For the first time, John Drury convincingly integrates the life and poetry of George Herbert, giving us in Music at Midnight the definitive biography of the man behind some of the most famous poems in the English Language. 'Love bade me welcome . . .' 'Teach me my God and King . . .' George Herbert wrote, but never published, some of the very greatest English poetry, recording in an astonishing variety of forms his inner experiences of grief, recovery, hope, despair, anger, fulfilment and - above all else - love. He was born in 1593 and died at the age of 39 in 1633, before the clouds of civil war gathered, his family aristocratic and his upbringing privileged. He showed worldly ambition and seemed sure of high public office and a career at court, but then for a time 'lost himself in a humble way', devoting himself to the restoration of the church at Leighton Bromswold in Buckinghamshire and then to his parish of Bemerton, three miles from Salisbury, whose cathedral music he called 'my heaven on earth'. When in the year of his death his friend Nicholas Ferrar, leader of the quasi-monastic community at Little Gidding, published Herbert's poems under the title The Temple, his fame was quickly established. Because he published no English poems during his lifetime, and dating most of them exactly is impossible, writing Herbert's biography is an unusual challenge. In this book John Drury sets the poetry in the whole context of the poet's life and times, so that the reader can understand the frame of mind and kind of society which produced it, and depth can be added to the narrative of Herbert's life. (T.S. Eliot: 'What we can confidently believe is that every poem in the book [The Temple] is in tune to the poet's experience.') His Herbert is not the saintly figure who has come down to us from John Aubrey, but a man torn for much of his life between worldly ambition and the spiritual life shown to us so clearly through his writings. The result is the most satisfying biography of this exceptional English poet yet written. JOHN DRURY is Chaplain and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He began as a biblical scholar, and while Dean of King's College, Cambridge, worked with Frank Kermode on the Gospels for The Literary Guide to the Bible, which sharpened his sense of the role of imagination in the formation of the Gospel stories. He took this interest further, and into the realm of Christian paintings and their meaning, in Painting the Word, written while he was Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Music at Midnight is the culmination of a lifetime's interest in Herbert, whose Complete Poetry he is now editing for Penguin Classics.

Music At Midnight: The Life And Poetry Of George Herbert

Biographies & Memoirs

Drury, John

Arts & Literature

Penguin Uk

Though he never published any of his English poems during his lifetime, George Herbert (1593–1633) is recognized as possibly the greatest religious poet in the language. Few English poets of his age still inspire such intense devotion today. In this richly perceptive biography, John Drury for the first time integrates Herbert’s poems fully into his life, enriching our understanding of both the poet’s mind and his work. As Drury writes in his preface, Herbert lived “a quiet life with a crisis in the middle of it.” Drury follows Herbert from his academic success as a young man, seemingly destined for a career at court, through his abandonment of those hopes, his devotion to the restoration of a church in Huntingdonshire, and his final years as a country parson. Because Herbert’s work was only published posthumously, it has always been difficult to know when or in what context Herbert wrote his poems. But Drury skillfully places readings of the poems into his narrative at biographically credible moments, allowing us to appreciate not only Herbert’s frame of mind while writing, but also the society that produced it. A sensitive critic of Herbert’s poems as well as a theologian, Drury does full justice to the spiritual dimension of Herbert’s work. In addition, he reveals the occasions of sorrow, happiness, regret, and hope that Herbert captured in his poetry and that led T. S. Eliot to write, “What we can confidently believe is that every poem . . . is true to the poet’s experience.” Painting a picture of a man torn between worldly ambition and spiritual life, Music at Midnight is an eloquent biography that breathes new life into some of the greatest English poems ever written.

Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert

University of Chicago Press

Photos and description of around 100 houses who inhabitants were historically important. The book covers a 12 state area.

Historic Midwest Houses

History

Americas

Univ of Chicago Pr

stories about famous old houses in Illinois

Old Illinois Houses

Regional U.S.

Tradition and design in Luke's Gospel: A study in Early Christian historiography

Religion & Spirituality

Darton, Longman, and Todd

The Parables in the Gospels

SPCK Publishing

Examining the rights and realities of people with learning disabilities as sexual beings, this book looks at the professional and personal resources that can work together to ensure that children and adults with learning disabilities lessen their potential vulnerability. Sex and sexuality are sensitive, complex issues for any parent, and especially for those that have a child with learning disabilities. This guide suggests strategies to enable parents and caregivers to face their fears, define their hopes and concerns, and to cope and work with professionals. Sexuality programs are discussed, as is the importance of tailoring these to the individual's needs.

HOLDING ON, LETTING GO: Sex, Sexuality and People With Learning Disabilities (Human Horizons)

Wright, Jon

Hutchinson, Lynne

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Souvenir Pr Ltd

Christianity is another country, says John Drury, and we need to familiarize ourselves with it in order to understand the universal meaning of its art. In this beautifully written book, Drury, an Anglican priest and theologian, looks at religious paintings through the ages and presents them to us in a fresh way—as works filled with passion, stories, and meaning. They become the poetry of such eternal human concerns as birth, death, sacrifice, love, and moral goodness and failure. Drury points out the religious meanings in paintings that range from works by Piero della Francesca to those by Velazquez. In each case he views the whole picture—its composition, color, drawing, figures, and even architecture—and shows how it creates a religious image that addresses the spectator as a spiritual human being. Drury also provides a historical context for the works, comparing our perception with the perceptions of, for example, the medieval monarch or the Renaissance merchant who first commissioned the work. He examines how these pictures are able to speak to audiences across time and space, and in the process he allows us to respond to them at a more imaginative, empathetic level.

Painting the Word: Christian Pictures and Their Meanings

Drury, The Very Reverend John

Yale University Press

Tradition and design in Luke's Gospel: A study in early Christian historiography

Historical Study & Educational Resources

John Knox Press

The Parables in the Gospels: History and Allegory

Crossroad Pub. Co

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Books by Drury, John