Two Natures Met: George Herbert and the Incarnation

Two Natures Met addresses the spiritual conflicts depicted in George Herbert’s The Temple from the perspective of Herbert’s engagement with the mystery of the Incarnation. Herbert’s commitment to his art develops as his apprehension of the fullness of the Incarnation advances. Against the iconoclasm of the Puritans, Herbert praises the stained glass windows, the vestments, and the perfumes that lead the poet to appreciate the bruised and broken body that gives him poetic lines and eternal life.