The Trinitie, by George Herbert

Lord, who hast form’d me out of mud,

   And hast redeem’d me through thy bloud,

   And sanctifi’d me to do good;

Purge all my sinnes done heretofore:

 For I confesse my heavie score,

 And I will strive to sinne no more.

Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,

With faith, with hope, with charitie;

That I may runne, rise, rest with thee.

 from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert

 

This poem is named after the Trinity yet it only mentions God as ‘Lord’ What’s going on?

This poem comprises three verses each of three lines. Many kinds of triplet are woven together in a poem which is playful yet serious in its understanding of the relationship between the Christian and God.

Herbert addresses the first verse to the one Lord, who is creator, redeemer, and sanctifier—so Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The many ‘d’ sounds (such as those in form’d, mud, bloud, good) make a staccato sound that helps to hammer home the message. And ‘d’ is the last letter in ‘God’

Herbert sees sin as being strong. In another three­some, he says that sin (past present and future) needs to be dealt with. So if the first verse centres on the creator God, the Father, so the principal focus of the second verse is Jesus as redeemer.

  It is no surprise that the third verse both addresses the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, and is laden with more triplets. The whole of the believer needs to find focus in God. Body, mind and spirit are woven together in faith­ful trust and service, living out the virtues of faith, hope and charity. The three lines of the third verse end in the lighter ‘ee’ sound, taking us back to the Trinitie of the title.

The final picture implies a dance-like move­­ment. Because God is a creator, a Christian soul can run with the risen Christ, and rest, day by day and then eternally, in the Spirit of God.