In George Herbert's poem "The Pulley," consider the image of the pulley as the means or device (through "repining restlessness") by which God compels...

In s poem ,
the pulley seems an effective image for suggesting the way God encourages mans upward connection
with, and movement toward, God.

Interestingly, the image of a pulley is never
mentioned in the poem itself, only in the title.  Why, then, did Herbert (who was very
deliberate in the way he titled poems, as in ) choose to call this poem The Pulley?  He
could easily have called it something like The Glass of Gifts.  Why, then, The
Pulley?

In Herberts time, the word pulley had a number of meanings or
connotations that make it relevant to this poem.  In her splendid new edition of Herberts poems
(The English Poems of George Herbert), Helen Wilcox suggests and reports
several ways in which the image of the pulley seems relevant to the poem.  Among these are the
following:

• A pulley is used to lift something heavy.  In this
  case, God tries to lift man, heavy with sin.
• Paradoxically, by pulling
  down on the rope of a pulley, something heavy is lifted upward
  (in this case, symbolically, toward God). (See page 147 of the Wilcox
  edition)

In addition to considering these suggestions, one might
also note the following relevant ideas (see The Oxford English
Dictionary):

• In Herberts day, pulleys were often used
  as parts of instruments of torture. Obviously the metaphorical pulley in Herberts poem has
  precisely the opposite function.
• Pulleys were often used in Herberts time
  to transmit power and to provide guidance €“ two senses very relevant to this poem.


• The word pulley could be used not simply as a noun but also as a verb meaning to
  raise or hoist.  Thus the poems title suggests not only a thing but also an action.

Why, then, did Herbert not spell out these meanings in his poem?  Why did he
give his poem a title that doesnt seem immediately relevant to the actual phrasing of the poem? 
Probably Herbert wanted his readers to think €“ to make the connections themselves between the
intriguing title and the actual poem.  By encouraging people to use their God-given gift of
reason, Herbert himself tried to pull them closer to God.