by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918)
Maundy Thursday
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
Between the brown hands of a server-lad The silver cross was offered to be kissed. The men came up, lugubrious, but not sad, And knelt reluctantly, half-prejudiced. (And kissing, kissed the emblem of a creed.) Then mourning women knelt; meek mouths they had, (And kissed the Body of the Christ indeed.) Young children came, with eager lips and glad. (These kissed a silver doll, immensely bright.) Then I, too, knelt before that acolyte. Above the crucifix I bent my head: The Christ was thin, and cold, and very dead: And yet I bowed, yea, kissed -- my lips did cling. (I kissed the warm live hand that held the thing.)
Authorship:
- by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918), "Maundy Thursday" [author's text not yet checked 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 John Greer (b. 1954), "Maundy Thursday", from Sing me at midnight, no. 4. [ sung text not verified ]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Jeudi saint", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 109