Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AFFLICTION (5), by GEORGE HERBERT



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AFFLICTION (5), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: My god, I read this day
Last Line: That thy bright beams may tame thy bow.


MY God, I read this day,
That planted Paradise was not so firm
As was and is thy floting ark; whose stay
And anchor thou art onely, to confirm
And strengthen it in ev'ry age,
When waves do rise, and tempests rage.

At first we lived in pleasure;
Thine own delights thou didst to us impart:
When we grew wanton, thou didst use displeasure
To make us thine; yet, that we might not part,
As we at first did board with thee,
Now thou wouldst taste our miserie.

There is but joy and grief;
If either will convert us, we are thine.
Some angels us'd the first; if our relief
Take up the second, then thy double line
And sev'rall baits in either kinde
Furnish thy table to thy minde.

Affliction then is ours:
We are the trees, whom shaking fastens more,
While blustring windes destroy the wanton bowres,
And ruffle all their curious knots and store.
My God, so temper joy and wo,
That thy bright beams may tame thy bow.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net