The Collar-George Herbert

I struck the board, and cried "No more!
I will abroad.
What, shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the road,
Loose as the wind, as large as store.
Shall I be still in suit?
Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me blood, and not restore
What I have lost with cordial fruit?
Sure there was wine
Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
Is the year only lost to me?
Have I no bays to crown it?
No flowers, no garlands gay? all blasted?
All wasted?
Not so, my heart: but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
Recover all thy sigh-blown age
On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute
Of what is fit, and not. Forsake thy cage,
Thy rope of sands,
Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee
Good cable, to enforce and draw,
And be thy law,
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
Away; take heed:
I will abroad.
Call in thy death's head there: tie up thy fears.
He that forbears
To suit and serve his need,
Deserves his load."
But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Methoughts I heard one calling "Child!"
And I replied "My Lord".
The Collar by George Herbert is a religious poem about a man who feels like he has
had enough of being submissive to the Lord's Will. The man is very "fierce and wild" as
he questions the Lord, wondering why he has to live like this. However, when he
hears the Lord calling him, he is able to return to the Lord. I am able to directly relate to this
poem because at times, I also face difficulties in my walk as a Christian. At times of trouble,
I feel like letting go and living a free life. Herbert says that "My lines and life are free,
free as the road, Loose as the wind, as large as store." There are times when I believe that
if I didn't live my life as a Christian, I would feel like my life was free and I was free to
do whatever I wanted. Herbert also says, "Forsake thy cage, Thy rope of sands."
I sometimes feel as if I am caged and roped, restrained from doing what I desire.
When my spiritual walk becomes tough, I want to break free from it (free from the cage). Just like
Herbert says in the poem, the time that I spend with God can sometimes seem as if it
was "all blasted" and "all wasted." I doubt God and wonder if what he trying to work
within me is actually happening. When things don't go my way, I become enraged and
put the fault on God, questioning why He didn't let it flow my way.
There are times when I yell, "No more" and promise myself that I will not follow God's
way but live my way. There is frustration and I become more aggressive
towards life, wanting to block out what God is trying to tell me. This is exactly how Herbert felt.
However, when I remember the first time I heard God's voice,
the first time I felt him come inside my heart, warming me and renewing me
(a spiritual rebirth; going back to innocence), I choose to go back to God. This is similar to
Herbert, who was in conflict between living a secular life away from God because
of the constraints he felt and continuing to live a religious life. However, at
the time he "raved and grew more fierce and wild at every word," Herbert
was able to hear God calling him, and allowed himself to once again be submissive
to God's authority. Another poem I was able to relate this poem to was John Donne's
Holy Sonnet 14. In Holy Sonnet 14, Donne pleas to the Lord that He will "make
me new." Donne confesses that he loves the Lord but is confused because of "your enemy"
whom we can say is Satan. Just like in The Collar, Holy Sonnet 14 is a poem
about instability within someone's life, but ultimately continuing to love the Lord.