Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Videos
Resources
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Quotes
Short Stories
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 216.73.216.45
From Email:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
1 O sight of shame, and pain, and dole! O fearful thought—a convict Soul! RANG the refrain along the hall, the prison, Rose to the roof, the vaults of heaven above, Pouring in floods of melody, in tones so pensive, sweet and strong, the like whereof was never heard, Reaching the far-off sentry, and the armed guards, who ceas’d their pacing, Making the hearer’s pulses stop for extasy and awe. 2 O sight of pity, gloom, and dole! O pardon me, a hapless Soul! The sun was low in the west one winter day, When down a narrow aisle, amid the thieves and outlaws of the land, (There by the hundreds seated, sear-faced murderers, wily counterfeiters, Gather’d to Sunday church in prison walls—the keepers round, Plenteous, well-arm’d, watching, with vigilant eyes,) All that dark, cankerous blotch, a nation’s criminal mass, Calmly a Lady walk’d, holding a little innocent child by either hand, Whom, seating on their stools beside her on the platform, She, first preluding with the instrument, a low and musical prelude, In voice surpassing all, sang forth a quaint old hymn. 3THE HYMN.A Soul, confined by bars and bands, Cries, Help! O help! and wrings her hands; Blinded her eyes—bleeding her breast, Nor pardon finds, nor balm of rest. O sight of shame, and pain, and dole! O fearful thought—a convict Soul! Ceaseless, she paces to and fro; O heart-sick days! O nights of wo! Nor hand of friend, nor loving face; Nor favor comes, nor word of grace. O sight of pity, gloom, and dole! O pardon me, a hapless Soul! It was not I that sinn’d the sin, The ruthless Body dragg’d me in; Though long I strove courageously, The Body was too much for me. O Life! no life, but bitter dole! O burning, beaten, baffled Soul! (Dear prison’d Soul, bear up a space, For soon or late the certain grace; To set thee free, and bear thee home, The Heavenly Pardoner, Death shall come. Convict no more—nor shame, nor dole! Depart! a God-enfranchis’d Soul!) 4The singer ceas’d; One glance swept from her clear, calm eyes, o’er all those upturn’d faces; Strange sea of prison faces—a thousand varied, crafty, brutal, seam’d and beauteous faces; Then rising, passing back along the narrow aisle between them, While her gown touch’d them, rustling in the silence, She vanish’d with her children in the dusk. 5While upon all, convicts and armed keepers, ere they stirr’d, (Convict forgetting prison, keeper his loaded pistol,) A hush and pause fell down, a wondrous minute, With deep, half-stifled sobs, and sound of bad men bow’d, and moved to weeping, And youth’s convulsive breathings, memories of home, The mother’s voice in lullaby, the sister’s care, the happy childhood, The long-pent spirit rous’d to reminiscence; —A wondrous minute then—But after, in the solitary night, to many, many there, Years after—even in the hour of death—the sad refrain—the tune, the voice, the words, Resumed—the large, calm Lady walks the narrow aisle, The wailing melody again—the singer in the prison sings: O sight of shame, and pain, and dole! O fearful thought—a convict Soul!
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required