Though we might be tempted to keep poetry and theology separate, Herbert blended his vocations in a powerful way that influenced later poets such as Gerard Manley Hopkins and W. H. Auden. Lines like Love is that liquor sweet and most divine, / Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine show Herbert as a first-rate biblical interpreter. He links the love that prompted God to give up his Son for us, the blood that was the cost of Gods self-giving, and Communion, the place where we feel—tangibly, with our taste buds—that Gods atoning love was meant for us, today. And yet the reason Herberts Complete English Works still finds readers like me is because he fuses such rich truths with a heartfelt, occasionally wince-inducing honesty about how those truths are so hard to grasp. Doubt and grief never quite dissipate from his verse. They dont overshadow his proclamation of Christ. But they linger, like a chill that hasnt been driven out of the room, despite the fire blazing in the hearth. christianitytoday/ct/2014/june/george-herbert-poet-comeback.html
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 09:35:37 +0000
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