Virtue

Explain "angry and brave" in line 5.

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In context, the day, like the rose, is an emblem of earthly splendor. It is "sweet" like the day, saturated with color, and graced with magnificence. "Angry and brave" are complex words in Herbert's usage, as aspects of their meanings have all but passed from English. Angry, in the seventeenth century, could signify "inflamed," while brave could signify "having a fine or splendid appearance." The suggestions of wrath and courage carried by these words also reinforce the rose's magnificence, as it is characterized thus as standing knowingly in the prospect of doom.

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Virtue