"The Pulley" (George Herbert, 1633)

4/3/2017

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can.
Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,
Contract into a span.”

So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure.
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 jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;
So both should losers be.

“Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.”

What do you think Herbert intends to evoke in the listener with such a title as "The Pulley"? No stanza refers to the pulley in spite of the title. If so, how do we know this poem utilizes the imagery of the pulley? Is there any indication or a specific word that helps you conjure up the image of the pulley in the body of the poem?

George Herbert (1593-1633) was an Anglican priest educated at Cambridge University and wrote devotional, metaphysical poems. He died young, struck by "consumption" (tuberculosis).

7 Comments

CHris Bautista

4/7/2017 06:53:30

I liked this poem when we went through it in class, I like that the fact that to me it shows like the balance between mankind and God.

Raquel B.

4/7/2017 18:14:26

The metaphysical conceit Herbert used in this poem was how God used the pulley to make humankind reach for him. In the first stanza it states that when God created man he “pour on him all we can”, meaning he dispersed all the riches for the man. In the second stanza god gives his creation “Strength”, “Beauty”, “Wisdom”, “Honor”, and “Pleasure”. In the third stanza God contemplates that if he were to give him “this jewel”(rest), the man will not love him but the gifts instead. The last stanza reveals how God will give him the rest to man to pull him towards him.

Luis Villanueva 1-2A

4/22/2017 22:17:01

Raquel that is a great way to view "The Pulley". It has to do with God and how he wants for us to come to him, but not for what he does. God gives us these gifts so we can know that he is the one to go to whenever we are facing an obstacle. God is trying to pull people onto him and sends the memo to humanity to have faith in him. God tries to emphasize the importance of creation like Raquel said.

Adaylin Alvarez

4/7/2017 22:04:11

George Herbert was a very religious and ingenious metaphysical poet. He talks about how he is offering himself to God in The Altar because he puts his faith in him wholeheartedly. In The Pulley, Herbert talks about how God has conceived an idea about how humans would prefer his "gifts instead of me." This gives God the justification for not giving man the "rest"in which rest means peace. Herbert doesn't mention anything relating to the title until he says the word "toss" in which we, the readers, can conceive an image of a pulling of the pulley. The pulley is a metaphor for the control that God has over humankind.

Monica Orduna

4/16/2017 11:32:42

The poet describes the communication between God and the mankind as a pulley. Its interesting how Herbert creates the image by using a simple machine from physics to understand the mistery of love in this relationship of God and the man. During his poem, he states the original gifts describe in the religion as: strenght, pleasure, beauty, honor, pleasure. He put how this not create the sense of happiness into the humans but still was something they really needed into their lives. Somehow, the author create the meaning of how at the end the heart only wants peace that the original gifts don't make into it.

4/19/2017 22:31:51

George Herbert is known for using metaphysical conceit in his poems as well as religion. In the poem he uses biblical allusion to describe God and how he never gave up on the corrupt humanity. It states in the poem "When almost all was out, God made a stay" which shows Gods grace that is magnificent. This also goes on to show that we humans do not necessarily deserve the greatness of God. Humans are very unappreciative of what God gives us and do not confide in Him. Herbert shows how humanity is very materialistic.

Lucero castillo

4/28/2017 12:25:44

The poet uses "the pulley" as way of showing relationship between God and the human kind.He starts of saying that when God created man, he wanted to give us blessings such as "wisdom,honor and pleasure", which are given to us by pouring them of "Glass of blessings" However , the only one he doesnt give is "Rest" because its so precious"he would adore my gifts instead of me" stating that humas as luis said, humans are often unappreciative of what God gives and dont think in him.

"The Pulley" (George Herbert, 1633)

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