George Herbert biography :

George Herbert was born on 3rd April 1593 in Montgomery, Wales to Richard and Magdalen Newport Herbert. He and his nine siblings were raised solely by their mother after the death of Richard Herbert in 1596.

George Herbert’s family was wealthy, intellectual and had a fondness for the arts. His mother was the patron of John Donne, and other poets. His brother, Edward, was also a poet and a philosopher. He was later knighted and called “Lord Herbert of Chirbury”

George Herbert studied at Westminster School and later on, at the Trinity College in Cambridge. He composed his first sonnets in 1610 and sent these to his mother. In 1620, Herbert was appointed the “Public Orator” of Cambridge. He held that post with distinction until 1628.

George Herbert was ordained an Anglican Priest in the year 1630 and became a rector at Bemerton near Salisbury. He composed his immortal poems exploring and celebrating God’s love, during the time he was a clergyman.

On March 1, 1633, George Herbert passed away. Before he died, he gave Nicholas Ferrar, founder of an Anglican religious community at Little Gidding, the manuscript of The Temple. He asked Ferrar to publish the poems only if these would “turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul”, else have these poems burned. Little did George Herbert know that his works would have a profound impact on his readers. By 1680, barely 50 years after his death, The Temple had gone through as much as a dozen printings.