The title "Avarice" is appropriate for Herbert's poem because it is about greed. Herbert writes about how money is extracted from dirty mines, and he says of money, "thy parentage is base and low," meaning that gold or other metals that form coins come from dark places. By discussing the money's "parentage," Herbert personifies money and makes it seem like it comes from parents with low status. By digging money out of mines and making the coins bright, Herbert states "thou hast got the face of man," meaning that money has people's faces and impressions on it. In this exchange, "Thou art the man, and man but drosse to thee." In other words, because people are so greedy for money and show such great avarice, money has become the master, while man is lower than money. Herbert believes avarice transforms people into beings who are as low as the base metals that are brought out of the ground and transformed into money.
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