The Collar :: essays papers

The Collar George Herbert was born on April 3, 1593 at Montgomery Castle, the fifth son of an eminent Welsh family. Herbert's religious beliefs caused him to be an active opponent of the puritans and the Calvinists. Herbert became the cannon of Lincoln Cathedral and in 1630 he took holy orders. During the years Herbert spent at Bemerton he worked on a collection of verses known as The Temple. Upon his death they published the manuscript. The poem "The Collar" is a complaint voiced by person embittered against the constraints that bind him. Impatient with the human condition, the writer resolves to break free. "My lines and life are free, free as the road, / Loose as the wind, as large as store" he insists. The accompanying gesture, "I struck the board and cried, 'No more!'" is a dramatic, and boastful act. The tone of these lines is recognized as an exaggeration. The writer is impatient with the need to recognize one's dependence and to accept one's need to worship and serve God. The poem as a whole is about blowing off steam. Herbert develops two quite vivid major images to build the poem's theme. The images of restraints such as "collars / cages / cable / rope"suggests something stiff and restrictive, but not harmful, like a noose or shackles. The title of the poem, "The Collar," an article of clothing a man wears when he must be at his best. The word "Collar" also refers to the white band worn by the clergy, and it is the role of priest the poem alludes to. This collar symbolizes the priest's role as servant. The writer chafes at being "in suit." The image has at least a double meaning. The word "suit" refers to the clerical "suit" and connotatively to the attendance required of a vassal at his lord's court. "Forsake thy cage, / Thy rope of sands." The word "cage" suggests a contraption for animals. The purpose is not to harm but merely to restrict movement, and keep from harm. This prevents the creature from getting hurt by its impulses and curiosity about what lies beyond the confines. This imagery of restraints suggests the writer of being in an animalistic state. This animalistic condition is clear when "as I raved and grew more fierce and wild/ At every word." The writer is getting himself worked up. He is unreasoning, like an animal. Even the text, seems to bark: "What? Shall I ever sigh and pine?