The Pulley (to satisfaction)

The Pulley
by George Herbert

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
Let us (said He) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.
So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all His treasure
Rest in the bottom lay.
For if I should (said He)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore My gifts instead of Me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.
Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that, at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to My breast.
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A simple poem but then this poem was the first one which ever touched my heart. So simple yet, such a profound truth hidden within it. I was spell bound when our English teacher first explained the meaning of this poem to us in our 10th standard. Such a small poem I wondered could so easily state what could be the purpose of our life.
God while creating Man, according to the poet bestowed man with various riches such as strength, wisdom, honour, beauty, etc. But God refrained from giving a final attribute i.e. satisfaction.
Imagine a world where everyone is satisfied, where there is no dearth of any kind of luxury, no pain, no suffering. Seems wonderful doesn’t it? But the more you think about it the more u realize that we wouldn’t be living in such an amazing world if it wasn’t for dissatisfaction. Why does man always strive to create something new, always dive into the realms of the unknown to snatch the truth from the clutches of darkness? The answer is simple….WE ARE NOT SATISFIED. For all humans satisfaction can be compared to the horizon. You can run towards it as fast as you want but it will always stay at the same distance and that’s the beauty of life. Not knowing something gives you a hope of a better tomorrow…….. an ever interesting tomorrow………..an infinite tomorrow.
This restlessness signifies the actual quality of mankind. If we were satisfied we would not be able to appreciate anything other than what already exists. If God had given man satisfaction, we would have ended up only appreciating the beauty of nature and other such gifts and then ended up worshipping these gifts, rather than ever trying to find out the origin of the Universe. And even if man doesn’t follow the path of righteousness, his restlessness will drive him towards the truth and it will help to find salvation one day.
In simple words we have to answer 3 questions about life to be satisfied. The 3 questions, in order of importance are “Why?”, “What?” and “How?” We have several definitions for the “What” of life. We are striving hard to find the “How” of life and this is the question we are making progress in. Unfortunately the “Why” of life is considered as a less important question and not explored as aggressively as it should. The reason of its importance can be explained by using the example of a mobile phone. We all know “What” it is, we know “How” it works. But do you think that the mobile phone would have existed if it didn’t have a purpose? In the same way we know “What” life is, we are making progress in finding “How” everything works. The only thing left to find is our purpose.
Through this poem the poet has aesthetically conveyed the message that God has provided we with everything we need to begin our journey. He/She/It has also provided us with the thirst for the answers, the restlessness required to move in the right direction..towards the truth. It is upto us to think and understand the rest for ourselves because the purpose of life is to LEARN!
So go ahead and take your first step, the truth is closer than we think.