"Virtue" by George Herbert

George Herbert was a English religious poet, a major metaphysical poet, notable for the purity and effectiveness of his choice of words. He was born on April 3, 1593, Montgomery Castle, Wales and died on March 1, 1633 England. He studies at Cambridge university. He died from TB.

The poet starts the poem with the description of very pleasant day. The day which is sweet, calm, cool and bright. It looks like the marriage of the earth and sky. But in third line poet says that the dew will weep when the night will come. Because the day must die. So in this stanza poet wants to say that it doesn’t matter how beautiful the day is, it will definitely die.

In second stanza, poet is talking about the sweet rose, whose colour is very dark red. The colour looks like angry and brave. These both represents dark red colour. The colour is so dark that if someone carelessly gaze towards the rose, it will give the viewer tears. But here again poet says that the roots of that rose is already in grave and the rose will also die. Here again poet wants to say that the beauty or dark red colour could not save the rose forever. It will also die.

In third stanza poet talks about the spring season. The best season of the year, which is full of sweet days and roses. It seems like a box of sweet fully organized. But then again poet changes the tone. My music here means this poem which poet has written. Poet says that after reading this poem readers must have come to know that everything and all must die. So in these three stanzas poet is talking about the mortality of the world. But last stanza says something different.

In last stanza poet says that only a soul which is virtuous and sweet, like the seasoned wood will live forever, same way the virtuous soul will live. Then it does not matter that the world will turn to coal and everything have died, but virtuous soul will primarily lives. So in this poem poet shows the superiority of following virtues and how only virtues can save our soul can survive.

The poem has 4 stanzas 4 lines each. It is written in iambic tetrameter. It has ABAB rhyme scheme.

Thank you.