The Collar (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: George Herbert
- First Published: 1633
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Parents and children, Religion, God, Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Religious life, Obedience, Temptation
The Poem
“The Collar” is George Herbert’s most extensive and detailed poem of rebellion. Thirty-two of its thirty-six lines describe what the poem itself calls the ravings of a person growing “more fierce and wild” as he strains to release himself from the restrictive pressures that surround him. Much like John Donne’s energetic complaints to God in several of his Holy Sonnets, “The Collar” gives full expression to the speaker’s resentment of the pain and rigor of leading a life that is moral and holy. Only after these complaints are freely, almost...
[The entire page is 1553 words long]
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