George Herbert: The Country Parson and the Temple (Wall - paperback)

Author: George Herbert

ISBN: 9780809122981

Binding: paperback

Section: Poetry

Subtitle: The Country Parson & The Temple

The Sun arising in the East / Though he give light and th' East perfume; / If they should offer to contest / With thy arising, they presume. —George Herbert (1593-1633)

George Herbert (1593-1633) lived in England during the tempestuous reigns of James I and Charles I that saw the nation racked by conflict among Catholics, High Churchmen, and Puritans. A member of a politically-active family, Herbert rejected a promising career as a member of Parliament for the simple life of a country parson. While busily involved in his pastoral duties he produced works of poetry and prose that have earned him a long-established place in English literary history. Collected here are two works originally published after Herbert's death at Bemerton in 1633: The Country Parson, a prose treatise on the duties, joys, and hardships of a pastor's life; and The Temple, a collection of poems.