Discipline by George Herbert

Herbert's main point is that God should choose love over wrath when correcting him. He acknowledges that he deserves correction, openly admitting his failures and missteps, but he contends that love is a more powerful and fitting response than punishment. At its core, the poem serves as a prayer advocating for mercy from a theological perspective.

Herbert aims to demonstrate that love isn't weak or soft. By attributing military traits to love — like speed, a bow, and the capability to strike targets from afar — he asserts that love doesn't require the assistance of wrath. It's inherently the strongest force in existence. This imagery also resonates with Exodus 15:3 ("The Lord is a man of war"), suggesting that Herbert views love as God's ultimate weapon.

He is talking about the Incarnation — the Christian belief that God became human in Jesus Christ, experiencing flesh, suffering, and death. Herbert's point is bold: love was strong enough to humble God himself. If love can achieve that, it can definitely reach one small, fragile human heart.

The repetition lends the poem a quality reminiscent of a prayer or a liturgical refrain — something recited repeatedly until it resonates. It also demonstrates that Herbert has now earned this repeated plea: the middle stanzas develop the argument, and the final stanza revisits the request, backed by all that reasoning. The structure feels complete rather than careless.

The Temple is Herbert's collection of religious poems, published in 1633 shortly after his death. The arrangement reflects the physical and spiritual structure of a church. "Discipline" is found near the end of the collection, in a section that addresses the soul's final reckoning with God — which enhances the urgency of the plea.

Both are significant, and that's what makes it intriguing. Herbert is clearly frustrated—he wishes God would take a different approach. Yet, the fact that he argues with God so directly shows his faith. He believes that God listens, reasons, and can be swayed. The Psalms do this too, and Herbert was very familiar with them.

"Stony hearts" is a biblical metaphor for those who are tough, closed off, and resistant to God (from Ezekiel 36:26). Herbert argues that punishment won't soften stone; it merely shatters it. However, love has the power to make even a stone heart feel emotions, to "bleed" with remorse and tenderness. This creates a paradox: the softer force accomplishes what the harsher one fails to do.

Each stanza has a clear structure: two lines with about six syllables, followed by a brief two-syllable line, and then another six-syllable line. This short line in each stanza — "O my God," "I aspire," "But by book" — adds a pause, like a breath or a moment of hesitation. The rhyme scheme remains ABAB throughout. This concise format aligns well with the urgency of someone making a straightforward, direct appeal.