Virtue - A Poem by George Herbert

One of my favorite Herbert poems, Virtue highlights the contrasts of the fleeting virtue of a fallen world with the eternal, enduring beauty of the eternal soul in the time to come. The sharpness of the refrain, that all must die is sobering and takes a hopeful turn in the description of the virtuous soul, which is said to “chiefly live.” Enjoy!

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Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,

The bridal of the earth and sky;

The dew shall weep thy fall to-night,

For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue angry 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 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 season'd timber, never gives;

But though the whole world turn to coal,

Then chiefly lives.