When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by, Let us (said He) pour on him all we can: Let the world’s riches, which dispersed lie, Contract into a span.
So strength first made a way; Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure: When almost all was out, God made a stay, Perceiving that alone of all His treasure Rest in the bottom lay.
For if I should (said He) Bestow this jewel also on my creature, He would adore My gifts instead of Me, And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature: So both should losers be.
Yet let him keep the rest, But keep them with repining restlessness: Let him be rich and weary, that, at least, If goodness lead him not, yet weariness May toss him to My breast.
Analysis and Summary
In the poem, the central idea posited by Herbert is that when God made man, he poured all his blessings on him, including strength, beauty, wisdom, honor and pleasure. However, as in Pandora’s box, one element remained. We are told that God “made a stay,” that is, He kept “Rest in the bottome.” We might, in modern parlance, call this God’s ace. God is aware that if He were to bestow this “jewel” (i.e. rest) on Man as well then Man would adore God’s gifts instead of God Himself. God has withheld the gift of rest from man knowing fully well that His other treasures would one day result in a spiritual restlessness and fatigue in man who, having tired of His material gifts, would necessarily turn to God in his exhaustion. God, being omniscient and prescient, knows that there is the possibility that even the wicked might not turn to Him, but He knows that eventually mortal man is prone to lethargy; his lassitude, then, would be the leverage He needed to toss man to His breast. In the context of the mechanical operation of a pulley, the kind of leverage and force applied makes the difference for the weight being lifted.
The Essay on Life And Death God Man Earth
... freedom. Because he is a creation from God, man will never hold the same timelessness of ... fear of God. It made them feel their humanity and finitude. Although man contains some aspects of Gods divinity ... and mutuality towards their gods. Nature was a sign of divinity and a gift given to them. ... earth.' Man was more similar to God because he also had a distinction from the rest of nature. Man ...
Applied to man in this poem, we can say that the withholding of Rest by God is the leverage that will hoist or draw mankind towards God when other means would make that task difficult. However, in the first line of the last stanza, Herbert puns on the word “rest” suggesting that perhaps God will, after all, let man “keep the rest,” but such a reading would seem to diminish the force behind the poem’s conceit. The importance of rest -and, by association, sleep- is an idea that was certainly uppermost in the minds of Renaissance writers. Many of Shakespeare’s plays include references to sleep or the lack of it as a punishment for sins committed. In Macbeth, for example, the central protagonist is said to “lack the season of all natures, sleep” and both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are tormented by the lack of sleep.
Even Othello is most disconcerted by the fact that he is unable to sleep peacefully once Iago has poisoned him with the possibility of his wife’s infidelity with Cassio. Herbert’s Pulley, then, does not present a new concept. In fact, the ideas in the poem are quite commonplace for seventeenth century religious verse. What is distinctly metaphysical about the poem is that a religious notion is conveyed through a secular, scientific image that requires the reader’s acquaintance with, and understanding of, some basic laws of physics. Pulleys and hoists are mechanical devices aimed at assisting us with moving heavy loads through a system of ropes and wheels (pulleys) to gain advantage. We should not be surprised at the use of a pulley as a central conceit since the domain of physics and imagery from that discipline would have felt quite comfortable to most of the metaphysical poets
The Term Paper on John Updike Ritual God Man
Here's a report on John Updike and some of the things that he has written. If someone wants to use it, be advised that they should change all of the "its" referring to morality and etc... to something else. My extremely anal english teacher marked me off a point for every "it" that I used. Janice Tsai Senior-Munster High School Existence is like a creature that hides and then reveals itself. ...
This poem portrays the relationship betweem man and god and also explains the method by which god recieves the respect from man by keeping the information of his eternal rest.
In the poem, the central idea posited by Herbert is that when God made man, he poured all his blessings on him, including strength, beauty, wisdom, honor and pleasure. However, as in Pandora’s box, one element remained. We are told that God “made a stay,” that is, He kept “Rest in the bottome.” We might, in modern parlance, call this God’s ace. God is aware that if He were to bestow this “jewel” (i.e. rest) on Man as well then Man would adore God’s gifts instead of God Himself. God has withheld the gift of rest from man knowing fully well that His other treasures would one day result in a spiritual restlessness and fatigue in man who, having tired of His material gifts, would necessarily turn to God in his exhaustion.
God, being omniscient and prescient, knows that there is the possibility that even the wicked might not turn to Him, but He knows that eventually mortal man is prone to lethargy; his lassitude, then, would be the leverage He needed to toss man to His breast. In the context of the mechanical operation of a pulley, the kind of leverage and force applied makes the difference for the weight being lifted. Applied to man in this poem, we can say that the withholding of Rest by God is the leverage that will hoist or draw mankind towards God when other means would make that task difficult. However, in the first line of the last stanza, Herbert puns on the word “rest” suggesting that perhaps God will, after all, let man “keep the rest,” but such a reading would seem to diminish the force behind the poem’s conceit. The importance of rest -and, by association, sleep- is an idea that was certainly uppermost in the minds of Renaissance writers.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays include references to sleep or the lack of it as a punishment for sins committed. In Macbeth, for example, the central protagonist is said to “lack the season of all natures, sleep” and both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are tormented by the lack of sleep. Even Othello is most disconcerted by the fact that he is unable to sleep peacefully once Iago has poisoned him with the possibility of his wife’s infidelity with Cassio. Herbert’s Pulley, then, does not present a new concept. In fact, the ideas in the poem are quite commonplace for seventeenth century religious verse. What is distinctly metaphysical about the poem is that a religious notion is conveyed through a secular, scientific image that requires the reader’s acquaintance with, and understanding of, some basic laws of physics. Pulleys and hoists are mechanical devices aimed at assisting us with moving heavy loads through a system of ropes and wheels (pulleys) to gain advantage. We should not be surprised at the use of a pulley as a central conceit since the domain of physics and imagery from that discipline would have felt quite comfortable to most of the metaphysical poets.
The Essay on Margaret Atwood Man Orange Poem
"Against Still Life' By Margaret Atwood Essay," Against Still Life' By Margaret Atwood Against Still Life In the poem Against Still Life, poet Margaret Atwood fascinates us by weaving her words into descriptive feelings we can all relate too, especially women. Atwood is a well known poet and novelist who has a certain way of grabbing the attention of the reader and throwing the reader's thoughts ...
