Working it Out ebook: A poetry devotional
In Working it Out, you will study the work of George Herbert, a 17th-century poet, with an emphasis on seeing the movement of thought within each poem.
Though Working it Out was written primarily as a devotional, the book models a thoughtful method for reading and understanding poetry in general.
PDF eBook; 216 pages; 51 poem lessons
Learn to understand great poetry by spending a year with the beautiful poetry of George Herbert.
Why study George Herbert?
George Herbert is a poet every Christian should know. According to Professor Jerry Root in The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia, "[George] Herbert was arguably C. S. Lewis's favorite Lyric poet." Root notes that there are "elements of Herbert's honesty and self-effacing manner that prefigure a similar quality in Lewis's own work."In Joseph Womack's capable hands, Herbert's poetry becomes a path, not only to a deeper understanding of poetry and literature, but also to a closer walk with God. Whether you choose to enjoy it on your own, in a classroom or co-op, or with family or friends, you will be glad you spent a year in Working it Out.
One of the most delightful things about homeschooling is that you can choose unusual ways to study a subject. One of my favorite ways to learn about a subject is to immerse in it. This is especially effective for subjects such as poetry which ought to be enjoyed as a whole, before individual parts are studied.
In Working it Out, Joseph Womack has not only written a lovely and thought-provoking devotional, but he has also provided a unique resource for learning how to read and understand poetry.
This one year study will take you through 51 works of the great 17th-century poet, George Herbert, with an emphasis on seeing the movement of thought within each poem. Though Working it Out was written primarily as a devotional, the book models a thoughtful method for reading and understanding poetry in general.
Rather than learning parts of poetry through a dry textbook, you will instead be able to immerse in this devotional guide and finish the year with a greater ability to understand the poetry you read, as well as a deeper faith.
In the Working it Out eBook you will learn to see:
— The Big Picture: what the poem is about
—The Parts of the Picture: a stanza-by-stanza explication of the poem.
—The Parts of the Picture Come Together: a look at the movement of thought through the poem.
When a foundation of understanding is established, you may choose to move into the devotional elements of each chapter, which include:
—Reflections: questions for personal meditation.
—Scriptures for Further Reflection
By the time you finish a year of study in this book, you will have a structured method that you can use to read and understand any poem. Womack's models will help you see how a poet can use tone and nuance, as well as a variety of literary devices, to convey an idea.
Is Working it Out eBook a complete poetry course?
Working it Out does not contain everything you will ever need to know about poetry. For instance, it does not include step-by-step guidance in meter. However, we provide a growing body of supporting instruction on the Excellence in Literature site, and I expect that students will also be studying poetry as part of the Excellence in Literature curriculum and/or the McGuffey Readers..
As you probably know if you've read many of my articles, I believe that immersion is one of the best ways to learn something. Working it Out will immerse you in the challenging but rewarding poetry of one of the most enduring spiritual poets of the seventeenth century. By the end of the year, you will have gained a much greater understanding of how poetry works, and will have tools you can use for the analysis of other poetic works.
Download a free sample lesson from Working it Out (PDF).
Everyday Education has introduced me to a fantastic Christian poet that I didn’t even know existed. It has been lovely.
From a review of Working it Out by Lori, at At Home: Where Life Happens
From the back cover of the first edition:
The Apostle Paul exhorted the church at Philippi to "work out your salvation." George Herbert, a 17th century Anglican priest, worked out his salvation in his poetry as he portrayed "a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that has passed betwixt God and my soul before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus my Master."George Herbert was a member of a distinguished family, a scholar at Cambridge, a member of the English Parliament, and, finally, a priest in the Anglican Church and a rector of a small rural parish. Most noteworthy, however, was his poetry. In it Herbert made his great contribution to English literature and Christian Spirituality.
As Harold Bloom points out in The Best Poems of the English Language, "there are only a few extraordinary devotional poets in the English language . . . by any standard George Herbert is the devotional poet proper in English."
In this book are over 50 poems that reveal the spiritual struggles of, and the peace found by, this celebrated devotional poet. Each poem is presented and then followed by a commentary on the poem along with reflections designed to enable the reader to connect with the poems on a personal level. The purpose of the book is to assist the reader in understanding and experiencing the wholeness of George Herbert's poetry and thereby to enable the reader to come to a better understanding of God's workings in his or her life.