The Pulley George Herbert Short Questions

January 25, 2022

Short Questions

1) What is the theme of the poem?

The poem, The Pulley 'is composed by a Welsh poet' George Herbert '. The poem is about a man's soul, which is compared to a pulley, and in this poem, 'God' is working like a pulley who pulls out each sacred gift from glass and gives it to man when he first creates mankind. When the last gift remains in the glass, he decided not to give this one to a man. And the last sacred gift is the 'Rest'. Because God knows that if he pours the last gift " Rest, to a man, he worships all things in nature, instead of worshipping God. He wanted that man would find the true rest only in him. So, he keeps the ' rest ' with him and does not pour to a man.

2) Comment on the title of the poem. Do you notice any images that relate to this?

Ans: The poem ' The Pulley ' is a fine composition of George Herbert. The poem is about man's soul which is compared to Pulley. The pulley is a mechanical device used for lifting weights from downward to the upward application of force. In the present poem, ' God ' is working like the pulley who pulls out each sacred gift from a gla give mankind. The poet used many images to create the imagery of the ' pulley '. Forex .: A glass of blessing, which is full of blessings in it. From which he pulls out each sacred gift to give mankind. The poet used the words like pour ', ' span ', ' flowed, ' Bestow ', which create a sense of ' to give ', but here the poet used these words which create the image of the pulley pulls out the blessings and give to mankind.

3) What are the two meanings of the word ' rest ' that poet uses? Explain these concerning the context

In the poem The Pulley,' the poet explains God's purpose in creating mankind. When God first created mankind he decides to give all the precious things in the world to mankind. He pulls out each sacred gift from the glass of blessing and gives it to man, but when the alone gift is left in the bottom, he keeps the last gift with him and not to pour in mankind and that is the ' rest. There are two meanings of the word ' rest '. The first meaning of ' rest ' is to stay still or quiet, free from anxiety, and the second meaning of the word ' rest ' is mental satisfaction or feeling relaxed which God did not give to man. Because, God knows that if a man was fully satisfied with himself he did not worship him, so God decides that let him rich and weary, so his weariness would lead a man to God. Because God wants that a man would find true rest in himself.

4) What is the meaning of the lines:
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;
So both should losers be.

The poem is about a man's soul which is compared to a pulley. The poet compares God with the pulley who is giving all the sacred gifts from a glass of blessing to mankind. But at last, the gift 'rest' is left alone in the glass and he decides not to give the 'rest' to a man because he know that if he would give 'rest' to a man he will worship all the things in nature, instead of worshiping God. God wanted that man would find the true rest only in himself.