George Herbert and Henry Vaughan (The Oxford Authors)

This volume presents the work of two poets linked by the tribute of creative imitation gratefully paid by Vaughan to Herbert. Read side by side, as this one-volume collection makes possible, the artists' verse fully reveals their individual powers, even as the complex nature of Vaughan's use of Herbert's imaginative example is thrown into greater relief. The book contains the complete English poetry of Herbert, his prose treatise, The Country Parson, the complete text of Vaughan's Silex Scintillans, including all material in both the 1650 and 1655 editions, and a selection from Vaughan's early secular poetry. Louis Martz's introduction and commentary help bring the religious controversies of the age into focus. The text also features chronologies of the lives of the two men and suggestions for further reading.