Easter Wings:

This poem is definitely full of religious themes, referring from the very first line to the Lord as creator. It states that the Lord "createdst man in wealth and store," or that He created many men (Herbert 1). Man, however, has lost his wealth foolishly, I assume through sinning against the Lord, and therefore, man has "[decayed] to "become / Most poor" (Herbert 3,5). The speaker of this poem seems to be pleading for some sort of redemption, pleading to "rise" with the Lord and "sing this day [His] victories" so that "the fall" will "further the flight in [him]" (Herbert 7, 9-10). To me, this seems to echo the idea that only through suffering will one attain redemption. The title of the poem refers to Easter, a holiday which celebrates Christ's rising from death back to life, but Christ had to suffer a brutal crucifixion in order to be able to later rise. The speaker seemingly has a desire to share this suffering with Christ and spread the news of it to others so that he, too, may later be redeemed.

In the second stanza, this same theme seems to repeat itself, as the speaker describes that his life began "in sorrow... with sicknesses and shame," and his sins were punished "That [he] became / Most thin" (Herbert 11, 12, 13-14). Again, he pleads to "combine" and "imp [his] wing on [the Lord's]" so that "Afflication shall advance the flight in [him]" (Herbert 17, 19-20). Again, the theme of suffering to attain redemption seems to repeat itself. This is indeed an appropriate theme for a poem entitled Easter Wings, since it was only through his suffering on the cross that Christ attained his figurative "wings," or the ability to ascend to heaven and secure redemption for all of mankind.