George Herbert The Collar (p.

1328)
Katie Ford Ark (p. 1325)
Matthew Rogers

ANALYSIS

Religion is a topic explored by numerous mediums throughout time. It has been praised,

ridiculed, and everything inbetween. In George Herberts The Collar, religion is a positive force

in the world, existing for mankinds benefit, regardless of the way it seems on the outside. In

Ark, Katie Ford depicts religion as a negative in the world, existing for people who survived

unlikely scenarios, and for those who cant believe in anything else. Both poems approach their

chosen subject differently, utilizing various literary tools to communicate their religious ideas,

whether its positive or negative.

Both poems criticize the dominating theology of christianity in one way or another. The

Collar, while inevitably trending towards religious acceptance, begins with biting criticism

towards the amount of sacrifice required to be seen as a true believer in christ, saying; Have I

no harvest but a thorn (7). This implies that the speaker has sacrificed so much already, but still

his lord demands more. The speaker then, has no more harvest but thorns, or unwanted plants

Ark criticizes religion on different grounds, instead arguing that religion isnt born from some

inhuman deity, but by survivors that attribute their survival to a divine being, and people that

believe the tall tales the survivors tell. In that story, the saved are always us (3). Both stories

criticize, but differently in style and message.

The Collar is a Renaissance work, written at a time when the Catholic Church

controlled Europe. The work is about the authors struggles with accepting his collar of religion.

The poem is fragmented, starting and stopping seemingly at random, asking and immediately

answering questions, and formatted with no consistency in the indentation. What have I lost

with cordial fruit? Sure there was wine (9-10). This disjointed style gives the work a distinct

stream-of-conscious feel, and a frenetic tone, with the audience merely along for the ride. A
stark contrast to this, Ark is a very recent work, and attempts to use the events of hurricane

Katrina to create a vicious commentary on religions savior imagery. This work is incredibly

short, and delivers its message in a mere five lines. The Ark is formatted more traditionally than

The Collar, but contains no rhyme scheme, and thus comes off the tongue harshly, further

contributing to the authors intended message. We love the stories of the flood and the few /

told to prepare in advance by their god (1-2). The lack of punctuation at the end of line one, and

the line break in the middle of the sentence creates an uncomfortable feeling. The line break in

the middle of the sentence forces the reader to further analyze the speakers words to better

understand them, as on their own they would make little sense. In the context of Katrina, and

with knowledge of the religious organizations the speaker seeks to criticize, the format begins to

make sense. A smooth, well organized poem would not work for a criticism in light of a terrible

natural disaster. The cut-up feeling of the poem reflects the aftermath of katrina, and

accentuates the speakers message. By utilizing structure in different ways, the two poems

manage to create very different tones to deliver their contrasting messages.

George Herbert attempts to illustrate his journey to belief with his poem The Collar. He

begins by questioning the acts of god, and rejecting The Collar of religion. As his tangential

poem continues, Herbert begins to realize that god is calling him, and willingly embraces his

collar. Methought I heard one calling, Child! / And I replied, My Lord. (35-36). This Poem, being

written in the Renaissance, is hardly critical of religion, and serves mostly to strengthen its

appeal by shrugging off criticisms of religion. Away! take heed; / I will abroad. (27-28). These

lines come directly after the author describes his struggles with sacrifice, merely shrugging them

off, and kneeling to his lord. The poem, while disjointed, remains smooth by sticking to a fairly

regular rhyme scheme. This smoothness, coupled with a lack of any real formatting allows the

poem to have a very dreamy feel, as if the speaker is merely imagining these thoughts, instead

of speaking them aloud.

 To contrast everything about The Collar, there is Katie Fords Ark. This short, choppy

and structured poem delivers an effective and critical message against religion. Ark was

published during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and alludes to the biblical story of Noahs

Ark. By making the poem short, Fords point is expressed quickly and plainly; the winners get to

write the book. In that story, the saved are / always us, meaning; / whoever holds the book (3-

5). Noah got to say he was the one saved by god because he was able to survive the storm.

Katrina victims may be able to say they survived, and claim that god intervened, even though

they were forewarned, and had ample opportunity to leave. Fords message is enhanced by the

lack of any real rhyme scheme. Each line stands alone, lacking any sort of cohesion that one

would expect to find in a poem. Because of this, the poem has a deliberate feel to it. Every line

ends abruptly, and not in the place one would expect. In that story the saved are (3). Fords

purposeful message is only enhanced by this choice. Because of Fords deliberate cadence and

short structure, she is able to get a complex message across to the audience smoothly and

efficiently.

Religion is important to everyone. Regardless of position, everyone has a hard stance

on their beliefs, and often express them when able. The Collar and Ark are no different. The

Collar expresses a very pro-religion view, depicting the struggles of an unknown speaker

through his thoughts, delivering a floaty and dream-like roller coaster of emotions with a strong

final message when the speaker finds his calling. There is no such moment in Ark. With a

short and deliberate style, the speaker delivers a criticism of religion and its omniscient god

ideology in a mere five lines.