Sunday Poetry - Henry Vaughan

I've just finished reading a memoir by the novelist Margaret Kennedy which describes life in England from May-September 1940. It was written for an American audience & I found it fascinating. I'll be reviewing it properly in a few days but I was intrigued by the title, Where Stands a Wingéd Sentry, & wondered where it came from. I discovered that it was from a poem called Peace by the Welsh 17th century poet, Henry Vaughan.

My Soul, there is a country
       Afar beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingéd sentry
       All skillful in the wars;
There, above noise and danger
       Sweet Peace sits, crown’d with smiles,
And One born in a manger
       Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious friend
       And (O my Soul awake!)
Did in pure love descend,
       To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
       There grows the flow’r of peace,
The rose that cannot wither,
       Thy fortress, and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges,
       For none can thee secure,
But One, who never changes,
       Thy God, thy life, thy cure.