Of the Love of Christ on the Cross, and How the Soul Desires to Die with Him
O GENTLE Love,Who died for Love,I pray Thee, slay me for Love!
Love, Who didst leadTo death indeed,Thy Lover upon the Cross,O tell me whyThy Dear must die?'Twas to redeem my loss.Then try me by fire,For 'tis all my desireTo die in the arms of Love.
If Thou didst not spareThy Beloved there;How should I escape from Thee iThy Love hath tookMe with an hook,Thy fish from out of the sea:Then spare me not,For 'tis all my thoughtTo perish, immersed in Love.
The Cross hath liftedLove, Heaven-gifted,Never to let it go:And the Cross shall take me,Lift me, break me,For all the world to know.If I shrink and flee,My name shall beBlotted out from the Book of Love.
To the Cross I sprang,On the Cross to hangTo taste true life as I die:How sweet is thy breath,O honied Death!For thee I long and I sigh.Mine ardent soulWould pay its toll,And perish, heart-rent by Love.
Lo! the world shall heed:On the Cross I readThis scroll that in blood is writThat giveth to meGod's own degreeIn philosophy, science and wit:And each golden lineBears God's own sign,Emblazoned and bordered with Love.
O Love of the Lamb!O Ocean calm!Of thy depths what tongue can tell?In Thee am I drowned,For Above and Around,Thy fathomless waters well!And the straightest road,To the Heart of God,Is the Swirl and the Folly of Love.
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- 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,]
- fathomless a.
- Incapable of being fathomed; immeasurable; that can not be sounded.
- swirl v. t.
- To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. *177. See Swarm, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of the Love of Christ on the Cross, and How the Soul Desires to Die with Him 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, Of the Love of Christ on the Cross, and How the Soul Desires to Die with Him, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/of-the-love-of-christ-on-the-cross-and-how-the-soul-desires-.html, id L27090.
Form and metre
Of the Love of Christ on the Cross, and How the Soul Desires to Die with Him is 57 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 AAA loveA · loveA · loveA
- 2 AABCCBDD- leadA · indeedA · crossB · whyC · dieC · lossB · fireD · desireD · love
- 3 AABCCB--- spareA · thereA · iB · tookC · hookC · seaB · not · thought · love
- 4 AABCCBCC- liftedA · giftedA · goB · meC · meC · knowB · fleeC · beC · love
- 5 AABCCBDD- sprangA · hangA · dieB · breathC · deathC · sighB · soulD · tollD · love
- 6 AABCCBDD- heedA · readA · writB · meC · degreeC · witB · lineD · signD · love
- 7 --ABBA--- lamb · calm · tellA · drownedB · aroundB · wellA · road · god · 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 GENTLE Love, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Who died for Love, | 4 | ···· |
| I pray Thee, slay me for Love! | 7 | ······· |
| Love, Who didst lead | 4 | ···· |
| To death indeed, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Thy Lover upon the Cross, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| O tell me why | 4 | ···· |
| Thy Dear must die? | 4 | ···· |
| 'Twas to redeem my loss. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Then try me by fire, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| For 'tis all my desire | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| To die in the arms of Love. | 7 | ······· |
| If Thou didst not spare | 5 | ····· |
| Thy Beloved there; | 4 | ·˘/· |
| How should I escape from Thee i | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Thy Love hath took | 4 | ···· |
| Me with an hook, | 4 | ···· |
| Thy fish from out of the sea: | 7 | ······· |
| Then spare me not, | 4 | ···· |
| For 'tis all my thought | 5 | ····· |
| To perish, immersed in Love. | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| The Cross hath lifted | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Love, Heaven-gifted, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Never to let it go: | 6 | /˘···· |
| And the Cross shall take me, | 6 | ······ |
| Lift me, break me, | 4 | ···· |
| For all the world to know. | 6 | ······ |
| If I shrink and flee, | 5 | ····· |
| My name shall be | 4 | ···· |
| Blotted out from the Book of Love. | 8 | /˘······ |
| To the Cross I sprang, | 5 | ····· |
| On the Cross to hang | 5 | ····· |
| To taste true life as I die: | 7 | ······· |
| How sweet is thy breath, | 5 | ····· |
| O honied Death! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| For thee I long and I sigh. | 7 | ······· |
| Mine ardent soul | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Would pay its toll, | 4 | ···· |
| And perish, heart-rent by Love. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Lo! the world shall heed: | 5 | ····· |
| On the Cross I read | 5 | ····· |
| This scroll that in blood is writ | 7 | ······· |
| That giveth to me | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| God's own degree | 4 | ··˘/ |
| In philosophy, science and wit: | 9 | ·˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| And each golden line | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Bears God's own sign, | 4 | ···· |
| Emblazoned and bordered with Love. | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘·· |
| O Love of the Lamb! | 5 | ····· |
| O Ocean calm! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of thy depths what tongue can tell? | 7 | ······· |
| In Thee am I drowned, | 5 | ····· |
| For Above and Around, | 6 | ······ |
| Thy fathomless waters well! | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| And the straightest road, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To the Heart of God, | 5 | ····· |
| Is the Swirl and the Folly of Love. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
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