The Poems of John Donne and George Herbert: Presenting a Distinct View on God

The ideas that are received from the poems of John Donne and George Herbert present us with a very distinct view on God, and more generally, religion. Both were writing in the late 1500s and early 1600s; however the methodologies used by each are very distinct.

George Herbert (1593 - 1633), born later than John Donne (1572 - 1631), largely followed Donne’s poetic style, however incorporating slight changes: the diction that is evident in Herbert’s poetry is much simpler than Donne’s diction, and the metaphors are also easier to comprehend. What both have in common, is the colloquial manner, the logic arrangement of the poems argument and therefore the persuasive nature of the poetry. In Donne’s poetry, this logical arrangement especially aided the wooing of the subject of the poesie (usually God or a woman). Donne’s metaphors and extended conceits also present themselves in a different manner than those used by Herbert; the frequent use of conceits (the surprising and ingenious turn of ideas) establishes itself as the whole poem, and the final conceit arrives within the last two lines of the poem. These conceits and metaphors were taken from all domains of life, with an incomparable fondness to those ideas from the sciences, explained by Donne having established the idea of metaphysical poetry which was later taken on board by poets like Herbert, Andrew Marvell and Henry Vaughan. Although Herbert is commonly classed as a metaphysical poet, a poet who utilises clever conceits and paradoxes to explain intellectual and theological concepts, the conceits used by him are based less on crafts and sciences, and focus more on the everyday domestic experiences. This is another one of the drastic differences between Donne and He...

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...t, as Carey suggests. This idea of having God at his side at all time is important to Herbert as this presence guides him through life, and as a consequence of this, he can share his experience with his subjects in order to establish them virtuous with a sense of guidance.

Works Cited

Religious Metaphysical Poetry: Donne, Herbert, Vaughan

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George Herbert (1593-1633)

(accessed last on 30.03.2010)

Antonio S. Oliver: Views of Death in Donne’s Poetry

(last accessed on 30.03.2010)

Rumrich, J.P. and Chaplain, G. 2006. Seventeenth-Century British Poetry 1603-1660, W. W. Norton & Company: A Norton Critical Edition.