Christian Art | George Herbert | Sepulchre | The Church | The Church-Floore
George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Church-Floore
Mark you the floore? that square and speckled stone
Which looks so firm and strong,
Is Patience:
And th’ other black and grave, wherewith each one
Is checker’d all along,
Humilitie:
The gentle rising, which on either hand
Leads to the Quire above,
Is Confidence:
But the sweet cement, which in one sure band
Ties the whole frame, is Love
And Charitie.
Hither sometimes Sinne steals, and stains
The marbles neat and curious veins:
But all is cleansed when the marble weeps.
Sometimes Death, puffing at the doore,
Blows all the dust about the floore:
But while he thinks to spoil the room, he sweeps.
Blest be the Architect, whose art
Could build so strong in a weak heart.
Christian Art | George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Church-Floore
The poem describes a metaphorical interior of a sacred space. This symbolizes a concept of the human heart as a temple built by God. Each element of the architecture serves as an allegory for spiritual virtues, struggles, and the divine influence in maintaining the integrity of the space. The poet weaves a contemplative vision that ties physical imagery to theological themes.
Opening lines of the poem draw attention to the ‘floor’ made of ‘square and speckled stone’, which is identified as ‘Patience’. The firmness of this foundational element suggests patience as a crucial virtue that underpins a stable spiritual life. Alongside this, the ‘black and grave’ stone, representing ‘Humility’, emphasizes its complementary role, grounding the believer in self-awareness and deference to God. These contrasting visual qualities of the two stones reflect the interplay between these virtues, both of which are essential for spiritual balance.
The ‘gentle rising’ of steps leading to the ‘Choir above’ symbolizes ‘Confidence’, suggesting a steady and assured ascent toward communion with God. This confidence is not self-generated but it is part of the divine design guiding the faithful upward. The ‘sweet cement’ binding these elements is identified as ‘Love and Charity’, described as the unifying force that holds the structure together. These virtues are the culmination of divine grace, tying the spiritual framework into a coherent whole.
The poem then introduces challenges faced within this sacred space. Sin is personified as a thief that ‘steals’ into the heart, staining the marble’s ‘neat and curious veins’. However, the image of the ‘marble weeping’ suggests that repentance and divine forgiveness restore the purity of the heart. Similarly, Death is depicted as a disruptive force, ‘puffing at the door’ and scattering dust across the floor. Yet, in an ironic twist, this act of attempted desecration becomes an act of cleansing, as Death inadvertently ‘sweeps’ the space. These moments illustrate the resilience of the divine construction, which transforms external and internal threats into opportunities for renewal.
The final lines of the poem turn to praise for the ‘Architect,’ whose divine ‘art’ has built this temple ‘so strong in a weak heart’. Juxtaposition of strength and weakness encapsulates the poem’s central theme: human frailty becomes a site of divine strength through grace. Use of the term ‘art’ highlights intricate and purposeful nature of God’s work, blending beauty and function in the creation of a heart that can withstand sin and death.
The poem’s structure mirrors its content. The use of tercets, paired with a reflective tone, creates a sense of order and balance, mirroring the architectural metaphors within the text. Vivid imagery and personifications of virtues and challenges invite s to reflect on our spiritual condition and divine presence within our hearts. The poem is a meditation on an interplay of human weakness, divine grace, and transformative power of spiritual virtues. The poem emphasizes the heart as a sacred space continually shaped, cleansed, and upheld by God.
Christian Art | George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Sinner George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Sinner Lord, how I am all ague, when I seek What I have treasur’d in my memorie! Since, if my soul make even with the week, Each seventh note by right is due to thee. I finde there quarries of pil’d vanities, But shreds of holinesse, that dare not venture To shew their face, since crosse to thy decrees. There the circumference earth is, heav’n the centre. In so much dregs the quintessence is small: The spirit and good extract of my heart Comes to about the many hundredth part. Yet Lord restore thine image, heare my call: And though my hard heart scarce to thee can grone, Remember that thou once didst write in stone. George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Sinner The poet reflects on his spiritual state, describing a struggle with weakness, sin, and the desire for divine alignment. The poem opens with the poet addressing God, expressing discomfort, likened to an ‘ague’ (fever or chill), when he searches his memory for spiritual treasures. This ‘ague’ suggests both a physical and spiritual unease, revealing the tension the poet feels in self-examination. The second line conveys a sense of regret as the poet searches for ‘treasur’d’ holiness in his memory. He recognizes that, although he might strive to keep his soul ‘even with the week’, dedicating every seventh day to God, he falls short. This phrase reflects the expectation to honour the Sabbath, but the poet’s efforts are met with disappointment in their perceived spiritual emptiness. The poet goes on to examine his inner self, describing ‘quarries of pil’d vanities’ that dominate his mind. Here, ‘quarries’ implies an overwhelming quantity of earthly or superficial concerns, while ‘vanities’ suggests that these concerns are meaningless in the context of divine expectation. In contrast, he finds only ‘shreds of holinesse’, fragmented attempts at righteousness, which he hesitates to bring forward as these elements are ‘crosse to thy decrees’, or in opposition to God’s laws. This imagery underscores the poet’s internal conflict and recognition of shortcomings. Further, the poet contrasts earth and heaven, saying that ‘the circumference earth is, heav’n the centre.’ This phrase symbolizes the poet’s focus on worldly concerns (the circumference) that orbit around a neglected spiritual core (the heavenly center). The poet reflects that his life is filled with ‘dregs’, the lesser, unrefined aspects of his being, while ‘quintessence’, or the purest part of himself, is scarce. This ‘quintessence’ is described as the ‘spirit and good extract’ of the poet’s heart, amounting to a ‘many hundredth part’ — a small fraction of life’s essence. The poet realizes that, despite attempts to cultivate holiness, his internal state largely lacks spiritual substance. The final lines shift to a plea for restoration. The poet calls on God to ‘restore thine image’, asking for renewal and transformation. This restoration request implies a yearning to reflect God’s nature more fully, as humanity is believed to be made in God’s image. The poet acknowledges that his heart ‘scarce… can grone’ to God, reflecting the difficulty he feels in truly connecting with or petitioning the divine. The poem ends with reference to the biblical account of the Ten Commandments, when God ‘didst write in stone’. This allusion serves as both a reminder of God’s past willingness to communicate directly and a plea for a similar intervention to etch divine law into the poet’s heart. The poem examines themes of introspection, human fallibility, and a longing for divine transformation. The poet’s self-examination reveals struggle to balance earthly concerns with spiritual commitments, culminating in a plea for God’s direct action to restore spiritual integrity.
Dylan Thomas’s Fern Hill is among the most charged and evocative meditations on childhood in modern poetry. Written in Thomas’s lyrical style, the poem expresses such joy and wonder associated with youth, only to reveal—gradually and with emotion—the passage of time. Fern Hill is not just a nostalgic recollection of a personal past; it is an elegy for innocence and inevitable transition from youthful bliss to sobering awareness of mortality, which nonetheless affirms an immortality of the childhood experience, which continues to sing through the very act of reading the poem [ … ]
Psalm 149 is an exultant call to praise, inviting the congregation of the faithful to celebrate God’s glory and justice. The psalm intertwines themes of worship, divine favour, and the execution of judgment [ … ]
