허버트의 시 속에 나타난 음악성

Abstract

George Herbert was one of the leading members of the group classified as metaphysical poets in 17th-century English literature. He was born of a noble family, whose ancestors were in the service of the king and in local affairs. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert once seemed to want a political career, but he was strongly influenced by John Donne, his senior poet, and was resolved to devote himself to both religious poetry and the church. Appointed rector of Bemerton, Herbert repaired and rebuilt the churches and rectory in addition to placing God's Word and service to his parishioners as the leader of the community. He also revised many of his earlier poems and composed over half the poems in The Temple. He served God as an ideal courtier to the King, and worked devotedly for his people. The Temple is, in short, the God's courtier, Herbert's spiritual autobiography, in which we see his intention to instruct his reader on the relation between man and God. Into the poems in The Temple Herbert put all his complaints and thanksgivings: hope from despair, joy from sorrow, wonder from frustration. He speaks, and still sings all these things through the various musical conceits such as musical forms, musical images, and musical contrast structure consisting of speech mode and song mode. Music was, as Izaak Walton described, Herbert's "chiefest recreation," and, at the same time, his sustenance on earth, and his way to draw himself closer to God. We cannot have a correct understanding of Herbert's poetry until we have heard the music in it and appreciated it.