How the Soul Laments the Parting from Its Love
WEEP, sorrowful Soul, despoiled of thine Adored,Widowed of Christ, thy Lover and thy Lord.
Lament and mourn, and shed full many a tear,For thou hast lost thy Lord, so fair, so dear ;Perchance such bitter sighs may bring Him near,Back to my mourning heart disconsolate.
Deep cause is mine to mourn, and sore my cost,Father and Husband both my soul hath lost ;Christ, gracious flowering Lily, Christ my Trust,Hath left me, for my sins that are so great.
O Jesus Christ, why hast Thou left me so?Disconsolate, beset by many a foe,Besieged by sins that fain would bring me low!I am too weak to strive against my fate.
O Jesus Christ, how canst Thou suffer meBy such a cruel death destroyed to be?Grant me to wound myself, and so be free,Quenching in Death my thirst insatiate.
O Jesus Christ, hast Thou no other death,Less harsh, less dreadful for my failing breath ?Vain is my cry,—in vain it clamoureth,For Thou hast left me, and hast locked the gate.
O wretched heart, who hath imprisoned thee,Surrounded thee with pain and misery?Thy cup's too full:—present thy piteous plea,And let thy clamour be intemperate!
O eyes of mine, how can ye cease to weep,To mourn the vanished light ye could not keep?Your birthright have ye lost, in darkness deep,—Of gazing on the Splendour Uncreate.
O ears of mine, and can ye listen soTo these my sad complaints of bitter woe?Have ye forgot that Voice that lovers know,That once did make me sing and jubilate?
O grief! O cruel pangs of memory!Fierce death devours and gnaws me steadily,So tortured, I can neither live nor die,While from my Saviour I am separate.
Now in no comrade's heart will I confide,My life shall be a desert wild and wide;Lonely I dwell, with crowds on every side ;I have lost my Lord, and I am desolate!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- disconsolate n.
- Disconsolateness. Barrow.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- clamour n.
- A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- uncreate v. t.
- To deprive of existence; to annihilate. [1st pref. un- + create.]
- jubilate n.
- The third Sunday after Easter; -- so called because the introit is the 66th Psalm, which, in the Latin version, begins with the words, [L., imperat. of jubilare to shout for joy.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- 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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How the Soul Laments the Parting from Its 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 Laments the Parting from Its Love, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/how-the-soul-laments-the-parting-from-its-love.html, id L27091.
Form and metre
How the Soul Laments the Parting from Its Love is 42 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 adoredA · lordA
- 2 -BB- tear · dearB · nearB · disconsolate
- 3 ---C cost · lost · trust · greatC
- 4 DDDC soD · foeD · lowD · fateC
- 5 EEEC meE · beE · freeE · insatiateC
- 6 FF-C deathF · breathF · clamoureth · gateC
- 7 E-E- theeE · misery · pleaE · intemperate
- 8 GGGH weepG · keepG · deepG · uncreateH
- 9 IIIH soI · woeI · knowI · jubilateH
- 10 ---H memory · steadily · die · separateH
- 11 JJJ- confideJ · wideJ · sideJ · desolate
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WEEP, sorrowful Soul, despoiled of thine Adored, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Widowed of Christ, thy Lover and thy Lord. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Lament and mourn, and shed full many a tear, | 10 | ˘/·····/·· |
| For thou hast lost thy Lord, so fair, so dear ; | 10 | ·········· |
| Perchance such bitter sighs may bring Him near, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Back to my mourning heart disconsolate. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Deep cause is mine to mourn, and sore my cost, | 10 | ·········· |
| Father and Husband both my soul hath lost ; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Christ, gracious flowering Lily, Christ my Trust, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Hath left me, for my sins that are so great. | 10 | ·········· |
| O Jesus Christ, why hast Thou left me so? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Disconsolate, beset by many a foe, | 10 | ˘/˘˘˘/·/·· |
| Besieged by sins that fain would bring me low! | 10 | ˘/········ |
| I am too weak to strive against my fate. | 10 | ·········· |
| O Jesus Christ, how canst Thou suffer me | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| By such a cruel death destroyed to be? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Grant me to wound myself, and so be free, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Quenching in Death my thirst insatiate. | 10 | /˘····˘/˘˘ |
| O Jesus Christ, hast Thou no other death, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Less harsh, less dreadful for my failing breath ? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Vain is my cry,—in vain it clamoureth, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| For Thou hast left me, and hast locked the gate. | 10 | ·········· |
| O wretched heart, who hath imprisoned thee, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Surrounded thee with pain and misery? | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘˘ |
| Thy cup's too full:—present thy piteous plea, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘˘· |
| And let thy clamour be intemperate! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| O eyes of mine, how can ye cease to weep, | 10 | ·········· |
| To mourn the vanished light ye could not keep? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Your birthright have ye lost, in darkness deep, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| —Of gazing on the Splendour Uncreate. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| O ears of mine, and can ye listen so | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To these my sad complaints of bitter woe? | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Have ye forgot that Voice that lovers know, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| That once did make me sing and jubilate? | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| O grief! O cruel pangs of memory! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Fierce death devours and gnaws me steadily, | 11 | ··˘/˘···/˘˘ |
| So tortured, I can neither live nor die, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| While from my Saviour I am separate. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Now in no comrade's heart will I confide, | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| My life shall be a desert wild and wide; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Lonely I dwell, with crowds on every side ; | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| I have lost my Lord, and I am desolate! | 11 | ········/˘· |
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