hird stanza he continues his explanation of this change. In the lines, " ‘for where thou only wert before/ An executioner at best," Thou art gardener now, and more,/ An usher to convey our souls/ Beyond the utmost stars and poles," (14-18) Herbert shows how Time has become a guide through life on into death and beyond to the afterlife. According to Herbert, Time now serves the more noble purpose of leading us to God through death. In the fourth stanza, Herbert explains how Time moves all too slowly when one is aware of the eternal happiness of heaven when he writes, " ‘And this is that makes life so long,/ While it detains us from our God.’"(19-20) He proceeds with this idea when he says, " ‘Who wants the place where God doth dwell/ Partakes already half a hell,’" (23-24 ) meaning that those who are not in heaven exist in a half-hell state which is life on earth. In the final stanza, Time responds by saying, "‘This man deludes:/ What do I here before his door?/ He doth not crave less time, but more," (29-30) which means that although Time is a gardener with good intent to take us to eternal salvation, we mortals crave more time during life; despite the fact that Herbert claims life is a horrid wait for death and the eternal heaven it brings, people still desire more time to live. According to Time, " ‘this man deludes,’" (28), which means that we who are mortal delude ourselves with desires for long life, when in reality death is, as Donne would say, a deliverance unto God. This delusion is what Herbert implicitly suggests we should shed to achieve happiness in life. Both Donne and Herbert agree on the true meaning of death; it is a wanted deliverance into a better existence. They both see life as being a prelude to our true selves – our eternal selves. Both of them look happily anticipate death, seeing life as a punishment; Herbert describes life as " ‘a rod’" (22) and D...
