Discuss Herbert’s pictorial use of imagery in his poems you have read. 

Answer

Discuss Herbert’s pictorial use of imagery in his poems you have read. 

Pictorial imagery means using words to create pictures in the reader’s mind. These images help us understand the poet’s feelings, ideas, and messages. George Herbert (1593-1633), a famous metaphysical poet and priest, uses very strong imagery in his poems, especially in “Easter Wings” and “The Collar.” He uses birds, sand ropes, cages, the collar, and even the shape of the poem as images.

The Shape of the Poem: The most special thing about “Easter Wings” is that the poem is shaped like wings. If we look at the poem from sideways, each stanza looks like two wings of a bird. This is not just decoration. This visual image shows the main idea of the poem—falling because of sin and rising again with God’s love. The poet wants to fly from his sin and suffering.

Image of Larks Flying and Singing: In “Easter Wings,” Herbert talks about his sin and suffering. He faced pain, sadness, and shame from a young age. So, he wants to fly out of his suffering and sin. Here, Herbert uses the beautiful image of larks flying high in the sky harmoniously and singing. He writes:

“O let me rise

As larks, harmoniously”

Here, Herbert compares his soul to a lark. He wants to fly away from his sin and suffering. He also wants to sing praises to God.

Imping Wing: The poet also wants to imp and combine his broken wing with God’s wing. He writes:

“For, if I imp my wing on thine”

“Imping” means fixing a broken wing by adding feathers from another bird’s wing so that it can fly again. This is another strong image. This image means the poet wants to fix his broken wing using God’s strength. He wants God’s love to rise from his weakness.

Image of the Collar: