The Elixir
George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)
Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee.
Not rudely, as a beast,
To run into an action;
But still to make Thee prepossest,
And give it his perfection.
A man that looks on glass,
On it may stay his eye;
Or it he pleaseth, through it pass,
And then the heav'n espy.
All may of Thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture--"for Thy sake"--
Will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine:
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and th' action fine.
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 183 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEB FGFG HIHI JKJK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 781 |
Words | 138 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Elixir" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15391/the-elixir>.
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