George Hebert's Plato
Perhaps due to his primarily ecclesiastical lifestyle or to the quite intensity of his works in comparison to his contemporaries, George Herbert receives notably less attention as a metaphysical poet than others of the school such as Andrew Marvell or Herbert's famed patron, John Donne. The metaphysical poets came into prominence in the seventeenth century as a loosely defined group of artists who concerned themselves with the recondite experiences of human nature, such as love, sensual pleasure, and in Herbert's case especially, man's relationship to God. Herbert reserved his poems' subject almost entirely to the holy and within his work can been seen a deep understanding of the history of religious philosophy. Notably so is Herbert's debt to Saint Augustine of Hippo, whose late fourth century work, Confessions, had been at the time (and continually persists to be) a heavy influence on Christian, especially Catholic, doctrine. Augustine has enjoyed such longevity, and would have been particularly enticing to a metaphysic like Herbert, because his work is conceptually philosophic and personally unabashed in its attempts to discuss the scriptures. As the poem, Easter-Wings, will confirm, George Herbert was greatly informed by
The wing is the corporeal element which is most akin to the divine, and which by nature tends to soar aloft and carry that which gravitates downwards into the upper region, which is the habitation of the gods. Although Herbert is beholden to Augustine's version of Platonism, and Augustine is beholden to Plato himself, the two Christians have similarities outside the ancient context. Herbert's apparent metaphysical devotion to God is aptly stated in the fourth stanza when he writes, "Affliction shall advance the flight in me." The word affliction in this sense can be understood in its now-defunct definition of "humbleness". Herbert renders that in order to "advance the flight in me", or become closer to God, the most significant action a Christian can take is to show humility. This appears to be mainstay in Christianity, especially in Catholicism, yet the treatment that Augustine had given the topic of humility some twelve centuries prior to Herbert was incalculable to the influence it would have on the religion as a whole. Herbert's conception of Christianity would have most likely have been derived from Catholicism, since the Church of England's conversion to Anglicanism from the Roman Church had only been in place for a century. The impact that Saint Augustine had had on Catholicism, both in his own age and the following years can be implied by the reverence in which his works are held in, especially Confessions. Augustine did not originate Herbert's conception of salvation through humility; however, as an early and fervent "exo-biblical" reference to the practice, Confessions served as a popularization of the now accepted aspect of religion. When Augustine addresses God, he does make salutations in an assured or loving way, he speaks with the manners of a lowly servant, "O my God, whose high majesty is the measure of my lowliness… man is nothing unless you remember him." (Book XII: 26) A connection can be made between Herbert's belief that humbleness is the path to God and Augustine's seminal writings of the Catholic Church praising such humbleness. Augustine's conception of evil, use of Platonism, and practice of devotional humility. Some of the books of the Platonists, translated from Greek into Latin. In them
Some topics in this essay:
Instead Manichee,
Book VII,
Jesus Christ,
God Herbert's,
George Herbert's,
Plato Christians,
Confessions Augustine,
Augustine Hippo,
Easter-Wings Herbert,
Herbert's Easter-Wings,
book vii,
notion winged soul,
fall grace,
devotion god,
notion winged,
man's fall,
winged soul,
easter-wings herbert,
religious philosophy,
book vii 12,
man's fall grace,
title easter-wings,
word word,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 1516
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
