Thursday, June 21, 2007

Post 300: George Herbert, "The Altar"

[For Posts 100 and 200, I wrote about Wendell Berry. For Post 300, I offer a poem by my other favorite poet, George Herbert: "The Altar"]

The Altar.
A broken A L T A R, Lord, thy servant reares,
Made of a heart, and cemented with teares:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workmans tool hath touch’d the same.
A H E A R T alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow’r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy Name;
That, if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed S A C R I F I C E be mine,
And sanctifie this A L T A R to be thine.

2 comments:

Timothy R. Butler said...

Thanks, Dr. Lucas, it was nice to spend a little time with Herbert. I love George Herbert (actually, I love the metaphysical poets in general), but have not read "the Altar" in ages. I love how he made a concrete poem, but it still has a lyrical sound despite the pressures of the shape.

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