Deus Meus
Deus meus adiuva me,Give me thy love, O Christ, I pray,Give me thy love, O Christ, I pray,Deus meus adiuva me.
In meum cor ut sanum sit,Pour, loving King, Thy love in it,Pour, loving King, Thy love in it,In meum cor ut sanum sit.
Domine, da ut peto a te,O, pure bright sun, give, give to-day,O, pure bright sun, give, give to-day,Domine, da ut peto a te.
Hanc spero rem et quaero quamThy love to have where'er I am,Thy love to have where'er I am,Hanc spero rem et quaero quam.
Tuum amorem sicut uis,Give to me swiftly, strongly, this,Give to me swiftly, strongly, this,Tuum amorem sicut uis.
Quaero, postulo, peto a te,That I in heaven, dear Christ, may stay,That I in heaven, dear Christ, may stay,Quaero, postulo, peto a te.
Domine, Domine, exaudi me,Fill my soul, Lord, with Thy love's ray,Fill my soul, Lord, with Thy love's ray,Domine, Domine, exaudi me.Deus meus adiuva me,Deus meus adiuva me.
Words in this poem
- domine n.
- A name given to a pastor of the Reformed Church. The word is also applied locally in the United States, in colloquial speech, to any clergyman. [See Dominie.]
- tuum n.
- Lit., thine; that which is thine; -- used in meum and tuum. See 2d Meum.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Deus Meus is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Hull, Deus Meus, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/deus-meus.html, id L11701.
Form and metre
Deus Meus is 30 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBA meA · prayB · prayB · meA
- 2 AAAA sitA · itA · itA · sitA
- 3 ABBA teA · dayB · dayB · teA
- 4 ABBA quamA · amB · amB · quamA
- 5 ABBA uisA · thisB · thisB · uisA
- 6 ABBA teA · stayB · stayB · teA
- 7 ABBAAA meA · rayB · rayB · meA · meA · meA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Deus meus adiuva me, | 6 | ······ |
| Give me thy love, O Christ, I pray, | 8 | ········ |
| Give me thy love, O Christ, I pray, | 8 | ········ |
| Deus meus adiuva me. | 6 | ······ |
| In meum cor ut sanum sit, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Pour, loving King, Thy love in it, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Pour, loving King, Thy love in it, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In meum cor ut sanum sit. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Domine, da ut peto a te, | 9 | ˘/˘··/˘·· |
| O, pure bright sun, give, give to-day, | 8 | ········ |
| O, pure bright sun, give, give to-day, | 8 | ········ |
| Domine, da ut peto a te. | 9 | ˘/˘··/˘·· |
| Hanc spero rem et quaero quam | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy love to have where'er I am, | 9 | ····˘˘/·· |
| Thy love to have where'er I am, | 9 | ····˘˘/·· |
| Hanc spero rem et quaero quam. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Tuum amorem sicut uis, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Give to me swiftly, strongly, this, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Give to me swiftly, strongly, this, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Tuum amorem sicut uis. | 8 | /˘······ |
| Quaero, postulo, peto a te, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That I in heaven, dear Christ, may stay, | 8 | ···/···· |
| That I in heaven, dear Christ, may stay, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Quaero, postulo, peto a te. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Domine, Domine, exaudi me, | 10 | ˘/˘˘/˘···· |
| Fill my soul, Lord, with Thy love's ray, | 8 | ········ |
| Fill my soul, Lord, with Thy love's ray, | 8 | ········ |
| Domine, Domine, exaudi me. | 10 | ˘/˘˘/˘···· |
| Deus meus adiuva me, | 6 | ······ |
| Deus meus adiuva me. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.