Emily Klassen, soprano
Benjamin Stein, theorbo
Audio recorded by Darren Bryant
Now it is time to slumber,
Sleep, my son, and do not cry,
For the time will come
For weeping.
Oh my love, oh my sweet,
Sing ninna ninna na.
Close those heavenly eyes,
As other children do,
For soon the sky
Will be veiled in darkness.
Oh my love, oh my sweet ...
Suck this milk
At my immaculate breast,
For the cruel minister
Is preparing vinegar and gall for you.
Oh my love, oh my sweet ...
Now sleep, my love,
On this soft breast,
Before aloud commending your soul
To your Father on the cross.
Oh my love, oh my sweet ...
Now rest these fine limbs,
So charming, so delicate,
For irons and chains
Will inflict on them harsh pains.
Oh my love, oh my sweet ...
These hands, these feet
We now contemplate
With pleasure and joy
Will, alas, be pierced by sharp nails.
This pretty face,
Ruddier than a rose,
Will be sullied by spit and cuffs,
With torture and great sffering.
Oh, with what pain,
Only hope of my heart,
Will this head and this hair
Be pierced by sharp thorns.
Oh, to think that in this heavenly breast,
My sweet, my precious,
Treacherous, villainous spears
Will cause mortal wounds.
