by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585 - 1649)
Bright portals of the sky
Language: English
Bright portals of the sky, Emboss'd with sparkling stars, Doors of eternity, With diamantine bars, Your arras rich uphold, Loose all your bolts and springs, Ope wide your leaves of gold, That in your roofs may come the King of Kings. O well_spring of this All! Thy Father's image vive; Word, that from nought did call What is, doth reason, live; The soul's eternal food, Earth's joy, delight of heaven; All truth, love, beauty, good: To thee, to thee be praises ever given! O glory of the heaven! O sole delight of earth! To thee all power be given, God's uncreated birth! Of mankind lover true, Indearer of his wrong, Who doth the world renew, Still be thou our salvation and our song!
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Authorship:
- by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585 - 1649), "Christmas Day" [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 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Hymn" [soprano or mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone soli, boys' chorus, mixed chorus, and orchestra], from the cantata Hodie, no. 12. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail
This text was added to the website: 2006-07-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 123