George Herbert: A Parodie (1633)

from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert:

¶ A Parodie.


         SOuls joy, when thou art gone,
                          And I alone,
                          Which cannot be,
Because thou dost abide with me,
         And I depend on thee;

         Yet when thou dost suppresse
                          The cheerfulnesse
                          Of thy abode,
And in my powers not stirre abroad,
         But leave me to my load:

         O what a damp and shade
                          Doth me invade!
                          No stormie night
Can so afflict or so affright,
         As thy eclipsed light.

         Ah Lord! do not withdraw,
                          Lest want of aw
                          Make Sinne appeare;
And when thou dost but shine lesse cleare,
         Say, that thou art not here.

         And then what life I have,
                          While Sinne doth rave,
                          And falsly boast,
That I must seek, but thou art lost;
         Thou and alone thou know’st.

         O what a deadly cold
                          Doth me infold:
                          I half beleeve,
That Sinne sayes true: but while I grieve,
         Thou com’st and dost relieve.

Note: Parodie (parody) - A composition in prose or verse in which the turns of thought or phrase in an author or authors is imitated in such a way at to make them seem ridiculous, especially by applying them to inappropriate subjects. (Oxford English Dictionary). [A parody does not have to be funny or satiric. In poetic convention, one poet may pay tribute to another poet by writing a parody in his style. This does not have to be derisive. In this sense, a parody is a careful imitation of another's style, verse form, images and content.]
There is a parody of The Collar in the lines "not stirre abroad, But leave me to my load." There is an image correction in stanza 3 regarding The Storm. Can this be a parody of Herbert’s earlier poetry, including the Affliction poems, by Herbert himself? Ridiculing his own self-involvement?

Destinations
1633 Poem Index	Links to Criticism	George Herbert & The Temple Home Page