My Soul Is Dark
My soul is dark – Oh! quickly string The harp I yet can brook to hear; And let thy gentle fingers fling Its melting murmurs o’er mine ear. If in this heart a hope be dear, That sound shall charm it forth again: If in these eyes there lurk a tear, ‘Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain. But bid the strain be wild and deep, Nor let thy notes of joy be first: I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep, Or else this heavy heart will burst; For it hath been by sorrow nursed, And ached in sleepless silence, long; And now ’tis doomed to know the worst, And break at once – or yield to song.
My Soul Is Dark - meaning Summary
Sorrow Coaxed Into Song
The speaker presents a deeply troubled, sorrowful inner life and asks a musician to play so music can draw out buried feeling. They prefer a mournful, intense strain that will allow tears and relieve mental anguish; joyous notes are unwelcome. The poem frames song as a release or last recourse: the heart, long fed on sorrow and sleepless pain, must either break or be saved by yielding its grief to music.
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