PRAYER the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth ;
Engine against th' Almightie, sinner's towre,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six daies world-transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear ;
Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bels beyond the stars heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices, something understood.
I think that the most interesting part of this poem is the second stanza. I say this because George Herbert portrays prayer contradictory to what is a socially acceptable way to express beliefs toward God. "Engine against th' Almightie" makes me think that he is almost mocking prayer, which is further expressed with all the miss spellings.
ReplyDeleteThis poem contains powerful and sequential imagery. I believe its first impression is to deliver a hand full of conceits, but when looking closer it becomes a double sequence. The prayer is raised to Heaven, but then Heaven is brought to Earth as Heaven gives man the will and grace to pray. The two ideas are intertwined.
ReplyDeleteI think the poem contains words to express the sound. The phrases "church bells beyond the stars hear" and "softnesse, and peace, and joy" portray the melodic tone of the poem. I also noticed how the spelling of some of the words are incorrect. Words like "softnesse" "gladnesse" and "blisse," all have an excess e on the end of them.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this poem. The short descriptions let you fill in the meaning.
ReplyDeleteI dont enjoy this poem too much. The use of older english seems somewhat of an inconvenience. It seems as if I have to try harder to try to understand what the author is saying. The poem seems to start out the first two stanzas by saying that we must be obedient to god and follow religion. He then uses the lines "Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse" to mention that if we work hard and follow religion we will achieve paradise.
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