Avarice (Part 2)

Avarice

MONEY, thou bane of bliss, and source of woe,

Whence com’st thou, that thou art so fresh and fine?

I know thy parentage is base and low:

Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine.

Surely thou didst so little contribute

To this great kingdom, which thou now hast got,

That he was fain, when thou wert destitute,

To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot.

Then forcing thee, by fire he made thee bright:

Nay, thou hast got the face of man: for we

Have with our stamp and steal transferr’d our right:

Thou art the man, and man but dross to thee.

Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich;

And while he digs out thee, falls in the ditch.

George Herbert (1593-1633)

About the poem

                            This is a poem written by George Herbert. It is belonged

to the Metaphysical poetry of English Literature. This is extracted from “The Temple”. Herbert wrote this poem at a time England was fast moving to a trade society in the seventeenth century.

                             Avarice is the tittle of Herbert’s poem which is not a poem’s feature but it is man’s avarice that he worshipped and enthrone money. In this respect, the poem is a poetic definition of money.