Peace- George Herbert Essay -- English Literature

Peace- George Herbert George Herbert depicts a search for peace through religion in his poem "Peace" by utilizing allusion to the Bible and symbolism. George Herbert begins his poem by asking a question; "Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell?" This is an apostrophe to Peace because the narrator is seeking peace in a variety of sublunary places and objects such as a cave, a rainbow, a Crown Imperial flower, and he finally asks a reverend where he may find peace. The reverend recounts the life of a prince who "sweetly lived" and "who lived with good increase of flock and fold." The prince died and on his grave "there sprang twelve stalks of wheat" which prospered and spread throughout the Earth. Anyone who fed on the wheat discovered "a secret virtue, bringing peace and mirth by flight of sin." The story the reverend relates to the man in search of peace is an illusion to the Bible. The prince that reverend speaks of is Jesus Christ, and the proceeding events follow the life and death of Jesus. The reverend speaks of how he was murdered by his foes which relates to Je...