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The Vision

by Thomas Traherne
(1636? - 1674) Timeline

Original Language
English

Christian : Protestant
17th Century

Flight is but preparative. The sight
          Is deep and infinite,
Ah me! 'tis all the glory, love, light, space,
          Joy, beauty and variety
That doth adorn the Godhead's dwelling-place;
          'Tis all that eye can see.
Even trades themselves seen in celestial light,
     And cares and sins and woes are bright.

Order the beauty even of beauty is,
          It is the rule of bliss,
The very life and form and cause of pleasure;
          Which if we do not understand,
Ten thousand heaps of vain confused treasure
          Will but oppress the land.
In blessedness itself we that shall miss,
     Being blind, which is the cause of bliss.

First then behold the world as thine, and well
          Note that where thou dost dwell.
See all the beauty of the spacious case,
          Lift up thy pleas'd and ravisht eyes,
Admire the glory of the Heavenly place
          And all its blessings prize.
That sight well seen thy spirit shall prepare,
     The first makes all the other rare.

Men's woes shall be but foils unto thy bliss,
          Thou once enjoying this:
Trades shall adorn and beautify the earth,
          Their ignorance shall make thee bright;
Were not their griefs Democritus his mirth?
          Their faults shall keep thee right:
All shall be thine, because they all conspire
     To feed and make thy glory higher.

To see a glorious fountain and an end,
          To see all creatures tend
To thy advancement, and so sweetly close
          In thy repose: to see them shine
In use, in worth, in service, and even foes
          Among the rest made thine:
To see all these unite at once in thee
     Is to behold felicity.

To see the fountain is a blessed thing,
          It is to see the King
Of Glory face to face: but yet the end,
          The glorious, wondrous end is more;
And yet the fountain there we comprehend,
          The spring we there adore:
For in the end the fountain best is shown,
     As by effects the cause is known.

From one, to one, in one to see all things,
          To see the King of Kings
But once in two; to see His endless treasures     
          Made all mine own, myself the end
Of all his labours! 'Tis the life of pleasures!
          To see myself His friend!
Who all things finds conjoined in Him alone,
     Sees and enjoys the Holy One.

 

 

-- from The Oxford Book of Mystical Verse, Edited by D. H. S. Nicholson / Edited by A. H. E. Lee

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Bliss
  King
  Light
  Lover and Beloved
  Smile


Recommended Books


Enjoying the World: The Rediscovery of Thomas Traherne, by Graham Dowell
The Fountain of Living Waters: The Typology of the Waters of Life in herbert, Vaughan, and Traherne, by Donald R. Dickson
Landscapes of Glory: Daily Readings with Thomas Traherne, by Thomas Traherne
Metaphysical Poetry: (Penguin Classics), Edited by Colin Burrow
Metaphysical Poetry: An Anthology (Dover Thrift Edition), Edited by Paul Negri

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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