Teach me, my God and King

Teach me, my God and King. George Herbert* (1593-1633). From Herbert’s collection The Temple (Cambridge, 1633), published after his death. It was included in EH, set to a West Country tune SANDYS, from William Sandys*’s Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), with which it has since been almost always associated. Perhaps by virtue of its modern sensibilities about finding the divine in the everyday and the accessibility of God to all, it has remained very popular as a hymn in spite of its complicated imagery. The original title of the poem ‘The Elixir’ points to the complex significance of its alchemical imagery. Traditionally, alchemists were constantly seeking the ‘elixir’ or...