"This fully annotated edition of the complete English poems of George Herbert provides the text of the reliable first edition of The Temple (1633). Appended are six poems not included in The Temple, three versions of The Elixir to show Herbert's approach to revision, and several secular poems which he intentionally parodied. The edition begins with an outline of the poet's life and ends with a comprehensive twenty-five page bibliography. - Jacket."
"George Herbert (1593-1633) is widely regarded as the greatest devotional poet in the English language. His volume of poems, The Temple, published posthumously in 1633, became one of the most widely read and influential collections of the seventeenth century. Almost 400 years after they were first published in Cambridge by the 'printers to the Universitie', Cambridge University Press is pleased to present the definitive scholarly edition of Herbert's complete English poems, accompanied by extensive explanatory and textual apparatus. The text is annotated with historical, literary and biblical information, as well as the modern critical contexts which now illuminate the poems. In addition to the introduction and notes, this edition includes a glossary of key words, an index of biblical quotations, and the authentic texts of Herbert's work. --From publisher's description."