by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)
Did any bird come flying
Language: English
Did any bird come flying After Adam and Eve, When the door was shut against them And they sat down to grieve? I think not Eve's peacock Splendid to see, And I think not Adam's eagle; But a dove may be. Did any beast come pushing Through the thorny hedge Into the thorny, thistly world Out from Eden's edge? I think not a lion, Though his strength is such; But an innocent loving lamb May have done as much. If the dove preached from her bough And the lamb from his sod, The lamb and the dove Were preachers sent from God.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Bird or Beast?", appears in The Prince's Progress and other Poems, first published 1866 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The Lamb and the Dove", op. 131 no. 1 (1952), published 1953 [soprano or tenor and piano], from Three Lyrics by Christina Rossetti, no. 1. [text not verified]
- by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875 - 1958), "Bird or Beast?", published 1917. [voice and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-07-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 102