The Altar Analysis

We can tell just by looking at "The Altar" that its meter is irregular (i.e., it doesn't follow a set pattern). Some lines are shorter than others. They have to be, otherwise Mr. George Herbert wou...

If we had to describe the speaker of the "The Altar" in just one word, and one word only, that word would be… religious. If we could have two words, we would say super-religious. If we could have...

We're all over the place in this poem. Okay, not really, but there a few things to discuss when it comes to the whole issue of the poem's setting. This poem definitely has a meditative feel, don't...

Herbert is often called a "devotional poet," which means his poetry is characterized by, well, devotion to God. If you take a quick gander at some of his poems right here, heck even just the titles...

"The Altar": not "an altar," or "that altar," or "this altar," but the altar. Okay, well we know the poem is about an altar, and even if we weren't sure, it's arranged in the shape of neat little a...

We've mentioned a few times that Herbert is a devotional poet, which just means that his poetry is devoted to God—to the whole series of issues related to praising God (offering things to him, pr...

Cute little altar shape aside, "The Altar" is no walk in the park. If you read through it ten times and still have no clue just what in the world Herbert is talking about, you can be forgiven. Sure...

Some people definitely thought Herbert's shape poems were a joke. John Dryden, another famous seventeenth-century poet, hinted at his distaste for them in Mac Flecknoe: "Leave writing plays, and ch...

"The Altar" is a very serious spiritual statement. It's about building an altar for God and praising him. There's really nothing remotely sexual about this poem, and in fact it would be really… w...

Psalms 51:17 (1-2)Romans 12:1 (1-2)Exodus 20:25 (3-4)Ezekiel 36:26-27 (5-6; 9-10)Luke 19:40 (13-14)Deuteronomy 27:6 (6; 14)