Vanity (I)

George Herbert * Track #62 On The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations

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Album The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations

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George Herbert

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Vanity (I) by George Herbert

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George Herbert

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Herbert composes three images of vanity pertaining to all the realms of the created world: the astronomer who searches the heavens, the diver who searches the depth of the seas for riches, and the chemist who searches out the secrets of the earth.

In contrast with these, he asserts that man must tu...

Vanity (I) Annotated

The fleet Astronomer can bore
And thread the spheres with his quick-piercing mind:
He views theirs stations, walks from door to door,
Surveys, as if he had designed
To make a purchase there: he sees their dances,
And knoweth long before,
Both their full-eyed aspects, and secret glances.

The nimble Diver with his side
Cuts through the working waves, that he may fetch
His dearly-earned pearl, which God did hide
On purpose from the ventrous wretch;
That he might save his life, and also hers,
Who with excessive pride
Her own destruction and his danger wears.

The subtle Chymick can devest
And strip the creature naked, till he find
The callow principles within their nest:
There he imparts to them his mind,
Admitted to their bed-chamber, before
They appear trim and drest
To ordinary suitors at the door.

What hath not man sought out and found,
But his dear God? who yet his glorious law
Embosoms in us, mellowing the ground
With showres and frosts, with love and awe,
So that we need not say, Where's this command?
Poor man, thou searchest round
To find out death, but missest life at hand.

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