How the Soul Asks Pardon for the Offending and Trying of Love
JESUS, Lover dear and fair,Sweet Thou art beyond compare.
Thou art Love: in Thee we rest.Whom Thou lov'st Thou chastenest,Yet Thine ointments heal the breast,Wounded by Thy sacred spear.
Thou, O Love, wilt never leave us:Though we sin, Thou wilt forgive us,Crowned with glory wilt receive us,If our lot we humbly bear.
Pardon, Lord, we sinners pray,Our offences purge away,Let us taste, if so we may,Of Thy love a little share.
Jesu, dear, we kiss Thy feet ;Manna were not half so sweet ;Leave us never, we entreat,Orphaned of Thy pitying care.
Love, so great, so sweet, so fine,Uncreate, and all Divine,Seraphs in Thy splendour shine;Flames Thy glory in their hair!
Angel choirs, Apostles too,Doctors, Saints, Confessors true,Virgins, Martyrs, not a few,Joyful sing, and debonair.
Patriarchs, and Prophets great,Thou hast caught them in Thy net;Deep their thirst, and deeper yet,Love to drink, and not to spare.
Sweet, O Love, so sweet Thou art!Towards Thy realm aspires my heart;Thirst and hunger straight depart,Love, when once I taste Thy fare.
He who turns his thoughts to TheeSinful sure can never be ;Thou, the Fruitful Table, seeFeasts of love Thou dost prepare.
On the Cross Thou once didst show,Love, that Thou couldst love us so,That for us Thou wast brought low,Crucified in anguish there.
Love unmeasured, Thou didst gainPardon for us sinful men,So our debt is very plain,Love and fealty to declare.
Give Thy Self to all who will;Thou art come our hearts to fill;Thou wilt give us good for ill,If we come to Thee in prayer.
See Thy longing, loving child,Jesus, pitiful and mild;Lull my stormy heart and wild,Let Thy face be mirrored there.
Love, the thought of Thee so great,Makes my heart inebriate,Leaving all to contemplateThee, my Lord, divinely fair.
Gazing on the Only Pure,All the world seems but a lure,And a madness with no cure,For the soul that lingers there.
Thou art Love and Courtesy,Nought ungracious dwells in Thee ;Give, O Love, Thyself to me,Lest I perish in despair!
Words in this poem
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- 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.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- uncreate v. t.
- To deprive of existence; to annihilate. [1st pref. un- + create.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- debonair a.
- Characterized by courteousness, affability, or gentleness; of good appearance and manners; graceful; complaisant. [OE. debonere, OF. de bon aire, debonaire, of good descent or lineage, excellent, debonair, F. débonnaire debonair; de of (L. de) + bon good (L. bonus) + aire. S]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- inebriate v. i.
- To become drunk.
- contemplate v. t.
- To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. [L. contemplatus, p.p. of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple.]
- ungracious a.
- Not gracious; showing no grace or kindness; being without good will; unfeeling.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How the Soul Asks Pardon for the Offending and Trying of Love 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 Soul Asks Pardon for the Offending and Trying of Love, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/how-the-soul-asks-pardon-for-the-offending-and-trying-of-lov.html, id L27097.
Form and metre
How the Soul Asks Pardon for the Offending and Trying of Love is 66 lines in 17 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 AA fairA · compareA
- 2 B-B- restB · chastenest · breastB · spear
- 3 ---C us · us · us · bearC
- 4 DDDC prayD · awayD · mayD · shareC
- 5 EEEC feetE · sweetE · entreatE · careC
- 6 FFFC fineF · divineF · shineF · hairC
- 7 GGGC tooG · trueG · fewG · debonairC
- 8 -HHC great · netH · yetH · spareC
- 9 IIIC artI · heartI · departI · fareC
- 10 JJJC theeJ · beJ · seeJ · prepareC
- 11 KKKC showK · soK · lowK · thereC
- 12 L-LC gainL · men · plainL · declareC
- 13 MMMC willM · fillM · illM · prayerC
- 14 NNNC childN · mildN · wildN · thereC
- 15 OOOC greatO · inebriateO · contemplateO · fairC
- 16 PPPC pureP · lureP · cureP · thereC
- 17 -QQC courtesy · theeQ · meQ · despairC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| JESUS, Lover dear and fair, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Sweet Thou art beyond compare. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Thou art Love: in Thee we rest. | 7 | ······· |
| Whom Thou lov'st Thou chastenest, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Yet Thine ointments heal the breast, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Wounded by Thy sacred spear. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Thou, O Love, wilt never leave us: | 7 | ····/·· |
| Though we sin, Thou wilt forgive us, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Crowned with glory wilt receive us, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| If our lot we humbly bear. | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| Pardon, Lord, we sinners pray, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Our offences purge away, | 7 | /····˘/ |
| Let us taste, if so we may, | 7 | ······· |
| Of Thy love a little share. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Jesu, dear, we kiss Thy feet ; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Manna were not half so sweet ; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Leave us never, we entreat, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Orphaned of Thy pitying care. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Love, so great, so sweet, so fine, | 7 | ······· |
| Uncreate, and all Divine, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Seraphs in Thy splendour shine; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Flames Thy glory in their hair! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Angel choirs, Apostles too, | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Doctors, Saints, Confessors true, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Virgins, Martyrs, not a few, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Joyful sing, and debonair. | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Patriarchs, and Prophets great, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Thou hast caught them in Thy net; | 7 | ······· |
| Deep their thirst, and deeper yet, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Love to drink, and not to spare. | 7 | ······· |
| Sweet, O Love, so sweet Thou art! | 7 | ······· |
| Towards Thy realm aspires my heart; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Thirst and hunger straight depart, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Love, when once I taste Thy fare. | 7 | ······· |
| He who turns his thoughts to Thee | 7 | ······· |
| Sinful sure can never be ; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Thou, the Fruitful Table, see | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Feasts of love Thou dost prepare. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| On the Cross Thou once didst show, | 7 | ······· |
| Love, that Thou couldst love us so, | 7 | ······· |
| That for us Thou wast brought low, | 7 | ······· |
| Crucified in anguish there. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Love unmeasured, Thou didst gain | 7 | ······· |
| Pardon for us sinful men, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| So our debt is very plain, | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| Love and fealty to declare. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Give Thy Self to all who will; | 7 | ······· |
| Thou art come our hearts to fill; | 7 | ···/··· |
| Thou wilt give us good for ill, | 7 | ······· |
| If we come to Thee in prayer. | 7 | ······· |
| See Thy longing, loving child, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Jesus, pitiful and mild; | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Lull my stormy heart and wild, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Let Thy face be mirrored there. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Love, the thought of Thee so great, | 7 | ······· |
| Makes my heart inebriate, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Leaving all to contemplate | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Thee, my Lord, divinely fair. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Gazing on the Only Pure, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| All the world seems but a lure, | 7 | ······· |
| And a madness with no cure, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For the soul that lingers there. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thou art Love and Courtesy, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Nought ungracious dwells in Thee ; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Give, O Love, Thyself to me, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Lest I perish in despair! | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
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.