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by Peter Abelard (1079 - 1142)
Translation by Helen Jane Waddell (1889 - 1965)

David's Lament for Jonathan
Language: English  after the Latin 
Low in thy grave with thee
Happy to lie,
Since there's no greater thing left Love to do;
And to live after thee
Is but to die,
For with but half a soul what can Life do?

So share thy victory,
Or else thy grave,
Either to rescue thee, or with thee lie:
Ending that life for thee,
That thou didst save,
So Death that sundereth might bring more nigh.

Peace, O my stricken lute!
Thy strings are sleeping.
Would that my heart could still
Its bitter weeping!

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Text Authorship:

  • by Helen Jane Waddell (1889 - 1965), "David's Lament for Jonathan" [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Peter Abelard (1079 - 1142), "Planctus David super Saul et Jonathan"
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Muriel Emily Herbert (1897 - 1984), "David's Lament for Jonathan", 1936 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Michael (Stockwin) Howard (1922 - 2002), "David's Lament for Jonathan", 1951, rev. 1973 [ voice and piano ], from The Painted Rose, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-03-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 88

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