Virtue
By George Herbert
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.
Summary of Virtue
- Popularity of “Virtue”: Published in 1633 in the collection of verses by George Herbert, The Temple, “Virtue” is not only a short but also succinct poem in terms of theme and lesson. The collection in which it occurs was composed during the final years of Herbert. He wrote these dedicated poems with some lessons in mind. The poem presents the everlasting life of a virtuous soul. The popularity of the poem lies in its presentation of this theme of the sweet soul contrasted with other sweet things in life.
- “Virtue” As a Representative of Virtuosity: The speaker of the poem presents a day that is very beautiful, bright, and calm. It seems a bridal of both the earth and sky with dew drops of the night, making it more beautiful. However, the day is to end at last. The same goes for the rose whose color seems to have human emotions. An onlooker enjoys looking at it despite its roots in some grave and yet it is to die soon. The same happens with the spring that is full of such days and roses and it, too, dies with its beautiful music. However, a sweet soul is a virtuous soul who never gives up and never dies. It stays in the world and even if the world burns and turns into coal, it still lives due to its virtues.
- Major Themes in “Virtue”: Transitoriness of beauty, weather, and time as well as virtues of one’s soul are major thematic strands of “Virtue.” The poet discusses three types of beauty. It is the beauty of the day that is cool, calm, and bright. Then it moves to the rose which is also beautiful, brave, and eye-catching with its roots in some grave. And after this, the poem moves to the spring which has plenty of such roses and days. Yet, all of them are to end one day. However, when a soul is sweet, it becomes virtuous and like “seasoned timber” it never gives up. It always stays the same even if it turns into coal after keeping the whole world warm. This stays in the world forever due to its good acts. The main point of the poet is that a good person earns his name through the beauty of his actions.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Virtue
George Herbert has used various literary devices to make his poem impactful. Some of the major literary devices used in this poem are as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a and i/ in “Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye” and the sound of /o/ in “Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /s/ in “sweet spring” and /th/ in “though the” and again /w/ in “whole world.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t and w/ in “But though the whole world turn to coal” and the sound of /s/ in “Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. George Herbert has used imagery in this poem such as “But though the whole world turn to coal”, “The dew shall weep thy fall to-night” and “Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet has used different metaphors such as the day is “bridal of the earth and sky” and a rose.
- Simile: It is a figure of speech that shows a direct comparison of things for meanings. Herbert has used a simile in the last stanza to compare the virtuous soul with “season’d timber.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as earth, sky, day, rose, and spring to show the beauty of man’s soul.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Virtue
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal and poetic diction.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. George Herbert has used end rhyme in this poem such as bright/night, sky/die, roses/closes, and brave/grave.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABAB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas in this poem with each comprising four verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a religious and moralistic tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote about good people.
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like season’d timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
