Strong Son of God, immortal Love, Whom we, that have not seen thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace, Believing where we cannot prove; Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest Life in man and brute; Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot Is on the skull which thou hast made. Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou madest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not made to die; And thou hast made him: thou art just. Thou seemest human and divine, The highest, holiest manhood, thou: Our wills are ours, we know not how; Our wills are ours, to make them thine. Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be: They are but broken lights of thee, And thou, O Lord, art more than they. We have but faith: we cannot know; For knowledge is of things we see; And yet we trust it comes from thee, A beam in darkness: let it grow. Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell; That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before, But vaster. We are fools and slight; We mock thee when we do not fear: But help thy foolish ones to bear; Help thy vain worlds to bear thy light. Forgive what seem'd my sin in me; What seem'd my worth since I began; For merit lives from man to man, And not from man, O Lord, to thee. Forgive my grief for one removed, Thy creature, whom I found so fair. I trust he lives in thee, and there I find him worthier to be loved. Forgive these wild and wandering cries, Confusions of a wasted youth; Forgive them where they fail in truth, And in thy wisdom make me wise.
S. Darst sets opening lines
Filkins sets opening lines
J. Groocock sets opening lines
C. Hill sets opening lines
D. Jones sets opening lines
J. McCollum sets opening lines
P. Nelson sets opening lines
H. Oakeley sets opening lines
H. Oliver sets opening lines
F. Snow sets opening lines
R. Werther sets opening lines
L. Lehmann sets stanzas 1-3
A. Thomas sets stanzas 1, 11
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, written 1849, appears in In Memoriam A. H. H. obiit MDCCCXXXIII, first published 1850 [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 S. Glen Darst , "Strong son of God, immortal Love", published <<1974, opening lines [ SATB chorus and piano or organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Filkins , "Strong Son of God", published <<1974, opening lines [ soprano and SATB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Groocock , "Strong Son of God", published c1953, opening lines [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Clarence S. Hill , "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published c1912, opening lines [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Hugh Jones (1900 - ?), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published 1934, opening lines [ SATB chorus or SATTB chorus and piano or organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", 1899, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], from In Memoriam, no. 13 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by James Charles McCollum (b. 1914), "Strong Son of God", published 1951, opening lines [ SATB chorus with echo chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Nelson (b. 1929), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", 1967, rev. 1972, opening lines [ mixed chorus and strings or organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Stanley Oakeley (1830 - 1903), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published <<1893, opening lines [ chorus and organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Kemble Oliver (1800 - 1885), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", published 1917, opening lines [ voices and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis W. Snow , "Strong Son of God", published 1932, opening lines [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Strong Son of God", op. 97 no. 1, published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs of Faith, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", 2000, first performed 2000, stanzas 1,11 [ soprano, large SATB chorus, and orchestra ], from Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rudolph T. Werther (1896 - 1986), "Strong Son of God, immortal Love", opening lines [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-11
Line count: 44
Word count: 308