaped like the object the poem describes.

Love (III)

- " Love (III)” is the final poem in George Herbert’s 1633 volume The Temple, Sacred Poems and Private
Ejaculations. In this volume, "Love (I)" discusses the difference between divine and mortal love, while "Love
(II)" prays to God for the speaker to experience divine love. "Love (III)" continues in this sequence,
describing the speaker’s encounter with divine love.

John Donne

- (born sometime between Jan. 24 and June 19, 1572, London, Eng.—died March 31, 1631, London), leading English
poet of the Metaphysical school and dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London (1621–31). Donne is often considered the
greatest love poet in the English language. He is also noted for his religious verse and treatises and for his sermons,
which rank among the best of the 17th century.

- Donne was born of Roman Catholic parents. His mother, a direct descendant of Sir Thomas More’s sister, was the
youngest daughter of John Heywood, epigrammatist and playwright.

Themes of John Donne' Poems

- love lyrics

- erotic verse

- sacred poem

Works of John Donne

At the round earth's imagined corners, blow (Holy Sonnet 7) Background

- Holy Sonnets: At the round earth's imagin'd corners, blow” is one of the poems from the collection of poems
that are concerned with themes of religion, mortality, self-awareness, and the need for closeness with the
divine. It is a one-stanza poem, also known as a Petrarchan sonnet, containing twelve lines with a varied
rhyme scheme.

Death's Duell

- “Death’s Duell” represents his final sermon at the St Paul’s Cathedral, soon after which he died. The contents
of the sermon are related to life and death. The idea of death as an omnipresent fact of life is described, the
constant decay of the body is described. But, all is not forlorn, as the sermon is finished with the hopeful
reminder of Christ and his resurrection and the continuation of life through the soul.

The Good-Morrow

- "The Good-Morrow" is a 1633 poem by English poet John Donne. The poem was originally published in his
collection Songs and Sonnets, and Donne himself considered it a sonnet, despite the fact that it doesn’t
conform to the standard number of lines, stanzas, or the rhyme-scheme of either the Shakespearean or
Petrarchan sonnet. Though the poem contains several allusions to Christianity and Christian themes, its
content suggests that it is meant as a love poem addressed to an actual lover, rather than to God or Christ

To His Mistress Going to Bed (Elegy 19)

Background

- “To His Mistress Going to Bed” is one of Donne’s elegies written published after his death as a part of his
collection of metaphysical poetry. The term “elegy” is used to refer to a poem which is written to mourn the
dead or the death itself. There are some discrepancies as to the titling of the collection of Donne’s poems with
this term, but it is determined to stem from Ovid’s influence on the poet’s work.

A Valediction: Of Weeping

- The poem "A Valediction: Of Weeping" was published two years after the poet’s death, and it was believed to
be written as a dedication to his wife Anne. Some argue that the poem’s ambiguity and metaphysical
contemplation speak against the claim that the poem stemmed from Donne’s own life and experiences, but the
overall theme of parting of lovers and going on a life-threatening journey corresponds with the poet’s
autobiographical information.