Commentary

This poem first apppeared in the earlier (Williams) manuscript of Herbert's verses, bearing the title 'Invention' - perhaps a clearer indication of its message than that under which it was eventually published. It seems that, on reflection, he wanted to link it with his earlier poem decrying secular poetry (Jordan(I)), and implying that he had 'crossed the Jordan' in opting to write verses that were both devotional and from the heart.

It is one of three poems in 'The Temple' with the opening words 'When first...' - a clear indication the his intent is autobiographical. There are at least half a dozen poems in which he refers either directly or indirectly to his own works, although perhaps none are as self-critical. Herbert was well aware of his exceptional abilities, and there is some evidence that, as a young man, he was not above making every effort to display them.

So in the first stanza of this poem he admits that, in his earliest work, he was trying his hardest to show off; doing his best to be different, and coming up with original and ingenious phrases, conceits and metaphors that would attract the attention of those whose good opinion he sought in order to advance his burgeoning academic career at Cambridge University. The phrase 'to sell' is a telling one - he means self-advertisement.

Of course, as the second stanza makes clear, this fast-flowing stream of bright ideas resulted in a great deal of amending and revising - an incessant search for precisely the right words to illustrate the poet's meaning. And yet the irony is that the penultimate line of this stanza is one of Herbert's finest - 'too rich to clothe the sunne', with it's inbuilt pun, calls into question whether Herbert is really so keen to reject the 'curling' metaphors he refers to in the first stanza.

And in the third stanza, Herbert makes plain his intention to ensure that his poems truly reflect his own personality and his faith, which involves a deal of agonising and polishing - in other words, hard work. He manages to escape his dilemma by introducing 'a friend', whose wise counsel is that he should avoid trying to 'reinvent the wheel' - all the invention needed has already been provided by God, and as a poet his task is simply to point the way to established truths which, incidentally, he would probably find a lot easier.

This is an ingenious poem. Herbert suceeds in conjuring up a vivid image of the agonies of creating verse at the same time as he demonstates the importance of choosing appropriate words to illustrate his meaning. He may want us to believe that he has learned to 'keep it simple', but the result is yet another finely-worked example of his sublime poetic skills. And it is certainly inventive.