The Collar - IJS

So, What does the Title Mean?
Firstly, the word collar has a number of connotations, both literal and
figurative. In the normal sense of the word, a collar may be part of ones
clothing, it could also be a reference to the white band which the clergy
wear around their necks to indicate their profession, a collar is also used to
restrict animals or to identify them. Added to this one can allude to
someone being collared in a figurative sense, meaning that he/she has
been caught or restricted in some way.
All of these definitions are apt in
the context of the poem. Firstly,
as used in the title, the poet's
reference may be to the clerical
collar, since he was a priest. This
emphasizes the significance of
this small garment in the
identification of a member of the
clergy. They are
generally associated with
redemption, morality, spirituality
and goodness.
Lines 1- 9
I struck the board, and cried, “No more;
I will abroad!
What? shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free, free as the road,
Loose as the wind, as large as store.
Shall I be still in suit?
Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me blood, and not restore
What I have lost with cordial fruit?
• In the first stanza of this piece the speaker shocks his reader by crying out,
seemingly without provocation, that he has had enough. He says, ‘“No
more.”’ He will not remain in his life any longer. The speaker will “abroad.”
He asks in the following lines if it is necessary for him to “sigh and pine.”
The speaker is becoming more and more sure that it is not his sole purpose
in life to want something he cannot have. He is severely dissatisfied with
the current direction of his life and is ready to make a change.
• He sees himself as being able to live in “life” and write his “lines…free, free
as the road.” There should be no restraints on what he is allowed to do or
say. He sees a future in which is life is “Loose” and resembles the “wind.” He
desires to live in a world as large as he wants it to be.
The following lines are used to ask if he must
be “still in suit.” He wants to know if it is
possible for him to change his life at this time,
or if he is trapped in the world he has made
around himself.
The next phrase proposes one type of life he
could be living, one he cannot escape from. In
this scenario he compares himself to a plant
which produces no fruit, but only thorns on
which he cuts himself. It is the blood he loses
that he hopes to use to reinvigorate himself.
Perhaps he can benefit off his own present
suffering.
Lines 10-18
Sure there was wine

Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
Is the year only lost to me?
Have I no bays to crown it,
No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted?
All wasted?
Not so, my heart; but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
In the next set of lines he tries to
remember if there was a point in
his life in which “there was wine.”
It would have had to have
been before his “sighs did dry it.”
He thinks there is no way the
suffering he is going through now
has always been present in his life.
There must’ve been days before in
which one could find “corn” and
“wine.” These days would be
before his “tears did drown it.” To
some extent, he feels as if his own
emotional state is making his
already bad situation worse.
The second half of the section is made up
of a number of questions. He asks if
there is any way for him to “crown” or
save his year. He does not want it to be
“lost to” him. The speaker searches for
“flowers” or “garlands gay” which might Two short phrases follow; they inquire if
be used to improve his remaining days. the flowers have all been “blasted” or
“wasted.” The final two lines clarify that
no, they have not. In his “heart…there is
fruit” still. With his hands he plans to
retrieve that fruit along with his
happiness.
Lines 19-28
Recover all thy sigh-blown age

On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute
Of what is fit and not. Forsake thy cage,
Thy rope of sands,
Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee
Good cable, to enforce and draw,
And be thy law,
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
Away! take heed;
I will abroad.
The second half of the poem begins with the speaker asking
a number of different things of himself. First, he wants to
recover the pleasures of his past and leave behind his “cold
dispute / Of what is fit and not.” He is done wasting time
worrying about what is holy, proper, or good. These things
will no longer interest him. It is his goal to leave behind his
cage and “rope of sand.”
These means of confinement that the speaker
mentions were crafted by religion and by his own
hands. They were made by “petty thoughts” and
turned into “Good cable” which was able to “enforce
and draw” and turn into the “law” which he obeyed.
He is no longer going to be a part of this lifestyle. He

is moving on, away from his confinement and “collar.”
The final line repeats the declaration which appears
at the beginning of the poem, “I will abroad,” he will
depart.
Lines 29 - 36
Call in thy death’s-head there; tie up thy fears;

He that forbears
To suit and serve his need
Deserves his load.”
But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Methought I heard one calling, Child!
And I replied My Lord.
The final section of this piece concludes the narrator’s agitated speech and
produces a slight twist to the narrative. He continues speaking to himself and tries
to boost his confidence for the change he is trying to make. The speaker asks that
the “death’s-head” leave him alone. He does not want to be bothered by his fears.
It is his intention to “tie” them up and force them to serve his purpose.
The speech ends with a set of lines which utilize the rhyme scheme of abab. They
are used to bring the speaker back to his known reality. He describes how his
“rav[ing]” came to its climax and rather than building him up, it just brought on
the voice of God. The speaker heard “Child!” And replied, “My Lord.” Like a child,
he was chastised and brought back into the religious fold.
Many of us can most likely remember a time (probably somewhere around our teen years) when
we were stubborn and full of angst. If we can recall, we probably also made what we thought were
reasonably passionate speeches defending our foul moods and unruly behavior. What might've
sounded reasonable to us, though, most likely came off as extremely disorganized and not very
well thought out. George Herbert reflected this lack of organization with The Collar because this
poem is very much like a teenage rant. The poetic narrator's angry and sulking because he's
discovering that life's not fair, so the poem itself is disorganized; though he uses iambic meter,
Herbert has various numbers of iambs per line with no discernible pattern. In this way, The Collar is
quite unlike Herbert's other works, which are typically well structured in all aspects, such as diction
and meter.
Works Cited
• https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-type-poem-the-collar
-575493
• https://poemanalysis.com/george-herbert/the-collar/
• https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-collar-by-george-herbert-sum
mary-analysis.html
• https://crossref-it.info/text/metaphysical-poetry/the-collar

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So, What does the Title Mean?

Sure there was wine

Recover all thy sigh-blown age

He is no longer going to be a part of this lifestyle. He

Call in thy death’s-head there; tie up thy fears;

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