“The Seven Virgins (The Leaves of Life)”
Description
The singer, (Thomas), meets seven virgins, including the Virgin Mary. They are seeking Jesus, who is being crucified. Mary asks Jesus why he must suffer so; Jesus tells her it is for the sake of humanity. He dies. The singer commends God's charity
Notes
The details here are generally from the Gospel of John. Only in John is Mary present at the cross, and John is the only gospel in which Thomas has a speaking role (though he was popular in the Apocryphal Gospels). Jesus's last words ("sweet mother, now I die," or similar) are perhaps closer to the fourth gospel ("it has been finished/completed/perfected," 19:30) than any of the other gospels.
In addition, Jesus's instruction to his mother to take John as her son is found only in the fourth gospel (John 19:26-27, though in fact the disciple involved is not named there; in fact, John is not even mentioned in the fourth gospel, though he is widely believed to be the "beloved disciple" referred to in chapter 19).
One might note that there was a legend that John and his brother James were Mary's nephews and Jesus's first cousins. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Tam Lin" [Child 39] (tune)
Recordings
- May Bradley, "Under the Leaves" (on Voice11)
References
- Leather, pp. 187-188, "The Seven Virgin, or, Under the Leaves" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
- OBB 111, "The Seven Virgins" (1 text)
- OBC 43, "The Seven Virgins" (1 text, 1 tune)
- PBB 4, "The Seven Virgins" (1 text)
- DT, SVNVIRG SVNVRG2
- ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #479, "The Seven Virgins" (1 text)
- Roud #127
- BI, OBB111