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A Prayer - (2011)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
for medium voice and piano
for Harold Knight
O Lord, the hard-won miles
Have worn my stumbling feet:
Oh, soothe me with thy smiles,
And make my life complete.
The thorns were thick and keen
Where'er I trembling trod;
The way was long between
My wounded feet and God.
Where healing waters flow
Do thou my footsteps lead.
My heart is aching so;
Thy gracious balm I need.[ 2 pages, circa 2' 25" ]
Paul Laurence Dunbar
The text is found in Dunbar's anthology, Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896). For other settings of Dunbar's poems, click here. The prayer as text is in three verses, set as an ABA song form with a reprise of the last couplet of the first verse as final thought in lieu of an "amen," and so "Oh, soothe me with thy smiles, / And make my life complete."
The score for A Prayer is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
