by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
To Tirzah
Language: English
Whate'er is Born of Mortal Birth, Must be consumed with the Earth To rise from Generation free: Then what have I to do with thee? The Sexes sprung from Shame & Pride Blowd in the morn; in evening died But Mercy changed Death into Sleep; The Sexes rose to work & weep. Thou Mother of my Mortal part. With cruelty didst mould my Heart. And with false self-deceiving tears. Didst blind my Nostrils Eyes & Ears Didst close my Tongue in senseless clay And me to Mortal Life betray: The Death of Jesus set me free. Then what have I to do with thee?
Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "To Tirzah", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 24, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time 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 William Bolcom (b. 1938), "To Tirzah", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume One, no. 17 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nigel Henry Butterley (1935 - 2022), "To Tirzah", op. 2 no. 1 (1956), from Six Blake Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elyse Donathan Curtis (b. 1929), "To Tirzah", c1974, first performed 1974 [ medium voice, chorus, and piano ], from Nine Songs of William Blake, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Andross Farquhar (1928 - 2007), "To Tirzah", 1947-9 [ voice and piano ], from Blake Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "To Tirzah", op. 27a no. 24 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 24 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "To Tirzah" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-06-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 104