George Herbert’s Self- Projection as a Didactic Priest in <i>The Temple</i>

Abstract

This article analyzes the didactic voices uttered by the speaker in &lt;em&gt;The Temple&lt;/em&gt;. Through the didactic voices, the speaker exhorts the implied listener to obey the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, instills the importance of prayer and the priest, and conveys the importance of the Holy Scripture and the Love and Grace of Jesus Christ. The didactic voices of the speaker in the poems reveal George Herbert’s own religious perspectives and standpoints which are closely related to the circumstances of Reformation in the Baroque age. Therefore, the didactic speaker is in fact the self-projection of George Herbert.