A Book Event and Standing on the Shoulders of Giants by Trevor Thorn

The lawn at the entry to Trinity College,

where the book event was held.

The lawn was dug over by Extinction Rebellion

protestors - but that’s another story!

Picture credit The Telegraph.

I had the privilege, at the beginning of this week, of attending an event featuring a new volume of poems entitled ‘After Prayer’ by the poet Malcolm Guite. The opening sequence in the book is a thought-provoking collection of twenty-seven sonnets by Malcolm, each of which is a response to one of the phrases in George Herbert’s sonnet ‘Prayer’. At least two of those phrases will probably resonate with people who have never, or only in passing, encountered George Herbert’s work: ‘Heaven in ordinarie’ and for entirely different reasons, ‘something understood’. Malcolm guided us through his and Herbert’s work with skill, joy and an infectious Godliness. It was good to be there.

Whoever organised the launch had thought wonderfully creatively about the venue, holding it in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, where Herbert was admitted in 1609. Malcolm invited us to think about the sixteen-year-old entering the College and drawing inspiration from the academic and theological ethos of the college. In time, Herbert became the University’s Orator.

 Malcolm’s tour of his own work and Herbert’s sonnet was beautifully enriched by musicians David Buckley (Vocals) and Dominika Mak (Piano) interspersing the poetry with four of the five of Herbert’s ‘Mystical Songs’ put to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. A rich feast indeed.

All this was very much in my mind this morning, and reflecting in my quiet time, I was struck by the way in which Malcolm has built his work on the ‘shoulders’ of Herbert. That metaphor is one that is fixed firmly in my mind because, as an ‘armchair scientist’ who seeks to attend any available faith and science events around, (and there are frequent such opportunities in Cambridge, close to where we live) I often hear Isaac Newton quoted. ‘If I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’. The origin of this phrase would seem to date back beyond Newton to Jon of Salisbury in 1179 who said ‘We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more and things that are more distant than they did, not because our sight is superior nor because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.’ But it is, for obvious reasons that Newton’s quote rather than the earlier one finds its way into the scientific community’s texts, for it so exquisitely illustrates the basic scientific method: take earlier proofs and build on them; credibility is more assured on this path.

Now here was Malcolm doing that self-same thing. So I was cast into thinking how, at least equally, our authors follow a similar trail to our scientists. Chaucer (who Malcolm mentioned), Marlowe, Shakespeare, can guide us and help us articulate our own ideas. As I am writing this post for writers, I know you will be able to amplify that very short list of literary giants almost infinitely.

Having followed this stream of thought, I dug out my well-fingered Penguin Dictionary of Quotations of 1960 with its ‘12000 or so’ quotations. She has, I have to admit, been largely replaced by internet searches, but she and all other similar volumes must have led thousands to the shoulders of literary heroes for many years. We have good cause to be grateful to the compilers of such volumes, both paper and web-based.

So, when you or I next pick up a pen or sit at a keyboard, I invite you to think of Malcolm, think of Herbert, think of our rich heritage of literature and rejoice with me that we have such a glorious lineage of authors and scientists on whose shoulders we can stand.

A final added discovery (for me, at least) is that Newton, too, was a Trinity scholar – I should have known that, but this morning it brought this short reflection to a happy end.

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In my own writing, I often build on the shoulders of another group of ‘giants’: those who have composed well known hymn and song tunes which I use as frameworks for my faith and science collection – ‘The Cross and The Cosmos’. If you click HERE you will be taken to a small collection of hymns and songs about Climate concern which links with the picture at the top of this post.

Malcolm Guite’s Blog can be found HERE .