Prayer (I) {poetry for lent}

In this poem, Herbert experiments with metaphors for prayer, concluding simply that prayer is "something understood".  

What strikes me about this poem is how positive all these metaphors are. I think the only metaphor for prayer I've used in my writing is "arrows hitting a blue bowl of sky" -- 

But what I love about the optimism of these metaphors is the reminder that prayer, rather than being a chore to check off a list, can be gladness.

Prayer (I)

by George Herbert

Prayer the church's banquet, angel's age,

         God's breath in man returning to his birth,

         The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,

The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth

Engine against th' Almighty, sinner's tow'r,

         Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,

         The six-days world transposing in an hour,

A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,

         Exalted manna, gladness of the best,

         Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,

The milky way, the bird of Paradise,

         Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood,

         The land of spices; something understood.


an explanation of {poetry for lent}