George Herbert

David Reid (University of Stirling)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

Born 3 Apr 1593
Died 1 Mar 1633
Activity 1609-1633

Places

Born in Wales
Active in England; Wales

Activities

Primary

Clergyman
Poet

Other

Essayist

Resources

Herbert's Works

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George Herbert, the fifth son of Richard and Magdalene Herbert, was born in 1593, descended on both sides from distinguished Welsh Border families. He was fourth cousin of the third and fourth Earls of Pembroke, sons of Sir Philip Sidney's sister, Mary. By birth he belonged to the ruling class, and this proud, ambitious, eager spirit was brought to become a country parson only after long disappointment of his worldly hopes, illness and doubt about his spiritual vocation. The impress of this disappointment is on

The Temple

, which, whilst not a spiritual autobiography, he described, according to his seventeenth century biographer, Izaak Walton, as “a picture of the many conflicts that have past betwixt God and my Soul, before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus my Master”.

After

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1645 words

Citation: Reid, David. "George Herbert". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5006, accessed 23 November 2024.]