Introduction to the Poem “The Pulley” by George Herbert

The Poet’s Biography

George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was a Welsh-born English poet and Anglican priest. Herbert’s poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognized as “a pivotal figure: enormously popular, deeply and broadly influential, and arguably the most skillful important British lyricist”. He wrote religious poems characterized by a precision language, a metrical versatility, and an ingenious use of imagery or conceits that was flavoured by the metaphysical school of poets. His notable works include “The Temple” and “JoculaPrudenium”. Many of Herbert’s poems have endured as hymns, including “King of Glory, King of Peace”, “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing” and “Teach me’ my Lord and King”.

Plot Analysis                                                                   

The pulley is a mechanical operation; a sort of leverage to assist us move heavy loads through a system of ropes and wheels to gain advantage.

In this poem, George Herbert, writing about what God did when He created man, compares an ingenuity on the part of God to a pulley. As pulley moves impossible weights, so has God done it in such a way that whatever man does or does not do on earth he will always recoil back to God.