LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,133)
  • Text Authors (19,544)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

The Norman baron
Language: English 
n his chamber, weak and dying,
Was the Norman baron lying;
Loud, without, the tempest thundered,
      And the castle-turret shook, 

In this fight was Death the gainer,
Spite of vassal and retainer,
And the lands his sires had plundered,
      Written in the Doomsday Book. 

By his bed a monk was seated,
Who in humble voice repeated
Many a prayer and pater-noster,
      From the missal on his knee; 

And, amid the tempest pealing,
Sounds of bells came faintly stealing,
Bells, that from the neighboring kloster
      Rang for the Nativity. 

In the hall, the serf and vassal
Held, that night, their Christmas wassail;
Many a carol, old and saintly,
      Sang the minstrels and the waits; 

And so loud these Saxon gleemen
Sang to slaves the songs of freemen,
That the storm was heard but faintly,
      Knocking at the castle-gates. 

Till at length the lays they chanted
Reached the chamber terror-haunted,
Where the monk, with accents holy,
      Whispered at the baron's ear. 

Tears upon his eyelids glistened,
As he paused awhile and listened,
And the dying baron slowly
      Turned his weary head to hear. 

"Wassail for the kingly stranger
Born and cradled in a manger!
King, like David, priest, like Aaron,
      Christ is born to set us free!" 

And the lightning showed the sainted
Figures on the casement painted,
And exclaimed the shuddering baron,
      "Miserere, Domine!" 

In that hour of deep contrition
He beheld, with clearer vision,
Through all outward show and fashion,
      Justice, the Avenger, rise. 

All the pomp of earth had vanished,
Falsehood and deceit were banished,
Reason spake more loud than passion,
      And the truth wore no disguise. 

Every vassal of his banner,
Every serf born to his manor,
All those wronged and wretched creatures,
      By his hand were freed again. 

And, as on the sacred missal
He recorded their dismissal,
Death relaxed his iron features,
      And the monk replied, "Amen!" 

Many centuries have been numbered
Since in death the baron slumbered
By the convent's sculptured portal,
      Mingling with the common dust: 

But the good deed, through the ages
Living in historic pages,
Brighter grows and gleams immortal,
      Unconsumed by moth or rust.

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The Norman baron", appears in The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, first published 1845 [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 Thomas Anderton (1836 - 1903), "The Norman baron", published 1884 [ SATB chorus and piano ], cantata [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Frederick N. Baxter , "The Norman baron", published 1898 [ soprano, chorus, and orchestra ], choral ballad [sung text not yet checked]
  • by G. T. Francis , "The Norman baron", op. 25, published 1925 [ chorus and orchestra ], ballad [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-06-20
Line count: 64
Word count: 353

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris