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.

Text 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 ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Dickinson (b. 1934), "Thou art indeed just, Lord", 1960-4 [ soprano, baritone, SATB chorus, and organ ], from Four Gerard Manley Hopkins Poems [sung text not yet checked]
• by Trevor Hold (1939 - 2004), "Thou art indeed just, Lord", 1965-7 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four Sonnets of Gerard Manley Hopkins [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard P. Langley , "Justus Quidem tu es, Domine" [ tenor and orchestra or piano ], from Three Dark Sonnets [sung text not yet checked]
• 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 [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Walter Wilson (b. 1922), "Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend", 1966 [ high baritone and piano ], from Carrion Comfort [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 122