George Herbert a classical scholar and gifted musician, gave up a promising career to study for the priesthood. He instead became a great poet, and devotional lyricist.

George was born into an aristocratic family and brought up by his devout, widowed mother. Educated at Cambridge University in 1614 he secured a fellowship at Trinity College. In 1618 he was made reader in rhetoric and in 1620 became public orator of the university. Noticed by King James I he was marked out for a career as a courtier or in public affairs. It was a time of real inner struggle, as he had became increasingly dissatisfied with his life. It came as a great surprise to his friends, when he decided “to lose himself in a humble way” and seek ordination. As Izaak Walton engagingly put it, Herbert “chang’d his sword and silk Cloaths into a Canonical Coat”, all things became new to him; he discovered peace and “the power to change my life”. For Herbert, the “cure of souls” was the greatest work anyone could undertake.

In 1626 he was ordained deacon. William Laud persuaded him to accept the small country parish of Fugglestone with Bemerton, near Salisbury in Wiltshire. He was presented to the living and ordained priest in 1630 and was married earlier the same year to Jane Danvers.

His poems are steeped in the characteristics of the man himself, full of warmth and a genuine love of godliness. His collection of poems includes such well-known hymns as “Teach me, my God and King”, “The God of love my shepherd is”, and “Let all the world in every corner sing”.

In his most famous prose work, 'A Priest to the Temple; or, the Country Parson, his Character, and Rule of Holy Life', He presented a vision of the clergy which became a model for future generations. Herbert believed that his parishioners should never have to look to him in vain for the help they needed. He set a very high standard, but he 'walked the walk not just talked the talk'. He was a well-read, moderate, disciplined, a man of prayer, and devoted to the souls in his care. Kind and hospitable, with a gracious and generous spirit, he had a transparent sincerity. Prayer and preaching had equal place in his services, each bearing upon the other. Sadly he had fewer than 3 years in his own parish, but his life was such that his name continues to be remembered as a shining example of faithful ministry.

BORN: 3 April 1593, Montgomery, U.K.

DIED:1 March 1633, Bemerton, Salisbury, U.K.