by Jeremiah Taylor, Bishop (1613 - 1667)
On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin
Language: English
A winged harbinger, from bright heav'n flown, Bespeaks a lodging room For the mighty King of love, The spotless structure of a virgin womb, O'ershadow'd with the wings of the blest dove: For he was travelling to earth, But did desire to lay by the way, That he might shift his clothes, and be A perfect man, as well as we. How good a God have we, who, for our sake, To save us from the burning lake, Did change the order of creation; At first He made Man like himself in His own image; Now in the more blessed reparation The heavens bow: Eternity took the measure of a span, And said, "Let us like ourselves make man, And not from man the woman take, But from the woman, man." Allelujah! We adore his name, Whose goodness hath no store. Allelujah!
Text Authorship:
- by Jeremiah Taylor, Bishop (1613 - 1667) [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 James MacMillan (b. 1959), "On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin", 1996. [SATB chorus and organ] [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-08-29
Line count: 24
Word count: 142