by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)
Good Friday
Language: English
Am I a stone and not a sheep That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross, To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss, And yet not weep? Not so those women loved Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee; Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly; Not so the thief was moved; Not so the Sun and Moon Which hid their faces in a starless sky, A horror of great darkness at broad noon -- I, only I. Yet give not o'er, But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock; Greater than Moses, turn and look once more And smite a rock.
Text Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Good Friday", appears in The Prince's Progress and other Poems, first published 1866 [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 Mervyn Burtch (b. 1929), "Good Friday", 1975 [ alto and piano ], in the collection Good Friday Songs [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2006-01-22
Line count: 16
Word count: 103