Poetry, the Afterlife, & Today
by Nathan Trimble
“And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life” (1 Jn. 2:25).
Christianity is a religion of the past, present, and future. Yet what will this future look like for Christians? What will the afterlife, that period of time immediately following physical death on earth and extending throughout eternity, contain for those who claim Christ as their Savior? When we look to Scripture, we read about the resurrection of the dead, perfect communion with God, and a new heaven and earth.
However, when we look to contemporary paintings, billboards, and television, this is not quite the picture we see. Instead, it is represented by some mystical, light-filled venue transcending our earthly estate. And heaven is seen as some cosmic place beyond the stars, outside of time and space, where Christians of ages past reside. How much of these interpretations are correct?
I submit that some of what we purport to know about the afterlife does not have its genesis in Scripture, but in extra-biblical sources, such as metaphysical literature. Though these writers elaborate from Scripture in their poetry, their interpretations of the afterlife are at times fantastical and have in some ways shifted the West’s view on the afterlife.
Setting the Stage
To understand what has led to modern conceptions of the afterlife, we should begin in the Middle Ages. It was during this period that artisans translated biblical scenes to images as a teaching tool for an illiterate, catholic populace. Some of these images included scenes from different locations we know from Scripture in the afterlife, such as the intermediate state and the new heavens and earth.
However, as the Middle Ages waned and the Renaissance flourished, much changed. The printing press made its debut, literacy rates increased, the Protestant Reformation spread through Germany and Europe, and the Church of England was established (1534). As a result, increasingly literate Christians began to exchange images for words. And so, artists began to employ writing as a teaching device, just as they had used painting. This was especially true as Protestants broke away from Catholicism. By the early-17th century, Protestants began exploring the afterlife through the lens of literature, rather than the visual arts.
Birthed from the British Empire, literature grew by leaps and bounds. These British authors came to be called metaphysical poets. Similar to the painters of the Middle Ages, these writers explored topics like the soul, cosmos, out-of-body experiences (so called “heavenly” experiences), and eternity. Though some of this poetry might even be classified as science fiction by today’s standards, these writings have contributed significantly to modern, at times fantastical conceptions of the afterlife.
Interpreting the Afterlife through Speculation
John Donne (1572-1631) and Henry Vaughan (1621-1695) are among the major metaphysical poets to contribute to these changes. Though famous for the phrases “for whom the bell tolls”[1] and “no man is an island” [2] from Meditation XVII, Donne wasn’t just a poet. He was also an attorney, Parliament member, and dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. He was also a relative to the martyr Thomas More, and a personal friend of King James I. Vaughan is remembered as an Oxford-educated attorney and physician, and an Officer during the English Civil War. Both explored the afterlife through their poetry, and in doing helped contribute to a shift in our understanding of the afterlife.
Take Donne for instance. One of the ways he attempted to explain the afterlife was through temporal metaphors, using material or corporeal objects that we can test through rational and scientific reasoning. He writes, “My body and my soul, and I shall sleep a space; But my ever-waking part shall see that face”[3]. Note his reference to space. Along similar lines, he describes heaven: “[T]here shall be no Cloud nor Sun, no darknesse nor dazling, but one equall light, no noyse nor silence, but one equall musick, no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession, no foes nor friends, but an equall communion and Identity, no ends nor beginnings; but one equall eternity” [4]. We see here that Donne uses astronomical terms to try to explain heaven. Donne’s readers connected well with these hardy examples of heaven, because he used common terms, but allowed them space for imagination.
Or take Vaughan. He writes about eternity in near-mystical terms: “I saw Eternity the other night, Like a great ring of pure and endless light” [5]. In another poem, he describes a wandering spirit looking down upon earth, as if from heaven: “The pious soul by night Is like a clouded star, whose beams, though said To shed their light Under some cloud, Yet are above And shine and move Beyond that misty shroud” [6]. In this poem further, Vaughan isn’t simply imagining Christians in times past looking down on him, but he too wishes to be with them in heaven. Or consider his poem “Regeneration,” where he describes the resurrection as the sun shooting gold, or heaven as glistening with jewels and patches of snow with spices pungent in the air and vegetation reminding humanity of warm, cherished holidays [7]. Here he not only reminds his readers of images from Revelation, but he expands on them as well.
It is not surprising that poets like Donne and Vaughan pondered the afterlife. Historically, their time was a period of British conquest and discovery. Perhaps they too sought to “discover” the afterlife through their meditations and poetry. Their influence is undeniable, as the word pictures they envisioned through poetry often inform our understanding of such topics. Yet is this a good thing?
To some extent, these artists’ ambitions were noble and their poetry helpful. Their imaginations were steeped in Scripture, and they sought to communicate spiritual realities through metaphor. Certainly there is a place for Christian artists and poets to imaginatively portray what their interpretations of Scripture. At the same time, we must realize where Scripture stops, and speculation or elaboration begins. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, we must be able to distinguish between proper interpretation and added commentary, and so protect biblical integrity.
The Afterlife, Scripture, & Conclusion
In Scripture, we read about an afterlife, giving way to the resurrection of the dead, the throne of heaven, the marriage of the Lamb and coming of Christ, the new heavens and new earth, and more [8]. And what we find in Scripture simply has a different ring to it at times than does what we find in the metaphysical tradition. Neither testament offers a celestial world of sentimental memory in quite the same way as the metaphysical poets do. Though these metaphysical poets may have based their poetry on Scripture, they quickly found themselves in the arena of speculation.
Rather than placing the emphasis on galaxies or beams of light, Scripture’s concern is the worship of the Lamb (Rev. 5:12). On the whole, Scripture is less concerned with precisely what eternity will look like. It is more interested in how we’re living presently in view of our glorious hope of the afterlife. It is concerned with mankind living a right life now by emulating and mirroring God’s character [9].
So, where have we gotten our modern, oft-mistaken notions of the afterlife? To some extent, the inconsistencies come from the speculative imagery put forth by metaphysical poets like Donne and Vaughn. Without doubt, they help us enjoy the fine art of Western literature. Their influence upon other authors has also been profound (cf. William Wordsworth, T. S. Elliot, Ernest Hemingway, and others). And as it regards their speculations about eternity, they invite us to travel within our minds to a world we couldn’t imagine otherwise, and they ultimately giving credit to God for the eternity He has created for Christians to worship and commune with Him.
Even so, we must nevertheless be careful to locate our understanding about the afterlife in Scripture alone as it concerns truth, and not impose upon Scripture what is not there. While the metaphysical poets’ writings have been helpful in many ways, the Church must be careful to teach the Bible’s picture of heaven, rather than those painted by finite man. Heaven cannot be captured in words alone—and certainly not words that aren’t inerrant Scripture.
In the New Heaven and the New Earth, we will be united in perfect communion to God in Christ through the Spirit without that awful burden of sin. May this glorious truth inspire us to better living now—today. Certainly we can appreciate the metaphysical poets’ works (and others like them). However, we must be careful to not limit the wonder of the afterlife by putting it in a box, frame, or binding. Rather, with the apostle Paul (and the prophet Isaiah), we should say, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9; cf. Isa. 64:4; 65:17).
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[1] John Donne, “Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions”
[2] Ibid.
[3] Donne, “Holy Sonnets: This Is My Play’s Last Scene”
[4] Ibid., “Sermon XV”
[5] Henry Vaughan, “The World (1:1-2)”
[6] Vaughan, “The Morning Watch”
[7] Ibid., “Regeneration (6:1-7)”
[8] Afterlife (Mt. 19:29; Jn. 14:2-3; 1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Pet. 1:4; 2 Pet. 3:13; 1 Jn. 3:2-3), resurrection of the dead (Isa. 26:19; Jn. 11:25-26), the throne of heaven (Rev. 4), the marriage of the Lamb and coming of Christ (Rev. 19:7-19), the new heavens and new earth (Isa. 65:17-25; 66:22-24; 2 Pet. 3:10-18; Rev. 21:1-9).
[9] For instance, in the Old Testament, the Psalms teach us to ponder our days and to count them as God-given blessings (cf. Ps. 90). Similarly, the New Testament calls readers to choose eternal life through Christ’s redemption (Jn. 3:16, Titus 3:5-7, Rom. 5:9-10).
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About the Author: Nathan Trimble is a graduate from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee with a degree in History. He is currently an Infantry Officer in the United States Army, serving as a Company Executive Officer. Nathan serves in local ministry on Young Life Committee in Belton, Texas, where he and his wife Delaney live. His academic interests are history, theology, and early modern English Literature.
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