Selected Poems of Henry Vaughan, Arranged Chronologically, With an Introduction, Critical

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LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School
1961
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James Dudley Simmonds
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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SIMMONDS, James Dudley, 1933-
SELECTED POEMS OF HENRY VAUGHAN,
ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, WITH AN
INTRODUCTION, CRITICAL COMMENTARY,
AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1961
Language and Literature, modern
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
SELECTED POEMS OF HEMRI VAUGHAN
ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, WITH AH INTRODUCTION,
CRITICAL COMMENTARY, AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
A D issertation
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the
Louisiana State University and
Agricultural and Mechanical College
in m artial fulfillm ent of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
The Department of English
James D* Simmonds
M. A., Melbourne University, 1958
August, 1961
PREFACE
The present study had its inception in 1957 when, dismayed hy
the absence in critical writing on Vaughan of any concerted effort
to discriminate the great frow the mood and the good from the medi­
ocre or worse, I conceived the idea of nutting together what seemed
best in his poetry and of sunporting thi s choice by means of a
conscientious analysis of each selection. I was encouraged to oer-
sist with the project by the enthusiastic resnon.se in itially ac­
corded it by Hr. S. L. Goldberg of the University of Melbourne and
his colleague Mr, W. A. G, Scott, now Professor of English at
Monash University. The task of interpreting and evaluating secular
poems has been enormously lightened by the apooarance of Professor
E. L. M arilla's thoroughly annotated edition, The Secular Poems of
Henry Vaughan (Uppsala: Lundeouistska Bokhandeln; 1958), which has
been of inestimable value in my treatment of the secular pieces in­
cluded here. Projected discussions of four major religious roerns
have been largely anticipated by Professor E. C, Pettet, whose Of
Paradise and Light (Cambridge: At the University Press, i 960)
represents a significant attempt to treat Vaughan's sacred verse
as literatu re. Important precursors of his study are E. L. M arilla's
"The Secular and Religious Poetry of Henry Vaughan," MLQ, IX (De­
cember, 19*fS) , 3 9 ^1 1 , and Professor Frank Kermode's "The Private
Imagery of Henry Vaughan," RES, New Series I (July, 1950), 206-225*
But the undertaking of the present study seems sufficiently vindi­
cated by the fact that in the case of only one poem, "The Night,"
have I had to confess that my projected analysis has in effect
been completely forestalled by the discussions of previous commen-
t P + AT'O
U VV4 *-» a
This volume is in no sense an edition, and the reader should not
take the inclusion of a substantial proportion of Vaughan's poems
as implying assertion of a claim to novelty or independent authori­
ty in the text. In this portion of the study I am. to be credited
with no more than the exercise of critical .judgment involved in
making a selection (though th is, of course, has been guided to some
extent by the canons of general taste exemplified in numerous an­
thologies), and with the risky combination of inference and con­
jecture required by the attempt to achieve a chronological arrange­
ment (see "Note on the Chronology," below). The poems are included
solely for the reader’s convenience, and since the text of Vaughan's
work seems to be now satisfactorily established, I have used the
most authoritative texts available—of the secular poems, that in
E. L. M arilla's edition mentioned above, and of the religious poems,
that in Professor L. C, M artin's second edition of his well known
The Works of Henry Vaughan (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1957).
Both volumes are indispensable aids in the study of Vaughan, and,
anticipating that they w ill be the close companions of anyone
using this selection, I have in general refrained from duplicating
the editors' valuable notes unless the matter has substantial sig­
nificance for my immediate argument or unless I have something to
iii
add to them which w ill scarcely be comprehensible without their
prior quotation or summary. The main purpose of my own notes is to
provide the minimum information necessary for a basic reading of
the poems.
It is conventional practice for selectors to apologize for the
fa llib ility of human judgment by pointing to the obvious unlikeli­
hood of their choice's meeting with universal approval. The present
selection, of course, incorporates no formula likely to protect it
from this professional hazard. It is obvious that in making choices
and especially in the mournful task of reconciling those choices
with inevitable restrictions of soace, time, and labor, the se­
lector w ill be guided to some extent by personal tastes and prefer­
ences, Therefore I make no claim to include here all of Vaughan's
best poetry. For one thing, I include only whole poems, thinking
i t a more valid proceeding to base a critical estimate of Vaughan
on poems which exemplify the fundamental requisite of unity than
to excerpt others for the sake of a few oumle passages which,
though admirable in isolation, bear little congruence to their
poetic contexts. This principle lias excluded several religious
poems which, because of their recrudescent beauties of phrase or
image, have received much favorable notice from other commentators
—e. g. , "Distraction," "The Dawning," "The Bird," "The Timber,"
"Childe-hood," "L1Envoy." My commitment to the reader can therefore
be comparatively simple: to have included only such poems as can
be defended as inherently valuable artistic works according to
generally understood and accepted principles of poetic excellence.
Let me emphasize that I do not believe that as strong a case as
iv
can be made for these selections could not likewise be made for
many poems which the considerations already mentioned have vari­
ous].:,'- impelled me to exclude--e. p., "To Amoret, of the difference
. . "To the River Isca,11 "Monsieur Oonbauld,11 "To the best,
and most accomplish'd Couple—— "The Earle," "To Etesia (for
Timander,) the first Sigh t," "Isaacs Marriage," "Peace," "The Re­
solve," "Easter-day"Ascension-Hymn," "The Garland," "Begging,"
"The Daughter of Heredias,11 "Tears," "looking back."
Lexington, Kentucky J • B • S,
July ?, 1961
ACKNOTLEDGMTS
My thanks are due to the respective editors and publishers for
graciously rem itting my use of m aterials in L. 1. M artin's The
forks of Henry Vaughan and in 3, L, M arilla's The Secular Poems of
Henry Vaughan.
My greatest single debt in this work is to Professor E, L.
Manilla of Louisiana State University who, during our association
in the oast three years, has fostered a ll my scholarly pursuits
through warn oersonal interest and perceptive advice. It was
through our conversations on Vaughan that the format of this volume
mainly took shape, and during r.y work on it he has assisted me con­
tinuously by carefully reading over the manuscript, catching some
mistakes and malcing many valuable sty listic improvements, I am
sim ilarly indebted to Professor V/. J. Olive and Dr. L. A. Sasek,
both of Louisiana State University, who have helped by subjecting
the manuscript to further close scrutiny. My thanks are due like­
wise to the staff of the Margaret I. King Library, University of
Kentucky, who have been most helpful and co-operative in making
books available, and to Miss Martha Grange, Secretary in the English
Department, University of Kentucky, who has enabled me to progress
faster by kindly typing the manuscripts of various articles and
notes which cropped up during the execution of this project.
TABIE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. x iii
SELECTED POEMS
An Elegy 2
. . . . . . • i •
FIDA: Or The Country-beauty: to Lysimachus • 2
* •
The Character, to Etesia 4
a * •
To Etesia m rted from him, and looking back 5
a a a
Etesia absent 5
. . . . . a a •
A Rhapsodis 6
. . . . . • * *
To Lysimachus, the Author being with him in London . 7
To Amoret. The Sigh 8
. . . . a a a
To Amoret, Walking in a Starry Evening 9
. a a «
To Amoret gone from him 10
. « i *
A Song to Amoret . . . . 10
To Amoret xreeping . . . . 11
• • •
UPON THE PRIORIE GROVE, His usuall Retyrement. . . 12
The Charnel-house . . . . 13
* t •
To his friend------ . . . . 14
• • •
To his retired friend, an Invitation to Brecknock . . 16
Uoon a Cloke lent him by Mr. J. Ridsley 18
a a t
The King Disguis'd . . . . 10
To his Learned Friend and Loyal Fellow-Prisoner, Thomas
Powel of Cant. Doctor of Divinity 21
. • • •
The imoortunate Fortune, w ritten to Doctor Powel of
Centre 22
. . . . . . .
To worthy friend Master T. Lewes 2k
r w . * ♦ •
Regeneration 25
. . . . . • « •
Death. A Dialogue 26
. . . . • • •
Religion 2?
. . . . . . * ♦ a
The B rittish Church 29
. . . .
The Lampe 29
. . . . . . * * *
The Showre. 30
. . . . . a a •
The Pursuits 31
. . . . . • t t
Mount of Olives 31
. . . . . • • •
The Incarnation, and Passion 32
a a •
Vanity of S pirit. 32
. . . . a a a
The Retreate 33
. . . . . • a *
/Joy of my life! while le ft me here/ 34
• * a
The Storm 35
. . . . . . • a a
The Moming-watch 35
. . . . • a •
/Silence and stealth of dayes! 1tis now7 36
, a a a
/And do they so? have they a Sense/ 37
a • a
Corruntion . . . . . 38
a a a
vii
H. Scriptures . . . . . . . .38
Unprofitablenes . . . . . . . .3 9
Christs Nativity , . . . . . . .3 9
Idle Verse . . . . . . . . .4 0
The Burial Of an Infant . . . . . . .4*1
Easter Hymn . . . . . . . . .4*1
The Tempest . . . . . . . . .4-2
Love, and Discipline . . . . . . . 4-3
The World . . , . . . . . .4 4
The Constellation . . . . . . . .4 5
Man 46
/I walkt the other day (to spend my hour)7* . . .4 7
/They are a ll gone into the world of .1 i ght]_7 • ■ .4 9
The Proffer . . . . . . . . .5 °
Cock-crowing. . . . . . . . .5 1
The Starre . . . . . . . . .5 2
The Palm-tree . . . . , . . .5 3
The Favour . . . . . . . . .5 3
Love-sick . . . . . . . . .5 4
Trinity-Sunday . . . . . . . .5 4
The Knot . . . . . . . . *55
The dwelling-place. , . . , . . .5 5
The Night . . . . . . . . .56
The W ater-fall . . . . . . . .5 7
Quickness . . . . . . . . .58
The Queer . . . . . . . . .5 8
The Book . . . . . . . . .5 9
The Shower . . . . . . . . .60
The Revival . . . . . . . , . 60
NOTES AND COMMENTARY................................................................................................6l
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................330
viii