How Reason Comforts the Soul That Returns to God
O why didst Thou create me,Great God of Heaven above?Redeem me, and await me,Through Jesus Christ my Love?
Thou, Love, didst give me life,In tender graciousness ;But guilt in me was rife,So great my foolishness;In misery and strife,I roamed the wilderness,Till Mary bent to bless,And turned me to my Love.
O sinful, erring Soul!Thy life how couldst thou bear,O harlot false and foul,Without thy Bridegroom fair?"Return to Me, thy Goal,"He whispers soft; " and there,My sweetness shalt thou share,Wrapt in My tender Love."
Weep, eyes of mine, and mourn,Cease not to weep and pray;Repent, and Love will turn,Thine anguish to allay.So fierce my thirst doth burn,It wastes my heart away,For Christ, my Dawn, my Day,For Christ who is my Love!
O Peter, Paul, and John,Fore-runners of the Word,Gregory, and Augustine,And John who loved the Lord,Bring back my Love that's gone!Grief cuts me like a sword,My life will snap her cord,Still straining towards my Love.
O Francis sanctified!Inflamed by Love Divine!Who bore the Crucified,Deep in that heart of thine,Entreat my Lord Who died,That Lord for Whom I pine,To heal this grief of mine,To think upon my Love.
O Love the Crucified!Dost Thou remembering seeThe spear that pierced Thy side?That pang was borne for me!Return, my Love, my Guide!Return all speedily!All hopeless must I be,Possessing not my Love.
Ah! I can bear no longerThy tender mournful cry;Thy yearning and thy hunger,Thy faint impassioned sigh.Haste, for thy soul grows stronger,Lift up thy mind on high!And laugh, for He is nigh,Thy Jesu and thy Love.
Come to My Heart, My bride,So radiant and so fair;Cling closer to My side,Love's fragrance in thy hair;No need thine eyes to hide,No shame can touch thee there.;Hast found thy Hope, thy Prayer,The sweetness of My Love!
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- graciousness n.
- Quality of being gracious.
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- foolishness n.
- The quality of being foolish.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- sanctified a.
- Made holy; also, made to have the air of sanctity; sanctimonious.
- entreat v. t.
- To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use. [OE. entreten to treat, request, OF. entraiter to treat of; pref. en- (L. in) + traitier to treat. See Treat.]
- impassioned p. p.
- Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How Reason Comforts the Soul That Returns to God 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 Reason Comforts the Soul That Returns to God, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/how-reason-comforts-the-soul-that-returns-to-god.html, id L27094.
Form and metre
How Reason Comforts the Soul That Returns to God is 68 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABAB meA · aboveB · meA · loveB
- 2 A-ABABB- lifeA · graciousness · rifeA · foolishnessB · strifeA · wildernessB · blessB · love
- 3 AB-BABB- soulA · bearB · foul · fairB · goalA · thereB · shareB · love
- 4 -ABABAA- mourn · prayA · turnB · allayA · burnB · awayA · dayA · love
- 5 ---A-AA- john · word · augustine · lordA · gone · swordA · cordA · love
- 6 ABABABB- sanctifiedA · divineB · crucifiedA · thineB · diedA · pineB · mineB · love
- 7 ABABA-B- crucifiedA · seeB · sideA · meB · guideA · speedily · beB · love
- 8 AB-BABB- longerA · cryB · hunger · sighB · strongerA · highB · nighB · love
- 9 ABABABB- brideA · fairB · sideA · hairB · hideA · thereB · prayerB · love
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O why didst Thou create me, | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Great God of Heaven above? | 6 | ···/·· |
| Redeem me, and await me, | 7 | ˘/··˘/· |
| Through Jesus Christ my Love? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thou, Love, didst give me life, | 6 | ······ |
| In tender graciousness ; | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| But guilt in me was rife, | 6 | ······ |
| So great my foolishness; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| In misery and strife, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| I roamed the wilderness, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Till Mary bent to bless, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And turned me to my Love. | 6 | ······ |
| O sinful, erring Soul! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Thy life how couldst thou bear, | 6 | ······ |
| O harlot false and foul, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Without thy Bridegroom fair? | 6 | ···/·· |
| "Return to Me, thy Goal," | 6 | ˘/···· |
| He whispers soft; " and there, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My sweetness shalt thou share, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Wrapt in My tender Love." | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Weep, eyes of mine, and mourn, | 6 | ······ |
| Cease not to weep and pray; | 6 | ······ |
| Repent, and Love will turn, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Thine anguish to allay. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| So fierce my thirst doth burn, | 6 | ······ |
| It wastes my heart away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For Christ, my Dawn, my Day, | 6 | ······ |
| For Christ who is my Love! | 6 | ······ |
| O Peter, Paul, and John, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Fore-runners of the Word, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Gregory, and Augustine, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| And John who loved the Lord, | 6 | ······ |
| Bring back my Love that's gone! | 6 | ······ |
| Grief cuts me like a sword, | 6 | ······ |
| My life will snap her cord, | 6 | ······ |
| Still straining towards my Love. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O Francis sanctified! | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Inflamed by Love Divine! | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| Who bore the Crucified, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Deep in that heart of thine, | 6 | ······ |
| Entreat my Lord Who died, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| That Lord for Whom I pine, | 6 | ······ |
| To heal this grief of mine, | 6 | ······ |
| To think upon my Love. | 6 | ······ |
| O Love the Crucified! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Dost Thou remembering see | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The spear that pierced Thy side? | 6 | ······ |
| That pang was borne for me! | 6 | ······ |
| Return, my Love, my Guide! | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Return all speedily! | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| All hopeless must I be, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Possessing not my Love. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Ah! I can bear no longer | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Thy tender mournful cry; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Thy yearning and thy hunger, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Thy faint impassioned sigh. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Haste, for thy soul grows stronger, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Lift up thy mind on high! | 6 | ······ |
| And laugh, for He is nigh, | 6 | ······ |
| Thy Jesu and thy Love. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Come to My Heart, My bride, | 6 | ······ |
| So radiant and so fair; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Cling closer to My side, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Love's fragrance in thy hair; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No need thine eyes to hide, | 6 | ······ |
| No shame can touch thee there.; | 6 | ······ |
| Hast found thy Hope, thy Prayer, | 6 | ······ |
| The sweetness of My Love! | 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.