by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Strong Son of God, immortal Love
Language: English
Strong Son of God, immortal Love, Whom we, that have not seen thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace, Believing where we cannot prove; Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest Life in man and brute; Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot Is on the skull which thou hast made. Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou madest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not made to die; And thou hast made him: thou art just. Thou seemest human and divine, The highest, holiest manhood, thou: Our wills are ours, we know not how; Our wills are ours, to make them thine. Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be: They are but broken lights of thee, And thou, O Lord, art more than they. We have but faith: we cannot know; For knowledge is of things we see; And yet we trust it comes from thee, A beam in darkness: let it grow. Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell; That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before, But vaster. We are fools and slight; We mock thee when we do not fear: But help thy foolish ones to bear; Help thy vain worlds to bear thy light. Forgive what seem'd my sin in me; What seem'd my worth since I began; For merit lives from man to man, And not from man, O Lord, to thee. Forgive my grief for one removed, Thy creature, whom I found so fair. I trust he lives in thee, and there I find him worthier to be loved. Forgive these wild and wandering cries, Confusions of a wasted youth; Forgive them where they fail in truth, And in thy wisdom make me wise.
L. Lehmann sets stanzas 1-3
A. Thomas sets stanzas 1, 11
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, written 1849, appears in In Memoriam A. H. H. obiit MDCCCXXXIII, first published 1850 [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 S. Glen Darst , "Strong son of God, immortal Love", published <<1974 [ SATB chorus and piano or organ ], note: the sung text is made up of a few opening lines [sung text not yet checked]
- by Filkins , "Strong Son of God", published <<1974 [ soprano and SATB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Groocock , "Strong Son of God", published c1953 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Clarence S. Hill , "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published c1912 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Hugh Jones (1900 - ?), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published 1934 [ SATB chorus or SATTB chorus and piano or organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", 1899, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], from In Memoriam, no. 13 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by James Charles McCollum (b. 1914), "Strong Son of God", published 1951 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Nelson (b. 1929), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", 1967 [ mixed chorus and strings or organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Stanley Oakeley (1830 - 1903), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published <<1893 [ chorus and organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Kemble Oliver (1800 - 1885), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published 1917 [ voices and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis W. Snow , "Strong Son of God", published 1932 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Strong Son of God", op. 97 no. 1, published 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs of Faith, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", 2000, first performed 2000, stanzas 1,11 [ soprano, large SATB chorus, and orchestra ], from Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rudolph T. Werther (1896 - 1986), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-11
Line count: 44
Word count: 308