George Herbert's restlessness: Spiritual fulfillment or spiritual estrangement?

Restlessness occupied a significant spot in the literature of many prominent writers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries including George Herbert, Christopher Marlowe, and John Milton. Herbert's perspective alone differs from the others; George Herbert's perspective is framed in "The Pulley." His view that restlessness is a divine treasure is unique to him and is manifested in various avenues. First, restlessness as a virtue is manifested in his own writing. Writing poetry was a mental form of restlessness that allowed Herbert to praise God, putting him in a position to be received into God's rest. Second is the concept of practical theology. Practical use of his faith was essential to Herbert's life as a priest and also to his life as a priest within his poetry. The speaker in The Temple is a man who longs to find God and to be found by God through an equal balance of grace and works. When combined, mental and physical restlessness form a powerful and essential part of George Herbert's poetry, a part that cannot be underestimated for its value to a serious study of The Temple.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2002

Author dc:creator

• Comeford, AmiJo

Contributors dc:contributor

• Richard Harp

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1480

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2479