This is so cool!

This morning in my Creative Writing class, we read this poem by George Herbert.

A Wreath

A wreathed garland of deserved praise,
Of praise deserved, unto thee I give,
I give to thee, who knowest all my wayes,
My crooked winding wayes, wherein I live,
Wherein I die, not live: for life is straight,
Straight as a line, and ever tends to thee,
To thee, who are more farre above deceit,
Then deceit seems above simplicitie.
Give me simplicitie, that I may live,
So live and like, that I may know, thy wayes,
Know them and practise them: then shall I give
For this poore wreath, give thee a crown of praise.


Notice the way the form meets the subject matter. The end of each line is repeated at the beginning of the next to bring to mind the way boughs would be overlapped and bent into the form of a wreath. And (this is so cool!) the last line parallels the first line. The poem comes full circle, like a wreath, so to speak.

Wow.