Thou, whose sad heart, and weeping head lyes low,
Whose Cloudy brest cold damps invade,
Who never feel'st the Sun, nor smooth'st thy brow,
But sitt'st oppressed in the shade,
Awake, awake,
And in his Resurrection partake,
Who on this day (that thou might'st rise as he,)
Rose up, and cancell'd two deaths due to thee.
Awake, awake; and, like the Sun, disperse
All mists that would usurp this day;
Where are thy Palmes, thy branches, and thy verse?
Hosanna! heark; and dost thou stay?
Arise, arise,
And with his healing bloud anoint thine Eys,
Thy inward Eys; his bloud will cure thy mind,
Whose spittle only could restore the blind.
Several things are worth noting about this poem. First, in the poem, Vaughan makes some interesting use of weather-related metaphors. Notice how in the first stanza, addressing the unspecified subject of the poem, Vaughan speaks of his (or her) "cloudy brest," which is invaded by "cold damps." He (or she) "never feel'st ths Sun." All of these phrases evoke gloominess. In contrast, in the second stanza, Vaughan urges the addressee of the poem to awake and "like the Sun, disperse/All mists that would usurp this day." Second, Vaughan employs some theological language by speaking of "two deaths due to thee." What he is referring to here is the Christian doctrine that Adam's disobedience to God resulted in two types of death for him and his descendants: physical death (separation of the spirit from the body) and spiritual death (separation from God). Christ's resurrection (and, it is implied, His death) has "cancell'd" these two deaths for the believer, so that physical death now leads to eternal life and spiritual death is replaced with communion with God. Third, by referring to "[Christ's] healing bloud," Vaughan, while writing about the Resurrection, seems to make an indirect reference to the Crucifixion and the spiritual "healing" accomplished by Christ's death. Finally, Vaughan ends his poem with something rather unexpected--rather typical of the "metaphysical poets"--a reference to "spittle"! Here he is alluding to the account in Mark 8:22-26 of Jesus healing a blind man by using His own spit (and perhaps to John 9:6, where the author tells us that Jesus mixed his spit with some dirt to create mud, which He then used to heal a blind man). This final image is both striking and totally surprising to the reader.
I hope this brief analysis adds to my readers' appreciation of Vaughan's wonderful poem. Let me close this blogpost with a wish for all of you, my readers: may you have a joyous Easter!
Image: "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ" by Piero della Francesca (1415-1492), from Wikimedia Commons