Stanza 38

The substance is not chaunged, nor altered,
But th'only forme and outward fashion;
For euery substance is conditioned
To change her hew, and sundry formes to don,
Meet for her temper and complexion:
For formes are variable and decay,
By course of kind, and by occasion;
And that faire flowre of beautie fades away,
As doth the lilly fresh before the sunny ray.


Forme: Aristotle does not use the word “form” as Plato, but in a strict sense. Form: the contour and structure of something.

Hew: For Plato, forms are eternal; Aristotle does not use forms, but substance, which can be used interchangeably with form for understanding the two philosophers.

Formes: Aristotle sees change as necessary, as a natural tendency and a cause for things being or not being, while Plato will not admit it, but falls back on his theory of forms.


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