They Are All Gone into The World of Light by Henry Vaughan | Summary, Analysis

 They Are All Gone into The World of Light by Henry Vaughan | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

They Are All Gone into The World of Light is a metaphysical poem by Henry Vaughan who expressed his personal loss and ensuing feelings in this poem. He wrote this poem after the death of one of his close friends and he expresses his sadness and loneliness.

The poem begins with the pronoun ‘They’ followed by ‘all.’ It suggests that the poet may be talking about anyone. He may be talking about great saints and prophets, lost kings and soldiers, known and unknown faces, friends and foes. Thus, the reader is drawn into an act of mourning.

Poem Structure

The poem contains 40 lines arranged in 10 stanzas. Each stanza contains four lines or quatrains. The rhyming scheme is simple and clear abab. Most of the lines of the poem are arranged in an iambic pentameter scheme however, some of the lines are in iambic trimeter.

The main expression of the poem is loneliness and sadness as the poet has lost his close ones to death and he is mourning his loss. The poem is a meditation on death. The poet juxtaposes the blissful world of light that follows death against the world of darkness and confusion and loneliness that is the fate of living beings. Thus, the poem has the theme of the afterlife.

First Stanza

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.

The poet begins with a remembrance of those that he lost to death. He describes them as having gone to the world of light, that is heaven or the ring of eternity. The poet is feeling lonely, sad, and aimless, ‘ling’ring’ here in the living world. The poet is not sad because his close friends are dead now, but he is sad because he is still unable to join them in the world of light. The memories he has are soothing and they clear his mind and thoughts.

Second Stanza

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.

The poet continues to describe the good memories of his old friends and close relatives that he has lost. He suggests that their memories are so soothing and strong that they invigorate him. Those visions follow him throughout the day and appear like stars removing the darkness of a dense forest. Those memories are like those rays of light that manages to reach the hilltop even after the sunset.

Third Stanza

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.

The poet suggests that the good old memories of his friends and relatives that he has lost to death are so strong that they appear real to him. He sees them walking in an air of glory as if they are alive while he, even though he is alive, appears dead to himself. He expresses his current situation as dull days that are gradually losing their light and are decaying.

Fourth Stanza

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.

The poet changes the narrative in the fourth stanza as he addresses the divine power that has made it possible for him to observe these outward visions, experience these memories or dreams that are more real than real. He addresses God as holy Hope and high Humility. The poet mentions that this Godly act has saved his heart by warming it up.

The poet suggests that God is responsible for the ‘walks’ that he observes in his visions. The poet isn’t thanking God for this miracle, but he acknowledges it. For him, these visions are like a mirage that he wants to achieve, but cannot.

Fifth Stanza

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!

In the fifth stanza, the poet addresses Death as the beautiful glorious jewel of right and just. The poet is enchanted by the mysteries beyond death, that is, the Afterlife. The poet asks if a living man can anyhow, come to know the secrets of Afterlife, life beyond death? Death is beauteous for the poet that shines in the dark because it is the boundary beyond which lies the treasure of mysteries that he wants to explore.

Sixth Stanza

He that hath found some fledg’d bird’s nest, may know

At first sight, if the bird be flown;

But what fair well or grove he sings in now,

That is to him unknown.

In the previous stanza, the poet described the death as a beautiful glorious jewel of justice. In the sixth stanza, the poet uses a metaphor to explain the beauty of death and man’s inability to see it.

The poet compares the search for the quest of death to looking into a bird’s nest to find the bird. But when the man looks into the nest, he finds that the bird has already flown away.

Just a glance at the nest will inform the man that the bird is no more in the nest, but he cannot get the answer for the quest, where the bird is singing now? The poet is enamored by the bliss of Afterlife that he can observe in his vision but cannot achieve.

Seventh Stanza

And yet as angels in some brighter dreams

Call to the soul, when man doth sleep:

So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes

And into glory peep.

The poet explains that one cannot feel the bliss of Afterlife without encountering death, a man can't understand the nature of death. Yet, there are moments when one gets a feeling of Divine. It happens when Angels help man by bringing some divine dreams and vision during his sleep. The angels bring some strange thoughts into the mind of a man as he sleeps. These unknown thoughts or visions transcend the normal life of a person to the glory of the afterlife.

Eighth Stanza

If a star were confin’d into a tomb,

Her captive flames must needs burn there;

But when the hand that lock’d her up, gives room,

She’ll shine through all the sphere.

The poet again uses a metaphor to explain how God helps men and allows them to flourish or die. He talks of a ‘star’ confined in a tomb. If the star is given the freedom to burn and thrive, it will shine throughout the sphere and will not remain confined within the tomb.

Ninth Stanza

O Father of eternal life, and all

Created glories under thee!

Resume thy spirit from this world of thrall

Into true liberty.

In the ninth quatrain, the poet starts developing the conclusion. He again addresses God as ‘Father of eternal life.’ He begs God to allow him and those like him to let them experience true liberty within this world. The liberty that his friend and relatives enjoy in the afterlife, he begs to have it while he is alive. He compares himself to the star confined in the tomb. The poet feels trapped by his life and he asks for more room to breathe, shine, and thrall. He begs God to bring him closer to the Divine to experience true liberty.

Tenth Stanza

Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill

My perspective still as they pass,

Or else remove me hence unto that hill,

Where I shall need no glass.

In the tenth stanza, the poet concludes his lamentation. He begs God to either clear the haze and confusion in his life and allow him to experience the bliss of true freedom. If it is not possible for a man to experience the divine without confronting death, the poet then asks God to let him in the Afterlife where everything will be clear and bright.

So this is it about They Are All Gone to The World of Light. We will continue to discuss a few more poems by Henry Vaughan. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!