1
Title:
Just as the collar confines your neck, so
the man feels the laws of God confine
Him. Herbert himself became a priest
and wore a dog collar and the poem is
an expression of his anger and frustration
with himself and God for failing in his
duty as a priest. SACAI NOV 2021
The speaker is telling us what
happened by reporting it in direct
speech. The first verbs “struck” and
“cried” are in the past tense, but what
follows in inverted commas, direct
speech, is all in the present tense. At
the end he goes back to telling us
what happened, in the past tense. This
tells us that the whole poem relates
the events that happened (in the
past) to the speaker. He is reporting
how he rebelled but then that the
Lord called him back.
@Juffrou_Ansie
, 2
Summary of The Collar
‘The Collar’ by George Herbert describes a
speaker’s desire to escape from his religious
life and turn to one of greater freedom.
The poem begins with the speaker stating
that he will stand for his present life no
longer. It is time for him to make a change
and he intends to resurrect the parts of
himself the lost in his youth. He will seek out
real pleasures and no longer worry about
what is right and wrong.
The final lines bring the speaker back to his
religious reality. The voice of God penetrates
through his “rav[ing]” and calms his ardour.
He will not do as he said he would; he has
been taken back into the fold of the church.
As the poem continues, the extent of his
confinement is revealed. He has crafted a
prison for himself out of his own belief. The
ropes will no longer keep him and he will
utilize his fears to his own benefit. He will be a
stronger man.
Title:
The significance and connotations of the title of
the poem.
The title denotes a clerical collar, identifying the
speaker as a member of the clergy. However,
a collar is often a symbol of oppression, slavery
or control by another: a dog may wear a collar
to identify its owners or address, as well as so
that it can be controlled. The yoke of oxen that
are in-spanned has the same significance. The
clerical collar can therefore be seen not only as
identification of the clergyman, but also as
symbolic of his having given up his life to God –
renouncing the temptations of the world. In this
way a collar implies restriction of the wearer’s
freedom, which is what the speaker in the
poem is bitterly complaining about.
@Juffrou_Ansie
Title:
Just as the collar confines your neck, so
the man feels the laws of God confine
Him. Herbert himself became a priest
and wore a dog collar and the poem is
an expression of his anger and frustration
with himself and God for failing in his
duty as a priest. SACAI NOV 2021
The speaker is telling us what
happened by reporting it in direct
speech. The first verbs “struck” and
“cried” are in the past tense, but what
follows in inverted commas, direct
speech, is all in the present tense. At
the end he goes back to telling us
what happened, in the past tense. This
tells us that the whole poem relates
the events that happened (in the
past) to the speaker. He is reporting
how he rebelled but then that the
Lord called him back.
@Juffrou_Ansie
, 2
Summary of The Collar
‘The Collar’ by George Herbert describes a
speaker’s desire to escape from his religious
life and turn to one of greater freedom.
The poem begins with the speaker stating
that he will stand for his present life no
longer. It is time for him to make a change
and he intends to resurrect the parts of
himself the lost in his youth. He will seek out
real pleasures and no longer worry about
what is right and wrong.
The final lines bring the speaker back to his
religious reality. The voice of God penetrates
through his “rav[ing]” and calms his ardour.
He will not do as he said he would; he has
been taken back into the fold of the church.
As the poem continues, the extent of his
confinement is revealed. He has crafted a
prison for himself out of his own belief. The
ropes will no longer keep him and he will
utilize his fears to his own benefit. He will be a
stronger man.
Title:
The significance and connotations of the title of
the poem.
The title denotes a clerical collar, identifying the
speaker as a member of the clergy. However,
a collar is often a symbol of oppression, slavery
or control by another: a dog may wear a collar
to identify its owners or address, as well as so
that it can be controlled. The yoke of oxen that
are in-spanned has the same significance. The
clerical collar can therefore be seen not only as
identification of the clergyman, but also as
symbolic of his having given up his life to God –
renouncing the temptations of the world. In this
way a collar implies restriction of the wearer’s
freedom, which is what the speaker in the
poem is bitterly complaining about.
@Juffrou_Ansie
