George Herbert: Shaped Poems Essay

George Herberts style in his collection of religious poetry, The Temple, is very short, clear, concise, and gets to the point. Different from bath Donne, Herbert organises his poetry around biblical metaphors and his struggle to define his relationship with God. Herbert places himself in church through patchy poesys that argon styled in an architectural form, until now his emphasis is always on the souls inner construction. so cardinalr than voice his fears ab allow out universe saved by God or sinning as Donne had, Herbert faces his fearful behavior by focusing on his relationship with Christ.In order to do this, Herbert foc phthisiss on architectural motifs and how ones soul is constructed to become a remedy somebody. Since Herbert is a metaphysical and religious poet, his poetry always cans with a metaphysical conceit. A metaphysical conceit is an extended metaphor that structures the entire metrical composition. Usually, these metaphors deal with spirituality, intellec tual ideas, and are supposed to teach one to be a good, or better Christian (Miller). The metaphysical conceit is one way in which a meter is structured, formed, or as Herbert writes, is used as an architectural form.In each of his poesys, Herbert has a conceit that sums up the poetry. In other address, it serves a moral and we, the readers are taught a lesson. Another way architectural structure takes place in poetry is by the use of figurative nomenclature. For example, Herberts poetry is written with metaphors, similes, and his poetry is usually wrapped around the AABB and ABAB frost scheme. We see the use of these rhyme schemes in The Altar and easter Wings. architectural imagery takes place in a number of Herberts poetry. In The Temple, the opening poem is titled The Altar and the very shape of the poem indicates an altar of worship.The poems structure is in an AABB rhyme scheme and has hu firearmnessy metaphors. In Lines 1-4, Herbert announces in his poem his intention to build an altar to the Lord. He states do of magnetic core, and cemented with tears/As the hand thy framed No workmans tool hath touched the same(1-5). This very quote gives the reference to twist a relationship with God and it is given up away in the poem that the altar is actually the human heart. This here is an example of the metaphysical conceit. He is using the broken altar as a metaphor for the heart and how one should contribute and offer himself to the lord.The altar Herbert is making to God in this poem is also made of broken material, not actually out of stone, but it is Made of a heart, and cemented with tears(2). Here, Herbert is building a sacrifice that is pleasing before God-an altar made of broken material, but the brokenness is from the soul, and the altar and offerings are of himself. We know this because he uses the first person narrative in lines 14-16. Herbert writes That, if I chance to hold my peace, these stones to praise thee may not cease. Oh all ow thy sacrifice be mine, and sanctify this altar to be thine (14-16).His poem speaks well-nigh the internal emotions he has with God. He is comparing his cold, empty heart to a cold, hard stone. Herbert writes A heart alone is such a stone, as nothing but thy power doth cut(5-8). This quote may suggest the cold and empty impressioning he has because of Gods absence. He wants his heart to praise God, but feels like he cannot because he has to be agency of a sacrifice as he states in lines 15-16. Oh let thy blessed sacrifice be mine, and sanctify this altar to be thine(15-16). exactly by sacrificing his broken self will God accept and support him. However, The Altar is not the completely poem in which architectural styles occur. easterly Wings, also takes on the metaphysical conceit and exhibition of architectural styles. Herberts poetry is meant to teach lot to be good Christians, and by constructing the poem around biblical metaphors, the message is received. The point of hav ing these biblical metaphors is to gain noesis and define the relationship with God through Herberts eyes. In Easter Wings, Herbert structures his poem in the shaped verse. The four stanzas are shaped in deuce sets of angel fells. In terms of rhyme scheme, Herbert uses ababacdcdc in some(prenominal) stanzas. Each stanza represents a different relationship between God and man.Herberts poem deals with mans suffering as the result of his sins and his penitence to God through the end of the poem. The poem starts with the idea that when God created man, man was given what is necessary to survive Lord, who createdst man in wealth and depot (1) God created man with an abundance and wealth of items needed to survive in this world, but man takes Gods gifts for granted ends up losing what was given to him. The greed that man had leads to the falling of man until the wealth given to him by God is nearly gone Decaying more and more, / Till he became / close to poor (3-5).Here, the structu re of the poem is set up with man having all he needs, but by being greedy, he has fallen. This particular poem is amazing it terms of how it addresses the journey of man from his sin to God save him. Each stanza discusses mans self-destruction and how God eventually helps him. The spoken communication of loss and faith comes to play when God comes in. The poem is structured in a way that it starts with man having the most of things and goes to least of things when man sins and loses. For example, the wink stanza moves from discussing mans falling and focuses on mans buy natural covering through God.Herbert writes, With thee / O let me rise / As larks, harmoniously,(7-8). In these lines, man is giving himself to God and hopes that God will allow him to have what he had before the items needed to survive. Similarly, by stanza three and four, we see the repeated mannequin of mans sin and the road to redemption from God. In a way, the structure of the poem is set up so that the re ader realizes that the poem uses the ascending to descending to ascending over again theme. It can be inferred that the person in the poem does good, but falls into sin, yet does good again and is eventually saved.Again, the third stanza addresses the sin of man My tender age in sorrow did begin / And still with sickness and shame / Thou didst so punish sin, / That I became / Most thin (11-14). Here, man discusses how God has punished him for his sins. When man sinned early on he was punished with sickness. Not entirely did God take away his wealth, but he also became sick, causing man to become thin. However, by stanza four, man hopes for redemption. Herbert writes With thee / Let me combine, / And feel this day thy victory, / For, if I imp my wing on thine, / Affliction shall elevate the flight in me (16-20).Here, humanity wants God to become a part of him. As the word imp implies, man wants to attach himself to God so God can see how he is now devoted to him. Man speaks of a ttaching himself (imp) to the wing of God as a means of flying back towards being saved. Man will be taken under Gods wing and will be guided towards the path of righteousness. By doing this, man takes into aim all the suffering that he has endured as a result of being punished for his sins. By reaffirming his devoutness to God, man hopes to redeem himself. In the poem, the words are not the only things that provide meaning.The poems shape also gives meaning. Although the language itself describes the sins and redemption of man, the shape of the poem is what really describes what is being said. As mans destruction is described, the poems line lengths become smaller, and as mans salvation is described, the line lengths become longer. This is what gives the image of two sets of fly, which symbolize mans fall and eventual redemption towards the end of the poem. Here, the metaphysical conceit suggests that the wings are the actual salvation of man. The wings are being compared to a hum an characteristic, salvation.By recognizing his sins, man realizes that the only way he will be forgiven is if he goes towards salvation. It can be inferred that the message of this poem is to be grateful for what you have because it can be taken way in a blink of an eye. However, with repentance and devotion to God, you will be forgiven. In summation, Herberts use of architectural styles is what helps a reader generate the poems meaning. In almost all of his poems, Herberts use of architecture helps aid him in exhibiting the larger meaning. Usually, his ending message is that people must sacrifice what they have if they want a better, blessed life.