My Soul And I Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDE FGF HIHI BJBJ KFKF LMLM ENEN CICI OFOF PQP HRHR SQS TUTU HVHV IWIW RKRK XYXY ZA2ZA2 YB2YC2 D2E2D2E2 TA2TA2 FF2FF2 PEPA2 WA2W G2H2G2H2 BI2BI2 J2K2L2K2 PG2PG2 M2K2M2K2 K2NK2N IN2IN2 K2NK2N K2O2K2O2 NC2NM N2A2N2A2 DK2DK2 A2UA2U PA2PA2 RURU K2A2K2A2 NA2NA2 DGDG NTNT B2E2B2E2 UNUN

Stand still my soul in the silent darkA
I would question theeB
Alone in the shadow drear and starkA
With God and meB
-
What my soul was thy errand hereC
Was it mirth or easeD
Or heaping up dust from year to yearE
'Nay none of these '-
-
Speak soul aright in His holy sightF
Whose eye looks stillG
And steadily on thee through the nightF
'To do His will '-
-
What hast thou done O soul of mineH
That thou tremblest soI
Hast thou wrought His task and kept the lineH
He bade thee goI
-
Aha thou tremblest well I seeB
Thou 'rt craven grownJ
Is it so hard with God and meB
To stand aloneJ
-
Summon thy sunshine bravery backK
O wretched spriteF
Let me hear thy voice through this deep and blackK
Abysmal nightF
-
What hast thou wrought for Right and TruthL
For God and ManM
From the golden hours of bright eyed youthL
To life's mid spanM
-
What silent all art sad of cheerE
Art fearful nowN
When God seemed far and men were nearE
How brave wert thouN
-
Ah soul of mine thy tones I hearC
But weak and lowI
Like far sad murmurs on my earC
They come and goI
-
I have wrestled stoutly with the WrongO
And borne the RightF
From beneath the footfall of the throngO
To life and lightF
-
'Wherever Freedom shivered a chainP
God speed quoth IQ
To Error amidst her shouting trainP
I gave the lie '-
-
Ah soul of mine ah soul of mineH
Thy deeds are wellR
Were they wrought for Truth's sake or for thineH
My soul pray tellR
-
'Of all the work my hand hath wroughtS
Beneath the skyQ
Save a place in kindly human thoughtS
No gain have I '-
-
Go to go to for thy very selfT
Thy deeds were doneU
Thou for fame the miser for pelfT
Your end is oneU
-
And where art thou going soul of mineH
Canst see the endV
And whither this troubled life of thineH
Evermore doth tendV
-
What daunts thee now what shakes thee soI
My sad soul sayW
'I see a cloud like a curtain lowI
Hang o'er my wayW
-
'Whither I go I cannot tellR
That cloud hangs blackK
High as the heaven and deep as hellR
Across my trackK
-
'I see its shadow coldly enwrapX
The souls beforeY
Sadly they enter it step by stepX
To return no moreY
-
'They shrink they shudder dear God they kneelZ
To Thee in prayerA2
They shut their eyes on the cloud but feelZ
That it still is thereA2
-
'In vain they turn from the dread BeforeY
To the Known and GoneB2
For while gazing behind them evermoreY
Their feet glide onC2
-
'Yet at times I see upon sweet pale facesD2
A light beginE2
To tremble as if from holy placesD2
And shrines withinE2
-
'And at times methinks their cold lips moveT
With hymn and prayerA2
As if somewhat of awe but more of loveT
And hope were thereA2
-
'I call on the souls who have left the lightF
To reveal their lotF2
I bend mine ear to that wall of nightF
And they answer notF2
-
'But I hear around me sighs of painP
And the cry of fearE
And a sound like the slow sad dropping of rainP
Each drop a tearA2
-
'Ah the cloud is dark and day by dayW
I am moving thitherA2
I must pass beneath it on my wayW
God pity me whither '-
-
Ah soul of mine so brave and wiseG2
In the life storm loudH2
Fronting so calmly all human eyesG2
In the sunlit crowdH2
-
Now standing apart with God and meB
Thou art weakness allI2
Gazing vainly after the things to beB
Through Death's dread wallI2
-
But never for this never for thisJ2
Was thy being lentK2
For the craven's fear is but selfishnessL2
Like his merrimentK2
-
Folly and Fear are sisters twainP
One closing her eyesG2
The other peopling the dark inaneP
With spectral liesG2
-
Know well my soul God's hand controlsM2
Whate'er thou fearestK2
Round Him in calmest music rollsM2
Whate'er thou NearestK2
-
What to thee is shadow to Him is dayK2
And the end He knowethN
And not on a blind and aimless wayK2
The spirit goethN
-
Man sees no future a phantom showI
Is alone before himN2
Past Time is dead and the grasses growI
And flowers bloom o'er himN2
-
Nothing before nothing behindK2
The steps of FaithN
Fall on the seeming void and findK2
The rock beneathN
-
The Present the Present is all thou hastK2
For thy sure possessingO2
Like the patriarch's angel hold it fastK2
Till it gives its blessingO2
-
Why fear the night why shrink from DeathN
That phantom wanC2
There is nothing in heaven or earth beneathN
Save God and manM
-
Peopling the shadows we turn from HimN2
And from one anotherA2
All is spectral and vague and dimN2
Save God and our brotherA2
-
Like warp and woof all destiniesD
Are woven fastK2
Linked in sympathy like the keysD
Of an organ vastK2
-
Pluck one thread and the web ye marA2
Break but oneU
Of a thousand keys and the paining jarA2
Through all will runU
-
O restless spirit wherefore strainP
Beyond thy sphereA2
Heaven and hell with their joy and painP
Are now and hereA2
-
Back to thyself is measured wellR
All thou hast givenU
Thy neighbor's wrong is thy present hellR
His bliss thy heavenU
-
And in life in death in dark and lightK2
All are in God's careA2
Sound the black abyss pierce the deep of nightK2
And He is thereA2
-
All which is real now remainethN
And fadeth neverA2
The hand which upholds it now sustainethN
The soul foreverA2
-
Leaning on Him make with reverent meeknessD
His own thy willG
And with strength from Him shall thy utter weaknessD
Life's task fulfilG
-
And that cloud itself which now before theeN
Lies dark in viewT
Shall with beams of light from the inner gloryN
Be stricken throughT
-
And like meadow mist through autumn's dawnB2
Uprolling thinE2
Its thickest folds when about thee drawnB2
Let sunlight inE2
-
Then of what is to be and of what is doneU
Why queriest thouN
The past and the time to be are oneU
And both are nowN

John Greenleaf Whittier



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