The Retreat
Happy those early days, when IShin’d in my Angel-infancy!Before I understood this placeAppointed for my second race,Or taught my soul to fancy aughtBut a white celestial thought:When yet I had not walk’d aboveA mile or two from my first Love,And looking back--at that short space--Could see a glimpse of His bright face:When on some gilded cloud, or flow’r,My gazing soul would dwell an hour,And in those weaker glories spySome shadows of eternity:Before I taught my tongue to woundMy Conscience with a sinful sound,Or had the black art to dispenseA several sin to ev’ry sense,But felt through all this fleshly dressBright shoots of everlastingness.
O how I long to travel back,And tread again that ancient track!That I might once more reach that plainWhere first I left my glorious train;From whence th’ enlightned spirit seesThat shady City of Palm-trees.But ah! my soul with too much stayIs 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.
Words in this poem
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- everlastingness n.
- The state of being everlasting; endless duration; indefinite duration.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Retreat is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Vaughan, The Retreat, in Poems (1621–1695), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-henry-vaughan/the-retreat.html, id L16110.
Form and metre
The Retreat is 32 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 34% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-BBCCDDBB--A-EEFFGG iA · infancy · placeB · raceB · aughtC · thoughtC · aboveD · loveD · spaceB · faceB · flow'r · hour · spyA · eternity · woundE · soundE · dispenseF · senseF · dressG · everlastingnessG
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF backA · trackA · plainB · trainB · seesC · treesC · stayD · wayD · loveE · moveE · urnF · returnF
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Happy those early days, when I | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Shin’d in my Angel-infancy! | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Before I understood this place | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Appointed for my second race, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Or taught my soul to fancy aught | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But a white celestial thought: | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| When yet I had not walk’d above | 8 | ········ |
| A mile or two from my first Love, | 8 | ········ |
| And looking back--at that short space-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Could see a glimpse of His bright face: | 8 | ········ |
| When on some gilded cloud, or flow’r, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My gazing soul would dwell an hour, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And in those weaker glories spy | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Some shadows of eternity: | 8 | ·/··˘/˘˘ |
| Before I taught my tongue to wound | 8 | ········ |
| My Conscience with a sinful sound, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or had the black art to dispense | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A several sin to ev’ry sense, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But felt through all this fleshly dress | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bright shoots of everlastingness. | 8 | ········ |
| O how I long to travel back, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And tread again that ancient track! | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That I might once more reach that plain | 8 | ········ |
| Where first I left my glorious train; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From whence th’ enlightned spirit sees | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That shady City of Palm-trees. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But ah! my soul with too much stay | 8 | ········ |
| Is drunk, and staggers in the way! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some men a forward motion love, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But I by backward steps would move; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And when this dust falls to the urn, | 8 | ········ |
| In that state I came, return. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.