I chose to write about the poem “Easter Wings” by George Herbert. This poem is about the fact that despite the author foolishly losing his worldly wealth, developing mortal diseases, and letting painful emotions take over his human body, God can, and hopefully will, make him rise in victory and fly high with Him in the days to come.
One very distinct feature that the reader notices about this excerpt is not so much the rhyming scheme, or the syntax used, but rather the dynamic shape the poem takes on. It transitions from normal length sentences into increasingly smaller ones, eventually down to just two word lines, and then gradually expands back into sentences of normal length again. This pattern is in place to show, in a sense, ebb and flow, or a rise and fall in the tone of speech. As one reads through the passage, they notice that the poem uses words like “decaying,” “sorrow,” “sickness,” “shame,” and “punishment”, which are words that evoke negative connotation. This occurs as the poem begins to shrink. Then, words such as “harmoniously” and “victories”, words that evoke a positive connotation, are used as the poem grows.
The two phrases that stand out the most in this poem are the two lined ones which say, “most poor” and most thin”. These lines further reinforce and somewhat mimic the shape of the poem, because this poem could be visually described as “poor” and “thin” at these parts of the passage. An underlying theme that ties the shape of the poem together with the overall plot is that of time. As all these negative things happen to the speaker, in due time, he will be freed of these burdens that he holds. Having said this, it can be stated that the poem also appears to take on the shape of an hourglass, a well known symbol for measuring time.
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