Midterm Paper on “The Retreat” by Henry Vaughan PDF

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Teacher: Dr. McAllister...

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Pond 1 Nicholas M. Pond Doctor McAllister ENG 224 A – 17th Century British Literature Wednesday, November 30, 2016 Paper #1 The Retreat The concept of the Neoplatonic soul relates to childhood and the innocence of the Garden of Eden in “The Retreat” by Henry Vaughan. The poem involves a speaker who is growing maturely, but retreating into his childhood and innocence. The main theory presented is that we have direct knowledge of heaven, God, truth and beauty. Vaughan suggests many ideas on innocence and childhood. Vaughan also provides a central theme that can be relatable for readers. When the Vaughan uses the metaphor “Shined in my angel infancy”, it most nearly means that he used to be invested in God. Vaughan misses all of heavenly aspects that Earth has to offer. As a child we tend to appreciate and see that everything around us has beauty. “Appointed for my second race”, this quote refers to the idea that when were in the stage of innocence we don’t fully understand the world we live in. He enjoys reminiscing on the past and being captured by something beautiful for instance a cloud or flower as stated in the poem as “Could see a glimpse of His bright face; When on some gilded cloud or flower.” He also witnesses “Some shadows of eternity,” which incorporates the concept of the Neoplatonic soul and vision hiding all that is heavenly. The concept involves the idea of the speaker’s soul entering his body and the lost vision of heaven, God, truth and beauty. Sometimes we capture our soul through our visual beauty, experience of love, poetry or music. When we lose the heavenly vision, we start to see things through our senses. In conclusion, Vaughan’s main point in this poem is that innocence of a child is divinity in itself. As we mature and grow we become more experienced and aware of evil things that

Pond 2 enter our mind. Vaughan stated in the poem “My conscience with a sinful sound, Or had the black art to dispense,” which means that as we become adults we find ways to sin through each sense, such as, through taste comes gluttony. Vaughan ends the poem by using personification and stating “And when his dust falls to the urn, In that state I came, return.” This most nearly means that Vaughan feels that he can only reach the state of innocence and be able to reside with God when he returns as a soul, once again to heaven. When we grow and move beyond the stage of innocence we lose our sense of the heavenly vision and start to leave our childhood behind. When we think back to our childhood and time of innocence Vaughan states that we’re momentarily snatching our souls out of the body which is essentially ecstasy. When we do this we are bringing back the heavenly vision as we once knew it....