Poems 1-15
An unidentified speaker is talking to an unidentified other that could be a romantic possibility or God. The speaker says this entity has commanded him to sing and through imagery of eternity, references to “My Master,” and obeisance it becomes clear that the speaker has been praying to God. The foundation of worship is symbolized through the metaphor of the speaker showing devotion through song. He tells God that His music is powerful enough to illuminate the entire world only to finally admit that he has yet to sing the song he came to sing and instead spent his days preparing his instrument for play. Finally, he arrived at the arena where he sang his song and sat in a corner. He calls upon God for the power to play his song when he is called upon to perform.
Poems 16-32
The speaker has been invited to a festival at which he played his instrument only to find he is now left with an emptiness that the world cannot satisfy. He grows despondent because he wants to come face-to-face with God. He avoids the normal daily interactions with others and as a result, is called thoughtless. His desolation grows darker as his desire to be with God grows but is continually denied. Comparing his search for God to a voyage on a boat, this search faces stormy seas and sleepless nights. He begins to feel overcome by the burden of shame for debts left unpaid to others. Those who love him in the world make the effort to keep him from doing anything rash to fulfill his longing to be with God.
Poems 33-36
Through extended metaphors, the speaker shifts his focus to the political issue of colonization. He tells of people coming to him offering to help with his spiritual emptiness and he invites them into his home only for them to steal all his belongings. He asks God to help him deal with his newfound poverty and guide him toward understanding the power of freedom and knowledge.
Poems 37-52
Having failed to meet with his God and now dealing with the consequences of the turbulent upheaval of life at the hands of those who steal while claiming to facilitate that desire, the speaker obsesses over the silence of God in his refusal to hear his prayers and grant his one true longing. He compares this lack of connection with God to a desert and accuses God of hiding in the shadows. He begins to exhibit signs of a mind growing mad between an aching longing for profound love and intensifying disappointment that this desire is unrequited. He complains often of waiting in vain for God to appear. He also has many dreams of God fulfilling his prayers by showing up. At long last, he believes he has and has left behind a mighty sword that flashes like fire.
Poems 53-73
This connection through the sword causes an upswing in the passion of the speaker. He continues to berate God for a failure to answer his prayers but is overcome with love and expectations, nevertheless. He attributes all the joy in life to the handiwork of God. He begins to see the presence of God in minute exhibitions of daily existence ranging from the smile on a baby’s lips to honey produced by flowers. He also recognizes that God has shown His presence through bounties not recognized before as God’s doing. He attributes his friendships and his growing awareness of the world around him to God. He also begins to recognize natural connections that prove the existence of a God fully involved in the world of creation when he compares the veins in his body to streams and rivers and finds the song of worship in the colors of the sky and sea. Announcing that God has made his cup runneth over with passionate understanding of His presence, the speaker vows to never shut his senses to this presence.
Poems 74-85
Beginning with the imagery of darkness throwing a shadow across the earth, the speaker—whose heart has been filled with faith that God makes his presence known if one only looks for it with all their senses attuned—recognizes his mortality. This realization is conveyed through metaphor-laden imagery of everything in nature fulfilling its purpose and then moving on, such as the fragrance of flowers sweetening the air before dying and the waters in a river watering fields before reaching the open water. He tells God that he has come to accept that the relationship between them is not like a friendship but is mandated by the distance between creator and creation. Accepting that it is not his destiny to meet God face to face in this mortal plane, the speaker asks God to never let him forget a moment of that life spent searching for Him. Confessing that he has at times felt pangs of regret for time spent and lost in the search for God, he insists that none of it has been time wasted.
Poems 86-103
The speaker asserts in literal terms that death has arrived at his door. Though he is fearful of the waiting darkness, he also welcomes death into his home. He admits that his house is small and that what he has lost will remain gone forever but he looks forward to God’s mansion. He vows to no longer speak loudly but only in whispers in obeisance to the will of his master. Although death is at his door, he must wait and in waiting he listens in expectation of death’s whispering voice. Having received word that his time has come, he bids farewell to all mortal companions and asks for their wishes of good luck to him in the mysterious beyond. He admits that the point of crossing over from mortality to the afterlife is a vague and nebulous border. He eagerly sacrifices all the desires pursued in the flesh spurred by pride and vanity. He confesses that his whole life was spent seeking God through songs and it has been through these songs that they taught him all the lessons he has learned. In his songs, he has come to know God and boasted of this accomplishment to others who could not see for themselves when they looked. He puts all his faith in God to take him on a voyage to his eternal home where he will spend everlasting immortality with the God he finally meets.
