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A Devotee's Cry

Speak to me now, O Lord

Aug 17, 2007 Linda Sue Grimes

The mystical poem "Leave Thy Vow of Silence" consists of only two verse paragraphs. The speaker is supplicating to the Lord, urging the Lord to speak to him.

(A verse paragraph differs from a stanza. The stanza is a more traditional fixed form, usually with a regular meter and rime scheme, with the same number of lines in each stanza throughout the poem. The verse paragraph is usually unrimed, without a regular meter, and varies in number of lines in each verse paragraph throughout the poem.)

First Verse Paragraph – “Blossoms come and seasons change”

In the first verse paragraph of Paramahansa Yogananda’s “Leave Thy Vow of Silence” from Songs of the Soul, which has ten lines, the speaker observes that time passes, and one can detect that passage in the flowers and in the seasons. Immediately after remarking that “Blossoms come and seasons change,” the speaker asserts to the Lord that these flowers and changing seasons “all speak of Thee.” The speaker is demonstrating that his mind and heart are aware that it is the Lord who has created these things and who is directing the growth of the flowers and the changing of the seasons.

Then the speaker likens the moon to the Lord’s smile and claims that “The sun holds Thy lamp of life.” Not only does the Lord direct the growth and change of earthly creatures, He also reigns over the heavenly entities of moon and sun.

Then the speaker returns to earth , finding the Lord also in the leaves: “In the arteries of leaves / I see Thy blood flowing.” And even closer to the speaker the Lord exists, because the speaker is aware that the Lord is in his own thoughts. He hears the Lord’s heart beating in his own thoughts.

Somewhat startlingly, the speaker suddenly commands the Lord to “Throw off Thy shroud of nature— / Wake from Thy sleep, O Lord.” He commands the Lord to wake, because the speaker is tired of simply sensing the Lord’s presence in flowers, seasons, the moon, the sun, leaves, and even in his own thoughts. The speaker wants to see and hear the Lord directly, not merely sense Him in His “shroud of nature.”

Second Verse Paragraph – “Speak to me now, O Lord”

In the second verse paragraph, the speaker’s hyperbole grows as he complains, “I have been swimming for Thee / In the sea of my tears.” The speaker has cried a sea of tears, he exaggerates. Now, he can stand his pain of separation no longer. He asks the Lord straight out, “When wilt Thou talk to me, / Leaving Thy vow of Silence?” He wants to know just how much longer he has to wait for the Lord to speak to him directly.

He wants the Lord to forsake the silence that the speaker has endured, and so once again he commands the Lord, “Wake! Wake! From Thy sleep— / Speak to me now, O Lord.” Only this time he shouts “wake” twice; he has grown impatient, and now he wants to make sure the Lord hears him.