I've decided to join this channel as a way to finally start studying literature this 2024 and this was an amazing analysis of this poem. I'm excited for this. Thanks.
Perhaps not you yet but for us it is common to wish to be young again. Of course here Vaughan is asking for more than youth, as you point out, he wants to recapture innocence and purity. However, more than anything else - and I will vouch for him on this point - leaving life is a big big step even for the most dedicated believer.
I profoundly admire what you do here. I stand in awe of the way you think through every word you utter. I find it both alluring and edifying. I do not usually read poetry, so I deeply believe the way you shed light on the pieces of poetry you bring to the table makes it clear for a layperson like myself. So, thank you so much for it all.
I am a classical voice student whose main area of study is the interplay of poetry and music in performance, but I have a deep appreciation of poetry for its own sake and like to write a bit myself. Thank you for this deeper look at a poet whose work I admire both as a source of inspiration in my own writings and as a source of texts for voice pieces. Deep dives like this always yield awesome knowledge.
Thanks so much for all you are doing with your channel. I have been working my way through your videos, committing to close read a poem daily. Though now I've become entranced by George Herbert's poetry. Your close reading style has made all the difference for me. And the Bible as Literature series -very much appreciated also.
Thank you for doing this. I am becoming fascinated by C17th poetry. I am glad that you evidently feel the same. It’s amazing what came out of such a tempestuous period.
Adam mate, this was fantastische! I started writing under the influence of guys like Bukowski and Simic, though I was raised Lutheran and deeply exposed to Scripture and steeped in Shakespeare vis a vie the theatre, it wasn't till later in life that I started to investigate the larger cannon of English poetry. This course of yours has been a "Balm in Gilead for me." Keep it up young sir...your doing the work of the Lord!
Hi Adam, another excellent video. There are two comments I would make. The first is a biographical detail that both Herbert and Vaughan were Welsh poets, not English. I don’t know how much their national identity would have influenced them, but I believe Welsh was Vaughan’s mother-tongue and English was acquired later. The second is that the ‘second race’ can be read (in addition to a state of pre-existence before birth, or as childhood) as his immediate post-conversion zeal. We know his conversion was a highly significant life event for him, and reading the poem from this perspective works very well. Thank you once again.
Another wonderful close reading! Thank you! Just a minor note: although in one sense John did write the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 3 - 4, he was really just a scribe of the letters as he was instructed to write down what was spoken to him by the ascended Christ.
I'm deeply appreciative of the time and effort you put into these videos, particularly when it comes to videos like this that bring a new poem to my attention. Thank you. My initial thought on "The Retreat" is that it reminds me of the great lamentation psalms only whereas the psalmist often complains about outside forces doing him harm, here the poet Vaughn complains that he himself is the cause of his own distress and the distance from his "first love." I will also from now on refer to gym time as trimming my "fleshly dress."
I discovered your channel recently and just wanted to thank you for making a lot of your videos available for free. I'm a grad student of history with a focus on US and German history. Not being from the US, your videos are so helpful for me to gain more insight into the language and references I encounter in my primary sources, and they're just so fun to watch as someone who used to love poetry in high school but took a different route for university. I saw that you've taught courses on modern pop lyrics so if you take suggestions from your comments I'd love a peek into that as well-especially as Valentine's day is coming up and Taylor Swift will be occupying my playlists for the foreseeable future! :)
Origen writes about the preexistence of the soul. I am an orthodox Christian and I can confirm that we do not teach it and it is considered heresy. The idea does have Christian and Neoplatonist origins though.
I've decided to join this channel as a way to finally start studying literature this 2024 and this was an amazing analysis of this poem. I'm excited for this. Thanks.
So glad you're here!
Perhaps not you yet but for us it is common to wish to be young again. Of course here Vaughan is asking for more than youth, as you point out, he wants to recapture innocence and purity. However, more than anything else - and I will vouch for him on this point - leaving life is a big big step even for the most dedicated believer.
I profoundly admire what you do here. I stand in awe of the way you think through every word you utter. I find it both alluring and edifying. I do not usually read poetry, so I deeply believe the way you shed light on the pieces of poetry you bring to the table makes it clear for a layperson like myself. So, thank you so much for it all.
Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you're here.
Thank you for the introduction to Henry Vaughan. I hadn’t heard the name before; the poem is beautiful
The child is father to the man. Nice commentary on a great poet who should never go out of fashion.
I am a classical voice student whose main area of study is the interplay of poetry and music in performance, but I have a deep appreciation of poetry for its own sake and like to write a bit myself. Thank you for this deeper look at a poet whose work I admire both as a source of inspiration in my own writings and as a source of texts for voice pieces. Deep dives like this always yield awesome knowledge.
This is a masterpiece. Professionally, you explained the poem with a high level of accuracy. I've found it really useful. Keep going ❤️
Thanks so much for all you are doing with your channel. I have been working my way through your videos, committing to close read a poem daily. Though now I've become entranced by George Herbert's poetry. Your close reading style has made all the difference for me. And the Bible as Literature series -very much appreciated also.
Thank you for your videos; they're made with such love and intelligence ! Enlightening ☘
Thank you for doing this. I am becoming fascinated by C17th poetry. I am glad that you evidently feel the same. It’s amazing what came out of such a tempestuous period.
Lovely video, Adam! Thanks for kindly sharing it with us!
Cheers from Brazil!
You bring a deep clarity and profound knowledge to literature and great inspiring love, thank you. I am the writer David Plante
Adam mate, this was
fantastische!
I started writing under the influence of guys like
Bukowski and Simic, though I was raised Lutheran and deeply exposed to Scripture and steeped in Shakespeare
vis a vie the theatre, it wasn't till later in life that I started to investigate the larger cannon of English poetry. This course of yours has been a "Balm in Gilead for me." Keep it up young sir...your doing the work of the Lord!
It was very interesting and exciting to learn something new about English poetry. Thank you so much!🥰
Hi Adam, another excellent video. There are two comments I would make. The first is a biographical detail that both Herbert and Vaughan were Welsh poets, not English. I don’t know how much their national identity would have influenced them, but I believe Welsh was Vaughan’s mother-tongue and English was acquired later. The second is that the ‘second race’ can be read (in addition to a state of pre-existence before birth, or as childhood) as his immediate post-conversion zeal. We know his conversion was a highly significant life event for him, and reading the poem from this perspective works very well. Thank you once again.
Excellent points, Robert. Thank you!
Another wonderful close reading! Thank you! Just a minor note: although in one sense John did write the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 3 - 4, he was really just a scribe of the letters as he was instructed to write down what was spoken to him by the ascended Christ.
"I feel that way after too much social media" made by laugh out loud, nice video thanks.
I'm deeply appreciative of the time and effort you put into these videos, particularly when it comes to videos like this that bring a new poem to my attention. Thank you.
My initial thought on "The Retreat" is that it reminds me of the great lamentation psalms only whereas the psalmist often complains about outside forces doing him harm, here the poet Vaughn complains that he himself is the cause of his own distress and the distance from his "first love."
I will also from now on refer to gym time as trimming my "fleshly dress."
I discovered your channel recently and just wanted to thank you for making a lot of your videos available for free. I'm a grad student of history with a focus on US and German history. Not being from the US, your videos are so helpful for me to gain more insight into the language and references I encounter in my primary sources, and they're just so fun to watch as someone who used to love poetry in high school but took a different route for university.
I saw that you've taught courses on modern pop lyrics so if you take suggestions from your comments I'd love a peek into that as well-especially as Valentine's day is coming up and Taylor Swift will be occupying my playlists for the foreseeable future! :)
I'll keep that in mind! Could be fun to closely read some Taylor Swift.
i follow your videos from morocco thank u
Спасибо за видео!
the prosody of this poetry reminds me of King Solomon's Song of Songs
Second race could easily mean the born again experience..the celestial man ..maybe
Origen writes about the preexistence of the soul. I am an orthodox Christian and I can confirm that we do not teach it and it is considered heresy. The idea does have Christian and Neoplatonist origins though.
If it is important for the rhyme to pronounce "infancy" such that it rhymes with "I", why not do it?
Just a personal preference! I believe it's better to speak the poetry aloud in your own dialect.
Clark Kent vibes
And here I thought it was about being gay! LOL
Hahahahha lmao 🤣😭