The Retreat by Henry Vaughan

Summary

The speaker (a person, not Vaughan, who longs to God) reflects on their childhood, a time when they felt spiritually pure and close to divine love ("my first love"). They recall how, as an innocent child, they could still perceive traces of heaven in nature—like clouds or flowers—before becoming corrupted by sin, from the contemporary modern world. The speaker laments losing this early connection and wishes they could return to that state of grace. However, they acknowledge that their soul has grown spiritually sluggish ("drunk, and staggers in the way") and can no longer easily retrace those steps. The poem ends with the speaker expressing a longing to return, after death, to the same innocent state in which they began life.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1–2: Nostalgia for Childhood Innocence

"Happy those early days! when I / Shined in my angel infancy."

• The speaker begins by idealizing childhood ("early days") as a time of angelic purity.
• "Shined" suggests divine radiance, implying that infancy was a state of grace.

Lines 3–4: Awareness of Earthly Life

"Before I understood this place / Appointed for my second race,"

• "This place" = the mortal world, contrasted with a heavenly origin.
• "Second race" = earthly life after a pre-existence in God’s presence (possibly Platonic or Christian mystical thought).

Lines 5–6: Uncorrupted Thoughts

"Or taught my soul to fancy aught / But a white, celestial thought;"

• As a child, the speaker only knew pure ("white") and holy thoughts.
• "Fancy" = imagine or desire; now corrupted by worldly concerns.

Lines 7–8: Proximity to Divine Love

"When yet I had not walked above / A mile or two from my first love,"

• "First love" = God (echoing the Book of Revelation’s critique of losing "first love," Rev. 2:4).
• "A mile or two" = slight distance, suggesting recent fall from grace.

Lines 9–10: Lingering Divine Connection

"And looking back, at that short space, / Could see a glimpse of His bright face;"

• Even after straying, the child could still perceive God’s presence.
• "Bright face" = divine radiance (cf. Psalm 17:15, "I shall behold thy face in righteousness").

Lines 11–12: Nature as a Reflection of Heaven

"When on some gilded cloud or flower / My gazing soul would dwell an hour,"

• The child saw God’s glory in nature ("gilded cloud or flower").
• "Dwell an hour" = prolonged contemplation, suggesting spiritual wonder.

Lines 13–14: Glimpses of Eternity

"And in those weaker glories spy / Some shadows of eternity;"

• Earthly beauty ("weaker glories") hints at higher, eternal truths.
• "Shadows of eternity" = Neoplatonic idea that the material world reflects divine reality.

Lines 15–16: Fall into Sin

"Before I taught my tongue to wound / My conscience with a sinful sound,"

• Transition: the speaker learned to sin (speaking corruptly, hurting conscience).
• "Wound" implies self-destruction through sin.

Lines 17–18: Corruption of the Senses

"Or had the black art to dispense / A several sin to every sense,"

• "Black art" = sinful skill (like dark magic).
• "Several sin to every sense" = each bodily sense (sight, touch, etc.) is now tainted.

Lines 19–20: Remnants of Divinity in the Flesh

"But felt through all this fleshly dress / Bright shoots of everlastingness."

• Despite sin, the body ("fleshly dress") still carries sparks of divinity.
• "Bright shoots" = flashes of immortality (like plants breaking through soil).

Lines 21–22: Longing to Return

"O, how I long to travel back, / And tread again that ancient track!"

• The speaker yearns to return to childhood’s spiritual path.
• "Ancient track" = original, holy way (like biblical "old paths," Jeremiah 6:16).

Lines 23–24: Desire for Lost Purity

"That I might once more reach that plain / Where first I left my glorious train,"

• "Plain" = a place of simplicity and clarity.
• "Glorious train" = angelic host or divine presence left behind.

Lines 25–26: Vision of the Heavenly City

"From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees / That shady city of palm trees."

• "Enlightened spirit" = purified soul.
• "Shady city of palm trees" = likely the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34:3) or New Jerusalem (Revelation 21–22).

Lines 27–28: Spiritual Stumbling

"But, ah! my soul with too much stay / Is drunk, and staggers in the way."

• "Too much stay" = prolonged worldly existence.
• "Drunk" = spiritually dulled, like a drunkard unable to walk straight.

Lines 29–30: Rejecting Forward Motion

"Some men a forward motion love; / But I by backward steps would move,"

• Most seek progress, but the speaker wants regression—returning to innocence.
• "Backward steps" = undoing sin, reclaiming lost purity.

Lines 31–32: Death as Return to Origin

"And when this dust falls to the urn, / In that state I came, return."

• "Dust falls to the urn" = bodily death (dust to dust).
• Final wish: to die as innocent as at birth, returning to God.

Literary Devices

Metaphor

• "Shined in my angel infancy"
  → Compares the speaker’s early spiritual purity to shining light and angelic innocence, without using "like" or "as."
  Why: This emphasizes the purity and divine nature of childhood before worldly corruption.
• "This fleshly dress"
  → The body is metaphorically referred to as a “dress,” suggesting it is a temporary outer garment of the soul.
  Why: Highlights the contrast between the eternal soul and the mortal body.
• "Bright shoots of everlastingness"
  → The feeling of immortality or divine connection is described as “shoots,” like young plant growth.
  Why: Suggests purity and potential for spiritual growth.

2. Personification

• "My soul with too much stay / Is drunk, and staggers in the way"
  → The soul is personified as being drunk and stumbling, a metaphor for spiritual confusion or straying.
  Why: Makes the internal struggle more vivid and relatable.
• "Taught my tongue to wound / My conscience with a sinful sound"
  → The tongue is portrayed as capable of harming the conscience, as if it had independent action.
  Why: Emphasizes moral responsibility for one’s speech and the loss of innocence.

3. Alliteration

• "But a white, celestial thought"
  → The repetition of the “w” and “c” sounds creates a soft, flowing rhythm.
  Why: Adds musicality and reinforces the purity of the thought.
• "Sinful sound"
  → The “s” sound is repeated.
  Why: Enhances the harshness of sin through sound.

4. Anaphora

• "Before I..." (used several times in the first half)
  → Repetition of this phrase at the beginning of lines.
  Why: Builds a nostalgic rhythm, emphasizing the contrast between past innocence and present corruption.

5. Paradox

• "Some men a forward motion love; / But I by backward steps would move"
  → Going backward as a way of moving forward spiritually.
  Why: Reflects the paradox of spiritual restoration—sometimes one must return to innocence to progress.

6. Imagery

• "Gilded cloud or flower," "shady city of palm trees"
  → Visual descriptions that evoke beauty, peace, and spirituality.
  Why: Engages the reader’s senses and creates a heavenly, dreamlike mood.

7. Allusion

• "Shady city of palm trees"
  → Likely an allusion to heaven or a biblical paradise.
  Why: Deepens the spiritual dimension and anchors the poem in a Christian context.

8. Apostrophe

• "O, how I long to travel back..."
  → A direct expression of longing, as if addressing time or the soul.
  Why: Personalizes the reflection and adds emotional intensity.

9. Contrast (Antithesis)

• "Bright shoots of everlastingness" vs. "black art to dispense / A several sin to every sense"
  → Light vs. darkness, purity vs. sin.
  Why: Reinforces the moral and spiritual dichotomy between innocence and corruption.

About the Author

Henry Vaughan (1621–1695) was a Welsh poet, physician, and mystic, best known for his devotional poetry in Silex Scintillans (1650, 1655). A follower of George Herbert, Vaughan’s work blends metaphysical complexity, nature mysticism, and spiritual depth, earning him a place among the great religious poets of the 17th century.

Life and Family

• Born: April 17, 1621, in Breconshire, Wales.
• Family:
  • Twin brother: Thomas Vaughan (alchemist and philosopher).
  • Background: Minor Welsh gentry, Anglican upbringing.
• Education:
  • Jesus College, Oxford (briefly, left without a degree).
  • Studied law in London but abandoned it for medicine.
• Career & Personal Life:
  • Practiced as a physician in Wales.
  • Fought for the Royalists in the English Civil War.
  • Deeply affected by the death of his first wife, Catherine Wise.
• Later Years:
  • Lived quietly in Wales, focusing on poetry and medicine.
  • Died April 23, 1695, and was buried in Llansantffraed, Wales.

Literary Works and Career

Vaughan’s poetry is characterized by:

• Mystical visions of nature as a reflection of divine presence.
• Herbertian influence (spiritual struggles, structured verse).
• Themes of renewal, light, and eternity.

Key Works & Publications

1. Secular Works (Early Career)
   • Poems, with the Tenth Satire of Juvenal Englished (1646) – Early, less religious verse.
2. Religious Masterpiece
   • Silex Scintillans ("The Fiery Flint," 1650, expanded 1655) – His major work, featuring:
     • The World ("I saw Eternity the other night...").
     • They Are All Gone into the World of Light.
     • The Retreat (inspired Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations of Immortality).
3. Prose & Translations
   • The Mount of Olives (1652) – Devotional meditations.
   • Translations of medical and philosophical works.

Qualifications & Positions

• Education: Informal (Oxford briefly, self-taught in medicine).
• Professions:
  • Physician (practiced in Wales).
  • Royalist soldier (Civil War).

Notable Works List with Publication

Poetry

• Silex Scintillans (1650, 1655) – Contains his most famous religious poems.
• Olor Iscanus (1651) – Secular poems and translations.

Major Individual Poems

1. The World ("I saw Eternity the other night...").
2. The Retreat ("Happy those early days! when I / Shined in my angel-infancy...").
3. They Are All Gone into the World of Light.
4. Peace ("My soul, there is a country...").

Legacy

• Nature Mysticism: Anticipated Romantic poets like Wordsworth.
• Religious Depth: Compared to Herbert and Traherne.
• Welsh Literary Heritage: Among the finest Welsh poets in English.