George Herbert THE FOIL.                      If we could see below The sphere of vertue, and each shining grace,           As plainly as that above doth show ; This were the better skie, the brighter place.                     God hath made starres the foil To set off vertues ;  griefs to set off sinning :           Yet in this wretched world we toil, As if grief were not foul, nor vertue winning. Source: Herbert, George. The Poetical Works of George Herbert. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1857. 224-225. to Works of George Herbert Site ©1996-2001 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved. Created by Anniina Jokinen on July 30, 2001.