Discuss Herbert's pictorial use of imagery in his poems you have read.
PremiumDiscuss Herbert's pictorial use of imagery in his poems you have read.
Pictorial imagery means using words to create pictures in the reader’s mind. These images help us understand the poet’s feelings, ideas, and messages. George Herbert (1593-1633), a famous metaphysical poet and priest, uses very strong imagery in his poems, especially in “Easter Wings” and “The Collar.” He uses birds, sand ropes, cages, the collar, and even the shape of the poem as images.
The Shape of the Poem: The most special thing about “Easter Wings” is that the poem is shaped like wings. If we look at the poem from sideways, each stanza looks like two wings of a bird. This is not just decoration. This visual image shows the main idea of the poem—falling because of sin and rising again with God’s love. The poet wants to fly from his sin and suffering.
Image of Larks Flying and Singing:
“O let me rise As larks, harmoniously” Imping Wing: The poet also wants to imp and combine his broken wing with God’s wing. He writes:
“For, if I imp my wing on thine” Image of the Collar: In “The Collar,” the collar is a powerful image and symbol. In this poem, the speaker/poet is a priest, and he feels the weight of his religious duties. Here, the “collar” is the priest’s white collar. It can also mean a dog’s collar, which is the symbol of being controlled. So, the image of the collar gives us the central idea of the poem: the speaker is fully controlled and restricted by his religious faith, and he is having spiritual conflict. Hitting the Table: The poem starts with an image of hitting the table.
“I struck the board, and cried, "No more; I will abroad!” Wine and Corn: The speaker remembers a time when he felt joyful. He says there was “wine” and “corn” in his life. He says:
“Sure there was wine Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn Before my tears did drown it.” Rope of Sands and Cage: Herbert wonderfully expresses his feelings of doubt and of being trapped with the images of “rope of sands” and “cage.” He says:
“Forsake thy cage, Thy rope of sands, Which petty thoughts have made.” In conclusion, George Herbert uses powerful pictorial imagery in his poems. His images, like the flying and singing of larks, the weight of a collar, wine, corn, or cage, make us feel the poet’s spiritual journey. These images make the poems easy to understand and deeply emotional.
Here, Herbert compares his soul to a lark. He wants to fly away from his sin and suffering. He also wants to sing praises to God.
“Imping” means fixing a broken wing by adding feathers from another bird’s wing so that it can fly again. This is another strong image. This image means the poet wants to fix his broken wing using God’s strength. He wants God’s love to rise from his weakness.
This image shows anger. The speaker is angry and tired of his unrewarding religious duties. He is banging the table, shouting that he will leave religion.
Here, wine and corn are images of happiness and blessings. But now, they are lost because of his religious duties, doubts, and guilt.
A cage is a strong image of feeling trapped. A rope of sand is something that looks like a rope but is weak, falls apart. These images show the speaker’s inner struggle. He is thinking that his faith is just a false “cage” he has built for himself from his own “thoughts.”