by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889)
Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend
Language: English
Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just. Why do sinners' ways prosper? and why must Disappointment all I endeavour end? Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend, How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust Do in spare hours more thrive than I that spend, Sir, life upon thy cause. See, banks and brakes Now leavèd how thick! lacèd they are again With fretty chervil, look, and fresh wind shakes Them; birds build -- but not I build; no, but strain, Time's eunuch, and not breed one work that wakes. Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.
About the headline (FAQ)
The poem is headed with the following quote: Justus quidem tu es, Domine, si disputem tecum: verumtamen justa loquar ad te: Quare via impiorum prosperatur? &c.Authorship
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889), no title, appears in Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, first published 1918 [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 B. Briccetti (b. 1936), "Thou art indeed just, Lord", copyright © 1968. [SATB chorus and orchestra or piano] [text not verified]
- by Peter Dickinson (b. 1934), "Thou art indeed just, Lord", 1960-4 [soprano, baritone, SATB chorus, and organ], from Four Gerard Manley Hopkins Poems [text not verified]
- by Trevor Hold (1939 - 2004), "Thou art indeed just, Lord", 1965-7 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Four Sonnets of Gerard Manley Hopkins [text not verified]
- by Bernard P. Langley , "Justus Quidem tu es, Domine" [tenor and orchestra or piano], from Three Dark Sonnets [text not verified]
- by Donna N. Robertson (b. 1935), "Thou art indeed just", 1969 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Five Odes to God in Nature on Poems by Gerard M. Hopkins [text not verified]
- by James Walter Wilson (b. 1922), "Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend", 1966 [high baritone and piano], from Carrion Comfort [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 122