Thomas Traherne was probably one of the most talented poets of the 17th century. Although his work was not discovered until the 19th, even then it was not appreciated to its full value. Trahernes works are on the level of John Milton, the famous author of Paradise Lost. It is very unjust however, to judge one poet on the standards of another. Each authors work should be judged individually. Free of any influence from another authors work.
Graham Parry, Writing in his book, Seventeenth Century Poetry, states that Traherne's works record `the essentials of a life of praise and delight within a recovered Eden'1 This underlying theme of Paradise was one that was to dominate the mid-seventeenth century. It is not chance that Traherne and Milton emerged from the same period. Amidst the fervent atmosphere of the English Civil War there was much expectation that Christ would return to restore an Earthly Paradise. At a time when institution was collapsing many of the creative minds in England sought God outside the structure of established religion. This new search for God through truth and good, a quest to find an inner spiritual Paradise, is an important feature of Traherne's poetry.
One of the methods by which Traherne conveys the notion of an inner Paradise is through the innocence of infancy. In `Wonder'2 Traherne returns to the naive state of childhood in which he perceives all he sees around him as beautiful: `How like an angel I came down! / How bright are all things here!' . Traherne recalls the vision of an infant, returning to a state which `precedes the knowledge of good and evil'.3 There is a sense of the child viewing the world from a pure unblemished perspective, that differentiates `Wonder' from other poems in which Traherne sees Eden through the eyes of adult meditation.
It is important to remember that a poem such as `Wonder' is reflective. What we read are not the uncultivated words of the child but an interpretati on of an innocent vision made by the adult Traherne. It is only as a grown man that Traherne is able to describe his vision as angelic. As a child who possessed this angelic vision he would have no ability to step outside his experience and recognise it as such. Now as an adult, Traherne sees this as an ideal way of viewing the world - with an innocent mind uncluttered by evil. As children we automatically see the world in these terms, our vision is free from `Oppressions, tears and cries / Sins, griefs, complaints, dissensions, weeping eyes.' It is through these eyes, not rose but innocence-tinted spectacles, that Traherne wants to see the world.
If we contrast Traherne's poetry with a poem such as Herbert's `Vertue'7 many differences become evident. As with Traherne, Herbert experiences a sense of wonder - `sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright.' It is this calmness that distinguishes the two poets. There is not the frenzied activity, jumping from image to image. He rbert moves slowly towards a conclusion, rather than listing abstract concepts he employs metaphors such as his description of the soul: `Like season'd timber, never gives; '. References to ordinary objects, a perfume box or a section of timber, would seem inappropriate to Traherne's verse that operates on a plane far removed from the everyday. Herbert is able to blend more physical images within a spiritual poem whose central theme is the virtuosity of the soul. The final line of `Vertue' reaches a definite conclusion: though our lives are transient and we `all must die' the last words reverse this notion: `But the whole world turns to coal / Then chiefly lives.' Traherne and Herbert take contrasting paths to reach a similar destination: a final transcendent image of spiritual resurrection.
Typically, Traherne is not trying to offer simple answers. The reader is not allowed to settle on any of the images the poet himself is reflecting. When reading we become sucked in by the poet's rhetorical questions: `Are lofty Heavens hurl'd / 'Bout your inferior World?' . The final image of a transcendent state is infused with a sense of emptiness and expectation. We are left, like Traherne, peering into the water for those `unknown Joys'.
The poetry of Thomas Traherne provides an important insight into the workings of a creative mind in the mid-seventeenth century. Emerging from one of the bleakest periods in English history it is somewhat surprising that Traherne's poems are characterized by a strong sense of joy and a celebration of the world around him.
The traditional literary vision of Paradise comes from the pen of John Milton. His meticulously crafted epic reflects the period in which it was constructed and its dark cynicism conveys the bitterness of an angry man who had experienced the cruelties of the world. Traherne offers a fresh perspective. He lives in an Earthly Paradise and sees the splendours of the world through the eye s of a child. Miltons Paradise is lost slowly, painfully and with precise calculation. Traherne's Paradise is rediscovered through the spontaneity and the nervous energy of his child-like mind.
The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White is a senior writer and Writers consultant at term papers. Get some useful tips for thesis Writing and term paper Writing .
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