Prayer (I)

by George Herbert


Original Language English

Prayer the Church's banquet, Angel's age,
     God's breath in man returning to his birth,
     The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth;

Engine against the' Almighty, sinner's tow'r,
     Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
     The six-days world-transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love and bliss,
     Exalted manna, gladness of the blest,
     Heaven in ordinary, man well dressed,
The Milky Way, the bird of paradise,

     Church-bells beyond the stears heard, the soul's blood,
     The land of spices; something understood.

-- from George Herbert: The Country Parson and the Temple, by George Herbert / Edited by John Nelson Wall

<<Previous Poem | More Poems by George Herbert | Next Poem >>


View All Poems by George Herbert



Recommended Books: George Herbert

The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse George Herbert: The Country Parson and the Temple Metaphysical Poetry: (Penguin Classics) George Herbert: The Complete English Poems
More Books >>



Prayer (I)