Wednesday, March 1, 2023

It is the 1st of March 2023 Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A very happy March 1st- also known as St. David’s Day- that is the patron Saint of Wales- the country, not Shamu and the like. We’ve talked about St. David today, perhaps today you’d like to pin a daffodil or leek to your lapel.

Today on the show, we will remember one of Wales's greatest poets on the anniversary of his death. Today we remember George Herbert, born in 1593. He died young, at the age of 39, on this the first of March in 1633.

I wondered, "Perhaps I’ve covered George Hebert before. I surely have read his poetry before." So I went to 1517.org and searched. No podcast, but an article by my friend and colleague Grant Klembara, who wrote about the poet in his article on Herbert “and if you listen to the Christian History Almanac, you are likely to hear about him.” Oh my- better late than never…. What do we know about the great metaphysical poet?

He was born into Welsh nobility, but his father died when he was 3. His mother, a well-connected woman, moved the family to England, where he was homeschooled and sent to Westminster School and Trinity College Cambridge. There he rose to the rank of the orator- one of the more prestigious positions at the university. Herbert was well connected- his godfather was the poet John Donne. Donne dedicated his book of Holy Sonnets to George’s mother. Sir Francis Bacon dedicated a book of poetry to Herbert. George would attract the attention of King James, and it seemed that life at court was his lot.

But by the 1620s, his fortunes changed. King James died. His mother died. His connections at court were gone, and George considered full-time work in the church. He was always interested in the things of God- he wrote sonnets (he was a contemporary of William Shakespeare), but his were religious. His brother would also become a famous poet- but would be called the father of English Deism. By 1629 he left his ambitions at court and decided to join the roster of clergy in the church of England. He married Jane Danvers and became a rector in the countryside as he continued to write poems.  

Tragedy struck in 1633 when George contracted tuberculosis and died just short of his 40th birthday. At the time of his death, it would make sense if Herbert was remembered as an occasional poet and a one-time up-and-comer at the English court who gave it up for church work. It was his book of poems, unpublished that he gave to his friend Nicholas Ferrar. This book of poems would be published as “the Temple”. The book is a collection of poems that take the reader on a journey inside a temple- and then through the liturgy and church year.

Theologically Herbert had more in common with the irenic King James rather than the newly crowned Charles or his Puritan foes. The coming Civil War and cultural debates would see Herbert often recast in the vision of whoever was telling his story.  

His poetry is classified as “Metaphysical poetry” this was a school, perhaps made most famous by John Donne, that used flexible metrical lines, explored philosophical, often religious topics, and used new techniques or conceit. Herbert’s famous poem “Easter Wings” is a poem literally shaped like wings. You might see shades of e.e. Cummings and later poets who used the shape of the words and lines themselves. Herbert might be best known today as the author of a hymn that is his poetic take on the 23rd psalm- it will be the last word for today.  Today we remember that poet- famous posthumously, dying on the day dedicated to the saint of his native Wales. George Herbert died on this, the 1st of March, in 1633.

  

The last word for today comes from Herbert- this is his rendition of Psalm 23 as a hymn entitled “the God of love my shepherd is”:

1 The God of love my shepherd is,

and he that doth me feed;

while he is mine and I am his,

what can I want or need?

 

2 He leads me to the tender grass,

where I both feed and rest;

then to the streams that gently pass:

in both I have the best.

 

3 Or if I stray, he doth convert,

and bring my mind in frame,

and all this not for my desert,

but for his holy name.

 

4 Yea, in death's shady black abode

well may I walk, not fear;

for thou art with me, and thy rod

to guide, thy staff to bear.

 

5 Surely thy sweet and wondrous love

shall measure all my days;

and, as it never shall remove,

so neither shall my praise.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 1st of March 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Welsh people include Herbert, poet Dylan Thomas, the Mask of Zorro’s Catherine Zeta-Jones, and “It’s Not Unusual” singer Tom Jones. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who, until his later teens, thought Wales was an island somewhere near Australia. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.