Be True

For Choir (SATB)
Duration: 4 minutes

Be True is a setting of the text “Just to be true,” which was taken from the 1905 book of poetry by American author Alice E. Bartlett (1848-1920, whose pen name was “Birch Arnold”) entitled Birch Leaves. It was written and published in Detroit, MI, where Bartlett worked and lived.

JUST TO BE TRUE 

I care not for glories and triumphs of earth,
      Let them be many, or let them be few,
Of all that life offers the one thing of worth
                        Is just to be true.

The world is so hollow with pretense and sham
      When the poniard of honor pierces it through,
That I pray I may seem never more that I am
                        But just to be true.

In the effort to conquer, be strong and be free,
      In all that I hope, and all that I do
Whatever confronts me, the one thing for me
                        Is just to be true.

To the friends that I love, where ever I go
      Let them be old, or let them be new,
The best I can offer, the best can bestow
                        Is just to be true. 

And often I think when the heavenly day,
      It's glories shall ope to my wondering view,
      Forgiven my sins if at last I can say,
                        I have been true!

Be True was commissioned by The Southern Chorale – Gregory Fuller, Conductor for their 2023 Michigan ACDA presentation.