Swedenborgian Community

Jones Very

WELCOME TO TODAY'S WORSHIP SERVICE BY THE SWEDENBORGIAN ON-LINE COMMUNITY

 

August 29, 2010

POETRY AS PRAYER:

The Very Poetic Very's

Pt. 2:  Jones Very

 

   

JONES VERY

1813-1880

Jones was only 11 when his father died, and he started working at 14 to help support his Mother and siblings.  He educated himself, and was accepted into Harvard as a sophomore.  He graduated in 1836 with honors.  He then entered Harvard Divinity School and studied for the Unitarian ministry.  He was a tutor in Greek, and began writing poetic notes to encourage his students.  He began to lecture on epic poetry, which brought him to the attention of Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Emerson was extremely impressed by his brilliance, ability, and religious fervor.  Very became part of the group around Emerson that called themselves “transcendentalists.”

This group differentiated themselves from a Unitarian theology that saw reality and religion as based in rational thought.  The “transcendentalists” saw reality as having an intuitive, inner knowing that was based in the Divine.

Very was a deeply religious mystic.  He had profound personal experiences of God and tried to be an obedient servant.  In 1839, Emerson helped him publish his first book, Essays and Poems.  Emerson was extremely frustrated with Very;   Emerson tried to edit the work, and Very insisted that every word came from God, and it could not be edited!  Emerson’s demanding persistence wore down Very on most of those arguments.

Very’s religious fervor came to alarm those around him.  He claimed to be the Second Coming, and then told his students to flee to the mountains, for the end was at hand.  He especially alarmed people when he went about Salem baptizing other Unitarian ministers!  He was put into the McLean Asylum, where he taught the patients about poetry.  His doctor finally concluded that he could find no mental or physical illness in Very, and released him.  He stayed for awhile with Emerson in Concord.

Emerson defended Very’s sanity, as did most of the other Transcendentalists.

Very withdrew to Salem, where he lived out a quiet and contemplative life.

 

SWEDENBORGIAN INFLUENCE

Was Jones Very influenced by Swedenborg?  We do not know for certain that he even knew of Swedenborg.  However, we can assume that he probably did.  Why?

The Transcendentalists were influenced by the work of mystics, and they particularly read Swedenborg.  Emerson was impacted by Swedenborg.  His book “Nature” mentioned Swedenborg, and we know that Very purchased a copy and read it numerous times.  Very’s approach to the inner, intuitive way of knowing was quite consistent with Swedenborg.  Emerson commented at one time that the work of Jones was quite Swedenborgian.

 

SOME POETRY

 

“Faith”

There is no faith; the mountain stands within
Still unrebuked, its summit reaches heaven;
And every action adds its load of sin,
For every action wants the little leaven;
There is no prayer; it is but empty sound,
That stirs with frequent breath the yielding air,
With every pulse they are more strongly bound,
Who make the blood of goats the voice of prayer;
Oh heal them, heal them, Father, with thy word,—
Their sins cry out to thee from every side;
From son and sire, from slave and master heard,
Their voices fill the desert country wide;
And bid thee hasten to relieve and save,
By him who rose triumphant o'er the grave

 

“The Prayer”

Wilt Thou not visit me?
The plant beside me feels Thy gentle dew;
And every blade of grass I see,
From Thy deep earth its quickening moisture drew.

Wilt Thou not visit me?
Thy morning calls on me with cheering tone;
And every hill and tree
Lends but one voice, the voice of Thee alone.

Come, for I need Thy love,
More than the flower the dew, or grass the rain;
Come, gently as Thy holy dove;
And let me in thy sight rejoice to live again.

I will not hide from them,
When Thy storms come, though fierce may be their wrath;
But bow with leafy stem,
And strengthened follow on Thy chosen path.

Yes, Thou wilt visit me,
Nor plant nor tree Thing eye delights so well,
As when from sin set free
My spirit loves with Thine in peace to dwell.

 

“The Light from Within”

I saw on earth another light
Than that which lit my eye
Come forth as from my soul within,
And from a higher sky.

Its beams shone still unclouded on,
When in the farthest west
The sun I once had known had sunk
Forever to his rest.

And on I walked, though dark the night,
Nor rose his orb by day;
As one who by a surer guide
Was pointed out the way.

'Twas brighter far than noonday's beam;
It shone from God within,
And lit, as by a lamp from heaven,
The world's dark track of sin.

 

THE SILENT

There is a sighing in the wood,

A murmur in the beating wave;

The heart has never understood

To tell in words the thoughts they gave.

Yet oft it feels an answering tone,

When wandering on the lonely shore;

And could the lips its voice make known,

‘T would sound as does the ocean’s roar.

And oft beneath the wind-swept pine,

Some chord is struck the strain to swell;

Nor sounds nor language can define,—

‘Tis not for words or sounds to tell.

‘Tis all unheard, Your silent Voice,

Whose goings forth, unknown to all,

Bids bending reed and bird rejoice,

And fills with music Nature’s hall.

Now in the speechless human heart

Ir speaks, where’er our feet have trod;

Beyond the lips deceitful art

To tell of You, the Unseen God.

 

 

 

FOR MORE ON VERY:

 

His poetry

His Life

Mysticism in Unitarianism

 

 

 

CLOSING SONG

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Extinguish your candle.

 

 

 

 

 

Close the Bible

 

Go forth, praising God with prayers, poems, music, and/or songs.
 

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT POETS WITH SWEDENBORGIAN CONNECTIONS

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