George Herbert and the Mystery of the Word: Poetry and Scripture in Seventeenth-Century England

297 Pages·2017·2.162 MB·English

by  Gary Kuchar (auth.)

George
Herbert

and the
Mystery of
the Word
Poetry and Scripture in
Seventeenth-Century England

g a r y k u c h a r
George Herbert and the Mystery of the Word
Gary Kuchar
George Herbert and
the Mystery of the
Word
Poetry and Scripture in Seventeenth-Century
England
Gary Kuchar
University of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
ISBN 978-3-319-44044-6 ISBN 978-3-319-44045-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44045-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016962102
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For Troy and in memory of my father Joseph Kuchar
A N R
ote oN efeReNces
– References to George Herbert’s English poetry are given in text
by line number and are from The English Poems of George Herbert
ed. Helen Wilcox (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007).
– References to George Herbert’s prose are given in text by
page number and are from The Works of George Herbert ed.
F.E. Hutcheson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959).
– References to George Herbert’s Latin poetry are given in text by
page number and are from The Latin Poetry of George Herbert: A
Bilingual Edition. trans. Mark McCloskey and Paul R. Murphy
(Athens: Ohio UP, 1965).
– Unless noted otherwise, references to the sermons of Lancelot
Andrewes are given in text by volume and page number and are
from Lancelot Andrewes: Ninety-Six Sermons 5 Volumes (Oxford:
John Henry Parker, 1841–1843).
– Unless noted otherwise, references to the work of Richard Sibbes
are given in text by volume and page number and are from The
Complete Works of Richard Sibbes 7 Volumes ed. Alexander Grosart
(Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1863).
– References to Edward Herbert’s De Veritate are given in text by
page number and are from Edward Herbert, De Veritate trans.
Meyrick H. Carré (London: Routledge, 1937).
– References to Edward Herbert’s A Dialogue Between a Tutor and
His Pupil are given in text by page number are from the 1678
London edition printed by W. Bathoe.
vii
viii A NOTE ON REFERENCES
– References to Edward Herbert’s De Religione Laici are given in
text by page number and are from De Religione Laici ed. Harold
R. Hutcheson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1944).
– References to John Donne’s Sermons are given in text by vol-
ume and page number and are from The Sermons of John Donne
10 vols. ed. George R. Potter and Evelyn M. Simpson (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1953–1962).
– Except when otherwise noted, references to St. Augustine are
given in text by volume and page number and are from The Works
of St. Augustine (2nd Release) ed. John E. Rotelle (Charlottesville:
Intelex Corp., 2001).
– References to Henry Vaughan’s poetry are given in text by
line numbers and are from The Works of Henry Vaughan ed.
L.C. Martin 2nd edition (Clarendon: Oxford UP, 1957).
– Unless noted otherwise, references to Martin Luther are given in
text by volume and page number and are from Luther's Works 55
Volumes. ed. Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann (Fortress
Press: Philadelphia, 1955–1986).
– Unless noted otherwise, all references to the bible are given
in text by chapter and verse and are from The Holy Bible: King
James Version a Reprint of the edition of 1611 (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson, 2005).
You see, the Word stands apart as at once the foundation for all things to
stand on, and the ceiling for them to stand under … all things are in it.1
—St. Augustine
A problem is something which I meet, which I find complete before me, but
which I can therefore lay siege to and reduce. But a mystery is something in
which I myself am involved, and it can therefore only be thought of as a
‘sphere where the distinction between what is in me and what is before me
loses its meaning and its initial validity.’ A genuine problem is subject to an
appropriate technique by the exercise of which it is defined; whereas a
mystery, by definition, transcends every conceivable technique. It is, no
doubt, always possible (logically and psychologically) to degrade a m ystery
so as to turn it into a problem. But this is a fundamentally vicious
proceeding, whose springs might perhaps be discovered in a kind of
corruption of the intelligence.
—Gabriel Marcel 2
We say amiss,
This or that is:
Thy word is all, if we could spell.
—George Herbert, “The Flower.”
1 13.210.
2 Gabriel Marcel, Being and Having trans. K. Farrer (New York: Harper and Row, 1965),
101.
ix
A
ckNoweldgmeNts
I am very grateful to have the opportunity to thank the friends, colleagues,
and institutions that helped make this book possible. This project began
with a generous invitation from Hannibal Hamlin to write on poetry and
prayer. During that time, I enjoyed the support of the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Paul Dyck commented on
an early draft of the whole manuscript while Sara Beam, Matthew Koch,
John Money, Ed Pechter, Terry Sherwood, Judith Weil, and Chauncey
Wood provided advice on individual sections. I am also very grateful to
my anonymous readers who offered crucial advice and to Phillip Getz
and Alexis Nelson for their editorial support. My biggest intellectual
debt is to Paul Cefalu for commenting on multiple drafts and for allow-
ing me to draw on his magisterial book project in manuscript form, The
Johannine Renaissance in Early Modern English Religion and Literature
(Oxford University Press: Forthcoming). I am also grateful to all those
who generously provided me with a venue to test out my ideas at various
stages in the project, including Margaret Cameron, Paul Dyck, Kenneth
Graham, Ryan Mcdermott, Heather Easterling Ritchie, Paul Stevens,
Linda Tredennick, Alden Turner, and Jennifer Waldron. I also benefit-
ted from conversations with Christopher Douglas, Erin Kelly, Jim Knapp,
Allan Mitchell, Linda Morra, and many others. Thanks also go to my
many RAs over the last decade, especially Rose Morris who helped me
through the book’s final stages. A Faculty Fellowship in 2016–2017 from
the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Victoria allowed me to
complete this project. Finally, I am grateful to the editors of the follow-
ing publications for kindly allowing me to reprint some of the material
xi
xii ACKNOWELDGMENTS
from the following publications: “Sounding The Temple: George Herbert
and the Mystery of Hearkening” Figures of the Sacred in English Poetry.
eds. Jennifer Kilgore-Caradec, Ineke Bockting, and Cathy Parc (New
York: Peter Lang, 2013); “Prayer Terminable and Interminable: George
Herbert and the Art of Estrangement” Religion and Literature. 42.3
(2010), 132–143; and “Exegesis and Experience in Herbert and Calvin: A
Review Essay of Daniel Doerksen’s Picturing Religious Experience: George
Herbert, Calvin, and the Scriptures” in George Herbert Journal 34. 1–2
(2010–2011), 119–136. It goes without saying that errors are mine alone.