THE PULLEY
George Herbert
is a metaphysical poet. But his poems do not have the far-fetched conceits of
Donne and Cowley. His comparisons are simple and can be easily grasped by
students. In the poem the pulley Herbert holds that god has deliberately made
man restless in the hope that restless man would turn to god.
Herbert
shows god keeping a glass replete with all kinds of blessings. God is
thoughtful and calculating. The first benefit that god grants man is strength,
physical, and mental. The next to be bestowed on man is beauty. This gift is
intended to refine strength which otherwise will become brutish. The other
gifts that follow in quick succession are wisdom and pleasure. Wisdom enables
man to distinguish between good and bad. Pleasure implants deep in man a desire
to taste all kinds of pleasure. The passage might also mean that god has made
available a plethora of pleasures to man, sensuous as well as sensual.
The only
gift that remains at the bottom of the glass is rest. God could have given this
gift also to man. But he deliberately withholds it. The reason he gives for his
partially is that, if man were given rest also, he would become self-
complacent. He would immerse himself in worldly goods. He would lead an utterly
mundane life. He would not at all seek god. His horizon would be extremely
restricted. This would be a great loss to both man and god. Man would forget
god and god would be guilty of having left man undeveloped and unfulfilled.
If man is
restless, he will certainly turn to god in an effort to find in god the peace
that he cannot get anywhere else. Hence, to draw man towards himself, god does
not give him rest.
by,
M.VASANTH,.M.A., S.E.T.
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