Herbert and Crashaw: Two Paraphrases of the Twenty–Third Psalm

Abstract

HROUGHOUT the history of English literature, poets have written verse-paraphrases of passages from the Bible. Many of these are confined to several verses or a psalm, but others include complete books such as Job, the Song of Solomon, or Isaiah. reasons behind such paraphrases are as varied as the poets who wrote them. Some were dissatisfied with the prevailing versions of the Bible and wished to give more accurate translations to the public. They believed that the portions of the Old Testament originally in Hebrew poetry lost too much in the prose versions. Others were interested in metrical paraphrases which could be chanted or sung in worship services. psalms were most frequently paraphrased, since they could either be used in worship or give the poet opportunity to express his own religious fervor in the words of the Scriptures. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, psalm paraphrases were written by many famous poets including Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, George Gascoigne, Sir Philip Sidney, Francis Bacon, John Donne, George Herbert, and Richard Crashaw. Many of these paraphrases are perfunctory treatments which lack originality and enthusiasm. If the poet attempted to be too literal, his paraphrase lacked imagination; however, if he aimed for originality, his final poem often became so free that it moved outside the realm of paraphrase. George Herbert's The Twenty-Third Psalme and Richard Crashaw's Psalm 23 are two of the best seventeenth-century paraphrases, and they illustrate the variety possible in this genre. Herbert's paraphrase remains close to the scriptural source, yet reveals poetic imagination. Crashaw's is much longer, expanding into seventy-two lines; but his poetic treatment falls within the limits of paraphrase. By definition, paraphrase is not a literal translation but a rephrasing in which the poet is free to build upon the original by developing images more fully provided he does not lose sight of the basic structure and intent of his model.