The Pulley by George Herbert.
Know the line by line Explanation, Theme And Summary of the Poem.
The Pulley:-
Theme and Summary:
As George Herbert was a priest in England, he wrote many religious poems with metaphysical concepts. The reflection of devotion, divinity and adoration towards God can be easily seen in his poems.
The poem "The Pulley" is also one such metaphysical poem written in the imagination and devotion of the poet in which he establishes a two-way relationship between God and his creation(human being).
In the Poem, God wants to dedicate all precious attributes to the humans whom he is creating, but at the same time, he divests humans from rest. The title "The pulley" also justifies from here that the restlessness of humans will pull them to the harbour of God. And in return, whether they have done some good or not, their restlessness will toss them in the hands of God. So, in return for all the blessings that God has given, he wants that humans keep their hand in the hand of God.
God holds "rest" with him so that mankind confines their horizon with nature to accomplish all their desires and ultimate peace of mind. Humans should contemplate God and take shelter in the feet of God.
Explanation:
When God at first made man,Having a glass of blessings standing by
In the starting lines of the poem, the poet says that, at the time of creation when God was creating humankind, God has a jar full of blessings, gifts and assets; he wants to render all prosperity and blessing to his lovely creation (humans) as he thinks that its lovely creation deserves all these vantages.
Let us (said he) pour on him all we can,Let the worlds riches, which dispersed lie,Contract into a span.
In these lines, the poet tells that God said that he would grant all precious gifts, blessings, attributes and whatever he can. So God poured all attributes from the jar in its creation.
So strength first made a way,Then beauties flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure,
In the next lines, the poet tells how God had given these blessings and gifts to God and what kind of blessings and gifts they were. So God first filled the humans with strength, then he poured the trait of beauty, wisdom, honour and pleasure.
In the next lines, the poet says that: God gifted almost all rare and precious qualities to humans and hence the jar was about to empty. These lines reflect the notion that we cannot compare God with this normal and selfish world because God is a symbol of generosity.
In the next lines poet that how God wants to be always with their creation and how he makes his creation meaningful.
When almost all was out, God made a stay,Perceiving that alone of all his treasure;Rest in the bottom lay.For if I should (said he);Bestow this Jewell also on my creature,He should adore my gifts instead of me;
Here poet says that, when the jar was about to empty, and only rest (means peace) was only left, God stopped and thought, If I gave even rest to them, they would adore this material world and all my gifts that I have given them and then they would forget me which could be very dangerous for my creation. In essence, they will worship these gifts and forget their creator, who had given these gifts to them someday.
So God did not accord rest and peace to humans, and this restlessness will pull them towards God. Here God also means to says that if he also confers the jewel of rest to his creature, they will love the gifts and attributes more than God. So God keeps the jewel of rest with him.
So both should losers be,Yet let him keep the rest,
In these lines, God says that man should understand whom he should worship. God says that when a man starts worship gifts and pleasure, God and its creation (humankind) would be losers or failures. God's creation would fail because the trait of wisdom God provided to them is going to waste. Since now they might not remain to wise to conceive whom they should worship and whom not. At the same time, the creation (humankind) would also fail because they are not going to contemplate their creator(God) even for a while. They would never think about their God who had someday created them and ascribed all qualities in them. So, to make everything fine and his creation does not go to waste, God keeps the treasure of rest to himself.
So in these lines, the poet wants to say that we should never forget those who had ever given something to us. One's Good turn should never forget.
Yet let him keep the rest,But keep them with repining restlessness;
In the next lines, God says, let these humans keep all our precious gifts ( here rest used for precious gifts that earlier God had provided to them), but they will be deprived of the jewel of rest and peace.
Let him be rich and weary; that at least,If goodness leads him not, vet weariness;May tossed him to my breast.
In these lines, God says that let the humans be rich and wealthy, but at the same time, his wealth and rich keep them tired, restless all time.
In these lines, the poet depicts God's generous and altruistic nature and his affection towards his creation. So, God says that it does not matter that he made goodness or weariness; God will give shelter to everyone.
In short, God always stands with their children and never let them down like a father.
So, the idea of the poem is that: Although God has blessed humans with all rare and precious qualities making mistakes and getting trapped in materialism is in its nature. So, to keep humans on the right path and to ensure that they keep using their precious gifts in the right way. God made a pulley from rest and peace, which keeps them pulling towards their creator, the God.
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