Henry Vaughan, Flores Solitudinus

Glyn Pursglove (Swansea University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1654

Places

Wales (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Translation

Resources

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Flores Solitudinis

is made up, in the words of its title-page, of “Certaine Rare and Elegant Pieces . . . Collected in his Sicknesse and Retirement by Henry Vaughan, Silurist”. The work was presumably compiled early in the 1650s, since its Dedication is dated 1653 and the address “To the Reader” is dated April 17, 1652. The volume's prefatory material makes clear Vaughan's conception of the collection's major themes: “solitude and the contempt of the world”. Vaughan's desire is to affirm and support his belief that the worldly life offers only “trash and illusion”, “a swift succession of rising Clouds, which neither abide in any certain forme, nor continue for any long time”, while the “supreme fruitions which God hath in store for those that love him . . . are all…

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433 words

Citation: Pursglove, Glyn. "Flores Solitudinus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5122, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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