The Storm

Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695



I SEE the use : and know my blood
       Is not a sea,
But a shallow, bounded flood,
       Though red as he ;
Yet have I flows, as strong as his,
       And boiling streams that rave
With the same curling force, and hiss,
       As doth the mountain'd wave.
2.

But when his waters billow thus,
       Dark storms, and wind
Incite them to that fierce discuss,
       Else not inclin'd,
Thus the enlarg'd, enragèd air
       Uncalms these to a flood ;
But still the weather that's most fair
       Breeds tempests in my blood.
3.

Lord, then round me with weeping clouds,
       And let my mind
In quick blasts sigh beneath those shrouds,
       A spirit-wind ;
So shall that storm purge this recluse
       Which sinful ease made foul,
And wind and water to Thy use
       Both wash and wing my soul.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

42 sec read
118

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABXCXCD EFEFGAGAD HFHFIXIX
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 804
Words 136
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 8

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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