# The Age to Come explained — Verses on Various Occasions

> Chapter companion for Verses on Various Occasions by John Henry Newman.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on the struggle to articulate inner truths and the rejection of simple, peaceful themes by a skeptical world. He concludes that men are temporarily mad, and that Truth follows the ancient pattern of being despised, slain, and then rising again.

## Themes in this chapter

### Faith and Doubt

The narrator's internal conflict between his burning truths and the dismissive reasoners highlights a struggle of faith against doubt.

### Suffering and Humility

Truth is depicted as suffering—despised and slain—before its resurrection, echoing themes of humility and endurance.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who searches for truth and faces rejection from reasoners.

### Truth

Personified as being without a home, despised, slain, and rising from the tomb.

## Key lines

> When I would search the truths that in me burn, And mould them into rule and argument, A hundred reasoners cried⁠—'Hast thou to learn Those dreams are scatter’d now, those fires are spent?'

Whenever I try to articulate the deep truths I feel and turn them into logical arguments, many critics dismiss me, saying that such ideas are outdated and no longer relevant.

_The narrator faces opposition from those who claim his passionate beliefs are obsolete._

> But now, I see that men are mad awhile, ’Tis the old history⁠—Truth without a home, Despised and slain, then rising from the tomb.

Now I understand that people are temporarily insane; it's the same old story—Truth is homeless, rejected, killed, and then resurrected.

_The narrator realizes that the rejection of truth is a recurring pattern, culminating in its eventual triumph._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/verses_on_various_occasions_se/chapters/lxxxv-the-age-to-come
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/verses_on_various_occasions_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/verses_on_various_occasions_se/chapters