Unhappy and Doubtful The poet feels that his life has no joy or reward even though he has been loyal to God He says there was wine pleasure and corn blessings in his life But now he feels alone and guilty He also starts to doubt God s existence He starts to convince himself that his faith is just a false cage he has built for himself from his own thoughts The poet wants to live freely without thinking about right or wrong God s Soft Voice At the end when he is full of wild emotions the poet hears a soft voice calling Child And I replied My Lord This shows he returns to God in the end This simple ending shows that the poet s love for God is stronger than his spiritual dilemma In short Herbert shows that a religious person can struggle with doubt anger and confusion but in the end he listens to God s gentle voice and chooses love and faith again