Prayer
My body is opaque to the soul.Driven of the spirit, long have I sought to temper it unto thespirit’s longing,But my mind, too, is opaque to the soul.A closed lid is my soul’s flesh-eye.O Spirits of whom my soul is but a little finger,Direct it to the lid of its flesh-eye.I am weak with much giving.I am weak with the desire to give more.(How strong a thing is the little finger!)So weak that I have confused the body with the soul,And the body with its little finger.(How frail is the little finger.)My voice could not carry to you did you dwell in stars,O Spirits of whom my soul is but a little finger..
Words in this poem
- 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
Prayer is in the public domain. This text is taken from Cane, Project Gutenberg ebook #60093; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean Toomer, Prayer, in Cane (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/toomer-cane/prayer.html, id L01577.
Form and metre
Prayer is 15 lines in a single stanza. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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--ABCB--CACC-C soulA · the · longing · soulA · eyeB · fingerC · eyeB · giving · more · fingerC · soulA · fingerC · fingerC · stars · fingerC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My body is opaque to the soul. | 9 | ·/˘·˘/··· |
| Driven of the spirit, long have I sought to temper it unto the | 15 | /··/·····/˘···· |
| spirit’s longing, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| But my mind, too, is opaque to the soul. | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| A closed lid is my soul’s flesh-eye. | 9 | ··˘······ |
| O Spirits of whom my soul is but a little finger, | 14 | ·/˘·······/˘/˘ |
| Direct it to the lid of its flesh-eye. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| I am weak with much giving. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I am weak with the desire to give more. | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| (How strong a thing is the little finger!) | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| So weak that I have confused the body with the soul, | 13 | ·····˘/·/˘··· |
| And the body with its little finger. | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| (How frail is the little finger.) | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| My voice could not carry to you did you dwell in stars, | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| O Spirits of whom my soul is but a little finger.. | 14 | ·/˘·······/˘/˘ |
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.