Intertextuality and the context of reception:

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1 Lesson ideas Resources Resource A The text of Herbert s The Agonie Resource B OED definitions of key words Resource C The poem, with biblical allusions Resource D Associated texts relating to The Agonie Resource E Links to explanations of the Eucharist Resource F Links to images illustrating key ideas in the poem Learning Objectives To understand the argument of the poem To appreciate the language of the period To understand the way in which the poem relates to biblical stories and theological ideas Through the poem, to discover and make connections with works of art Activity 1: First reading and response Read the poem (Resource A), both aloud and silently. Then discuss and write down answers to these questions: What does the poem seem to be about? Which emotions do you think the reader is being invited to feel? Make a very quick sketch of any images the poem has put in your mind Put these opening responses aside or hand them in to the teacher. Activity 2: Words and meanings Pupils should think hard about the sense of the following words. From the context of the poem, what do they seem to mean? Words could be assigned to individuals, pairs etc.: Agonie Philosopher Fathom Soun Presse Vice Assay Abroach Liquor. If possible, pupils should look up these words in the Oxford English Dictionary or another historical dictionary (perhaps as homework) What did these words mean in Herbert s time? Which words have changed meaning? Are there any words here which the poet might be using in more than one sense? Once pupils have thought about the meanings for themselves, turn to Resource B where brief definitions are offered, and subsidiary questions are asked. Page 1 of 10 Activity 3: Texts and contexts Listen to the film clip, and look at Resource C. Read the accompanying information in the links. Divide the class into small groups and distribute one of the texts (from Resource D) to each. Use the following questions to prompt discussion: Text 1 What idea of Herbert do you get from this passage? What spiritual conflict is described in The Agonie? What does the passage suggest about how Herbert thought his poems should be read? Text 2 How did Ludolph prefer to imagine Jesus? What do he and George Herbert have in common?

2 Text 3 How does this passage from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (written approx. 700 years before the life of Jesus) help us to understand the ideas of Sinne and Love in The Agonie? (For a modern allusion to it, listen to the song Man of Constant Sorrow in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? ( atch?v=08e9k-c91e8) Text 4 Why do you think Herbert uses the image of the winepress and what does he mean by it? Activity 4: Annotation Discuss the findings of each group and as you do so, the class can annotate the text of the poem in the light of what each group reports back Underline words and lines that refer to each of the texts and ideas Use of colour, highlighting etc. should be encouraged The annotated poems should be a visual reminder of intertextuality at work, a mindmap of the poem. Activity 5: The Eucharist Herbert lived in a century characterised by dispute between Protestant Christians (who came to prominence in the second half of the sixteenth century, after Henry VIII had helped to instigate the English Reformation) and those who still adhered to the Catholic Church. One of the debates between Protestants and Catholics was over the nature of the Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion or the Mass), which is a key idea in The Agonie. Resource E has links which explain its significance. Ask students to make notes on the following, then discuss their answers: What is the Eucharist? What biblical narrative does it commemorate? What are some of the different Christian views of its meaning? Activity 6: Iconography underlying The Agonie Look at the images in Resource F Make notes comparing the different versions of the Gethsemane narrative to each other and to Herbert s account in The Agonie What connections do you see between each image and the poem? Activity 7: Bringing things together Go back to the students initial responses (Activity 1). Consider the following: Do any changes need to be made to the basic outline of the poem s argument? What does studying the associated biblical texts and other background material add to your understanding / appreciation of the poem? Considering everything that has been seen and analysed, discuss once more the possible meanings of the title. Page 2 of 10

3 Resources Resource A - Philosophers have measured mountains, Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, and kings, Walk'd with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains But there are two vast, spacious things, The which to measure it doth more behove: Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love. Who would know Sin, let him repair Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see A man, so wrung with pains, that all his hair, His skin, his garments, bloody be. Sin is that Press and Vice, which forceth pain To hunt his cruel food through every vein. Who knows not Love, let him assay, And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike Did set again abroach; then let him say If ever he did taste the like. Love is that liquor sweet and most divine, Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine. Page 3 of 10

4 Resource B - Definitions of key words The Agonie by Geroge Herbert Agonie: This word comes from Greek agon. It originally meant a struggle for victory in the games. Then it came to mean any struggle, such as a mental struggle. In English in Herbert s time, Agonie could refer to: Anguish of mind, sore trouble or distress. The mental struggle of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane The pangs of death. Extreme bodily suffering. Which of these senses do you think Herbert has in mind here? What does the poem tell us about bodily agony? What inner struggle (first sense) might the poem be exploring? Philosopher A Philosopher in Herbert s time was anyone devoted to the love of wisdom and knowledge. Scientists were philosophers (natural philosophers, as they studied Nature: Isaac Newton s famous work is called The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). Look at the occupations of the Philosophers described in stanza 1. In modernday terms, what disciplines are they pursuing? What is someone studying the depths of states, or kings doing, do you think? What would tracing fountains involve? Staffe (line 3) The OED provides several senses of this word. Here are three: A stick carried in the hand as an aid in walking or climbing A rod or wand used as an instrument of magic or divination (in The Tempest, Prospero s staff is one of his magical instruments) A rod for measuring distances or heights Which of these senses best fits Walk d with a staffe to heav n? How does the meaning of this phrase change, depending on which sense of staffe we understand? Fathom and sound both mean measure, particularly in relation to sailing. Can you think of phrases / expressions which use these words in that sense? What overall impression has been given of the activity of the Philosophers in the opening lines? Vast and spacious have not changed meaning. Why do you think Herbert uses them to describe Sinne and Love? What does it mean for these to be vast, spacious? Presse is a winepress, in which juice is extracted from grapes. A vice is a screwpress, a particular type of winepress. How does the idea of a winepress help us to understand line 12? Assay: to try something, put it to the test, particularly in relation to testing metal by applying heat. Abroach: to open something by piercing it, like opening a wine barrel Liquor: any drinkable liquid, not necessarily with any connotations of alcohol. Page 4 of 10

5 Resource C The Agonie and inter-textuality (i) View the AV resource at: Then read the printed version here: Philosophers have measured mountains, Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, and kings, Walk'd with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains But there are two vast, spacious things, The which to measure it doth more behove: Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love. Who would know Sin, let him repair Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see A man, so wrung with pains, that all his hair, His skin, his garments, bloody be. Sin is that Press and Vice, which forceth pain To hunt his cruel food through every vein. Luke 22:39, 41-42, And [Jesus] came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives 41 And he kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Who knows not Love, let him assay, And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike Did set again abroach; then let him say If ever he did taste the like. John 19:34 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. Love is that liquor sweet and most divine, Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine. Luke 22:20 20 Likewise also [Jesus took] the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. To get a broader picture of the narratives from which the verses come, look at the information in the following links about: The Last Supper - communion,-eucharist,-mass and link to the relevant Bible passages. The Garden of Gethsemane - and link to the relevant Bible passages The Crucifixion - and link to the relevant Bible passages, also Page 5 of 10

6 Resource D Inter-textuality (ii) Text 1 - Spiritual conflicts When Herbert was dying, he passed The Agonie, amongst other poems collected in a manuscript of The Temple, to a friend, with these words: I pray deliver this little book to my dear brother Ferrar, and tell him he shall find in it a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed betwixt God and my soul before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus my Master, in whose service I have now found perfect freedom. Desire him to read it; and then, if he can think it may turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public; if not, let him burn it, for I and it are less than the least of God s mercies. Text 2 - The suffering Christ A passage from the Life of Christ (mid-fourteenth century) by a monk called Ludolph of Saxony: I know not for sure... how it is that you are sweeter in the heart of one who loves you in the form of flesh than as the word... It is sweeter to view you as dying before the Jews on the tree, than as holding sway over the angels in Heaven, to see you as a man bearing every aspect of human nature to the end, than as God manifesting divine nature, to see you as the dying Redeemer, than as the invisible Creator. Text 3 - The Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3-5) He was despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Page 6 of 10

7 Text(s) 4 - The winepress The next two extracts focus on Herbert s image of the winepress: The first is another passage from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Like the passage about the Man of Sorrows it was interpreted by Christians of Herbert s time as referring to Christ: Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendour, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? 'It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.' 2 Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? 3 'I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no-one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. (Isaiah 63:1-3) The second text on the image of the winepress is from the Sermons (1628) of Lancelot Andrewes, who was a contemporary of Herbert (and one of the translators of the King James Bible of 1611). He uses the image to talk about what Jesus went through: This was the paine of the Presse wherewith as if he had been in the winepresse, all his garments were stained and goared with blood. Page 7 of 10

8 Resource E The Eucharist / Holy Communion / Mass For Christians, celebrating the Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion or the Mass) is an important aspect of their faith Read the following resources which explain its significance: eucharist,-mass t_1.shtml Page 8 of 10

9 Resource F Iconography underlying The Agonie Look at the following images: Mantegna, The Agony in the Garden ( ): Imagine that Mount Olivet is one of the mountains in the picture, overlooking Gethsemane. How close is this to Herbert s imagery? Giovanni Bellini, The Agony in the Garden (c.1465): Grunewald, The Crucifixion (c.1515): and The Man of Sorrows (c ): Giovanni Bellini, The Blood of the Redeemer ( ): Print of Mass of Saint Gregory (1490s?) by Israhel van Meckenem: em_the_mass_of_saint_gregory.jpg Palma il Giovane, Christ standing in a Chalice Supported by Angels (c.1620): _Christ_Standing_in_a_Chalice_Supported_by_Angels.jpg Page 9 of 10

10 Hieronymus Wierix ( ), Christ in the Wine Press, c.1600: earch_object_image.aspx?objectid= &partid=1&searchtext=hiero nymus+wierix&fromadbc=ad&toadbc=ad&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_t he_collection_database.aspx&numpages=10&currentpage=37&asset_id= The above image is a visual account of the same mystical winepress theology as Herbert uses in The Agonie: In the background on the left are the Patriarchs and Judges of the Old Testament, the founding fathers of the Judeo-Christian faith. They are planting the vines The coming of Christ is the harvest, when the grapes are picked and placed in the vat (the winepress of Isaiah 63) Christ is in the vat, being crushed by the press (or vice, note the screw device) of the Cross God the Father and the Holy Spirit (the dove) are actually pushing down on the Cross to effect the sacrifice The inscription at the bottom is from Isaiah 63:1-3 (see Text 4) Christ s blood / the wine of the grapes fills a chalice (the cup used in Holy Communion) held by two angels (see stanza 3 of The Agonie) In the bottom right corner, the Virgin Mary (the human mother of Jesus) contemplates Christ s fate, her heart pierced by a sword On the left at the bottom, sinners are praying in preparation for receiving the Eucharist. They could represent the reader in Herbert s poem, seeking knowledge of Sin and Love. Page 10 of 10