These innovations secured his place in literary history. Herbert also experiments with rhyme and meter, such as suddenly ending a poem on a rhyme after several free verse stanzas. Other poems feature less-traditional stanza formations with unconventional and irregular indentation of individual lines within each stanza. Many of the selections are presented with the context of shapes for instance, “ The Altar” looks like an altar on the page, with a narrow central section squeezed between a broader top and bottom. The poems contained within all three sections of The Temple are characterized by an attention to construction as well as by their devotional content. This section, like the first, contains just two poems. The final section is titled “The Church-militant” and abruptly shifts the mood of the collection toward a more apocalyptic expression of the necessity of the collective to band together and use the power of devout Christianity as a weapon of defense and attack against the evil forces wishing to wreak havoc on mankind. Section two is very aptly titled “The Church” as it deals with topics routinely associated with the practice of attending services such as “Prayer,” “Easter,” and “Praise.” “The Chuch” makes up the bulk of The Temple. Section one, titled “The Church-porch,” includes poetic instructions for proper etiquette when dealing with arguments, financial matters, and the ingestion of alcohol it contains just two poems.

The collection is divided into three separate sections. George Herbert’s 1633 volume The Temple contains almost all of his English language poetry, and is the work for which he is best known.

The Temple by George Herbert