Seventeenth-Century Adaptations of "The Church-porch"

Abstract

Seventeenth-Century Adaptations of "The Church-porch" by Raymond A. Anselment Although "The Church-porch" holds only marginal interest for most modern readers, Herbert's lengthy introduction to The Temple was in the seventeenth century his most often cited poem. Most of these allusions and quotations, it is true, amount to little more than cursory attention to the lines "A verse may finde him, who a sermon flies, /And turn delight into a sacrifice" (II. 5-6); but not all of the references are so perfunctory.' Several hitherto unexamined adaptations reveal that a wide range of seventeenth-century readers valued the practical as well as religious emphasis of the poem's epigrammatic verse. A sermon, a children's book, and a pamphlet on how to gain wealth adapt Herbert's poetic maxims with the assurance that his seemingly homely, sententious lines appeal to diverse audiences willing to "Hearken unto a Verser." John Bryan exploits the didactic intention of "The Churchporch " most fully in the fifth of eight sermons published in 1670 under the title Dwelling with God. Addressed to those who have the "assurance that the Lord is your Habitation," this sermon defines their proper conduct or "reference" towards others. In a section dealing with profane people who are "without God in the World," Bryan singles out individuals not entirely unlike Herbert's "sweet youth" and advises his listeners, If you finde that any of these have not as yet commenced Dogs and Swine, but are as yet Undergraduates, and in the Devil's Academy, and that you shall not provoke them to Blasphemie, nor aggravate their rage against you thereby, allure them to go with you into Divine Herbert's Church Porch, and then sprinkle them with his Holy Water-stick."2 In place of the perirrhanterium Herbert offers his readers, Bryan then quotes twenty-four of the 462 lines in "The Church-porch." 63 Raymond A. Anselment The passage offers a succinct epitome of "The Churchporch ." By quoting the initial words, the first line, or the opening couplet of seventeen stanzas, Bryan outlines the counsel Herbert develops in seventy-seven stanzas. Missing from the catalogue are the poem's humanistic emphasis on the value of education and its lengthy prescription fora moderate comportment with others; Bryan also minimizes Herbert's stress on the social dangers of the traditional deadly sins. The aphoristic quality of "The Church-porch" particularly suits a hortatory tone, and Bryan's admonitions become even more pointed and direct when he reduces an already terse poetry to a series of staccato statements: Slight those who say among thy sickly health, Thou livest by rule, — Be thrifty, but not covetous; — Play not for gain, but sport: — Be sweet to all, — Catch not at Quarrels. — Laugh not too much — Pick out of mirth, Prophaneness, filthiness, abusiveness.3 In Herbert's poetic alternative to a sermon, Bryan apparently valued the moral precepts and not the wit and craftsmanship that together with the sententiousness "turn delight into a sacrifice." The "Youth's Alphabet: Or, Herbert's Morals" appended to the British edition of Thomas White's A Little Book for Little Children is also predominantly moralistic rather than artful.4 Appealing to a younger audience than that of Bryan's sermon, White's book offers directions, examples, and maxims designed to guide young children along the path towards salvation. The advice found in this very popular work is unambiguous: readers of the eleven editions published in the seventeenth century are told in no uncertain terms that "little Children that Swear, or Lie. or break the Sabbath, playing upon the Lords day, or live in any other sin, shall go to Hell."5 White also has no sympathy for "Ballads and foolish Books," and he encourages "Gods Children" to turn to Dent, Baxter, Mead, Vincent, and 64 ADAPTATIONS OF "THE CHURCH-PORCH" Foxe as soon as they can read. His own illustrations of holy children, which range from the behavior of youthful Origen to that of a contemporary minister's fourteen-year old son, depict at length lurid details of martyrs' deaths as well as edifying maxims culled from the lives and readings of exemplary youths. The addition of "Herbert...