The Approach
That childish thoughts such joys inspire,Doth make my wonder and His glory higher:His bounty and my wealth more great,It shows His Kingdom and His Work complete:In which there is not anythingNot meet to be the joy of Cherubim.
He in our childhood with us walks,And with our thoughts mysteriously he talks;He often visiteth our minds,But cold acceptance in us ever finds:We send Him often grieved away;Else would He shew us all His Kingdom's joy.
O Lord, I wonder at Thy Love,Which did my Infancy so early move:But more at that which did forbear,And move so long, tho' slighted many a year:But most of all, at last that ThouThyself shouldst me convert I scarce know how.
Thy Gracious motions oft in vainAssaulted me: my heart did hard remainLong time: I sent my God away,Grieved much that He could not impart His joy.I careless was, nor did regardThe end for which He all those thoughts prepar'd;
But now with new and open eyes,I see beneath as if above the skies;And as I backward look again,See all His thoughts and mine most clear and plain.He did approach, He me did woo;I wonder that my God this thing would do.
From nothing taken first I was;What wondrous things His glory brought to pass!Now in this world I Him behold,And me enveloped in more than gold;In deep abysses of delights,In present hidden precious benefits.
Those thoughts His goodness long beforePrepared as precious and celestial store,With curious art in me inlaid,That Childhood might itself alone be saidMy tutor, teacher, guide to be,Instructed then even by the Deity.
Words in this poem
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- cherubim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- mysteriously adv.
- In a mysterious manner.
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Approach is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, 1636?-1674, from the original manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #61586; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Traherne, The Approach, in Poetical Works (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #61586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/traherne-poems/the-approach.html, id L13302.
Form and metre
The Approach is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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.
- 2 AABB-- walksA · talksA · mindsB · findsB · away · joy
- 3 AABBCC loveA · moveA · forbearB · yearB · thouC · howC
- 4 AA---- vainA · remainA · away · joy · regard · prepar'd
- 5 AABBCC eyesA · skiesA · againB · plainB · wooC · doC
- 6 --AABB was · pass · beholdA · goldA · delightsB · benefitsB
- 7 AA---- beforeA · storeA · inlaid · said · be · deity
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 |
|---|---|---|
| That childish thoughts such joys inspire, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Doth make my wonder and His glory higher: | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| His bounty and my wealth more great, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It shows His Kingdom and His Work complete: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| In which there is not anything | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Not meet to be the joy of Cherubim. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| He in our childhood with us walks, | 9 | ··/˘/···· |
| And with our thoughts mysteriously he talks; | 10 | ··/··/˘˘·· |
| He often visiteth our minds, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘· |
| But cold acceptance in us ever finds: | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| We send Him often grieved away; | 9 | ···/˘·˘˘/ |
| Else would He shew us all His Kingdom's joy. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O Lord, I wonder at Thy Love, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which did my Infancy so early move: | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| But more at that which did forbear, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And move so long, tho' slighted many a year: | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| But most of all, at last that Thou | 8 | ········ |
| Thyself shouldst me convert I scarce know how. | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| Thy Gracious motions oft in vain | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Assaulted me: my heart did hard remain | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Long time: I sent my God away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Grieved much that He could not impart His joy. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| I careless was, nor did regard | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The end for which He all those thoughts prepar'd; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| But now with new and open eyes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I see beneath as if above the skies; | 10 | ·········· |
| And as I backward look again, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| See all His thoughts and mine most clear and plain. | 10 | ·········· |
| He did approach, He me did woo; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| I wonder that my God this thing would do. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| From nothing taken first I was; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What wondrous things His glory brought to pass! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Now in this world I Him behold, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And me enveloped in more than gold; | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| In deep abysses of delights, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| In present hidden precious benefits. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Those thoughts His goodness long before | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Prepared as precious and celestial store, | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘· |
| With curious art in me inlaid, | 9 | ·/˘˘···/· |
| That Childhood might itself alone be said | 10 | ·/··˘/˘/·· |
| My tutor, teacher, guide to be, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Instructed then even by the Deity. | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
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.