Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise I have chosen three works of art to accompany this poem: Christ Resurrected by Rembrandt, painted in 1661 Christ in Emmaus, a woodcut by Albrecht Durer from about 1510 and Peter Paul Rubens' Christ's Charge to Peter painted in 1616, within Herbert's lifetime. English composer Vaughan Williams set these words to music as part of his Five Mystical Songs composition. That book became The Temple, a collection of poems for which George Herbert is best known. Shortly before his death from consumption in 1633, Herbert mailed a book of poems to his friend Nicholas Ferrar to publish if he felt they were worthy. One account says that he rang the church bell before each service, so that those who were at work and could not come to the church could still join in and pray with him. He was ordained in 1626 and became the vicar and then the rector of two towns which sound as if they could be located in Narnia: Bemerton and Fugglestone.īy all accounts, Herbert served diligently as a parish priest, read Morning and Evening prayers daily in the church, and was well loved by the parishioners. Upon the death of the king in 1625, however, he followed an earlier calling and sought ordination in the Church of England.

He has been called 'the most skillful and important British devotional lyricist', and he is one of my favorite poets.Īfter attending Trinity College, and becoming the Public Orator of the University, he attracted the attention of King James I and was being groomed for a position in the court. His mother was a friend of the poet John Donne ('No man is an island. George Herbert, the author of the poem below, was born in 1593 into an affluent Welsh family with artistic connections.

George herbert easter poem