Virtue
George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright
The bridal of the earth and sky:
The dew shall weep thy fall tonight,
For thou must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave,
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eyes:
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie:
My music shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
LIke seasoned timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal.
Then chiefly lives.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 221 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CXCB DBDB EFEF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 505 |
Words | 100 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Virtue" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15410/virtue>.
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