The Collar Analysis

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".

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This is a about Herbert's calling as a pastor and wrestling with the sacrifice and self-pity that come from such a poured out life. The collar is both a sign of his office and a symbol his entrapment. However there is a tenderness in the last line when he realizes to Whom he belongs.

| Posted on 2009-10-21 | by a guest

.: :.

The Collar is basically about divine intoxication and the war between being intoxicated and the veil which separates the contemplative and the love of god. The poet does believe in a Supreme power which sustains all living thing in this universe and the other universes(metaphorical).
I an personally relate to it due to my own limited understanding of God.

| Posted on 2009-10-12 | by a guest

.: :.

The Collar analysis :
Perhaps the best treatment of the subject of submission to the Divine Will is to be found in The Collar, which is certainly among the most celebrated of Herbert's lyrics. Once again, the form closely mirrors the argument. The poem opens with an account of an exasperated outburst of rebellion by the poet:
“I struck the board, and cry'd, No more.
I will abroad.”
What follows is a venting of spleen - an assertion of freedom, a complaint of grievances against the life of devotion out of which the poet intends to break, leading to a boastful challenge to the alleged morbid seriousness and paralysing timidity of the life the poet is renouncing. As the poet raves, growing “more fierce and wild/At every word”, he hears God calling him and, instantly, knows his place and admits God's authority.
The poem is in the iambic metre, but the lines are of varied length and there are no divisions into stanzas. The apparent randomness of form serves a dual purpose: it exaggerates the conversational tone - we can imagine the poet really speaking these lines. From “No more” in the first line to: “He that forbears/To suit and serve his need,/Deserves his load” the poem reads like a very histrionic soliloquy. The second effect of this randomness is to suggest the indiscipline of the rebellious spirit, which is both cause and consequence of the rebellion. The argument is heated and passionate but unconvincing. As it proceeds, the reader has the sense that the reasoning has not been premeditated and pondered, but is impulsive, spoken in heat. It seems like boastful posturing even before the poem's conclusion. With the poem's conclusion it is made to look ridiculous. In justifying his rebellion against the Divine yoke Herbert talks of religious prescriptions as a “cage” or “rope of sands” which is only made to seem “good cable” by the poet's own “pettie thoughts”. Yet, as he admits God as Lord, Herbert makes it clear that it is the attempt to rebel which is like “sand” and that the true “pettie thoughts” are those he has just asserted so bombastically.
The technical feature that most typifies this pretentious self-assertion is the redundant or “rhetorical” question, the answer to which is supposed to be self-evident and to support the greater argument in which it appears. Knowing where his poem will end, Herbert may be said to use this device ironically with a sense of its ridiculousness, especially when used with such predictable frequency (eight times in not many more than eight short lines). At the time he says these things, of course, the speaker is not being ironic but giving an aggrieved proof or demonstration of his self-inflicted loss:
“What? shall I ever sigh and pine?
...Shall I be still in suit?
...Is the year onely lost to me?”
The questions, and the many short lines, give the poem a fitful and uneven quality; there is no fluency of movement until the final quatrain of the poem. In these lines the poet reflects, calmly, on the result of the outburst he has just repeated. The ranting and raving is instantly, easily, dispelled by the gentlest of reminders, from God, of the poet's subservience.
God speaks in a “still small voice” (as in 1 Kings 19.12, Revised Version) and the submission is instant. The silly boasting spoken to bolster the courage of the self could not convincingly repeated in the presence of God. God has no need to answer the arguments: His mere presence exposes their hollowness. So, in these lines, the poem is fluent, eloquent, calm and subdued everything the preceding lines are not. Each pair of lines can be read almost as a single line; in the penultimate pair the syntax requires it (as modern editors' punctuation shows). The pairs seem to be of equal length to the ear though counting syllables will show an extra iambic foot in the final line.
“But as I rav'd and grew more fierce and wild
At every word
Me thoughts I heard one calling, Child!
And I reply'd, My Lord.”
That extra foot is, in effect, the conclusion to the poet's rebellion as to the poem: “My lord” truly shows the poet's acceptance of “The Collar”.
Written by : Alaa Cali4nia Boy

| Posted on 2009-07-28 | by a guest

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This poem appears to reflect Herbert's consideration of how one should lead their life in order to become closer to God. Herbert reflects upon the bargain struck to move forward and thus (possibly)away from sin. The first part of the stanza notes the need to recognise the need to agree/bargain or haggle the price one should pay to stop grieving at mis-fortunes found in life and states the intention to move away/ onward from his previous way of life.
Herbert questions the point of bemoaning ones lot – and acknowledges that one’s way in life includes a freedom of choice - therefore life is what one makes it.
He ponders whether he can measure up to the challenge of this new way forward.
Throughout the poem he appears to ponder what life offers and what he has to show for his existence
Have I nothing else to give /produce?(other than to bleed at life’s hardship and not repent - let loose bad blood (evil)
Should one only take part in a semi-harvest then one will only see what is lost not gained – The juices of life are not only sweet but produced from the pulp of fruit (possibly could refer to the fruits of one’s labour?)Aluding to the thought that there are many facets of life which contribute to the making of it – Wine is made from the whole fruit (yet represents the body of Christ) what is left is discarded -such as pulp, seeds skin but it would not have been possible to make the wine without therefore the whole/entire person(mind and body) is required to make the best of what one is given. It could be that Herbert is drawing a comparison to the idea that in death the husk of the person (the body) will be discarded and that the produce/juices of the body is simply the soul.
Wasting the produce / harvest represents not making the most of what one has been given.
Has one nothing to show for labour/toil –existence?
Can there be nothing to show for the year? Can’t one crown / top what has been provided – celebrate the beauty and goodness – look for the good rather than the bad? (This could also be considering that others in the world also suffer)
Recognising that there is reward if one looks at what can be harvested – should God’s endowment not be celebrated?
Take back all the sighs/ moaning and regrets- recoup your losses to judge what is worthy of one’s self and refrain from that which restricts the boundaries of goodness – give up pointless / useless bonds which encourage negative thoughts. Rather one should seek strong bonds – look for the good for inspiration – Making this the way that one governs his/her way in life. While ones eyes are closed to this train of thought the way will not be lit / shown. Herbert suggests that he has moved away from the discourse of regret and immediate gratification of worldly goods.
Reign in your fears and receive your just deserts the way you clothe/conduct your life will reap its reward.
(Suggests that reflected in the bible- give up your worldly goods to find reward in heaven.)
A reflection that the reader / listener should take notice of these thoughts/warning; suggesting that the whilst raging against injustices of life Herbert came to hear the voice of God and responded by turning to religion.
Written by : Alaa Cali4nia Boy

| Posted on 2009-07-28 | by a guest

.: general points-the collar :.

theme=religious doubt
general tone= agressive
we see alot of doubt and questioning (rhetorical questions near beginning
'trapped' imagery (ropes of sand etc)

| Posted on 2008-02-03 | by a guest

.: The Collar analysis :.

portrays agitation, indignation, frustration 'All blasted?' 'All wasted' flurry of rhetorical questions. Cross reference Herbert's poem 'Forerunners' similarlt uses rhetorical questions to portray indignation 'Must they dispark those sparkling notions?'

yes i AM A CRACK HEAD

| Posted on 2007-05-29 | by a guest