As it fell out upon a day
Rich Diversus made a feast.
And he invited all his friends
And the gentry of the best.
Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
Laid him down at Diversus' door.
“Some meat, some drink, my brother Diversus
Will you bestow upon the poor.”
“Thou art none of my brothers, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my door.
No meat nor drink will I give to thee, Lazarus,
Nor bestow upon the poor.”
Diversus sent his men
To whip poor Lazarus away.
But they had no power to strike a stroke
But flung their whips away.
Diversus sent his hungry dogs
To bite him as he lay.
But they had no power to bite
But licked his sores away.
It fell out upon a day
Poor Lazarus grew sick and died.
There came two angels out of heaven above,
His souls thereto to guide.
“Rise up, rise up, my brother Lazarus,
And you come along with me.
There is a place prepared in heaven
Upon an Angel's knee.”
And it fell out upon a day
Rich Diversus sickened and died.
There came a serpent out of hell,
His souls thereto to guide.
“Rise up, rise up, my evil brother,
Won't you come along with me.
There is a place prepared in hell
Upon a serpent's knee.”
If I were alive again,
In the space of one half hour
I would make my peace secure
And take the devil's power.
To hear the 1969 British folk rock band Steeleye Span perform Diverses and Lazarus, based on today’s parable in the Luke’s Gospel, click on the video below:
Image source: Bonifazio Veronese, Dives and Lazarus (1540s),
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonifacio_de_Pitati_-_Dives_and_Lazarus_-_WGA02417.jpg
History of the Folk Song
Video source
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