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by Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515 - 1582)
Translation by Arthur Symons (1865 - 1945)

Today a shepherd and our kin
Language: English  after the Spanish (Español) 
Today a shepherd and our kin
O Gil, to ransom us is sent,
And he is God Omnipotent.
For us hath he cast down the pride
And prison walls of Satanas;
And he is of the kin of Bras,
Of Manga, also of Llorent.
O, is not God Omnipotent?

If he is God, how then is he
Come hither, and here crucified?
With his sin also died,
Enduring death, tho innocent.
Gil, how is God Omnipotent?

Why, I have seen him born, pardie,
And of a most sweet Shepherdess.
If he is God, how can ha be
With such poor folk as these content?
See'st not he is Omnipotent?

Give over idle parl'eyeing,
And let us serve Him, you and I,
And since he came on earth to die,
Let us die with him, too.
Llorent,
For he is God Omnipotent.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Symons (1865 - 1945), no title, appears in Poems of Arthur Symons, Volume 1, in From Santa Teresa, first published 1914 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Spanish (Español) by Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515 - 1582) [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir (1903 - 1989), "Today a shepherd and our kin", published 1949 [ alto and string orchestra ], from Four Poems of St. Teresa of Avila, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Andreas Praefcke

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-29
Line count: 24
Word count: 141

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