religion and the language of parody in his poem entitled "A Parodie." In "The Ironing of
George Herbert's 'Collar,'" and in "Herbert's 'Easter Wings,'" Dale Randall and John Ray
discuss George Herbert's many puns, and they also discuss the relationship between
figurative language and punning for Herbert ( Rosen525). George Herbert's early Greek
and Latin poetry and his early epistles both testify to his acquaintance with the classical
forms of humor. Herbert wrote a series of Latin verses in response to Andrew Melville
Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria, and in this series is to be found a number of satirical pieces,
including one that mocks Melville's vocabulary. Indeed, Herbert had a reputation among
his contemporaries for his wittiness and his humor. He enjoyed mirth, and his
contemporaries enjoyed his practice of mixing quaint quirks and pranks with twisted and
extended metaphors known as "conceits." Herbert enjoyed displaying "metaphysical wit."
This type of wit employs strange distortions of language. It also employs surprise and
paradox, and its images tend to be novel and far-fetched. Metaphysical Wit also tends to
blend a simple and direct speaking voice with compelling emotions and mind-stretching
ideas ( Rosen523).

There is a harmonic tension in The Temple ( 1633) that produces an effect in the
reader which David Rosen calls "surprising fitness." The individual poems in this volume
show the symbolic relationship between a human body and a temple, elaborating on the
architecture of a church building ( Rosen523). The title of this collection is playfully
ambiguous, and throughout the volume, Herbert shows how mirth and play are important
tools for developing his message. This is very appropriate for Herbert because "from the
standpoint of salvation, he considers life a comedy" ( Rosen524). One of the poems in The
Temple is named "The Church Porch." Here Herbert tells worldly people not to give up
their humor, but to purify it: "When thou dost tell another's jest, therein / Omit the oaths,
which true wit cannot need." Consistent with this is Herbert's statement "Laugh not too
much; the witty man laughs least." Much of the wit of "The Church Porch" comes follows
from the interplay of the language with the tight structure of the poem. There are seventy-
seven interlocking but independent verses all of which show the impact of the epigrammatic
forms of humor. There are three sections in each verse. The first two lines state the
general proposition. These are followed by a witty comparison, and then finally there is
a pointed aphorism ( Rosen524).

The titles of some of the poems in The Temple show Herbert's leanings in the
direction of humor. Such titles include "Parodie," "Paradox," "Quidditie," "Quip," "Charms
and Knots." Even when the poems have unhumorous titles they nevertheless develop
humorous or paradoxical ideas. In the poem "Time," for example, Herbert develops the
idea that Time is not a good thing, for it allows people to live too long and get into trouble.
As Herbert notes in this poem, a good Christian should wish for an early death because that
will bring a speedier resurrection. Herbert uses many humorous poetic devices, one of
which is shaped poetry. His "Easter Wings" for example, is patterned in the shape of a bird
with wings. In "Paradise," Herbert "dices up the endings in each stanza, taking off the first
letter of the previous rhyme to create the next--"start," "tart," "art." Rosen notes that there
is a range of satire in The Temple. The satire in "The Church Porch has "a sharpness of
satire that Herbert could have found in Juvenal." In contrast, the satire in "Affliction"
"employs a Horatian tone to mock Herbert's own previous view" ( Rosen524).

Merrill Thomas F. "Sacred Parody and the Grammar of Devotion." Criticism 23. 3 ( 1981):
195-210.

Randall Dale B. J. "The Ironing of George Herbert's 'Collar.'" Studies in Philology 81. 4
( 1984): 473-495.

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