The Altar by George Hébert is a poem written in a form of poetry known as concrete poetry or pattern/form poetry. As such, the formation of the typography informs the conceit of the poem, and vice versa, the conceit further constructs or enhances the image created by the typography. The altar, for example, is shaped like an altar. The image of the words adds value to the impact of the poetry. However, measuring poetic impact is not as simple as creating a poem that has the form/image of whatever that poem describes or addresses. While the form of The Altar is crucial to the poem's metaphysical conceit, Herbert's use of meter and rhythm, of rhyme, capital letters and wordplay, is of equal value in conveying the specific message of each poem. What follows is an analysis of the visual elements and poetic elements and their importance in better understanding the metaphysical conceit of the Altar. The Altar is a prayer located in a metaphysical poem. The speaker of the poem offers himself to the Lord, presumably on an altar, as the title and form of the poem indicate. The first verse of the poem states: “A broken ALTAR, Lord your servant stands / Made of a heart and cemented with tears” (1-2). The poem states that the altar is broken, but since this poem is metaphysical, it can be assumed that the speaker's heart is broken as well. The altar is not literally made of the speaker's heart but the two objects are symbolically interchangeable. Stating that the altar is "made of heart" and "cemented with tears" is textual evidence that verifies the speaker's broken heart in relation to the altar, and therefore reveals the metaphysical conceit at work in the poem . .... middle of paper ...... highlights the importance of being broken and the role it plays in bringing the speaker back to the Lord. The visual elements of the poem continually reinforce the metaphysical conceit as a reader of the poem. bed. How does Hébert use conventional poetic devices to reinforce the metaphysical conceit? Measure and rhythm are the first examples. The reason is, without completely abandoning the visual aspect, that to create the image of an altar the poet must use different meters. To obtain the image of the altar, Hébert uses the iambic but he does so with several different couplets: a pentameter couplet, a tetrameter couplet, three dimeter couplets, returning to a tetrameter couplet, and finally, pentameter. As we can see, literally, the use of descending then ascending meter lengths allows us to obtain the visual image of the altar..