the weight of religious duties He hits the table and says he will go out and leave his religious life I struck the board and cried No more I will abroad This means he is angry and tired He longs to do whatever he wants He thinks his life is free as the open road loose as the wind and full of possibilities The poet wants to live like other people free happy and full of joy He feels that his life is full of rules pain and no reward Even the title The Collar is a reminder of the poet s spiritual conflict Here the collar is the priest s white collar It can also mean a dog s collar which is the symbol of being controlled The poet suggests his life is fully controlled and restricted by religious faith Guilt and Sorrow The poet thinks he only gets guilt and sorrow in return for his religious faith He remembers a time when he felt joyful He says Sure there was wine Before my sighs did dry it there was corn Before my tears did drown it He says there was wine and corn in his life It means his life was full of pleasure and blessings Now he feels alone and he feels he is the only unhappy person He is left without any rewards Desire and Doubt Now the poet is having more spiritual conflict He thinks he can still go and grab what he desires He can even make up for all these years of guilt and suffering by having double pleasures So he wants to stop thinking about what is morally right or wrong He is even having doubts about his religious faith He starts to convince himself that his faith is just a false cage he has built for himself from his own thoughts Forsake thy cage Thy rope of sands Which petty thoughts have made Reconciliation with God But then something changes In the last lines when the speaker is ready to leave his religious duties he thinks a voice is calling him Child And I replied My Lord God does not argue or punish He just calls him gently Child And the poet s heart changes He answers with love My Lord This simple ending shows that the poet s love for God is stronger than doubt In conclusion spiritual conflict is dominant in this poem Herbert suggests religious faith can feel more like a burden than fulfilling But no one can ignore the existence of God Even when we are angry and lost God still calls us with love and that love brings us back