Conflict and Resolution in Herbert's Discipline George Herbert's struggle to be humble enough to fully accept God's eternal love can be found in each of his poems. The way Herbert conveys this conflict is by using metaphysical structure and techniques. This combination of literary devices creates a physical reality that allows Herbert, or the poetic speaker, to “make his feelings immediately present” (245). These devices, at first glance, seem artificial and contradictory to the poet's goal of making God's word visible. Instead, literary techniques, for Herbert, help to emphasize how God controls everything, from everyday life to literature. Therefore, Herbert believes that he is not the sole author of his writings; rather, he is an instrument of God chosen to write poems praising Him. Herbert struggles with this idea as he must reject the pride that comes from being the author of such beautiful devotional and metaphysical poetry. If Herbert were to give in to this “temptation of success” (243), he would abandon himself to sin and thus reject the love of God. This process of rejection and acceptance, or “conflict and resolution” (243), takes place throughout “The Temple,” which leads Herbert to a definitive acceptance of God and to an “acquired character of humility, tenderness, moral sensitivity” (249). Some of Herbert's struggles to achieve enlightenment can be seen in the poem "Discipline" where the poetic speaker implores God to give up his "wrath" (2) and, instead, to be more "kind" (4) when judge Man. The speaker wants God's punishments to be lessened. The speaker, who could very likely be Herbert, wants this because he fears that God's "rod" (1) or "wrath" (2) will be imposed high... in the center of the card... narrow and symbolic of the unity that God can create. The structure of “Discipline” is exactly this; it is clean, tidy and, like the poem's title, disciplined. For example, the rhyme scheme remains the same throughout the poem. This discipline imitates the order that God creates in the world. Therefore, poetry is only one of God's many creations. “Discipline” thus shows the difficulties that both the poetic speaker and Herbert face when trying to understand God's love. These conflicts are humanized by the employment of metaphysical devices from part of Herbert. This humanization allows him to reach a larger audience as most people can identify with the conflict that comes from understanding God's compassion. Thus, "discipline" is part of Herbert and the speaker's process of accepting God for one must experience both “conflict and resolution” to receive and understand God’s love..