Henry Vaughan was a Welsh poet and physician. He is best remembered for his religious poetry, such as Silex Scintillans, published in 1650. But, there are volumes of secular verse to his name. He also spent time during his career translating religious works. George Herbert was a huge influence on his writing.
‘They are all Gone into the World of Light’ by Henry Vaughan describes a speaker’s longing to understand what death is and where his loved ones have gone.
They are all gone into the world of light!
And I alone sit ling’ring here;
Their very memory is fair and bright,
And my sad thoughts doth clear.
‘Christ’s Nativity’ by Henry Vaughan celebrates Christ’s birth, juxtaposing joy with human imperfection, highlighting redemption’s transformative power.
Awake, glad heart! get up and sing!
It is the birth-day of thy King.
Awake! awake!
The Sun doth shake
Vaughan’s ‘Peace’ blends spirituality with a quest for salvation, urging the soul towards divine love for eternal joy.
My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingéd sentry
All skilful in the wars;
‘The Retreat’ is one of Henry Vaughan’s best-known metaphysical poems. This poem explores how the poet is derailed from purity as a grown-up man and his longing for returning to the blissful state of everlastingness.
Happy those early days! when I
Shined in my angel infancy.
Before I understood this place
Appointed for my second race,
‘The World’ by Henry Vaughan speaks on the ways men and women risk their place in eternity by valuing earthly pleasures over God.
I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years,
‘Unprofitableness’ by Henry Vaughan is an extended conceit presenting a speaker’s unsuccessful efforts to thank God for his fresh and rejuvenating visits.
How rich, O Lord! how fresh thy visits are!
'Twas but just now my bleak leaves hopeless hung
Sullied with dust and mud;
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