The Windows

                                                      by George Herbert

                                Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?
                                He is a brittle crazy glass;
                                Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
                                This glorious and transcendent place,
                                To be a window, through thy grace.


                                But when thou dost anneal in glass thy story,
                                Making thy life to shine within
                                The holy preachers, then the light and glory
                                More reverend grows, and more doth win;
                                Which else shows waterish, bleak, and thin.


                                Doctrine and life, colors and light, in one
                                When they combine and mingle, bring
                                A strong regard and awe; but speech alone
                                Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
                                And in the ear, not conscience, ring.


NOTE: Anneal is a term that means to use great heat to actually burn colors into the glass.