The Bishop of Mentz (Robert Pearsall)

The Bishop of Mentz by Robert Pearsall
Performed by the Summer Fling Singers
summerfling.org
Lifecycles: Madrigals about life and loss by John Wilbye and Robert Pearsall - August 24, 2024
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The Bishop of Mentz was a wealthy prince,
Wealthy and proud was he,
And he'd all that was worth a wish on earth,
But he had not charity.
He would stretch out his empty hands to bless,
Or lift them both to pray,
But alack! to lighten man's distress,
They moved no other way.
A famine came, but his heart was still
As hard as his pride was high,
And the starving poor but thronged his door
To curse him and to die.
At length from the crowd rose a clamour so loud,
That a cruel plot laid he:
He opened one of his granaries wide,
And bade them enter free.
In they rushed, the maid and the sire,
And the child that could barely run;
Then he closed the barn and set it on fire,
And burnt them ev'ry one.
And loud he laughed at each terrible shriek,
And cried to his archer train,
"The merry mice how they squeak,
They are fond of the Bishop's grain."