This thesis discusses the theme of spiritual sacrifice in George Herbert's "The Temple". In terms of poetic content the study mainly assesses the relative importance, for Herbert of three qualities of spiritual sacrifice — repentance, dedication, and praise — and examines the significance, of Christ's Sacrifice and the role of the heart in spiritual sacrifice. Although Herbert's "Dedication" to his work suggests that each, poem, is a sacrifice, the study seeks to show, how, in addition to content, several, poems, in their combination, of language and form demonstrate, the sacrificial, act itself. Along, with a treatment, of this theme, discussion of the poems reveals the way in which motifs and images of sacrifice, recur, in many poems. Chapter One considers the sanctions and stipulations of offering spiritual sacrifices and the nature of the sacrifices themselves, through a study of Old and Hew. Testament, scripture. A sampling of homiletic and exegetical sources especially contemporary to Herbert, points out the prophetic and typological concerns relevant to the subject. Chapter Two begins the study of Herbert's poetry with, an explication of the first, several poems, with, particular attention paid to the way in which "The Sacrifice" provides a focal point, for the poems which, follow. Chapter Three surveys a selection of poems scattered throughout The Temple which specifically use the language and imagery of sacrifice. This study of spiritual sacrifice in the poetry concludes that, divine ministry initiates and provides assistance in the offering of the sacrifices, and that the spiritual, sacrifices arise from a heart; dealt with by the Spirit of God. Sacrifices characteristically express the poet's sense of dedication, and praise, along with repentance. Although these qualities receive varying emphases in the poetry, as a general premise it can he said that sin. must be confessed and a sense of fellowship with God restored before expressions of dedication and praise can properly and acceptably be offered. Some poems in their combination of language and form demonstrate or suggest the sacrificial act itself, particularly regarding the "pattern" in, which sacrificial qualities are considered. As a general conclusion spiritual sacrifice expresses a way in which the Christian, responds to the reception of divine Love and Grace. The offering of, spiritual sacrifices should and does constitute a regular activity in the life of the typical believer. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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Diss.--Bonn--Universität Bonn, 1990. / Résumé en anglais.

The thesis examines the paradoxes in Herbert's poetry and attributes the many contradictions and vacillations within The Temple to Herbert's own "spiritual conflicts" as a Christian poet. The thesis explores the poems as interconnected expressions of Herbert's dual nature as Christian-Poet. The thesis discusses over sixty of Herbert's poems, concentrating on close readings and intratextual connections. Chapter One reviews critical approaches to Herbert's poetry and outlines the study. Chapter Two examines Herbert's life and the expression of his struggles in poetry. Chapter Three discusses Herbert's poetry itself and comments on the deceptively simplistic style. Chapter Four explores the conflict between the worlds of the Christian and the poet. Chapter Five concludes that, more than merely an artistic exercise or catechistic tool, Herbert's poetry accurately records the duality of the poet's spiritual journey.

This dissertation describes the relationship between George Herbert's two principal works, The Temple (1633) and The Country Parson (1651). The introduction discusses the main problems faced by readers of The Temple: its paradoxical religious statements, its apparent lack of unity, its variable poetic voice, and its place in literary history. Chapter 1 argues that The Temple and The Country Parson are complementary: that they may have been written together and considered companionpieces, that they are similar in form and content, and that they should be read together. Chapter 2 places The Country Parson in the genre of the clerical manual, and explains its distinctive form as the influence of various kinds of renaissance prose, including the essay, the professional handbook, the courtesy book, the prose character, and the moral resolve. Chapter 3 provides the first thorough analysis of the prose style of The Country Parson, a style which may be loosely characterized as a combination of Ciceronian and Senecan attributes, but is better thought of as "Anglican" or "poetic." Chapters 4 and 5 apply The Country Parson to the problems faced by readers of The Temple, and describe the Anglican spirituality, pastoral voice, and coherence of The Temple, along with its proper place in literary history.

This dissertation describes the relationship between George Herbert's two principal works, The Temple (1633) and The Country Parson (1651). The introduction discusses the main problems faced by readers of The Temple: its paradoxical religious statements, its apparent lack of unity, its variable poetic voice, and its place in literary history. Chapter 1 argues that The Temple and The Country Parson are complementary: that they may have been written together and considered companionpieces, that they are similar in form and content, and that they should be read together. Chapter 2 places The Country Parson in the genre of the clerical manual, and explains its distinctive form as the influence of various kinds of renaissance prose, including the essay, the professional handbook, the courtesy book, the prose character, and the moral resolve. Chapter 3 provides the first thorough analysis of the prose style of The Country Parson, a style which may be loosely characterized as a combination of Ciceronian and Senecan attributes, but is better thought of as "Anglican" or "poetic." Chapters 4 and 5 apply The Country Parson to the problems faced by readers of The Temple, and describe the Anglican spirituality, pastoral voice, and coherence of The Temple, along with its proper place in literary history. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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David Jones, Basil Bunting, Geoffrey Hill and Roy Fisher are major poets in the modernist tradition who have written long poems which incorporate and interrogate history. The Anathemata. Briggflatts. Mercian Hvmns and A Furnace all explore the poet's sense of identity and his relationship to the present by attempting to give order to the past. This thesis examines how this attempt, and the various ideologies, philosophies and aesthetics that have accompanied it, are given form in these poems. It relates detailed readings of the poems to their intellectual and historical contexts. The Introduction outlines the typical features of die modernist long poem and suggests that they are peculiarly suited to expressions of both history and nationalism. Chapter I is a critical assessment of the aesthetics of Wilhelm Worringer and Herbert Read. Chapter II shows how David Jones endeavours to give form to the various histories of The Anathemata by using these aesthetics in conjunction with the historical philosophy of Oswald Spengler, the analysis of myth and ritual of J.G. Frazer and Jessie Weston, and his own nationalism and Roman Catholicism. This chapter accounts for the poem's obscurity by investigating its conflicting ideas of form, and locating it in die context of the Second World War. Chapter III, on Briggflatts. argues that Basil Bunting combines the ideas of Worringer and Read with an autobiographical narrative and a structure derived from music, in order to give die poem a form mirroring both his melancholia and the harmony he perceived in nature. It contends that the histories in the poem are best read as relating to autobiography and not Northumbrian nationalism. Chapter IV shows how Geoffrey Hill refashions the English long poem in a manner close to that of the lyric sequence. It explores notions of empathy and historical continuity in Mercian Hymns. and analyses Hill's ambiguous evocation of his Anglo-Saxon roots in the context of contemporary political discourse. Chapter V discusses the ways in which Roy Fisher enacts different apprehensions of time and history in the dialectical structure of A Furnace, and relates them to the thought of John Cowper Powys. The Conclusion draws together the recurrent themes of the thesis: change and continuity, history and identity, time and timelessness.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Problem. The purpose of the dissertation is to discuss the place of George Herbert (1593-1633) in the history of the Christian Church in England. With the revival of interest in and appreciation of the metaphysical poets, the name of George Herbert has taken a recognized place in the list of English authors, and his contribution to English literature is acknowledged increasingly. On the other hand, his role in Church history has never adequately been assessed. His theological and ecclesiological position often has been misrepresented gravely, and as a result his English poems, all of which deal with religious subjects, have been misunderstood to some extent by many. The dissertation is not a study of George Herbert considered primarily as a literary artist. It does not attempt to make a literary analysis of his poems, nor does it look for evidences of purely literary influence, except where data of this kind contribute directly to understanding his religion or his place in the Church. George Herbert's religious devotion is for us totally bound up in his poetry, and his attitude toward his poetic gift is at its root religious. Therefore a study of this kind cannot avoid all literary questions, and it refers constantly to his poetry. But what is attempted is an historical view of Herbert's place in English religious life and not a criticism of his poetry and prose. [truncated]

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