As Time One Day by me did Pass



AS Time one day by me did pass,
             Through a large dusky glass
             He held, I chanc'd to look,
             And spied his curious book
Of past days, where sad Heav'n did shed
A mourning light upon the dead.

Many disorder'd lives I saw,
             And foul records, which thaw
             My kind eyes still, but in
             A fair, white page of thin
And ev'n, smooth lines, like the sun's rays,
Thy name was writ, and all thy days.

O bright and happy kalendar !
             Where youth shines like a star
             All pearl'd with tears, and may
             Teach age the holy way ;
Where through thick pangs, high agonies,
Faith into life breaks, and Death dies.

As some meek night-piece which day quails,
             To candle-light unveils :
             So by one beamy line
             From thy bright lamp, did shine
In the same page thy humble grave,
Set with green herbs, glad hopes and brave.

Here slept my thought's dear mark !  which dust
             Seem'd to devour, like rust ;
             But dust—I did observe—
             By hiding doth preserve ;
As we for long and sure recruits,
Candy with sugar our choice fruits.

O calm and sacred bed, where lies
             In death's dark mysteries
             A beauty far more bright
             Than the noon's cloudless light ;
For whose dry dust green branches bud,
And robes are bleach'd in the Lamb's blood.

Sleep, happy ashes !—blessed sleep !—
             While hapless I still weep ;
             Weep that I have outliv'd
             My life, and unreliev'd
Must—soullesse shadow !—so live on,
Though life be dead, and my joys gone.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

1:19 min read
86

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCC DDEEFF GGHHIJ KKLLMM NNOOPP JIQQRR SSXXXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,665
Words 252
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

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…

All Henry Vaughan poems | Henry Vaughan Books

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