by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)
Above the thunder crashes
Language: English
Above the thunder crashes, Around the lightning flashes: Our heads are heaped with ashes But Thou, God, art nigh! Thou launchest forth the levin, The storm by Thee is driven, Give heed, O Lord, from Heaven, Hear, hear our cry! For lo, the Dane defaces With fire Thy holy places, He hews Thy priests in pieces, Our maids more than die. Up, Lord, with storm and thunder, Pursue him with his plunder, And smite his ships in sunder, Lord God Most High!
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Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931), "Battle Hymn", appears in The Irish Poems of Alfred Perceval Graves, in Countryside Songs, and Songs and Ballads, first published 1908 [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 Harvey Bartlett Gaul (1881 - 1945), "Irish Battle Hymn", <<1945. [TTBB chorus and piano] [text not verified]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Battle hymn", published [1882?] [voice and piano], from the collection Songs of Old Ireland. A Collection of Fifty Irish Melodies Unknown in England, no. 6, arrangement ; London, Boosey & Co. ; dedicated to Johannes Brahms, August 1882 [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 82