I SURRENDER

Diane Tarabay-Rodriguez 

As a Christian, religious poems that talk about my personal beliefs immediately intrigue me. Don’t get me wrong, I am no expert on Christianity, but I have a clear understanding of the basic principles of my religion. Like most people, I find it difficult to understand many parts of the bible and George Herbert’s “The Altar” and “Easter Wings” made it no easier for me. Just like in many verses of the bible, I found myself pondering about how the words and the shape of the poems connection and what it all meant.

With simply looking at the title of the poem, “The Altar”, I immediately visualized the shape of the altar that was created with all the lines combined together. As I began to read the poem, I began to understand that the altar was not just ANY altar, it was a broken one. I came to the understanding that the poet was referring to himself as an altar. The altar is his body. It contains a heart and it has shed a lot of tears. In line 3, He states “whose parts are as thy hands did frame”. Through that line he is acknowledging himself as a creation of God. In the beginning, he shows that he is well aware of his imperfections. On lines 5 and 6, He states, “A HEART alone is simply a stone if”. Comes to show that a heart without God is nothing at all. He mentions this line on the most narrow part of the poem to visually show how one becomes so small without God. After, he makes the lines more wide and talks about wanting to be redeemed.

The poem, “Easter Wings”, also demonstrated a strong visual that was related to the poem. As I began to read it, I visualized a two pairs of wings. The way the poem went from wide to narrow and wide to narrow, allowed me to see the pair of wings in movement. Even the tone of my voice began to drop as the lines got thinner and it rose up as the lines widened. The poem contained a very strong religious meaning behind it. It talked about how god created man, “in wealth and store”(1), yet man still decides to fall in the hands of sin. Parts of the poem refer back to the beginning of the bible where Adam and Eve are created and given all that they need, yet still decide to go against God’s words. The poem takes a dark turn when it goes from wide to narrow but slowly rises when it reaches the most narrow parts of the poem. This is the poet’s way of showing is that no matter what mistakes people make, God always gives a chance of redemption.

After reading both poems, I felt that “The Alter” offers a more powerful Christian message than the poem, “Easter Wings”. There was a strong personal connection in the poem “The Altar”. I felt a personal connection to it because it talked about a broken person that is accepting God as their creator.

The Redemption of Paradise

Though both poems offer shaped verses, a wealth of poetic elements, and a distinct theme of Christianity, I believe that George Herbert’s Easter Wings offers a more powerful Christian message than his other poem, The Altar. While the latter draws an image of an altar built of metaphorical hearts, the prior takes readers back to the creation of mankind. In line 1, the author states that the Lord “createdst man in wealth and store” and this phrase seems to refer to the story of Adam and Eve, the first humans. Adam and Eve were allowed to live life in the Garden of Eden, a beautiful, perfect paradise created by God for mankind, but were expelled when they ate the forbidden fruit. By incorporating this story of Adam and Eve, Herbert paints a more complete image of God, as well as the Garden of Eden.

In the second half of the first stanza, the speaker seeks to redeem himself from Adam’s mistake and expresses his wishes to “rise” with the Lord, just as Jesus had risen from his grave on Easter day. This desire for redemption is further highlighted by the alliteration used by the author in line 10 (fall further the flight) as well as the rhyming “shall the fall”. In addition to the fact that the two stanzas have been fashioned into the shape of two wings, it is evident these wings symbolize redemption in this poem. Because the speaker claims that mankind has “fallen” as a result of Adam’s sin, it makes sense that the author needs wings to fly back up. This is further evident in the last two lines, where the speaker displays his desire to “imp” or attach his own wings to Jesus’s, as he rises on Easter day. It is also important to consider the two stanzas comparatively. Each stanza starts off with a negative, almost bleak tone but by the end of each stanza, the tone becomes optimistic and full of plea. Because both stanza’s starts with the result of Adam’s sins, they give the effect of “rising”, consistent with this idea of resurrection. This plea, as well as the speaker’s changing tone, paint a clear image of the resurrection of Christ and allow readers to perceive the speaker’s deep desire for both salvation and redemption. Because to me, Christianity is a religion of repenting sins, and redemption, I believe that the ideas and imagery present in Herbert’s Easter Wings provides a more powerful Christian message than his other poem, The Altar.