Easter-wings by George Herbert

When first approaching the poem, I notice that it is written sideways. Also, it is in the shape of wings. This poem is deffinately not a traditional straight line, boring piece of work. The poem talks about the Lord giving us wealth and abundance in the beginging of life (Adam and Eve). But, how foolishly we lost the abundance. Through the Fall in the Garden of Eden is the main issue that George Herbert is approaching. When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit they gained knowledge which shut them off from the presence of the Lord. For the rest of mankind, everyone must work for their food and must labor dillegently because of Adam and Eves sin. He talks of decaying more and more and this could mean how we lost the ability to be immortal. We now decay in the ground because we are mortals. It also talks of how poor he became, i'm guessing when he say 'he' he means mankind. Adam and Eve lost all the beauty and glory from God so they became poor in spirit. At different points in the poem he relates to actual wings; one of these being the larks. Larks are old world birds that sing sweet songs. Another point is; "if I imp my wings on thine, affliction shall advance the flight in me". Imp means grafting additional feather unto the wings of a hawk to imporve its flight. Moving on from the wings it goes into flight. I like to think of it like we are all birds of the Lord, but we need his help to soar. Overall great poem, lots of hidden meanings throughout it.