All 4 Uses of

muse
in
The Souls of Black Folk

Thus sadly musing, I rode to Nashville in the Jim Crow car.†
Chpt 4 *

musing = reflecting (thinking) -- perhaps aloud

So we sit musing, until, as we turn a corner on the sandy road, there comes a fairer scene suddenly in view,—a neat cottage snugly ensconced by the road, and near it a little store.†
Chpt 7

I too mused above his little white bed; saw the strength of my own arm stretched onward through the ages through the newer strength of his; saw the dream of my black fathers stagger a step onward in the wild phantasm of the world; heard in his baby voice the voice of the Prophet that was to rise within the Veil.†
Chpt 11

mused = thought -- possibly aloud

And then he mused and dreamed, and planned a life-work; and the train flew south.†
Chpt 13

Definitions:

(1) (muse as in: her musings)
reflect (think) deeply on a subject -- perhaps aloud
(2) (muse as in: She was his muse)
the source of an artist's inspiration - especially a person or mythological goddess

The 9 muses were the daughters of the Greek gods Zeus & Mnemosyne. Each of the muses was thought to inspire and preside over one of the arts.
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

More rarely, muse is used as a synonym for "poet". In Shakespeare's time, muse could be used in the sense of being astonished or puzzled by something strange or unexpected.