and living The Shape Conceit in Easter Wings One of Herbert s most famous conceits is found in Easter Wings In this poem the poem itself is shaped like wings on the page This shape is not for decoration It carries meaning The poem talks about man s fall through sin and his rise through God s grace The lines become shorter to show man s fall and weakness Then they grow longer to show spiritual rise The wing shape becomes a visual conceit Herbert compares the soul to a bird He writes O let me rise As larks harmoniously With God s help the weak soul can fly upward This conceit makes a deep religious idea very easy to understand The reader can see and feel the meaning The Collar In The Collar Herbert uses the conceit of a collar to show discipline and control Priests wear a white collar But the collar is also worn by animals like dogs Like a dog s collar the priest s collar is a symbol of being controlled Here Herbert compares the speaker s religious life to a collar This collar tells us that the speaker s life is controlled by his religious duties He wants freedom This is why he hits the table and says he will go out I struck the board and cried No more I will abroad Cage and Rope In The Collar Herbert also uses the conceits of a rope and a cage The image of a cage is a strong metaphysical conceit The speaker compares his religious life to a cage It means he feels trapped He wants to live freely The rope of sands is another metaphysical conceit A rope made of sand is a weak or false thing It cannot hold anything He starts to convince himself that his faith is just a false cage he has built for himself from his own false thoughts So he wants to leave this cage He wants to break free of the false rope As he says Forsake thy cage Thy rope of sands These conceits help us understand his mental struggle The Pulley In The Pulley the entire poem is built on one strong conceit God is compared to a man using a pulley God gives man many gifts such as strength beauty wisdom and pleasure pouring from a cup of blessings But God keeps back one gift rest Rest lies at the bottom of the cup Rest in the bottom lay This is the central idea of the conceit Rest works as God s pulley Just like a pulley pulls something upward restlessness pulls man towards God This conceit explains why humans are never fully satisfied in the world It is a very clever but simple way to explain a deep religious truth Simple and Deep Herbert s conceits are special because they are simple He uses wings collars pulleys ropes and cages These are everyday things But through them he explains faith suffering obedience and love His conceits do not confuse the reader Instead they guide the reader gently towards understanding God In conclusion George Herbert s use of metaphysical conceits is sincere simple and meaningful His conceits are not used to show cleverness only They are used to explain deep religious ideas in an easy way This is why Herbert remains a great metaphysical poet