The Altar (poem)

"The Altar" is a shaped poem by the Welsh-born poet and Anglican priest George Herbert, first published in his posthumous collection The Temple (1633).

[2] The poem in English is founded on the poetic conceit that the altar has been fashioned from the author's stony heart by the power of Christ and, being so reared, now binds both the poet and his Lord in a lasting relationship.

Visually this gives a supported platform resting on a narrow pedestal with steps at its foot, as it is traditionally laid out on the printed page.

In the book's 5th edition (1638) an outline was drawn around the poem to emphasize the way in which the layout of the lines corresponds to the shape of an altar,[6] and more variations were introduced once publication of The Temple shifted to London.

In the Cambridge editions, the positioning of "The Altar" in the book emphasizes the beginning of The Church section, appearing on the left-hand page opposite the opening of the related "The Sacrifice".

[7] By the 10th edition of 1674 the text of the poem is uncomfortably constricted within an elaborate archway and has the word heart alone spelt in capitals in the fifth line.

[8] It has been argued that these later changes in the poem's presentation reflect ecclesiastical attitudes in the re-established Anglican church after the Stuart Restoration - and even an attempt to re-evaluate the significance of poet's ministry.

He does this both as an ordained priest and on behalf of his readers, in line with the wording of the communion service in the 1559 Book of Common Prayer: "We offer and presente unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our soules and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice.

But in that Herbert speaks as a priest before an altar, specifically named as such rather than the "table" mentioned in The Book of Common Prayer, there is also a more sacramental dimension to the poem.

The poet keeps the wording unspecific so that interpretation of the "sacrifice" taking place may be understood eucharistically by those of a High Church tendency, or at the interpersonal level of Puritan understanding.

[16] In light of this, therefore, just as the poem is a skilful wedding of scriptural and visual image, so it also covertly combines opposite points of view at the doctrinal level.