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Amy Dallenbach
Dr. Karen Lee
English 260 Survey of British Literature I
8 December 2010
The Blessing of Pain
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our
pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” (Lewis par. 4). A theme throughout the
work of many metaphysical poets is the concept of God redeeming pain in order to draw
mankind closer to Himself. The writing of George Herbert is no exception. Through
physical sickness and emotional pain, Herbert was drawn into a beautiful, deep
relationship with his Creator that is intimately expressed in his poetry. His poems “Altar,”
“Easter Wings” and “Affliction” contain stunning imagery, innovative form, and symbolic
Truth that transcends distance and time.
George Herbert was an Anglican priest. His poetry is a form of worship, a way in
which he expresses his spirit to God. Critic Ann Townsend writes of Herbert, “His audience
is, predominantly, God; he most often speaks directly to God…His predominant lyric voice
is the intimate ‘I-You’; he seeks to commune directly with his ‘Master’” (Townsend par. 12).
Because of his vocation as a priest, most of Herbert’s poetry contains and relies heavily on
Biblical imagery and allusion. His poem “The Altar” likens the human heart to the altar in
Jewish temples used to offer burnt sacrifices to God. The poem’s rhyme scheme follows a
rhymed couplet (AABBCC etc.) form, with lines 1-2 and 15-16 containing ten syllables, lines
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2-4 and 13-14 containing eight, and lines 5-12 containing four, respectively. In this way,
Herbert causes his poem to take on the visible form of an altar. This is called emblem or
pattern poetry. Utilizing this visual imagery also aids the reader in understanding the main
concept that Herbert is trying to communicate.
“The Altar” is primarily a desperate prayer of someone struggling under the yoke of
spiritual discipline. The speaker confesses that his heart has become as hard as stone
(lines 6, 10, 14). However, the altar that Herbert writes of is not made of physical stone,
but “made of a heart and cemented with tears” (line 2), conveying that the construction of
this altar will be accomplished through a process heartache and pain. God’s power has
taken, broken, and shaped the stone into smaller pieces (line 8). The speaker then invites
God to reshape these broken pieces of his heart into an altar, even if that means engaging
violent force to accomplish that end. Literary critic Albert C. Labriola writes, “By his
willingness to have his heart reintegrated in the shape of an altar, as he sacrifices the sinful
impulses that elicited retribution, the speaker participates in expiation as a prelude to
sanctification” (Labriola). More often than not, the heart experiences growth and
purification through painful, even excruciating experiences. Yet even so, Herbert writes
that this process is worth the pain if it will teach him to share in Christ’s sacrifice and
experience greater intimacy with Him (lines 15-16). The last line speaks Herbert’s deep
desire for his heart to be cleansed so that he may belong completely to God.
In this poem, Herbert draws connections to numerous Scripture references, such as
lines 13-14 which echo Luke 19: 40: “‘I tell you,’ He replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones
will cry out.’” Herbert’s words, “That, if I chance to hold my peace / These stones to praise
thee may not cease” (lines 13-14) take this verse a step further. Even if his mouth were to
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remain silent, his heart – the very core of his being - would still cry out for God. Similarly,
Herbert draws on the specifications that God gave Moses regarding the construction of the
altar in Exodus 20:25. But instead of building a physical altar where people offer up their
sacrifices, the altar Herbert writes of is the human heart. He makes a connection to the
New Covenant, where the human body becomes the temple of the Lord (NIV, 1 Corinthians
6.19). If the body is the temple where the Spirit of the Lord dwells, then the heart is the
altar within that temple, where people lay down their own wills and desires for the sake of
being in a relationship with God. Herbert’s poem speaks of one of the most humbling,
astounding concepts in the Christian faith: through Christ’s sacrifice, man not only has
access to God’s Spirit, but he also becomes the dwelling place of His Spirit. In other words,
people are more than just able to step beyond the veil and into the Father’s presence;
through Christ’s blood, their hearts actually become the Holy of Holies.
Like “The Altar,” George Herbert’s poem “Easter Wings” is also an emblem poem
that discusses the Christian themes of redemption, restoration and resurrection. Although
the poem is sometimes printed in the shape of two stacked hourglasses, Herbert’s first
publications printed the lines vertically. This allows the waxing and waning length of the
poem’s lines to seem more apparently like a pair of wings (West par. 9). Herbert achieves
the emblematic wing shape by using an ABABA CDCDC rhyme scheme and by shortening or
lengthening each subsequent line’s syllables by two beats. This shape also becomes a
visual metaphor for the underlying message of the poem.
“Easter Wings” speaks of deterioration and restoration on both a universal and
personal level. The first five lines of the poem discuss the tragic decline of the whole of
humanity as a result of the fall. Mankind was created out of God’s glorious riches, but then
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it steadily decays as sin grows (lines 1-5). The next five lines bring renewal as they both
restore the length of lines and speak of the redemption that Easter morning brings to
humanity (lines 6-10) Similarly, the first section of the second stanza diminishes as Hebert
writes of struggles with sin on a personal level. Christ’s death and resurrection bring
healing for man on an individual level as well as for all of mankind. Interestingly, both
stanzas reach their shortest points, those where they are “most poor” (line 5) and “most
thin” (line 15), at the places where man’s power has been completely exhausted. In both
stanzas, the poem’s lines begin to lengthen again with the repeated line “With thee” (lines
6, 16). By doing this, Herbert symbolically shows that man can only begin to heal and fly
through the strength of the Lord. Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning gives man the
power to rise with Him and soar again in His presence.
As with “The Altar”, Herbert draws on Biblical allusion to strengthen and deepen the
meaning of his poetry. In “Easter Wings,” his second stanza echoes the words of Isaiah
40:30-31: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those
who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they
will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Lines 11-14 are a confession
of the personal sins of Herbert’s youth and the sickness and shame that still linger as a
result of his choices. Specifically, Herbert struggled with consumption, or tuberculosis,
throughout his life. Although his sickness was difficult to bear, it became something that
ultimately drew him closer to God. The last line of “Easter Wings” reads: “Affliction shall
advance the flight in me” (20). Because he was made more dependent on God, Herbert
grew to trust Him more and was able to view his sickness as a blessing. His weakness
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caused him to rely on God and therefore enabled him to have greater access to God’s risen
power.
The final poem that demonstrates Herbert’s experience with the redemptive
qualities of pain is “Affliction.” This poem is a stunning picture of honesty and
vulnerability. Throughout the poem, Herbert moves from a state of self-centered
autonomy to a genuine, trusting relationship with God through a painful series of events.
Critic A.E. Watkins points out, “The role these autobiographical elements play in the
spiritual progression from self-absorption to selfless devotion…leads to a necessary
reconsideration of selfhood along the way” (Watkins par. 5). Unlike the previous two
poems, this work is not an emblem poem. Its form follows a more traditional structure,
with eleven six-line stanzas following an ABABCC rhyme scheme. By writing his poem like
this, Herbert seems to imply that his pain is simply too deep to birth a metaphor. Instead,
the poem meanders along his life experiences, woven together by the thread of pain, and
ultimately brings about a new way of thinking.
“Affliction” begins with Herbert recalling his early days as a newly converted
Christian. When God first won his heart and called him to become a priest, he was
surrounded by both physical and spiritual pleasures (lines 5-6). The elaborate fixtures and
elements of the church delighted him (lines 7-10). All these carefree things encouraged his
mind to hold “no place for grief or fear” (line 16). Herbert’s choice of words throughout
these first two stanzas draws connotations of childishness and shallow infatuations that
shift with the tide of circumstance. His life at this point was so easy that “there was no
month but May” (line 22). This faith is not forced to stand firm or falter because it is not
faced with any sort of difficulty or pain. It is fed by “milk and sweetnesses” (line 19), the
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food of spiritual immaturity (NIV, Hebrews 5.13-14). Here again, Herbert makes an
allusion to Scripture, transitioning into the pain that will wean him onto solid food.
In the fifth stanza, Herbert begins to describe the suffering that snatched him from
his superficial joy. Physical disease began to cause his flesh to complain to his soul, saying,
“Sicknesses cleave my bones” (line 25-26). Watkins also notes, “In the double meaning of
‘cleave,’ the ‘Sicknesses’ both penetrate and cling to his bones, making the body a host
while dismembering it at the same time” (Watkins par. 3). The sickness clutches the body,
but ends up destroying the very thing it requires to survive. This physical sickness
symbolizes the way that sin infiltrates and gradually decays the human spirit. Herbert
concludes the stanza with the lines, “I scarce believed, / Till grief did tell me roundly, that I
lived” (lines 29-30). The presence of pain in his life, at this point, was the only thing
reassuring him that he was still alive. Feeling something, even pain, was better than feeling
nothing at all.
Herbert’s sorrow worsens in the next stanza, as his health continues to deteriorate.
Additionally, the friends he had looked to for support during this painful season have also
died (line 32). The poet’s plight is reminiscent of Job’s story; he moves from a state of
blissful abundance to physical and emotional affliction, “blown through with every storm
and wind” (line 35). God took away every possible alternative anchor that Herbert could
rely on. Herbert is even miserable in his ministry in the priesthood (lines 39-40). He
wishes that he could have just been a regular townsperson and questions God’s presence in
his life.
As Herbert moves into the ninth stanza, he begins to speak of how God broke him of
his self-pity: “Perchance I should too happy be / In my unhappiness” (lines 49-50), God
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caused him to metaphorically eat his pain and allowed greater sickness to take hold of him.
Herbert had grown enthralled with pain and addicted to the idea of his own suffering. He
had romanticized the concept of affliction and come to worship his own misery like an idol.
God pulled him from this impure adoration by adding to his pain, showing him that there is
nothing beautiful or lovely about pain itself.
From this realization, Herbert cries out to God in spent desperation, “Now I am here,
what thou wilt do with me / None of my books will show” (lines 55-56). His pain has left
him in a suspended state of paralysis. He is confused about the purpose of his life and longs
for some kind of answer from God. Finding none in the books that he reads, Herbert sighs
and wishes that he could become a tree. His life could then produce fruitfulness and some
kind of purpose, even if it was only to provide a home for the birds (lines 57-60). The pain
has left him exhausted and completely emptied of the shallow feelings of affection that
began the poem. Herbert acknowledges that he must be humble before God. He considers
resigning from the priesthood and becoming an apprentice to some other profession (lines
61-64), demonstrating that he has projected his own expectations onto God’s will. Since
they have not been met, he worries that there is something wrong with him. His pain
causes him to question and doubt God’s character. But the stanza ends with a prayer of
stunning, frantic honesty: “Ah, my dear God! Though I am clean forgot, / Let me not love
thee, if I love thee not” (lines 65-66). Herbert cries out to God to save him from becoming
lukewarm, drawing on a Scriptural theme in Revelation 3:16. If he cannot love God with all
of his heart, Herbert begs God to remove his ability to love Him at all. Herbert’s pain has
brought him to a newfound state of awareness; he has learned what it truly means to love
and serve God.
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The metaphysical poetry of George Herbert expresses the importance of pain in the
lives of humanity. It is the tool that shapes the heart of stone into an altar, the fall that
teaches the soul to soar on the wings of redemption, and the process of purging that
purifies the spirit. Herbert’s own life serves as a metaphor for the universal Truth
embedded in his poetry. Through physical and emotional pain, God speaks His mercy and
love to the human heart. In this way, He redeems suffering and uses it for good. Pain
corresponds with relief; they are two halves of a seed that brings spiritual growth. God
allows pain into the lives of mankind so that He may become their Healer.
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Works Cited
Herbert, George. “Affliction.” Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed.
Volume B. Ed. Julia Reidhead, et al. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 2006.
1609-1611. Print.
Herbert, George. “Altar.” Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed.
Volume B. Ed. Julia Reidhead, et al. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 2006.
1607. Print.
Herbert, George. “Easter Wings.” Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed.
Volume B. Ed. Julia Reidhead, et al. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 2006.
1609. Print.
Holy Bible, New International Version. Ed. Daniel I. Block, et al. Tyndale Press: Wheaton
Illinois, 1996. Print.
Labriola, Albert C. "The rock and the hard place: biblical typology and Herbert's 'The
Altar'." George Herbert Journal 10.1-2 (1986): 61+. Literature Resources from Gale.
Web. 7 Dec. 2010.
Lewis, C.S. “C.S. Lewis Quotes.” ThinkExist.com. <http://thinkexist.com/quotation/god_
whispers_to_us_in_our_pleasures-speaks_to_us/180233.html> 7 Dec. 2010.
Townsend, Ann. "The Problem of Sincerity: The Lyric Plain Style of George Herbert and
Louise Glück." Shenandoah 46.4 (Winter 1996): 43-61. Rpt. in Literature Criticism
from 1400 to 1800. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 121.
Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.
Watkins, A.E. "Typology and the self in George Herbert's 'Affliction' Poems." George Herbert
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Journal 31.1-2 (2007): 63+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.
West, David. "Easter-wings." Notes and Queries 39.4 (1992): 448+. Expanded Academic
ASAP. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.