Henry Vaughn "The World"

“The World” is a sixty-line poem in four fifteen-line stanzas in iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme aaa, bb, cc, dd, ee, ff, gg. The title is purposefully ambiguous and reflects the dual focus of the poem: the earthly world, the here and now; and the world to come, heaven and eternity. The four stanzas develop the idea that unless mortals shed their concern for the values of this world they are doomed. True value lies in belief in God and in the search for salvation.
I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years,
Driv'n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd; in which the world
And all her train were hurl'd.

From the book, A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engel


A great ring of pure & endless light

Dazzles the darkness in my heart

And breaks apart the dusky clouds of night.

The end of all is hinted in the start.

When we are born we bear the seeds of blight;
Around us life & death are torn apart,
Yet a great ring of pure & endless light
Dazzles the darkness in my heart.


It lights the world to my delight.
Infinity is present in each part.
A loving smile contains all art.
The motes of starlight spark & dart.


A grain of sand holds power & might.
Infinity is present in each part,
And a great ring of pure & endless light
Dazzles the darkness in my heart.