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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Rats away
Language: English 
I command that all the rats that are hereabout
That none dwell in this place, within or without;
Through the virtue of Jesus that Mary bore,
Whom all creatures must ever adore;
And through the virtue of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John,
All four Archangels, that are as one;
Through the virtue of Saint Gertrude, that maid clean,
God grant in grace
That no rats dwell in the place
That these names were uttered in;
And through the virtue of Saint Kasi,
That holy man who prayed to God Almighty
Of the scathes they did
His meadows amid
By day and night.
God bid them flee and go out of every man's sight.
Dominus, Deus, Sabbaoth, Emmanuel, great name of
God,
Deliver this place from rats and from all other shame.
God save this place from all other wicked wights,
Both by days and by nights,
Et in nomini Patris et Filii et Sancti Spiriti, Amen.

Note: modernized by Auden

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Rats away", op. 8 no. 2 (1936), published 1936 [ high voice and orchestra ], from Our Hunting Fathers, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website: 2004-07-05
Line count: 22
Word count: 156

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