The Windows

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



Lord, how can man preach thy eternall word?
He is a brittle crazie glasse:
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace.

But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie,
Making thy life to shine within
The holy Preachers ; then the light and glorie
More rev'rend grows, & more doth win:
Which else shows watrish, bleak, & thin.

Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and aw : but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the eare, not conscience ring.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

32 sec read
75

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXAA BCBCC XDXDD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 581
Words 108
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

George Herbert

The Very Reverend Honourable George Herbert was an Anglican priest. more…

All George Herbert poems | George Herbert Books

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