by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944)
He staggered thro' the burning street
Language: English
He staggered thro' the burning street, And tho' his cross o'er-weighted him, He raised his comely head to greet The women of Jerusalem. 'O women of Jerusalem, Weep not for me who go to death With unbowed head and easy breath, But for your children. Lo, at hand There comes a season to the land When ye shall curse the womb that bears, The pap that sucks, the hand that rears, And Jew-folk born of Jacob's stem Shall call the hills to fall on them !' And when he came to Calvary, By many a strait and stifling street, They seized him by the hands and feet And nailed him to the gallows tree, And housed him on the rocky stairs Between two common murderers ; And ere the day in dark was lost The sinless Christ gave up the ghost. Then flew the gilly on the wind.
Authorship:
- by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), "He staggered thro' the burning street", appears in The Gilly of Christ, first published 1907 [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 Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "He staggered thro' the burning street", op. 49 no. 9 (1922) [ voice and piano ], from Thirteen Songs: The Gilly of Christ, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-03
Line count: 22
Word count: 148