LXIII THE FOIL
If we could see below
The sphere of Virtue and each shining grace,
As plainly as that above doth show,
This were the better sky, the brighter place.
GOD hath made stars the foil
To set-off virtues, griefs to set-off sinning;
Yet in this wretched world we toil,
As if grief were not foul, nor virtue winning.