By the full kingdom of that final kiss That seized thy parting soul and sealed thee his. By all the heav'ns thou hast in him, Fair sister of the seraphim, By all of him we have in thee, 1646. 105 HENRY VAUGHAN THE RETREAT Happy those early days, when I Some shadows of eternity; Before I taught my tongue to wound My conscience with a sinful sound, A sev'ral sin to ev'ry sense, But felt through all this fleshly dress O, how I long to travel back, And tread again that ancient track! 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, Driv'n by the spheres, Like a vast shadow moved, in which the World And all her train were hurled. The doating lover in his quaintest strain Did there complain; 20 20 5 Near him, his lute, his fancy, and his flights, Wit's sour delights, With gloves and knots, the silly snares of pleasure; Yet his dear treasure All scattered lay, while he his eyes did pour Upon a flow'r. The darksome statesman, hung with weights and woe, Like a thick midnight-fog, moved there so slow He did not stay nor go; Condemning thoughts, like sad eclipses, scowl Upon his soul, And clouds of crying witnesses without Pursued him with one shout; Yet digged the mole, and, lest his ways be found, 10 15 20 Where he did clutch his prey. But one did see 25 That policy: Churches and altars fed him; perjuries Were gnats and flies; It rained about him blood and tears; but he The fearful miser on a heap of rust Sate pining all his life there, did scarce trust Yet would not place one piece above, but lives Thousands there were as frantic as himself, And hugged each one his pelf: The downright epicure placed heav'n in sense, While others, slipt into a wide excess, Said little less; The weaker sort slight, trivial wares enslave, Who think them brave; And poor, despised Truth sate counting by Their victory. Yet some, who all this time did weep and sing, 30 335 40 45 "O fools!" said I, "thus to prefer dark night To live in grots and caves, and hate the day The way which from this dead and dark abode Leads up to God; A way where you might tread the sun and be More bright than he!" But as I did their madness so discuss, One whispered thus: “This ring the Bridegroom did for none provide But for His bride." 60 1650. THEY ARE ALL GONE INTO THE WORLD OF LIGHT 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. It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast, Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest I see them walking in an air of glory, Whose light doth trample on my days; My days, which are at best but dull and hoary, O holy hope and high humility, High as the heavens above, 5 ΤΟ These are your walks, and you have showed them me 15 Dear, beauteous death, the jewel of the just, Shining nowhere but in the dark, What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust, Could man outlook that mark! 20 He that hath found some fledged bird's nest may know At first sight if the bird be flown; But what fair well or grove he sings in now, That is to him unknown. And yet, as angels in some brighter dreams Call to the soul when man doth sleep, So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes, And into glory peep. If a star were confined into a tomb, Her captive flames must needs burn there; But when the hand that locked her up gives room, 25 30 O Father of eternal life, and all Created glories under Thee, Resume Thy spirit from this world of thrall 35 Into true liberty! Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill Or else remove me hence unto that hill 40 1655. FROM THE TIMBER Sure thou didst flourish once; and many springs, And still a new succession sings and flies; Fresh groves grow up, and their green branches shoot Towards the old and still enduring skies, While the low violet thrives at their root. But thou beneath the sad and heavy line 5 Of death dost waste, all senseless, cold, and dark; ΙΟ Where not so much as dreams of light may shine, Nor any thought of greenness, leaf, or bark. |