George Herbert

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George Herbert  Love III . love bade me welcome ..........please explain and paraphrase this poem ?

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This is a love poem, but it is about the love of God.

Love called to me, yet I was reluctant (my soul drew back), the author says. What drew him back was the guilt of his sin. But Love (God) drew him to God again, sweetly, providing for his needs (asking if I lacked anything). He tells God he is unworthy to even look at Him (I cannot look on Thee), yet God lovingly took his hand and said, “I was the one that created your eyes!” The poet replies, “Yes, but I have ruined them” (with his sin), and God replies, “Who bore the blame?” This is a reference to the Christian belief that Jesus bore the blame for our sins by dying on the cross. The poem ends by the author telling God that he will serve him, and God inviting him in to “taste my meat.” This last part is a reference to Christian growth. The Bible says that when we are new in our faith, we are like children and can only drink milk (we are only ready for the most basic tenets of the faith), but as we grow and our faith matures, we are ready to chew on the “meat” of really understanding the scriptures.

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