Gambling on the Divine: The Culture of Card Games in Herbert's Temple

Gambling on the Divine: The Culture of Card Games in Herbert's Temple by Brandie R. Siegfried So it is more suitable for the thinking person to play at cards . . . than at other games. — The Book on Games of Chance, 1564 [I will] deal unto you Christ's Cards, wherein you shall perceive Christ's rule. The game that we will play at shall be called The Triumph, which, if it be well played at, he that dealeth shall win; and the Standers and lookers on shall do the same; insomuch that no man that is willing to play at this Triumph with these cards, but they shall be all winners and no losers. — Hugh Latimer, Christmas Sermon, 1529 "Turn their eyes hither, who shall make a gain" writes George Herbert in the dedication to The Temple, "Theirs, who shall hurt themselves or me, refrain."1 Within a very few pages of Herbert's project, such "gain" will be shuffled together with a variety of game images, where a trump card will share metaphorical value with the triumph of Christ, and where transformation and discovery are intimately linked to divine gambles. Although both Michael Clifton and Anna K. Nardo have discussed the significance of play and gaming within Herbert's work,2 1 would like to expand our vision of the ludic by providing a brief cultural history of English cards and gaming. More specifically, I will situate this historical knowledge in relation to three of Herbert's poems — "Jordan" (I), "Submission," and "Love" (III) — in order to demonstrate the extent to which many of Herbert's best-wrought conceits depend, for their poetic power, upon a particular spin of game-derived meaning. I Card games and gambling are the pastimes most frequently referred to in The Temple, and this makes sense when we consider the history of cards and particular card games in relation to both politics Card Games in The Temple73 and religion in early modern England. On an obvious level, cards have to do with class and status. The face cards depict the various levels of power at court, while the original suits reflect four major class divisions: the cup or chalice represents churchmen, the sword marks the soldier, the coin stands for the merchant, and the stick or wand is a token for the common laborer. Although in England the stylization of each suit had evolved somewhat from the original patterns, this class division remained firmly entrenched in popular culture.3 The significance of their representative value in terms of class and status is dramatically emphasized as late as the French Revolution, when "the Kings and Queens of all suits were banished" at the same time that the royal family was beheaded.4 Moreover, in English card games, the ace functioned in much the same way as the pawn in chess: though normally the lowliest in terms of playing power, depending on the game and the particular arrangement of other cards, the ace could become the most valuable.5 In other words, while the face cards kept their customary continental value, the English ruled that the nonaristocratic ace had the potential for outstripping even the king. We also know that cards had a very real place in England's economic life. As early as 1463, an act of parliament prohibited the importation of foreign-manufactured packs; during Elizabeth's reign Raleigh made a fortune through his monopoly on playing cards, and by 1590 cards had become a common means of advertising or promoting propaganda (for instance, a special pack was published celebrating the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588); by 1615 playing cards were being taxed; and by 1628 "The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards" was incorporated by royal charter.6 In addition, packs were commonly put to double use, providing both a ludic pastime and an instructional tool. Decks often combined the characteristics of playing cards and Schoolbook: one side would have the usual suit for scoring while the other contained information on astrology, heraldry, history, philosophy, geography, arithmetic, language (alphabet decks were very popular) and even the carving of fowl.7 Some games mixed knowledge of the card's specialty ("The...