;thy scythe is dull; whet it for shame’" (1-2) expressing his dismay at the dull blade. This blade, or scythe, is traditionally associated with a reaper figure, who reaps the souls of the dead as one reaps wheat at harvest. The strangeness of this request is expressed by Time himself when Herbert writes " ‘No marvel, sir, he did reply,/ If it at length deserve some blame;/ But where one man would have me grind it,/ Twenty for one too sharp do find it,’" (3-6) which means that most people don’t want Time’s reaping scythe to be sharp. A quick explanation of this metaphor is necessary. A scythe, after much use, can grow dull. When this occurs, much less grain will be collected upon its use. That is to say, many stalks of grain escape the reaping. To apply this agricultural metaphor to man and Time, it means that Time harvests souls until his blade grows dull and he can harvest less. Most would be happy with escaping the reaping, but Herbert suggests that Time sharpen it so that more may be reaped more quickly and efficiently. Herbert explains himself in the second stanza. When he says, " ‘Perhaps some of old did pass,/ Who above all things loved this life;/ To whom the scythe a hatchet was,/ Which now is but a pruning knife," (7-10) he means that at one time for some people Time’s scythe (death) was painful and fatal, but now the scythe helps our souls to grow, as a pruning blade on a bush (Norton Anthology footnote, p.1380). He explains this change of role by Time and its scythe when he says, " ‘Christ’s coming hath made man thy debtor,/ Since by cutting he grows better," (11-12) he is referring to the fact that Christ’s dying on the cross gave us all eternal life. Now that Christ has sacrificed himself for us, death is merely a growing process to a better state; he is comparing Time and the death it brings to a gardener who prunes his wards to help them grow stronger. Into the t...
