... allowed man to turn away from his inborn "wealth", instead "decaying more and more,/ Till he became/ Most poor:". A poetic reading of Herbert depends on enlarging the brief concept that he presents through allusion or association, to which Augustine's treatment of evil seems to be most appropriate. ... of God merely removes mankind from its original goodness. In Easter-Wings, this concept is wholly applied in the first stanza, showing that Herbert, if not directly taking from Confessions, has been inundated with the Augustinian notion of freewill and evil. In the fourth stanza of Easter ....

• Word Count: 1516
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate