George Herbert
Life
Born: 1633
Died: 1593
Biography
George Herbert (April 3, 1593 – March 1, 1633) was a Welsh poet, orator and a priest. Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education which led on to him holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, George Herbert excelled in languages and music. He went to college with the intention of becoming a priest, but his scholarship attracted the attention of King James I. Herbert served in parliament for two years. After the death of King James and at the urging of a friend, Herbert's interest in ordained ministry was renewed. In 1630, in his late thirties he gave up his secular ambitions and took holy orders in the Church of England, spending the rest of his life as a rector of the little parish of St. Andrew Bemerton, near Salisbury. He was noted for unfailing care for his parishioners, bringing the sacraments to them when they were ill, and providing food and clothing for those in need. Throughout his life he wrote religious poems characterized by a precision of language, a metrical versatility, and an ingenious use of imagery or conceits that was favored by the metaphysical school of poets He is best remembered as a writer of poems and the hymn "Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life." He is commemorated on February 27 throughout the Anglican Communion and on March 1 of the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Five Mystical Songs for Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra of Ralph Vaughan-Williams are set to poetry of Herbert. The most popular of these songs is probably No. 4: The Call, a.k.a. Come, my Way, my Truth, my Light, (solo only, chorus tacet), a bowdlerized adaptation of which appears as in several hymnals. ( This brief biography is from WikiPedia - for a more extensive biography use the Wikipedia link below.)
View the Wikipedia article on George Herbert.
List of poetic works
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- "5 Mystical Songs" - Ralph Vaughan Williams - (1911)
- Easter / Rise heart; thy Lord is risen - (George Herbert) (
) - I Got Me Flowers - (George Herbert) ( )
- Love Bade Me Welcome - (George Herbert) ( [http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/6/67/No3-Love_Bade_Me_Welcome.pdf )
- The Call / Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life - (George Herbert) ( )
- Antiphon / Let all the world in every corner sing - (George Herbert) ( )
- Easter / Rise heart; thy Lord is risen - (George Herbert) (