Saint Romualdo Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST UVWXYZDA2B2 C2D2E2ZF2G2H2I2J2K2L 2M2N2O2P2Q2WR2S2T2U2 V2W2X2Y2X2XZ2A3 B3EC3D3X2E3X2Z2EF3G3 H3I3X2J3K3X2I3L3B3W2 X2B3X2H3X2V2M3N3B3X2 XB3X2XO3G3I3X2X2X2XL 3X2X2F3X2P3X2Q3R3X2S 3X2T3U3X2N2E3V3XX2X2 E3 W3Z2X3C3X2X2Q3YE3X2E 3X2Y3Z3A4M3B4X3C4Z2D 4Z3E4X2F4X2YC3E3P3G4 H4XX2X2I3E3V3E3I4M3J 4K4C3L4FI3E3M4N4F4O4 P4XE3X2X2FQ4O4U3I4X2 XX2E3X2F4X2P3V3 X2X2E3E3E3XP4XX2V3X2 X2AX2E3X2X2E3X2Q4J4Y R4E3ZE3E3X2E3E3X2X2F X2B4S4YE3E3B4X2T4X2E 3 X2Z3U4V4R4AX2X2X2X2E 3E3V3Z2X2X2E3XE3E3E3 X2XU3J4X2XX2XM2E3X2X 2E3X2X2E3X2X2X2W4E3X 4X2E3J4V3ZE3XX2Y

I give God thanks that I a lean old manA
Wrinkled infirm and crippled with keen painsB
By austere penance and continuous toilC
Now rest in spirit and possess the peaceD
Which passeth understanding Th' end draws nighE
Though the beginning is yesterdayF
And a broad lifetime spreads 'twixt this and thatG
A favored life though outwardly the buttH
Of ignominy malice and affrontI
Yet lighted from within by the clear starJ
Of a high aim and graciously prolongedK
To see at last its utmost goal attainedL
I speak not of mine Order and my HouseM
Here founded by my hands and filled with saintsN
A white society of snowy soulsO
Swayed by my voice by mine example ledP
For this is but the natural harvest reapedQ
From labors such as mine when blessed by GodR
Though I rejoice to think my spirit stillS
Will work my purposes through worthy handsT
After my bones are shriveled into dustU
Yet have I gleaned a finer sweeter fruitV
Of holy satisfaction sure and realW
Though subtler than the tissue of the airX
The power completely to detach the soulY
From her companion through this life the fleshZ
So that in blessed privacy of peaceD
Communing with high angels she can holdA2
Serenely rapt her solitary courseB2
-
Ye know O saints of heaven what I have borneC2
Of discipline and scourge the twisted lashD2
Of knotted rope that striped my shrinking limbsE2
Vigils and fasts protracted till my fleshZ
Wasted and crumbled from mine aching bonesF2
And the last skin one woof of pain and soresG2
Thereto like yellow parchment loosely clungH2
Exposure to the fever and the frostI2
When 'mongst the hollows of the hills I lurkedJ2
From persecution of misguided folkK2
Accustoming my spirit to ignoreL2
The burden of the cross while picturingM2
The bliss of disembodied souls the graceN2
Of holiness the lives of sainted menO2
And entertaining all exalted thoughtsP2
That nowise touched the trouble of the hourQ2
Until the grief and pain seemed far less realW
Than the creations of my brain inspiredR2
The vision the beatitude were trueS2
The agony was but an evil dreamT2
I speak not now as one who hath not learnedU2
The purport of those lightly bandied wordsV2
Evil and Fate but rather one who knowsW2
The thunders of the terrors of the worldX2
No mortal chance or change no earthly shockY2
Can move or reach my soul securely thronedX2
On heights of contemplation and calm prayerX
Happy serene no less actual joyZ2
Of present peace than faith in joys to comeA3
-
This soft sweet yellow evening how the treesB3
Stand crisp against the clear bright colored skyE
How the white mountain tops distinctly shineC3
Taking and giving radiance and the slopesD3
Are purpled with rich floods of peach hued lightX2
Thank God my filmy old dislustred eyesE3
Find the same sense of exquisite delightX2
My heart vibrates to the same touch of joyZ2
In scenes like this as when my pulse danced highE
And youth coursed through my veins This the one linkF3
That binds the wan old man that now I amG3
To the wild lad who followed up the houndsH3
Among Ravenna's pine woods by the seaI3
For there how oft would I lose all delightX2
In the pursuit the triumph or the gameJ3
To stray alone among the shadowy gladesK3
And gaze as one who is not satisfiedX2
With gazing at the large bright breathing seaI3
The forest glooms and shifting gleams betweenL3
The fine dark fringes of the fadeless treesB3
On gold green turf sweet brier and wild pink roseW2
How rich that buoyant air with changing scentX2
Of pungent pine fresh flowers and salt cool seasB3
And when all echoes of the chase had diedX2
Of horn and halloo bells and baying houndsH3
How mine ears drank the ripple of the tideX2
On the fair shore the chirp of unseen birdsV2
The rustling of the tangled undergrowthM3
And the deep lyric murmur of the pinesN3
When through their high tops swept the sudden breezeB3
There was my world there would my heart dilateX2
And my aspiring soul dissolve in prayerX
Unto that Spirit of Love whose energiesB3
Were active round me yet whose presence spheredX2
In the unsearchable unbodied airX
Made itself felt but reigned invisibleO3
This ere the day that made me what I amG3
Still can I see the hot bright sky the seaI3
Illimitably sparkling as they showedX2
That morning Though I deemed I took no noteX2
Of heaven or earth or waters yet my mindX2
Retains to day the vivid portraitureX
Of every line and feature of the sceneL3
Light hearted 'midst the dewy lanes I faredX2
Unto the sea whose jocund gleam I caughtX2
Between the slim boles when I heard the clinkF3
Of naked weapons then a sudden thrustX2
Sickening to hear and then a stifled groanP3
And pressing forward I beheld the sightX2
That seared itself for ever on my brainQ3
My kinsman Ser Ranieri on the turfR3
Fallen upon his side his bright young headX2
Among the pine spurs and his cheek pressed closeS3
Unto the moist chill sod his fingers clutchedX2
A handful of loose weeds and grass and earthT3
Uprooted in his anguish as he fellU3
And slowly from his heart the thick stream flowedX2
Fouling the green leaving the fair sweet faceN2
Ghastly transparent with blue stony eyesE3
Staring in blankness on that other oneV3
Who triumphed over him With hot desireX
Of instant vengeance I unsheathed my swordX2
To rush upon the slayer when he turnedX2
In his first terror of blood guiltinessE3
-
Within my heart a something snapped and brakeW3
What was it but the chord of rapturous joyZ2
For ever stilled I tottered and would fallX3
Had I not leaned against the friendly pineC3
For all realities of life unmooredX2
From their firm anchorage appeared to floatX2
Like hollow phantoms past my dizzy brainQ3
The strange delusion wrought upon my soulY
That this had been enacted ages sinceE3
This very horror curdled at my heartX2
This net of trees spread round these iron heavensE3
Were closing over me when I had stoodX2
Unnumbered cycles back and fronted HIMY3
My father and he felt mine eyes as nowZ3
Yet saw me not and then as now that formA4
The one thing real lay stretched between us bothM3
The fancy passed and I stood sane and strongB4
To grasp the truth Then I remembered allX3
A few fierce words between them yester eveC4
Concerning some poor plot of pasturageZ2
Soon silenced into courteous frigid calmD4
This was the end I could not meet him nowZ3
To curse him to accuse him or to saveE4
And draw him from the red entanglementX2
Coiled by his own hands round his ruined lifeF4
God pardon me My heart that moment heldX2
No drop of pity toward this wretched soulY
And cowering down as though his guilt were mineC3
I fled amidst the savage silencesE3
Of that grim wood resolved to nurse aloneP3
My boundless desolation shame and griefG4
-
There in that thick leaved twilight of high noonH4
The quiet of the still suspended airX
Once more my wandering thoughts were calmly rangedX2
Shepherded by my will I wept I prayedX2
A solemn prayer conceived in agonyI3
Blessed with response instant miraculousE3
For in that hour my spirit was at oneV3
With Him who knows and satisfies her needsE3
The supplication and the blessing sprangI4
From the same source inspired divinely bothM3
I prayed for light self knowledge guidance truthJ4
And these like heavenly manna were rained downK4
To feed my hungered soul His guilt was mineC3
What angel had been sent to stay mine armL4
Until the fateful moment passed awayF
That would have ushered an eternityI3
Of withering remorse I found the germsE3
In mine own heart of every human sinM4
That waited but occasion's tempting breathN4
To overgrow with poisoned bloom my lifeF4
What God thus far had saved me from myselfO4
Here was the lofty truth revealed that eachP4
Must feel himself in all must know where'erX
The great soul acts or suffers or enjoysE3
His proper soul in kinship there is boundX2
Then my life purpose dawned upon my mindX2
Encouraging as morning As I layF
Crushed by the weight of universal loveQ4
Which mine own thoughts had heaped upon myselfO4
I heard the clear chime of a slow sweet bellU3
I knew it whence it came and what it sangI4
From the gray convent nigh the wood it pealedX2
And called the monks to prayer Vigil and prayerX
Clean lives white days of strict austerityX2
Such were the offerings of these holy saintsE3
How far might such not tend to expiateX2
A riotous world's indulgence Here my lifeF4
Doubly austere and doubly sanctifiedX2
Might even for that other one atoneP3
So bound to mine till both should be forgivenV3
-
They sheltered me not questioning the needX2
That led me to their cloistered solitudeX2
How rich how freighted with pure influenceE3
With dear security of perfect peaceE3
Was the first day I passed within those wallsE3
The holy habit of perpetual prayerX
The gentle greetings the rare temperate speechP4
The chastening discipline the atmosphereX
Of settled and profound tranquillityX2
Were even as living waters unto oneV3
Who perisheth of thirst Was this the worldX2
That yesterday seemed one huge battlefieldX2
For brutish passions Could the soul of manA
Withdraw so easily and erect apartX2
Her own fair temple for her own high endsE3
But this serene contentment slowly wanedX2
As I discerned the broad disparityX2
Betwixt the form and spirit of the lawsE3
That bound the order in strait brotherhoodX2
Yet when I sought to gain a larger loveQ4
More rigid discipline severer truthJ4
And more complete surrender of the soulY
Unto her God this was to my reproachR4
And scoffs and gibes beset me on all sidesE3
In mine own cell I mortified my fleshZ
I held aloof from all my brethren's feastsE3
To wrestle with my viewless enemiesE3
Till they should leave their blessing on my headX2
For nightly was I haunted by that faceE3
White bloodless as I saw it 'midst the fernsE3
Now staring out of darkness and it heldX2
Mine eyes from slumber and my brain from restX2
And drove me from my straw to weep and prayF
Rebellious thoughts such subtle torture wroughtX2
Upon my spirit that I lay day longB4
In dumb despair until the blessed hopeS4
Of mercy dawned again upon my soulY
As gradual as the slow gold moon that mountsE3
The airy steps of heaven My faith aroseE3
With sure perception that disaster wrongB4
And every shadow of man's destinyX2
Are merely circumstance and cannot touchT4
The soul's fine essence they exist or dieX2
Only as she affirms them or deniesE3
-
This faith sustain me even to the endX2
It floods my heart with peace as surely nowZ3
As on that day the friars drove me forthU4
Urging that my asceticism too harshV4
Endured through pride would bring into reproachR4
Their customs and their order Then beganA
My exile in the mountains where I bodeX2
A hunted man The elements conspiredX2
Against me and I was the seasons' sportX2
Drenched parched and scorched and frozen alternatelyX2
Burned with shrewd frosts prostrated by fierce heatsE3
Shivering 'neath chilling dews and gusty rainsE3
And buffeted by all the winds of heavenV3
Yet was this period my time of joyZ2
My daily thoughts perpetual converse heldX2
With angels ministrant mine ears were charmedX2
With sweet accordance of celestial soundsE3
Song harp and choir clear ringing through the airX
And visions were revealed unto mine eyesE3
By night and day of Heaven's very courtsE3
In shadowless undimmed magnificenceE3
I gave God thanks not that He sheltered meX2
And fed me as He feeds the fowls of airX
For had I perished this too had been wellU3
But for the revelation of His truthJ4
The glory the beatitude vouchsafedX2
To exalt to heal to quicken to inspireX
So that the pinched lean excommunicateX2
Was crowned with joy more solid more secureX
Than all the comfort of the vales could bringM2
Then the good Lord touched certain fervid heartsE3
Aspiring toward His love to come to meX2
Timid and few at first but as they heardX2
From mine own lips the precious oraclesE3
That soothed the trouble of their souls appeasedX2
Their spiritual hunger and disclosedX2
All of the God within them to themselvesE3
They flocked about me and they hailed me saintX2
And sware to follow and to serve the goodX2
Which my word published and my life declaredX2
Thus the lone hermit of the mountain topW4
Descended leader of a band of saintsE3
And midway 'twixt the summit and the valeX4
I perched my convent Yet I bated notX2
One whit of strict restraint and abstinenceE3
And they who love me and who serve the truthJ4
Have learned to suffer with me and have wonV3
The supreme joy that is not of the fleshZ
Foretasting the delights of ParadiseE3
This faith to them imparted will endureX
After my tongue hath ceased to utter itX2
And the great peace hath settled on my soulY

Emma Lazarus



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about Saint Romualdo poem by Emma Lazarus


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 2 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets