Elixir George Herbert's "The Elixir" Term Paper

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Herbert does not see this desire to find the divine image in the mundane image of humanity and earthy tasks as unique to himself, although he was a clergyman. Rather, he stated, "All may of Thee partake: all human beings may see God and see their own souls in such a fashion, as they are children of God," and moreover, "Nothing can be so mean," nothing can be so common, "Which with his tincture (for Thy sake)/Will not grow bright and clean." In other words, even a common glance in the mirror or a daily household task can be God-inspired and God-filled through the alchemy of right faith and right belief.

This is true even of housework, supposedly the lowest of common tasks. "A servant with this clause," with the clause of divine-transfiguring alchemy of soul and spirit, "Makes drudgery divine:" literally divine in the sense of holy, and also divine in the more common sense of more pleasurable, and he or she "Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws," that is, the servant who sweeps a room for God's laws, "Makes that and th' action fine." Note the democracy of this spiritual sentiment -- even a sweeping servant, a base and lowly commoner in many of Herbert's contemporaries' eyes, is engaged in religious acts simply by going through their labors with a heart infused and suffused with the alchemy of God.

The alchemy of internal belief, thus, rather than monetary or sorcery is important.

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"This is the famous stone/That turneth all to gold." The gold is not of a wealthy person, or even a wise person of the world, but a person who understands God's pervasive and eternal presence in all things. "For that which God doth touch and own/Cannot for less be told." As God has touched the glass of the mirror and the dust that is swept up by the servant, thus God is present in all of these actions, and the alchemical acknowledgement of God's presence is all transforming as well.

Herbert's vision is not simply holy, it also levels distinctions of class and gender as well as of sacred and secular. A woman who is a servant with the correct mindset can find God more surely than a wealthy and wise man with a high title who merely acknowledges the divine presence of God on Sunday. Even mundane acts like looking in the mirror need not be vain so long as one realizes that one was made in God's image, and that the mirror is but an imperfect reflection of an earthly life that leads to a greater reward. Thus, rather than being about the importance of material wealth and scientific knowledge, ironically this poem about an elixir only deflates the importance of wealth, knowledge, and class distinctions. The true gold is the rewards of faith.

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