| Herbert J.C. Grierson, ed. (18861960). Metaphysical Lyrics & Poems of the 17th C. 1921. |
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| George Herbert |
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| 89. Vertue |
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| 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. | |
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| Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave | 5 |
| Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye: | |
| Thy root is ever in its grave, | |
| And thou must die. | |
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| Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses, | |
| A box where sweets compacted lie; | 10 |
| My musick shows ye have your closes, | |
| And all must die. | |
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| Onely a sweet and vertuous soul, | |
| Like season'd timber, never gives; | |
| But though the whole world turn to coal, | 15 |
| Then chiefly lives. | |
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