Peace

George Herbert

SWEET PEACE, where dost thou dwell ? I humbly crave,
Let me once know
I sought thee in a secret cave,
And ask’d, if Peace were there.
A hollow winde did seem to answer, No :
Go seek elsewhere.

I did ; and going did a rainbow note :
Surely, thought I,
This is the lace of Peaces coat :
I will search out the matter.
But while I lookt, the clouds immediately
Did break and scatter.

Then went I to a garden, and did spy
A gallant flower,
The crown Imperiall : Sure, said I,
Peace at the root must dwell.
But when I digg’d, I saw a worm devoure
What show’d so well.

At length I met a rev’rend good old man :
Whom when of Peace
I did demand, he thus began ;
There was a Prince of old
At Salem dwelt, who liv’d with good increase
Of flock and fold.

He sweetly liv’d ; yet sweetnesse did not save
His life from foes.
But after death out of his grave
There sprang twelve stalks of wheat :
Which many wondring at, got some of those
To plant and set.

It prosper’d strangely, and did soon disperse
Through all the earth :
For they that taste it do rehearse,
That vertue lies therein ;
A secret vertue bringing peace and mirth
By flight of sinne.

Take of this grain, which in my garden grows,
And grows for you ;
Make bread of it : and that repose
And peace, which ev’ry where
With so much earnestnesse you do pursue
Is onely there.

1. Vocabulary: gallant (14), virtue (34). "Crown Imperial" (15) is a garden flower, fritillary; "Salem" (23) is Jerusalem.

2. Identify the "prince" (22), his "flock and fold" (24), the "twelve stalks of wheat" (28), the "grain" (37), and the "bread" (39).

The prince is Jesus Christ, his flock and fold are his followers, the twelve stalks of wheat represent the twelve apostles, and grain and bread represent the spread of Christianity and the sustenance it provides.

3. Should the "secret cave" (stanza 1), the "rainbow" (stanza 2), and the flower "garden" (stanza 3) be understood merely as places where the speaker searched or do they have more precise meanings?

I think the secret cave represents man's mind. Perhaps the speaker sought peace through some sort of meditation or self reflection. The rainbow could be nature, or superficial items. The garden might represent the heart, the beautiful flower with worm-eaten roots being vanity (which is wicked or rotten underneath a lovely façade).

4. Who is the "reverend good old man' (19), and what is his garden (37)?

The reverend good old man is a priest who grows the grains of Christianity in his heart (garden).