Love built a stately house: where Fortune came,
And spinning fancies, she was heard to say,
That her fine cobwebs did support the frame,
Whereas they were supported by the same:
But Wisdom quickly swept them all away.

Then Pleasure came, who liking not the fashion,
Began to make Balconies, Terraces,
Till she had weak’ned all by alteration:
But reverend laws, and many a proclamation
Reformed all at length with menaces.

Then entered Sin, and with that sycamore,
Whose leaves first sheltered man from drought and dew,
Working and winding slyly evermore,
The inward walls and sommers cleft and tore:
But Grace shored these, and cut that as it grew.

Then Sin combined with Death in a firm band
To raze the building to the very floor:
Which they effected, none could them withstand.
But Love and Grace took Glory by the hand,
And built a braver tower than before.

—The Temple

Here we see Herbert’s theology shine through. Love is always code for God in Christ. Note the acknowledgment of sin and its consequences. But note also the strong note of grace and the ultimate hope of glory in the New Creation. Anglican (and Christian) theology at its finest.