George Herbert & the Felix Culpa

Easter Wings

Lord, Who createdst man in wealth and store,

Though foolishly he lost the same,

Decaying more and more,

Till he became

Most poore:

With Thee

O let me rise,

As larks, harmoniously,

And sing this day Thy victories:

Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My tender age in sorrow did beginne;

And still with sicknesses and shame

Thou didst so punish sinne,

That I became

Most thinne.

With Thee

Let me combine,

And feel this day Thy victorie;

For, if I imp my wing on Thine,

Affliction shall advance the flight in me.

I love this poem by Herbert.  He reflects on the original sin that caused us to be separated from the life that God intended man to have in the Garden of Eden. However, he, like St. Augustine, views this as a "felix culpa," a fortunate fall. Because of man's fall from grace, Christ came to earth to redeem us. It is in His Resurrection that we are offered eternal life with the Father. Herbert sees us as being bolstered in our flight to heaven by Christ and the grace He has won for us, His creation.