Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MY SOUL AND I, by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MY SOUL AND I, by            
First Line: Why don't I die and set you free?'
Last Line: You soon will cast a woman's vote.
Subject(s): Old Age; Solitude; Soul; Loneliness


"Why don't I die and set you free?"
You saucy Soul, don't talk to me;
I am not half so old as you
Who saw the Pharoah beat the Jew.

You helped to build a pyramid;
Once in a Brahmin you were hid;
I know because you whispered me
How sweet the Hindoo maids could be.

For Babylon you sometimes weep
When I am tossing in my sleep;
If of Iran I make a verse,
You Zoroaster's lines rehearse.

Please don't forget that Chinese queue,
Though worn upon a throne 'tis true;
And next, as one of Canton's girls,
You made the tea for sampan churls.

You were a Turkish red-fez man,
You babble still of Hafed's khan;
I stood within blind Nydia's door;
Quoth you, "I've seen this house before."

When the old Britons placed the rood,
You with the ensigned Romans stood;
Though you became her queen by right,
I found you worn and weary quite.

You've been worse off; more civil speak,
Since you are such a varied freak.
I have not kept you near so long
As that black slave of Intermong.

You've tried the old world's worst and best,
And thought it better to come west:
Then you were very glad to find
My infant form just to your mind.

The west has set the whole world-pace;
You're still in time to join the race:
A new sensation you will note,
You soon will cast a woman's vote.





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