Customer Reviews

Herbert: The Complete English Works (Everyman's Library)

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This is a first-rate edition: a carefully-edited text that includes Herbert's prose works, and Walton's biography. The intro and notes by Slater are terrific, meant for the general reader, infor- mative and graceful. The best inexpensive edition of this wonderful poet now in print.

George Herbert is hard to find, and the standard Hutchinson edition is expensive and weighty. This new Everyman edition is both affordable and compact, without sacrificing quality. It's beautifully printed, elegantly bound, accurately arranged and intelligently footnoted. I was thrilled to come across it and have bought several editions so that I could introduce friends to the insight and beauty of this profound poet. A must for anyone who loves poetry and everyone who seeks God.

Beautiful book with an understated book jacket that seems perfectly suited to the intelligent, elegant, devotional poetry of George Herbert. No question about it, Herbert was a poet to be reckoned with. His verse is extremely stylized and contains complex structures and brilliant rhyming and meter. Nevertheless, they are all about his faith and about the church. Not being much into traditional religious faith, I find his poems, though indisputably brilliant, unsatisfying in that, unlike Donne's, they're all about the same thing--his undying devotion to his God. Nothing wrong with that; it's just that it gets to be like readng the same poem over and over. The same could be said, I suppose, about poems about romantic love. There are other things to think and write about besides love and religion. Nevertheless, he was a master poet and anyone who writes verse could learn a great deal from Herbert. It's a beautiful edition with a great lay-out, helpful introduction, and a slender little gold ribbon for holding one's place.

George Herbert's poetry is, to my ears, some of the best religious poetry ever written. I studied a lot of poetry in grad school, but Herbert remains at the very top of my own personal literary canon. In Herbert, the best of godly devotion and exquisite craftsmanship are married, and that is a rare thing.

This version of Herbert's works not only contains all of his poetry but also his wise and wonderful book on the ministry, "A Priest to the Temple." Reading this manual on ministry gives you greater insight into where the profundity and godliness of Herbert's poetry comes from: in Herbert, the poet and priest are perfectly united. Walton's biography is also included.

The poetry itself is divine. Although English metaphysical poetry may not be to everyone's taste, and it will be difficult for many modern readers, it's perfectly suited to mine. I love the whimsical word play and the delight in the English language that Herbert manifests. The form matches the matter, and it always seems as if the poems end when they should on a note of satisfaction and having said just what one wanted to say. Most important of all, Herbert's poetry assists me in my praise of and devotion to my Lord.

One of the most excellent aspects of Herbert's poetry is that it is not merely the individual meditations of a solitary Christian but is intimately connected to the life of Christ by being connected to His Bride, the Church. The structure of Herbert's collection, "The Temple," is aptly named. In summary, Herbert's poetry is a delight to my ears, my tongue, my mind, and my soul!

Herbert's poetry also has a very personal connection with me: I used to read it to my wife when we were courting and early in our marriage. Not only did it move her, but it also raised her estimation of me. Thank you, George Herbert!

I can't leave without quoting my favorite 2-line poem in the universe (from Herbert):

Ana {MARY
ARMY} gram

How well her name an Army doth present,
In whom the Lord of hosts did pitch his tent!

Herbert is a difficult poet for me. His deep Christian faith is central to his work, and this makes it somewhat hard for me, to really enter it. Yet I do feel some kind of connection with it, perhaps out of the sense that his intensity and close- relation to God remind me much of Psalms. He to many is one of the great English poets one whose modest demeanor belie a remarkably experimental and searching soul.
Here is one of his well-known poems,

REDEMPTION.


HAVING been tenant long to a rich Lord,
Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,
And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancell th' old.

In heaven at his manour I him sought :
They told me there, that he was lately gone
About some land, which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession.

I straight return'd, and knowing his great birth,
Sought him accordingly in great resorts ;
In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts :
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth

Of theeves and murderers : there I him espied,
Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.

Great price for an excellent hardcover of George Herbert's complete English works. This book is great for slow, meditative reading about our God and Father and about the human condition. Some of the best metaphysical poetry I have read.

Superb edition of the complete English poetry of George Herbert. Very classy. Excellent price. Highly recommended.

This is a must addition to any thinking Christian's library. Herbert, contemporary of Shakespeare, weaves prosaic and rhyming lines with utmost artistry, expression, and Christian devotion. His works stands out among writers of every century, and not limited to Christian writers in particular.