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.
@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.
@Juffrou_Ansie
