Analysis The Retreat by Biographical Approach
Henry Vaughan, (born April 17, 1622, Llansantffraed, Breconshire, Wales—died April 23, 1695, Llansantffraed), Anglo-Welsh poet and mystic remarkable for the range and intensity of his spiritual intuitions.
Educated at Oxford and studying law in London, Vaughan was recalled home in 1642 when the first Civil War broke out, and he remained there the rest of his life.
In 1646 his Poems, with the Tenth Satyre of Juvenal Englished was published, followed by a second volume in 1647. Meanwhile he had been “converted” by reading the religious poet George Herbert and gave up “idle verse.” His Silex Scintillans (1650; “The Glittering Flint,” enlarged 1655) and the prose Mount of Olives: or, Solitary Devotions(1652) show the depth of his religious convictions and the authenticity of his poetic genius. Two more volumes of secular verse were published, ostensibly without his sanction; but it is his religious verse that has lived. He also translated short moral and religious works and two medical works in prose. At some time in the 1650s he began to practice medicine and continued to do so throughout his life.
Though Vaughan borrowed phrases from Herbert and other writers and wrote poems with the same titles as Herbert’s, he was one of the most original poets of his day. Chiefly he had a gift of spiritual vision or imagination that enabled him to write freshly and convincingly, as is illustrated in the opening of “The World”:
He was equally gifted in writing about nature, holding the old view that every flower enjoys the air it breathes and that even sticks and stones share man’s expectation of resurrection. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth may have been influenced by Vaughan.
Vaughan’s poetry was largely disregarded in his own day and for a century after his death. He shared in the revival of interest in 17th-century metaphysical poets in the 20th century. The standard edition is Works (1914; 2nd ed., 1957), edited by L.C. Martin.
History The Retreat
The retreat poetry is one of the best poems in the Book "Silex Scintillan" by Henry Vaughan, published in 1650-1655. This poem has a religious theme. At that time this poem received a lot of attention from everyone. In 1650, at that time there was a religious war, and Henry Vaughan's work was considered the most biblical in English. This book opposes the idea not by rejecting it, but by asking what it meant in 1650. Restoring context and history.
The period shortly before the publication of the first volume of this work (1650) marked an important period in his life. Certain indications in the first volume and explicit statements in the introduction to the second volume (1655) indicate that Vaughan suffered from a prolonged illness that caused much pain. Vaughan interpreted this experience as a meeting with death that made him aware of "misdirected youth". Vaughan believes he has been saved to make amends and start a new course not only in his life but in the literature he will produce. He described his earlier work as a violation and contribution to "corrupt literature". Perhaps the most important sign of Vaughan's conversion is how much it is credited to George Herbert. Vaughan claims that he is the least of the many "pious converts" of Herbert. [8] During this period of Vaughan's life, around 1650, he adopted the phrase "moriendo, revixi" - "by dying, I gained a new life". [16]: p132
The first volume of Silex Scintillans was followed by The Mount of Olives, or Solitary Devotions (1652), a devotional prose book. It provides prayers for various stages of the day, for prayer in the church, and for other purposes. It is written as a "companion volume" for the General Prayer Book, which is often alluded to, although it has been banned under the Commonwealth. This work was also influenced by Lancelot Andrewes' Preces Privatae (1615) and John Devin's Collection of Private Devotions (1627). [17] Flores Solitudinis (1654) contains translations from two Latin works by Spanish Jesuit Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, one by the 5th-century Bishop of Lyon, Eucherius, and by Paulinus of Nola, who Vaughan wrote prose life. Vaughan practiced medicine, perhaps in the early 1640s, and was attached to the second volume of Silex Scintillans (1655)
The retreat
O, how I long to travel back,
And tread again that ancient track!
That I might once more reach that plain
Where first I left my glorious train,
From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees
That shady city of palm trees.
But, ah! my soul with too much stay
Is drunk, and staggers in the way.
Some men a forward motion love;
But I by backward steps would move,
And when this dust falls to the urn,
In that state I came, return.
Analysis The Retreat
This poem tells about his spiritual experience that was adrift as a result of every behavior he did. He explained that he wanted to try to get back on track with God, and try to be a good young man who was obedient to the teachings of his religion. everything is proven by each sentence that has its own meaning.
- O how I long to travel back. This sentence explains that he misses the masses and the experience that he can't forget.
- And tread again that ancient track!. This sentence has the meaning that he is very wishes to repeat the fun thing.
- There I might once more reach that plain. This sentence explains that he can actually repeat everything like in past.
- Where first my glorious train. This sentence has the meaning that in the past, for the sake of doing what he liked, he was willing to leave the goodness and teachings of religion.
- From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees. This sentence clarifies that everything he does always look and supervised the spirits and God.
- That shady city of palm trees. everywhere that he turned on he was confident that the behavior he did was seen by God from different places.
- But, ah! my soul with too much stay. This sentence explains that he did too much fun in that place, but that pleasure was not good for him.
- Is drunk, and staggers in the way. this sentence has the meaning that what would happen if he remained on a road that is not good.
- Some men a forward motion love;. This sentence gives an explanation that he is not like other men who like to continue to think about the pleasure that is in front of the eye.
- But I by backward steps would move. this sentence explains that he tried to withdraw all of his pleasures because he realized he had to go back to the past before he was in the world.
- And when this dust falls to the urn. This sentence gives the understanding that it will die and become a grain of dust.
- In that state I came, return. it is very clear that this sentence shows that he was very aware that after death he would return to God with his deeds.
This poem tried to show that he was a good man who was obedient to the religion he was, and realized that he would return with God, as evidenced by the sentence "Some men a volume loving", "In That State I came return". Both of these sentences showed his belief and his attitude changes to better. Although it was a lot of upheaval due to religious war, but Vaugham remained to make a poem by not dropping different religions but still showed the follower of a follower against the religion he was.
Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45430/the-retreat-56d2250b6cff5
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Vaughan
Educated at Oxford and studying law in London, Vaughan was recalled home in 1642 when the first Civil War broke out, and he remained there the rest of his life.
In 1646 his Poems, with the Tenth Satyre of Juvenal Englished was published, followed by a second volume in 1647. Meanwhile he had been “converted” by reading the religious poet George Herbert and gave up “idle verse.” His Silex Scintillans (1650; “The Glittering Flint,” enlarged 1655) and the prose Mount of Olives: or, Solitary Devotions(1652) show the depth of his religious convictions and the authenticity of his poetic genius. Two more volumes of secular verse were published, ostensibly without his sanction; but it is his religious verse that has lived. He also translated short moral and religious works and two medical works in prose. At some time in the 1650s he began to practice medicine and continued to do so throughout his life.
Though Vaughan borrowed phrases from Herbert and other writers and wrote poems with the same titles as Herbert’s, he was one of the most original poets of his day. Chiefly he had a gift of spiritual vision or imagination that enabled him to write freshly and convincingly, as is illustrated in the opening of “The World”:
He was equally gifted in writing about nature, holding the old view that every flower enjoys the air it breathes and that even sticks and stones share man’s expectation of resurrection. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth may have been influenced by Vaughan.
Vaughan’s poetry was largely disregarded in his own day and for a century after his death. He shared in the revival of interest in 17th-century metaphysical poets in the 20th century. The standard edition is Works (1914; 2nd ed., 1957), edited by L.C. Martin.
History The Retreat
The retreat poetry is one of the best poems in the Book "Silex Scintillan" by Henry Vaughan, published in 1650-1655. This poem has a religious theme. At that time this poem received a lot of attention from everyone. In 1650, at that time there was a religious war, and Henry Vaughan's work was considered the most biblical in English. This book opposes the idea not by rejecting it, but by asking what it meant in 1650. Restoring context and history.
The period shortly before the publication of the first volume of this work (1650) marked an important period in his life. Certain indications in the first volume and explicit statements in the introduction to the second volume (1655) indicate that Vaughan suffered from a prolonged illness that caused much pain. Vaughan interpreted this experience as a meeting with death that made him aware of "misdirected youth". Vaughan believes he has been saved to make amends and start a new course not only in his life but in the literature he will produce. He described his earlier work as a violation and contribution to "corrupt literature". Perhaps the most important sign of Vaughan's conversion is how much it is credited to George Herbert. Vaughan claims that he is the least of the many "pious converts" of Herbert. [8] During this period of Vaughan's life, around 1650, he adopted the phrase "moriendo, revixi" - "by dying, I gained a new life". [16]: p132
The first volume of Silex Scintillans was followed by The Mount of Olives, or Solitary Devotions (1652), a devotional prose book. It provides prayers for various stages of the day, for prayer in the church, and for other purposes. It is written as a "companion volume" for the General Prayer Book, which is often alluded to, although it has been banned under the Commonwealth. This work was also influenced by Lancelot Andrewes' Preces Privatae (1615) and John Devin's Collection of Private Devotions (1627). [17] Flores Solitudinis (1654) contains translations from two Latin works by Spanish Jesuit Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, one by the 5th-century Bishop of Lyon, Eucherius, and by Paulinus of Nola, who Vaughan wrote prose life. Vaughan practiced medicine, perhaps in the early 1640s, and was attached to the second volume of Silex Scintillans (1655)
The retreat
O, how I long to travel back,
And tread again that ancient track!
That I might once more reach that plain
Where first I left my glorious train,
From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees
That shady city of palm trees.
But, ah! my soul with too much stay
Is drunk, and staggers in the way.
Some men a forward motion love;
But I by backward steps would move,
And when this dust falls to the urn,
In that state I came, return.
Analysis The Retreat
This poem tells about his spiritual experience that was adrift as a result of every behavior he did. He explained that he wanted to try to get back on track with God, and try to be a good young man who was obedient to the teachings of his religion. everything is proven by each sentence that has its own meaning.
- O how I long to travel back. This sentence explains that he misses the masses and the experience that he can't forget.
- And tread again that ancient track!. This sentence has the meaning that he is very wishes to repeat the fun thing.
- There I might once more reach that plain. This sentence explains that he can actually repeat everything like in past.
- Where first my glorious train. This sentence has the meaning that in the past, for the sake of doing what he liked, he was willing to leave the goodness and teachings of religion.
- From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees. This sentence clarifies that everything he does always look and supervised the spirits and God.
- That shady city of palm trees. everywhere that he turned on he was confident that the behavior he did was seen by God from different places.
- But, ah! my soul with too much stay. This sentence explains that he did too much fun in that place, but that pleasure was not good for him.
- Is drunk, and staggers in the way. this sentence has the meaning that what would happen if he remained on a road that is not good.
- Some men a forward motion love;. This sentence gives an explanation that he is not like other men who like to continue to think about the pleasure that is in front of the eye.
- But I by backward steps would move. this sentence explains that he tried to withdraw all of his pleasures because he realized he had to go back to the past before he was in the world.
- And when this dust falls to the urn. This sentence gives the understanding that it will die and become a grain of dust.
- In that state I came, return. it is very clear that this sentence shows that he was very aware that after death he would return to God with his deeds.
This poem tried to show that he was a good man who was obedient to the religion he was, and realized that he would return with God, as evidenced by the sentence "Some men a volume loving", "In That State I came return". Both of these sentences showed his belief and his attitude changes to better. Although it was a lot of upheaval due to religious war, but Vaugham remained to make a poem by not dropping different religions but still showed the follower of a follower against the religion he was.
Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45430/the-retreat-56d2250b6cff5
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Vaughan
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