Gerrit Scott Dawson

This book was published in 1997, put together by a Presbyterian pastor with an obvious love for George Herbert's poems. George Herbert was a contemporary of John Donne, living 1593-1633, the last 3 years as priest in the Church of England at Bremerton Church.

The book is structured in 32 daily readings of poems from the book The Temple, published in 1633. They are grouped into 8 themes. Dawson starts each day with a preview of the poem highlighting the major themes and perhaps how it fits in with other poems. He also provides a very helpful vocabulary guide for language that isn't familiar to us. Then, of course, the text of the poem. After that is a section discussing what meanings are in the poem, and a section about application to daily life followed by a brief prayer. Dawson recommends spending 20 minutes a day reading and meditating on each poem.

This is a great way to read poetry for me, I often feel I'm missing half (or more) of the meaning. Although, Herbert's poetry is very readable and seldom left me wondering what it might mean. I found the comments provided by Dawson to be very helpful and the poems often became personal to me. He puts into words (beautiful words) things I feel and experience.… (mehr)