Question

Affliction by george herbert line by line analysis

Answer 1

George Herbert wrote five "Affliction" poems, all contained in his collection The Temple. The first of the series, while not essentially autobiographical, did grow from Herbert's life and experiences. While the poem begins with positive aspects of the speaker's life, that same life quickly dissolves into the chaos caused by illness and the loss of friends. Specific to Herbert's experience is the reference to university life as well as that of the clergy. The poem consists of 11 six-line stanzas with a rhyme scheme of ababcc.

The persona begins by recalling "When first thou didst entice to thee my heart," referring to an initial "service brave" to God. He recalls enormous "joys," drawn from his own "stock of natural delights, / Augmented with thy gracious benefits." He continues to discuss the benefit he derived from "thy furniture so fine," meaning all the trappings of a life publicly dedicated to service. The speaker felt the "glorious household-stuff . . . entwine," with the verb entwine connoting, despite the upbeat tone, a trap, like that of a spider's web. Still, the speaker earned his "wages in a world of mirth." As the third stanza opens, the persona asks the rhetorical question "What pleasures could I want, whose King I served / Where joys my fellows were," meaning he lived constantly with joy and lacked nothing. Herbert makes clear that his speaker confused service to God with that to an earthly king, complete with royal trappings. However, his statements become an argument of sorts, as he claims he did not realize the responsibility that accompanied the rewards.

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