Must Be a Woe
poem 571
Must Be a Woe - meaning Summary
Beauty's Cost Is Suffering
The poem argues that encountering supreme beauty or delight requires a kind of loss or pain. Delight is rare and difficult, compared to a stalactite, while ordinary pleasures come more cheaply. The speaker frames the price of profound bliss as identical to grace, and concludes by invoking Christ’s sacrifice, suggesting divine willingness to incur suffering to secure that spiritual reward. The tone links human experience with theological meaning.
Read Complete AnalysesMust be a Woe A loss or so To bend the eye Best Beauty’s way But once aslant It notes Delight As difficult As Stalactite A Common Bliss Were had for less The price is Even as the Grace Our lord thought no Extravagance To pay a Cross
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