Analysis of The Dwelling-Place

Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695



What happy secret fountain,
Fair shade or mountain,
Whose undiscovered virgin glory
Boasts it this day, though not in story,
Was then thy dwelling? Did some cloud,
Fixed to a tent, descend a shroud
My distressed Lord? Or did a star,
Beckoned by Thee, though high and far,
In sparkling smiles haste gladly down
To lodge light and increase her own?
My dear, dear God! I do not know
What lodged Thee then, nor where, nor how;
But I am sure Thou dost now come
Oft to a narrow, homely room,
Where Thou too hast but the least part:
My God, I mean my sinful heart.


Scheme AABBCCDDEFGHIJKK
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010 11110 10101010 111111010 11110111 11010101 10111101 10111101 01011101 11100101 11111111 11111111 11111111 11010101 11111011 11111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 563
Words 111
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 430
Words per stanza (avg) 106
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 09, 2023

33 sec read
153

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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