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Annalysis of poem quickness by henry vaughan

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Please explain the poem "The Retreat."

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ANSLEYCLARK eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

This poem explores the nature of humanity's regret, longing, and suffering. One of the most interesting moments in this poem occurs in the third line: "Before I understood this place..." "This place" refers to earth, and this line implies that the speaker wishes understanding earth means understanding that life on earth inherently involves pain and suffering.

Later Vaughan tells us that he wishes to return to his state before life on earth:

Before I taught my tongue to wound

My conscience with a sinful sound,

Or had the black art to dispense

A several sin to every sense

While on a religious level these lines certainly refer to returning to the soul's purity, they also imply self-loathing and pain. Vaughan's speaker has most likely done and said things that he regrets. He attributes this pain almost entirely to his own "sins," i.e his mistakes. He refers to these sins or mistakes as being evil and a part of the black arts. He also links them to his senses, or to his physical self. This makes sense as a big part of Christianity, or at least Christianity back in the day, was concerned with avoiding the "sins of the flesh": the sins of physical indulgence, such as sex, alcohol, and food. This led to a lot shame surrounding one's physical body.

Thus, this poem deals with not only a longing to return to the soul's pure state with God, but also with a very human speaker who is full of pain and regret.