# Vera explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr..

## What happens

Vera, a deaf girl living in a silent world, observes the movements of nature and people but cannot hear. She seeks out a mysterious Master who opens her ears to sound, then her mind to human thoughts, and finally her spirit to the voice of God, granting her perfect peace.

## Themes in this chapter

### Spiritual Peace and Rest

Vera's ultimate gift is hearing the voice of God, which brings her perfect peace and rest from her troubled questioning.

### Faith and Doubt

Vera doubts the meaning of the world and questions the Master, but through faith she receives an answer that transcends human uncertainty.

### Nature and Divine Beauty

The silent world of nature is described in vivid detail, and later the sounds of wind, stream, and lark reveal divine beauty.

## Character check-ins

### Vera

A deaf girl who longs to hear and understand the world; she seeks the Master and receives three gifts of hearing.

### a Master wonderful

A wise healer who knows the secret of all life; he opens Vera's ears, mind, and spirit to sound, thought, and divine peace.

## Key lines

> The bitter creeping plant of discontent, The plant that only grows in prison soil, Whose root is hunger and whose fruit is pain.

Vera's unhappiness grows like a poisonous vine in the prison of her silence, fed by longing and producing only suffering.

_Describes Vera's inner turmoil before meeting the Master._

> Open, fair gates, and you, reluctant doors, Within the ivory labyrinth of the ear, Let fall the bar of silence and unfold!

The Master commands Vera's ears to open and allow sound to enter.

_The Master's first miracle, granting Vera the sense of hearing._

> There is another gate, not yet unclosed. For through the outer portal of the ear Only the outer voice of things may pass; And through the middle doorway of the mind Only the half-formed voice of human thoughts... But through the inmost gate the spirit hears The voice of that great Spirit who is Life.

The Master explains that there are three gates: the ear for physical sounds, the mind for human thoughts, and the spirit for God's voice.

_The Master's teaching about the three levels of hearing._

> God spoke to her, and what she heard was peace.

When Vera's spirit is opened, she hears God's voice, which brings her complete peace.

_The climax of Vera's spiritual journey._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters/vera
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters