Analysis of They are all Gone into the World of Light

Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695



1     They are all gone into the world of light!
2         And I alone sit ling'ring here;
3     Their very memory is fair and bright,
4         And my sad thoughts doth clear.

5     It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast,
6         Like stars upon some gloomy grove,
7     Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest,
8         After the sun's remove.

9     I see them walking in an air of glory,
10       Whose light doth trample on my days:
11   My days, which are at best but dull and hoary,
12       Mere glimmering and decays.

13   O holy Hope! and high Humility,
14       High as the heavens above!
15   These are your walks, and you have show'd them me
16       To kindle my cold love.

17   Dear, beauteous Death! the jewel of the just,
18       Shining nowhere, but in the dark;
19   What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust
20       Could man outlook that mark!

21   He that hath found some fledg'd bird's nest, may know
22       At first sight, if the bird be flown;
23   But what fair well or grove he sings in now,
24       That is to him unknown.

25   And yet as angels in some brighter dreams
26       Call to the soul, when man doth sleep:
27   So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes
28       And into glory peep.

29   If a star were confin'd into a tomb,
30       Her captive flames must needs burn there;
31   But when the hand that lock'd her up, gives room,
32       She'll shine through all the sphere.

33   O Father of eternal life, and all
34       Created glories under thee!
35   Resume thy spirit from this world of thrall
36       Into true liberty.

37   Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill
38       My perspective still as they pass,
39   Or else remove me hence unto that hill,
40       Where I shall need no glass.


Scheme AXAB XXAX CDCD CECE FGFG XHXH IJIJ KXKB LCLC MNMN
Poetic Form Quatrain  (70%)
Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1111010111 01011111 1101001101 011111 1101001101 11011101 1111011111 100101 11110011110 11110111 11111111010 1100001 1101010100 1101001 1111011111 110111 111010101 1011001 1100110111 11111 1111111111 11110111 1111111101 111101 0111001101 11011111 1111011011 001101 1010010101 01011111 1101110111 111101 1101010101 01010101 0111011111 011100 1001111101 10101111 1101111011 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,745
Words 322
Sentences 16
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 12
Letters per stanza (avg) 123
Words per stanza (avg) 50
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 22, 2023

1:39 min read
51

Henry Vaughan

Henry Vaughan was a Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet. Vaughan and his twin brother, the hermetic philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan, were the sons of Thomas Vaughan and his wife Denise of 'Trenewydd', Newton, in Brecknockshire, Wales. Their grandfather, William, was the owner of Tretower Court. Vaughan spent most of his life in the village of Llansantffraed, near Brecon, where he is also buried. more…

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