How God Appears to the Soul in Five Ways
In this our life the Lord appearsIn five ways to me ;And he who gains the fifth way,High in grace is he.
And this I call the first Way,The state of Holy Fear;The second Way seems to meA Love to heal and cheer ;The third Love seems to meA Comrade year by year;The fourth Love, a Father dear:—The fifth weddeth me.
The first Way, God comes to me,My soul's only Lord ;Raising her from deepest death,By His mighty word ;Drives afar the demons,False and abhorred!—Wounds me with contrition's sword,Love's harbinger to be.
Comes He as doctor then,The soul to sustain;Comforting and helping herIn her wounds and pain:Brings her the Sacraments,Cleansing every stain,Healing all her hurts again ;—The Good Physician He!
As a noble Comrade,Comes my Love once more ;Draws me forth from misery,Gives me of His store ;Through the virtues leadeth meTo the Heavenly shore:Let me tell His mercies o'er,Nor hide His charity!
The fourth Way, He comes to me,A Father, kind and good:Decks me with ornaments,Nourishes with food:My soul tastes the tendernessOf His Fatherhood,Gives Him her gratitude ;His child and heir is she.
The fifth Love leadeth meTo the marriage bed ;To God's Son, honey-sweet,Joyful to be wed:Queen among the angels,By grace to be led,One with Christ, my Spouse, my Head,To all Eternity.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- fatherhood n.
- The state of being a father; the character or authority of a father; paternity.
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How God Appears to the Soul in Five Ways is in the public domain. This text is taken from Jacopone da Todi, Poet and Mystic, 1228-1306: A Spiritual Biography, with a Selection from the Spiritual Songs, Internet Archive, the Mrs. Theodore Beck translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jacopone da Todi, How God Appears to the Soul in Five Ways, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/how-god-appears-to-the-soul-in-five-ways.html, id L27111.
Form and metre
How God Appears to the Soul in Five Ways is 52 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 -A-A appears · meA · way · heA
- 2 -ABABAAB way · fearA · meB · cheerA · meB · yearA · dearA · meB
- 3 AB---BBA meA · lordB · death · word · demons · abhorredB · swordB · beA
- 4 AB-B-BA- thenA · sustainB · her · painB · sacraments · stainB · againA · he
- 5 -A-A-A-- comrade · moreA · misery · storeA · me · shoreA · o'er · charity
- 6 AB-C-BCA meA · goodB · ornaments · foodC · tenderness · fatherhoodB · gratitudeC · sheA
- 7 -A-A-AA- me · bedA · sweet · wedA · angels · ledA · headA · eternity
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In this our life the Lord appears | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| In five ways to me ; | 5 | ····· |
| And he who gains the fifth way, | 7 | ······· |
| High in grace is he. | 5 | ····· |
| And this I call the first Way, | 7 | ······· |
| The state of Holy Fear; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The second Way seems to me | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| A Love to heal and cheer ; | 6 | ······ |
| The third Love seems to me | 6 | ······ |
| A Comrade year by year; | 6 | ·/···· |
| The fourth Love, a Father dear: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| —The fifth weddeth me. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The first Way, God comes to me, | 7 | ······· |
| My soul's only Lord ; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Raising her from deepest death, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| By His mighty word ; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Drives afar the demons, | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| False and abhorred! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| —Wounds me with contrition's sword, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Love's harbinger to be. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Comes He as doctor then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The soul to sustain; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Comforting and helping her | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| In her wounds and pain: | 5 | ····· |
| Brings her the Sacraments, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Cleansing every stain, | 6 | /˘/˘˘· |
| Healing all her hurts again ; | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| —The Good Physician He! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| As a noble Comrade, | 6 | ··/˘/· |
| Comes my Love once more ; | 5 | ····· |
| Draws me forth from misery, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Gives me of His store ; | 5 | ····· |
| Through the virtues leadeth me | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| To the Heavenly shore: | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Let me tell His mercies o'er, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nor hide His charity! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| The fourth Way, He comes to me, | 7 | ······· |
| A Father, kind and good: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Decks me with ornaments, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Nourishes with food: | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| My soul tastes the tenderness | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Of His Fatherhood, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Gives Him her gratitude ; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His child and heir is she. | 6 | ······ |
| The fifth Love leadeth me | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To the marriage bed ; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To God's Son, honey-sweet, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Joyful to be wed: | 5 | /˘··· |
| Queen among the angels, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| By grace to be led, | 5 | ····· |
| One with Christ, my Spouse, my Head, | 7 | ······· |
| To all Eternity. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
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