Oh my blacke Soule! now thou art...

Oh my blacke Soule! now thou art summoned
By sicknesse, death's herald, and champion;
Thou art like a pilgrim,  which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turne to whence hee is fled,
Or like a thiefe, which till death's doome be read,
Wisheth himselfe deliver'd from prison;
But dam'd and hal'd to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lacke;
But who shall give thee that grace to beginne?
Oh make thyselfe with holy mourning blacke,
And red with blushing, as thou are with sinne;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red soules to white.

Translation(s): FRE

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Authorship

• by John Donne (1572 - 1631), no title, appears in Holy Sonnets, no. 4 [ 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Oh my blacke Soule!", op. 35 no. 1 (1945), published 1946 [high voice and piano], from The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, no. 1. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Mervyn Burtch (b. 1929), "Oh my blacke Soule!", published 1976 [four-part mixed chorus a cappella], from Three Sonnets of John Donne [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by John Eaton (b. 1935), "Oh, my black Soul!", op. 1 no. 3, first performed 1957 [voice and full orchestra], from Song Cycle on Holy Sonnets of John Donne, no. 3. [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Juliana Hall , "O my blacke Soule", 2013, first performed 2014 [tenor and piano], from The Holy Sonnets of John Donne - 9 Songs for Tenor and Piano, no. 1. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title unknown, copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Oh, mon âme noire ! maintenant tu es...

Oh, mon âme noire ! maintenant tu es convoquée par
La maladie, le héraut et le champion de la mort ;
Tu es comme un pèlerin, qui à l'étranger a commis
Une trahison, et n'ose pas retourner d'où il a fui.
Ou comme un voleur, qui jusqu'à ce que le jugement de mort soit lu,
Souhaite lui-même être délivré de la prison ;
Mais condamné et traîné vers l'exécution
Souhaite être encore emprisonné.
Pourtant la grâce, si tu repens, tu ne peux pas la manquer ;
Mais qui te donnera cette grâce pour commencer ?
Oh fais-toi toi-même noir avec de saintes lamentations
Et rouge de honte, comme tu es avec tes péchés ;
Ou lave-toi dans le sang du Christ qui a ce pouvoir
Qu'étant rouge il change les âmes rouges en blanc.

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About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2011 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  
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• a text in English by John Donne (1572 - 1631), no title, appears in Holy Sonnets, no. 4
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Benjamin Britten, Mervyn Burtch, John Eaton, Juliana Hall. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2011-07-05.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:04:27
Line count: 14
Word count: 134