Dang, Claymore, you're right. I forgot about Vaughn Williams. His arrangement of the hymn is here (click) in the CyberHymnal. How is "Dives" pronounced in THAT hymn, and how did he pronounce it for his symphonic "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus"?
I'll betcha it's still DIE-vees, but I guess we'd better ask the UK people about that.
-Joe Offer-
DIVES AND LAZARUS
Words: Traditional English carol, possibly from Herefordshire.As it fell out upon one day,
Rich Divès made a feast,
And he invited all his friends,
And gentry of the best.Then Lazarus laid him down and down
And down at Divès’ door:
“Some meat and drink, brother, Diverus,
Bestow upon the poor.”“Thou’rt none of my brothers, Lazarus,
That liest begging at my door;
No meat, nor drink will I give thee,
Nor bestow upon the poor.”Then Lazarus laid him down and down,
All under Divès’ wall:
“Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus,
For hunger starve I shall.”“Thou’rt none of my brothers, Lazarus,
That liest begging at my gate;
No meat, no drink will I give thee,
For Jesus Christ His sake.”Then Divès sent out his hungry dogs,
To bite him as he lay;
They hadn’t the power to bite one bite,
But licked his sores away.Then Divès sent to his merry men,
To worry poor Lazarus away;
They’d not the power to strike one stroke,
But flung their whips away.As it fell out upon one day,
Poor Lazarus sickened and died;
There came two angels out of heaven,
His soul therein to guide.“Rise up! rise up! brother Lazarus,
And go along with me;
For you’ve a place prepared in heaven,
To sit on an angel’s knee.”As it fell out upon one day,
Rich Divès sickened and died;
There came two serpents out of hell,
His soul therein to guide.“Rise up! rise up! brother Diverus,
And come along with me;
There is a place provided in hell
For wicked men like thee.”Then Divès looked up with his eyes
And saw poor Lazarus blest;
“Give me one drop of water, brother Lazarus,
To quench my flaming thirst.”“O, was I now but alive again
The space of one half hour!
O, that I had my peace again
Then the devil should have no power.”
(almost the same lyrics as "Divers and Lazarus" in the Digital Tradition)^^^
The two versions in Child (#56) are also very similar.