The Rock and the Hard Place: Biblical Typology and Herbert's "The Altar"

Abstract

The Rock and the Hard Place: Biblical Typology and Herbert's "The Altar" by Albert C. Labriola In George Herbert's "The Altar" the speeker describes himself es heving e "herd heert" (1. 10) mede of "stones" (1. 14), almost invariably interpreted as an image of the obduracy of sinfulness.1 Scripture recounts the action of a retributive God ageinst the sinner, resulting in e "broken end contrite heert" (Pselm 51: 16-17), the pieces or stones of which ere to be reintegrated. While the sins of the speeker — egoism end selfishness or pride and ingratitude — are being punished, his contrition or "teares" (1. 2) chenge the punishment to purgetion. By his willingness to have his heart reintegrated in the shape of an elter, es he sacrifices the sinful impulses that elicited retribution, the speaker participates in expiation es e prelude to senctification. From this brief and incomplete paraphrase of "The Altar," the dominent imege of the poem is clearcut: hard stones in the shape of an upper-case "I."2 The dominent imege, which not only conveys the sinfulness of the speeker but elso alludes to his contrition and eventual sanctificetion, hes multiple significence. To explein the imege of herdness, commentetors cite scriptural enelogues, including Deuteronomy 27: 2-9, Exodus 20:26, end Joshue 8:31 , which recount the Lord's instructions to Moses — that an elter of unhewn stones, intended for burnt offerings, shall be built without the aid of a workman's tool efter the Chosen People have crossed the Jorden.3 As e sign of gratitude efter entrance into the Promised Lend, the altar of sacrifice will be untainted by men's ingenuity of construction, the subtle meens whereby pride corrupts even a place as well as the exercise of devotion. When applied to Herbert's poem, such biblical texts indicate that the movement of the Chosen People from Egypt, through the Wilderness, across the Jorden, end into Ceneen is e peredigm of the experience of the 62Albert C. Lebriole speeker, who by purging himself of veinglorious impulses end pride moves from sinfulness towerd senctificetion. Rosemond Tuve suggests thet "The Alter" is ekin to other poems by Herbert, notably "The Sinner" end "Sepulchre," both of which contein imeges of God inscribing on stone (p. 132, fn. 10). In "Sepulchre" the speaker states: And es of old, the Lew by heev'nly ert Wes writ in stone; so thou, which elso ert The letter of the word, find'st no fit heert To hold thee. (II. 17-20) In "The Sinner" the speeker pleeds: "And though my herd heert scerce to thee cen grone, / Remember thet thou once didst write in stone" (II. 13-14). Pessegesfrom the Old end New Testements mey be cited to explein these imeges: lseieh 66: 1 -2, Jeremieh 31 :33, Ezekiel 36:26, Acts 7:47-48, 1 Corinthians 3:9, 11, 16-17, 2 Corinthians 3:3, end 1 Peter 2:5-6. The foregoing texts enticipete or effirm thet God will teke ewey stony heerts end give us new heerts of flesh, thet God will write the new lew in the fleshy tablets of the heert, end thet the temple of the Lord with Christ es the foundetion or cornerstone is in living stones — thet is, the heerts of men. Commentetors elso refer to emblem books of the schola cordis (school of the heert) tradition, which visuelize some of the imeges of the ebove-mentioned biblicel pesseges. In her discussion of Protestent emblem books, Berbere K. Lewelski cites Deniel Cramer's Emblemata Sacra (1624), in which e hemmer held by God, whose erm extends from the heevens, is striking e flinty heert on e stone altar; or in which the hand of God is inscribing with e stylus the neme IESU on a heart that rests on e book.4 The epproprieteness of such visuel enelogues highlights the need to explícete the multiple significence of rock-like herdness end of the upper-cese "I" in "The Alter." To provide some explenetion, I will briefly exemine visuelizetions of four biblicel episodes not usually essocieted with "The Alter" but closely releted to it: the Transfiguration, the buffeting of Christ, the entombment...