by John Donne (1572 - 1631)
Hear us, O hear us Lord; to thee
Language: English
Hear us, O hear us Lord; to thee
A sinner is more music, when he prays,
Than spheres', or angels' praises be,
In panegyric alleluias;
Hear us, for till Thou hear us, Lord
We know not what to say;
Thine ear to our sighs, tears, thoughts, gives voice and word;
O Thou who Satan heard'st in Job's sick day,
Hear Thyself now, for Thou in us dost pray.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by John Donne (1572 - 1631), no title, appears in A Litany, no. 23 [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 Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "Litanie XXIII", published 1965 [ chorus a cappella ], from Verses, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Cope , "Litanie XXIII", published 1962 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Andrew Downes (1950 - 2023), "Hear us, O Hear us, Lord", op. 11 no. 5 (1976), from Five Holy Songs, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "Litanie XXIII", published 1979 [ mixed chorus and organ ], anthem [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Křenek (1900 - 1991), "Litanie XXIII", 1944, published 1954, from Five Prayers for Women's Voices over the Pater Noster as Cantus Firmus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anthony Piccolo , "Litanie XXIII", published 1980 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 69