I absolutely love this poem by George Herbert. There’s no verb, just a string of metaphors describing prayer. In so many cases, it’s not only the eloquence of one phrase but the way he juxtaposes it with another, almost contradictory one. Anyway, here it is. It’s called Prayer (1). Anyone have a favorite metaphor? I’m having trouble choosing among a few of them….
Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angels’ age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;
Engine against th’Almighty, sinners’ tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing tower,
The six-days-world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices; something understood.
charlespaolino said,
July 29, 2010 at 2:06 am
“God’s breath in man returning to his birth . . . .” I like that idea of intimacy with God.