The metaphor of the flower as a comparison to the human relationship with God begins with the changing of the seasons. According to the flower, God has the ultimate control of its fate; God has the ability to change the seasons, promising the flower death or life. The following quote explains the flower's diminutive relationship with God:.
"These are thy wonders, Lord of power,.
Killing and quickning, bringing down to hell.
And up to heaven in an houre;.
Making a chiming of a passing-bell,.
We say amisse,.
This or that is:.
Thy word is all, if we could spell"(Flower 15-21).
The flower submits to God's absolute power. It understands that it is not control of its own life or fate but rather subject to the whims of its all-powerful creator. This is the initial foundation of Herbert's existential argument: like the flower, we as humans are entirely subject to God's will. Although we may try to resist it, we will only lose his favor and will be doomed to a hellish afterlife, like the flower wilting towards the ground.
After establishing its submissive position, the flower then goes on to proclaim its fealty and dedication to its God. The flower has already outlined the general parameters of its relationship with God; it is a subject, not in any way its equal. After this is established, the flower then expresses its desire to live in God's favor in order to eventually exist in a paradisaical afterlife:.
"O that I once past changing were;.
Fast in thy Paradise, where no flower can wither!.
Many a spring I shoot up fair,.
Offring at heav'n, growing and groaning thither:.
Nor doth my flower.
Want a spring-showre,.
My sinnes and I joining together;.
But while I grow to a straight line;.
Still upwards bent, as if heav'n were mine own"(Flower 22-30).
If the flower wants to live, even from a purely physical perspective, it must grow upright towards the sun, towards the entity that gives it sustenance. Here, Herbert is not literally referencing the innate phototropic qualities of plant life but rather the positive way a human should conduct his/herself throughout their own existence.
