Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LOST!, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOST!, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Has any one seen my soul?
Last Line: Has any one seen my soul?
Subject(s): Soul


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?





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