George Herbert


VERTUE.

SWEET day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridall of the earth and skie :
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night ;
                                For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
                                And thou must die.

Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie,
My musick shows ye have your closes,
                                And all must die.

Onely a sweet and vertuous soul,
Like season'd timber, never gives ;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
                                Then chiefly lives.
  Engraving




Source:
The Poetical Works of George Herbert and Reginald Heber.
Edinburgh: Gall & Inglis, nd. 72.




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Created by Anniina Jokinen on January 16, 1997. Last updated on June 29, 2001.