Henry Vaughan (April 17, 1622-April 23, 1695) was an English physician and poet, who was born in Wales. After receiving an education at Jesus College, Oxford, he practiced medicine in Brecon. Many of his best poems, such as “The Retreate,” “The Sap” and “I walkt the other day” are included in his collection titled, Silex Scintillans, 1655.
In his poem, The Night, Henry Vaughan wrote:
<Dear Night! This world's defeat;
The stop to busy fool; care’s check and curb;
The day of spirits; my soul’s calm retreat
Which none disturb!
Christ’s progress, and His prayer-time;
The hours to which high Heaven doth chime.> 1622HV001
In Peace, st. I, Henry Vaughan wrote:
<My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars
Where stands a winged sentry
All skillful in the wars:
There, above noise and danger,
Sweet Peace is crowned with smiles,
And One born in a manger
Commands the beauteous files.> 1622HV002
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1622HV001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Henry Vaughan, 1655, in Silex Scintillans, The Night, line 25. John Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 298.
1622HV002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Henry Vaughan, 1655, in Silex Scintillans, Peace, st. I. John Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 299.
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