A spirit pass'd before me: I beheld The face of immortality unveil'd -- Deep sleep came down on every eye save mine -- And there it stood, -- all formless -- but divine; Along my bones the creeping flesh did quake; And as my damp hair stiffen'd, thus it spake: 'Is man more just that God? Is man more pure Than he who deems even Seraphs insecure? Creatures of clay -- vain dwellers in the dust! The moth survives you, and are ye more just? Things of day! you wither ere the night, Heedless and blind to Wisdom's wasted light!'
Musica di Camera
Song Cycle by William Richard Bexfield (1824 - 1853)
Word count: 95
?. A spirit pass'd before me [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "A spirit pass'd before me", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 28, first published 1815 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , Job 4
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Un esprit a passé devant moi", appears in Mélodies hébraïques, no. 28