The Altar (poem)

The poem in a Baroque architectural frame from the 1670 edition of George Herbert's The Temple

"The Altar" is a shaped poem by the Welsh-born poet and Anglican priest George Herbert, first published in his posthumous collection The Temple (1633). The poem is founded on a Baroque metaphor with a long history of prior use of coalescing verbal and visual image. The popularity of the collection in which it appeared is attested by eleven editions during the 17th century and a musical setting of this particular poem in 1671.