CP 209 From a bloke called George Herbert

CP 209 From a bloke called George Herbert

This week, flicking through a book, (see the end) which I’m going to read fully in the next few weeks, I came across a couple of poems that caught my eye. Poems rarely excite me but this was visual… I couldn’t miss it. The two poems are by the same bloke, an Englishman called George Herbert. He died at 40 in 1633, just over 100 years after the beginning of the Reformation. During his shortish life European nations had been endlessly and brutally at war. The man was a passionate Pastor, and he knew what life was about.

Here’s the first poem:

I bless thee Lord because I grow

Among thy trees, which in a row

To thee both fruit and order ow.

What open force, or hidden charm

Can blast my fruit or bring me harm,

While the enclosure is thine arm?

Enclose me still for fear start.

But to me rather sharp and tart,

Then let me want thy hand and art.

When thou dost greater judgements spare,

And with thy knife but prune and pare,

Ev’n fruitful trees more fruitful are.

Such sharpness shows the sweetest friend,

Such cuttings rather heal than rend,

And such beginnings touch their end.

And here’s the second poem:

My words and thoughts do both express the notion,

That Life hath with the sun a double motion.

The first Is straight and our diurnal friend,

The other     Hid and doth obliquely bend.

One life is wrapt  In flesh and tends to earth,

The other winds toward Him whose happy birth

Taught me to live here so,  That still one eye

Should aim and shoot at that which Is on high:

Quitting with daily labour all             My pleasure,

To gain at harvest an eternal                  Treasure.

Here’s what authors Richard Foster and Gayle Beebe had to say about Herbert’s writings:

“To read Herbert is to gain a sense of how poetry can help us understand our life with God as journey. So often we expect our books to state their positions and then proceed clearly. Herbert’s work is different. It moves between the obvious and the subtle – which reflects the way our very life progresses. Through his erratic poetic style Herbert portrays for us the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the heart-stopping advances and crushing defeats of the spiritual life. (Page 68)

And here’s what Fred thinks:

As I said, I don’t get poetry much. However the way Herbert put his poems together did catch my eye and got me to read them. There is a lovely message there. If I’ve wasted your time today, well, sorry. If you like this sort of thing, well, good for you.

And all of you, be blessed in HIM!

Fred
Longing for God. Seven paths of Christian Devotion Intervarsity Press 2009