Analysis of Friends Departed
Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695
They are all gone into the world of light!
And I alone sit ling'ring here;
Their very memory is fair and bright,
And my sad thoughts doth clear.
It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast,
Like stars upon some gloomy grove,
Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest
After the sun's remove.
I see them walking in an air of glory,
Whose light doth trample on my days:
My days, which are at best but dull and hoary,
Mere glimmering and decays.
O holy Hope! and high Humility,
High as the heavens above!
These are your walks, and you have show'd them me,
To kindle my cold love.
Dear, beauteous Death! the jewel of the Just,
Shining nowhere, but in the dark;
What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust,
Could man outlook that mark!
He that hath found some fledg'd bird's nest may know,
At first sight, if the bird be flown;
But what fair well or grove he sings in now,
That is to him unknown.
And yet as Angels in some brighter dreams
Call to the soul, when man doth sleep:
So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes,
And into glory peep.
If a star were confin'd into a tomb,
Her captive flames must needs burn there;
But when the hand that lock'd her up gives room,
She'll shine through all the sphere.
O Father of eternal life, and all
Created glories under Thee!
Resume Thy spirit from this world of thrall
Into true liberty.
Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill
My perspective still as they pass:
Or else remove me hence unto that hill,
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 | 1,493 |
Words | 282 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 116 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 21, 2023
- 1:27 min read
- 189 Views
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"Friends Departed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18426/friends-departed>.
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