Social Commentaries
Sonnet: Mortality is but the Stuff you wear
From Sonnets and Verse (1923)
Mortality is but the Stuff you wear
To show the better on the imperfect sight.
Your home is surely with the changeless light
Of which you are the daughter and the heir.
For as you pass, the natural life of things
Proclaims the Resurrection: as you pass
Remembered summer shines across the grass
And somewhat in me of the immortal sings.
You were not made for memory, you are not
Youth’s accident I think but heavenly more;
Moulding to meaning slips my pen’s poor blot
And opening wide that long forbidden door
Where stands the Mother of God, your exemplar.
How beautiful, how beautiful you are!
Cite this poem
MLA
Belloc, Hilaire. “Sonnet: Mortality is but the Stuff you wear.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/belloc/106/.
Chicago
Belloc, Hilaire. “Sonnet: Mortality is but the Stuff you wear.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/belloc/106/.
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