Sunday, February 3, 2008
Herbert's poem, "The Collar"
Herbert’s poem; “The Collar” is set up to reveal religious meaning through the last lines. For example, the ending lines, “Methought I heard one calling, Child!” “and I replied, My Lord” reveal the religious context of the work. The word “Child” suggests that the “I” in the poem is a “child’ of the “Lord.” The parting phrases of the poem enable the other lines and details to become cohesive. For instance, the title, “the collar” becomes symbolic of perhaps a Clergyman’s attire. However, the collar is ambiguous because it also symbolizes an actual collar that restrains (like a dog collar). The “I” in the poem jumps from line to line questioning being “free” from the restraints of this “collar” yet the parting lines of the poem serve to lasso the “I” back into the chokehold of the “collar.” Herbert’s language throughout the work suggests a sense of captivity with the words, “cage,” “rope,” and “tie.” I think the poem is about a man wavering about his faith and servitude towards God. The man questions freedom in juxtaposition with the “suit(ing) and serv(ing) of God.” Ultimately he is pulled back by the “calling” of God, which ends the “raving” of the man, just as the poem ends as well.
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This poem seemed to me as lament for the paradox of both a free and pious soul. Herbert, a minister in the church of england, begins the verse with an outburst set in motion by his trepidation about the bounding limits of his soul. entered into a life of servitude, as marked by both his "collar" and his "suit," herbert awaits the day when his soul will pass, and be with god. there, he shall become "loose as the wind," and "as large as stone." Yet, he also worries that that self-imposed trappings of his bodily existence may be in vain. he ponders aloud whether or not he can withstand the pressures of a free existence on earth: "shall i be still in suit." he wonders whether the thorns he has used to prick himself (embodying his sacrifices, and symbolizing the crown of thorns placed on Christ's head) will grow into fruit, or wine, that could restore his losses, or whether, at "year's" end he will have anything to show for his life, any garlands or flowers to decorate his world, his grave. suddenly, as though in a fit of self-discovery, he begins to command himself: "forget all thy sigh-blown age," "leave thy cold dispute," 'forsake thy cage," etc. as his ravings grow to a crescendo he suddenly imagines the voice of the lord calling him, as though a father calls a lost child, or a shepherd would call his sheep. by the last line he implies the renewal of his servitude to the lord. the poem is written in a verse as wild and erratic as the thought process that drives his betrayal with the "collar." although the process and message of the pome are seemingly straightforward, i found a number of alternative interpretations within the body of the poem. in the book of genesis, the fall of man is preceded by a warning foreboding adam and eve from indulging in the tree of knowledge, and rather, to sustain themselves from the tree of life. however they are tempted by the great knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, and so they pluck the "fruit" from the tree and immediately recognize the disgusting state of their naked bodies. cast form the garden, they see everywhere the sufferings of life. without the tree of life they must harvest their own crops; bound with the concept of morals they begin to despise one another. When christ comes, to save mankind from these burdens, he instructs them to simply love one another, without the consideration of moral wrongs and rights, for we are all on an even field. christ calls for the children to bring the light of the world, for their freedom and grace and humor and love may cancel out the rages and jealousies of mankind. So, perhaps Herbert's "collar" is merely the conceptual burden of morality. missing the "fruits" of life, herbert must content himself only with thorns. He asks both himself and the reader to attain the mind of a child, whose soul, new and innocent to the world, as as free as the wind.
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