The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Herbert, George
Herbert, George
(
1593
–
1633
), fifth son of Sir Richard and Magdalen
Herbert
and younger brother of
Lord
Herbert
of Cherbury, born in Montgomery into a prominent family. His father died when he was 3, and in
1608
his mother, the patron of
Donne
, remarried Sir John Danvers, who was 20 years her junior. Educated at Westminster School where he was named king's scholar, and Trinity College, Cambridge, George published his first poems (two sets of memorial verses in Latin) in a volume mourning Prince Henry's death in
1612
. But he had already, according to his earliest biographer,
I.
Walton
, sent his mother at the start of
1610
a New Year's letter dedicating his poetic powers to God and enclosing two sonnets (‘My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee?’ and ‘Sure, Lord, there is enough in thee to dry’). In
1616
he was elected a major fellow of Trinity, and in
1618
appointed reader in...
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