by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
Gertrude's Prayer
Language: English
That which is marred at birth Time shall not mend, Nor water out of bitter well make clean; All evil thing returneth at the end, Or elsewhere walketh in our blood unseen. Whereby the more is sorrow in certaine -- Dayspring mishandled cometh not againe. Too bruizèd be that slender, sterting spray Out of the oakes rind that should betide A branch of girt and goodliness, straightway Her spring is turned on herself, and wried And knotted like some gall or veiney wen -- Dayspring mishandled cometh not agen. Noontide repayeth never morning-bliss -- Sith noon to morn is incomparable; And, so it be our dawning goth amiss, None other after-hour serveth well. Ah! Jesu-Moder, pitie my oe paine -- Dayspring mishandled cometh not againe!
Authorship:
- by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "Gertrude's Prayer", appears in Limits and Renewals, first published 1932 [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 Betty Roe (b. 1930), "Gertrude's Prayer", published 1993. [soprano and piano] [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-15
Line count: 18
Word count: 121