The Retreat

By Henry Vaughan (1621 - 1695)

Happy those early days! when I
Shined in my angel-infancy,
Before I understood this place
Appointed for my second race,
Or taught my soul to fancy ought
But a white, celestial thought;
When yet I had not walked above
A mile or two from my first love,
And looking back—at that short space—
Could see a glimpse of His bright face;
When on some gilded cloud, or flower,
My gazing soul would dwell an hour,
And in those weaker glories spy
Some shadows of eternity;
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,
But felt through all this fleshy dress
Bright shoots of everlastingness.
Oh how I long to travel back,
And tread again that ancient track!
That I might once more reach that plain,
Where first I left my glorious train;
From whence the enlightened spirit sees
That shady city of palm trees.
But ah! my soul with too much stay
Is drunk, and staggers in the way.
Some men a forward motion love,
But I by backward steps would move
And when this dust falls to the urn,
In that state I came, return.

1- Who's the speaker and who's speaking to?
The Poet, in this case, it's the speaker of the poem.
2- Type of vocabulary (loving, violent, angry, etc)
The vocabulary it's very educated, intellectual, for a person who are reffering about his life.
3- Alliterations, metaphors, comparisons, assonances, personifications.
Alliterations:
- Or taught my soul to fancy aught
- When yet I had not walk'd above
- A mile or two form my first Love.
- Before I taught my tongue to wound
Metaphors:
- Some shadows of eternity.
- Before I taught my tongue to wound.
- My Consciece with a sinful sound.
- But felt through all this fleshly dress.
- That shady City of Palm-Trees.
- Where first I left my glorious train
- And tread again that ancient track!
- And when this dust falls to the run.
Assonances:
- Before I understood this place
Appointed for my second race.
- And looking back at that short space
Could see a glimpse of his bright face.
- Or had the black art to dispense
A several sin to ev'ry sense
- That I might gain that ancient train
where first I left my Glorious train.

4- What's the poem about?
The poem is about life, a life's reflection, things you did things you couldn't do. It's a remembrance about the long way or track that life is. I think he knows that sometimes he is going to die, so he looks back in his life and try to tell us his opinion.

In my opinion,I think this is a beautiful poem in which you can give yourself the time to think about you personal view of life, about your achievements and failures, the poet recognizes the life after death, "and when this dust falls to the urn, in that state I came, return",this poem has a lot of metaphors, so it is interesting to the reader. I like it so much indeed.

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of Annabel Lee;And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,In this kingdom by the sea:But we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee;So that her high-born kinsmen cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up in a sepulchreIn this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,Went envying her and me - Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,In this kingdom by the sea)That the wind came out of the cloud one night,Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we - Of many far wiser than we - And neither the angels in heaven above,Nor the demons down under the sea,Can ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling -my darling -my life and my bride,In the sepulchre there by the sea - In her tomb by the sounding sea.