“Observe God in His works”*: Mystical Via Media in Henry Vaughan’s Silex Scintillans
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England were marked, among many other
theological debates, by the religious controversy over human culpability in the matter of
salvation. The Protestant reformers contested the Catholic veneration of exterior objects and
practices such as indulgences and penance with the claim that one could attain God’s grace
only by putting one’s faith in it. The seventeenth-century English poet Henry Vaughan (1621-
1695) reacts to this controversy in his poetry collection entitled Silex Scintillans (1655) from
an unprecedented perspective. Acknowledged both as a metaphysical poet and a proto-
Romantic, Vaughan’s speakers in the collection observe nature as the sole mediator that can
enable the pious believer to reach the eternal Truth or God. In this respect, they recognise the
Protestant scepticism of any intermediaries while at the same time, they transform nature itself
into a sacrament through which redemption becomes possible. That is, they posit themselves
partly as Catholic believers who regard nature as a means to learn if they are saved by God and
partly as Protestant believers who reject any ornamental medium between God and human
beings. Through an elevated depiction of the natural world, the collection contributes to the
early modern concept of via media employed by the Anglican bishop Joseph Hall to make
peace between the opposing religious sects of the period. Thus, the major aim of this paper is
to argue that in Silex Scintillans Henry Vaughan creates a discourse of mystical via media by
mediating between Catholicism and Protestantism through an envisioning of nature as the only
sacrament through which the collection’s speakers believe they could attain salvation.
Anahtar Kelimeler:
Henry Vaughan, Silex Scintillans, via media, nature, sacraments
“Observe God in His works”*: Mystical Via Media in Henry Vaughan’s Silex Scintillans
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England were marked, among many other
theological debates, by the religious controversy over human culpability in the matter of
salvation. The Protestant reformers contested the Catholic veneration of exterior objects and
practices such as indulgences and penance with the claim that one could attain God’s grace
only by putting one’s faith in it. The seventeenth-century English poet Henry Vaughan (1621-
1695) reacts to this controversy in his poetry collection entitled Silex Scintillans (1655) from
an unprecedented perspective. Acknowledged both as a metaphysical poet and a proto-
Romantic, Vaughan’s speakers in the collection observe nature as the sole mediator that can
enable the pious believer to reach the eternal Truth or God. In this respect, they recognise the
Protestant scepticism of any intermediaries while at the same time, they transform nature itself
into a sacrament through which redemption becomes possible. That is, they posit themselves
partly as Catholic believers who regard nature as a means to learn if they are saved by God and
partly as Protestant believers who reject any ornamental medium between God and human
beings. Through an elevated depiction of the natural world, the collection contributes to the
early modern concept of via media employed by the Anglican bishop Joseph Hall to make
peace between the opposing religious sects of the period. Thus, the major aim of this paper is
to argue that in Silex Scintillans Henry Vaughan creates a discourse of mystical via media by
mediating between Catholicism and Protestantism through an envisioning of nature as the only
sacrament through which the collection’s speakers believe they could attain salvation.
Keywords:
Henry Vaughan, Silex Scintillans, via media, nature, sacraments,
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- ISSN: 2979-9503
- Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
- Başlangıç: 19.12.2022
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