Has any one seen my soul? It was lost in the dark one night. It was very fair and white, And it slipped just out of control And was gone with a laugh and a shriek out of my sight, On the shore where the black waves roll, And the black air tumbles in and drowns the light; It was there it was lost one night; Has any one seen my soul? 'Twas a pure, white soul till then, But I know not what happened there. It was innocent and fair And unused to the ways of men, And the ways of men were alluring, debonair. They called me, called me again and again, With a voice that poisoned prudence and thought and care; And I know not what happened there; 'Twas a pure, white soul, till then. I am lonely and afraid. Without my soul it is terribly sad and lone; For they that were my own, So near and dear to the fair, white maid, Distant, oh, sorrowful distant and drear have grown, Just when I grope for aid And hunger for comfort and out into mockery moan; Without my soul I am so alone, So lonely and afraid. I would not ask for much. So little would comfort me, Just a crumb of sympathy, Only a look or a touch Where the others press to revile or in horror flee; But love is not for such -- For such as they made me down by that black, black sea, Though so little would comfort me, And I dare not hope for much. But oh, my soul, my soul! It is that I want the most, For I walk like a vacant ghost, And the sky is an emptied bowl, And I wander in vain on the ebon, desolate coast, On the shore where the black waves roll, And call me, and jibe, and chatter a horrible boast, Oh, it's that I want the most: Has any one seen my soul? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE MEMORY OF INEZ MILHOLLAND by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MANHATTAN, 1609 by EDWIN MARKHAM SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: AMOS SIBLEY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS OF ANY OLD MAN by ISAAC ROSENBERG LETTERS TO DEAD IMAGISTS by CARL SANDBURG TOWERS OF SIMON RODIA; FOR HOWARD W. SWENSON 1903-1081 by KAREN SWENSON |