The women bore their children

The women bore their children 
From mountain and field and street ; 
They bore them thro' the jeering crowd, 
And set them at Christ's feet. 
 
And lo, the Twelve rebuked them, 
Saying : ' The light is done : 
The word is dead on the Master's lips, 
And fain is he to be gone.' 
 
But Christ had love for the women 
Who gave to him of their share, 
And took the children up in his arms, 
And covered them with his hair, 
 
And said : ' Let the lambs and the younglings 
Be borne into the fold ; 
For of such is the kingdom of heaven, 
And of such is the horn of gold. 
 
'And lo, I take the children, 
And mark them with crosses three, 
And the pale, dark women, their mothers, 
Who ministered unto me.' 
 
Then Christ dreamed awhile in silence, 
And wandered into the night : 
And his feet were a running river, 
And his head a star of light.

Submitted by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Authorship

• by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), "The women bore their children", appears in The Gilly of Christ, first published 1907 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "The women bore their children", op. 49 (Thirteen Songs: The Gilly of Christ) no. 8 (1922). [voice and piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]

Text added to the website: 2009-02-03.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:03:06
Line count: 24
Word count: 163

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