How the Angels Are Amazed at Christ's Pilgrimage in This World
O JESUS CHRIST OmnipotentWhere are Thy footsteps wandering?Why art Thou thus a pilgrim sent,In poverty and suffering?
I took a young and gentle bride,And gave My heart into her care;I decked her, for My joy and pride,With jewels very bright and fair—She left Me in dishonour there,And I must wander sorrowing.
With beauty and with reverenceI decked her out so lovingly,That on her tender innocenceMy likeness blossomed visibly;—Yet now her heart is false to Me,And I must wander sorrowing.
I gave her Memory, pure and clear,To be of Love the guide and chart;And Understanding, bringing nearCelestial glory's lore and art:And in the centre of her heartI blazoned Will, all-conquering.
And after that, I gave her Faith,Her Understanding to fulfil ;And Hope I gave, that knows not death,To teach and mould her Memory's skill ;And to her sweet and ordered WillI gave her Love, long-suffering.
And that her energies might haveTheir organs and their complement,For service and delight I gaveHer body for an ornament:And lovely was the instrument,If discords had not wrenched the string.
Her thirst for life and joy to slake,Her energies to task and train,I made all creatures for her sake,That she might use them or refrain;—The love she owes I ask in vain;—She wars on me in everything.
To let her heart and conscience knowHow best their skill to exercise,I wrapped and clothed her, pure as snow,In the four Virtues' draperies.—By her adulterous treacheries,She makes of each an outcast thing.
Dear Lord, if we can find Thy bride,And it she will return to Thee,O may we tell her, Thou wilt guideAnd pardon her most tenderly?That we may snatch her from the seaOf sin where she is perishing?
Yea, find and hold My love, and sayThat she must hear Me, and return ;Nor make Me suffer, day by day,A death so dolorous and dern ;For her I die, for her I burn,My love is so unreasoning!
I shall rejoice, if she repents,To pardon freely all her debt ;To give her back her ornaments,My friendship round her path to set,And all her frailty to forget,That once so sore My heart did wring.
O wandering and sinful soul,Bride of a Husband fair and great,How canst thou soil in dregs so foulThy face that was immaculate?How canst thou flee in fear and hate,From Love so deep, so mastering ?
Ah, when upon His love I think,I am confused, I die with shame:He gave me grace and joy to drink,And see the mire to which I came!O dolorous death, undying flame,That clips me in a fiery ring!
O erring and ungrateful soul,Go back to thy dear Lord again:Be hopeful in thy bitter dole,Nor let Him die for thee in vain.His heart is pierced by thy disdain:—O think upon His suffering!
Nay, I have given such deep offence,Perchance He will not take me back;I wounded Him and drove Him hence ;My life is turned to woe and wrack!I see no pathway and no track;For Love hath bound me shuddering!
Doubt not, nor pause upon thy way,He will receive thee, and will hear.O tarry not, nor make delay!Thou hast no cause to doubt or fear.Call on His name, cry out, draw near,With bitter plaint and clamouring.
O ruthful Christ, where art Thou fled?Where shall I find Thee, Love most fair?Hide not away Thy lovely Head ;I die of sorrow and despair.O who hath seen my Lord, and where?Tell me where He is tarrying!
O soul, we found Him where He hangs,Nailed high upon the Cross is He;Forsaken in His mortal pangs,Scourged and tormented cruelly,He tastes of death, and all for thee!—For thou wast dear in purchasing!
The bitter grief that must be mine,Exhales in tears and sobbing breath :O what hath slain Thee, Love Divine?For love of me He perisheth!O Love, Inebriate in death,Where hast thou hung my Lord and King?
Words in this poem 26
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- lovingly adv.
- With love; affectionately.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- adulterous a.
- Guilty of, or given to, adultery; pertaining to adultery; illicit.
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- dolorous a.
- Full of grief; sad; sorrowful; doleful; dismal; as, a dolorous object; dolorous discourses. [L. dolorosus, from dolor: cf. F. douloureux. See Dolor.]
- dern a.
- Hidden; concealed; secret. [See Dearn, a.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- frailty n.
- The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. [OE. frelete, freilte, OF. fraileté, fr. L. fragilitas. See Frail, a., and cf. Fragility.]
- immaculate a.
- Without stain or blemish; spotless; undefiled; clear; pure. [L. immaculatus; pref. im- not + maculatus, p. p. of maculare to spot, stane, fr. macula spot. See Mail armor.]
- undying a.
- Not dying; imperishable; unending; immortal; as, the undying souls of men.
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
- hopeful a.
- Full of hope, or agreeable expectation; inclined to hope; expectant.
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- ruthful a.
- Full of ruth; as: (a) Pitiful; tender.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- sobbing n.
- A series of short, convulsive inspirations, the glottis being suddenly closed so that little or no air enters into the lungs.
- inebriate v. i.
- To become drunk.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How the Angels Are Amazed at Christ's Pilgrimage in This World 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 the Angels Are Amazed at Christ's Pilgrimage in This World, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/how-the-angels-are-amazed-at-christ-s-pilgrimage-in-this-wor.html, id L27103.
Form and metre
How the Angels Are Amazed at Christ's Pilgrimage in This World is 112 lines in 19 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 A-A- omnipotentA · wandering · sentA · suffering
- 2 ABABB- brideA · careB · prideA · fairB · thereB · sorrowing
- 4 ABABB- clearA · chartB · nearA · artB · heartB · conquering
- 5 ---AA- faith · fulfil · death · skillA · willA · suffering
- 6 A-A--- haveA · complement · gaveA · ornament · instrument · string
- 7 ABABB- slakeA · trainB · sakeA · refrainB · vainB · everything
- 8 ABABB- knowA · exerciseB · snowA · draperiesB · treacheriesB · thing
- 9 ABA-B- brideA · theeB · guideA · tenderly · seaB · perishing
- 10 ABABB- sayA · returnB · dayA · dernB · burnB · unreasoning
- 11 ABABB- repentsA · debtB · ornamentsA · setB · forgetB · wring
- 12 -A--A- soul · greatA · foul · immaculate · hateA · mastering
- 13 ABABB- thinkA · shameB · drinkA · cameB · flameB · ring
- 14 ABABB- soulA · againB · doleA · vainB · disdainB · suffering
- 15 ABABB- offenceA · backB · henceA · wrackB · trackB · shuddering
- 16 ABABB- wayA · hearB · delayA · fearB · nearB · clamouring
- 17 ABABB- fledA · fairB · headA · despairB · whereB · tarrying
- 18 ABA-B- hangsA · heB · pangsA · cruelly · theeB · purchasing
- 19 ABABB- mineA · breathB · divineA · perishethB · deathB · king
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O JESUS CHRIST Omnipotent | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Where are Thy footsteps wandering? | 8 | ···/·/˘˘ |
| Why art Thou thus a pilgrim sent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In poverty and suffering? | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| I took a young and gentle bride, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And gave My heart into her care; | 8 | ········ |
| I decked her, for My joy and pride, | 8 | ········ |
| With jewels very bright and fair | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| —She left Me in dishonour there, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And I must wander sorrowing. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| With beauty and with reverence | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| I decked her out so lovingly, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That on her tender innocence | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| My likeness blossomed visibly; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| —Yet now her heart is false to Me, | 8 | ········ |
| And I must wander sorrowing. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| I gave her Memory, pure and clear, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To be of Love the guide and chart; | 8 | ········ |
| And Understanding, bringing near | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Celestial glory's lore and art: | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| And in the centre of her heart | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I blazoned Will, all-conquering. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And after that, I gave her Faith, | 8 | ········ |
| Her Understanding to fulfil ; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And Hope I gave, that knows not death, | 8 | ········ |
| To teach and mould her Memory's skill ; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And to her sweet and ordered Will | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I gave her Love, long-suffering. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And that her energies might have | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Their organs and their complement, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| For service and delight I gave | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Her body for an ornament: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And lovely was the instrument, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| If discords had not wrenched the string. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her thirst for life and joy to slake, | 8 | ········ |
| Her energies to task and train, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| I made all creatures for her sake, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That she might use them or refrain; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| —The love she owes I ask in vain;— | 8 | ········ |
| She wars on me in everything. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To let her heart and conscience know | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How best their skill to exercise, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I wrapped and clothed her, pure as snow, | 8 | ········ |
| In the four Virtues' draperies. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| —By her adulterous treacheries, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| She makes of each an outcast thing. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Dear Lord, if we can find Thy bride, | 8 | ········ |
| And it she will return to Thee, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| O may we tell her, Thou wilt guide | 8 | ········ |
| And pardon her most tenderly? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| That we may snatch her from the sea | 8 | ········ |
| Of sin where she is perishing? | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Yea, find and hold My love, and say | 8 | ········ |
| That she must hear Me, and return ; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor make Me suffer, day by day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A death so dolorous and dern ; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| For her I die, for her I burn, | 8 | ········ |
| My love is so unreasoning! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| I shall rejoice, if she repents, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| To pardon freely all her debt ; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To give her back her ornaments, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| My friendship round her path to set, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And all her frailty to forget, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That once so sore My heart did wring. | 8 | ········ |
| O wandering and sinful soul, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Bride of a Husband fair and great, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How canst thou soil in dregs so foul | 8 | ········ |
| Thy face that was immaculate? | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| How canst thou flee in fear and hate, | 8 | ········ |
| From Love so deep, so mastering ? | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Ah, when upon His love I think, | 8 | ········ |
| I am confused, I die with shame: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He gave me grace and joy to drink, | 8 | ········ |
| And see the mire to which I came! | 8 | ········ |
| O dolorous death, undying flame, | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| That clips me in a fiery ring! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O erring and ungrateful soul, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Go back to thy dear Lord again: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Be hopeful in thy bitter dole, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor let Him die for thee in vain. | 8 | ········ |
| His heart is pierced by thy disdain: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| —O think upon His suffering! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Nay, I have given such deep offence, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| Perchance He will not take me back; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| I wounded Him and drove Him hence ; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My life is turned to woe and wrack! | 8 | ········ |
| I see no pathway and no track; | 8 | ···/···· |
| For Love hath bound me shuddering! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Doubt not, nor pause upon thy way, | 8 | ········ |
| He will receive thee, and will hear. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| O tarry not, nor make delay! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Thou hast no cause to doubt or fear. | 8 | ········ |
| Call on His name, cry out, draw near, | 8 | ········ |
| With bitter plaint and clamouring. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| O ruthful Christ, where art Thou fled? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where shall I find Thee, Love most fair? | 8 | ········ |
| Hide not away Thy lovely Head ; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| I die of sorrow and despair. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| O who hath seen my Lord, and where? | 8 | ········ |
| Tell me where He is tarrying! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| O soul, we found Him where He hangs, | 8 | ········ |
| Nailed high upon the Cross is He; | 8 | ········ |
| Forsaken in His mortal pangs, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Scourged and tormented cruelly, | 8 | ·˘·/·˘/˘ |
| He tastes of death, and all for thee! | 8 | ········ |
| —For thou wast dear in purchasing! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The bitter grief that must be mine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Exhales in tears and sobbing breath : | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| O what hath slain Thee, Love Divine? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| For love of me He perisheth! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| O Love, Inebriate in death, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Where hast thou hung my Lord and King? | 8 | ········ |
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