from Oannes *

Οι στίχοι του παραδοσιακού ‘Dives And Lazarus’ (από την ανθολογία του Francis James Child – δευτερο μισό του 19ου αι.) βασίζονται στην παραβολή του πλουσίου και του Λαζάρου από το ευαγγέλιο του Λουκά. Το ακούμε από τον Άγγλο folk singer – songwriter Martin Simpson. Και στη συνέχεια (5:27) οι ‘Five Variants Of Dives And Lazarus’, έργο του Ralph Vaughan Williams για άρπα και ορχήστρα, βασισμένο στο θέμα του τραγουδιού.

✻

The lyrics of traditional ‘Dives And Lazarus’ (from the anthology of Francis James Child – second half of the 19th century) are based on the parable of Rich Man and Lazarus from the Gospel of Luke. We hear it from the English folk singer – songwriter Martin Simpson.
And then (5:27) Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Five Variants Of Dives And Lazarus’, for harp and orchestra, based on the song’s theme.

◼︎

❝ As it fell out upon one day,
Rich Divès made a feast,
And he invited all his friends,
And gentry of the best.
Then Lazarus laid him down and down
And down by Divès’ door:
“Some meat. some drink, brother, Diverus,
Bestow upon the poor.”
“Thou’rt none of my brothers, Lazarus,
That liest begging at my door;
No meat, nor drink shall I give thee,
Nor bestow upon the poor.”
Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
And down by Divès’ wall:
“Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus,
For hunger starve I shall.”
“Thou’rt none of my brothers, Lazarus,
That liest begging at my wall;
No meat, no drink will I give thee,
But hunger starve you shall.
Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
And down by Divès’ gate:
“Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus,
For Jesus Christ His sake.”
“Thou’rt none of my brothers, Lazarus,
That liest begging at my gate;
No meat, no drink shall I give thee,
For Jesus Christ His sake.”
Then Divès sent out his hungry dogs,
To bite him as he lay;
They hadn’t the power to bite one bite,
But licked his sores away.
Then Divès sent to his highest men,
To worry poor Lazarus away;
They’d not the power to strike one stroke,
But flung their whips away.
As it fell out upon one day,
Poor Lazarus sickened and died;
There came two angels out of heaven,
His soul therein to guide.
“Rise up! rise up! brother Lazarus,
And go along with me;
For you’ve a place prepared in heaven,
To sit on an angel’s knee.”
As it fell out upon one day,
Rich Divès sickened and died;
There came two serpents out of hell,
His soul therein to guide.
“Rise up! rise up! brother Diverus,
And come along with me;
There is a place provided in hell
For wicked men like thee.”
Then Divès looked up with his eyes
And saw poor Lazarus blest;
“Give me one drop of water, brother Lazarus,
To quench my flaming thirst.” ❞

❦

Enjoy!

❦

As always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts, however I’d highly recommend a direct dialogue with the …’source’ [why comments are closed here], so please visit Oannes’ page where you can also listen to the music !

More about these reblogs

* For my friends who didn’t know, or first timers here, Oannes [aka Socratis Papahatzis] is my husband, partner in life and music and the one with my undying admiration. Together we have a band MK-O [the music of Marina Kanavaki & Oannes]. So, it’s my pleasure to share with you his [and sometimes mine] musical selections. • Do visit his site. He has my highest recommendation!