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by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Sursum Corda
Language: English 
Seek not the Spirit, if it hide,
Inexorable to thy zeal:

Baby, do not whine and chide;
Art thou not also real?

Why should’st thou stoop to poor excuse?
Turn on the Accuser roundly; say,

“Here am I, here will I remain
Forever to myself soothfast,
Go thou, sweet Heaven, or, at thy pleasure stay.”—

Already Heaven with thee its lot has cast,
For it only can absolutely deal.

Text Authorship:

  • by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), "Sursum Corda" [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 Dorothy Hindman (b. 1966), "Sursum Corda", 2008, first performed 2009 [ mixed chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-07
Line count: 11
Word count: 69

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