by Henry Kingsley (1830 - 1876)
Magdalen at Michael's gate See original
Language: English
Magdalen at Michael’s gate Tirlèd at the pin; On Joseph’s thorn sang the blackbird, ‘Let her in! Let her in!’ ‘Hast thou seen the wounds?’ said Michael, ‘Knowest thou thy sin?’ ‘It is evening, evening,’ sang the blackbird, ‘Let her in! Let her in!’ ‘Yes, I have seen the wounds, And I know my sin.’ ‘She knows it well, well, well,’ sang the blackbird, ‘Let her in! Let her in!’ ‘Thou bring'st no offerings,’ said Michael. ‘Nought save sin.’ And the blackbird sang, ‘She is sorry, sorry, sorry, ‘Let her in! Let her in!’ When he had sung himself to sleep, And night did begin, One came and open’d Michael’s gate, And Magdalen went in.
Composition:
- Set to music by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Magdalen at Michael's gate", 1913
Text Authorship:
- by Henry Kingsley (1830 - 1876), "Magdalen"
See other settings of this text.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 123