Prologue

[Bruce V]

This is a prologue to a poem of about 2000 lines I wrote.  

The world, like all things else, has its own soul,
Is by the selfsame Source created whole
And individual, as you or I,
With one set term in which to live and die--
An instrument of that one highest power
Who gives sweet purpose to our every hour.
Therefore with Earth, and with her smallest part
Are we conjoined, and held in Heaven's heart
As children all, beloved of God, and meant
To live in happy concord, each with each content
To seek our private destinies, aware
Through all our lone pursuits that we must share
Whatever God has given.  Yet few perceive
How thoroughly the spirits interweave
Their subtle essences into each force,
Each form on Earth, how gentle intercourse
Is ever maintained among the several souls
That do indwell this world that onward rolls
In seeming silence through the fields of space;
Or how the spirit of this sacred place
We call our mortal home, communicates
With every spirit that incorporates
It's light into the natural web.  And so,
Unheedful of the sweetest strains that flow
Unceasing through this realm, we too oft miss
The surest source of God's intended bliss--
That deep communion holy Nature gives
To whomsoever in her graces lives.
This tale, therefore, is but the simple tale
Of one who came to lift the mystic veil 
Which others take as Nature's truest dress,
But which the poets know does not confess
The deeper truths of life unless one's eyes
Are keen enough to see what hidden lies
Beneath the outward, lovely show things,
Into the deeps, where Life to Heaven sings.

[CRNDLSM]

This is a prologue to a poem of about 2000 lines I wrote.  

The world, like all things else, has its own soul, is by the selfsame Source created whole and individual, as you or I, with one set term in which to live and die-- an instrument of that one highest power who gives sweet purpose to our every hour.  Therefore with Earth, and with her smallest part are we conjoined, and held in Heaven's heart as children all, beloved of God, and meant to live in happy concord, each with each content to seek our private destinies, aware through all our lone pursuits that we must share whatever God has given.  Yet few perceive how thoroughly the spirits interweave their subtle essences into each force, each form on Earth, how gentle intercourse is ever maintained among the several souls that do indwell this world that onward rolls in seeming silence through the fields of space; or how the spirit of this sacred place we call our mortal home, communicates with every spirit that incorporates it's light into the natural web.  And so, unheedful of the sweetest strains that flow unceasing through this realm, we too oft miss the surest source of God's intended bliss-- that deep communion holy Nature gives to whomsoever in her graces lives.

This tale, therefore, is but the simple tale of one who came to lift the mystic veil  which others take as Nature's truest dress, but which the poets know does not confess the deeper truths of life unless one's eyes are keen enough to see what hidden lies beneath the outward, lovely show things, into the deeps, where Life to Heaven sings.

I appreciate the idea.  So much conflict in me on whether it should maintain a strict meter or sound more natural.  I set it out as a paragraph to see if I could understand it because I get lost easily in rhythm and rhyme.  I think your trying to sum up life the universe and everything but it's almost too big a concept to sum up so tightly and melodically.  The second paragraph there seems like the real prologue, still a little cryptic like I have to decipher language, but then again I get lost easily in rhythm and rhyme. The first paragraph might do well as an epilogue, I wonder how the actual poem goes, it it maintains this form throughout.  I'd definitely suggest adding breaks and other interesting sub bits to keep me going.  Hope this helps, thanks for sharing!

[RiverNotch]

The world, like all things else, has its own soul,
Is by the selfsame Source created whole 
And individual, as you or I, Scans a little weird, a little old-fashioned, to have it be "in-di-vi-du-al" than "in-di-vi-dwal".
With one set term in which to live and die--
An instrument of that one highest power
Who gives sweet purpose to our every hour.

Substantively, I'd say this beginning seems a little weak. An object doesn't have to have a soul to be whole, nor to be whole to be individual, nor to be an individual to be a mere instrument. It could be pruned (though ignoring the form for now):

The world has a soul
bound to its body in the same
loose manner as a man,
with one set term in which to live and die:
no more than an instrument, a tool
in the hands of a higher power.

Therefore with Earth, and with her smallest part
Are we conjoined, and held in Heaven's heart
As children all, beloved of God, and meant
To live in happy concord, each content  If "with each" isn't removed, as here, then I suggest having the previous line also be in hexameter.
To seek our private destinies, aware
Through all our lone pursuits that we must share
Whatever God has given.  

There's something paradoxical in this passage: if our destinies are private, then why the emphasis on sharing? The matter could be resolved just by adding a conjunction or two:

To live in happy concord, each content
To seek a private path, if well aware
That we yet live conjoined, that we must share
Whatever God has given.

Yet few perceive
How thoroughly the spirits interweave
Their subtle essences into each force
That on this planet dwells, how far the course
Of this our very home communicates
With every spirit that incorporates
Its light into the natural web.  The doubled "that" in this passage was awkward, so I revised it accordingly.

And so,
Unheedful of the sweetest strains that flow
Unceasing through this realm, we often miss The "too" was unnecessary.
The surest source of God's intended bliss--
That deep communion holy Nature gives
To whomsoever in her graces lives.

This passage could be cut entirely, it's entirely tautological. I would just extend the previous line "Its light into the natural web" into something that rhymes with "communicates"/"incorporates"---the occasional tercet is spice to this sort of thing.

Wherefore here told is but the simple tale Also awkward was the doubling of "tale" here, hence this revision.
Of one who came to lift the mystic veil 
Which others take as Nature's truest dress,
But which the poets know does not confess
The deeper truths of life unless one's eyes
Are keen enough to see what hidden lies
Beneath the outward, lovely show of things, "of" was missing.
Into the deeps, where Life to Heaven sings.

If this is meant to be an epic, then it's not a very powerful opening: I suppose there's a reason why all the great English epics I've encountered start with a proper invocation. And those are probably your principal points of reference, what with your choice of form, which I can neither condemn nor condone: I'm very partial to reading Dryden and Pope, even if Pope writes so perfectly that I am often lulled to sleep by his work, yet to adapt a music critic whom I like, to write like those guys in 2026 is deliberately to cultivate a sensibility whose time you know perfectly well has passed. I like this, but I may be a very limited audience.

[Bruce V]

This is a prologue to a poem of about 2000 lines I wrote.  

The world, like all things else, has its own soul, is by the selfsame Source created whole and individual, as you or I, with one set term in which to live and die-- an instrument of that one highest power who gives sweet purpose to our every hour.  Therefore with Earth, and with her smallest part are we conjoined, and held in Heaven's heart as children all, beloved of God, and meant to live in happy concord, each with each content to seek our private destinies, aware through all our lone pursuits that we must share whatever God has given.  Yet few perceive how thoroughly the spirits interweave their subtle essences into each force, each form on Earth, how gentle intercourse is ever maintained among the several souls that do indwell this world that onward rolls in seeming silence through the fields of space; or how the spirit of this sacred place we call our mortal home, communicates with every spirit that incorporates it's light into the natural web.  And so, unheedful of the sweetest strains that flow unceasing through this realm, we too oft miss the surest source of God's intended bliss-- that deep communion holy Nature gives to whomsoever in her graces lives.

This tale, therefore, is but the simple tale of one who came to lift the mystic veil  which others take as Nature's truest dress, but which the poets know does not confess the deeper truths of life unless one's eyes are keen enough to see what hidden lies beneath the outward, lovely show things, into the deeps, where Life to Heaven sings.

I appreciate the idea.  So much conflict in me on whether it should maintain a strict meter or sound more natural.  I set it out as a paragraph to see if I could understand it because I get lost easily in rhythm and rhyme.  I think your trying to sum up life the universe and everything but it's almost too big a concept to sum up so tightly and melodically.  The second paragraph there seems like the real prologue, still a little cryptic like I have to decipher language, but then again I get lost easily in rhythm and rhyme. The first paragraph might do well as an epilogue, I wonder how the actual poem goes, it it maintains this form throughout.  I'd definitely suggest adding breaks and other interesting sub bits to keep me going.  Hope this helps, thanks for sharing!

thanks for your input.  Let me just say that I know this work and its following body belong in the 19th century (my wife has told me often that I should have been born then.). So I understand the difficulties with rhyming iambic pentameter.  Part of my writing it lay in efforts to work with traditional forms.  On your wondering about whether it maintains this form throughout, the answer is no.  The narrator sticks with this format, but there are numerous nature 'voices/spirits' who each speak in a different meter and rhyme form.  Some are free verse, while employing other poetic devices (such as the spirit of a stream speaking in a non-rhyming, free verse format, but using the alliteration of l's an r's to mimic the sound of water over rocks).  As to it seeming to be a summation of everything....that's my bad.  The theme I was trying to introduce is:  consciousness is the substratum of all thing-- something I could have said in a simple couplet.   I blather on too much, just like I'm doing now.  So thanks again:  I can see some simplification would have made for better clarity.  (One thing:  perhaps it would help if you read it trying to ignore both meter and rhyme, but maybe that's what you did with setting it out as a paragraph.)

[Bruce V]

The world, like all things else, has its own soul,
Is by the selfsame Source created whole 
And individual, as you or I, Scans a little weird, a little old-fashioned, to have it be "in-di-vi-du-al" than "in-di-vi-dwal".

Interesting...I've never heard it as 4 syllables....perhaps regional dialect?  After all, I come from a place where "you all" is one syllable.

With one set term in which to live and die--

An instrument of that one highest power
Who gives sweet purpose to our every hour.

Substantively, I'd say this beginning seems a little weak. An object doesn't have to have a soul to be whole, nor to be whole to be individual, nor to be an individual to be a mere instrument. It could be pruned (though ignoring the form for now):

Good point about the weakness of 'whole' as unnecessary and misleading.  As far as "mere" instrument...it's no mere thing to be an instrument of God.

The world has a soul
bound to its body in the same

I don't see the soul as being 'bound' to the body.

loose manner as a man,
with one set term in which to live and die:
no more than an instrument, a tool
in the hands of a higher power.

Therefore with Earth, and with her smallest part
Are we conjoined, and held in Heaven's heart
As children all, beloved of God, and meant
To live in happy concord, each content  If "with each" isn't removed, as here, then I suggest having the previous line also be in hexameter.
To seek our private destinies, aware

Good point.  I never noticed the line wasn't pentameter.

Through all our lone pursuits that we must share
Whatever God has given.  

There's something paradoxical in this passage: if our destinies are private, then why the emphasis on sharing? The matter could be resolved just by adding a conjunction or two:

You're right:  our destinies really aren't private, even if they sometimes seem so.

To live in happy concord, each content
To seek a private path, if well aware
That we yet live conjoined, that we must share
Whatever God has given.

Yet few perceive
How thoroughly the spirits interweave
Their subtle essences into each force
That on this planet dwells, how far the course
Of this our very home communicates
With every spirit that incorporates
Its light into the natural web.  The doubled "that" in this passage was awkward, so I revised it accordingly.

Right again.  In the original I did say "Its".  I clearly made an error in my typing.

And so,
Unheedful of the sweetest strains that flow
Unceasing through this realm, we often miss The "too" was unnecessary.

That works, too.

The surest source of God's intended bliss--
That deep communion holy Nature gives
To whomsoever in her graces lives.

This passage could be cut entirely, it's entirely tautological. I would just extend the previous line "Its light into the natural web" into something that rhymes with "communicates"/"incorporates"---the occasional tercet is spice to this sort of thing.

Wherefore here told is but the simple tale Also awkward was the doubling of "tale" here, hence this revision.

I like this revision.

Of one who came to lift the mystic veil 
Which others take as Nature's truest dress,
But which the poets know does not confess
The deeper truths of life unless one's eyes
Are keen enough to see what hidden lies
Beneath the outward, lovely show of things, "of" was missing.

Bad transcribing on my part, again.

Into the deeps, where Life to Heaven sings.

If this is meant to be an epic, then it's not a very powerful opening: I suppose there's a reason why all the great English epics I've encountered start with a proper invocation. And those are probably your principal points of reference, what with your choice of form, which I can neither condemn nor condone: I'm very partial to reading Dryden and Pope, even if Pope writes so perfectly that I am often lulled to sleep by his work, yet to adapt a music critic whom I like, to write like those guys in 2026 is deliberately to cultivate a sensibility whose time you know perfectly well has passed. I like this, but I may be a very limited audience.

Quite right.  I knew all along that this style's time has passed.  I wrote it for my own pleasure, and as an exercise in various meters, rhyme schemes, and poetic techniques.
Thanks for you feedback -- much appreciated.