In George Herbert's poem, "Virtue," the first two stanzas are devoted to "Sweet day" and "Sweet rose." Specifically, how are these aspects of the...

In George Herbert's poem, "Virtue," the images that begin
the first and second stanza are considered sensuous in nature (appealing to the senses),
rather than that which appeals to the intellect.

Herbert's
overall themes in his poetry generally center around religion, especially in light of
rebellion and obedience, but it is not seen as clearly in "Virtue." Herbert does draw
attention to the connection between "intellect and emotion." These two "forces" struggle
with each other in the first three stanzas of the poem.

In
the first stanza, the "Sweet day" appeals to the emotional force with its attributes
that point to...

readability="8">

...cool, calm, bright, [and] the marriage of
earth
and

sky.

However,
there is an end, a death (recognized by the intellect), as with all things. It is
presented in the first stanza
with...

The dew shall
weep...

The second stanza
deals with the emotional response to the "Sweet rose" and its beauty, seen with its red
color that inspires recognition of anger and bravery; the intellectual response,
presented with an awareness of death is found in the plant's
roots:

...Thy
root is ever in its grave

And thou must
die.

So the images of the day
and the rose appeal to the emotional (the human condition) and are found and described
in the first two lines of each stanza. The opposing force (recognized by the intellect)
is found in the last two lines of each stanza, which points out the eventual end of all
things: these last two lines describe the "death" of the day and the
rose.