Samuel Barber — At Saint Patricks Purgatory

Pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derg! O King of the churches and the bells Bewailing your sores and your wounds But not a tear can I squeeze from my eyes! Nor moisten an eye after so much sin! Pity me, O King! What shall I do with a heart that seeks only its own ease? O only begotten Son by whom all men were made Who shunned not the death by three wounds Pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derg And I with a heart not softer than stone!