Love iii by George Herbert

The speaker in this poem believes that he is unworthy of God’s love. Written by a Christian poet, "Love (III)" thus comments on the nature of original sin and man’s fall from grace. Celestin John Walby argues that the first stanza of the poem, in which the speaker draws away from God, mirrors Adam and Eve’s drawing away from God in the Garden of Eden. Aware of man’s fall from grace, this speaker does not believe that he personally (or mankind as a whole) is worthy of redemption. However, in the final stanza, which recalls the eating of the sacrament, he is redeemed.