Critical Appreciation of Virtue

Critical Appreciation of Virtue


                                                                         critical appreciation of virtue
                  George Herbert is a metaphysical religious poet. He is a religious poet because he asserts his faith in Christian moral teaching to which he has given a poetic shape by virtue of his excellent poetic art as it is reflected in the simple poem "Virtue". He wrote one hundred and sixty such religious poems published under the title The Temple. Virtue is one of his religious poems. It is simple and sensuous. It is a short poem which has only sixteen lines. It is poured with Christian didacticism and has a deep ethical value. It expresses the serious contention of the permanence of virtue in the perishable world in which all earthly beautiful things are governed by the law of mortality. It rings with his absolute Christian faith and mortality of virtue. It stresses that it is a virtue that not only makes a soul virtuous but also eternal.
                                                               (Critical appreciation of virtue)
                     
Virtue sheds light on the poet's contemplation on the eternity and glory of virtue in the world where all beautiful and attracted thins are subjected to mortality and this constitutes the central theme of the poem. The poet says that all the lovely things come into existence for a limited period of time, and the moment the time expires they vanish. This simple but grim reality is portrayed in the poem through illustrations from the world of nature.

                                          Critical appreciation of Virtue                

               In all the first three stanzas the poet stresses the mortality of all lovely and brilliant objectives of nature. In the fourth or last stanza, the permanence of a virtuous soul is clearly stated. In the introductory stanza, the poet reveals but simple but painful truth that a serene, cool, pleasing and bright day that seems to unite the sky, ends at dewfall. Roses with dazzling brightness and maddening fragrance will wither away for sure and it will happen very soon. In the third stanza, the beautiful and pleasant season spring, enriched with all bright and lovely natural elements lasts a limited time.

                                            critical appreciation of virtue
                In the last stanza, the poet affirms his faith in Christian didacticism. Virtue is the essence of an ideal individual. It eternalizes the virtuous soul. He looks upon virtue as a moral force in the world. The whole world may be transformed into ashes, but a virtual soul remains undestroyed. It survives all previous transience of the world and lasts eternally. This Christian morality is illuminated here:
                               "Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
                               like season'd timber never gives,
                               But though the whole world turn coal,
                               Then chiely lives.

                                         Critical appreciation of virtue
                 The eternity of virtue is the inspired Christian theme. It is though essentially, the idea of the mortality of the world is contrasted with the immortality of a virtuous soul. The words in the poem are very simple and anyone can read and understand it. The poem opens with a note of sadness and melancholy and because of the destructive fate of all earthly things and ends on a consolatory note of the indestructibility of a virtuous soul.
                                   critical appreciation of virtue
                 The poem gives ample proof to Herbert's power of creating poetic imagery to specially and accurately his idea of the transience of all earthly things and eternity of virtue. The images are clear, vivid but not elaborate. The image of the day is marked by its coolness, serenity, and brightness. The expression "The bridal of the earth and sky" suggestive of metaphysical conceit is indicative of the wedding of earth and sky. The 'earth' 'sky' 'dew', three natural elements are personified here.
                                  critical appreciation of virtue 
             The second stanza introduces the images of the rise. The image is used to show its beauty and dazzlin brightness, and the third stanza presents the image of joy. The image is elegantly used all throughout the poem. The metaphor contained in the 'box' serves to enhance the effect of the beauty of this imagery, and the metaphor in the season'd timber is used to indicate the power of a virtuous soul to withstands the wrecks of time. These metaphors are highly sophisticated.
                                         critical appreciation of virtue
               Herbert's language is simple and graceful. It has an unceasing flow, which lends charm to his poetry. Music and melody contribute to the high poetic effect. The short poem is written in iambic pentameter with few variations; the last line of each stanza is iambic dimeter. The word 'sweet' is repeated in all the four stanzas of the poem and indicates the beautiful thing of nature. Each of the three successive stanzas ends with the word 'die' to show the mortality of all things in the perishable world. The fourth stanza ends with the word 'lives' to illuminate the eternity of virtue. The poem opens with the note of death which is indicative of the poet's sad and depressed mood and ends on a note of hope and consolation, indicative of the poet's happy mood.
                      
                                   critical appreciation of virtue
                  
                               

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