Henry Vaughan: Voices of Eternity in Two Poems
- Ken Kalis
- Oct 6
- 4 min read
I knew about heaven when I was two years old, but I didn't want to go there (at least not then).
Mine was a child's understanding of pearly gates and streets of gold.
I met Henry Vaughan at Rutgers, and he changed my vision and understanding.
These poems are examples of the Sublime and Holy.
You will understand heaven in a glorious, sanctified way as you read.
Introduction
Henry Vaughan: The Silurist and His Vision of Eternity
Henry Vaughan (1621–1695), known as “the Silurist” after the ancient Welsh tribe of his homeland, stands among the great metaphysical poets of England. A physician by trade and a poet by calling, Vaughan turned to writing sacred verse after a spiritual awakening in mid-life.
Read more Christian poems and poetry at my blog: https://www.kenkalis.com/blog
His poetry, deeply influenced by George Herbert (1593-1611), overflows with imagery of light, eternity, and the soul’s yearning for God.
Today we look at two of his most enduring works: “They Are All Gone into the World of Light” and “My Soul, There Is a Country.”
“They Are All Gone into the World of Light”
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!
This is not the despair of someone crushed by mortality, but the vision of a believer who sees beyond the veil. Vaughan calls death “the jewel of the just” — a doorway into light, echoing Paul’*s (5-67) cry in 1 Corinthians 15:55: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
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“My Soul, There Is a Country”
My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingèd sentry
All skillful in the wars.
There, above noise and danger,
Sweet peace sits, crown’d with smiles,
And one born in a manger
Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious friend,
And (O my soul, awake!)
Did in pure love descend
To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
There grows the flow’r of peace,
The rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortress, and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure,
But One, who never changes,
Thy God, thy life, thy cure.
This poem is a call to the soul — a summons to forsake the noise of earth and seek the country “far beyond the stars.” Christ, the “one born in a manger,” is both the Captain of salvation (Hebrews 2:10) and the everlasting refuge for the weary heart.
Conclusion
Henry Vaughan’s voice rings across the centuries with clarity and consolation. In “They Are All Gone into the World of Light” he gives us a vision of death not as an end, but as a radiant passage. In “My Soul, There Is a Country” he directs us to our true homeland in Christ* (4BC - 30AD) the eternal fortress of peace.
Together, these poems remind us that, as Hebrews 13:14 says, “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”
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Jesus is waiting for us there as He promised:
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
I am planning on seeing you there!
WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessèd
He’ll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!
While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when traveling days are over,
Not a shadow not a sigh.
Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.
Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.
Eliza E. Hewitt, 1898
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2
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This verse from John is one of the most comforting to me. Jesus assures us that if it were NOT so He would have told us. This means the "default drive" of my expectations is His goodness and best for me! Hallelujah!
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