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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


BIBLIOTHECA     PASTORUM 


EDITED   BY 


John  Ruskin, 


HONORARY   STUDENT    OF   CHRIST    CHTKCH,    OXFORD. 


VOL.    II. 


ROCK    HOiNEYCOMB. 


BROKEISr  PIECES   OF  SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY'S  PSALTER. 


LAID   UP    IN'   STORE   FOR   ENGLISH    HOMES. 


WITH    A    PREFACE    AND    COMMENTARY 


^y  the    Editor. 


IN  TWO  PARTS.     PART  I. 


ELLIS  AND  WHITE,  29,  NEW  BOND  STREET,  LONDON; 


AND 


GEORGE  ALLEN,  SUNNYSIDE,  ORPINGTON,  KENT. 

1877. 


S5Cx> 


PREFACE. 


Sunday,  <)ih  July,  1876. 
^\/'ESTERDAY  evening,  one  of  the  sweetest  and 
•^  brightest  of  this  hitherto  sweet  summer,  the 
'  Coniston  band,'  consisting  of  the  musically  minded 
working  men  of  the  village,  rowed  itself,  for  its 
'Saturday  at  e'en'  delectation,  into  the  middle  of  the 
lake  ;  and,  floating  just  between  Brantwood  and  the 
'  Hall,'  on  the  opposite  shore,  where  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  it  is  delivered  by  tradition,  lived  for  a  time, 
with  his  sister,  in  our  Arcadia  of  western  meres, — 
poured  forth  divers  pipings  and  trumpetings,  with 
meritorious  endeavour,  and,  I  doubt  not,  real,  in- 
nocent, and  useful  pleasure  to  itself,  and  to  the 
village  hearers  on   the  opposite  green  shore. 

Mostly,  polka  music,  with  occasional  sublimities — 
'  My  Maryland,'  and  '  God  save  the  Emperor,'  and 
the  like ; — pleasant  enough,  sometimes,  to  hear, 
from  this  shore  also  :  but,  as  it  chanced,  yesterday, 
very  destructive  of  my  comfort  in  showing  the  bright 
roses  and  deep  purple  foxgloves  on  my  banks  to  two 


ii  PREFACE. 

guests,   for  whom  the  flowers  and  the  cvcnhig  hght 
were  good  ;  but  gay  music,   not  so. 

And  it  might,  with  little  pains,  have  been 
much  otherwise ;  for  if,  instead  of  a  somewhat 
briefly  exercised  band,  playing  on  trumpets  and 
shawms,  concerning  a  Maryland  of  which  they 
probably  did  not  know  either  the  place  or  the 
history,  and  an  Emperor,  a  proposal  for  whose 
instant  expulsion  from  his  dominions  would  have 
been  probably  received  with  as  much  applause  in 
the  alehouse,  as  the  prayer  that  God  would  save 
him,  upon  the  lake  ; — if,  I  say,  instead  of  this  tune- 
ful, and  occasionally  out-of-tuneful,  metallic  noise, 
produced,  with  little  meaning  beyond  the  noise 
itself,  by  the  fathers  of  the  village,  a  few  clearly 
understood  and  rightly  intended  words  had  been 
chanted  for  us  in  harmony  by  the  children  of  it; — 
suppose,  for  instance,  in  truly  trained  concord  and 
happy  understanding,  such  words  as  these  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidney's  own,  echoed  back  from  the  tender 
ruin  of  the  walls  that  had  been  his  home,  and 
rising  to  the  fair  mountain  heaven,  which  is  still 
alike  his  home  and  ours  ; — 

'•  From  snare  tlic  fowler  lays 
He  shall  ihec  sure  untyc  ; 
The  noisome  blast  that  plaguing  strays 
Untoucht,  shall  pass  thee  by. 


PREFACE.  iii 

Soft  hived  with  wing  and  plume 
Thou  in  his  shroud  shall  lie, 
And  on  his  truth  no  less  presume 
Than  in  his  shield  affy," 

the  July  sunset  would  not  have  been  less  happy 
to  the  little  choir,  and  the  peace  of  it  would  have 
been  deepened  for  those  to  whom  it  could  bring 
happiness   no   more. 

"  Is   any   among    you    afflicted  ? — let    him    pray. 
Is  any  merry  ? — let  him  sing  psalms." 

The  entire  simplicity  and  literalness  of  this  com- 
mand of  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Christian  Church 
cannot,  of  course,  be  now  believed,  in  the  midst  of 
our  luxurious  art  of  the  oratorio,  and  dramatically 
modulated  speeches  of  Moses  in  Egypt,  and  Elijah 
on  Carmel.  But  the  command  is,  nevertheless,  as 
kind  and  wise  as  it  is  simple  ;  and  if  ever  Old 
England  again  becomes  Merry  England,  the  first 
use  she  will  make  of  her  joyful  lips,  will  be  to  sing 
psalms. 

I  have  stated,  in  the  first  sketch  of  the  design  of 
our  St.  George's  education,  that  music  is  to  be  its 
earliest  element ;  and  I  think  it  of  so  pressing  im- 
portance to  make  the  required  method  of  musical 
teaching  understood,  that  I  have  thrown  all  other 
employment  aside  for  the  moment,  in  order  to  get 
this  edition  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  Psalter  prepared 


IV  PREFACE. 

for  school  service.  I  will  state  the  principles  of 
music  and  of  song  which  it  is  intended  to  illustrate, 
as  briefly  as  possible. 

All  perfectly  rhythmic  poetry  is  meant  to  be 
sung  to  music,*  and  all  entirely  noble  music  is 
the  illustration  of  noble  words.  The  arts  of  word 
and  of  note,  separate  from  each  other,  become 
degraded  ;  and  the  muse-less  sayings,  or  senseless 
melodies,  harden  the  intellect,  or  demoralize  the 
ear. 

Yet  better — and  manifoldly  better — unvocal  word 
and  idle  note,  than  the  degradation  of  the  most 
fateful  truths  of  God  to  be  the  subjects  of 
scientific  piping  for  our  musical  pastime.  There 
is  excuse,  among  our  uneducated  classes,  for  the 
Christmas  Pantomime,  but  none,  among  our  edu- 
cated classes,  for  the   Easter  Oratorio. 

The  law  of  nobleness  in  music  and  poetry  is 
essentially  one.  Both  are  the  necessary  and  natural 
expression  of  pure  and  virtuous  human  joy,  or 
sorrow,  by  the  lips  and  fingers  of  persons  trained  in 
right   schools    to    manage    their    bodies    and    souls. 

*  Lyric  nnd  epic  of  course,  without  question  ;  and  didactic,  if  it 
be  indeed  poetry.  Satirical  primarily,  or  philosophical,  verses,  as  of 
Juvenal,  Lucretius,  or  Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism,  are  merely  measured 
prose, — the  grander  for  being  measured,  but  not,  because  of  their 
bonds,  becoming  poetry.  Dramatic  verse  is  not  perfectly  rhythmic, 
when  it  is  entirely  right. 


PREFACE.  V 

Every  child  should  be  taught,  from  its  youth,  to 
govern  its  voice  discreetly  and  dexterously,  as  it 
does  its  hands  ;  and  not  to  be  able  to  sing  should 
be  more  disgraceful  than  not  being  able  to  read  or 
write.  For  it  is  quite  possible  to  lead  a  virtuous 
and  happy  life  without  books,  or  ink  ;  but  not 
without  wishing  to  sing,  when  we  are  happy ;  nor 
without  meeting  with  continual  occasions  when  our 
song,  if  right,  would  be  a  kind  service  to  others. 

The  best  music,  like  the  best  painting,  is  entirely 
popular  ;  it  at  once  commends  itself  to  every  one, 
and  does  so  through  all  ages.  The  worst  music, 
like  the  worst  painting,  commends  itself  at  first, 
in  like  manner,  to  ninety-nine  people  out  of  a 
hundred  ;  but  after  doing  them  its  appointed  quan- 
tity of  mischief,  it  is  forgotten,  and  new  modes  of 
mischief  composed.  The  less  we  compose  at  pre- 
sent, the  better:  there  is  good  music  enough  written 
to  serve  the  world  for  ever ;  what  we  want  of  it 
for  our  schools,  may  be  gradually  gathered,  under 
these  following  general  laws  of  song  : — 

I.  None  but  beautiful  and  true  words  are  to  be 
set  to  music  at  all ;  nor  must  any  be  usually  sung 
but  those  which  express  the  feelings  of  noble 
persons  under  the  common  circumstances  of  life, 
and  its  actual  joys  and  griefs.  Songs  extreme 
in  pathos  are  a  morbid  form  of  the  indulgence  of 


VI  PREFACE. 

our  desire  for  excitement ;  unless  in  actual  dra- 
matic function,  becoming  part  of  a  great  course 
of  thought  in  which  they  fulfil  the  highest  tone, — 
as  Ophelia's  "White  his  shroud;"  which  may  be 
properly  sung  in  its  appointed  place,  but  there 
only.  It  is  profane  and  vulgar  to  take  these 
pieces  out  of  their  shrines  ;  and  injurious  to  all 
the  finer  states  of  thought  and  habits  of  life  to 
compose  such   without  shrines. 

II.  Accompaniments  are  always  to  be  subordi- 
nate, and  the  voice  of  the  singer,  or  choir,  supreme. 
But  it  is  quite  possible  to  keep  the  richest  com- 
binations of  instrumental  music  subordinate  to  the 
vocal  notes,  as  great  painters  can  make  the  richest 
decoration  subordinate  to  a  simple  story.  And 
the  noblest  instrumental  execution  is  felt  by  true 
musical  instinct  to  be  more  conspicuous  in  this 
humility  and  precision  of  restraint,  than  in  its  most 
consummate  dexterity  of  separate  achievement. 

III.  Independent  instrumental  music  is,  to  sing- 
ing, what  painted  glass  is  to  painting  :  it  admits 
the  extremest  multiplication,  fantas)',  range,  .  and 
concord  of  note  ;  and  has  the  same  functions  of 
magnificence,  and  powers  of  awe  or  pleasure,  that 
the  casements  have  in  a  cathedral.  But  all  the 
greatest  music  is  by  the  human  voice,  as  all 
greatest  painting    is  of  the  human   face. 


PREFACE.  vii 

IV.  All  songs  are  to  be  sung  to  their  accom- 
paniment, straight  forward,  as  they  would  be  read, 
or  naturally  chanted.      You   must  never  sing 

aw  a- 

"  Scots  whaw-aw  aw-hae  wi'  Wa-  a- 

a-       a-    a-    a- 
a-    a-a~    a~    a~    a-  .  ,        i  i    i  u 

al-lace  bled, 

nor  "  Welcome,  welcome,  welcome  to   your  go — to 

your  go — to  your  go-oo-ooo-ory  bed  ;"  but  sing  it  as 

you  would  say  it.      Neither,   even   if  a  song  is  too 

short,  may  you  ever  extend  it  by  such  expedients. 

You   must  sing   "  Come  unto  these  yellow   sands " 

clear  through,  and  be  sorry  when  it  is  done  ;    but 

never 

a-  a- 

"Come  unto  these  ya-  a-  a,  etc.,  low  sands." 

V.  The  airs  of  songs  by  great  composers  must 
never  be  used  for  other  words  than  those  they 
were  written  for.  Nothing  is  so  destructive  of  all 
musical  understanding  as  the  habit  of  fitting  a 
tune  that  tickles  the  ear  to  any  syllables  that  it 
will  stick  on  ;  and  a  single  instance  may  show 
the  point  to  which  this  barbarism  has  reached  in 
the  musical  catastrophes  of  modern  concert,  pre- 
pared for  the  uneducated  and  the  idle.  The  other 
day,  on  the  table  of  my  inn  at  Cambridge,  I 
chanced    to     take    up     a    modern    '  adaptation '    of 


vni 


PREFACE. 


Rossini's  '  Stabat  Mater,'  and  found  that  the  music 
intended  for  the  Latin  syllables  here  given  in  the 
upper    lines  was    to    be    sung    indifferently    to    the 


English  ones  below  : — 


Sta 

-  bat 

Ma  -  ter 

Do 

-  lo 

-  ro       -  sa 

Lord 

most 

ho    -  ly 

Lord 

most 

migh  -  ty 

Jux 

-  ta 

-  Ciu  -  ccm 

La 

-  cry 

-  mo      -  sa 

Righ 

-  teous 

ev     -  er 

Are 

thy 

judg   -  ments 

Dum     pen     -  dc    -  bat       Fi 
Save      us  for       thy       Mer 


11 


cv's 


-  us 


sake 


Imagine  the  idea  thus  conveyed  to  the  listening 
mob,  of  the  composer's  intention,  or  of  the  dramatic 
power  of  his  work.* 

VI.  Ballad  music  is,  of  course,  written  with  the 
intent  that  it  shall  fit  itself  to  any  sentiment  by  mere 
difference  of  adopted  time  and  accent.  The  right 
delivery  of  it  will  follow  naturally  on  true  feeling 
of  the  ballad.  The  absurdity  of  the  ordinary 
supposition  that  music  can  express  feeling  defi- 
nitely, without  words,  is  shown  in  a  moment  by 
the  fact  that  such  general  expressions  can  be 
written,    and   that  in    any  good  and   classic  ballad- 

*  Rossini's  Stabat  was,  I  believe,  itself  a  Iransposition  of  this  kind, 
the  music  having  been  originally  written  for  other  words.  But  the 
master  himself  may  do  this,  if  he  think  good  ;  not  liis  scholars  or 
executants.  What  words  he  finally  leaves  his  composition  arranged 
for,  must  thenceforward  be  retained. 


TREFACE.  ix 

music,  the  merry  and  melancholy  parts  of  the  story 
may  be  with  entire  propriety  and  satisfaction  sung 
to  precisely  the  same  melody.* 

*  The  following  very  interesting  portion  of  a  letter  from  a  man  of 
the  highest  scientific  attainments,  and  of  great  general  sensitive  faculty 
and  intellectual  poM'er,  expresses  the  general  faith  in  the  independent 
power  of  music  in  so  forcible  a  manner  that,  in' once  more  replying 
to  the  argmnents  he  brings  forward,  I  conceive  enough  to  be  said  on 
the  subject.  The  letter  opens  with  a  reference  to  my  use  of  the 
^\^ord  '  subordinate '  in  paragraph  II.  above  : — 

"My  dear  Ruskin, — 'Subordinate'  is  not  the  right  word,  though  I 
think  you  mean  right.  '  Co-ordinate '  would  be  more  correct.  Both 
M'ords  and  music  should  express  as  far  as  possible  the  idea  intended 
to  be  conveyed ;  but  music  can  convey  emotion  more  powerfully 
than  words,  and  independently  of  them.  Mozart  in  his  Masses 
only  thought  of  the  words  as  syllables  for  hanging  notes  on,  and 
so  wrote  music  quite  profane.  Bach,  on  the  contrary,  wrote,  as  it 
were,  on  his  knees,  when  he  Avrote  Church  music.  For  instance,  the 
'Dona  nobis'  was  set  by  Mozart  to  noise  and  triumph  ;  by  J.  S.  Bach 
is  made  a  solemn,  gentle,  and  tender  prayer,  preparing  the  congre- 
gation for  the  rest  of  the  service.  There,  no  repetition  of  the  -words 
'  dona  nobis  pacem '  would  give  calm  to  the  mind  of  the  listener  or 
reader,  but  the  musical  repetition,  with  variation,  extends  and  enhances 
the  calm  both  in  listener  and  singer  ;  but  it  would  be  quite  incorrect 
to  say  Bach  had  '  subordinated  '  the  music  to  the  words,  for,  to  a 
musician,  no  words  could  express  so  much  as  his  music  does.  Like 
painting  and  poetiy,  music  has  its  own  special  power,  and  its  own 
field  ;  it  is  vague  compared  with  poetry  in  description,  but  more 
exact  in  expressing  feeling  (!)  ;  painting  belongs  to  a  point  of  time  (! !) ; 
music  to  its  extension  beyond  poetiy. 

"  We  have  just  the  same  kind  of  thing  in  music,  though  so  much 
less  is  needed  for  musical  criticism.  J.  S.  Bach's  greatest  w-ork  is 
about  to  be  performed  for  the  first  time  in  London,  and  L.  has 
had  a  letter  from  a  professional  that  might  have  been  a  critique 
on  Turner  written  by  Maclise,  the  man  being  unable  to  hear  what 


X  PREFACE. 

VII.  Playful,  and  comic,  singing  are  subject  to 
the  same  laws  as  play,  in  life;  and  jesting,  in  con- 
versation. No  vulgar  person  can  be  taught  how 
to  play,  or  to  jest,  like  a  gentleman  ;  and,  for  the 
most  part,  comic  songs  are  for  the  vulgar  only. 
Their  higher  standard  is  fixed,  in  note  and  word, 
by  Mozart  and  Rossini  ;  but  I  cannot  at  present 
judge  how  far  even  these  men  may  have  lowered 
the  true  function   of  the  joyful  Muse. 

Thus  far  of  the  great  general  laws  under  which 
music  is  to  be  taught  in  St.  George's  schools. 
The  reasons  for  them  will  be  given  at  greater 
length  elsewhere  :  and,  for  beginning  of  songs  to 
be  sung,  I  have  chosen  this  body  of  paraphrases 
of  the  Psalter,  attributed  in  part  to  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,    and,    whether   his    or    not,    better   written 

Bach  was  aiming  at, — devotional   expression  of  the  words.      So  it 
must  ever  be — during  our  days,  at  any  rate." 

I  hope  better,  dear  friend  ;  thinking  in  truth,  more  highly  of  music 
in  its  true  function  than  you  do ;  but  replying  to  your  over-estimate 
of  its  independent  strength,  simply  that  music  gives  emotions  stronger 
than  words  only  to  persons  who  do  not  completely  understand  words, 
but  do   completely   enjoy  sensations.     A  great  part  uf  the  energy  of 
the  wars  of  the  world   is  indeed  attributable  to  the  excitement  pro- 
duced by  military  bands  ;  but  a  single  word  will  move  a  good  soldier 
more  than  an  entire  day  of  the  most  artistic   piping  and   tlrumming. 
The  Dead  March  in  Saul   may  be   more  impressive  than  words,   to 
people  wlio  don't  know  what  Death  is ;   but   to   those  who   do,    no 
growling   in   brass  can    make   it  gloomier ;   and   Othello's   one  ciy, 
"Oh,    Desdemona,    Desdemona, — dead!"    will   go   to    their    hearts, 


PREFACE.  XI 

than  any  other  rhymed  version  of  the  Psalms  at 
present  known  to  me,  and  of  pecuhar  value  as 
a  classic  model  of  the  English  language  at  the 
time  of  its  culminating  perfection. 

When  I  came  into  the  country  this  summer,  I 
had  with  me  the  little  Chiswick  Press  edition, 
published  in  1823,  expecting  to  find  it  tolerably 
correct,  and  not  doubting  but  that  I  should  be 
able,  with  little  difficulty,  if  any  part  of  it  were 
really  Sidney's,  to  distinguish  his  work  from  that 
of  any  other  writer  concerned  in  the  book,  and 
arrange  it  for  publication  in  a  separate  form. 

But  on  examining  the  book,  I  perceived  it  to 
require  complete  revision,  the  punctuation  being 
all  set  at  random;  and  the  text  full  of  easily 
corrigible  misreadings.     And  I  found,  with  greater 

when  a  whole  cathedral  choir,  in  the  richest  and  most  harmonious 
of  whines,  would  be  no  more  to  them  than  a  dog's  howling, — not 
half  so  much,  if  the  dog  loved  the  dead  person.  In  the  instance 
given  by  my  friend,  the  music  of  Bach  would  assuredly  put  any 
disagreeable  piece  of  business  out  of  his  head,  and  prepare  him  to 
listen  with  edification  to  the  sermon,  better  than  the  mere  repetition 
of  the  woi-ds  "Dona  nobis  pacem."  But  if  he  ever  had  needed 
peace,  and  had  gone  into  church  really  to  ask  for  it,  the  plain 
voices  of  the  congregation,  uttering  the  prayer  but  once,  and  meaning 
it,  would  have  been  more  precious  to  him  than  all  the  quills  and 
trills  that  ever  musician  touched  or  music  trembled  in.  I  can  only 
mark  the  two  sentences  in  the  last  clause  of  the  letter  with  notes 
of — (very  extreme) — wonder, — the  last  especially,  for  an  unchanged 
chord  of  colour  may  be  enjoyed  by  the  eye  many  minutes  longer 
than  an  unchanged  chord  of  sound  by  the  eal'i 


Xll  PREFACE. 

surprise,  that,  instead  of  shining  out  with  any 
recognizable  brightness,  the  translations  attributed 
by  tradition  to  Sidney  included  many  of  the 
feeblest  in  the  volume ;  and  that  while  several 
curious  transitions  in  manner,  and  occasional  fillings 
and  retouchings  by  evidently  inferior  writers,  were 
traceable  through  the  rest,  the  entire  body  of  the 
series  was  still  animated  by  the  same  healthy  and 
impetuous  spirit,  and  could  by  no  criticism  of  mine 
be  divided   into  worthy  and  unworthy  portions. 

Under  these  circumstances,  to  have  attempted  a 
critical  edition  of  the  book  would  have  involved 
a  year's  labour,  a  volume  of  correspondence,  and  I 
knew  not  what  wistful  hours  of  research  among 
dark  library  shelves.  Such  an  edition  will,  I 
hope,  in  good  time,  be  undertaken  by  some  ac- 
complished English  scholar,  and  a  chastised  text 
given  us,  collected  from  whatever  fragments  exist  of 
authoritative  MS.  But,  in  the  meantime,  with  such 
summer  leisure  as  I  have  at  command,  I  can 
make  the  book,  as  we  have  it,  a  serviceable  and 
fitting  part  of  our  Bibliotheca  Pastorum.  In  the 
first  place,  therefore,  the  text  being  clearly  in- 
accurate, I  give  up  the  old  spelling  altogether, 
and  write  the  version  in  our  own  manner,  unless 
here  and  there,  when  the  former  meaning  of  the 
word   requires  also  the  former   lettering.      I   farther 


PREFACE.  xiil 

correct    the    punctuation,    and    replace    the    visibly 
needful  readings. 

In  the  second  place,  I  omit  the  pieces  which, 
either  by  accident  or  by  inferior  authorship,  fall 
greatly  below  the  general  standard ;  and  those  also 
in  which  quaintness  of  thought  or  word  has  been 
carried  beyond  the  utmost  I  could  ask  of  the 
patience  of  existing  taste.  Even  of  the  paraphrases 
which,  thus  sifted,  remained  for  choice,  I  have 
taken  only  those  which  contain  lessons,  or  ex- 
press feelings,  applicable  to  or  natural  to  our  own 
modern  life ;  and  which  may  therefore  be  sung, 
with  personal  adoption  of  their  sentiment,  some 
by  the  young,  and  some  by  the  old,  among  us, 
who  still  can  heartily  praise  their  God,  or  appeal 
to   Him,  in  the  passion  of  song. 

Of  such  Psalms,  forty-four,  closing  with  the 
seventy-second,  are  arranged  in  this  volume, 
Avith  so  much  of  commentary  as  seemed  to  me 
likely  to  make  them  more  serviceable  to  the 
general  reader ;  the  second  volume,  containing  a 
similar  selection  to  the  end  of  the  Psalter,  will, 
I'  hope,  be  ready  at  least  before  the  end  of  the 
year,  and  a  little  school-manual  of  the  elements 
of  prosody,  explaining  the  laws  of  English  and 
Latin  mediaeval  metre,  as  distinguished  from 
classic   metre,  is   already   written  ;  but    I    can't   get 


XIV  PREFACE. 

it  printed  till  after  Easter.  It  will  explain  farther 
some  points  respecting  the  musical  value  of  these 
paraphrases,  which  are  too  complex  for  statements 
here. 

But  the  main  use  of  these  second  and  third  parts 
of  the  Shepherd's  Library,  to  the  modern  reader, 
will  depend  on  his  fully  understanding  these  fol- 
lowing particulars  concerning  the  manner  and  the 
melody  of  these  ancient  paraphrases. 

First,  I  say  concerning  their  manner,  which  dif- 
fers from  that  of  paraphrases  prepared  by  modern 
writers  for  existing  church  services  in  a  very 
serious  way  indeed.  For  modern  writers  of  de- 
votional rhyme  always  assume,  that  if  the  thing 
which  David  (or  other  original  writer  to  be  para- 
phrased) said,  cannot  be  conveniently  arranged  in 
their  own  quatrain,  or  whatever  the  stanza  may 
be, — a  piece  of  David's  saying  may  be  cut  off,  and 
a  piece  of  their  own  or  any  other  pious  person's 
saying,  fastened  on,  without  any  harm  :  their  object 
being  only  to  obtain  such  a  concatenation  of  pious 
sayings  as  may,  on  the  whole,  be  sung  without 
offence,  and  by  their  pleasant  sound  soothe  and 
refresh  the  congregation  after  kneeling  till  they 
are  stiff.  But  the  idea  of  any  of  these  melodious 
sentiments  being  really  adopted  by  the  singers, 
and     meant     as     a     true     assertion,     never     for     4 


PREFACE.  XV 

moment  enters  the  composer's  head.  Thus,  in 
my  own  parish  church,  only  the  Sunday  before 
last,  the  whole  congregation,  and  especially  the 
children,  sang,  in  great  glee  and  contentment,  a 
hymn  which  declared  their  extreme  eagerness  to 
die,  and  be  immediately  with  God :  but  if,  in 
the  course  of  the  tune,  the  smallest  bit  of  plaster 
had  fallen  from  the  ceiling,  implying  any  degree  of 
instability  in  the  rafters  thereof,  very  certainly  the 
whole  symphonious  company  would  have  scuttled 
out  as  fast  as  they  could  ;  and  a  prophetic  intima- 
tion, conveyed  to  any  of  the  mothers  of  the  curly- 
haired  children  sitting  by  the  altar,  that  their  own 
darling  was  never  again  to  be  seen  in  that  place, 
would  as  certainly  have  spoiled  the  mother's 
singing  of  the  devotional  exercise  appointed  for  her 
that  afternoon.      God  be  thanked  that  it  would. 

Again,  I  observe  that  among  the  canticles  which 
might  be  supposed,  without  absurdity,  really  more 
or  less  to  be  expressive  of  the  feelings  of  a  village 
congregation,  a  favourite  one,  founded  on  the  pro- 
mise that  when  two  or  three  are  gathered  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  He  is  in  the  midst  of  them,  closes 
with  the  following  invocation  : 

"  Lord,  we  are  few,  but  thou  art  near ; 
Nor  short  thine  arm,  nor  deaf  thine  ear! 
Oh,  rend  the  heavens, — come  quickly  down. 
And  make  a  thousand  hearts  thine  own." 


XVI  PREFACE. 

Which  charming  stanza  is  apparently  sung  with 
great  unction  by  everybody;  and  it  never  seems  to 
occur  to  any  of  their  minds  that  if  Christ  is  in 
the  midst  of  them,  there  is  no  occasion  for  His 
arm  to  be  long,  and  still  less  for  His  rending 
the  heavens  to  come  down  to  them  ;  or  that, 
although  a  thousand  hearts  may  be  a  sonorous 
phrase  for  the  end  of  a  stanza,  it  is  not  what 
most  people  would  understand  by  a  '  few,'  and 
still  less  a  parallel  for  Christ's  expression  '  two  or 
three.'  The  fact  being  that  the  poor  rhymester, 
totally  incapable  of  conceiving  the  nearness  or  the 
being  of  Christ  at  all,  or  any  emotion  whatever 
which  would  be  caused  by  either,  fills  up  his  idle 
verses  with  the  first  phrases  that  jingle  into  his 
jaded  asses'  cars  out  of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah, 
though  the  first,  concerning  the  shortened  arm  of 
God,  was  written  for  people  so  far  from  having 
Christ  in  the  midst  of  them,  that  their  iniquities 
had  entirely  separated  them  from  Him,  and  their 
sins  hidden  Ills  face, —  (Isaiah  lix.  i,  2)  ;  and  the 
second  is  an  appeal  by  the  prophet  for  the  descent 
of  God,  not  among  His  friends,  but  against  His 
adversaries,  that  the  nations  might  "  tremble  at 
His  presence"  (Isaiah   Ixiv.  i,  2). 

The    entire    system    of  modern    F.ngHsh    canticle 
is  thus  half  paralytic,  half  profane,  consisting  partly 


PREFACE.  xvii 

of  the  expression  of  what  the  singers  never  in 
their  lives  felt,  or  attempted  to  feel  ;  and  partly 
in  the  address  of  prayers  to  God,  which  nothing 
could  more  disagreeably  astonish  them  than  His 
attending  to. 

Now  Sidney's  paraphrase,  in  common  with  all 
gentleman's  literary  work  in  the  Elizabethan  period, 
differs  wholly  from  such  modern  attempts  in  this 
main  particular,  that  it  aims  straight,  and  with 
almost  fiercely  fixed  purpose,  at  getting  into  the 
heart  and  truth  of  the  thing  it  has  got  to  say ; 
and  unmistakably,  at  any  cost  of  its  own  dignity, 
explaining  tliat  to  the  hearer,  shrinking  from  no 
familiarity,  and  restricting  itself  from  no  expansion 
in  terms,  that  will  make  the  thing  meant  clearer. 
So  that  whereas  a  modern  version,  if  only  it 
clothe  itself  in  what  the  author  supposes  to  be 
genteel  language,  is  thought  perfectly  satisfactory, 
though  the  said  genteel  language  mean  exactly 
the  contrary  of  what  David  meant, — Sir  Philip 
wall  use  any  cowboy's  or  tinker's  words,  if  only 
they  help  him  to  say  precisely  in  English  what 
David  said  in  Hebrew :  impressed,  the  v^^hile, 
himself  so  vividly  by  the  majesty  of  the  thought 
itself,  that  no  tinker's  language  can  lower  it  or 
vulgarize  it  in  his  mind.  And,  again,  while  the 
modern     paraphraser     wull     put     in     anything    that 


xviii  PREFACE. 

happens  to  strike  his  fancy,  to  fill  the  fag-end  of  a 
stanza,  but  never  thinks  of  expanding  or  illustrating 
the  matter  in  hand,  Sidney,  if  the  thought  in  his 
original  appears  to  him  pregnant,  and  partly  latent, 
instantly  breaks  up  his  verse  into  franker  and  fuller 
illustration  ;  but  never  adds  a  syllable  of  any  other 
matter,  to  fill  even  the  most  hungry  gap  of  verse. 

Of  the  relative  simplicity  or  familiarity  of 
expression,  I  need  give  no  instances,  as  they 
occur  continually ;  but  of  the  illustrative  expan- 
sion, I  may  refer  for  a  pretty  example  to  the 
stanza  quoted  in  the  beginning  of  this  preface, 
paraphrasing  the  verses  of  the  ninety-first  psalm. 

Compare  our  prose  version,  and  observe  the 
manner  of  Sidney's  amplification. 

"  Surely  He  shall  deliver  thee  from  the  snare  of 
the  fowler."  Yes,  thinks  Sir  Philip, — but  docs  that 
mean,  by  sJioiving  the  snare,  and  so  keeping  us  out 
of  it, — or  by  delivering  us  after  avc  have  fallen  into 
it }  Not  always  by  showing  it,  certainly  ;  (he  has 
been  caught,  himself,  too  often  to  believe  that !)  but 
always  by  redeeming  us  from  it.  But  how  redeem- 
ing } — by  breaking  the  net  roughly  at  once  .''  No, 
that  is  not  His  way ;  but  by  untying  it,  thread 
by  thread.      All  this  is  told   w  ilh   one  word  : 

"  From  snare  the  fowler  lays, 
He  shall  thee  sure  untyc." 


PREFACE.  xix 

"  And  from  the  noisome  pestilence."  Noisome  ? 
thinks  Sir  Philip, — why  this  added  word  ?  why  is 
one  disease  more  noisome  than  another  ?  It  is 
spiritual  evil,  and  cannot  therefore  mean  mere 
loathsomeness  of  bodily  affliction  ;  it  must  mean 
the  power  of  corruption, — the  deadly  power,  which 
strikes  so  that,  even  when  the  disease  itself  is 
gone,  its  effects  remain  incurable.  The  deliverance 
from  t/iis  evil  must  be  before  it  strikes,  not  after- 
wards ! 

"The  noisome  blast  that  plaguing  strays, 
Untoucht  shall  pass  thee  by." 

''  He  shall  cover  thee  with  His  feathers,  and 
under  His  wings  shalt  thou  trust." 

'  Trust,' — yes,  but  how }  thinks   Sidney.      Not  as 

armour,  these  ;   a   bird   does  not   defend    her  brood 

with  her   wings,  but   with  beak  and    claw,    if  need 

be.      The    wings  are  for   warmth,   and    shelter,  and 

hiding-place. 

"  Soft  hived,  with  wing  and  plume 
Thou  in  his  shroud  shalt  lie  ; " 

and  note  the  ^ soft  hived,' — having  the  hive,  or  home, 
made  soft,  and  warm  ;  and  the  beautiful  old  use  of 
*  shroud  '  for  hiding  or  covering  mantle. 

"  His    faithfulness  and    truth  shall   be  thy  shield 
and  buckler." 
'  Yes, — now  we  come  to   the  armour,  he  thinks  ; 


XX  PREFACE. 

but  '  truth,'  why  should  that,  no  less  than  faithful- 
ness, be  spoken  of  as  guardian  ?  Then  he  perceives 
that  the  serenity  of  repose  in  the  promises  of  God 
is  as  necessary  a  part  of  the  safety  of  a  timid  heart 
as  the  security  of  dependence  upon  His  protection. 
Therefore  he  says,  thou  shalt  no  less  'presume'  (take 
beforehand,  or  possess  beforehand,)  on  His  promises, 
than  have  affiance  in   His  guard  ; 

"And  on  his  truth  no  less  presume 
Than  in  his  shield  affy." 

And,  indeed,  with  respect  to  all  these  paraphrases, 
my  principal  reason  for  making  them  a  part  of 
our  Shepherds'  library  is  not  merely  their  being 
in  a  classically  melodious  form  ;  but  besides,  and 
rather,  that  they  continually  interpret  or  illustrate 
what  is  latent  or  ambiguous  in  the  original.  Where 
there  is  no  manifest  gain  of  this  kind,  I  have 
seldom  admitted  the  paraphrase  into  our  series  ; 
and,  on  the  ground  of  what  I  supposed  would  be 
offensive  verbal  simplicity,  have  parted  with  many 
more  than  I  should  have  thought  myself  justified  in 
rejecting,  were  it  not  that  I  trust  in  the  possession, 
some  day  soon,  of  a  classical  and  authoritative 
edition   of  the  whole. 

Enough  are  here,  however,  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses ;  and  when  those  which  arc  to  form  the 
closing  volume  are  added,  there  will  also  be  enough 


PREFACE.  XXI 

to  give  a  complete  idea  of  the  variety  and  art  of 
versification  carried  througli  the  whole.  I  must 
delay  the  reader  yet  a  little  while  presently,  to 
explain  the  general  methods  of  metre  employed. 

Thus  much  it  is  enough  to  observe  respecting 
the  method  of  Sir  Philip's  version.  We  must  now 
finally  note  some  matters  bearing  on  its  theological 
accuracy. 

As  consummate  expression  whether  of  faith  or 
feeling,  the  Psalter  has  retained  its  power  among 
all  nations  worshipping  the  God  of  Israel,  from 
the  day  it  was  completed  to  our  own.  But  as  a 
code  of  Christian  morality,  it  has  virtually  ceased 
to  be  profitable  to  any  of  us  ; — nay,  has  in  many 
ways  become  confusing  and  dangerous,  owing  to 
the  reckless  choice,  or  transposition,  of  the  terms, 
correspondent,  in  English,  to  those  descriptive  of 
virtue  and  vice,  piety  and  atheism,  in  the  original. 
I  do  not  know  how  far,  in  the  Hebrew  itself, 
the  subtlety  and  precision  exist  which  ennoble 
the  Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate  :  but,  assuredly , 
the  writers  of  these  versions  understood  from  the 
Hebrew,  and  expressed  in  their  own  more  capably 
various  diction,  a  series  of  distinctions  between  the 
methods  of  vice  and  virtue  in  men,  on  the  under- 
standing of  which  is  founded  the  proper  philosophy 
of  the   Psalter,    and    which,    neglecting,    we    read   it 


XXll  PREFACE. 

absolutely  without  power  of  applying  practically 
any  one  of  its  precepts,  or  apprehending  intelli- 
gently the  issue  of  any  one  of  its  promises  or 
threatenings. 

Though  without  any  special  attention  to  this 
subject,  and  with  frequent  lapses  into  the  vagueness 
of  common  English,  the  Sidney  version  is  yet  so 
studiously  moulded  on  the  classical  originals,  that, 
with  only  here  and  there  the  notice  of  an  am- 
biguous word,  it  will  become  quite  clear  to  us 
in  its  expression  of  these  ethics  of  the  Psalter. 
But  that  it  may  become  so,  we  must  prepara- 
torily observe  the  main  distinctions  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  words  whose  force  it  thus  observantly 
renders. 

The  benediction,  in  the  opening  of  the  first 
psalm,  divides  at  once  the  virtue  which  is  to  be 
strengthened,  or  to  find  voice,  in  the  following 
psalms,  into  three  conditions,  the  understanding  of 
which  is  the  key  to  the  entire  law  of  Old  Testa- 
ment morality. 

"  Blessed  is  the  man  who "  (first)  "  has  not 
walked   in    the   counsel   of  the    ungodly." 

That  is  to  say,  who  has  not  ad\'anccd,  or  edu- 
cated himself,  in  the  '  coidiscV,  (either  the  opinions 
or  the  advice,)  of  men  who  are  unconscious  of  the 
existence  of  God. 


PREFACE.  Xxiii 

That  is  the  law  of  our  Intellectual  Education. 

"  Nor  "  (secondly)  "  stood  in  the  way  of  sinners." 

That  is  to  say,  who  has  not  adopted  for  the 
standing,  establishing,  and  rule  of  his  life,  the 
ways,  customs,  or  principles  of  the  men  who, 
whether  conscious  or  unconscious  of  God's  being, 
disobey   His  commands. 

That  is  the  law  of  our  moral  conduct.    . 

"  And  hath  not "  (thirdly)  "  sat  in  the  seat  of  the 
scornful.'' 

That  is  to  say,  who  has  not,  in  teaching  or 
ruling  others,  permitted  his  own  pride  or  egotism 
to  make  him  intolerant  of  their  creeds,  impatient 
of  their  ignorance,  or  unkind  to  their  failings. 
This  throne  of  pride  is,  in  the  Vulgate,  called  the 
throne  of  Pestilence.  I  know  not  on  what  ground; 
but  assuredly  conveying  this  farther  truth,  that 
the  source  of  all  noisome  blast  of  heresy,  "  that 
plaguing  strays  "  in  the  Christian  Church,  has  been 
the  pride  and   egotism  of  its  pastors. 

Here,  then,  are  defined  for  us  in  the  first  words 
of  the  Psalter,  the  three  great  vices  of  Intellectual 
Progress,  Moral  Stature,  and  Cathedral  Enthrone- 
ment, by  which  all  men  are  tempted  in  their 
learning,  their  doing,  and  their  teaching  ;  and  in 
conquering  which,  they  are  to  receive  the  blessing 
of  God,  and   the   peaceful   success   of  their  human 


xxiv  PREFACE. 

life.       These    three    sins    are    always    expressed    in 
the  Greek   Psalter  in   the  same  terms  : 
Ungodliness  is  aa-e^eca  ; 
Sin  is  aixapria ; 

Pride  is  vTreprjc^avia  ; 

and  the  tenor  of  every  passage  throughout  the 
Psalms,  occupied  in  the  rebuke  or  threatening  of 
the  '  wicked,'  is  coloured  by  its  specific  direction 
aeainst   one  or  other   of  these   forms   of  sin. 

But,  separate  from  all  these  sins,  and  governing 
them,  is  the  monarchic  '  Iniquity,'  which  consists 
in  the  ivilful  adoption  of,  and  persistence  in,  these 
other  sins,  by  deliberately  sustained  false  balance 
of  the   heart   and   brain. 

A  man  may  become  acre/3>;?,  impious,  by  natural 
stupidity. 

He  may  become  aywapxwXo?,  sinful,  by  natural 
weakness. 

And  he  may  become  vvepi](fiavo'i,  insolent,  by 
natural  vanity. 

But  he  only  becomes  uSiKo<i,  unjust,  or  un- 
righteous, by  resolutely  refusing  to  see  the  truth 
that  makes  against  him  ;  and  resolutely  contem- 
plating the  truth  that  makes  for  him. 

Against  this  '  iniquity,'  or  '  unrighteousness,'  the 
chief  thrcatenings  of  the  Psalter  are  directed, 
striking  often  literally  and  low,  at  direct  dishonesty 


PREFACE.  XXV 

in  commercial  dealings,  and  rising  into  fiercest 
indignation  at  spiritual  dishonesty  in  the  com- 
mercial dealing  and   'trade'   of  the  heart. 

And  the  words  'righteousness'  and  'unrighteous- 
ness/ throughout  the  Psalter,  have  this  meaning, 
and  no  other.  It  is  needless  to  say  how  fatally 
their  vital,  imperative,  and  purifying  force  has 
been  evaded  by  modern  glosses  of  the  evangelical 
school  of  readers  and  teachers,  who  imagine  that 
the  word  '  righteousness  '  means  that  '  forgiveness  of 
sins'  which  they  expect  to  get,  without  ever  being 
purged  from  them.  The  following  vocabulary  of 
fourteen  words,  with  their  derivatives,  for  general 
reference,  with  a  few  notes  on  separate  paraphrases, 
will  now  make  the  ethics  of  the  Sidney  text  in 
these  volumes  entirely  intelligible.  My  own  com- 
mentary, when  it  bears  on  ethical  question,  is  always 
made  on  the  ordinary  English  prose  version,  using 
the  Sidney  text  only  to  illustrate  it, 

I  take  first  the  seven  principal  words  which 
variously  express  the  nature  of  the  Revelation  or 
Law  of  God,  in  which  David  so  perpetually 
rejoices  ;  and  after  each  I  give  his  special  saying 
concerning  it,   in  the  nineteenth  psalm. 

I.  i^oytio?.  The  law  of  the  Lord  of  Creation  ; 
kept  by  Him  inviolate  in  faithfulness  through  all 
the    changes  of   providential    dealing.      It    includes 


XXVI  PREFACE. 

physical  law,  and  whatever  is  recognized  as  '  cosmic ' 
by  modern  naturalists :  but  the  essence  of  it  is 
the  guardian  Law  of  Life,  that  which  appoints 
that  love  shall  produce  joy  ;  hatred,  pain  ; — dis- 
union, weakness ;  concurrence,  power  ;  —  license, 
death  ;  and  obedience,  life.  It  is  full  of  spiritual 
mysteries,  and  is  felt  more  and  more  to  be  blessed 
and  holy  as  it  is  sought  out  David  never  speaks 
of  it  but  with  passionate  love.  It  exists  always, 
above,  and  without,  any  commandment,  being  the 
Law  which   Christ  came,  not  to  destroy,  but  fulfil. 

"THE   LAW  OF  THE   LORD   IS    PERFECT,  CONVERTING 

THE  SOUL." 

The  derivative  '  dvo/xla'  means  ivilful  lawlessness, 
or  rebellion,  often  translated  '  wickedness,'  which 
is  in  pure  English  only  another  word  for  witch- 
craft, or  evil  magic — the  defiance  of  the  law  of 
the  universe  by  a  crooked  enchantment.  "  For 
rebellion  is  as  the  sin   of  witchcraft." 

The  derivative  'aVo/^09,'  lawless,  means  the  state 
of  mind  in  which  a  man  not  only  disobeys  the 
commands  of  the  State,  but  the  dictates  of  nature. 
Adultery,  usury,  cannibalism,  and  the  like,  are 
forms  of  dvofxid,  as   distinct   from  ufiapria. 

2.  ivToKi'].  The  '  Commandment,'  or,  in  plural, 
commandments,  equally  translated  precept,  or  pre- 
cepts.      That    part    of    the     law    which    God    has 


PREFACE,  XXvii 

expressed  in  words,  and  which  it  is  enough  for 
simple  people  to  obey,  without  knowing  why.  A 
child  may  obey  its  parents,  and  a  man  resolve 
not  to  live  by  stealing,  without  in  the  least  re- 
cognizing the  glory  of  the  eternal  obedience,  or 
the    loss    of  spiritual   joy    by   rapine. 

"THE    COMMANDMENT   OF   THE   LORD   IS   PURE, 
ENLIGHTENING    THE    EYES." 

3.  [jbapTvpia.  The  Testimony,  or,  in  plural,  testi- 
monies. The  spoken  teaching  of  God,  enforcing 
His  commandments  with  promise  or  threatening  ; 
and  recording  what  He  desires  His  creatures  to 
know  concerning  Himself  and  His  work ;  and 
concerning  themselves  and  their  work.  Of  these, 
David  writes,  "  Thy  testimonies  are  my  delight  and 
my  counsellors;"  and  Paul,  "He  left  not  Himself 
without  witness."  Compare  Deut.  xxxi.  19,  Isa, 
Iv.  4,   Matt.   xxiv.    14. 

"THE  TESTIMONY  OF  THE  LORD  IS  SURE,  MAKING 
WISE  THE  SIMPLE." 

4.  SLKalcofMa.  Statute,  and  in  plural  statutes.  The 
continual  doing  of  justice  ; — the  fixed  attachment 
of  such  and  such  penalties  to  the  violation, — such 
and  such  rewards  to  the  keeping, — of  the  com- 
mandment, and  hearing  of  the  witness. 

"  THE  STATUTES  OF  THE  LORD  ARE  RIGHT,  AND 
REJOICE  THE  HEART." 


XXVlil  PREFACE. 

5.  Kpc/xa.     Judgment,    and,  in    plural,   judgments. 

Definite  punishment  or  reward   pronounced    against 

personal   or   national  definite  parts   of  conduct. 

"THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LORD  ARE  TRUE  AND 
RIGHTEOUS  ALTOGETHER." 

6.  A,o709.      The   Word,   or   definite    exertion    (or 

to  subordinate  beings,  expression,)  of  God's  will,  as 

in    creation    or   any  other    (so-called)    act,  or   series 

of    acts,    of    the    Supreme    Being.      It    is    separate 

from    the    constant    v6ixo<;,    in    so    far    as    "  by    the 

Word    of  the    Lord    were    the   heavens    made,"  but 

considered    as    only   a   part   of   the   constant    v6fxo<;, 

when    it    is    said,    "  heaven    and    earth    shall    pass 

away,  but  my  Word   shall  not." 

"THE  FEAR  OF  TFIE  LORD  LS  CLEAN,  ENDURING 

FOR  EVER." 

7.  Xoyta.  The  oracles.  The  (to  us  apparently 
separate)  various  divisions  of  the  words  and  acts 
of  God. 

These  being  the  essential  divisions  of  Revelation, 
the  virtue  and  guilt  of  men  in  relation  to  them  arc 
expressed  by  this  second  group  of  distinct  terms, 
each  with  its  proper  opposite, 

1.  dya66<i.  KHKo'i.  The  good  man, — the  bad.  The 
terms  that,  regarding  all  qualities  in  both,  cast 
them  up,  and  give  the  net  value. 

(I  am  interrupted  in  my  work  at  this  moment, — 


PREFACE.  XXIX 

Oxford,  Sunday,  13th  July,  1876,  seven,  morning, 
— first  by  a  long  rumble,  which, — thinking  it  for 
a  while  to  be  something  going  on  in  the  next 
rooms, — I  make  out  to  be  a  luggage  train  ;  and 
then,  just  as  I  begin  again,  and  am  considering 
whether  to  say  '  simple '  or  '  general '  terms, — by  a 
steady  whistle, — which,  coming  in  with  the  morning 
air  through  the  open  window,  worries  me  as  if  a 
cat  were  in  the  room,  sustaining  her  mew  at  a 
high  note.  Vainly  trying  to  fix  my  mind  for  ten 
or  twelve  seconds,  as  I  find  the  noise  going  on, 
getting  louder,  and  at  last  breaking  into  startling 
demi-semiquavers,  I  give  up  my  business,  for  the 
present, — and  count  fifty-three,  slowly,  before  this 
musical  entertainment  and  psalm  of  modern  life 
stops.  Actually  there's  another  train  coming,  just 
as  I  have  finished  this  paragraph.  I  have  counted 
eighty,  and  it  is  still  not  over ; — at  last  things  are 
getting  quiet,  and  I  will  try  to  go  on.) 

Give  the  net  value,  I  was  going  to  say,  at  St. 
Michael's  price  and  weight,  by  St.  Michael's  scales. 
'A  good  man';  a  Positive  article,  in  flesh  and  soul. 
Woj'th  at  least  sonicthmg,  to  his  people — to  his  age. 
'A  bad  man';  a  Negative  article  in  flesh  and  soul. 
Worth  so  much  less  than  nothing  to  his  people  and 
age  ;  a  blot,  and  clog,  and  plague  to  them. 

These   terms  not  only  include,  but  have  primary 


XXX  PREFACE. 


reference  to,  qualities  of  breed.  They  are  used 
of  men  as  we  should  use  them  of  horses.  And 
the  sum  of  good  and  evil  is  calculated,  not  so 
much  in  honour  or  pleasure  to  the  man  himself, 
as  in  his  pure  usefulness  and  trustworthiness  to 
others, 

la.  'Goodness,'  not  in  use.     il^.  'Badness,'  fre- 
quent.    Sidney's  terms,  good  and  evil. 

2.  BiKaLo<; ;  aScKo^.  'Just,'  'unjust,'  or  righteous 
and  unrighteous.  Already  enough  explained.  The 
main  scriptural  distinction. 

2a.  'Justice.'     2^.  'Injustice.'     Both  in  constant 
use.* 

3.  TTiaro'i.  (hncTTO'i.  Faithful.  Unfaithful.  Not 
used    in   true   opposition.     The   first    means  usually 

*  As  I  begin  Article  2,  a  third  luggage  train  comes  and  goes. 
I  count  148 — (and  it's  not  quite  over,) — what,  in  the  name  of  all 
that's  profane,  do  they  mean  lay  taking  Sunday  morning  for  tliis 
business?  Actually,  after  five  minutes  more,  comes  a  fourth;  to  this* 
I  count  only  105.  Now,  at  eight  o'clock,  there's  my  own  cathedral 
bell  begins,  which  would  have  helped  me,  rather  than  hurt,  but  for 
the  railroad  noise  first — but  now  is  conclusively  destructive  of  all  my 
power  of  morning  thought. 

Vi-nice,  Sunday,  I'&th  Manh,  1877. — The  rest  of  the  preface,  there- 
fore, was  set  down  in  my  notes  of  it,  without  expansion.  Long  enough, 
perhaps  the  reader  may  think  ;  but  I  wish  those  railroad  trains  had  not 
hindered  me  from  saying  what  I  had  in  my  mind  about  the  service  in 

shadow, 

"Yc  th.it  by  night,  stand  in  the  House  of  the  Lord," 

also — about  the  psalmody  before  the  battle  of  Leuthen,  and  in  the 
following  night-march,  (Frederick,  Book  i8th,  chap.  10,)  and  Cove- 
nanting and  Cromwellian  psalmody  in  general,  as  opposed  either  to 
Cavalier  song,  or  to  the  Canticles  of  modern  liberty. 


PREFACE.  xxxi 

faithful  in  the  sense  of  trustworthy.  "  Faithful  is 
he  that  calleth  you."  The  second  has  the  sense 
of  '  incredulous,'  ('  be  not  faithless,  but  believing,'  to 
St.  Thomas,)  or  'infidel  '  (ist  Tim.  v.  8);  'the  fearful 
and  unbelieving  (Rev.  xxi.   8). 

2,a.  Faith,  ^l^.  Infidelity.  Constant,  and  in  true 
opposition,  Faith  signifying  trust,  and  not 
truth. 

4.  ev(Tej3)]q.  da-e^rj'^.  Godly.  Ungodly,  The 
capacity,  increased  by  industry  and  humility,  of 
intelligently  apprehending  the  existence  of  higher 
spirits,  and  reverently  worshipping  them ;  opposed 
to  the  incapacity  of  doing  so,  increased  by  idleness, 
or  vanity. 

4«.  Godliness.     4*5.  Ungodliness.     Constant. 

5.  raireiv6<i-  v7r6p-)](j)avo<;.  Humble,  Proud.  Best 
opposed  in  the  Magnificat :  "  He  hath  regarded  the 
lowliness  of  his  handmaiden.  He  hath  scattered 
the  proud  in  the  imagination  of  their  hearts."  So 
Psalm  cxix. :  "  He  hath  rebuked  the  proud  that 
are  cursed ; " — compare  cxxxi.  for  the  opposed 
humility. 

^a.  Lowliness,     sd.  Pride,     Constant. 

6.  SovXo'^.  avof^o<;.  Servant.  Lawless.  The  most 
frequent  of  oppositions,  next  to  just  and  unjust. 
In  both  groups,  the  virtue  and  the  vice  are  always 
considered  as  wilful;   but  injustice  is  the  wilful  sin 


XXXll  PREFACE. 

of  intellectual  persons,  and  lawlessness  of  fools  ;  so 
that  a  peculiarly  cretinous  condition  of  brain  has 
been  developed  in  modern  days  for  the  apostle- 
ship  of  dvofxM.  It  is  the  sin  which  physically  is 
represented  by  decomposition — i.e.,  in  organic  being, 
death ; — and  all  witchcraft,  necromancy,  and  the 
like,  are  parts  of  it.  '  Wickedness '  is  the  Saxon 
word  ;  embracing,  curiously,  derivations  from  others, 
meaning  'enchanted,'  'crooked,'  (perverse,)  and  'viti- 
ated.' So,  also,  justice  is  the  resolute  virtue  of 
intellectual  persons,  and  servitude  the  resolute  virtue 
of  the  simple.  "  Behold,  bless  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye 
servants  of  the  Lord,  which  djy  nigJit  stand  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord."     Psalm  cxxxiv. 

6a.  Servitude,     db.  Wickedness.     Constant. 

7.  a'yLo<i.  u/jcapTooXo'i.  Saint,  Sinner.  The  con- 
clusive opposition,  expressing  with  respect  to  birth 
in  the  Spirit  what  d'yado<;  and  kuko^  express  with 
respect  to  birth  in  the  flesh.  The  Saints  are  the 
chosen,  or  found,  of  God ;  the  Sinners,  the  Repro- 
bate, (tried  and  found  wanting,  cast  away,  or  lost,) 
of  God.  The  Son  of  Man  comes  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  is  lost ;  I  Ic  comes  for  dfiapTcoXoi, 
but  not  for  vTrepijcf^avoi,  dvo/j,ot,  or  dSiKoi.  For 
sinners;  but  not  for  the  proud,  the  lawless,  or  the 
unjust. 

These    seven    oppositions,    kept    clearly    in    mind, 


PREFACE.  XXxiii 

will  enable  the  reader,  with  little  farther  pains,  to 
understand,  not  only  the  Psalter,  but  the  entire 
theology  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  mode  of  its 
translation  in  the  New.  One  farther  opposition 
must  be  noted  ;  but  as  external  to  all  the  others  : 
6aco<i  and  idpiKo<i,  holy  and  profane — that  is  to  say, 
belonging  to  the  visible  church,  or  to  the  '  heathen.' 
Wickedness,  or  perversity,  (disobeying  the  God  it 
knows  well,)  is  the  sin  of  the  visible  Church ;  but 
Forgetfulness, — not  seeking  the  God  it  knows  dimly, 
of  the  Heathen.  "  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 
hell,  and  the  heathen,  that  forget  God."  Psalm 
ix.  17. 

Finally,  what  full  sense  was  intended  by  David 
in  the  terms  Hell  and  Heaven  themselves,  it  is 
needless  to  ask  more  than  we  may  here  positively 
know  from  the  shades  or  lights  of  each  that  "  lie 
about  us  in  our  pilgrimage."  We  need  not  think 
even  that  recognition  of  our  state  will  always  be 
conscious.  In  the  extreme  of  perdition,  our  earthly 
spirit  does  not  know  that  it  is  lost ;  and  there  are 
souls  scattered  afar  upon  the  Elysian  Hills,  that, 
shepherdless,  breathe  the  air  of  Paradise,  and  shall 
return,  every  man,  to  his  house  in  peace, 


OF   THE    SIDNEY   METRES. 


BEFORE  examining  the  manner  of  these  Eliza- 
bethan chants,  I   must  say  a  word  or  two  of 
the  use  of  metrical  psalm  at  all. 

That  any  words  spoken  in  utter  truth  and  in- 
tensity of  feeling  should  be  'measured'  seems  at 
first  impossible,  or  at  least  unfitting.  On  a  field  of 
battle,  a  soldier  does  not  ask  for  quarter  in  iambic 
verse  ;  and  the  publican's  prayer,  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner,"  would  not  be  made  more  pathetic 
by  any  echo  which  we  could  contrive  for  it  between 
'  sin  '  and  '  win,'  or  '  God  '  and  '  rod.' 

But  when  our  feelings  arc  moved  by  no  sudden 
impulse,  and  raised  to  no  pitch  of  passion  too  great 
to  be  sustained,  it  is  an  honourable  sign  of  our  words 
that  they  arc  measured; — it  is  proper  that  they  should 
bear  upon  them  this  seal  of  having  been  considered 
before  they  were  uttered  ;  nor  is  any  sentiment   in 


OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES.  XXXV 

itself  SO  intense  but  that,  if  continuous,  it  may  be 
expressed  more  nobly  under  the  laws  of  harmony 
and  symmetry  than   without  them. 

Farther ;  in  the  greater  number  of  persons  of 
average  power  of  mind,  when  of  happy  disposition 
and  unoppressed  life,  feelings  of  anxiety,  distress, 
or  desire,  never  become  so  deep  as  to  forbid  the 
enjoyment  of  cheerful  sound  in  their  expression. 
Whatever  regret  they  may  feel  at  having  done 
wrong, — whatever  hope  of  some  day  entering  a 
better  world  if  they  do  right,  their  remorse  is 
never  so  poignant,  nor  their  longing  so  extreme,  but 
that  both  may  be  uttered  in  rhythmic  syllables, 
and  even  deepened  and  excited  by  the  cadence 
of  them.  The  joyful  and  eager  youth  of  a  man 
like  Sidney  is  necessarily  incapable  of  entering 
into  the  darker  thoughts  of  a  heart  like  David's 
in  old  age  ;  and  the  general  mass  of  amiably  and 
pleasantly  religious  persons  can  no  more  under- 
stand a  psalm,  than  a  kitten  a  Greek  tragedy  ; 
but  we  may  always  claim  from  them  sincerity  in 
accepting  what  is  suited  to  their  age ;  nor  need 
we  refuse  to  ^he  young  what  farther  pleasure  or 
sense  of  duty  they  may  receive  from  the  chanting 
of  noble  words,  because  the  days  are  yet  distant 
by  whose  melancholy  tutorship  such  words  are  to 
be  made  finally  intelligible. 


XXXvi  OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES. 

And  farther  ;  while  the  unrhymed  and  un- 
decorated  language  Avith  which  graver  hearts 
would  be  content,  is  ineffectual  on  feebler  and  more 
impulsive  dispositions,  there  is  nothing  in  the  sym- 
metry of  graceful  terms,  so  long  as  they  remain 
true,  which  need  offend  the  feelings  whose  glow 
has  no  need  of  them.  So  long  as  the  instrument 
is  in  real  harmony,  no  strength  of  thought  need 
be  abated  by  the  pleasantness  of  its  echo  ;  and  if 
those  who  are  the  strongest  in  passion,  or  intelli- 
gence, are  permitted  to  say,  in  some  way  or  another,, 
exactly  the  thing  they  mean,  they  need  not  mind 
saying  it  with  such  interval  or  inflection  of  voice, 
and  such  change  or  inversion  of  phrase,  as  may 
comply  with  the  innocent  desire  of  others  for 
musical  delight.  An  old  man,  walking  up  and 
down  at  evening  on  some  meadow  hillside,  whence 
he  can  see  the  roofs  and  spires  of  his  native  city 
warm  in  the  setting  sun,  may  murmur  to  himself, 
and  find  enough  sweet  without  melodious  accom- 
panying, the  solemn  words  of  the  48th  Psalm  :  "  Go 
ye  round  about  Zion,  tell  the  towers  thereof;  mark 
ye  well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her  palaces,  that 
ye  may  tell  it  to  the  generation  following."  But 
the  veteran  returning  from  war  with  a  company 
of  young  knightly  riders,  entering  the  city  gates 
in  joyful  glance   of  heraldry,  and  trained  prancing 


OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES.  XXXVll 

of  their  horses'  feet,  might,  unoffended,  hear  them 
burst  into  the  rhythmic  chant  of  Sidney's  verse  : 

"  Compass  Syon  in  her  standing  : 
^  Tell  her  towers,  mark  her  forts  ; 

Note  with  care  the  stately  portes, 
Her  royal  houses  bear  ; 
For  that  age's  understanding, 
Which  shall  come  when  we  shall  go, — 
Glad,  of  former  time,  to  know 
How  many,  what  they  were." 

Or  again,  and  in  yet  more  grave  field  of  thought — ■ 
while  in  moments  of  unexpected  pain,  and  help- 
lessly felt  decline  of  strength,  we  may  bitterly 
repeat,  and  with  little  desire  for  musical  cadence 
in  our  words,  the  cry  of  the  90th  Psalm  :  "  Thou 
turnest  man  to  destruction  ;  and  sayest.  Return, 
ye  children  of  men  ; "  yet  in  the  resigned  peace 
of  an  old  age  crowned  with  the  light  of  days 
that  are  not,  an  old  man  may  hear  with  thank- 
fulness the  voices  of  the  assenting  choir  proclaim 
the  mercifully  irrevocable  law,  over  earth  and  her 
children  : 

"  Oh,  but  man, — by  thee  created, 
As  he  first  of  earth  arose, — 
When  thy  Word  his  end  hath  dated 
In  equal  state,  to  earth  he  goes. 
Thou  sayest, — and  saying, — mak'st  it  so, 
'  Be  no  more,  oh  Adam's  heir  : ' 
From  whence  ye  came,  dispatch  to  go 
Dust,  again,—  as  dust  ye  were." 


xxxviii  OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES. 

Nevertheless,  I  should  not  have  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  add  any  other  version  of  the  Psalms  to  the 
accepted  one  of  the  Prayer  Book,  for  use  in  St. 
George's  schools,  had  not  these  paraphrases  of  Sir 
Philip's  contained  many  illustrative  or  explanatory 
passages,  making  the  sense  of  the  original  more 
clear,  while,  at  the  same  time,  their  exquisitely  accu- 
rate use  of  the  English  language  renders  them,  on 
the  whole,  the  best  examples  known  to  me  for  the 
early  guidance  of  its  faithful  students.  In  the  work 
of  all  other  great  masters,  the  melody  of  the  word 
is  allowed  somewhat  to  influence  them  in  their 
choice  of  it  ;  but  Sidney  never  minds  spoiling  the 
sound  of  a  verse,  if  the  prettiest  word  is  not  also 
the  accuratest.  How  pleasant  the  sound  of  verse 
was  to  him,  however,  the  singular  variety  of  ar- 
rangements adopted  in  this  Psalter,  may  enough 
show,  although,  I  suppose  with  reference  to  some 
particular  kind  of  music  to  which  they  wcic  sung, 
the  elements  out  of  which  the  verses  arc  arranged 
are  in  the  first  instance  exceedingly  simple.  A 
certain  number  of  unrhymed  psalms,  of  Latin  con- 
struction, occur  towards  the  close  of  the  book, 
cither  by  some  other  writer,  or  by  Sidney  in   error 

*  Tlie  I'eadcr  unacquainted  with  the  construction  of  verse  should 
read  the  little  introduction  to  English  prosody  which  Mi".  Allen  will 
have  ready,  I  hope,  not  long  after  this  beginning  of  I'salter  is  pub- 
lished. 


OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES.  xxxix 

of  too  vain  scholarship.  Putting  these  aside,  the 
remainder  are,  with  one  exception,  in  trochaic  or 
iambic  verse  :  the  iambics  severely  accurate  ;  the 
trochaic  admitting,  but  always  with  extreme  subtlety 
of  appliance,  the  introductory  short  syllable,  as  the 
'In  equal  state'  of  the  fourth  line  in  the  just- 
quoted  stanza. 

The  single  exception  is  the  52  nd  Psalm,  which 
is  dactylic,  with  admitted  spondee  beginning,  and 
troche  always  closing  the  second   line  : — 

"  Not  words  from — cursed  thee, 
But  gulphs — are  poured  : 
Gulphs  wherein — daily  be 
Good  men — devoured. 

Thinkst  thou  to — bear  it  so  ? 

God  shall  dis — place  thee  ; 
God  shall  thee — overthrow. 

Crush  thee,  de — face  thee." 

But  this  metre  can  by  no  art  be  sustained 
without  more  license  of  artificial  accent,  or  in- 
verted construction,  than  may  be  justifiably  claimed 
from  the  reader's  indulgence  or  attention  ;  and 
another  two  verses,  giving  examples  of  this  un- 
conquerable difficulty,  but  full  of  force  in  them- 
selves, are  all  that  I  care  to  give  of  this  psalm. 


xl  OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES. 

"  Lewd  lies  thy — tongue  contrives  ; 
Loud  lies — it  soundeth  ; 
Sharper  than — sharpest  knives, 
With  lies — it  wound eth." 

The  false  accent  on  the  '  with  '  is  just  pardonable 
for  the  sake  of  its  help  in  the  pretty  alliteration 
of  the  whole  verse. 

"  Lo,  16,  the — wretched  wTght, 
Who  God — disdaining, 
His  mischief — made  his  might. 
His  guard, — his  gaining." 

This  stanza,  read  without  any  strained  accent, 
is  properly  a  couplet  in  iambic  pentameter,  and  is 
only  read  in  dactyls  by  courtesy.  The  inversion  of 
the  subject  in  the  last  two  lines  is,  however,  rather 
a  grace  than  a  fault  ;  the  accent  enables  '  His ' 
to  stand  for  '  His  own,'  and  the  concentrated 
meaning  makes  the  entire  verse  very  precious. 

All  the  other  psalms  given  in  the  following 
series  are,  as  I  have  said,  iambic  or  trochaic  :  but 
the  differences  in  number  of  feet  between  the 
lines,  the  number  of  these  in  the  stanzas,  and  the 
alternations  of  rhyme  in  the  different  groups,  arc 
so  varied,  that  out  of  the  hundred  and  twenty 
paraphrases    given    in    the    two    volumes,    I    believe 


OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES.  xli 

that,  after  the  text  is  properly  sifted,  not  one  will 
be  found  in  precisely  the  same  metre  as  another. 
And  the  dainty  intricacy  of  several  of  these 
arrangements,  and  the  reasons  for  the  repeating, 
with  little  modification,  some,  rather  than  others, 
present  questions  of  so  great  interest  to  students 
of  English  verse,  that  I  could  not  resist  the  temp- 
tation of  tabulating  the  structure  of  them  all. 
The  number  of  feet  in  the  lines  is  of  course 
naturally  indicated  by  figures:  i,  for  a  line  of  one 
metre;  2,  for  a  dimetre;*  and  so  3,  4,  5,  and  6, 
up  to  the  hexametre  ;  only  observe  that  I  call  the 
ordinary  trochaic  line  ending  with  a  long  syllable, 

"  Dust  again,  as  dust  ye  were," 

a  three-metred  verse,  though  it  is  properly  four- 
metred,  for  the  close  of  such  a  line  is  a  full  troche  in 
tinic^  formed  of  the  monosyllable  with  a  following 
rest :  but  it  is  convenient  to  express  this  verse  as  a 
trimetre,  and  to  consider  as  tetrametre  only  the 
line  with  the  last  short  syllable  sounded, — "  oh,  but 
man,  by  thee  created."  On  the  other  hand,  an 
iambic  line  ending  with  a  superadded  short  syllable 
properly  does  so  only  by  dividing  the  normal  long 
Syllable  into  two  short  ones  ;  and  permits  no  ex- 
tension of  the  time  ;  therefore  it  is  indicated  by  a 

*  My  spelling  of  these  names  fer  verses  will  be  found  defended  in 
tliy  Elements  of  Prosody. 


xlii  OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES. 

« 

circumflex  above  the  numeral,  thus  :  "  the  fields  with 
flocks  have  hid  their  faces,"  will  be  4,  and  "  Nor  hid 
from  him  thy  face's  fair  appearini,^',"  5. 

For  the  indication  of  arrangement  of  rhyme  I 
use  letters  of  the  alphabet  :  the  first  line  of  any 
stanza  is  always  called  a  ;  and  all  lines  that  rhyme 
to  it,  a  ;  also  the  first  different  rhyme  that  occurs  is 
called  b,  and  all  that  rhyme  to  it,  b  ;  the  next  c, 
--and  so  on. 

Thus  a  couplet,  with  its  lines  rhyming,  is  a  a  ; 
a  quatrain  stanza  of  alternate  rhymes,  a  b  a  b  ; 
Tennyson's  beautiful  quatrain  of  the  In  Memoriam 
is  abba,  and  the  ordinary  Spenserian  stanza, 
ababbcbcc. 

With  this  notation,  the  Sidney  metres,  or  any 
others,  may  be  accurately  tabulated  ;  and  their 
analysis  becomes,  to  any  one  really  caring  for  poetry, 
extremely  interesting  ;  but  the  tabulated  forms  look 
so  appallingly  complex  that  I  shall  keep  them  for 
the  appendix  to  the  second  volume,  when  they 
may  be  more  easily  compared  with  the  text  ;  merely 
indicating  in  the  present  volume  the  form  of  rhythm 
adopted  for  each  psalm.  This  statement  of  the 
rhythm  will  in  general  separate  the  part  of  the 
commentary  relating  to  points  of  general  knowledge 
from  that  which  will  consist  of  verbal  criticism  ; 
and    by  collecting   and    comparing   the   abbreviated 


OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES. 


xliil 


symbols  of  each  stanza,  the  reader  may  begin  the 
study  of  these  metres  for  himself.  The  notablcst 
circumstance  in  all  of  them  is  the  length  of  time 
during  which  a  rhyme  remained  on  the  composer's 
ear,  so  as  to  be  answered  again  and  again  by 
recurrent  symmetries  of  echo.  The  51st  Psalm,  for 
instance,  is  a  most  interesting  group  of  eight  con- 
nected triplets  ending  with  the  rhyme  that  began 
them  ;  and  connected  by  linked  triple  rhymes,  which 
I  Avrite  beneath,  to  show  their  order  : — 

aba  cdc  beb  dfd  ege  faf  ghg  aha 


-b  .  b 


-d.  d 


e  ,  e 


f  .  f 


g g  S 


a 


a  a 


xliv  OF    THE    SIDNEY    METRES. 

Again  the  55th  is  written  with  only  three  rhyming 

words    through    seventy-two    lines, — six    stanzas    of 

four  triplets,  each  couple  reflected,  thus,   a  b  c — c  b  a, 

a  c  b — b  c  a  :    the  first  and   sixth  stanzas   beginning 

and  closing  thus  with  a  ;  the  second  and  fifth  with 

b  ;  and  the  third  and  sixth  with  c.      The  1 00th  and 

1 5  oth  are  properly  sonnets  of  fourteen   lines  each ; 

but  endless  varieties   of  grouping  will   be   found  in 

the    five-lined    and    six-lined    stanzas,  of  which    the 

greater  number   of  the   paraphrases   are    composed. 

I   know  of    no    other    religious  work    in    which  so 

much  playful  art  is  blended  with  so  faithful  passion. 

I   am    indeed   a  little   vexed    to    find,    as    I   correct 

the  press,  that  quaint  or  prosaic  expressions  which 

were    inoffensive    to    me    in    the    old    spelling,   look 

weaker    in     modern    dress  ;     but,    in    sum,    readers 

may   test    the   veracity    of   their    emotions    by   the 

degree   in  which  these  faults  can  be   forgiven.      To 

those   who   have   used   the  Psalter  merely  to   grace 

their  worship  with  a  sentimental  tone,  this  version 

will   be  useless,   or  irritating.      To   those   who  have 

really  known   either  David's  joy,  distress,  or  desires, 

it  will  be  enlightenment  of  heart  and   eyes,  as  the 

tasted  honey  on  the  strctchcd-out  spear  of  David's 

friend. 


PSALM  I. 


BEATUS   VIR. 


He  blessed  is,  who  neither  loosely  treads 
The  straying  steps,  as  wicked  counsel  leads  ; 

Nor  for  bad  mates  in  way  of  sinners  waiteth  ; 

Nor  yet  himself  with  idle  scorners  seateth  ; 
5    But  on  God's  law  his  whole  delight  doth  bind, 
Which,  night  and  day,  he  calls  to  marking  mind. 

II. 

He  shall  be  like  a  freshly  planted  tree, 
To  which  sweet  springs  of  water  neighbours  be  ; 
Whose  branches  fail  not  timely  fruit  to  nourish, 
I  o        Nor  withered  leaf  shall  make  it  fail  to  flourish  : 
So  all  the  things  whereto  that  man  doth  bend, 
Shall  prosper  still,  with  well  succeeding  end. 


PSALM    I. 


III. 


Such  blessing  shall  not  wicked  wretches  see, 
But  like  vile  chaff  Avith  wind,  shall  scatter'd  be  ;   . 
15        For  neither  shall  the  men  in  sin  delighted 

Consist,  when  they  to  highest  doom  are  cited ; 
Nor  yet  shall  suff'red  be  a  place  to  take 
Where  godly  men  do  their  assembly  make. 

IV. 

For  God  doth  know,  and  knowing  doth  approve, 
20  The  trade  of  them  that  just  proceedings  love  : 

But  they  that  sin  in  sinful  breast  do  cherish,-r— 
The  way  they  go,  shall  be  the  way  to  perish. 


Sidney  cannot  completely  versify  this  psalm,  (on 
which  see  the  notes  in  Preface,)  because  he  was 
not  old  enough  to  know  its  full  depth  ;  and  feels 
it,  himself,  only  as  if  it  were  an  ordinary  assertion 
of  what  everybody  knows  :  whereas  in  reality  it 
is  a  Psalm  of  Doom,  as  grand  in  blessing  and 
malediction  as  the  last  song  of  Moses. 

2.  "  The  straying  steps."  At  first  the  line  seems 
weak,  and   as  if  the  definite  article  were  redundant. 


PSALM    I.  3 

But  the  preceding  analysis  of  the  moral  terms  of 
the  Psalter  will,  I  trust,  have  enabled  the  reader 
to  see  that  neither  David  nor  Sidney  meant  any 
kind  of  wandering  steps  ;  but  the  definite  kinds  of 
error  always  fallen   into  by  the  ungodly. 

1 1.  ''Bend."      See  note  on  line  227  (p.  28). 

16.  "Consist!'  Stronger  than  our  English  word 
*  stand,'  yet  farther  from  the  meaning ;  which  is, 
"  Sinners  shall  not  rise  in  the  judgment."  The 
word  is  the  same  in  the  Septuagint  as  that  used 
elsewhere  of  the  Resurrection. 

20.  "  Trade."  Our  degraded  use  of  the  word 
makes  us  vulgarly  feel  Sidney's  harsh  ;  it  stands 
with  him  for  '  giving  and  taking'  in  all  the  spiritual 
wealth  of  life— the  '  righteous  dealing'  of  other  parts 
of  the  Psalter.  (Compare  Isabel,  in  Measure  for 
Measure,  "  Thy  sin's  not  accidental,  but  a  trade.") 
Thus  in  Psalm  ciii.  he  writes, 

"  His  way,  and  trade, 
He  known  to  Moses  made." 

He  means  also,  by  the  use  of  it,  to  direct  our 
thoughts  to  the  following  word,  'just.'  But  the 
true  meaning  of  the  close  of  this  psalm  is  wider  ; 


4  PSALM    I. 

the  Lord  knows,  acknowledges,  in  all  things,  the 
aim,  no  less  than  the  equity,  of  the  '  way '  that 
leads  to  life— knows  not  the  way  that  leads  to 
death.  "  Then  shall  He  answer  them,  '  I  never 
knew  you, — depart  from   me.'  " 

Rhythm. — The  verses  are  composed  of  three 
couplets:  two  ten-syllabled;  the  central  one, 
eleven  syllabled.  The  fourth  verse,  omitting 
the  last  couplet,  closes  the  psalm  with  two 
eleven-syllable  lines. 

In  our  system  of  notation,  such  a  stanza,  rhymed 
in  couplets,  is  thus  expressed  : — 

5  5    5  5    5  5  — -  a  a.  b  b.  c  c. 

3,  1 6.  'Nor'  in  these  lines  is  'ne'  in  my  original, 
while  in  the  fourth  and  tenth  it  is  '  nor,'  there,  also 
I  do  not  know  the  reason  of  this  difference. 

17.  "Suffered."  Observe,  when  'suffered'  is  made 
by  Sidney  a  word  of  two  syllables,  it  is  to  be  pro- 
nounced suf-fred,  not  suf-ferd. 


PSALM  II. 

PSALM  II. 

QUARE  FREMUERUNT  GENTES. 

What  ails  this  heath'nish  rage  ? 

what  do  the  people  mean, 
To  mutter  murmurs  vain  ? 

25  Why  do  these  earthly  kings 

and  lords  such  meetings  make, 
And  counsel  jointly  take 

Against  the  Lord  of  lords, 

the  Lord  of  ev'rything 


t>> 


And  his  anointed  King;  ? 


t) 


Come,  let  us  break  their  bonds, 

say  they,  and  fondly  say, 
30  And  cast  their  yokes  away. 

But  he  shall  them  deride 

who  by  the  heav'ns  is  borne. 
He  shall  them  laugh  to  scorn. 

And  after  speak  to  them 

with  breath  of  wrathful  fire  ; 
And  vcK  them  in  his  ire, 

4 


6  PSALM    II. 

3  5  And  say,  O  kings,  yet  have 

I  set  my  King  upon 
My  holy  hill  Syon  ; 

And  I  will  (saith  this  king) 

the  Lord's  decree  display, 
And  say  that  he  did  say, 

Thou  art  my  Son  indeed, 

this  day  begot  by  me: 
40  Ask,  I  will  give  to  thee, 

The  heath'n  for  thy  child's  right, 

and  will  thy  realm  extend 
Far  as  world's  farthest  end  ; 

With  iron  sceptre  bruise, 

thou  shalt,  and  piece-meal  break, 
These  men  like  potsherds  weak. 

45  Therefore,  O  kings,  be  wise  ; 

O  rulers,  rule  your  mind. 
That  knowledge  you  may  find. 

Serve  God,  serve  him  with  fear, 

rejoice  in  him,  but  so 
That  joy  with  trembling  go  ; 


PSALM    II. 

With  loving  homage  kiss 

that  only  Son  he  hath, 
50  Lest  you  inflame  his  wrath  ; 

Whereof  if  but  a  spark 

once  kindled  be,  you  all 
From  your  way  perish  shall ; 

And  then  they  that  in  him 

their  only  trust  do  rest, — 
O,  they  be  rightly  blest ! 


The  grand  massive  metre  of  this  paraphrase 
(which  I  am  vexed  to  spoil  the  look  of  to  the 
eye  by  breaking  the  first  line)  has  been  obtained 
here  and  there  by  what  might  seem  forced  accen- 
tuation, but  all  the  words  that  need  such  accent 
may  receive  it  frankly.  '  Do,'  in  line  twenty-three, 
is,  however,  to  be  naturally  shortened,  as  in  prose 
speaking,  with  accent  on  'what.' 

The  other  accents  are  all  majestic  in  their 
rhythmic  place  ;  even  in  the  thirty-fifth  and  thirty- 
sixth  lines,  you  may  lay  it  well  on  the  last 
syllables  with  pleasant  effect. 

The  exclamatory  change  in  the  last  line  is  very 
passionate  and  beautiful. 

Rhythm. — Couplet.     6.  3.  —  a.  a. 


8  PSALM    III. 

PSALM  III. 

DOMINE,    QUID    MULTIPLICATI. 


5  ^  Lord,  how  do  they  increase 

That  hateful,  never  cease 

To  breed  my  grievous  trouble  ? 

How  many  ones  there  be 

That  all  against  poor  me 
60  Their  numerous  strength  redouble  ? 

IT. 

Even  multitudes  be  they 
That  to  my  soul  do  say, 

'  No  help  for  you  remaineth 
In  God,  on  whom  you  build.' 
5q  Yet,  Lord,  thou  art  my  shield  ; 

In  thee  my  glory  reigneth. 

III. 

The  Lord  lifts  up  my  head  ; 
To  him  my  voice  I  spread  ; 

From  holy  hill  he  heard  me  : 
70  I  laid  me  down  and  slept, 

While  he  me  safely  kept, 

And  safe  from  sleep  I  rear'd  me. 


PSALM    lit. 


IV. 


I  will  not  be  afraid, 
75  Though  legions  round  be  laid, 

Which  all  against  me  gather : 
I  say  no  more  but  this, 
'  Up,  Lord,  now  time  it  is. 

Help  me,  my  God,  and  Father.' 

V. 

For  thou,  with  cruel  blows 
°'^  On  jawbone  of  my  foes, 

My  causeless  wrong  hast  wroken  ; 
Thou  those  men's  teeth  which  bite, 
Venomed  with  godless  spite. 

Hast  in  their  malice  broken. 

VI. 

85  Salvation  doth  belong 

Unto  the  Lord  most  strong  ; 
He  it  is  that  defendeth  : 
And  on  those  blessed  same 
Which  bear  his  people's  name 

90  His  blessing  he  extendeth. 


lO  PSALM    III. 

One  of  the  poorest  of  all, — very  nearly  doggrcl. 
I  do  not  in  the  least  believe  it  Sidney's,  and  give 
it  only  as  an  example  of  the  inferior  manner  of 
the  pieces  which  I  have  ventured,  after  the  20th 
Psalm,  to  exclude.  The  fourth  stanza  is  however 
pretty,  and  to  be  remembered  among  passages,  like 
the  last  line  of  the  second  Psalm.,  anticipatory  of 
Wordsworth. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.    333333  —  a.  a.  b;  c.  c.  b. 


PSALM    IV.  I  I 


PSALM  IV. 


CUM      INVOCAREM. 


Hear  me,  O  hear  me  when  I  call, 
O  God,  God  of  my  equity  ! 
Thou  set'st  me  free  when  I  was  thrall, 
Have  mercy  therefore  still  on  me, 
95  And  hearken  how  I  pray  to  thee. 

IT. 

O  men,  whose  fathers  were  but  men. 
Till  when  will  ye  my  honour  high 
Stain  with  your  blasphemies  ?  till  when 
Such  pleasure  take  in  vanity  ? 
lOO  And  only  haunt  where  lies  do  lie. 

III. 

Yet  know  this  too,  that  God  did  take. 
When  he  chose  me,  a  godly  one  ; 
Such  one,  I  say,  that  when  I  make 
My  crying  plaints  to  him  alone, 
105  He  will  give  good  ear  to  my  moan. 


12  PSAlM    IV. 

IV. 

O,  tremble  then  wath  awful  will  ; 
Sin  from  all  rule  in  you  depose, 
Talk  with  your  hearts,  and  yet  be  still  ; 
And  when  your  chamber  you  do  close, 
1  10  Yourselves,  yet,  to  yourselves,  disclose. 

V. 

The  sacrifices  sacrifie 

Of  just  desires,  on  justice  staid  : 
Trust  in  that  Lord  that  cannot  lie. 
Indeed  fully  many  folk  have  said, 
I  1  c  From  whence  shall  come  to  us  such  aid  ? 

VI. 

But,  Lord,  lift  thou  upon  our  sight 
The  shining  clearness  of  thy  face  ; 
Where  I  have  found  more  heart's  delight 
Than  they  whose  store  in  harvest's  space 
120  Of  grain  and  wine  fills  storing-place. 

VII. 

So  1  in  peace  and  peaceful  bliss 

Will  lay  me  down  and  take  my  rest  : 
For  it  is  thou.  Lord,  thou  it  is. 
By  power  of  whose  own  only  breast 
125  I  dwell,  laid  up  in  safest  nest. 


PhALM    IV.  13 

A  very  lovely  one.  The  last  three  stanzas  deserve 
to  be  learned  by  heart. 

92.  It  is  very  wholesome  to  hear  the  form  "  God 
of  my  equity"  sometimes  used  instead  of  "God  of 
my  righteousness,"  showing  the  vivid  meaning  of  the 
phrase,  "  the  God  from  whom  all  holy  desires,  all 
good  counsels,  and  all  just  works  do  proceed." 

96.  As  opposed  to  the  '  sons  of  God  ; '  another 
vividly  explanatory  phrase. 

100.  I  don't  know  if  he  means,  'where  lies  do 
lie,'  as  one  would  say  where  curses  curse,  or  scourges 
scourge  ;  or  where  they  lie  stagnant,  and  therefore 
more  poisonous,  in  lakes  of  lying.  I  am  inclined  to 
take  this  latter  sense. 

1 01.  "  Know  this  toor  Short,  and  grave,  for  *I 
would  have  you  to  know.' 

108 — 1 10.  The  two  'yets'  are  essential.  Speak 
in  your  hearts,  yet  be  silent  to  the  world.  Shut 
yourselves  from  the  world,  yet  be  open  to  your 
own  hearts. 

112.  ^^  On  justice  staid."  The  desire  of  what  is 
just,  being  stayed  or  restrained  within  the  limits  of 
what  can  be  accomplished  by  just  means. 

119.  ''Harvest's   space"     The    time    of   harvest: 


14  PSALM    IV. 

"  When  storehouses  of  corn  and  wine  are  filled  in 
one  harvest  time." 

12  1.  "So  /."  Therefore,  in  the  light  of  God's 
face  I  will  lay  me  down,  saying,  "  Soul,  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  evermore." 

Rhythm. — Cinqfold.     4  ----  a.  b.  a.  b.  b. 

93.  "  TJiraliy  Substantive  only,  I  believe,  as  if 
he  had  written,  'When   I  was  slave.' 

106.  "  Aivfuir  Properly  used  here,  of  the  mind 
full  of  awe.  Only  in  vulgar  English  used  of  the 
thing  that  causes  awe.  Compare  Milton,  "  And 
kings  sat  still  with  awful  eye,"  meaning  themselves 
struck  with  awe.  Sidney  uses  it,  however,  in  the 
common  sense  also,  yet  with  a  difference.  See 
note  on   line    136. 

III.  "  Sacrifice  I  keep  the  old  spelling,  the 
word  having  at  present  fallen  out  of  use  ;  though  it 
is  the  right  one,  and  to  be  restored  to  pure  English, 
as  we  say  magnify,  glorify,  and  not  magnifice, 
glorifice. 

124.  "  Onlyr  I  have  been  at  much  pause  as  to 
the  spelling  of  this  word,  but  as  I  see  that  if  I 
kept  Sidney's  more  forcible  '  oncly'  our  American 
cousins  would  pronounce  and  spell  it  '  wunly,'  I 
am   forced  at  last  to  drop  the  e. 


PSALM    V.  15 

PSALM  V. 

VERBA    MEA   AURIBUS. 
I. 

Ponder  the  words,  O  Lord,  that  I  do  say, 
Consider  what  I  meditate  in  me  : 
O,  hearken  to  my  voice  which  calls  on  thee, 

My  King,  my  God,  for  I  to  thee  will  pray. 
130        So  shall  my  voice  climb  to  thine  ears  betime  : 

For  unto  thee  I  will  my  prayer  send 

With  earliest  entry  of  the  morning  prime, 

And  will  my  waiting  eyes  to  thee-ward  bend. 

II. 
For  thou  art  that  same  God  ; — far  from  delight 
135        In  that  which  of  foul  wickedness  doth  smell  : 

No,  nor  with  thee  the  naughty  ones  shall  dwell, 
Nor  glorious  fools  stand  in  thy  awful  sight. 

Thou  hatest  all  whose  works  in  ill  are  plac'd, 
And  shall  root  out  the  tongues  to  lying  bent ; 
140       For  thou,  the  Lord,  in  endless  hatred  hast 
The  murd'rous  man,  and  so  the  fraudulent. 

III. 

But  I  myself  will  to  thy  house  address 
With  passport  of  thy  graces  manifold  ; 
And  in  thy  fear,  knees  of  my  heart  will  fold, 
145   Towards  the  temple  of  thy  holiness. 


1 6  rSALM    V. 

Thou  Lord, — thou  Lord, — the  saver  of  thine  own, 
Guide  me  ;    O  in  thy  justice  be  my  guide  ! 

And  make  thy  ways  to  me  more  plainly  known. 
For  all  I  need,  that  with  such  foes  do  bide. 

IV. 

150   For  in  their  mouth  not  one  clear  word  is  spent. 
Mischief  their  souls  for  inmost  lining  have  : 
Their  throat  it  is  an  open  swallowing  grave, 
Whereto  their  tongue  is  flatt'ring  instrument. 
Give  them  their  due  unto  their  guiltiness, 
155    Let  their  vile  thoughts  the  thinkers'  ruin  be  : 

With  heaped  weights  of  their  own  sins  oppress 
These  most  ungrateful  rebels  unto  thee. 

V. 

So  shall  all  they  that  trust  on  thee  do  bend, 
And  love  the  sweet  sound  of  thy  name,  rejoice. 
160        They  ever  shall  send  thee  their  praising  voice  ; 
Since  ever  thou  to  them  wilt  succour  send. 

Thy  work  it  is,  to  bless,  thou  blessedst  them  ; 
The  just  in  thee,  on  thee,  and  justice,  build  ; 
Thy  work  it  is,  such  men  safe  in  to  hem 
165    With  kindest  care,  as  with  a  certain  shield. 


PSALM   V.  17 

This  version  is  entirely  puzzling  to  me  :  halting 
and  cramped  in  language  throughout,  while  yet  one 
of  the  noblest  for  its  sincerity, — intense  force  of 
thought,  though  not  of  words,  and  utter  plainness  of 
thought,  where  needed;  as  in  the  134th  line,  where 
the  foulness  of  sin  is  symbolized  by  physical  stench, 
no  less  frankly  than  the  sweetness  of  virtue  by  sweet 
perfume.  ("  All  thy  garments  smell  of  myrrh,  aloes, 
and  cassia,"  and  the  like, — and  the  entire  system 
of  the  use  of  frankincense  in  service  or  allusion.) 
Dante  uses  the  metaphor  continually ;  the  great 
talk  with  Virgil  concerning  the  relations  of  Fraud 
to  Malice,  and  of  the  unnatural  guilt  of  Usury,  is 
while  they  shelter  themselves  a  little  while  behind 
a  rock  from  the  blast  of  the  lower  Hell,  that 
they  may  get  partly  used  to  the  stench  of  it  before 
facing  it. 

The  last  three  stanzas  are  of  extreme  beauty,  in 
their  earnest  kind. 

136.  ''Naughty  ones"  Persons  of  nought,  ciphers, 
vaut-riens. 

,137.  '' Glorious  fools y  Not  merely  vain-glorious, 
but  really  glorious  in  the  world's  notion,  whether 
with  money  or  mistaken  praise.  If  a  fool  is  admired 
or  enriched  by  the  world,  it  is  totally  impossible  for 
him  to  see  God, — for  the  qualities  which  he    find.s 


l8  PSALM    V. 

are  worshipped  in  himself,  are  precisely  the  contrary 
of  God's.  '  The  word  '  awful '  has  a  most  subtle 
sense  in  this  line  ;  for  Sidney  does  not  mean,  by 
standing  in  the  sight  of  God,  merely  standing  so 
that  He  sees  ns^  (for  we  always  do  that,)  but 
standing  so  that  we  see  Him. 

143.  ^'Passport  of  thy  graces''  Favours,  or  mercies. 
"  You  will  not  let  in  such  and  such, — the  murderer, 
or  the  fraudful,  and  the  like  ;  but  inc  you  will  love, 
and  give  nice  things  to,  and  let  come  into  the  house 
like  a  pet  dog." 

Not  at  all  your  own  general  style  of  address  to 
God,  this,  my  humble  friends, — is  it .-' 

And  yet,  mind  you  read  Burns's  Holy  Willy's 
prayer,  for  a  comment  on  the  possibility  of  misusing 
also  David's  manner  of  speech. 


147.  ''Guide  me"  -A-Vidi  make  Thy  ways  plain,  for 
everything  that  I  need  know, — I — who  live  with 
enemies  who  never  speak  one  clear  word,  (modern 
political  economists).  Their  throat  is  a  grave,  (for 
they  devour  men,)  their  tongue  the  flattering  bait  to 
it.  The  '  Angler '  fish,  by  the  way,  which  lies  with 
its  head  in  the  mud,  and  baits  its  mouth  with  a  little 
dangling  knot  at  the  end  of  a  tongue,  growing  on 


PSALM.  V.  19 

the  back  of  its  head,  is  an  exact  type  of  this  kind  of 
grave. 

155.  "  Let  their  vile  thoughts  the  thinkers'  ruin  be." 
Amen  say  I,  for  one.  To  your  modern  Charles 
Dickens  manner  of  Christian,  who  would  have 
nobody  hanged,  of  course  this  psalm  must  appear 
a  most   injurious  composition. 


163.  "  The  Just  in  thcd'  Because  there  may 
be  just  persons  who  are  not  in  thee.  The  perfect 
holding  of  the  idea  of  Justice  or  Righteousness,  as 
distinct  from  Religion,  is  essential  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  Psalter. 

Rhythm. — Octave.     5  ^^  a.  b.  b.  a  ;  c.  d.  c.  d. 

131.  Prayer  is  continually  used  by  Sidney  as  a 
dissyllable,  for  convenience  in  singing.  But  it  spoils 
the  read  verse  to  do  so,  and  is  to  be  held  a  fault. 

146.  "Saver."  It  will  be  well  to  restore  this 
word  to  English,  spoken  of  any  person  in  the  direct 
action  of  saving ;  and  to  keep  '  Saviour '  for  one 
endowed  with  the  continual  function   of  saving. 

152.   "Their  tJiroat  it   is."     The  superfluous  'it' 


20  PSALM    V. 

very  seldom  occurs,  and  must  be  always  noted,  not 
merely  as  a  license,  but  a  blemish. 

162.  The  accents  are  intended,  and  rightly,  on 
'  thy'  and  '  them,'  but  it  is  an  awkward  line  ;  and 
I  use  the  stops  in  the  rest  of  the  stanza  to  mark 
division,  not  pause,  in  its  sentences. 

165.  '^Certain" — trustworthy:  but  the  word  should 
not  be  retained  in  this  use. 


PSALM   VI.  2  1 

PSALM  VI. 

DOMINE,    NE    IN    FURORE. 
I. 

Lord,  let  not  me,  a  worm,  by  thee  be  shent, 

While  thou  art  in  the  heat  of  thy  displeasure  ; 
Nor  let  thy  rage,  of  my  due  punishment. 

Become  the  measure. 

11. 

170  But  mercy.  Lord,  let  mercy  thine,  descend. 

For  I  am  weak,  and  in  my  weakness  languish  : 
Lord,  help  !   for  ev'n  my  bones  their  marrow  spend 

With  cruel  anguish. 

III. 

Nay,  ev'n  my  soul  fell  troubles  do  appal. 
1 7  5        Alas  !  how  long,  my  God,  wilt  thou  delay  me  ? 
Turn  thee,  sweet  Lord  !    and  from  this  ugly  fall. 

My  dear  God,  stay  me. 

IV. 

Mercy, — O  mercy, — Lord,  for  mercy's  sake, — 

For  death  doth  kill  the  witness  of  thy  glory, 

J  80  Can,  of  thy  praise,  the  tongues  entombed  make 

A  heav'nly  story  ? 

5 


2  2  PSALM    VI. 


V. 


Lo,  I  am  tir'd  !  while  still  I  sigh  and  groan  : 

My  moistened  bed  proofs  of  my  sorrow  showeth  : 
My  bed  (while  I  with  black  night  mourn  alone) 
J  3  r  With  my  tears  floweth. 


VI. 


Woe,  like  a  moth,  my  face's  beauty  eats, 

And  age,  puU'd  on  with  pains,  all  freshness  frettcth ; 
The  while  a  swarm  of  foes  with  vexing  feats 

My  life  besctteth. 


VII. 


190  Get  hence,  you  evil,  who  in  my  ill  rejoice. 

In  all  whose  works  vainness  is  ever  reigning. 
For  God  hath  heard  the  weeping,  sobbing  voice 

Of  my  complaining. 


VHI. 


The  Lord  my  suit  did  hear,  and  gently  hear  ; 
195        They  shall  be  sham'd  and  vex'd  that  breed  my 


crymg, 


And  turn  their  backs,  and  straight  on  backs  appear 

Their  shameful  flying. 


PSALM    VI.  23 

This  and  the  following  are  again  admitted  into 
our  series  only  as  examples  of  the  feeblest  work 
attributed  to  Sidney.  I  do  not  believe  either  to 
be  his,  but  they  are  still  sincere,  as  all  the  others. 

Rhythm. — Quatrain.      55  52~-abab. 

166.  ''' Shcntr     See  note  on  line  654. 

188.  ^^  Feats."  It  is  vulgar  English  to  use  this 
word  in  the  sense  of  achievements,  or  wonderful 
performances.  It  is  merely  a  Latin  equivalent  to 
the  Saxon  '  deeds,'  and  is,  to  the  person,  what  fact  is 
to  the  thing.  Thus  whether  you  throw  down  the 
Vendome  column,  or  set  it  up,  when  down,  it  is  an 
accomplished  '  fact '  that  it  is  down  ;  when  up,  an 
accomplished  *  fact,'  that  it  is  up.  In  either  case, 
the  performance  is  a  'feat'  of  the  Parisians. 

191.  "  Eviir  Pronounced  as  one  syllable,  (see 
lines  334,  428,  etc.,)  and  in  the  sense  to  be  regarded 
as  such,  "  Get  hence,  you  ill,  who  in  my  ill  rejoice." 

197.  "And  sf might  01  backs."  Entirely  crude 
and  ill-expressed.  He  means,  all  men  shall  see 
their  backs,  and  know  that  they  fly  ;  they  shall  not 
be  able  to  skulk  away  unobserved 


24  PSALM    VII. 

PSALM  VII. 

DOMINE,    DEUS   MEUS. 
I. 

O  Lord,  my  God,  thou  art  my  trustful  stay  ; 
O,  save  me  from  this  persecution's  shower  ; 
200       Deliver  me  in  my  endanger'd  way. 

II. 

Lest  lion-like  he  do  my  soul  devour, 
And  cruelly  in  many  pieces  tear, 
While  I  am  void  of  any  helping  power. 

III. 

O  Lord,  my  God, — if  I  did  not  forbear 
205  Ever  from  deed  of  any  such  desert, — 

If  aught  my  hands  of  wickedness  do  bear, — 

IV. 

If  I  have  been  unkind  for  friendly  part, — 

Nay,  if  I  wrought  not  for  Jiis  freedom's  sake. 
Who  causeless  now  yields  mc  a  hateful  heart, — 

V. 
210       Then,  let  my  foe  chase  me  ;   and  chasing  take  : 
Then,  let  his  foot  upon  my  neck  be  set  : 
Then,  in  the  dust  let  him  my  honour  rake. 


PSALM    VII.  25 

VI. 

Arise,  O  Lord,  in  fiercer  wrath  afret 

Against  such  rage  of  foes  :    awake  for  me 
2 1 5   To  that  high  doom  which  I  by  thee  must  get. 

VII. 

So  shall  all  men  with  lauds  environ  thee  ; 

Therefore,  O  Lord,  lift  up  thy  throne  on  high, 
That  ev'ry  folk  thy  wond'rous  acts  may  see. 

VIII. 

Thou,  Lord,  thy  people  shalt  in  judgment  try  ; — 
220        Then  Lord,  my  Lord,  give  sentence  on  my  side, 
After  my  clearness,  and  my  equity. 

IX. 

O,  let  their  wickedness  no  longer  bide 

From  coming  to  the  well-deserved  end  ; 
But  still  be  thou  to  just  men  justest  guide. 

X. 

225   Thou  righteous  proofs  to  hearts  and  reins  dost  send  ; 
And  all  my  help  from  none  but  thee  is  sent, 
Who  dost  thy  saving  health  to  true  men  bend. 

XI. 

Thou  righteous  art, — thou  strong, — thou  patient  : 
And  each  day  art  provoked  thine  ire  to  show  : 
230  And  if  this  man  will  not  learn  to  repent, 


26  PSALM   VIl. 


XII. 


For  him  thou  whet'st  thy  sword  and  bend'st  thy  bow, 

And  hast  thy  deadly  arms  in  order  brought, 
And  ready  art  to  let  thine  arrows  go. 

XIII. 

Lo,  he  that  first  conceived  a  wretched  thought, 
235        And  great  with  child  of  mischief  travail'd  long, 
Now  brought  a-bed,  hath  brought  nought  forth  but 

nought. 

XIV.  , 

A  pit  was  digg'd  by  this  man,  vainly  strong  ; 

But  in  the  pit  he,  ruined,  first  did  fall, — 
Which  fall  he  made,  to  do  his  neighbour  wrong. 

XV. 

240   He  against  me  doth  throw  ;   but  down  it  shall 
Upon  his  pate,  his  pain,  employed  thus, 
And  his  own  ill  his  own  head  shall  appal. 

XVI. 

I  will  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord  of  us 

According  to  his  heav'nly  equity, 

245   And  will  to  highest  name  yield  praises  high. 


PSALM    VII.  27 

I  have  altered  one  line  in  this  psalm  as  I  best 
could,  the  old  one  being  too  quaint  to  be  borne 
with  ;  but  I  won't  say  which  it  is.  In  spite  of  its 
harshness,  I  retain  the  paraphrase,  because  the 
original  psalm  is  so  important.  It  is  headed, 
"  Concerning  the  words  of  Cush  the  Benjamite  ; " 
and  a  theory  of  the  relations  of  this  man  to 
David,  on  the  supposition  that  he  is  named  only 
in  this  place,  may  be  found  among  the  com- 
mentators— of  as  much  value  as  a  dirty  cobweb 
over  the  page.  Either  we  know  notJdn'g  at  present 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  psalm  was 
written  ;  or  else  the  word  *  Cush'  must  have  got 
into  the  heading,  instead  of  '  Shimei,'  to  whom  the 
psalm  is  accurately  applicable  throughout,  more 
especially  the  part  of  it  threatening  or  foretelling 
his  death;  (lines  229,  237,  239).  And  since  the 
hate  of  Shimei  arose  from  his  relation  to  the  house 
of  Saul,  the  third  and  fourth  verses  of  the  psalm, 
(Sidney's  third  and  fourth  stanzas,)  have  especial 
force,  if  read  in  connexion  with  the  ninth  chapter 
of  II.  Samuel. 

215.  An  obscure  line, — "  the  judgment  that  thou 
hast  commanded"  feebly  rendered  by  "  which  I  by 
thee  must  get."  David  asks  for  God's  decision,  not 
as    between  himself  and   worse   men ;   but  between 


2  8  PSALM    VII. 

himself  as  commanded    to   reign,  and   those  not  so 
commanded. 

243.  "  Lord  of  lis!'  'Our'  Lord,  not  the  Lord  of 
the  wicked.  Sidney  possibly  took  .  up  the  phrase  in 
looking  to  the  first  verse  of  the  next  psalm. 

Rhythm. — Triplet.      5  ;  terza  rima,  ending  with  a 

couplet  rhyme. 

221.  "  Clearness^  This  word  is  very  valuable 
as  an  expression  of  moral  quality,  and  to  be  restored 
to  English  in  that  sense. 

227.  '■'Bendy  Sidney  uses  it,  I  think,  always 
with  the  full  complex  Latin  sense  of  'pandus': 
the  idea  of  expansion  being  involved  in  that  of 
curvature,  as  of  the  bow  in  the  cloud.  Compare 
lines  II,  132,  138,  157,  307,  410, 

239.     "Fall"     Substantive.     Short  for  pit-fall. 

241.  Pain;  in  the  sense  of  labour;  the  singular 
of  'pains'  taken,  not  suffered.  His  labour,  so  em- 
ployed, shall  strike  himself: — his  evil,  or  evil 
thoughts,  shall  appal   (make  pale)  himself. 


PSALM    VIII.  29 

PSALM  VIII. 

DOMINE,    DOMINUS   NOSTER. 
I. 

O  Lord  that  rul'st  our  mortal  line, 
How  through  the  world  thy  name  doth  shine  ! 
Thou  hast  of  thine  unmatched  glory 
Upon  the  heav'ns  engrav'n  the  story. 

II. 

250  From  sucklings  hath  thy  honour  sprung, 

Thy  force  hath  flow'd  from  babies'  tongue, 
Whereby  thou  stop'st  thine  en'mies  prating, 
Bent  to  revenge  and  over-hating. 

III. 

When  I  upon  the  heav'ns  do  look, 
255  Which  all  from  thee  their  essence  took  ; 

When  moon  and  stars  my  thoughts  beholdeth. 
Whose  life  no  life  but  of  thee  holdeth  ; 

IV. 

Then  think  I  :  '  Ah,  what  is  this  man. 
Whom  that  great  God  remember  can  ? 
260       And  what  the  race,  of  him  descended. 
It  should  be  aught  of  God  attended  ?  ' 


so  PSALM    VIII. 

V. 

For  though  in  less  than  angels'  state 
Thou  planted  hast  this  earthly  mate, 
Yet  thou  hast  made  ev'n  /lim  an  owner 
265        Of  glorious  crown,  and  crowning  honour. 

VI. 

Thou  placest  him  upon  all  lands 
To  rule  the  works  of  thine  own  hands  : 
And  so  thou  hast  all  things  ordained, 
That  ev'n  his  feet  have  on  them  reigned. 

VII. 

270  Thou  under  his  dominion  plac't 

Both  sheep  and  oxen  wholly  hast  ; 
And  all  the  beasts,  for  ever  breeding, 
Which  in  the  fertile  fields  be  feeding. 

VIIL 

The  bird,  free  burgess  of  the  air  ; 
275  The  fish,  of  sea  the  native  heir  ; 

And  what  things  else  of  water  traceth 
The  unworn  paths,  his  rule  embraceth. 
O  Lord,  that  rul'st  our  mortal  line. 
How  through  the  world  thy  name  doth  shine  ! 


*-\.-S.-\.-^-\.-s. 


PSALM    VIII.  31 

This  is  one  of  the  sweet  musical  ones  for  joyful 
and  tender  singing  :  with  feeble  makeshifts,  however, 
to  get  the  double  closing  syllable.  It  much  lowers 
and  weakens  the  noble  original  ;  but  here  and  there, 
as  usual,  touches  the  thoughts  more  subtly,  and 
carries  them  farther. 

257.  "  W/iose  lifer  Thus,  for  instance,  the 
thought  of  the  life  of  God  being  the  continual 
source,  to  the  stars,  of  motion  and  light,  is  deeper 
than  the  mere  '  which  thou  hast  ordained'  of  the 
original. 

259.  '' Attended^  Thought  of,  but  with  further 
sense  of  being  saved.     '  That  thou  visitest  him.' 

263.  ''■Earthly  mater  Equal  of  the  earth,  and 
made  of  it. 

267 — 269.  Even  his  feet  have  reigned  over  the 
works  of  Thy  hands.  God  makes  the  worm,  and 
moth,  and  the  wild  beast ;  and  we  tread  on  them, 
or  subdue.     Compare  Blake,  of  the  tiger  : 

"  And  what  shoulder,  and  what  art, 
Could  twist  the  sinews  of  thy  heart." 

277.  The  unworn  paths  ; — beautiful,  of  the  waters. 
The  whole  stanza  is  lovely. 


32  PSALM    VIII. 

Rhythm. — Quatrain.      4444;    --^  a  a  b  b,  with 
added  terminal  couplet  a  a. 

252.  "  Stop' St, — cji'viics."  Quite  unjustifiable  and 
harsh  contractions  ;  so  also  '  plac't,'  for  placed,  270  ; 
but  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  the  words  which 
have  this  contraction  properly,  without  apostrophies, 
as  'scrapt'  (like  rapt),  336. 

276.  "  Things  else."  This  use  of  'else'  must  be 
retained.  It  means,  not  merely  what  other  things, 
but  what  things  of  different  nature. 


PSALM    IX.  33 


PSALM  IX. 

CONFITEBOR  TIBI, 
I. 

280  With  all  my  heart,  O  Lord,  I  will  praise  thee, 
My  speeches  all  thy  marvels  shall  discry  ; 
In  thee  my  joys  and  comforts  ever  be. 

Yea,  ev'n  my  songs  thy  name  shall  magnify, 

O  Lord  most  high. 

II. 

285   Because  my  foes  to  fly  are  now  constrain'd, 

And  they  are  fall'n,  nay,  perish'd  at  thy  sight  ; 
For  thou  my  cause,  my  right, — thou, — hast  main- 

tain'd, 
Setting  thyself  in  throne  which  shined  bright. 

Of  judging  right. 

III. 

2  go  The  Gentiles  thou  rebuked  sorely  hast. 

And  wicked  folks  from  thee  to  wreck  do  wend  ; 
And  their  renown,  which  seem'd  so  like  to  last, 
Thou  dost  put  out,  and  quite  consuming  send 

To  endless  end. 


34  PSALM    IX. 


IV. 


295   O  bragging  foe,  where  is  the  endless  waste 

Of  conquer'd  states,  whereby  such  fame  you  got .'' 
What  !  doth  their  memory  no  longer  last  .-* 
Both  ruins,  ruiners,  and  ruined  plot 

Be  quite  forgot. 

V. 

300  But  God  shall  sit  in  his  eternal  chair 

Which  he  prepared  to  give  his  judgments  high  ; 
Thither  the  world  for  justice  shall  repair  : 
Thence  he  to  all  his  judgments  shall  apply 

Perpetually. 

VI. 

305  Thou  also.  Lord,  the  oppressed  wilt  defend, 

That  they  to  thee  in  troublous  time  may  flee  : 
They  that  know  thee,  on  thee  their  trust  will  bend, 
For  thou,  Lord,  found  by  them  wilt  ever  be 

That  seek  to  thee. 

VII. 
310  O,  praise  the  Lord,  this  Syon-dweller  good  ; 

Show  forth  his  acts, — and  this,  as  act  most  high, — 
That  he  enquiring,  doth  require  just  blood. 
Which  he  forgetteth  not ;  nor  letteth  die 

The  afflicted  cry. 


PSALM    IX.  35 

VIII. 
315'  Have  mercy,  mercy,  Lord,'  I  once  did  say  ; 
*  Ponder  the  pains  which  on  me  loaden  be 
By  them  whose  minds  on  hateful  thoughts  do  stray  : 
Thou,  Lord,  that  from  death-gates  hast  lifted  me, 

I  call  to  thee. 

IX. 

320  That  I  within  the  ports  most  beautiful 

Of  Syon's  daughter  may  sound  forth  thy  praise  : 
That  I,  ev'n  I,  of  heav'nly  comfort  full. 
May  only  joy  in  all  thy  saving  ways 

Throughout  my  days,' 

X. 

325   No  sooner  said,  but  lo,  mine  enemies  sink 

Down  in  the  pit  which  they  themselves  had 

wrought  ; 
And  in  that  net  which  they  well-hidden  think. 
Is  their  own  foot,  led  by  their  own  ill  thought. 

Most  surely  caught. 

XI. 

3*30  For  then  the  Lord  in  judgment  shows  to  reign, 

When  godless  men  be  snared  in  their  own  snares, 
When  wicked  souls  be  turned  to  hellish  pain. 
And  that  forgetful  sort  which  never  cares 

What  God  prepares. 


36  PSALM    IX. 

-XII. 

335   But,  on  the  other  side,  the  poor  in  spright 

Shall  not  be  scrapt  from  out  the  heav'nly  score  : 
Nor  meek  abiding  of  the  patient  wight 

Yet  perish  shall,  (although  his  pain  be  sore,) 

For  evermore. 

XIII. 

-340  Up,  Lord,  and  judge  the  Gentiles  in  thy  right, 
And  let  not  man  have  upper  hand  of  thee  : 
With  terrors  great,  O  Lord,  do  thou  them  fright  ; 

That  by  sharp  proofs  the  heath'n  themselves  may  see 

But  men  to  be. 


The  'argument'  prefixed  to  this  psalm  in  our 
common  English  Bible  is  an  exquisite  instance  of 
the  gift  of  learned  divines  for  threshing  all  the 
grain  well  away  out  of  a  piece  of  scripture,  and 
presenting  their  hearers  with  the  head  of  chaff, 
trimmed  up  in  fine  spicular  form,  thus  : — 

"  I.  David  praiseth  God  for  executing  of  judg- 
ment. I  I.  He  incitcth  others  to  praise  Him. 
13.  He  prayeth  that  he  may  have  cause  to  praise 
Him." 


PSALM    IX.  37 

Now,  it  is  true  that  this  psahn  praises  God  for 
executing  judgment,  but  the  entire  meaning  and 
power  of  it,  to  us,  depends  upon  our  knowing  zc/ioni 
the  judgment  is  executed  upon,  and  for  what.  Who 
are  tried  according  to  this  way  .'' — who  weighed  .'' — 
who  found  wanting  }  For  (ver.  1 6)  "  the  Lord  is  knoivn 
by  the  judgment  which  he  executeth."  Now  this 
judgment  is  "  inquisition  for  blood,"  (ver.  1 2)  ;  and 
it  is  a  judgment  to  be  "ministered  to  the  people," 
(ver.  8).  And  it  consists  in  two  things  ; — A,  that  the 
Lord  is  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed,  (ver,  9),  and  forgets 
not  the  cry  of  the  humble,  (ver.  1 2),  nor  of  the  needy, 
(ver.  18)  ;  but,  B,  rebukes  the  JicatJicn,  (ver.  5), — sinks 
them,  (ver.  15), — snares  them  in  their  own  work, 
(ver.  1 6), — and  turns  them  into  hell,  (ver.  1 7,  com- 
pare line  415) — a  very  considerable  and  definite 
piece  of  judgment  to  thank  the   Lord   for  ! 

And  farther  note,  the  psalm  is  not  only  beaten 
dry  by  the  preface,  in  our  Bible,  but  corrupted  in 
translation.  By  cunningly  slipping  in  the  word 
'  nations,'  twice  over,  instead  of  *  heathen,'  the 
translators  turn  it  all  into  an  unintelligible  mess. 
The  word  is  one  and  the  same  throughout.  Write 
'heathen'  for  'nations'  in  verses  17  and  20  of  the 
common  version,  and  see  how  the  whole  becomes 
clear  in  the  sacred  assertion — detested  alike  by 
divines     proud     of    their    divinity,     and    capitalists 

6 


38  PSALM    IX. 

proud  of  their  capital,  that  the  Lord  will  come 
to  judge,  not  between  Protestants  and  Catholics 
— not  between  Christians  and  Jews — not  between 
\\hitc  Americans  and  black  ones  ;  but  between  the 
oppressor  and  the  oppressed,  between  the  cruel 
rich  and  crushed  poor ;  and  between  those  who 
love  and  expect  God,  and  those  who  hate  and 
forget  Him.  So  He  shall  judge — not  Europe  and 
Africa— not  Christendom  and  Saracendom — but  the 
World,   in   Righteousness,   (ver.   8.) 

283.  "Ev'n  my  sojigs."  An  Elizabethan  refine- 
ment. Sidney  looked  upon  singing  as  a  graceful 
accomplishment,  not,  as  David  held  it,  a  solemn 
dutj.  Sidney  thinks  of  his  joys  and  comforts  as 
great  ;  of  his  songs  as  little  ;  but  even  t/uy  shall 
praise  God. 

288,  289.  "Throne — -Judging  rigJitl'  for  'throne 
of  judgment.'      Compare  lines  300,  301. 

292 — 298.  There  is  no  stronger  expression  in 
English  of  the  destruction  and  oblivion  of  the 
wicked.      It   should   be   learned   by  heart. 

303.  "His  judgments  shall  afply" — 'fit  accu- 
rately,' \\\i\\  precise  answering  and  infolding  of  part 
to  part,  as  a  surgeon  the  lancet-point,  or  dressing, 
to  n  wound. 


PSALM    IX.  39 

310.  ."  Syon-divcllerr  Quaint ;  but  stronger  than 
'  that  dwelleth  in  Zion  ; '  as  '  desert-dweller,'  '  in- 
dweller,'  and  the  like. 

315.  */  once  did  say."  The  current  of  thought 
in  the  eighth  and  ninth  stanzas  is — "  Once,  at  the 
gates  of  death,  I  called  to  thee,  and  thou  liftedst 
me  up  from  them  ;  now,  at  the  gates  of  Zion,  1 
call  again  to  thee — that  I,  full  of  comfort,  may 
show  forth  thy  praise  for  ever."  "  No  sooner  said," 
etc.,  then,  is  in  direct  sequel. 

RlIYTiiM. — Cinqfold.      5  5  5   5  2  -^-^  a  b  a  b  b. 

281.  "  Discry"  Give  warning  of,  as  a  watchman 
from  a  tower,  of  things  seen  far  away.  Old  French 
dcscrier. 

The  modern  '  descry,'  to  see  at  a  distance,  is  a 
derivative  meaning.  It  is  not  possible  to  retain 
both.  I  believe  Sidney's  meaning  is  the  one  which 
it  will  be  found  eventually  best  to  keep. 

To  discern  (to  see  one  thing  separately  from 
another)  belongs,  of  course,  to  an  entirely  different 
group  of  words. 

33  5-  '' Spright!'  lam  not  sure  how  far  Sidney 
persists  in  this  old  form.  The  modern  '  spirit ' 
should,  I  think,  be  retained  for  the  greater  spiritual 


40  PSALM    iX 

powers,  and  'spright'  for  the  soul  of  man  only,  spoken 
of  as  distinct  from  the  body.  We  should  keep 
Imogen's  grand  old  verb — I  am  '  sprighted/  haunted 
or  plagued,  Avith  a  fool ;  and  the  word  will  then  serve 
us  in  cases  where  the  bodies  of  men  are  without 
the  spirit  of  God,  but  are  moved  by  their  own 
ghosts  or  sprights  only.      Compare  lines  389,  480. 


PSALM    X. 

*     PSALM  X. 

UT    QUID,    DOMINE. 
I. 

345  Why  standest  thou  so  far, 

O  God,  our  only  star, 
In  time  most  fit  for  thee 
To  help  who  vexed  be  ! 
For  lo,  with  pride,  the  wicked  man 
350  Still  plagues  the  poor  the  most  he  can, 

O,  let  proud  him  be  throughly  caught 
In  craft  of  his  own  crafty  thought. 

II. 

For  he  himself  doth  praise 
When  he  his  lust  doth  ease  : 
35  5  Extolling  rav'nous  gain. 

But  doth  God's  self  disdain  : 
Nay,  so  proud  is  his  puff'd  thought. 
That  after  God  he  never  sought ; 
But  rather  much  he  fancies  this, 
360  The  name  of  God  a  fable  is. 

III. 
For  while  his  ways  do  prove. 
Oh  them  he  sets  his  love  ; 
Thy  judgments  are  too  high. 
He  can  them  not  espy. 


41 


42  PSALM    X. 

365  Therefore  he  doth  defy  all  those 

That  dare  themselves  to  him  oppose  ; 
And  sayeth,  in  his  bragging  heart, 
'This  gotten  bliss  shall  never  part.' 

IV. 
Nor  he  removed  be, 
370  Nor  danger  ever  see  : 

Yet  from  his  mouth  doth  spring 
Cursing  and  cozening  ; 
Under  his  tongue  do  harbour'd  lie 
Both  mischief  and  iniquity. 
375  For  proof,  oft  lain  in  wait  he  is, 

In  secret  by-way  villages. 

V. 
In  such  a  place  unknown 
To  slay  the  hurtless  one  ; 
With  winking  eyes,  ay  bent 
380  Against  the  innocent. 

Like  lurking  Hon  in  his  den. 
He  waits  to  .spoil  the  simple  men  : 
Whom  to  their  loss  he  still  doth  get. 
When  once  he  draws  his  wily  net. 

VI. 
385  O,  with  how  simple  look 

He  oft  lays  out  his  hook  ! 


PSALM    X.  43 

And  with  how  humble  shows 

To  trap  poor  souls  he  goes  ! 

Thus  freely  saith  he  in  his  spright; 

;90  'God  sleeps,  or  hath  forgotten  quite; 

His  far-off  sight  now  hoodwinlv  is, 

He  leisure  wants  to  mark  all  this.' 


VII. 

Then  rise,  and  come  abroad, 
O  Lord,  our  only  God  ; 
395  Lift  up  thy  heav'nly  hand. 

And  by  the  sely  stand. 
Why  should  the  evil,  so  evil,  despise 
The  pow'r  of  thy  through-seeing  eyes  } 
And  why  should  he  in  heart  so  hard 
400  Say,  Thou  dost  not  thine  own  regard 

VIII. 

But  nak'd,  before  thine  eyes 
All  wrong  and  mischief  lies  : 
For  of  them  in  thy  hands 
The  balance  ev'nly  stands  : 
405  But  who  aright  poor-minded  be. 

Commit  their  cause, — themselves, — to  thee, 
The  succour  of  the  succourless, 
The  father  of  the  fatherless. 


44  PSALM    X. 

IX. 

Break  thou  the  wicked  arm, 
410  Whose  fury  bends  to  harm  : 

Search  them,  and  wicked  he 
Will  straightway  nothing  be. 
O  Lord,  we  shall  thy  title  sing, 
Ever  and  ever,  to  be  King, 
415  Who  hast  the  heath'ny  folk  destroy'd 

From  out  thy  land  by  them  annoy'd. 

X. 

Thou  op'nest  heav'nly  door 
To  prayers  of  the  poor  ; 
Thou  first  prepar'd  their  mind, 
420  Then  ear  to  them  incHn'd  ; 

O,  be  thou  still  the  orphan's  aid, 
That  poor  from  ruin  may  be  staid  : 
Lest  we  should  ever  fear  the  lust 
Of  earthly  man,  a  lord  of  dust. 


This  Psalm  is  in  the  Hebrew,  one  with  the  ninth. 
It  is  the  fuller  explanation  and  enforcing  of  the 
ninth  ;  and  if,  therefore,  we  learn  to  know  our  ninth 
psalm    right!}',    for   c\'cr   and    a    day,    ^^■c    shall    find 


PSALM    X.  45 

the  tenth  has  become  vivid  and  immortal  together 
with  it.  And  these  two  psahns,  containing  in  their 
unison,  quite  clear,  unmistakable,  and  noble  Word  of 
God, — of  inexpressible  value  to  all  nations,  speaking 
that  '  desire  of  all  nations '  which  is  the  name  of 
Christ,  are,  by  all  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,  utterly- 
abhorred,  and  trodden   under  their  paws. 

For,  (verse  3,)  "the  wicked  boastcth  of  his  heart's 
desire,  and  blesseth  the  covetous,  whom  the  Lord 
abhorreth,"  and  "  thy  judgments," — (those  for  which 
these  Psalms  are  written  to  praise  him) — "  are  far 
above  out  of  his  sight"   (verse   5). 

The  '  argument '  of  this  Psalm,  in  our  common 
Bible,  is — exactly  like  the  former  one, — absolute 
husk,  fit  only  for  swine  to  eat.  But  the  common 
translation  is  good  and  grand — (could  not  well 
be  otherwise,  the  main  force  of  the  original  words 
being  by  no  stupidity  mistakable,  and  by  no 
subterfuge  disguisable) — and  should  be  learned  by 
heart  by  all  honest  and  religious  Englishmen. 

Sidney's  verses  are  thin  and  weak  in  comparison, 
but  are  full  of  bright  flashes  of  literal  and  well- 
applied  wit  ;  and,  as  it  were,  carve  and  polish  the 
edges  of  the  text,  axe-hewn   in   the   Hebrew. 

347.  ''In  time  most  fit T  Obscure,  for  'just  at 
the  time  we  rnost  wanted.'     (In  the  Greek,  evKaipia) 


46  PSALM    X. 

3  51.  "(9  let  proud  him."  A  pretty  instance  of 
the  utiHty  of  true  \'er.se  in  compelling  an  accent 
where   it  makes  a  sentence  stronger. 

353.  "7/6'  Jiinisclf  dotJi  praiscr  The  quantity  of 
worship  pronounced  by  '  business  men '  on  them- 
selves, in  the  literature  of  this  last  half-century,  will 
be  found  in  future  study  of  the  human  race  the 
most  curious  and  voluminous  gospel  of  its  *  puffed  ' 
hollowness  of  pride,  yet  preached  in  the  plague- 
struck  world. 

359.  'Rather  much,'  for  'much  rather.'  Choosing 
resolutely  and  delightedly  to  think   God  a  fable. 

419,  420.  A  pretty  little  piece  of  Protestant 
theology.  ^ 

Rhythm. — Octave.     33334444. 
a.  b.  a.  b.  c.  c.  d.  d. 

361.  ^' Prove."  'Stand  trial,'  as  armour  of  proof. 
Johnson  gives  '  succeed '  for  his  third  meaning, 
quoting  Bacon, — "  if  the  experiment  proved  not." 
The  meaning'  is,  while  his  own  ways  succeed  he 
sets  his  love  on   them. 

375.  I  am  not  sure  of  the  .sense  of  'proof  in 
this  place.  '  Lain  in  wait,'  for  '  lying  in  wait ' 
needs  examination. 


PSALM    X.  47 

391.  I  believe  Sidney  wrote  only  'hoodwink,'  not 
*  winked,'  though  I  do  not  find  any  instance  given 
of  this  form   in  Johnson. 

396.  "  SelyT     Simple,  in  good  sense. 

415.   Heath'ny,  for  heathenish. 

419.  I  believe  it  will  be  well  to  accept  Sir 
Sidney's  second  persons  as  grammatical,  and  re- 
cover use  of  them,  instead  of  '  preparedst,'  etc. 

422.  I  believe  for  ravin,  devouring,  not  ruin, 
which  is  spelt  '  ruyne '   in   488. 


48  PSALM    XL 


PSALM  XL 

IN    DOMINO   CONFIDO. 
I. 

425  Since  I  do  trust  Jehovah  still, 

Your  fearful  words  why  do  you  spill  ? 
That  like  a  bird  to  some  strong  hill 

I  now  should  fall  a-flying. 

IL 

Behold  the  evil  have  bent  their  bow, 
430  And  set  their  arrows  in  a  row, 

To  give  unwares  a  mortal  blow 

To  hearts  that  hate  all  lying. 

TIL 

But  that  in  building  they  begun, 
With  ground-plot's  fall  shall  be  undone  : 
43  5  For  what,  alas,  have  just  men  done? 

In  them  no  cause  is  growing. 

IV. 

God  in  his  holy  temple  is  : 
The  throne  of  heav'n  is  only  his  : 
Nought  his  all-seeing  eye  can  miss, 
440  His  eyelids  pei.se  our  going. 


PSALM    XL  49 


V. 


The  Lord  doth  search  the  just  man's  reins, 

But  hates,  abhors,  the  wicked  brains  ; 

On  them  storms,  brimstone,  coals,  he  rains  : 


That  is  their  share  assigned. 


Vl. 

445  But  so  of  happy  other  side 

His  lovely  face  on  them  doth  bide, 
In  race  of  life  their  feet  to  guide 

Who  be  to  God  inclined. 


Out  of  the  millions  of  times  in  the  year,  during 
which  the  average  kind  of  persons  set  up  through- 
out England  and  Scotland  to  preach  in  pulpits  on 
Sundays  take  the  word  of  God's  '  righteousness '  in 
vain,  I  wonder  how  often  it  occurs  to  any  of  them 
to  preach  from  the  third  verse  of  this  psalm,  notable 
(if  it  were  a  verse  of  the  Bible  at  all)  beyond  most  : 
"  If  the  foundations  be  destroyed,  what  can  the 
righteous  do  ? " 

One  would  have  thought  that  question  might 
have  struck  one  of  them,  if  God — or  what  they 
call  the  Word  of    God — really  asked    it  ? — reading 


50  PSALM    XI. 

it  out,  too,  and  piping  it  out,  in  their  cathedrals,  once 
a  month,   all  over  the  land! 

But  the  verse  never  was  in  the  Bible — the  fact 
being  that  whatever  foundations  are  destroyed,  their 
destruction  does  not  matter  to  the  righteous.  They 
can   always  do- — ^just  what  they  did   before. 

It  will  enable  the  reader  to  understand  a  great 
many  more  things  than  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  para- 
phrase, though  that  is  the  thing  at  present  in 
question,  if  I  first  write  the  Psalm  into  plain 
English,  as  it  stands  in  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate. 

"  I  have  believed  in  the  Lord  ;  how  will  ye  say 
to  my  soul,  Get  thee  out  of  thy  house  to  the 
mountains,  like  a  sparrow.  For,  behpld,  the  sinners 
have  bent  bow,  they  have  made  ready  arrows  in 
quiver  that  they  may  shoot  in  black  ambush  at 
the  straight  in  heart.  For  what  thou  hast  esta- 
blished, they  have  taken  away.  But  what  has  the 
just  m.an  done  }  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple, 
the  throne  of  the  Lord  is  in  heaven. 

"  His  eyes  are  intent  on  the  poor  man.  His 
eyelids  search   out   the   sons   of  men. 

"  The  Lord  searches  out  the  just  man,  and  the 
impious  ;  and  the  man,  who  loves  injustice  hates 
his  own  soul.  He  will  rain  snares  upon  sinners, 
fire,  and  sulphur,  and  wind  of  hurricane  shall  be 
the  portion  of  their  cup.      P"or  the  Lord   is  just,  and 


PSALM    XI.  51 

loves  deed  of  justice.  His  face  beholds  straight- 
forwardness." 

The  reader  will  have  now  a  clear  idea  of  the 
substance  of  this  psalm,  as  Sidney  endeavoured 
to  render  it. 

He  has  been  in-  an  especiall}'  gay  and  lyrical 
humour  when  he  did  this  one  ;  and  is  rather  careless 
of  his  phrases,  for  once  :  so  only  that  they  will  fit 
the  bright  notes  :  '  fall  a-flying,'  instead  of  '  fly,'  is 
a  little  too  frank  a  makeshift  of  this  kind,  except 
only  in  that  it  means,  not  only  to  fly  on  one  alarm  ; 
but  to  get  into  a  flying  or  fluttering  habit  of  soul, 
instead  of  a  quiet  one. 

426.  "IV/^j  do  yoH  spill?"  A  little  for  the 
sake  of  rhyme,  but  with  the  under-sense  that 
frightened  people  drop,  or  spill,  their  words,  as  a 
trembling  person  shakes  anything   out   of  a  glass. 

434.  "  JVit/i  groimd-plof s  fall!'  I  believe,  'by 
the  fall  of  the  ground-plot,  or  foundation-story ;' 
but  I  have  changed  the  punctuation  of  my  original 
to  get  this  sense. 

In  any  case,  it  is  not  the  sense  of  the  Greek 
or  Vulgate  :  the  second  clause  of  the  verse  being 
right,  I  don't  know  whence  Sidney  took  the  first. 

440.  '' Peise" — weigh;  'peser,'  French.  "  Used  in 


52  PSALM    XL    . 

this  sense  still  in  Hampshire." — (Johnson).  '  Poise  ' 
is  a  more  altered  form,  yet  a  better  word,  giving 
more  sense  of  weight. 

445.  "  So."  As  t/ieir  share  assigned.  The  oppo- 
sition of  the  tumbling  and  violent  verse  of  the 
fifth  stanza  to  the  dainty  quietness  of  the  sixth,  is 
a  perfect  piece  of  Elizabethan  word-art  and  music. 

But  the  true  psalm  is  far  grander.  There  are 
no  '  coals '  in  it,  but  pure  fire ;  and  the  storm 
awaked  is  not  the  healthy  and  vital  storm,  ordained 
to  cool  and  purify  the  summer  air,  but  the  hurri- 
cane of  total  destruction.  The  rain  of  fire  and 
sulphur,  with  nitre,  on  modern  Christendom  has 
been  more  deadly  than  that  on  Gomorrah,  because 
God  in  His  anger  has  given  the  criminals  a  dis- 
position to  enjoy  it  ;  and  to  think  it  comes  down 
upon  them   "  as  showers  that  water  the  earth." 

RllYTILAL — Doubled  quatrain. 
4443  -  -^---  a  a  a  b  c  c  c  b. 


PSALM    XII.  53 

PSALM  XII. 

SALVUM    ME    FAC. 
I. 

Lord,  help,  it  is  high  time  for  me  to  call  : 
450  No  men  are  left  that  charity  doth  love  : 

Nay,  ev'n  the  race  of  good  men  are  decay'd. 

II. 
Of  things  vain  with  vain  mates  they  babble  all  ; 
Their  abject  lips  no  breath  but  flatt'ry  move, 
Sent  from  false  heart,  on  double  meaning  staid. 

III. 
45  5  But  thou,  O  Lord,  give  them  a  thorough  fall  ; 
Those  lying  lips  from  cozening  head  remove. 
In  falsehood  wrapt,  but  in  their  pride  displaid. 

IV. 

'  Our  tongues,'  say  they,  '  beyond  them  all  shall  go  : 
We  both  have  pow'r,  and  will,  our  tales  to  tell, 
460  For  what  lord  rules  our  brave  embolden  breast  ? ' 

V. 

'  Ah  !    now  even  for  their  sakes,  that  taste  of  woe, 
Whom  troubles  toss,  whose  nature's  need  doth  quell  ; 
Ev'n  for  the  sighs, — true  sighs  of  man  distrest, — 

7 


54  PSALM    XII. 

YI. 

I  will  get  up,'  saith  God,  '  and  my  help  show 
465   Against  all  them  that  against  him  do  swell  : 
^Nlaugrc  his  foes,  I  will  him  set  at  rest.' 

Yll. 

These  are  God's  words,  God's  words  are  ever  pure, 
— Pure, — purer  than  the  silver  throughly  tried, 
When  fire  sev'n  times  hath  spent  his  earthy  parts. 

VIII. 

470  Then  thou,  O  Lord,  shalt  keep  the  good  still  sure  : 
By  thee  preserv'd,  in  thee  they  shall  abide  : 
Yea,  in  no  age  thy  bliss  from  them  departs. 

IX. 

Thou  see'st  each  side  the  walking  doth  endure 
Of  these  bad  folks,  more  lifted  up  with  pride, 
47  5    WHiich,  if  it  last,  woe  to  all  simple  hearts. 


This  Psalm  is  quite  one  of  the  grandest  in  tlie 
whole  series  of  translations, — every  word  vital,  and 
entirely  true  to  its  original.  It  might  rather,  one 
would  think,  have  been  written  for  our  days  than 
for    David's   or    Elizabeth's.      But    in    reality   Judah 


PSALIM    XII.  5  5 

and  England  were  already  showing  the  first  of  their 
decay  in  those  times  of  their  chief  eminence  :  and 
both  their  singers  felt  the  breaking  of  the  law  of 
Truth   with   the   same   bitterness, 

450.  '^  That  charity  doth  love."  For,  'whom' 
charity  doth  love.  A  most  important  line.  Foolish 
people  think  that  charity  loves  all  things,  and  all 
men.  She  hopes,  believes,  and  bears,  all  things. 
But  loves  only — Good  ;  and  those  who  do  it ;  or 
would,  if  they  knew  how. 

451.  'Not  only  good  men  are  gone,  but  the 
breed  and  stock  of  them,  so  that  none  can  be 
born  now.'      A  woful  state  for  a  nation  to  be  in  ! 

453.  The  lips  move  the  breath,  observe, — not  the 
breath  the  lips. 

454.  "  Oji  double  meaning  staid."  Having  con- 
fidence in  their  own  under-meaning :  What  I  say 
is  of  no  consequence ;  I  will  do  quite  otherwise. 
Fair   words   cost   nothing.      '  I    go,   sir.' 

457.  Open  enough  in  their  insolence,  though 
secret   enough   in   their  falsehood. 

Compare    line    151. 

458.  Compare    I.    Thessalonians    iv.    6:     "That 


56  PSALM    XII. 

no  man  go  beyond   or   defraud  his   brother  in   any 
matter." 

459,  460.  '' Onr  tales  to  tell!'  ''What  lord 
rules  ?"     Modern  poHtical  economy  and  Hberty. 

462.  "Need" — want.  The  queUing  of  human 
strength  for  want  of  food — of  human  nature  for 
want  of  love. 

465.   Against  ///;//  ('the  man  distrest')- 

467,  468.  ''Pure:  pure,  purer'.'  Three  times, 
seven    times,  tried   in   the    fire. 

469.   "  Spcut  " — burnt  away. 

475.  "JVhich,  if  it  last."  It  has  well  lasted  to 
our  day,  and  brought  worse  than  woe  on  all  simple 
hearts.      "  Thou,  God,  seest." 


PSALM    XIII.  57 

PSALM  XIII. 

USQUE   QUO,   DOMINE. 
I. 

How  long,  O  Lord,  shall  I  forgotten  be  ? 

What  ?  ever  ? 
How  long  wilt  thou  thy  hidden  face  fi-om  me 

Dissever  ? 

II. 

480        How  long  shall  I  consult  with  careful  spright 

In  anguish.? 
How  long  shall  I  with  foes  triumphant  might 

Thus  languish  ? 

III. 

Behold  me,  Lord  ;   let  to  thy  hearing  creep 
485  My  crying  ; 

Nay,  give  me  eyes  and  light,  lest  that  I  sleep 

In  dying  : 

IV. 

Lest  my  foe  brag,  that  in  my  ruyne  he 

Prevailed  ; 
490        And  at  my  fall  they  joy,  that,  troublous,  mc 

Assailed. 


58  PSALM    XIII. 

V. 

No  !   no  !    I  trust  on  thee,  and  joy  in  thy 

Great  pity  : 
Still  therefore  of  thy  graces  shall  be  my 
495  Song's  ditty. 


Sidney  could  not  paraphrase  this  Psalm,  not 
havine  the  least  sense  himself  of  ever  having  been 
forgotten  by  God, — neither  had  he  been.  David, 
on  the  contrary,  often  and  often, — till  at  last  he 
was   fain    to    ask    if   '  for   ever.' 

RllVTilM. — Quatrain.      5  T  5   T.   a  b  a  b. 

We  can  scarcely  judge  of  the  rhythm  of  the 
psalm,  unless  we  had  the  music  meant  for  it  ; 
but  at  all  events  it  is  to  be  read  as  essentially 
consisting  of  long  lines,  in  A\hich  the  rlunie  of  the 
tenth  syllables  need  never  be  dwelt  on.  I^lse  the 
'thy'  and  '  m}' '  of  the  last  \crse  would  be  unpardon- 
able. 

"'Ditty''  observe,  properl)',  is  the  saying  or  con- 
tents of  a  song,  as  distinguished  from  its  melody. 


PSALM    XIV.  59 


PSALM  XIV. 

DIXIT    INSIPIENS. 
I. 

The  foolish  man,  by  flesh  and  fancy  led, 
His  guilty  heart  with  this  fond  thought  hath  fed  : 
There  is  no  God  that  reigneth. 

II. 

And  so  thereafter  he  and  all  his  mates 
500    Do  works,  which  earth  corrupt,  and  Heaven  hates 
Not  one  that  good  remaineth. 

III. 
Even  God  himself  sent  down  his  piercing  eye. 
If  of  this  clayey  race  he  could  espy 

One,  that  his  wisdom  learneth. 

ix. 
505    y\nd  lo,  he  finds  that  all  a-straying  went  : 

All  plung'd  in  stinking  filth,  not  one  well  bent, 
Not  one  that  God  discerneth. 

V. 
O  madness  of  these  folks,  thus  loosely  led  ! 
These  cannibals,  who,  as  if  they  were  bread, 
510  God's  people  do  devour. 


6o  PSALM    XIV. 

VI. 
Nor  c\er  call  on  God  ;   but  they  shall  quake 
More  than  they  now  do  brag,  when  he  shall  take 
The  just  unto  his  power. 

VII. 
Indeed  the  poor,  opprest  by  you,  }'ou  mock  : 
5  I  5    Their  counsels  are  youv  common  jesting  stock  : 
But  God  is  their  rccomfort. 

VIII. 
Ah,  when  from  S)'on  shall  the  saver  come, 
That  Jacob,  freed  by  thee,  may  glad  become, 
And  Israel  full  of  comfort  ? 


\-'*-"S-'\.'\--l.' 


The  great  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  psalms  are 
alwa}'s  to  be  read  and  remembered  together,  as 
defining  and  describing  the  opposed  lives  of  the 
Heathen,  and  the  Godly, — unrighteous  and  righteous, 
— or  chiklrcn  of  men,  and  children  of  God. 

l^oth  are  at  first  spoken  of  as  represented  by 
one  person,  but  the  children  of  men  presently  as 
a  multitude  ;  the  child  of  God,  as  alone. 

For  strait   is  the  gate,  and    narrow  the  wa)-,  that 


PSALM    XIV.  6  I 

leads  to  life  ;  and  the  command  to  each  of  the 
servants  of  God  must  always  be — '  Thou  shalt  not 
follow  a   multitude  to   do  evil.' 

The  perversion  of  the  fourteenth  psalm  into  an 
accusation  of  the  human  race,  has  been  one  of  the 
chief  means  by  which  the  Avorkers  of  iniquity, 
undistinguished  from  the  righteous,  have  been 
enabled  to  persist  at  their  ease  in  eating  up  the 
people   of  God   as   they  eat  bread. 

496.  "  FlesJi  and  fancy r  The  lust  of  the  flesh, 
and  waywardness  of  imagination.  Compare  line 
587. 

500.  Which  corrupt  earth,  and  are  hated  in 
heaven  ;  while  good  works  pacify  the  earth,  and 
glorify  Heaven  :  and  more  than  Heaven, — Him 
who   sits   on   the   throne   of  it. 

509.  "  Cannibals''' — quite  literal,  eating  the  flesh 
of  men,  in  their  labour.  See  notes  on  Usury  in 
'  Fors   Clavigera  '   for  August,    1876. 

515.  ^^  Their  coiinsels  are  your  jesty  The  original 
is  stronger  :  '  Ye  have  shamed  the  counsels,  not 
merely  mocked  at  them,  but  even  caused  them  to 
fail,  or  seem  to  fail,  by  your  tyranny.' 


62  PSALM    XIV. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.      5  5  3  5  5  3  ^-^  a  a  b  c  c  b. 

510.  "'Devour.''  In  the  original  devower,  pro- 
nounced as  a  dissyllabic,  to  rhyme  with  power,  a 
gross  license,  which  I  refuse,  though  to  the  breaking 
the   law  of  the   metre. 

516.  ^'  Reconiforty  'Comfort  us  ^r^*-^?/;/,  because  of 
the  years  wherein  thou  hast  afflicted  us.'  But  the 
word  is  scarcely  needed  in  present  English.  Re- 
comfort  rhyming  to  comfort,  we  must  put  up  with. 
But  compare  at  once  the  beautiful  version  of  the 
repeated  psalm,  the  fifty-third  (p.  106).  The  two 
together  show  in  a  most  interesting  manner  how 
various  the  treatment  of  fine  paraphrase  may  be, 
with  retention   of  equal  accuracy. 


PSALM    XV.  6^ 

PSALM  XV. 

DOMINE,    QUIS    HABITABIT. 

520   In  tabernacle  thine,  O  Lord,  who  shall  remain  ? 

Lord,  of  tliy  holy  hill  who  shall  the  rest  obtain  ? 

Ev'n  he  that  leads  a  life  of  uncorrupted  train, 

Whose  deeds  of  righteous  heart, 

whose  hearty  words  be  plain  : 

Who  with  deceitful  tongue  hath  never  us'd  to  fain  ; 
525    Nor  neighbour  hurts  by  deed, 

nor  doth  with  slander  stain  : 

Whose  eyes  a  person  vile  doth  hold  in  vile  disdain, 

But  doth,  with  honour  great,  the  godly  entertain  : 

Who  oath  and  promise  given  doth  faithfully  maintain, 

Although  some  worldly  loss  thereby  he  may  sustain  ; 
530  From  biting  usury  who  ever  doth  refrain  : 

Who  sells  not  guiltless  cause  for  filthy  love  of  gain, 

Who  thus  proceeds  for  aye, 

in  sacred  mount  shall  reign. 


This  psalm  is  mainly  David's  practical  expla- 
nation of  the  details  of  the  second  (great)  com- 
mandment of  the  duty  of  love  towards  one's 
neighbour.     It  falls  into  ten   heads,  founded  on   the 


64  PSALM    XV. 

ninth      and      tenth      commandment      of      the      old 
Decalogue,  thus  : — 

1.  "Whose  deeds  are  of  righteous  heart."     That 

we  work  true  work  for  our  neighbour. 

2.  "  Whose    hearty   words   be   plain."       That  we 

speak  from  our  heart,  and  intelligibly  in  all 
our  teachings  to  our  neighbour.  Not  making 
him  learn  church-catechism  instead  of  his 
own  business  ;  and  being  sure  that  he 
understands  what  catechism  he  does  learn. 

3.  "Who  with    deceitful  tongue."      That  we  tell 

our  neighbour  no  lies. 

4.  Nor  hurt  him  by  deed. 

5.  Nor  by  report. 

6.  That,  dividing    the  truly  base  from  the  truly 

honourable,  wc  duly  scorn  the  vile.  Com- 
pare the  second  verse  of  Psalm  xvi. 

7.  That  we  duly  honour  the  honourable. 

8.  That    we    remain    true    to    our    promise,  and 

change  not,  though  the  promise  turn  out  as 
sore  to  keep  as  Jcphthah's. 

9.  That  we  take  no  usury. 

10.  That  wc  take   no  reward   against  the  innocent, 
to  pervert  judgment. 
"  I   myself  have  been  without   a   loaf  o'  bread 
to   set    before    my    Httle    ones,    dismissed   at 


PSALM    XV.  65 

a    moment's    notice,    and     with    no    redress. 
The   magistrates  zvon't   convict   the  masters; 
■     we  have   tried    it    again   and   again." — (Miss 
Thackeray's  Jack    and   the   Bean-stalk.) 

Sidney  thus  gives  the  full  decalogue  of  the  psalm 
in  ten  lines,  the  meaning  and  value  of  which,  who- 
ever strives  to  live  nobly,-  will,  every  day,  more  and 
more  discern.  I  wish  the  tenth  line  (529)  had 
been  omitted  ;  though  it  is  not  put  in  merely  to 
fill  the  series,  but  to  complete  the  idea  of  swear- 
ing "  to  his  own  heart."  But  it  was  unworthy  of 
Sydney  to  think  of  '  worldly  loss '  as  of  the  only 
penalty  of  rash  promise.  Nevertheless,  the  whole 
is  too  precious  a  piece  of  work  to  be  touched, 
even  in  its  fault  ;  and  should,  be  learned  by  heart 
as  it  stands. 

Rhythm. — Continuous.      6  ;  and  a,  throughout. 


66  PSALM    XVI. 

PSALM  XVI. 

CONSERVA  INIE. 
I. 

Save  me,  Lord  ;  for  why,  thou  art 
All  the  hope  of  all  my  heart. 
5  3  5  Witness  thou,  my  soul,  with  me. 

That  to  God,  my  God,  I  say  ; 
Thou,  my  Lord,  thou  art  my  stay, 
Though  my  works  reach  not  to  thee. 

II. 

This  is  all  the  best  I  prove  : 
540  Good,  and  godly  men,  I  love  : 

And  foresee  their  wretched  pain 
Who  to  other  gods  do  run  : 
Their  blood  off'rings  I  do  shun  ; 

Nay,  to  name  their  names  disdain. 

III. 

545  God  my  only  portion  is. 

And  of  my  child's  part  the  bliss  : 
He  then  shall  maintain  my  lot. 
Say  then,  is  not  my  lot  found 
In  a  goodly  pleasant  ground  ? 

550  Have  not  I  fair  partage  got  ? 


PSALM    XVI.  ^"J 

IV. 

Ever,  Lord,  I  will  bless  thee. 
Who  dost  ever  counsel  me, 

Ev'n  when  Night  with  his  black  wing 
Sleepy  darkness  doth  o'ercast, 
5  55  In  my  inward  veins  I  taste. 

Of  my  faults,  and  chastening. 


My  eyes  still  my  God  reguard. 
And  he  my  right  hand  doth  guard  ; 

So  can  I  not  be  opprest, 
560  So  my  heart  is  fully  glad, 

So  in  joy  my  glory  clad  ; 

Yea,  my  flesh  in  hope  shall  rest. 

VI. 

For  I  know  the  deadly  grave 
On  my  soul  no  pow'r  shall  have, 
565  For  I  know  thou  wilt  defend 

Even  the  body  of  thine  own 
Dear-beloved  holy  one 

From  a  foul  corrupting  end. 

VII. 

Thou  life's  path  wilt  make  me  know, 
570    .  In  whose  view  doth  plenty  grow. 


68  PSALM    XVI. 

All  delights  that  souls  can  crave  ; 
And  whose  bodies  placed  stand 
On  thy  blessed-making  hand, 

They  all  joys,  .like  endless,  have. 


I  greatly  delight  in  this  paraphrase  myself,  and 
am  quite  willing,  once  caught  in  the  dancing  measure 
of  it,  to  let  Sidney  put  the  forced  accent  on  '  will ' 
in  the  fourth,  and  '  my '  in  the  fifth  verse.  But  it 
is  not  exemplary  in  workmanship. 

5  39-  ''^  TJiis  is  all  the  best."  He  can  at  least 
already  see  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong  ; 
at  last  he  is  sure  he  will  be  taken  out  of  all  fellow- 
ship with  wrong.  '  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in 
hell.' 

546.  ^^  Child's  part;''  the  inheritance  of  good 
which  he  has,  for  his  share  as  a  son. 

561.  "So  in  my  joy  my  glory  clad."  I  don't  know 
what  authority  there  is  for  our  English  reading, 
which  Sidney  here  strangely  follows.  In  the  Sep- 
tuagint  and  Vulgate  it  is  *  my  tongue  rejoiceth  ; ' 
and  the  entire  meaning  is — My  heart   is  glad,  my 


PSALM    XVI.  69 

tongue    rejoices,   and    my   flesh    shall    rest,    through 
all  troubles  of  this  world,   in   hope, 

565,  566.  A  noble  assertion  of  faith  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body.  "  For  I  know  thou  wilt 
defend  even  the  body  of  thine  owji." 

567.  ^'Dear-beloved  holy  one."  The  exclusive 
application  of  this  to  Christ  has  simply  taken  the 
meaning,  preciousness  and  discipline,  out  of  the 
psalm.  It  is  all  spoken  by  David  of  himself,  and 
himself  only.  I  am  a  poor  creature  enough  ;  my 
goodness  extends  not  to  thee  :  but  I  love  good 
and  hate  evil  ;  I  live  among  thy  holy  ones,  and 
love  them  ;  and  I  know  thou  wilt  make  me  holy 
like  them,  and  love  me  also,  and  show  me  the 
path  of  life. 

573.  'They  whose  bodies  stand  at  thy  immortal 
hand  that  makes  blessed,  shall  have  joys  like  it  in 
imperishableness.' 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.     Trochaic.      3  ;  abba. 


8 


70  PSALM    XVII. 

PSALM  XVII. 

EXAUDI,    DOMINE,    JUSTITIAM. 
I. 

5  75        My  suit  is  just  ;  just  Lord,  to  my  suit  hark, 

I  plaine  :  sweet  Lord,  my  plaint  for  pity  mark. 
And,  since  my  lips  feign  not  to  thee, 
Thine  ears  vouchsafe  to  bend  to  me. 

II. 

O,  let  my  sentence  pass  from  thine  own  face  : 
580        Show  that  thine  eyes  respect  a  faithful  case. 
Thou  that  by  proof  acquainted  art 
With  inward  secret  of  my  heart. 

TIT. 

Where  silent  Night  might  seem  all  faults  to  hide, 
Then  was  I,  by  thy  searching  insight  tried  : 
585  And  then  by  thee  was  guiltless  found 

From  ill  \\ord,  and  ill  meaning,  scjund. 

IV. 

Not  weighing  aught  how  fleshl)-  fancies  run. 
Led  by  thy  word,  the  rav'ner's  steps  I  shun  ; 
And  pray  that  still  you  guide  mv  way, 
590  Lest  yet  I  slip,  or  go  astray. 


PSAL.M    XVII.  71 

V. 

I  say  again  that  I  have  called  on  thee, 
And  boldly  say  thou  wilt  give  ear  to  me  : 
And  let  my  words,— my  cries, — ascend. 
Which  to  thyself  my  soul  will  send. 

VI. 
595    Show  then,  O  Lord,  thy  wondrous  kindness  show  : 
Make  us  in  marvels  of  thy  mercy  know 
That  thou  by  faithful  men  wilt  stand. 
And  save  them  from  rebellious  hand, 

VII. 

Then  keep  me  as  the  apple  of  an  eye  : 
600  In  thy  wings'  shade  then  let  me  hidden  lie, 
From  my  destroying  wicked  foes, 
Who  for  my  death  do  me  enclose. 

VIII. 
Their  eyes  do  swim,  their  face  doth  shine,  in  fat, 
And  cruel  words  their  swelling  tongues  do  chat, 
605        And  yet  their  high  hearts  look  so  low 
As  how  to  watch  our  overthrow. 

IX. 

Now  like  a  lion  gaping  to  make  preys. 

Now  like  his  whelp,  in  den  that  lurking  stays  : 


72  PSALM    XVII. 

Up,  Lord,  prevent  those  gaping  jaws, 
6 1  o        And  bring  to  naught  those  watching  paws. 

X. 

Save  me  from  them  thou  usest  as  thy  blade  ; 
"  From  men,  I  say,  and  from  men's  worldly  trade  : 
Whose  life  doth  seem  most  greatly  blest, 
And  count  this  life  their  portion  best. 

XI. 

6  r  5   Whose  bellies  so  with  dainties  thou  dost  fill. 
And  so  with  hidden  treasures  grant  their  will, 
That  they  in  riches  flourish  do, 
And  children  have  to  leave  it  to. 

XII. 

What  would  they  more  .''  And  I  would  not  theircasc 
620  My  joy  shall  be,  pure,  to  enjoy  thy  face, 
When  waking  of  this  sleep  of  mine, 
I  shall  see  thee  in  likeness  thine. 


This  Psalm  maybe  headed  simply  'The  prayer 
against  rich  men.'  l)ut  it  cannot  be  abstracted, 
being  already  as  brief  as  possible. 


PSALM  XVII.  yi 

577.  "Since  my  lips  feign  7iot."  The  use  of  good 
paraphrase  is  again  to  be  noted.  We  are  apt  to 
read  the  verse,  "  Hearken  to  my  prayer,  that  goeth 
not  out  of  feigned  lips,"  without  enough  marking 
the  second  clause  as  the  plea  for  the  first.  Sidney's 
introduced  word  '  since '  makes  this  distinct.  But 
how  many  praying,  nowadays,  can  say  so  boldly .? 
'  They  believe  in  God,' — yes  ;  but  they  don't 
believe  in  themselves,  or  their  own  prayer  ;  nor 
seek  the  least  surety  that  their  hearts  are  honest, 
and  prayer  made  only  for  what  they  really  want. 
When  they  pray  (for  instance)  for  "  that  most 
excellent  gift  of  charity,  the  very  bond  of  peace," 
haw  many,  in  their  hearts,  pray  the  stock-broker's 
prayer  for  a  bloody  war,*  if  they  could  get  a  hun- 
dred a  year  more  by  it  ?  Read  lines  593  and  594 
together  with  this  first  couplet. 

583.  ''Where  silent  Night!'  The  darkness  of  the 
soul, — the  shadow  which  conceals  it  from  itself: 
the  shadow  out  of  which  we  are  brought  to  know- 
ledge of  ourselves.  "  When  I  did  not  know  myself, 
thoit  knewest  me." 

586.  "///  meaning  sound"  111  word  first;  but 
much  more  than  that,  from  ill  meaning  accent  and 

*  See  'Fors  Clavigera,'  July,   1876. 


74  PSALM    XVII. 

force  of  word.  Not  only  guiltless  from  actual 
lying,  but  from  malicious  truth.  Compare  Blake, 
of  "  ill   meaning  sound." 

"  A  truth  that's  told  with  bad  intent 
Beats  all  the  lies  you  can  invent." 

588.  ''The  Ravenerr — Destroyer,  the  men  spoken 
of  presently,  in  verse  8th,  as  having  gaping  jaws, 
and  *  watching '  Paws,  every  muscle  set  for  instant 
snatch   or  stroke. 

611.  "  TJion  nsest  as  t/iy  blade."  I  should  like 
these  two  verses  (9  and  10)  to  be  learned  by 
heart,  that  they  may  fix  in  our  minds  the  con- 
ception which  is  the  foundation-stone  of  all  the 
statements  respecting  the  sinners  in  the  Psalms, 
that  they  are  not  merely  themselves  lost  and  con- 
demned of  God,  but  that  they  arc  used  as  his 
sword,  to  chastise  his  children  with  ;  that  their 
especial  function  is  that  of  the  Ravcner, — tearer 
in  pieces,  or  wolf,  to  the  Lambs  of  his  flock  ;  and 
that  they  are  to  be  recognized,  among  other  signs, 
very  definitely,  by  their  worldly  prosperity,  having 
their  bellies  filled  with  '  hidden '  treasures,  (got 
cunningly,  and  by  secret  wrongs  of  commerce,)  and 
leaving  them  to  their  children. 

KiiNl'iiM. — Quatrain.      5  5  4  4  -^--^^  a  a  b  b. 


PSALM    XVII.  75 

604.  "  Chat " — short  for  chatter.  The  words  of 
wicked  men  are  always  more  or  less  brutal  in 
stupidity,  like  the  chattering  of  monkeys  or  jack- 
daws. The  '  opinions  '  of  the  British  press,  for 
instance. 

620.  I  am  a  little  proud  of  some  of  my  alterings 
of  punctuation,  which  I  make  generally  without 
pointing  out  the  former  mistake  to  the  reader's 
notice.  But  the  alteration  of  this  line  from  the 
former  one  is  worth  pausing  at,  to  show  the  value 
of  proper  respect  for  Sidney's  musical  accent.  It 
was  quite  impossible  that  he  should  construct  a 
pentametre  line  with  these  following  caesuras,  as  it 
has  been  hitherto  printed, 

"  My  j5y  |  shall  be  pure,  |  t5  enjoy  |  thy  face." 

But  he,  with  perfect  measure  and  ease,   can  write, 

"  My  joy  I  shall  be,  |  pure,  |  to  enjoy  j  thy  face." 

Compare  the  original,  and  you  will  see  how  we 
recover  the  meaning,  with  the  right  accent. 

621.  "(9/" — short   for   'out   of.' 


76  PSALM    XVIII. 


PSALM  XVIII. 

DILIGAM    TE. 
I. 

Thee  will  i  love,  O  Lord, 

WITH  all  my   heart's  DELIGHT, 
My  strength,  my  strongest  rock, 

which  my  defence  hast  borne  : 
625   My  God,  and  helping  God, 

my  might,  and  trustful  might. 
My  never-pierced  shield,  my  ever-saving  home, 
My  refuge  ; — refuge  then  when  most  I  am  forlorn  : 
Whom  then  shall  I  invoke, 

but  thee,  most  worthy  praise. 
On  whom,  against  my  foes,  my  only  safety  stays  ? 

IL 

630  On  me  the  paincs  of  death  already  'gan  to  prey  : 
The  floods  of  wickedness  on  me  did  horrors  throw  : 
Like  in  a  winding-sheet,  wretch,  I  already  lay, 
This  my  distress  to  God,  with  wailful  cries  I  show  : 
All  ready,  ready  to  my  snaring  grave  to  go, 

635    My  cries  climb'd  up  ;   and  He 

bent  down,  from  sacred  throne. 
His  eyes  unto  my  case,  his  ears  unto  my  moan. 


PSALM  xviii.  ^^ 

III. 

And  so  the  earth  did  fall  to  tremble  and  to  quake, 
The  mountains  proudly  high, 

and  their  foundations  bent 
With  motion  of  his  rage,  did  to  the  bottom  shake. 
640   He  came,  but  came  with  smoke, 

from  out  his  nostrils  sent : 
Flames  issu'd  from  his  mouth, 

and  burning  coals  out  went : 
He  bow'd  the  heav'ns,  and  from 

the  bow'd  heav'ns  did  descend 
With  hugy  darkness,  which  about  his  feet  did  wend. 

IV. 

The  cherubims  their  backs, 

the  winds  did  yield  their  wings, 
645   To  bear  his  sacred  flight  ; 

in  secret  place  then  clos'd  ; 
About  which  he  dim  clouds,  like  a  pavilion  brings 
Clouds,  ev'n  of  waters  dark, 

and  thickest  air  compos'd  ; 
But  straight  his  shining  eyes 

this  misty  mass  disclos'd  : 
Then  hail,  then  fiery  coals, 

then  thundred,  heav'nly  Sire, 
650  Then  spake  he  his  loud  voice, 

then  hailstones,  coals,  and  fire 


78  PSALM    XVIII. 


Then  out  his  arrows  fly; 

and  straight  they  scattred  been  : 
Lightning  on  lightning  he 

did  for  their  wreck  augment  ; 
The  gulfs  of  waters  then 

Avere  through  their  channels  seen  : 
The  world's  foundations  then 

lay  bare  ;  because  he  shent 
655    With  blasting  breath,  O  Lord, 

that  in  thy  chiding  went. 
Then  sent  He  from  above,  and  took  me  from  below, 
Ev'n  from  the  waters'  depth,  my  God  preserv'd  me  so. 

VI. 
So  did  he  save  me,  from  my  mighty  furious  foe, 
So  did  he  save  me,  from  their  then  prevailing  hate  : 
G60    For  they  had  caught  me  up  when  I  was  weak  in  woe  ; 
But  He,  staff  of  my  age, 

he  staid  my  stumbling  state  : 
This  much  :  yet  more,  when  I 

by  him  this  freedom  gat, 
By  him,  because  I  did  find  in  his  eyesight  grace. 
He  lifted  me  unto  a  largely  noble  place. 

VII. 

665    My  justice,  my  just  hands  thus  did  the  Lord  reward, 
Because  I  walk'd  his  ways, 

nor  'gainst  him  evilly  went  : 


PSALM    XVIII.  79 

Still  to  his  judgments  look'd, 

still  for  his  statutes  card  : 
Sound  and  upright  with  him, 

to  wickedness  not  bent. 
Therefore,  I  say  again,  this  goodness  he  me  sent, 
6/0    As  he  before  his  eyes  did  see  my  justice  stand. 
According  as  he  saw  the  pureness  of  my  hand. 

VIII. 
Meek  to  the  meek  thou  art, 

the  good  thy  goodness  taste  : 
Pure,  to  the  pure,  thou  dcal'st 

with  crooked  crookedly. 
Up  then,  thou  lift'st  the  poor, 

and  down  the  proud  wilt  cast  ; 
67  5    Up,  thou  dost  light  my  light, 

and  clear  my  darkned  eye. 
I  hosts  by  thee  o'ercome  ;  by  thee  o'er  walls  I  fly  ; 
Thy  way  is  soundly  sure,  thy  word  is  purely  tried  : 
To  them  that  trust  in  thee,  a  shield  thou  dost  abide. 

IX, 
For  who  is  God  besides  this  great  Jehovah  ours  ? 
680   And  so  besides  our  God,  who  is  endu'd  with  might  ? 
This  God  then  girded  me  in  his  all-mighty  pow'rs. 
He  made  my  cumb'rous  way, 

to  me  most  plainly  right  : 


8o  PSALM    XVIII. 

To  match  with  Hghtfoot  stags, 

he  made  my  foot  so  light, 
That  I  chmb'd  highest  hill  ;  he  me  war  points  did  show, 
68 5    Strength'ning  mine  arms,  that  they 

could  break  an  iron  bow. 

X. 

Thou  gav'st  me  saving  shield  ; 

thy  right  hand  was  my  stay  ; 
Me  in  increasing  still,  thy  kindness  did  maintain  ; 
Unto  my  strengthened  steps, 

thou  didst  enlarge  the  way, 
My  heels,  and  plants,  thou  didst 

from  stumbling  slip  sustain  ; 
690   What  foes  I  did  pursue,  my  force  did  them  attain, 
That  I,  ere  I  return'd,  destroy'd  them  utterly. 
With  such  brave  wounds,  that  they 

under  my  feet  did  lie. 

XI. 

For  why  ?  my  fighting  strength, 

by  thy  strength  strengthened  was  : 
Not  I,  but  thou,  throw'st  down 

those  who  'gainst  me  do  rise, 
695    Thou  gavcst  me  their  necks, 

on  them  thou  mad'st  me  pass  : 
Behold  they  cry,  but  who  to  them  his  help  applies  > 
Nay,  unto  thee  they  cried, 

but  thou  heard 'st  not  their  cries : 


PSALM    XVIII.  8  I 

I  beat  those  folks  as  small 

as  dust,  which  wind  doth  raise, 
I  beat  them  small  as  clay  is  beat  in  beaten  ways. 

XII. 
yoo   Thus  freed  from  troublous  men, 

thou  makest  me  to  reign  ; 
Yea,  thou  makest  me  be  serv'd 

by  folks  I  never  knew  : 
My  name  their  ears,  their  ears 

their  hearts,  to  me  enchain'd  : 
Ev'n  fear  makes  strangers  show 

much  love,  though  much  untrue. 
But  they  do  fail,  and  in  their  mazed  corners  rue  : 
705    Then  live  Jehova  still,  my  rock  still  blessed  be  : 
Let  him  be  lifted  up,  that  hath  preserved  me. 

XIII. 
He  that  is  my  revenge,  in  whom  I  realms  subdue, 
Who  freed  me  from  my  foes,  from  rebels  guarded  me, 
And  rid  me  from  the  wrongs 

which  cruel  wits  did  brew. 
7 1  o  Among  the  Gentiles  then 

I,  Lord,  yield  thanks  to  thee, 
I  to  thy  name  will  sing,  and  this  my  song  shall  be  ; 
"  He  nobly  saves  his  king,  and  kindness  keeps  in  store, 
For  David  his  anoint,  and  his  seed,  evermore." 


82  PSALM    XVIII. 

When  first  I  read  this  paraphrase,  I  was  in  fairly 
strong  health,  and  had  done  some  work  in  which  I 
felt  triumphant  ;  and  was  set  at  my  commentary  on 
a  bright  spring  morning;  and  this  was  what  I  wrote: 

'  I  have  no  words  to  express  my  admiration  of  this 
entirely  glorious  piece  of  massive  English  scripture 
of  pure,  eternal  truth.  The  majestic  art  and  music 
of  it  are  like  the  greatest  work  of  Handel  ;  the 
storm  and  spirit-painting  of  it  like  Tintoret's.  The 
precise  logic  and  verbal  symmetry  of  it  like  Horace's  ; 
the  passion   of  it   is  David's, — and  his  own.' 

I  am  now  correcting  the  press  in  ruined  Venice, 
in  a  bleak  November  day,  and  with  slightly  feverish 
cold  upon  me ;  and  the  paraphrase  now  appears  to 
me  often  weak,  and  occasionally  ridiculous. 

Both  views  are  false ;  but  the  one  received  in 
health  is  nearer  the  truth,  and  its  error  is  on  the 
noble  side  :  but,  above  all  the  other  paraphrases, 
it  requires  intense  feeling  and   fine  reading. 

623.  I  have  put  the  first  line  of  this  psalm  in 
capitals  ;  but  it  needs  no  enforcement  by  lettering, 
and  I  wish  it  to  be  remembered  not  only  for  a 
kind  of  title  to  the  psalm,  but  for  its  definition 
of  the  right  manner  of  the  '  Love  of  God,'  as  it 
is  meant,  manifestly  through  all  the  Psalter,  and 
secretly,  through  all   the  Bible.      For  the  command- 


PSALM    XVIII.  83 

ment,  "  Thou  shalt  love  -with  all  thine  heart''  does 
not  mean  with  miserable  abandonment  of  all  else 
that  the  heart  cherishes, — but  through  all,  and  with 
all,  heart's  delight  in  the  world,  small  and  great  ; 
—  doubling, — trebling, — infiniting  it,  by  taking  it 
from  God's  hand,  as  a  child  a  jewel  from  its 
father  ;  the  jewel,  indeed  of  price,  but  the  gift^ 
ivithoiit  price. 

And  when  this  is  once  felt,  rightly,  it  will  be 
felt  rightly  also,  how  God  gives  grief  as  well  as 
joy.  For  as  He  rejoices  with  us  as  a  Father,  in 
the  joy  He  gives,  so  He  grieves  with  us  as  a 
Father  in  the  pain  He  gives  ;  and  thus  Himself 
takes  our  infirmities.  Himself  bears  our  sicknesses. 
But  He  no  more  (let  the  unfortunate  modern 
evangelical  well  note)  bears  our  griefs,  that  ivc 
may  not  bear  them,  than  He  rejoices  in  our  joys 
that  we  may  not  enjoy  them  ! 

^n .  ''And  so  the  earth  did  fall  to  tremble." 
Here  begins,  in  the  original,  one  of  the  grandest 
passages  of  the  whole  Bible  ;  and  it  has  never 
occurred  to  me  till  this  moment  to  ask, — What 
it  is  all  about  ? 

I  have  read  it  simply  as  a  description  of  God's 
anger  at  all  times  :  perhaps  once  or  twice,  glancing 
at   its    heading,    I    have   noticed    that   David    wrote 


84  PSALM    XVIII. 

it  at  a  particular  time, — but  actually,  never  till 
this  morning  (8th  July,  'jd)  inquired  what  time  it 
really  was,  or  what  David  meant  by  this  thundrous 
melody.  "  In  the  day  that  the  Lord  delivered 
him  from  the  hand  of  all  his  enemies,  and  from 
the  hand  of  Saul."  What  day  t  Not  the  day 
of  Saul's  death,  assuredly.  David  wrote  quite 
another  kind  of  psalm  when  he  heard  of  that 
deliverance. 

Neither  when  he  heard  of  the  death  of  Saul's 
last  and  noblest  servant.  "  Thy  hands  were  not 
bound,"  (he  sang,)  "nor  thy  feet  put  into  fetters. 
As  a  man  falleth  before  wicked  men,  so  fellest 
.  thou.  Know  ye  not  that  a  Prince  is  this  day 
fallen  in  Israel,  and  /  am  this  day  weak,  though 
Anointed   King." 

The  precise  and  literal  contrary,  you  see,  of  the 
close  of  tJiis  psalm  ! 

But  now  look  to  II.  Samuel,  and  read  of  it 
chap.  V.  I  — 10,  and  I2,  14,  17,  18,  and  19  ;  and 
chap.  vii.  from  beginning  to  end.  The  close  of 
that  chapter  gives  us  the  solemn  and  deliberate 
prayer  in  which,  at  such  time  as  the  words  were 
put  on  his  lips,  followed   this  passionate  psalm. 

631.  ''Like  in  a  winding-sheet^  I  think  Sidney 
interprets  the  fourth  and  fifth  verses  in  too  spiritual 


PSALM    XVIII.  85 

a  sense.  David  could  not  have  had,  at  this  time 
of  his  Hfe,  any  sense  of  the  snares  of  hell  in  their 
reality.  He  seems  to  me  only  to  be  thinking  of  the 
day  when  he  was  first  separated  from  Jonathan, 
Saul's  spear  just  missing  him  as  he  sang :  so, 
also,  the  passage  describing  the  anger  of  God  is 
meant  literally,  not  spiritually,  of  the  Philistines' 
victory  over  Israel,  and  the  captivity  of  the  ark. 
The  imaged  cherubim  were  in  captivity,  that 
had  lifted  up  their  silent  wings, — but  God  yet 
Himself  "  rode  upon  a  cherub,  and  did  fly  "  ; 
the  ark  was  lost  from  behind  the  vail  of  the 
tabernacle, — but  His  pavilion  round  about  Him 
was  dark  waters,   and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies. 

^6Z.  "I  beat  them — as  the  clay  is  beat  in  beaten 
ivaysy  Far  worse  than  potter's  beating  ; — into 
vile,  incoherent  destruction.  The  iteration  and 
beat  of  the  psalm  itself  is  in  no  line  more 
splendid. 

Rhythm. — Sevenfold.     6  ^™  a  b  a  b  b  c  c. 

626.  "■Home."  I  believe  Sidney  is  thinking 
of  Roland's  horn  at  Fontarabia ;  and  I  therefore 
keep  the  e  at  the  end  of  the  word,  prolonging  its 
sound,  I  should  like  to  keep  this  orthography 
in   classical    English.       He   wilfully   lets   go,    as    in- 

9 


S6  PSALM    XVIII. 

harmonious  with  the  other  metaphors,  the  Hebrew 
meaning  of  an  animal's  horn  ;  and,  indeed,  there 
is  no  other  Hebrew^  metaphor  so  unfortunate.  It 
has  made  the  figure  of  Moses  always  ludicrous 
in  mediaeval  missal  painting,  and  been  the  root 
of   much    absurdity  and    mischief  in   dress. 

643.  "•  Hiigy!'  Classical,  in  Dryden  and  others. 
A  grand  word,  taking  the  office  of  the  vulgar 
'hugeous.'      From   old   French   '  ahugue ' — Johnson. 

649.  "  TJicn  ihicndrcd,  heavenly  Sire."  All  ex- 
clamatory— no  time  for  definite  articles. 

651.  "Been."  I  am  not  sure  how  far  Sidney 
carried   the   use  of  this  aorist,   Shakspeare's  *  bin.' 

654.  '' Shent."  'Destroyed  with  indignation.' 
'  Shend  '  and  '  shcnt '  are  the  two  old  forms.  But 
the  word   is  obsolete,   and  should  be  so. 

675.   ''Up  thou  dost  light"   for  'light  up.' 

682.  ''  Cinnbroiis" — 'vexing,'  'troublesome,'  not 
'  heavy.'  This  is  the  proper  classical  sense  ;  from 
<  kommeren,'  Dutch, — see  Johnson.  His  quotation 
from  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  "  very  long  tubes  are 
cumbersome,  and  scarce  to  be  readily  managed," 
shows    how    easily    the     sense    of    troublesomeness 


PSALM    XVIli.  87 

may  pass  into  that  of  weight.  But  '  ponderous,' 
or  simply  '  heavy,'  is  the  proper  word  for  weight. 
It  is  very  desirable  both  in  '  cumber '  and  '  incum- 
brance '  to  keep  the  original  sense  as  clear  as 
possible. 

689.  '■'■Plants'*  Soles  of  the  feet.  See  note  to 
870. 

713.  ''For  David  his  anointr  The  final  '  ed '  is 
cut  off,  not  in  hurry,  but  in  intensity  of  leaning 
on  the  word,  and  desire  to  bring  it  literally,  in 
the  ending  letter,  nearer  to  the  form  '  Christ.' 
The  line  is  to  be  read  or  sung  very  slowly,  but 
continuously,  so  as  to  elide  the  '  ed  '  before  the 
'  a '  in  natural  sequence,  then  laying  the  next 
accent  on  'his.' 


88  PSALM  xix. 


PSALM  XIX. 

CCELI    ENARRANT. 
I. 

The  heav'nly  frame  sets  forth  the  fame 
715  Of  him  that  only  thunders  ; 

The  firmament,  so  strangely  bent, 
Shows  his  hand,  working  wonders. 

11. 

Day  unto  day,  doth  it  display, 

Their  course  doth  it  acknowledge  : 

720  And  night  to  night,  succeeding  right, 

In  darkness  teach  clear  knowledge. 

III. 

There  is  no  speech,  nor  language,  which 

Is  so  of  skill  bereaved, 
But  of  the  skies,  the  teaching  cries, 
725  They  have  heard,  and  conceived. 

IV. 

There  be  no  eyne,  but  read  the  line 
From  so  fair  book  proceeding  ; 

Their  words  be  set  in  letters  great 
For  ev'ry  body's  reading. 


PSALM    XIX.  89 

V. 
730  Is  not  he  blind  that  doth  not  find 

The  tabernacle  builded 
There,  by  his  grace,  for  sun's  fair  face. 
In  beams  of  beauty  guilded  ? 

VT. 

Who  forth  doth  come,  like  a  bridegroom, 
735  From  out  his  veiling  places  : 

As  glad  is  he,  as  giants  be 
To  run  their  mighty  races. 

VII. 
His  race  is  ev'n  from  ends  of  heav'n  ; 
About  that  vault  he  goeth  : 
740  There  be  no  realms  hid  from  his  beams, 

His  heat  to  all  he  throweth. 

VIII. 

O  law  of  his,  how  perfect  'tis  ! 

The  very  soul  amending  ; 
God's  witness  sure  for  aye  doth  dure, 
745  To  simplest,  wisdom  lending. 

IX. 

God's  dooms  be  right,  and  cheer  the  spright : 

All  his  commandments  being 
So  purely  wise,  they  give  the  eyes 

Both  light,  and  force  of  seeing. 


90  PSALM    XIX. 

X. 

750  Of  him  the  fear  doth  cleanness  bear, 

And  so  endures  for  ever  : 
His  judgments  be  self-verity, 
They  are  unrighteous  never. 

XI. 

Then  what  man  would  so  soon  seek  gold, 
755  Or  glitt'ring  golden  money  ? 

By  them  is  past,  in  sweetest  taste, 
Honey,  or  comb  of  honey. 

XII. 

By  them  is  made  thy  servant's  trade, 
Most  circumspectly  guarded  : 
75o  -^"^^  ^^'^"^°  "^ot^"^  frame  to  keep  the  same 

Shall  fully  be  rewarded. 

XIII. 
Who  is  the  man,  that  ever  can 

His  faults  know  and  acknowledge ! 
O  Lord,  cleanse  me  from  faults  that  be 


765 


Most  secret  from  all  knowledge. 


XIV. 
Thy  servant  keep,  lest  in  him  creep 

Presumptuous  sin's  offences  : 
Let  them  not  have  me  for  their  slave. 

Nor  reign  upon  my  senses. 


PSALM    XIX. 

XV. 
77^  So  shall  my  spright  be  still  upright 

In  thought  and  conversation  ; 
So  shall  I  bide,  well  purified 
From  much  abomination. 

XVI. 
So  let  words  sprung  from  my  weak  tongue 
775  And  my  heart's  meditation  ; 

My  saving  might,  Lord,  in  thy  sight 
Receive  good  acceptation. 


91 


I  cannot  say  much  for  the  sublimity  of  this 
paraphrase  ;  but  it  is  splendidly  joyful  and  clear- 
thoughted.  The  one  line,  "  The  statutes  of  the 
Lord  are  right,  and  rejoice  the  heart"  having  been 
taken  as  key  to  the  whole  treatment  of  it. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.      223223  — —  a  a  b.  c  c  b. 

715.   "  That  only','  for  'that  alone.' 

718.  "//."      His  hand. 

733.  "  Guildedr  Fastened  together  as  a  guild. 
The  '  beams '  are  the  '  beams  of  his  chambers,'  and 
of  the  sun's  tabernacle.      Sidney  is  thinking  of  the 


92  PSALM    XIX. 

boards  and  sockets  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  playing  with  the  equivocation  between  the 
two  senses  of  both  words,  beams,  and  gild,  as  the 
sunshine  plays  on  the  two  sides  of  a  wave. 

740.  "  Realms."  Pronounced  '  Reams,'  only  a 
little  more  roundly,  like  '  Royaume.' 

752.   "Self-verity;'  for  'truth  itself.' 

758.   "  Trade!'      See  note  to  line  20. 

760.  '' Fi-amey  Construct  the  several  parts  of 
life  in  harmony.  So,  line  809,  "did  frame" — bring 
about — their  fall. 


PSALM    XX.  93 

PSALM  XX. 

EXAUDIAT   TE    DOMINUS. 
I. 

Let  God  the  Lord  hear  thee,  " 

Even  in  the  day  when  most  thy  troubles  be  : 
780  Let  name  of  Jacob's  God, 

When  thou  on  it  dost  cry, 
Defend  thee  still  from  all  thy  foes  abroad. 

11. 
From  sanctuary  high 
Let  him  come  down,  and  help  to  thee  apply 
785  From  Zion's  holy  top  ; 

Thence  let  him  undertake 
With  heav'nly  strength  thy  earthly  strength  to  prop. 

III. 
Let  him  notorious  make, 
That  in  good  part  he  did  thy  off'rings  take  ; 
790  Let  fire  for  trial  burn 

(Yea,  fire  from  himself  sent,) 
Thy  offerings,  so  that  they  to  ashes  turn. 

IV. 

And  so  let  him  consent 
To  grant  thy  will,  and  perfect  thy  intent, 


94  PSALM    XX. 

795  That  in  thy  saving,  we 

May  joy,  and  banners  raise 
Up  to  our  God,  when  thy  suits  granted  be. 

V. 

Now  in  me  knowledge  says, 
That  God  from  fall  his  own  anointed  stays. 
800  From  heav'nly  holy  land 

I  know  that  he  hears  me  ; 
Yea,  hears  with  powers,  and  help  of  helpful  hand. 

VI. 

Let  trust  of  some  men  be 
In  chariots  arm'd,  others'  in  chivalry  ; 
805  But  let  all  our  conceit, 

Upon  God's  holy  name. 
Who  is  our  Lord,  with  due  remembrance  wait. 

VII. 

Behold  their  broken  shame  ! 
We  stand  upright,  while  they  their  fall  did  frame. 
810  Assist  us,  Saviour  dear  ; 

Let  that  King  deign  to  hear, 
Whcnas  to  him  our  prayers  do  appear. 


This  is  called  a  Psalm  of  David  ;  but  if  the  King 
wrote  it,  he  wrote  it  for  the  people  to  sing.     It  seems 


PSALM    XX.  95 

to  me  far  more  probable  It  was  written  for  the  great 
choirs  by  one  of  the  priests  ;  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  might  not  have  been  written  by  anybody 
of  good  loyalty  and  true  heart.  It  is  finer  in  the 
common  version  than  in  Sidney's,  but  has  no  other 
than  simple  or  serviceable  character  in  either. 

787.  "  With  heavenly  strength."  This  second 
verse,  at  the  cost  of  some  lengthiness,  fully  explains 
the  meaning  of  the  second  verse  in  the  original. 
The  prayer  is  made  by  the  people,  (attending  a 
sacrifice  of  the  King's,  in  the  tabernacle,)  that  his 
offering  might  be  accepted,  and  that  the  Dweller 
between  the  Cherubim  might  give  him  heavenly 
strength,  out  of  the  Holy  Place.  It  is  entirely 
literal  and  local  :  as  much  as  the  bowing  down  of 
a  Roman  Catholic  congregation  before  the  elevated 
Host,  presently  to  be  shut  up  again  in  the  little 
golden  cell  above  the  altar. 

792.  "  So  that  they  to  ashes  turny  He  expands 
the  meaning  of  the  burnt  sacrifice, — accepted  most 
when  burnt  by  fire  coming  from  heaven.  There 
is  a  time  when  Heaven  utterly  accepts,  by  utterly 
destroying,  what  we  gave  of  our  own. 

796,  797.  " Ba7mers  raise,  tip  to  our  God."  Sir 
Philip,  for  once,  errs  like  a  modern,  and  misses  the 


96  PSALM    XX. 

gist  of  the  psalm  by  spiritualizing  it.  The  congre- 
gation are  no  more  in  the  real  psalm  supposed  to 
think  of  raising  their  banners  to  God,  than  our  own 
Guards  think  of  it,  when  presented  with  new  colours 
by  the  colonel's  wife.  They  only  promise  to  set  up 
their  literal  banners  against  their  literal  enemies  '  in 
the  name  of  our  God': — God  grant  we  do  so  much 
as  that,  honestly. 

798.  "  Nozu  in  me."  This,  like  the  original 
verse,  is  meant  to  be  said  by  each  one  of  the  con- 
gregation for  himself, — not  vaguely,  "  %ve  know,"  but 
"  assuredly  /,"  and  doubtless,  therefore,  all  of  us — 
know. 

799.  "  His  oivn  anointedr  Here,  only  another 
phrase  for  the  King. 

801.  "■Hears  me."  Sidney,  or  whoever  it  is, 
quite  wrong  again,  and  not  minding  what  he  is 
about.  The  congregation  say  that  they  know  that 
God  saves  the  King,  and  hears  Jiiin.  Not  at  all 
that  He  hears  them,  except  through  the  King's 
prayer,  or  saves  tJicm,  except  by  the  King's  hand. 

All  written  by  the  King  himself,  you  begin  to 
think,  or  by  a  King's  sycophant  ?  No,  disloyal 
reader ; — written  by  a  very  honest  and  worthy 
person,  depend   upon   it,  whoever  he  was. 


BSALM    XX. XXIV.  97 

8io.  '^  Assist  us,  Saviour."  Finally  wrong.  The 
real  verse  is  simply  our  own  national  one  :  "  Oh, 
Lord,  save  the  King  ;  this  King  now  with  us,  and 
hear  ics,  in  the  day  when  we  call  on  thee." 

Rhythm. — Cinqfold,  sequent.    35335  - —  a  a  b  c  b 

ceded,  etc. 


The  twenty-first  psalm,  in  the  original,  com- 
panions the  foregoing  ;  and  completes  its  prayer 
in  thanksgiving  ;  but  the  paraphrase  is  entirely 
valueless,  and  better  unread.  The  metre  of  it, 
ludicrously  forced,  marks  the  interference  of  some 
entirely  unmusical  person  in  the  finishing  of  the 
book,  whose  discordant  touch  may  be  detected  in 
some  even  of  the  more  perfect  psalms,  and  entirely 
spoils  the  three  next  following,  of  which  especially 
the  twenty-second  cannot  possibly  be  Sidney's, 
and  is  full  of  old  English  quaintnesses  now  un- 
endurable in  relation  to  its  mighty  theme.  I  keep 
the  last  four  verses  of  it  only  :  we  have  heard  and 
seen  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  its  beginning ;  let 
us  hear  also,  and  look  for  the  fulfilment  of,  the 
prophecy  of  its  close. 

Th'  afflicted  then  shall  cat,  and  be  well  pleased  ; 
And  God  shall  be,  by  those  his  seekers  praised. 


9^  PSALM     XXL XXIV. 

8 1 5    Indeed,  O  you,  you  that  be  of  such  mind, 
You  shall  the  life  that  ever  liveth  find. 

But  what  ?      I  say,  from  earth's  remotest  border, 
Unto  due  thoughts,  mankind  his  thoughts  shall  order  ; 
And  turn  to  God,  and  all  the  nations  be 
820  Made  worshippers,  before  Almighty  Thee. 

And  reason,  since  the  crown  to  God  pertaineth, 
And  that  by  right  upon  all  realms  he  reigneth. 
They  that  be  made  ev'n  fat  with  earth's  fat  good 
Shall  feed,  and  laud  the  giver  of  their  food. 

825   To  him  shall  kneel  even  who  to  dust  be  stricken, 
Even  he  whose  life  no  help  of  man  can  quicken  : 
His  service  shall  from  child  to  child  descend. 
His  dooms  one  age  shall  to  another  send, 

I  am  sorry  to  omit  the  twenty-third  and  twenty- 
fourth,  which  are  companion  psalms  ;  the  first,  sing- 
ing of  God's  grace  to  the  humble  ;  the  second,  of 
God's  grace  to  the  noble. 

Probably  few  psalms  are  oftener  read,  or  with 
stronger  feeling,  by  careless  readers  ;  and  there  arc 
probably  no  other  two  whose  real  force  is  so  little 
thought  of.  Which  of  us,  even  the  most  attentive,  is 
prepared  at  once  to  tell,  or  has  often  enough  con- 
sidered, what  the  '  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death' 
means,  in  the  one,  or  the  'Hill  of  the  Lord,'  in  the 
other? 


t»SALM    XXV.  99 

PSALM  XXV. 

AD    TE,    DOMINE. 
I. 

To  thee,  O  Lord  most  just, 
830  I  lift  my  inward  sight  : 

My  God,  in  thee  I  trust. 

Let  me  not  ruin  quite. 
Let  not  those  foes,  that  me  annoy. 
On  my  complaint  build  up  their  joy. 

II. 

835  Sure,  sure,  who  hope  in  thee. 

Shall  never  suffer  shame  : 
Let  them  confounded  be 
That  causeless  wrongs  do  frame. 
Yea,  Lord,  to  me  thy  ways  do  show  ; 

840  Teach  me,  thus  vex'd,  what  path  to  go. 

III. 

Guide  me  as  thy  truth  guides  ; 
Teach  me  ;  for  why,  thou  art 
»0  The  God  in  whom  abides 

The  saving  me  from  smart. 
845  For  never  day  such  changing  wrought, 

That  I  from  trust  in  thee  was  brought. 


lOO  PSALM    XXV. 

IV. 
Remember,  only  King, 
Thy  mercies'  tenderness  : 
To  thy  remembrance  bring 
8 50  Thy  kindness,  lovingness. 

Let  those  things  thy  remembrance  grave, 
Since  they  eternal  essence  have. 

V. 
But,  Lord,  remember  not 
Sins  brew'd  in  youthful  glass  : 
8  5  5  Nor  my  rebellious  blot, 

Since  youth,  and  they,  do  pass  : 
But  in  thy  kindness  me  record, 
Ev'n  for  thy  mercy's  sake,  O  Lord. 

VI. 
Of  grace  and  righteousness 
860  The  Lord  such  plenty  hath. 

That  he  deigns  to  express 
To  sinning  men  his  path  : 
The  meek  he  doth  in  judgment  lead, 
And  teach  the  humble  how  to  tread. 

VTI. 
865  And  what,  think  you,  may  be 

The  paths  of  my  great  God  ? 


PSALM    XXV.  10  I 


Ev'n  spotless  verity, 
And  mercy  spread  abroad, 
To  such  as  keep  his  covenant, 
8/0  And  on  his  testimonies  plant. 

VIII. 

O  Lord,  for  thy  name's  sake, 
Let  my  iniquity 
Of  thee  some  mercy  take. 
Though  it  be  great  in  me  : 
875  Oh,  is  there  one  with  his  fear  fraught  ? 

He  shall  be  by  best  teacher  taught. 

IX. 

Lo,  how  his  blessing  buds 
Inward,  an  inward  rest  ; 
Outward,  all  outward  goods 
880  By  his  seed  eke  possest. 

For  such  he  makes  his  secret  know. 
To  such  he  doth  his  cov'nant  show. 

X. 

Where  then  should  my  eyes  be, 
But  still  on  this  Lord  set  ? 
885  Who  doth  and  will  set  free 

My  feet  from  tangling  net. 
O  look,  O  help,  let  mercy  fall, 
For  I  am  poor  and  least  of  all, 

10 


102  PSALM    XXV. 

XI. 
My  woes  are  still  increas'd  ; 
890  Shield  me  from  these  assaults  : 

See  how  I  am  oppress'd, 
And  pardon  all  my  faults. 
Behold  my  foes,  what  store  they  be, 
Who  hate,  yea,  hate  me  cruelly. 

XII. 
895  My  soul,  which  thou  didst  make, 

Now  made,  O  Lord,  maintain  ; 
And  from  me  these  ills  take, 
Lest  I  rebuke  sustain. 
For  thou  the  Lord,  thou  only  art, 
900  Of  whom  the  trust  lives  in  my  heart. 

XIII. 
Let  my  Uprightness  gain 
Some  safety  unto  me  : 
I  say,  and  say  again, 
My  hope  is  all  in  thee. 
905  In  fine,  deliver  Lsrael, 

O  Lord,  from  all  his  troubles  fell. 


The  original   is  one  of  the  most  precious  in  the 
Psalter,   written    in    prolonged    depression    of   heart 


PSALM    XXV.  ■        IC3 

under  memory  of  sin  ;  and  it  is  more  sweet  arid 
wide  in  its  sympathy  with  all  human  error,  and 
acceptableness  by  the  feeble  heart  and  tremblint^ 
lips  of  common  persons,  than  the  psalms  of  more 
violent  and  bitter  repentance. 

838.  '' Causeless  wrongs!'  Too  vague.  The  real 
words  are,  "  which  break  the  law  to  no  purpose," 
— wantonly,  for  breaking's  sake. 

854.  " Binu'd,"  or  'mixed,'  The  nature  of  sin 
being  as  of  a  mixed  and  composed  wine.  "  In 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  a  cup,  and  the  wine  is 
red  ;  it  is  full  mixed  ;  the  dregs  thereof,  all  the 
wicked  of  the  earth  shall  wring  them  out,  and  drink 
them." 

You  must  always  remember  that  Sidney  uses 
every  metaphor  with  full  command  of  its  entire 
scriptural  use  ;  and  the  scriptural  use  is  always 
further  illustrated  by  all  the  laws  of  nature  and 
courses  of  human  conduct.  Think  of  a  mixed 
American  drink,  compared  with  old  wine  of  the 
vineyard,  and  you  will  feel  how  the  one  is  the 
natural  type  of  the  poisonous  cup  of  fornication, 
as  the  other  is  of  the  life  of  man. 

870.  "  Plantr     Set  the  soles  of  their  feet  firmly 


104  PSALM    XXV. 

and  consistently  upon;  as  'tread'  in  864,  the 
metaphor  of  a  path  being  retained  throughout. 
Compare  689. 

895,  896.  Two  grand  lines,  explaining  the  single 
word  to  '  keep  '  the  soul. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.      33334  4,    ababcc. 


PSALM    XXVI.  105 


PSALM  XXVI. 

JUDICA     ME,     DOMINE. 
I. 

Lord,  judge  me  and  my  case. 
For  I  have  made  my  race 

Within  the  bounds  of  innocence  to  bide  : 
910  And  setting  thee  for  scope 

Of  all  my  trustful  hope, 

I  held  for  sure  that  I  should  never  slide. 

II. 
Prove  me,  O  Lord  most  high, 
Me  with  thy  touchstone  try  ; 
9 1  5   Yea,  sound  my  reins,  and  inmost  of  my  heart. 
For  so  thy  loving  hand 
Before  my  eyes  doth  stand. 
That  from  thy  truth  I  never  will  depart. 

III. 
I  did  not  them  frequent, 
920  Who  be  to  vainness  bent. 

Nor  kept  with  base  dissemblers  company. 
Nay,  I  did  ev'n  detest 
Of  wicked  wights  the  nest. 
And  from  the  haunts  of  such  bad  folk  did  fly. 


I06  PSALM    XXVI. 

IV. 

925  In  th'  innocence  of  me 

My  hands  shall  washed  be  ; 
And  with  those  hands  about  thy  altar  wait ; 
That  I  may  still  express 
With  voice  of  thankfulness 

930   The  works  perform'd  by  thee,  most  wond'rous  great. 

V. 

Lord,  I  have  loved  well 

The  house  where  thou  dost  dwell, 

Ev'n  where  thou  mak'st  thy  honour's  biding-place. 
Sweet  Lord,  write  not  my  soul 
035  Within  the  sinner's  roll  : 

Nor  my  life's  cause  match  with  blood-seeker's  case, 

VI. 

With  hands  of  wicked  shifts, 
With  right  hands  stained  with  gifts. 
But  while  I  walk  in  my  unspotted  ways, 
940  Redeem  and  show  me  grace, 

So  I  in  public  place, 
Set  on  plain  ground,  will  thee,  Jehovah,  praise. 


This     psalm     refers,    first,    to    the     conduct     and 
honour  ol   practical  life,  and   is  of  great  importance 


PSALM    XXVI.  107 

as  asserting,  on  David's  part,  his  actual  practice  of 
the  separation  from  wicked  men,  on  which  sepa- 
ration the  great  benediction  of  the  first  psalm  is 
pronounced. 

Then  the  'judgment'  it  prays  for  is  the  farther 
search  into  the  truth  of  his  heart,  which  is  necessary 
to  make  the  eternal  separation  of  any  use. 

"  I  have  not  sat  with  vain  persons,"  (he  says,) 
"  nor  kept  company  with  knaves,  nor  with  evil 
doers  :  I  have  loved  thy  tabernacle,  and  the  place 
of  thine  honour  ; "  (see  notes  on  Psalm  xxvii.  ;)  "  and 
all  this  I  have  done,  and  will  do,  with  utter  honesty 
and  desire  to  be  honest  ;  but  I  can't  try  my  own 
heart  ;  I  will  walk  in  mine  integrity, — all  the  in- 
tegrity I  can  muster  for  myself ;  do  thou  try  my 
reins  and  heart, — redeem  me,  and  be  merciful  to 
me." 

And  the  practical  gist  of  this  psalm,  for  living- 
Christians,  is,  first,  that  they  are  not  to  keep  com- 
pany with  idle  fashionable  people,  nor  busy  rogues  ; 
but  to  love  God's  heaven,  and  the  places  He  dwells 
in  (which  are  neither  factories,  nor  barracks,  nor 
London  squares,  and  least  of  all  spruce  Gothic 
chapels  built  to  sanctify  factories,  or  barracks,  or 
the  pride  of  the  West-end) ;  and  having  redeemed 
themselves  from  all  real  visible  iniquity,  then  to 
pray    for    nobler  and    purer   redemption.      It    Is   one 


I08  PSALM    XXVI. 

of  the  worst  paraphrases  in  the  book,  as  far  as 
its  poetiy  is  concerned  ;  but  it  is  very  searching  in 
sense  ;  and   I   therefore  admit  it. 

907.  "  CascV     What  has  befallen  me  ? 

909,  910.  ''Race'' — "scope."  Instead  of  the 
'walk'  of  life,  Sir  Philip  calls  it  a  'race'  of  life. 
Scope  is  the  aim  or  goal  ;  bounds,  the  stakes  of 
the  course.  He  chooses  the  Pauline  metaphor,  to 
enforce  the  last  word  '  slide.'  For  there  is  little 
fear  of  slipping  in  walking,  and  little  harm  if  we 
do.     But  much  of  both,  in  racing. 

922.  "•  Nay,  I  did  cvnr  He  detested,  not  merely 
the  vain  and  wicked  persons,  but  their  nests  and 
haunts,  also.  Not  only  the  cruel  people  of  the 
West  End,  but  the  very  sight  of  Brook  Street 
and   Grosvenor  Square. 

925.  ''Innocence  of  me."  Leaning  on  the  dis- 
tinction between  such  innocence  as  he  could  refine 
himself  into,  and  that  which  God  could  refine  him 
into. 

So  in  line  939 — "my  unspotted  ways." 

934.   "Sweet    Lord,   ivrite    noC     'Yet    after    all 


PSALM    XXVI.  109 

this,  my  name  may  still  be  written  by  thee  in   the 
Book  of  Death.      Lord,   save  me.' 

I  know  not  the  authority  for  our  English  word 
'  gather.'  In  the  Vulgate,  it  is  the  direct  reverse 
do  not  '  lose,'  and  in  the  Septuagint,  do  not 
•destroy.'      But  see  note  on   line  956. 

941.  A  standard  resolution  for  all  public  men, 
from  the  parish  beadle  to  the  Prime  Minister. 
Let  them  first  be  set  on  plain  ground  ;  and  then, 
— praise  God. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.     335,335  —  a  a  b,  c  c  b. 


I  cannot  give  the  paraphrase  of  the  next  psalm, 
being  too  feeble  ;  nor  does  it  need  any  ;  its  ordinary 
version  is  entirely  clear  in  terms,  and  cannot  be 
mended.  But  though  clear  in  terms,  it  is  not  by  any 
means  so  clear  in  meaning.  What  is  this  one  thing 
that  David  seeks  after  ? — "  to  behold  the  beauty 
of  the  Lord,  and  inquire  in  His  temple."  What 
does  '  His  temple  '  mean  for  us  ?  I  don't  think 
that  even  David  meant  the  tabernacle  ;  still  less, 
for  a  Londoner,  can  it  only  mean  St.  Paul's 
How  are  we  to  use  this  psalm  ourselves  }  In 
the  time  of  trouble  he  shall  hide  me  in — 
St.   Paul's  }     or    in    Mr.    Spurgeon's    tabernacle    at 


no  PSALM    XXVII. 

the  Elephant  and  Castle  ?  Scarcely  ; — yet  where 
else  ?  I  will  answer,  for  the  present,  but  partly, —  in 
the  last  verse  of  Sir  Philip   Sidney's  paraphrase  : 

What  had  I  been,  except  I  had 
Believed  God's  goodness  for  to  see, 
c)45  In  land  witJi  living  creatures  glad? 

In  which,  note  Sidney's  pretty  expansion  and 
enforcement  of  a  phrase  which  has  become,  with 
us,  of  late,  vulgarized  into  mere  conversational 
periphrasis.  "Are  you  yet  in  the  land  of  the 
living.''"  says  the  cockney  to  his  acquaintance,  seen 
after  hermitage  for  a  month  at  Margate.  Even  in 
the  original,  perhaps  the  words  mean  little  more 
than  personal  life.  But  Sidney  thinks  of  the 
difference  between  the  earth  glad  with  life,  and 
sorrowful  with   its  return  to  her  dust. 


PSALM    XXVIII.  I  I  I 

PSALM  XXVIII. 

AD    TE,    DOMINE. 
I- 

To  thee,  Lord,  my  cry  I  send  ; 

0  my  strength,  stop  not  thine  ear  : 
Lest  if  answer  thou  forbear, 

1  be  like  them  that  descend 
950             To  the  pit,  where  flesh  doth  end. 

II. 
Therefore  while  that  I  may  cry. 
While  I  that  way  hold  my  hands 
Where  thy  sanctuary  stands, 
To  thyself  those  words  apply, 
95  5  Which  from  sueing  voice  do  fly. 

III. 
Link  not  me  in  selfsame  chain 
With  the  wicked  working  folk  ; 
Who,  their  spotted  thoughts  to  cloak, 
Neighbours  friendly  entertain, 
960  When  in  hearts  they  malice  mean. 

IV. 
Spare  not  them  ;  give  them  reward, 
As  their  deeds  have  purchas'd  it. 


I  I  2  PSALM    XXVIII. 

As  deserves  their  wicked  wit : 
Fare  they  as  their  hands  have  far'd, 
965  Ev'n  so  be  their  guerdon  shared. 

V. 

To  thy  works  they  give  no  eye  ; 
Let  them  be  thrown  down  by  thee  : 
Let  them  not  restored  be  ; 
But  let  me  give  praises  high 
970  To  the  Lord  that  hears  my  cry. 

VI. 
That  God  is  my  strength,  my  shield 
All  my  trust  on  him  was  set, 
And  so  I  did  safety  get : 
So  shall  I  with  joy  be  fill'd, 
975  So  my  songs  his  lauds  shall  yield. 

VII. 

God  on  them  his  strength  doth  lay, 
Who  his  anointed  helped  have, — 
Lord,  then  still  thy  people  save  ; 
Bless  thine  heritage,  I  say  ; 
980  Feed  and  lift  them  up  for  aye. 


This   is   a    companion   psalm    to   the    27th.      The 
same  questions  occur  about  the  meanin^-  of  '  rock  ' 


PSALM    XXVIII.  I  I  3 

and  '  oracle,'  (verses  i  and  2),  and  the  same  prayer 
essentiall}^  (verse  3)  ;  while  '  the  beauty  of  the 
Lord,'  in  the  27th,  becomes  '  the  operation  of  his 
hands'  in  the  28th.  The  paraphrase  is  another 
poor  one,  but  worth  keeping. 

950.   ''  Wliere  flesh" — not  soul — '■'doth  end!' 

956.  "  Link  not  me"  Whether  in  true  coinci- 
dence of  thought,  or  actually  having  seen  the 
pictures.  Sir  Philip  uses  the  same  symbol  as  Fra 
Angelico,  and  all  the  other  believing  painters,  of 
the  Last  Judgment :  their  demons  always  drag 
the  condemned  down  in  the  loop  of  an  encircling 
chain,  like  the  edge  of  a  net. 

It  is  '  Draw '  in  the  Septuagint,  as  in  our  version, 
partly  justifying  the  former  '  gather  ' — "  Gather  ye 
together  first  the  tares,  and  bind,"  etc. 

964.  "  Fare  they  as  their  hands."  See  Johnson 
on  this  word  '  fare,'  and  its  derivations.  The  root 
seems  to  be  the  Icelandic  '  Far,'  a  journey,  whence 
'  to  fare,'  to  travel  ;  '  fare,'  the  price  of  convey- 
ance ;  and  '  fare  well,'  journey  you  well.  ('  Fard,' 
Icelandic  to  depart,  giving  our  'far,'  'off,'  etc. 
Here  it  is  obscurely  used  for  "  Let  them  be  done 
to  as  they  have  done." 

Rhythm. — Cinqfold,     4  .^.^--  a  b  b  a  a. 


114  PSALM    XXIX. 


PSALM  XXTX. 

AFFERTE   DOMINO. 
I. 

Ascribe  unto  the  Lord  of  light, 

Ye  men  of  pow'r  ; — ev'n  by  birthright, 

Ascribe  all  glory  and  all  might. 

II. 
Ascribe  due  glory  to  his  name  ; 
9^5  And  in  his  ever-glorious  frame 

Of  sanctuary  do  the  same. 

III. 
His  voice  is  on  the  waters  found, 
His  voice  doth  threatning  thunders  sound, 
Yea,  through  the  waters  doth  resound. 

IV. 
990  The  voice  of  that  Lord  ruling  us 

Is  strong,  though  he  be  gracious. 
And  ever,  ever  glorious. 

V. 
By  voice  of  high  Jehovah  we 
The  highest  cedars  broken  see, 
995  Ev'n  cedars  which  on  Liban  be. 


PSALM    XXIX.  I  I  5 

VI. 

Nay,  like  young  calves  in  leaps  are  borne, 
And  Liban's  self,  with  nature's  scorn  ; 
And  Sirion,  like  young  unicorn. 

VII. 
His  voice  doth  flashing  flames  divide  ; 
1000  His  voice  have  trembling  deserts  tried  ; 

Ev'n  deserts,  where  the  Arabs  bide. 

VIII. 
His  voice  makes  hinds  their  calves  to  cast : 
His  voice  makes  bald  the  forest  waste  : 
But  in  his  church  his  fame  is  plac't. 

IX. 

1005  He  sits  on  seas,  he  endless  reigns, 

His  strength  his  people's  strength  maintains, 
Which,  blest  by  him,  in  peace  remains. 


A  true  David's  psalm,  full  of  rapture,  but  full, 
like  its  companion,  the  114th,  of  intense  purpose 
also.  The  questions  again  return,  What  is  the 
'  beauty  of  the  Lord' — here  '  beauty  of  holiness'  ? — 
Where  is  the  Temple,  in  which  every  one  speaks 
gf  his  glory  ?   (ver.  9.)     What  Exodus  of  ours  shall 


I  1 6  PSALM    XXIX. 

make  of  us  also  such  a  sanctuary  as  Israel  became 
'  in  exitu  '  ? 

The  paraphrase  is  grand  in  beat  and  tone,  but 
absolutely   needs  music. 

982.  ''By  birthright"  In  both  the  Septuagint 
and  Vulgate,  In  your  birthright,  bring  to  him  the 
gift  of  the  praise  of  sons. 

"  Bring  unto  the  Lord,  ye  sons  of  God." 

1002.  "■And  Liban's  self."  'And'  is  used  here 
as  '  Et '  would  be  in  Latin.  Even  the  cedars  are 
broken  ;  nay,  and  Libanus  itself,  and  Sirion,  leap. 

This  leaping  of  the  mountains  is  meant  as  an 
expression,  not  of  their  joy,  but  their  terror,  or  at 
least,  hurry  to  get  out  of  God's  way,  as  grasshoppers 
leaping  aside  from  the  foot's  tread.  The  metaphor 
is  one  of  the  partly  violent,  partly  vague,  Hebrew 
modes  of  thought  which  are  useless  to  persons 
of  little  passion,  and  perilous  to  careless  readers  ; 
but  very  precious  to  the  faithful  and  true,  who 
have  hot  hearts,  and  feci  that  they  themselves  ought 
also  to  be  able  to  say,  '  Be  thou  removed,'  unless 
as  the  wicked   in  their  last  hope,   '  Fall  on   us.' 

RilVTiiM. — -Triplet.     4  - .  ■ .-  a  .1  a. 


PSALM    XXX.  I  1 7 

PSALM  XXX. 

EXALTABO   TE,    DOMINE. 
I. 

O  Lord,  thou  hast  exalted  me, 
And  sav'd  mc  from  foes'  laughing  scorn  : 
1 010  I  owe  thee  praise,  I  will  praise  thee. 

II. 
For  when  my  heart  with  woes  was  torn, 
In  cries  to  thee  I  shew'd  my  cause  : 
And  was  from  ev'l  by  thee  upborne, 

III. 
Yea,  from  the  grave's  moist  hungry  jaws  : 
I  o  I  5  Thou  would'st  not  set  me  in  their  score. 

Whom  death  in  his  cold  bosom  draws. 

IV. 
Praise,  praise  this  Lord  then  evermore. 
Ye  saints  of  his  ;  remcmb'ring  still 
With  thanks  his  holiness  therefore. 

V. 

1020  For  quickly  ends  his  wrathful  will  ; 

But  his  dear  favour,  where  it  lies, 

From  age  to  age  life -joys  doth  fill. 

1 1 


I  I  8  PSALM    XXX. 

VI. 
Well  may  the  evening  clothe  the  eyes 
In  clouds  of  tears,  but  soon  as  sun 
1025  Doth  rise  again,  new  joys  shall  rise, 

VII. 
For  proof,  while  I  my  race  did  run, 
Full  of  success,  fond  ,1  did  say, 
That  I  should  never  be  undone, 

VIII. 
For  then  my  hill,  good  God,  did  stay  : 
1030  But  aye,  he  straight  his  face  did  hide. 

And  what  was  I  but  wretched  clay  ? 

IX. 
Then  thus  to  thee  I  praying  cried, 
'  What  serves,  alas,  the  blood  of  me, 
When  I  within  the  pit  do  bide  ? 

X. 

1035  Shall  ever  earth  give  thanks  to  thee  ? 

Or  shall  thy  truth,  on  mankind  laid 
In  deadly  dust,  declared  oe  ^ 

XI. 

Lord,  hear  !  let  mercy  thine  be  staid 
On  me,  from  me  help  tiiis  nnnoy.' 
1040  This  much  I  said,  this  being  said, 


PSALM    XXX.  1  I  9 

XII. 
Lo,  I  that  wailed,  now  dance  for  joy  : 
Thou  did'st  ungird  my  burial-cloth, 
And  made  me  gladsome  weeds  enjoy. 

XIII. 
Therefore  my  tongue's  eternal  troth 
1045  Shall  tell  thy  praise  :   O  God,  my  King, 

I  will  thee  thanks  for  ever  sing. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  simple  and  lovely  of  the 
paraphrases — more  personally  applicable  by  most 
readers  than   the  more  lofty  original. 

The  three  verses  from  the  sixth  to  eighth  are 
wholly  exquisite.  I  have  retouched  the  last  two 
stanzas,  which  had  a  too  provokingly  quaint  line 
in   them. 

1039.  ^^  From  uie  help."     As  Shakspeare's 

"  Love  did  to  her  eyes  repair 
To  help  him  of  his  blindness." 

1042,  '"  Burial-clotJir  Sackcloth,  properly;  but 
shortened  by  Sidney  into  sack,  or  sacque.  We 
have  vulgarized  the  word  :  it  is  a  very  classical 
one,  the  same  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  and 
in   Saxon  and   English. 

Rhythm,  4  —- >  terza  rima. 


120  PSALM    XXXI. 

PSALM  XXXI. 

IN   TE,    DOMINE,    SPERAVl. 
I. 

All,  all  my  trust,  Lord,  I  have  put  in  thee, 
Never,  therefore,  let  me  confounded  be. 
But  gently  save  me  in  thy  righteousness, 
1050   Bow  down  thine  ear  to  hear  how  much  I  need  ; 
Deliver  me,  deliver  me  in  speed  : 
Be  thou  my  strong  rock,  be  thou  my  fortress, 

II. 
Indeed  thou  art  my  rock  and  my  fortress  : 
Then  since  my  tongue  delights  that  name  to  bless, 
1055    Direct  mc  how  to  go  and  guide  me  right. 
Preserve  me  from  the  wily  wrapping  net, 
Which  they  for  me  with  privy  craft  have  set  : 
For  still  I  say,  thou  art  my  only  might. 

III. 
Into  thy  hands  I  do  commend  my  sprite  : 
1 060   For  it  is  thou  that  hast  restor'd  my  light : 

0  Lord,  that  art  the  God  of  verity. 

1  hated  have  those  men,  whose  thoughts  do  cleave 
To  vanities  :  which  most  trust,  most  deceive  : 

For  all  my  hope  fixed  upon  God  doth  lie. 


PSALM    XXXi.  12  1 

IV. 

1065   Thy  mercy  shall  me  fill  with  jollity, 

For  my  annoys  have  come  before  thine  eye  : 
Thou  well  hast  known  what  plague  my  soul  was  in. 
And  thou  hast  not  for  aye  enclosed  me 
Within  the  hand  of  hateful  enmity  : 

1070  But  hast  enlarged  my  feet  from  mortal  gin. 

V. 

All  my  fierce  foes  reproach  on  me  did  cast : 
Yea  neighbours,  more,  my  mates,  were  so  aghast. 
That  in  the  streets  from  sight  of  me  they  fled  : 
Now  I,  now  I,  myself  forgotten  find, 
1075   Even  like  a  dead  man,  dreamed  out  of  mind. 
Or  like  a  broken  pot,  in  mire  that's  tredd. 

VI. 
I  understand  what  railing  great  men  spread  : 
Fear  was  each  where,  while  they  their  counsels  led 
All  to  this  point,  how  my  poor  life  to  take  ; 
1080  But  I  did  trust  in  thee.      Lord,  I  did  say. 

Thou  art  my  God,  my  time  on  thee  doth  stay  : 
Save  me  from  foes  who  for  my  bane  do  seek. 

VII. 
Thy  face  to  shine  upon  thy  servant  make, 
And  save  mc  in,  and  for,  thy  mercy's  sake  ; 


I  1:^2  PSALM    XXXI. 

1085    I-et  me  not  taste  of  shame,  O  Lord,  most  high. 
For  I  have  called  on  thee  ;  let  wicked  folk- 
Confounded  be  ;  and  pass  away  like  smoke  ; 
Let  them  in  bed  of  endless  silence  die. 

VIII. 
Let  those  lips  be  made  dumb  which  love  to  He  ; 
1090   Which  full  of  spite,  and  pride,  and  cruelty, 

Do  throw  their  words  against  the  most  upright. 
Oh,  of  thy  grace  what  endless  pleasure  flows 
To  whom  fear  thee  !    What  hast  thou  done  for  those 
That  trust  in  thee,  ev'n  in  most  open  sight ! 

IX. 

1095    And  when  need  were,  from  pride  in  privy  plight 
Thou  hast  hid  them  ;  yet  leaving  them  thy  light. 
From  strife  of  tongues  in  thy  pavilions  plast. 
Then  praise,  then  praise,  I  do,  the  Lord  of  us. 
Who  was  to  me  more  than  most  gracious  : 

I  100  Far,  far,  more  sure,  than  walls  most  firmly  fast. 

X. 

Yet  I  confess  in  that  tempestuous  haste 
I  said,  that  I  from  out  thy  sight  was  cast  ; 
But  thou  did'st  hear  when  I  to  thee  did  moan. 
Then  love  the  Lord  all  ye  that  feci  his  grace  ; 


tSALM    XXXI.  123 

1 105    For  this  our  Lord  preserves  the  faithful  race, 

And  to  the  proud  in  deed  pays  home  their  own. 
Be  strong,  I  say,  this  strength  confirming  you, 
You  that  do  trust  in  him  who  still  is  true, 
And  he  shall  your  establishment  renew. 


^.^^-^  ■V^'N 


Few  words  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  seem  to  be 
more  solemnly  prophetic  than  this  psalm.  But  its 
use  to  ourselves  depends  upon  our  reading  it  as 
David  meant  it,  and  ourselves  saying,  "  Into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit," — not  as  a  foretelling 
of  the  death-words  of  Christ,  but  as  a  simple  laying 
of  our  own  daily  life  in  the  hands  of  its  Giver. 

The  paraphrase  is  for  the  most  part  fine.  I  have 
omitted  a  verse  of  it,  displeasingly  quaint. 

1063.  ^^  Most  trust'' — by  a  somewhat  bold  license 
for  '  most  trusted.' 

1065.  "Aunoie"  (so  1039).  As  much  grander  a 
word  than  '  annoyance,'  as  '  grief  than  '  grievance.' 

1075.  "■  Dreamedr  Only  thought  of,  or  remem- 
bered, as  in  a  dream  ;   and  at  last  forgotten  wholly. 

1076.  Ijci  reading    this    psalm    for    ourselves,  we 


124  PSALM    XXXI. 

must  first  consider  whether  we  have  ever  really 
had  this  feeling  of  being  outcast  and  useless. 
Many  of  us  only  do  not  mourn  our  good-for- 
nothingness,  because  we  never  knew  in  our  lives 
what  it  was  to  be  good  for  anything ;  and  can't 
grieve  over  our  likeness  to  a  broken  pot,  because  we 
never  had  the  grace  in  us  to  be  like  a  whole  one. 

1 109.  It  is  not  Sidney's  fault  that  this  line  is 
prosy,  or  the  word  '  establishment '  base  to  your 
ear.  It  is  your  own  fault,  for  allowing  the  word 
to  be  painted  over  haberdashers'  shops,  which  will 
be  selling  off  'at  ruinous  prices'  the  day  after  to- 
morrow. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold,  continuous.      5  -—  a  a  b  c  c  b, 
b  b  d  e  e  d,  etc.,  with  added  triplet  in  the  close. 

1076.  "  Trcdd."  Perhaps  only  a  license  ;  but  I 
believe  rather  a  proper  parallel  with  spread,  as  spredd 
from  spread,  and  that  'trodden'  is  in  reality  no  more 
pure  English  than  'sprodden.'  Use  is  all,  in  such 
cases. 

1093.  ''To  whom."  Again  boldly  short  for  'those 
who.' 

1095.   ""Plight."     Fold,  as  of  dress. 

1099.   "■More  than  most"      Four  degrees  of  com- 


PSALM    XXXI.  125 

parison,  and  even  then  not  enough,  as  we  find  in  the 
next  verse.  There  is  no  real  grammatical  or  logical 
fault.  '  Most,'  grammatically,  means  only  greatest 
of  what  precedes,  or  is  known,  and  may  be  as  much 
less  as  we  please  than  what  follows,  or  is  unknown. 


126  PSALM    XXXIli. 

PSALM  XXXIII. 

EXULTATE,    JUSTI. 
I. 

1 1 1  o  Rejoice  in  God,  O  ye 

That  righteous  be  : 
For  cheerful  thankfulness, 
It  is  a  comely  part, 
In  them  whose  heart 

I  I  I  5  Doth  cherish  rightfulness. 

II. 
O  praise  with  heart  the  Lord  ; 

O  now,  accord 
Viols  wdth  singing  voice  : 
Let  ten  string'd  instrument, 
I  I  20  — O  now, — be  bent 

To  witness  you  rejoice. 

III. 

A  new, — sing  a  new, — song 

To  him  most  strong, 
Sing  loud  and  merrily  : 
1 1 2  5  Because  that  word  of  his 

Most  righteous  is, 
And  his  deeds  faithful  be. 


PSALM    XXXIIi.  127 

IV. 
He  righteousness  approves, 
And  judgment  loves  : 
I  I  30  God's  goodness  fills  all  lands. 

His  word  made  heav'nly  coast, 

And  all  that  host 
By  breath  of  his  mouth  stands. 

V. 
The  waters  of  the  seas 
I  135  In  heaps  he  lays, 

And  depths  in  treasure  his  : 
Let  all  the  earth  fear  God, 

And  who  abroad 
Of  world  a  dweller  is. 

VI. 
I  1 40  For  he  spake  not  more  soon. 

Than  it  was  done  : 
He  bade,  and  it  did  stand. 
He  doth  heath'n  counsel  break, 
And  maketh  weak 
1 145  The  might  of  people's  hand. 

VII. 
But  ever,  ever  shall 
His  counsels  all 
Throughout  all  ages  last. 


128  PSALM   XXXilT. 

The  thinkings  of  that  mind 
I  150  No  end  shall  find, 

When  time's  time  shall  be  past. 

VIII. 

That  realm  indeed  hath  bliss 
Whose  God  he  is, 

Who  him  for  their  Lord  take  : 
I  I  5  5  Even  that  people,  even  those 

Whom  this  Lord  chose 

His  heritage  to  make. 

IX. 

The  Lord  looks  from  the  sky  : 

Full  well  his  eye 
I  1 60  Beholds  our  mortal  race. 

Even  where  he  dwellcth,  he 

Throughout  doth  see 
Who  dwell  in  dusky  place. 


1165 


X. 

Since  he  our  hearts  doth  frame, 

He  knows  the  same  : 
Their  works  he  understands. 
Hosts  do  the  king  not  save  ; 

Nor  strong  men  have 
Their  help  from  mighty  liands. 


PSALM   XXXIII.  129 

XI. 

II 70  Of  quick  strength  is  an  horse, 

And  yet  his  force 
Is  but  a  succour  vain  : 
Who  trusts  him,  sooner  shall 
Catch  harmful  fall, 
I  175  Than  true  deliverance  gain. 

XII. 

But  lo,  Jehovah's  sight 
On  them  doth  light 
Who  him  do  truly  fear  : 
And  them  which  do  the  scope 
II 80  Of  all  their  hope 

Upon  his  mercy  bear. 

XIII. 
His  sight  is  them  to  save 

Ev'n  from  the  grave. 
And  keep  from  famine's  pain. 
1 1 8  5  Then  on  that  Lord  most  kind 

Fix  we  our  mind, 
Whose  shield  shall  us  maintain. 

XIV. 
Our  hearts  sure  shall  enjoy 
In  him  much  joy 


130  PSALM    XXXIII. 

1 190  Who  hope  on  his  name  just. 

O  let  thy  mercy  great 

On  us  be  set ; 
We  have  no  plea,  but  trust. 


I  have  retained  this  paraphrase  with  some  doubt. 
But  there  are  quaint  flashes  of  earnestness  about 
it  which   I   cannot   resolve  to  lose. 

II  I  3.  "  //  is  a  comely  party  Accent  the  '  is.'  It 
is  comely,  for  the  upright,  to  praise  God.  Very 
uncomely,  for  rascals  to  praise  him.  What  come- 
liness there  may  be  to  God's  eyes  and  ears  in  a 
modern  commercial  congregation  singing  Te  Deum 
laudamus,  is  to  be  thought  upon. 

1 127.  Sung  with  real  heart  and  joy,  these  three 
first  stanzas,  simple  as  they  are,  would  be  very 
lovely.  The  twice  repeated  '  Oh,  now,'  is  pretty  in 
its  eagerness. 

I  131.  '■'Heavenly  coasts  Made  the  earth  and  the 
other  worlds,  as  a  coast  to  the  sea  of  heaven, 

1152.    "  That  realm."      This  stanza  entirely  de- 


PSALM   XXXIII.  131 

pends  on  its  accents  for  force  and  beauty.  Thus 
the  rhythmic  accent  on  '  their,'  in  the  third  line,  is 
equivalent  to   italicizing  it. 

The  fourth  line  is  to  be  scanned  like  Latin. 

"  Ev'n  that  peopl',  even  those 
Whom  this,"  etc.     Compare  1194. 

The  rest  of  the  psalm  will  be  beautiful  to  people 
who  mean  it,  and  trivial  to  people  who  do  not. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.     323323,  v.—  a  a  be  c  b. 


132  PSALM   XXXIV. 

PSALM  XXXIV. 

BENEDICAM    DOMINO. 
I. 

I,  EV'n  I,  will  always 
1 195  Give  hearty  thanks  to  him  on  high, 

And  in  my  mouth  continually 
Inhabit  shall  his  praise. 
My  soul  shall  glory  still 
In  that  dear  Lord  with  true  delight : 
1200  That  hearing  it,  the  hearts  contrite 

May  learn  their  joys  to  fill. 

II. 

Come  then  and  join  with  me 
Somewhat  to  speak  of  his  due  praise  : 
Strive  we  that  in  some  worthy  phrase 
1205  His  name  may  honour'd  be. 

Thus  I  begin  :   I  sought 
This  Lord,  and  he  did  hear  my  cry  : 
Yea,  and  from  dreadful  misery, 

He  me,  he  only,  brought. 

III. 
1 2  I  o  This  shall  men's  fancies  frame 

To  look  and  run  to  him  for  aid. 
Whose  faces  on  his  comfort  stay'd 
Shall  never  blush  fur  shame. 


PSALM   XXXIV.  133 

For  lo,  this  wretch  did  call, 
1^15  And  lo,  his  call  the  skies  did  climb  : 

And  God  freed  him,  in  his  worst  time, 
From  out  his  troubles  all. 

IV. 
His  angels'  armies  round 
About  them  pitch,  who  him  do  fear  ; 
1220  And  watch  and  ward,  for  such,  do  bear 

To  keep  them  safe  and  sound. 
I  say,  but  taste,  and  see 
How  sweet,  how  gracious  is  his  grace  : 
Lord,  he  is  in  thrice  blessed  case 
1225  Whose  trust  is  all  on  thee. 

V. 

Fear  God,  ye  saints  of  his. 
For  nothing  they  can  ever  want 
Who  faithful  fears  in  him  do  plant  ; 

They  have,  and  shall  have,  bliss. 
1230  The  lions  oft  lack  food, 

Those  ravener's  whelps  oft  starved  be  : 
But  who  seek  God  with  constancy 

Shall  nothing  need  that's  good. 

VI. 

Come,  children,  lend  your  ear 
1235  To  me,  and  mark  what  I  do  say ; 

12 


134  PSALM   XXXIV. 

For  I  will  teach  to  you  the  way 
How  this  our  Lord  to  fear. 
Among  you,  who  is  here, 

That  life,  and  length  of  life  requires, 
1240  And  blessing  such,  with  length,  desires. 

As  life  may  good  appear  ? 

VII. 

Keep  well  thy  lips  and  tongue, 
Lest  inward  ills  do  them  defile  ; 
Or  that  by  words  enwrapt  in  guile 
1245  Another  man  be  stung. 

Do  good  ;  from  faults  decline, 
Seek  peace,  and  follow  after  it  : 
For  God's  own  eyes  on  good  men  sit, 

His  ears  to  them  incline. 

VIII. 

1250  So  his  high  heavenly  face 

Is  bent,  but  bent  against  those  same 
That  wicked  be,  their  very  name 
From  earth  quite  to  displace. 
The  just,  when  harms  approach, 
1255  Do  cry  ;  their  cry  of  him  is  heard  ; 

And  by  his  care  for  them  is  barr'd 
All  trouble,  all  reproach. 


PSALM   XXXIV.  135 

IX. 

To  humble,  broken  minds 
This  Lord  is  ever,  ever  near  ; 
1260  And  will  save  whom  his  true  sight  clear 

In  spright  afflicted  finds. 
Indeed  the  very  best 
Most  great  and  grievous  pains  doth  bear  : 
But  God  shall  him  to  safety  rear, 
1265  When  most  he  seems  oppress'd. 

X. 

His  bones  he  keepeth  all, 
So  that  not  one  of  them  is  broke  ; 
But  malice  shall  the  wicked  choke  ; 

Who  hateth  God,  shall  fall. 
1270  God  doth  all  souls  redeem 

Who  wear  his  blessed  livery  : 
None,  still  I  say,  shall  ruined  be, 

Who  him  their  trust  esteem. 


This  psalm  is  one  of  the  most  distinct  in  promise 
of  temporal  blessing  to  the  meek  ;  little  proved,  far 
less  disproved,  because  it  is  so  difficult  to  know 
who  are  meek  and  faithful. 

The  version  is,  for  the  most  part,  very  beautiful  ; 
though  the  first  stanza  is  unusually  forced  in  metre 


n,6  PSALM    XXXIV, 


■  o 


and  phrase.  Spenser's  stanza,  the  expansion  of  the 
fourth,  here,  with  its  added  similes,  "  like  flying 
pursui\'ant  "  and  diluting  words,  "  d/z/f  ward," 
would  be  felt  entirely  artificial  compared  to  this 
in  its  simple  and  true  joy,  if  both  were  sung  in 
in   succession. 

1 194.  The  line  will  not  scan  unless  read  with 
great  resoluteness,  and  subdued  emphasis  on  the  I's, 
as  if  the  speaker  uttered  them  with  hushed  breath  : 

"  I,  ev'n   I, — will  rdwaies. ' 

1 20 1.  '' To  fill  tJtcir  joys!'  As  to  fill  wine  in  a 
cup.      ]^ut  it  is  a  forced  phrase. 

1239.  "Who  is  here,  among  you,  who  would 
have  life,  and  length  of  life,  and  such  blessing  with 
the  length  of  it  that  it  may  all  seem  good.''"  The 
couplet  is  obscure,  but,  once  clearly  understood,  it 
would  be  very  pleasant  to  sing  ;  and  so  to  the  end. 

Rtivttim. — Octave.   3443344  3"--   a  b  b  a  c  d  d  c. 


PSALM   XXXV.  iT^y 

PSALM  XXXV. 

JUDICA,    DORIINE. 
I. 

Speak  thou  for  me  against  wrong-speaking  foes  ; 
1275   Thy  force,  O  Lord,  against  their  force  oppose  : 
Take  up  thy  shield  and  for  my  succour  stand  ; 
Yea,  take  thy  lance,  and  stop  the  way  of  those 
That  seek  my  bane — O  make  me  understand 
In  spright,  that  I  shall  have  thy  helping  hand. 

II. 
1280   Confound  those  folks,  thrust  them  in  shameful  hole, 

That  hunt  so  poor  a  prey  as  is  my  soul. 

Rebuke,  and  wreck,  on  those  wrong  doers  throw. 

Who  for  my  hurt  each  way  their  thoughts  did  roll ; 

And  as  vile  chaff  away  the  wind  did  blow, 
1285    Let  angel  thine  a-scattering  make  them  go. 

III. 
Let  angel  thine  pursue  them  as  they  fly. 
But  let  their  flight  be  dark  and  slippery  ; 
For,  causeless,  they  both  pit  and  net  did  set  : 
For,  causeless,  they  did  seek  to  make  me  die  : 
1290  Let  their  sly  wits  unwares  destruction  get, 
Fall  in  self-pit,  be  caught  in  their  own  net. 


138  PSALM  XXXV. 

IV. 
Then  shall  I  joy  in  thee,  then  saved  by  thee, 
I  both  in  mind  and  bones  shall  gladdened  be. 
Ev'n  bones  shall  say,  O  God,  who  is  thy  peer  ? 
1295    Who  poor  and  weak  from  strong  and  rich  dost  free  : 
Who  helpest  those  whose  ruin  was  so  near, 
From  him  whose  force  did  in  their  souls  appear. 

V. 

Who  did  me  wrong,  against  me  witness  bare, 
Laying  such  things  as  never  in  me  were: 
I  300   So  my  good  deeds  they  pay  with  evil  share, 
W^ith  cruel  minds  thy  very  soul  to  tear. 
And  whose  .-'  ev'n  his,  who  when  they  sickness  bare, 
With  inward  woe,  an  outward  sackcloth  ware. 

VI. 
I  did  pull  down  myself,  fasting  for  such, 
I  pray'd  with  prayers  which  my  breast  did  touch  : 
1305    In  sum,  I  showed  that  I  to  them  was  bent 
As  brothers,  or  as  friends  beloved  much. 
Still,  still  for  them  I  humbly  mourning  went, 
Like  one  that  should  his  mother's  death  lament. 

VII. 
I  3  10    But  lo  !  soon  as  they  did  me  stagg'ring  see, 
Who  joy  but  they,  when  they  assembled  be  ? 
Then  abjects,  while  I  was  unwitting,  quite 


PSALM   XXXV.  139 

Against  me  swarm,  causeless  to  rail  at  me 
With  scoffers  false,  I  was  their  feast's  delight, 
1 3 1  5   Even  gnashing  teeth,  to  witness  more  their  spite. 

VIII. 

Lord,  wilt  thou  see,  and  wilt  thou  suffer  it  ? 
Oh  !  on  my  soul  let  not  those  tumults  hit. 
Save  me  distress'd  from  lions  cruel  kind, 
I  will  thank  thee,  where  congregations  sit, 
1320  Even  where  I  do  most  store  of  people  find. 
Most  to  thy  laijds  will  I  my  speeches  bind. 

IX. 

Then,  then  let  not  my  foes  unjustly  joy  ; 
Let  them  not  fleer,  who  me  would  now  destroy : 
Who  never  word  of  peace  yet  utter  would, 
1325    But  hunt  with  craft  the  quiet  man's  annoy, 

And  said  to  me,  wide  mouthing,  as  they  could  : 
*  Aha,  sir,  now  we  see  you  where  we  should.' 

X. 

This  thou  hast  seen,  and  wilt  thou  silent  be } 
O  Lord,  do  not  absent  thyself  from  me  ; 
1330  But  rise, — but  wake, — that  I  may  judgment  get. 
My  Lord,  my  God,  ev'n  for  my  equity, 
Judge,  Lord  ;  judge  God,  even  in  thy  justice  great : 
Let  not  their  joy  upon  my  woes  be  set. 


HO  PSALM   XXXV. 

XI. 

Let  them  not,  Lord,  within  their  hearts  thus  say: 
1335    'O  soul,  rejoice,  we  made  this  wretch  our  prey.' 

But  throw  them  down,  put  them  to  endless  blame, 
Who  make  a  cause  to  joy  of  my  decay. 
Let  them  be  cloth'd  in  most  confounding  shame, 
That  lift  themselves  my  ruin  for  to  frame. 

XII. 

1340   But  make  such  glad,  and  full  of  joyfulness. 
That  yet  bear  love  unto  my  righteousness  : 
Yet,  let  them  say,  '  Laud  be  to  God  always, 
Who  love,  with  God,  his  servants  good  to  bless.' 
As  for  my  tongue,  while  I  have  any  days, 

1345    Thy  justice  witness  shall,  and  speak  thy  praise. 


I  cannot  guess  under  what  circumstances  this 
psalm  was  written  ;  nor  the  real  intent  of  it,  meta- 
phorical or  practical.  There  are  few  living  by 
whom  all  its  words  can  be  adopted,  except  in  an 
entirely  modified  and  distant  sense.  Nevertheless, 
few  people  arc  verily  good  for  much  in  this  world, 
who  cannot  at  least  say,  "With  hypocritical  mockers 
in  feasts,  they  gnashed  upon  mc  with  their  teeth." 

1286.   ''Let   angel  t/iiiie."      Latin   order  again, — 


PSALM    XXXV.  141 

familiar  as  English,  to  Sidney,  may  some  day,  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  be  also  again  to  us.  The  echoing 
chant  in  this  and  the  next  verse,  "  angel  thine, 
— causeless,  they,"  is  taken  up  again  and  again, 
in  answering  or  opposing  couplets,  throughout  the 
march  of  the  psalm  : — 

"  Then  shall  I  joy  in  thee, — then  saved  by  thee, 
Who  poor  and  weak,  from  rich  and  strong,  dost 

flee. 
Who  did  me  wrong — against  me  witness  bare,"  etc. 

1 29 1.  ^^  Self -pit."  The  pit  of  their  own  self:  as 
we  say  of  a  man,  he  was  no  one's  enemy  but  his 
own. 

1297.  ''Appear!'  I  don't  understand  this  line. 
Perhaps  appear,  or  appeere,  may  have  some  sense 
I   do  not  know, 

1298,  1299.  The  construction  is,  "  They  who  did 
me  wrong,  bare  witness,  laying  against  me,"  etc. 

1344.  A  difficult  verse.  Who  love  to  bless  God, 
and  his  erood  servants. 


It'   must  be   understood    after   'tongue'   in   next 


ime. 


Rhythm. — Sixfold.      5  — —  a  a  b  a  b  b. 


142  PSALM    XLI. 

PSALM  XLI. 

BEATUS    QUI    INTELLIGIT. 
I. 

He  blessed  is  who  with  wise  temper  can 

Judge  of  th'  afflicted  man, 
For  God  shall  him  deliver  in  the  time 

When  most  his  troubles  climb. 
1350        The  Lord  will  keep  his  life  yet  safe  and  sound, 

With  blessings  of  the  ground  ; 
And  will  not  him  unto  the  will  expose 

Of  them  that  be  his  foes. 

IT. 
When  bed  from  rest  becomes  his  seat  of  woe, 
1355  In  God  his  strength  shall  grow, 

And  turn  his  couch,  where  sick  he  couched  late, 

To  well  recover'd  state  ; 
Therefore  I  said  in  most  infirmity, 
Have  mercy,  Lord,  on  me  : 
I  360        O,  heal  my  soul,  let  there  thy  cure  begin, 
Where  'gainst  thee  lay  my  sin. 

III. 
My  foes,  ill  words  their  hate  of  me  display, 
While  thus,  alas,  they  say  : 


PSALM    XLI.  143 

'  When,  when  will  death  o'ertake  this  wretched 

wight, 
1365  And  his  name  perish  quite  ?' 

Their  courteous  visitings  are  courting  lies, 

They  inward  ill  disguise, 
Ev'n  heaps  of  wicked  thoughts,  which  straight 

they  show 
As  soon  as  out  they  go. 

IV. 
1370        For  then  their  hateful  heads  close  whisp'ring  be, 
With  hurtful  thoughts  to  me. 
Now  he  is  wreck 'd,  say  they,  lo,  there  he  lies. 

Who  never  more  must  rise. 
O,  you  my  friend,  to  whom  I  did  impart 
1375  The  secrets  of  my  heart. 

My  friend,  I  say,  who  at  my  table  sat. 
Did  kick  against  my  state. 

V. 

Therefore,  O  Lord,  abandon'd  thus  of  all. 
On  me  let  mercy  fall  ; 
1380        And  raise  me  up,  that  I  may  once  have  might. 
Their  merits  to  requite  : 
But  what .''  this  doth  already  well  appear 

That  I  to  thee  am  dear  : 
Since  foes,  nor  have,  nor  shall  have,  cause  to  be 
1385  Triumphing  over  me. 


144  *  PSALM   XLl. 

VI. 
But  triumph  well  may  I,  whom  thou  did'st  stay 

In  my  sound  rightful  way  : 
Whom  thou  (O  place  of  places  all)  dost  place, 
For  aye,  before  thy  face. 
1390        So  then  be  blest  now,  then,  at  home,  abroad, 
Of  Israel  the  God  : 
World  without  end,  let  still  this  blessing  flow, 
Oh  so  ;   oh  be  it  so. 


This  psalm  is  of  singular  importance  in  the  bless- 
ing promised  to  the  man  who  understands  the  poor. 
There  are  hundreds  of  places  in  which  direct  help  to 
them  is  commanded,  or  blessed ;  but  here  is  meant 
the  rarer  virtue  of  understanding  their  infirmities. 
For  which  the  reward  is  that  God  will  make  our 
own  bed,  in  our  own  sickness,  and  uphold  us  in 
our  integrity  before  those  who  think  evil  of  us,  and 
above  all  that  he  will  bless  us  with  the  blessing 
of  the  poor  ;  blessings  of  the  ground — on  humility 
of  heart. 

135  I.  "Blessings  of  the  ground."  As  distinct  from 
those  of  the  soul,  for  which  he  prays  imipediately 
afterwards  that  the  healing  may  begin  with'  //; — 
(line  1360). 


PSALM   XLI.  145 

1366.  "  Their  courteous  visitingsr  These  com- 
plaints of  David  against  liis  false  friends  have  never 
been  clearly  intelligible  to  me  ;  at  least  so  far  as 
the  psalm  may  be  understood  of  literal  sickness. 
If  a  man  is  worth  anything,  as  far  as  I  kno-\\'  the 
world,  even  his  enemies  become  his  friends  when 
he  is  ill.      But  compare  the  fift}'-fifth  psalm. 

1377.    Did    instead    of    didst,    for    euphony.       So 
1458. 

Rhythm. — Octave.      53535353  -^--  a  a  b  b 

c  c  d  d. 


146  PSALM   XLII. 

PSALM  XLII. 

QUERIADMODUM, 
I. 

As  the  chafed  hart  which  brayeth 
1395  Seeking  some  refreshing  brook, 

So  my  soul  in  panting  playeth, 
Thirsting  on  my  God  to  look. 
My  soul  thirsts  indeed,  in  me, 
After  ever-living  thee  ; 
1400  Ah,  when  comes  my  blessed  being, 

Of  thy  face  to  have  a  seeing  ? 

Day  and  night  my  tears  out-flowing 
Have  been  my  ill  feeding  food, — 

With  their  daily  questions  throwing, 
1405  Where  is  now  thy  God  so  good  ? 

My  heart  melts,  rememb'ring  so, 
How  in  troops  I  wont  to  go  : 

Leading  them,  his  praises  singing, 

Holy  dance  to  God's  house  bringing, 

III. 

14 10  Why  art  thou,  my  soul,  so  sorry. 

And  in  me  so  much  dismay'd  ? 
Wait  on  God,  for  yet  his  glory 


PSALM   XLII.  147 


In  my  song  shall  be  display'd. 

When  but  with  one  look  of  his 
141  5  He  shall  me  restore  to  bliss. 

Ah,  my  soul  itself  appalleth, 
In  such  longing  thoughts  it  falleth. 


IV. 

For  my  mind  on  my  God  bideth, 
Ev'n  from  Hermon's  dwelling  led, 
1420  From  the  grounds  where  Jordan  slideth, 

And  from  Mizar's  hilly  head. 
One  deep  with  noise  of  his  fall, 
Other  deeps  of  woes  doth  call : 
While  my  God,  with  wasting  wonders, 
1425  On  me,  wretch,  his  tempest  thunders. 


V. 

All  thy  floods  on  me  abounded, 
Over  me  all  thy  waves  went : 

Yet  thus  still  my  hope  is  grounded, 
That,  thy  anger  being  spent, 
1430  I  by  day  thy  love  shall  taste, 

I  by  night  shall  singing  last, 

Praying  ; — prayers  still  bequeathing, 

To  my  God  that  gave  me  breathing. 


148  PSALM    XLII. 

VI. 

I  will  say,  '  O  Lord,  m}'  tower, 
1435  Why  am  I  forgot  by  thee  ? 

Why  should  grief  my  heart  devour 
While  the  foe  oppresseth  me  ? 
Those  vile  scoffs  of  naughty  ones 
Wound  and  rend  me  to  the  bones  ; 
1440  When  foes  ask,  with  foul  deriding. 

Where  is  now  your  God  abiding  ? ' 

VII. 

Why  art  thou,  my  soul,  so  sorr}'. 
And  in  me  so  much  dismay'd  ? 

Wait  on  God,  for  yet  his  glory 
1445  In  my  song  shall  be  display 'd. 

To  him  my  thanks  shall  be  said, 
Who  is  still  my  present  aid  : 

And  in  fine  my  soul  be  raised, 

God  is  my  God,  by  me  praised. 


I  am  not  clear  about  the  meaning  of  this  psalm. 
I  do  not  sec  why  the  king's  soul  was  disquieted,  or 
for  what  oppression  of  the  enemy,  or  what  comfort 
was  in  memory  of  the  hill  Mizar.  JUit  it  is  a  psalm 
good   for  all    of  us   when   wc   are    disquieted    about 


PSALM   XLII.  149 

anything  :  above  all,  a  lesson  to  most  of  us  that  we 
are  not  disquieted  enough  by  that  sacred  thirst. 

1396.  '■'Ill  panting  play  ethy  I  believe  the  meaning 
is  that  his  soul  wavers  or  trembles  in  panting,  as 
we  say  waves  or  ripples  '  play.' 

1404.  "  With  their  daily  questions  throwing.'^ 
Awkward  and  unscholarly  in  expression ;  and,  indeed, 
this  paraphrase  greatly  embarrasses  me,  in  its  un- 
usual forcing  of  expression  and  accent,  while  yet 
in  tenderness  of  feeling  it  is  one  of  the  loveliest. 


't> 


14 1 6.  "  My  soul  itself  appalleth,  in  such  longing." 
So  in  Psalm  cxix.  :  "  My  soul  fainteth,  for  the 
longing  that  it  hath  unto  thy  judgments." 

1422.  "  One  deep,  ivitk  noise."  This  false  accent, 
and  still  harsher  "Thy  waves  went"  (1427),  and 
"When  foes  ask"  (1440),  are  not  like  Sidney's 
work.  "To  him  my  thanks"  (1446),  "God  is  my 
God"  (1449),  have  more  reason  in  them,  but  are 
still  ungraceful.  In  1490  it  rhymes  to  'poured.' 
The  next  psalm,  however  (xliii.),  is  still  worse ; 
but  then  follows  the  "  Deus  auribus,"  given  with 
singularly  fluent  melody,  though  with  the  same 
concessions  in  language. 

Rhythm. — Octave.  44444444  --—  a  b  a  b  c  c  d  d. 

13 


I50  PSALM   XLIV. 

PSALM  XLIV. 

BEUS,    AURIBUS. 
T. 

1450  Lord,  our  fathers'  true  relation, 

Often  made,  hath  made  us  know 
How  thy  power,  on  each  occasion. 
Thou  of  old,  for  them  did  show. 
How  thy  hand  the  pagan  foe 
1455  Rooting  hence,  thy  folk  implanting. 

Leafless  made  that  branch  to  grow,- 
This,  to  spring,  no  verdure  wanting. 

II. 
Never  could  their  sword  procure  them 
Conquest  of  the  promis'd  land  : 
1460  Never  could  their  force  assure  them 

When  they  did  in  danger  stand. 
No,  it  was  thy  arm,  thy  hand  ; 
No,  it  was  thy  favour's  treasure 
Spent  upon  thy  loved  band  : 
14^5  Loved,  wrhy  .^  for  thy  wise  pleasure. 

III. 

Unto  thee  stand  I  subjected, 
I  that  did  of  Jacob  spring  : 

Bid  then  that  I  be  protected, 

Thou  that  art  my  God,  my  King  : 


PSALM   XLIV.  151 

1470  By  that  succour  thou  didst  bring, 

We  their  guide  that  us  assailed, 

Down  did  tread,  and  back  did  fling, 
In  thy  name  confus'd  and  quailed. 

IV.     ■ 
For  my  trust  was  not  reposed 
[475  In  mine  own,  though  strongest  bow  : 

Nor  my  scabbard  held  enclosed 

That,  whence  should  my  safety  flow. 
Thou,  O  God,  from  every  foe 
Didst  us  shield,  our  haters  shaming  : 
1480  Thence  thy  daily  praise  we  show, 

Still  thy  name  with  honour  naming. 

V. 

But  aloof  thou  now  dost  hover, 

Grieving  us  with  all  disgrace  : 
Hast  resign'd,  and  given  over 
1485  In  our  camp  thy  Captain's  place. 

Back  we  turn,  that  turned  face. 
Fleeing  them  that  erst  we  foiled  : 

See,  our  goods,  (O  changed  case,) 
Spoil'd  by  them  that  late  we  spoil'd. 

VI. 

1490  Right  as  sheep  to  be  devoured, 

Helpless  here  we  lie  alone  : 


152  PSALM   XLIV. 

Scatt'ringly  by  thee  outpoured, 

Slaves  to  dwell  with  Lords  unknown. 
Sold  we  are, — but  silver  none 
1495  Told  for  us  : — by  thee  so  prized, 

As  for  nought  to  be  foregone  ; 

Graceless,  worthless,  vile,  despised. 

VII. 

By  them  all  that  dwell  about  us, 
Toss'd  we  fly,  as  balls  of  scorn, 
I  5  00  All  our  neighbours  laugh  and  flout  us. 

Men  by  thee  in  shame  forlorn. 
Proverb-like,  our  name  is  worn. 
Oh,  how  fast  !   in  foreign  places ; 
What  head-shakings  are  forborne 
1505  Wordless  taunts  and  dumb  disgraces 

VIII. 

So  rebuke  before  me  goeth. 
As  my  self  doth  daily  go  : 

So  confusion  on  me  groweth, 
That  my  face  I  blush  to  show. 
I  5  10  I^y  reviling,  sland'ring  foe 

Inly  wounded,  thus  I  languish  : 

Watchful  spite,  with  outward  blow, 

Anguish  adds  to  inward  anguish. 


PSALM   XLIV.  153 

IX. 

All,  all  this  on  us  hath  lighted, 
1515  Yet  to  thee  our  love  doth  last  : 

As  we  were, — ^we  are — delighted 
Still  to  hold  thy  cov'nant  fast : 
Unto  none  our  hearts  have  past  ; 
•  Unto  none  our  feet  have  slidden  ; 
15-O  Though  us,  down  to  dragons  cast. 

Thou  in  deadly  shade  hast  hidden. 

X. 

If  our  God  we  had  forsaken. 

Or  forgot  what  he  assign'd. 
If  ourselves  we  had  betaken 
1525  Gods  to  serve  of  other  kind. 

Should  not  he  our  doubling  find, 
Though  conceal'd  and  closely  lurking  ? 

Since  his  eye  of  deepest  mind 
Deeper  sinks  than  deepest  working. 

XI. 

1530  Surely,  Lord,  this  daily  murther 

For  thy  sake  we  thus  sustain  : 
For  thy  sake  esteem'd  no  further 

Than  as  sheep  that  must  be  slain. 

Up,  O  Lord,  up  once  again, 
1535  Sleep  not  ever,  slack  not  ever  : 


154  PSALM    XLIV. 

Why  dost  thou  forget  our  pain  ? 
Wh}-  to  hide  thy  face  persever  ? 

XII. 

Heavy  grief  our  soul  abaseth, 
Prostrate  it  on  dust  doth  lie  : 
I  540  Earth  our  body  fast  embraceth, 

Nothing  can  the  clasp  untie. 
Rise,  and  us  with  help  supply  ; 
Lord,  in  mercy  so  esteem  us, 
That  we  may  thy  mercy  try, 
1545  Mercy  may  from  thrall  redeem  us. 


If  this  psalm  in  the  original  be  David's  at  all,  it 
is  written  by  him  for  the  people,  not  for  himself ; 
nor  do  I  understand  at  what  time,  unless  just 
after  the  victory  of  the  riiilistines  over  Saul.  The 
verses  17  to  20  could  not  have  been  sung  by  the 
people  in  any  of  the  later  reigns  of  ruin. 

1 47 1.  ''Assailed"  The  metre  throughout  this 
psalm  requires  these  participles  to  have  their  last 
syllable  sounded.  But  it  is  thus  quite  spoiled  for 
reading  without  music  :  I  give  it  in  the  original 
form  ;  but  all  these  words  should  be  contracted  in 
reading. 


PSALM    XLIV.  155 

1473-  "  Quailed^  Nearly  always  used  by  Sidney 
in  the  sense  of  quelled.  Both  came  from  the  Saxon, 
and  become  '  kill '  in  later  English. 

1482.  ''But  aloof"  This  and  the  next  stanza 
are  very  grand. 

1545.  This  writer  (Sidney,  or  whoever  it  may  be) 
is  apt  to  be  strangely  careless  in  his  last  lines, — 
totally  reversing  the  modern  practice  of  leading  up 
to  them.  He  seems  to  sing  his  best  in  the  middle 
of  the  song,  and  to  leave  off  tired. 

Rhythm. — Trochaic. 
43433433—  ababbcbc. 

I  omit  the  following  four  paraphrases,  in  each 
of  which  some  little  grotesque  or  commonplace 
expression,  too  likely  to  catch  the  reader's  memory, 
occurs  ; — while  the  original  psalms  are  more  beau- 
tiful than  any  altered  form  of  them  could  be. 
I  have  given  the  last  stanza  of  the  48th  in  the 
preface,  only  as  an  example  of  the  way  in  which 
such  change  of  form,  admittedly  inferior,  may 
sometimes  be  helpful. 


156  PSALM    XLIX. 

PSALM    XLIX. 

AUDITE   HJEC,    OMNES. 
I. 

World-dwellers  all,  give  heed  to  what  I  say; 
To  all  I  speak,  to  rich,  poor,  high,  and  low  ; 
Knowledge  the  subject  is  my  heart  conceives, 
Wisdom  the  words  shall  from  my  mouth  proceed, 
1550  Which  I  will  measure  by  melodious  ear. 
And  ridled  speech  to  tuned  harp  accord. 

11. 

The  times  of  evil,  why  should  they  me  dismay  ? 
When  mischief  shall  my  footsteps  overflow  .-• 
And  first  from  him  whom  fickle  wealth  deceives, 
1555   Which  his  too  great  vain  confidence  doth  breed, 
Since  no  man  can  his  brother's  life  outbear, 
Nor  yield  for  him  his  ransom  to  the  Lord. 

IIL 
For  dear  the  price  that  for  a  soul  must  pay. 
And  death  his  prisoner  never  will  forgo. 
1560  Nay,  tell  me,  whom,  but  longer  time  he  leaves. 
Respited  from  the  tomb  for  treasure's  meed  ? 
Sure,  at  his  summons,  wise  and  fools  appear, 
And  others  spend  the  riches  they  did  hoard. ' 


PSALM    XLIX.  157 

IV. 

A  second  thinks  his  house  shall  not  decay, 
1565    Nor  time  his  glorious  buildings  overthrow, 

Nam'd  proudly  of  his  name,  where  folly  reaves 
Exalted  men,  of  sense  ;  and  they  indeed 
A  brutish  life  and  death,  as  beasts  they  were, 
Do- live  and  die  ;    of  whom  is  no  record. 

V. 

1570  Yea  these,  whose  race  approves  their  peevish  way, 
Death  in  the  pit,  his  carrion  food,  doth  stow  : 
And  lo,  the  first  succeeding  light  perceives 
The  just  installed  in  the  great  man's  stead  ; 
Nay, — far  his  prince  ;  when  once  that  lovely  cheer, 

1575    Lovely  in  house,  in  tomb  becomes  abhorred. 

VI. 

But  God,  my  God,  to  intercept  the  prey 
Of  my  life  from  the  grave  will  not  foreslowe, 
For  he  it  is,  he  only  me  receives  : 
Then  though  one  rich  do  grow,  though  glory's  seed 
1580  Spring  with  increase:  yet  stand  thou  free  from  fear; 
Of  all  his  pomp,  death  shall  him  nought  afford. 

VII. 

Please  they  themselves,  and  think  at  happiest  stay 
Who  please  themselves:  yet  to  their  fathers  go 


158  PSALM    XLIX. 

Must  they,  to  endless  dark  :  for  folly  reaves 
1585   Exalted  men,  of  sense  ;  and  they  indeed 

A  brutish  life  and  death,  as  beasts  they  were, 
Do  live,  and  die  ;   of  whom  is  none  record. 


As  far  as  I  understand  this  psalm,  it  declares  again 
simply  what  the  first  did,  that  the  ungodly  shall 
have  no  part  in  the  resurrection  to  judgment,  but 
shall  perish  as  the  beasts.  In  both  Septuagint  and 
Vulgate  the  '  high  '  and  '  low  '  of  the  second  verse 
is  *  Sons  of  Earth  '  and  '  Sons  of  Men  ';  but  I  think 
the  phrase  '  Sons  of  Earth '  means  here  '  noble,'  or 
of  ancient  race ;  men  such  that  their  posterity 
approve  their  sayings,  verse  i  3  ;  and  they  call  their 
lands  after  their  own  names,  verse  11,  or  themselves 
after  the  name  of  their  lands.  If  the  solemn  "  they 
shall  never  see  light  "  of  the  19th  verse,  does  not 
pronounce  death  on  the  unjust,  the  entire  psalm 
would  be  valueless  ;  whereas  it  is  introduced  by  its 
grave  prelude,  as  one  of  more  than  usual  use,  and 
more   than  ordinarily  to   be   attended   truth. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold,  sequent  from  beginning  to  end, 
with  six  rhymes — 5  ^^-  a  b  c  d  c  f — a  b  c  d  e  f,  etc. 

155  I.   '' Ridled" — 'sifted.'      The   word    riddle,    I 
sippose,  first    means  a  remnant  of  words  with   con- 


PSALM    XLIX.  159 

centrated  meaning,  after  all  explanatory  ones  have 
been  removed  :  "  out  of  the  Eater  came  forth  meat," 
or  the  like. 

1 5  60.  Inversion  too  far  forced  ;  the  meaning, 
*  which  doth  breed  his  confidence.' 

1 5  60.  "  But  longer."  Tell  me  whom  he  has  even 
so  much  as  respited. 

1566.  "Reaves."     For  '  bereaves  ' — i.e.,  of  sense. 

1 5  74.  "  Nay,  far  his  prince."  Getting  far  above, 
or  before,  the  great  man,  when  once  that  lovely 
face  of  his  becomes  abhorred. 

15  77-  "  Foreslozue" — another  rare  word,  for  to 
delay,  neglect,  or  omit. 


l6o  PSALM    L. 

PSALM  L. 

DEUS     DEORUM. 
I. 

The  mighty  God,  the  ever-Hving  Lord, 
All  nations  from  earth's  uttermost  confines 

1590   Summoneth  by  his  pursuivant,  his  word, 
And  out  of  beauty's  beauty  Sion  shines. 
God  comes,  he  comes,  with  ear  and  tongue  restor'd  ; 
His  guard  huge  storms,  hot  flames  his  ushers  go  : 
And,  called,  their  apparance  to  record, 

1595    Heav'n  hasteth  from  above,  ea,rth  from  below. 

II. 

He  sits  his  people's  judge,  and  thus  commands  : 
"  Gather  me  hither  that  beloved  line. 
Whom  solemn  sacrifice's  holy  bands 
Did  in  eternal  league  with  mc  combine. 
1600  Then,  when  the  heav'ns  subsigned  with  their  hands, 
That  God  in  justice  eminently  reigns, 
Controlling  so,  as  nothing  countcrstands 
What  once  decree  his  sacred  doom  contains. 

III. 
You  then,  my  folk,  to  mc  your  God  attend  : 
1605    Hark,  Israel,  and  hoar  my  people's  blame  : 


PSALM   L.  l6l 

Not  want  of  sacrifice  doth  me  offend, 
Nor  do  I  miss  thy  altar's  daily  flame. 
To  me  thy  stall  no  fatted  bull  shall  send  ; 
Should  I  exact  one  he-goat  from  thy  fold  ? 
1610  I,  that  as  far  as  hills,  woods,  fields,  extend, 

All  birds  and  beasts  in  known  possession  hold. 

IV. 

Suppose  me  hungry; — yet  to  beg  thy  meat, 
I  would  not  tell  thee  that  I  hungry  were  : 
My  self  may  take,  what  needs  me  then  intreat  ? 
161  5    Since  earth  is  mine,  and  all  that  earth  doth  bear. 
But  do  I  long  the  brawny  flesh  to  eat 
Of  that  dull  beast  that  serves  the  ploughman's  need? 
Or  do  I  thirst  to  quench  my  thirsty  heat, 
In  what  the  throats  of  bearded  cattle  breed  ? 


V. 

1620  O  no  ;  bring  God  of  praise  a  sacrifice  :  "^ 

Thy  vowed  heart  unto  the  highest  pay  : 
Invoke  my  name,  to  me  erect  thy  cries, 
Thy  praying  plaints,  when  sorrow  stops  thy  way ; 
I  will  undo  the  knot  that  anguish  ties, 

1625   And  thou  at  peace  shalt  glorify  my  name  :" 
Mildly  the  good,  God  schooleth  in  this  wise, 
But  this  sharp  check  doth  to  the  wicked  frame, 


1 62  PSALM    L. 

VI. 
"  How  fits  it  tJicc  my  statutes  to  report, 
And  of  thy  cov'nant  in  thy  talk  to  prate  ? 

1630   Hating  to  live  in  right  reformed  sort, 
And  leaving  in  neglect  what  I  relate. 
See'st  thou  a  thief  ?  thou  grow'st  of  his  consort  : 
Dost  with  adult'rers  to  adult'ry  go  : 
Thy  mouth  is  slander's  ever-open  port, 

1635   And  from  thy  tongue  doth  nought  but  treason  flow, 


VII. 

Nay,  ev'n  thy  brother  thy  rebukes  disgrace. 
And  thou  in  spite  defam'st  thy  mother's  son  : 
And  for  I  wink  awhile,  thy  thoughts  embrace, — 
*  God  is  like  me,  and  doth  as  I  have  done.' 
1 640   But  lo,  thou  see'st  I  march  another  pace. 

And  come  with  truth  thy  falsehood  to  disclose  : 
Thy  sin  reviv'd  upbraids  thy  blushing  face. 
Which  thou  long  dead  in  silence  did  suppose. 


VIII. 

O  lay  up  this  in  marking  memory, 
1645  You  that  are  wont  God's  judgments  to  forget 
In  vain  to  others  for  release  you  fly, 
If  once  on  you  I  griping  fingers  set. 


PSALM   L.  163 

And  know  the  rest  :  my  dearest  worship  I 
In  sweet  perfume  of  off'red  praise  do  place  : 
1650  And  who  directs  his  goings  orderly, 

By  my  conduct  shall  see  God's  saving  grace." 


Of  the  general  tenor  of  the  great  lesson  given  in 
this  psalm  to  all  worshippers  of  God  throughout  the 
world,  there  is,  fortunately,  no  doubt  possible.  But 
our  acceptance  of  the  construction  and  course  of  the 
psalm,  with  some  of  the  weight  of  the  lesson,  depend 
on  the  interpretation  we  give  to  the  fifth  verse.  The 
proper  word  for  Saints,  in  Greek,  is  a7to9.  But  the 
word  in  the  Septuagint  here  is  6crto<?.  And  I  have 
no  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  Septuagint  translators 
took  a  view  of  the  psalm  which  will  make  it  entirely 
simple  and  direct  from  beginning  to  end.  The  first 
four  verses,  thus  read,  describe  a  solemn  coming  of 
God  to  pronounce  true  judgment,  with  all  the  witness 
of  heaven  and  earth,  upon  *  Jiis  people  ' — his  nominal 
worshippers. 

And  the  fifth  verse  calls  these  together  to  receive 
judgment, — all,  namely,  who  have,  in  the  sight  of 
the  world,  made  a  covenant  with  God  by  sacrifice, 
and  taken  upon  them  the  name  of  his  people.  Then 
the  pronounced  judgment    is  the  separation  of  the 


1 64  PSALM  L. 

<  oaiOL ' — this  visible  Church,  into  sheep  and  goats, — 
to  the  first  of  whom,  true-minded,  yet  trusting  too 
much  to  their  material  sacrifice,  the  message  comes, 
— 'thinkest  thou,'  etc.,  but  to  the  wicked  and  false- 
minded  God  says.  Why  dost  thou  take  my  covenant 
in  thy  mouth,  when  thou  hatest  my  teaching,  and 
hast  cast  my  words  behind  thee  ? 

Thus  understood,  the  entire  psalm  is  one  of 
trenchant  practical  power  for  all  time  :  and  I  am 
under  a  strong  impression  that  the  complete  retri- 
butive system  alleged  throughout  the  Psalter  is  that 
those  who  have  lived  only  godless,  shall  die  like 
beasts  ;  but  that  those  who  have  believed  in  God, 
and  yet  betrayed  him,  shall  be  cast  into  outer 
darkness — "  there,  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of 
teeth." 

1592.  "  With  ear  and  tongue  rcstord."  After 
seeming  not  to  hear  prayers,  and  keeping  silence  in 
judgment — at  last  to  hear,  to  speak,  again  !  Com- 
pare verse  21,  and  lines  1643 — 1648. 

1594.   ''Apparancc!'     From  Latin  'Apparitor.' 

1597.  ''Tliat  beloved  line"  Israel,  including  evil 
and  good. 

1 600.  "  Then,  zuhen  the  heavens."      I  don't  under- 


PSALM  L.  165 

Stand  Sidney's  additional  lines  here.  He  probably 
means  that  the  heavens  subsigncd  in  the  fire  and 
hail  on  Egypt. 

1 6 19.  "■Bearded  cattle"  for  goats. 

1627.  ''Wicked."  I  have  replaced  the  original 
word, — Sidney,  having  missed  the  bearing  '  of  the 
passage  had  put  '  godless,'  which  made  the  sequence 
unintelligible. 

163  I.  "Relate."  In  Latin  sense,  with  full  mean- 
ing of  the  constant  reference  and  relation  between 
God  and  man.  • 

1638.  "Thy  thoughts  embrace."  'Hug  the  thought  ' 
— hold  it  fast,  and  will  not  let  it  go. 

1643.  "Did."     Again  by  euphony,  for  'didst' 

165 1.  " Condiict"  with  accent  on  last  syllable, 
short  for  conducting,  —  God  '  marching  another 
pace.' 

Rhythm. — Octave.      5  —  ababacac. 


14 


1 66  PSALM  LIII. 

PSALM  LIII. 

DIXIT    INSIPIENS. 
I. 

There  is  no  God,  the  fool  doth  say, 
If  not  in  word,  in  thought  and  will  : 
This  fancy  rotten  deeds  bewray, 
1655  And  studies  fix'd  on  loathesomc  ill. 

Not  one  doth  good  :  from  heavn'ly  hill, 
Jehova's  eye,  one  wiser  mind 
Could  not  discern,  that  held  the  way, 
To  understand,  and  God  to  find. 

II. 

1660  They  all  have  stray 'd,  arc  cank'red  all  : 

Not  one  I  say,  not  one  doth  good. 
But  senselessness, — what  should  I  call 
Such  carriage  of  this  cursed  brood  ? 
My  people  are  their  bread,  their  food  ; 

1665  Upon  my  name  they  scorn  to  cry; 

Whom  vain  affright  doth  yet  appal. 
Where  no  just  ground  of  fear  doth  lie. 

III. 

But  on  their  bones  shall  wreaked  be 
All  thy  invaders'  force  and  guile, 


PSALM   LIII.  167 

1670  The  vile  confusion  cast  by  thee, 

For  God  himself  shall  make  them  vile. 
Ah  !  why  delays  that  happy  while, 
When  Syon  shall  our  saver  bring  ? 
The  Lord  his  folk  will  one  day  free, 
i<j75  Then  Jacob's  house  shall  dance  and  sing. 


N.'>.-\,^.-\.-S_-S. 


1670.   "  The  vile  confusion  cast  by  thccT 

I  do  not  know  what  account  is  given  of  this 
recurrence  of  the  14th  Psalm  ;  but  as  an  appoint- 
ment of  Providence  in  the  ordering  of  the  collected 
books  of  Scripture,  it  is  strangely  significant ; 
twice  over  insisting  on  its  plain  lesson  of  the 
eternal  separation  of  the  malignant  fool  who  sees 
no  God,  from  the  loving  wise,  who  see  God  always  ; 
and,  twice  over,  laying  the  same  pitfall  before  the 
unhappy  sect  who  would  fain  hide  their  own  sins 
and  ignorances  under  the  abuse  of  human  nature  ; 
this  line,  '  the  vile  confusion  cast  by  thee,'  is  like  a 
prophetic  intimation  by  Sidney  of  the  existing  state 
of  Protestantism,  One  of  my  friends,  an  actively 
benevolent  and  sensible  woman,  was  complaining  to 
a  Low-Church  clergyman  the  other  day  that  he  had 
not  spoken  in  his  sermon  what  had  helped  her, 
because  '  he  did   not  know  what  was   in  her  mind.' 


l68  PSALM    LIIT. 

'  I   know  your  mind  perfectly  well,"    (answered   the 
poor  puppy,)   "  /  am  a  sinner,  yon  arc  a  sinner." 

1654.  "  Beiv}-ay."  The  rotten  deeds  bewray,  or 
betray,  the  fancy  into  darkness. 

1662.  "  What  should  I  calW  There  is  no  name 
for  such    folly.      Have  they  no  knowledge  then? 

Any  wise  man  will  have,  constantly,  this  feeling 
of  the  unspeakable,  in  reading  modern  political 
literature. 

1668.    ''On    their  bo7ies!'  The  force   and  guile 

of   their    enemies    shall    fall  back  on    their    (own) 

bones,  scattering  them  ;  *  as  when  one  cuttcth  and 
cleaveth  wood.' 

Rhythm. — Octave.     4  — -  abab    bcac. 

The  next  following  psalm  is  little  more  than 
the  expansion   of  the  last  clause  of  this  one. 


PSALM   LIV.  169 

PSALM  LIV. 

DEUS,    IN   NOMINE. 

Lord,  let  thy  name  my  saving  succour  be, 
Defend  my  wronged  cause  by  thy  just  might  : 
Lord,  let  my  crying  voice  be  heard  of  thee, 
Let  not  my  heavy  words  be  counted  light, 

1680  For  strangers  I  against  me  risen  see. 

Who  hunt  me  hard,  and  sore  my  soul  affright  ; 
Possess'd  with  fear  of  God  in  no  degree. 
But  God,  thou  art  my  helper  in  my  right. 
Thou  succour  send'st  to  such  as  succour  me  ; 

1685    Then  pay  them  home,  who  thus  against  me  fight, 
And  let  thy  truth  cut  down  their  treachery. 
So  I  with  off'rings  shall  thy  altars  dight, 
Praising  thy  name  which  thus  has  set  me  free  : 
Giving  me  scope  to  soar  with  happy  flight 

1690  Above  my  evils  ;  and  on  my  enemy, 
Making  me  see  what  I  to  see  delight. 


These  repeated  cries  of  David  against  his  enemies 
will  always  remain  utterly  unintelligible  to  a  Church 
living  in  compromise  with  sin,  and  would  instantly 
become  terrifically  intelligible  to  any  body  of 
Christians  honestly   endeavouring  to  do  their   duty 


I/O  PSALM   LIV. 

as  God's  servants.  And  the  Devil  continually  uses 
a  good  man's  neighbourliness  and  goodnature  to 
betray  him  into  this  compromise.  Wide  worldly 
applause,  and  the  pleasure  he  has  in  the  visible 
good  done  by  him  to  his  own  friends  and  in 
his  own  circle,  blind  him  to  his  falling  away  from 
loyalty  to  the  Justice  of  God.  I  could  name  clergy- 
men whose  lives,  floating,  admired  and  beloved,  in 
iridescent  bubbles  down  the  black  current  of  their 
country's  iniquity,  will  be  strange  signs  of  the 
times,  in   future  history. 

Rhythm. — Couplet.      4  --—  and   a  b,   a  b,  sequent 

throughout. 


PSALM   LV.  171 

PSALM  LV. 

EXAUDI,    DEUS. 
I. 

My  God,  most  glad  to  look,  most  prone  to  hear, 

An  open  ear  O  let  my  prayer  find. 

And  from  my  plaint  turn  not  thy  face  away; 

1695   Behold  my  gestures,  hearken  what  I  say 

While  uttering  moans  with  most  tormented  mind  ; 
My  body  I  no  less  torment  and  tear. 
For  lo,  their  fearful  threat'nings  wound  mine  ear. 
Who  griefs  on  griefs  on  me  still  heaping  lay, 

1700  A  mark  to  wrath,  and  hate,  and  wrong  assign 'd. 
Therefore  my  heart  hath  all  his  force  resign'd 
To  trembling  paths  ;  death-terrors  on  me  prey, 
I  fear, — nay,  shake, — nay,  quiv'ring,  quake  with  fear. 

II. 

Then  say  I,  '  O  might  I  but  cut  the  wind 
1705    Borne  on  the  wings  the  fearful  dove  doth  bear, 

Stay  would  I  not,  till  I  in  rest  might  stay; 

Far  hence,  O  far,  then  would  I  take  my  way 

Unto  the  desert,  and  repose  me  there, 

These  storms  of  woe,  these  tempests  left  behind  ! ' 
1 7 10  But  swallow  them,  O  Lord,  in  darkness  blind. 

Confound  their  counsels,  lead  their  tongues  astray. 


172  PSALM   LV. 

That  what  they  mean  by  words  may  not  appear, 
For  mother  Wrong  within  their  towns  each  where, 
And  daughter  Strife  their  ensigns  so  display, 
I  7  I  5    As  if  they  only  thither  were  confin'd. 

III. 

These  walk  their  city  walls  both  night  and  day, 
Oppressions,  tumults,  guiles  of  every  kind 
Are  burgesses,  and  dwell  the  middle  near: 
About  their  streets  his  masking  robe  doth  wear 

1720   Mischief,  cloth 'd  in  deceit,  with  treason  lin'd, 
Where  only  he,  he  only  beares  the  sway. 
But  not  my  foe  with  me  this  prank  did  play. 
For  then  I  would  have  borne  with  patient  cheer 
An  unkind  part  from  whom  I  know  unkind, — 

1725    Nor  he  whose  forehead  envy's  mark  had  sign'd, 
His  trophies  on  my  ruins  sought  to  rear, 
From  whom  to  fly  I  might  have  made  essay, — 

IV. 
Ikit  this  to  ihcc^ — to  thee — impute  I  may, 
My  fellow,  my  companion,  held  most  dear, 

1730   My  soul,  my  other  self,  my  inward  friend. 

Whom  unto  me, — me  unto  whom, — did  bind 
Exchanged  secrets  ;    who  together  were 
God's  temple  wont  to  visit,  there  to  pray ! 
— O  let  a  sudden  death  work  their  decay, 

1735   Who  speaking  fair,  such  cank'red  malice  mind, — 


PSALM   LV.  173 

Let  them  be  buried  breathing  in  their  bier. 
But  purple  morn,  black  ev'n,  and  midday  clear, 
Shall  see  my  praying  voice  to  God  inclin'd, 
Rousing  him  up  ;   and  nought  shall  me  dismay. 

V. 

1 740   He  ransom'd  me,  for  he  my  safety  fin'd, 

In  fight,  where  many  sought  my  soul  to  slay. 
He  still,  himself,  (to  no  succeeding  heir 
Leaving  his  empire)  shall  no  more  forbear  : 
But,  at  my  motion,  all  these  Atheists  pay, 

^745    By  whom  (still  one)  such  mischiefs  are  design'd. 
Who  but  such  caitiffs  would  have  undermin'd, 
Nay,  overthrown,  from  whom  but  kindness  mere 
They  never  found  ?  who  would  such  trust  betray.? 
What  butter'd  words  !     Yet  wars  their  hearts 

bewra}-, 

1750  Their  speech  more  sharp  than  sharpest  sword  or 

spear, 
Yet  softer  flows  than  balm  from  wounded  rind. 


VI. 

But,  my  o'er-loaden  soul,  thy  self  upcheer  ; 
Cast  on  God's  shoulders  what  thee  down  doth  weigh, 
Long  borne  by  thee  with  bearing  pain'd  and  pin'd. 
1755    To  care  for  thee  he  shall  be  ever  kind, 


174  PSALM    LV. 

By  him  the  just,  in  safety  held  alvvay, 
Changeless  shall  enter,  live,  and  leave  the  year  ; 
But,  Lord,  how  long  shall  these  men  tarry  here  ? 
Fling  them  in  pit  of  death  where  never  shin'd 
1760  The  light  of  life  ;  and  while  I  make  my  stay 
On  thee,  let  who  their  thirst  with  blood  allay 
Have  their  life-holding  thread  so  weakly  twin'd 
That  it,  half  spun,  death  may  in  sunder  shear. 


This  entirely  beautiful  psalm  has  been  made  the 

subject   by  Sidney   of  his   best  art    of  verse  ;    and 

the   paraphrase   is   one   of   the  notablest    pieces   of 
rhythmic  English  in  existence. 

17 1 3.  "  Mother,  Wrong"  (Violence,)  and  daughter, 
Strife,  set  up  their  standards  on  the  walls,  as  if  the 
entire  life  of  the  city  were  expressed  and  confined 
in  them.  Oppressions,  tumults,  and  guile  are  the 
inhabitants.  Mischief,  (destruction,  masked,  instead 
of  benefit,)  is  the  ruler  of  all  ;  clothed  in  falsehood, 
and  the  cloak  of  falsehood  lined  with  ermine  of 
treachery.  A  man  may  dissimulate,  yet  not 
betray ;  and  deceive  hostility,  without  being  un- 
faithful in  alliance.  But  here,  the  Falsehood  is 
quilted  thick  with   black-spotted  treason. 


PSALM   LV.  175 

1728.  "  Tins  to  thcc"  etc.  Only  a  very  perfect 
and  powerful  reader  can  do  justice  to  this  verse  ; 
but  at  any  rate  read  it  aloud,  and  again,  and  again. 

1 740.  "Fined"  '  Foined,'  '  fenced.'  "  Come,  no 
matter  vor  you  foins."  Edgar,  assuming  peasant's 
dialect  in  '  King  Lear.' 

1745.  ''Still  oner  Acting  all  with  one  mind; 
to  explain  the  change  in  pronoun  from  '  they '  to 
'  he.' 

1753.  ''Cast  on  God's  shoulders^  In  quoting 
this  verse  by  itself,  we  seldom  recollect  that  the 
particular  burden  meant  is  the  oppression  of  the 
wicked,  not  our  own  sorrow. 

1756,  1757.  Two  noble  lines,  which  should  be 
learned  by  heart.  Note  the  active  use  of  '  live ' 
in  the  second,  ('  to  live  a  day,'  '  to  live  a  year — 
a  life,'  etc.),  so  that  enter,  live,  and  leave,  have 
all  the  same  transitive  force. 

Rhythm. — Twelvefold,  sequent  from  beginning  to 
end,  with  only  three  rhymes ;  Abccbaacbbca; 
B  a  c  c,  etc.,  changing  at  fourth  stanza,  so  that 
the  six  verses  shall  answer,  three  to  three,  in 
reversed  order  of  rhythm,  the  beginning  rhj^mes 
being  in  order  A  B  C  —  C  B  A,  and  the  last  word 
rhyming   to  the  first. 


1/6  PSALM   LVIIL 

PSALM  LVIII. 

SI   VERE   UTIQUE. 
I. 

And  call  ye  this  to  utter  what  is  just, 
1765  You  that  of  justice  hold  the  sovVeign  throne  ? 
And  call  ye  this  to  yield,  O  sons  of  dust, 
To  wronged  brethren  ev'ry  one  his  own  ? 
O  no  :   it  is  your  long  malicious  will 
Now  to  the  world  to  make  by  practice  known, 
1770  With  whose  oppression  you  the  balance  fill, 
Just  to  yourselves,  indiff'rent  else  to  none. 

II. 
But  what  could  they,  who  ev'n  in  birth  declin'd, 
From  truth  and  right  to  lies  and  injuries  ? 
To  show  the  venom  of  their  cank'red  mind 
1775    The  adder's  image  scarcely  can  suffice. 

Nay,  scarce  the  aspick  may  with  them  contend. 
On  whom  the  charmer  all  in  vain  applies 
His  skilful'st  spells  :   aye  missing  of  his  end, 
While  she,  self-deaf,  and  unaffected  lies. 

TIT. 

I7<^0    Lord,  crack  their  teeth  ;  Lord,  crush  these  lion  jaws  ; 
So  let  them  sink  as  water  in  the  sand  : 


PSALM    LVIII.  177 

When  deadly  bow  their  aiming  fury  draws, 
Shiver  the  shaft  ere  past  the  shooter's  hand. 
So  make  them  melt  as  the  dishoused  snail, 
I  7  S  5   Or  as  the  embryo,  whose  vital  band 

Breaks  ere  it  holds,  and  formless  eyes  do  fail 
To  see  the  sun,  though  brought  to  lightful  land. 

IV. 
O  let  their  brood,  a  brood  of  springing  thorns, 
Be  by  untimely  rooting  overthrown 

1790  Ere,  bushes  wax'd,  they  push  with  pricking  horns  ; 
As  fruits  yet  green  are  oft  by  tempest  blown. 
The  good  with  gladness  this  revenge  shall  see, 
And  bathe  his  feet  in  blood  of  wicked  one  : 
While  all  shall  say,  the  just  rewarded  be, 

1795    There  is  a  God  that  shares  to  each  his  own. 


Another  of  the  great  psalms  teaching  the  eternal 
separation  between  the  sinner  and  the  just  man  ; 
farther  notable  for  its  assertion  of  the  sinner's 
being  born  such,  irredeemably.  The  sinners  have 
been  '  made  strangers  of,'  made  of  another  race, 
made  '  heathen '  from  the  womb  ;  as  soon  as  they 
were  born,  they  wandered. 

1 77 1.   '' Indijferetitl'    for    'equal,'    or    'equitable. 


178  PSALM  LVIII. 

The    word    does    not    elsewhere,    so    far   as    I    re- 
member, occur  in   these  psalms. 

1779.  ''Self-deaf^'  herself  causing  her  deafness 
— "  None  so  deaf  as  those  who  won't  hear  !  " 

1790,  "Ere,  bushes  luaxd."  I  suppose  this  to 
be  the  real  meaning.  There  is  none  in  our  "  or 
ever   your   pots  be  made  hot   with  thorns." 

1794.  "  Reivardedr  In  the  Septuagint,  the  just 
shall  "have  his  fruit,"  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
destro}'cd   thorn  trees.      As  in   the  first  psalm. 

Rhythm. — Octave.      5  -—  ababcbcb. 


PSALM   LXII.  179 

PSALM  LXII. 


NONNE     DEO. 


I. 


Yet  shall  my  soul  in  silence  still 
On  God,  my  help,  attentive  stay  : 
Yet  he  my  fort,  my  health,  my  hill. 
Remove  I  may  not, — move,  I  may. 
1800  How  long  then  shall  your  fruitless  will 

An  enemy  so  far  from  thrall, 
With  weak  endeavour  strive  to  kill,- — 
You  rotten  hedge,  you  broken  wall .'' 

II. 

Forsooth  that  he  no  more  may  rise, 
1805  Advanced  oft  to  throne  and  crown  : 

To  headlong  him  their  thoughts  devise, 
And  past  relief,  to  tread  him  down. 
Their  love  is  only  love  of  lies  : 
Their  words  and  deeds  dissenting  so, 
1 8 1  o  When  from  their  lips  most  blessing  flies, 

Then  deepest  curse  in  heart  doth  grow. 

III. 
Yet  shall  my  soul  in  silence  still 
On  God,  my  hope,  attentive  stay ; 


l80  PSALM  LXII. 

Yet  he  my  fort,  my  health,  my  hill, 
1 8 1  5  Remove  I  may  not,  move  I  may. 

My  God  doth  me  with  glory  fill. 
Not  only  shield  me  safe  from  harm  : 
To  shun  distress,  to  conquer  ill. 
To  him  I  climb,  in  him  I  arm. 

IV. 

1820  O  then,  on  God,  our  certain  stay. 

All  people  in  all  times  rely  : 
Your  hearts  before  him  naked  lay, 
To  Adam's  sons  'tis  vain  to  fly. 
So  vain,  so  false,  so  frail  are  they, 

1825  Ev'n  he  that  seemeth  most  of  might 

With  lightness'  self  if  him  you  weigh. 
Then  lightness'  self  will  weigh  more  light. 

V. 

In  fraud  and  force  no  trust  repose  : 
Such  idle  hopes  from  thought  expel ; 

1830  And  take  good  heed,  when  treasure  grows, 

Let  not  your  heart  on  treasure  dwell. 
All  power  is  God's,  his  own  word  shows, 
Once  said  by  him,  twice  heard  by  me  ; 
Yet  from  thee.  Lord,  all  mercy  flows, 

1835  And  each  man's  work  is  paid  by  thee. 


PSALM   LXV.    •  l8l 

This  is  written  more  against  trust  in  men  that 
in  absolute  dread  of  them  :  the  tenth  verse  imply- 
ing that  even  the  just  may  be  tempted  to  trust  in 
oppression,  and  become  vain  in  robbery. 

Sidney's  version  is  almost  typical,  in  the  whole 
series,  of  his  fearlessly  Latin  construction,  as  in 
"  To  headlong  him  their  thoughts  devise,"  trusting 
to  disentangle  all  if  the  reader  will  have  patience 
for  the  next  line.  The  melody  and  beat  of  it  are 
very  beautiful. 

1798.  "  Yet  he  my  fort" — *  He  yet  being  my  fort,' 
— I  cannot  be  removed,  though  I  may  waver. 

1 80 1.  "  Tliraliy      Captivity,  rarely  used. 

1830.  "  Treasure."  I  have  substituted  this  for 
Sidney's  word  '  riches,'  awkwardly  used  as  a  singular 
noun. 

1833.  "Once  said,  tivice  heard!'  I  believe  the 
meaning  is,  that  God  speaks  once,  and  the  thing 
is  said  for  ever ;  but  that  we  take  many  times 
telling  before  we  believe. 

Rhythm. — Octave.     4  ~^ —  ababacac. 

J5 


1 82  PSALM  LXV. 

PSALM  LXV. 

TE    DECET    HYMNUS. 
I. 

Syon  it  is  where  thou  art  praised, 

Syon,  O  God,  where  vows  they  pay  thee  : 

There  all  men  prayers  to  thee  raised 

Return  possess'd  of  what  they  pray  thee. 
I  840  There  thou  my  sins  prevailing  to  my  shame. 

Dost  turn  to  smoke  of  sacrificing  flame. 

II. 

O,  he  of  bliss  is  not  deceived, 

Whom  chosen  thou  unto  thee  takest  : 
And  whom  into  thy  court  received, 
1845        Thou  of  thy  check-roll  number  makest. 
The  dainty  viands  of  thy  sacred  store 
Shall  feed  him  so,  he  shall  not  hunger  more. 

III. 

From  thence  it  is,  thy  thrcat'ning  thunder, 

(Lest  we  by  wrong  should  be  disgraced,) 

1850  Doth  strike  our  foes  with  fear  and  wonder  : 

O  thou,  on  whom  their  hopes  are  placed, 

Whom  cither  earth  dost  steadfastly  sustain, 

Or  cradle  rocks  the  restless  wavy  plain. 


PSALM   LXV.  183 

IV. 

Thy  virtue  stays  the  mighty  mountains, 
.1855        Girded  with  pow'r,  with  strength  abounding  : 
The  roaring  damm  of  wat'ry  fountains 

Thy  beck  doth  make  surcease  her  sounding, 
When  stormy  uproars  toss  the  people's  brain, 
That  civil  sea  to  calm  thou  bring'st  again. 

V. 

i860  Where  earth  doth  end  with  endless  ending, 

All  such  as  dwell,  thy  signs  affright  them  : 
And  in  thy  praise  their  voices  spending. 
Both  houses  of  the  sun  delight  them  ; 
Both  whence  he  comes,  when  early  he  awakes, 
I  86 5    And  where  he  goes,  when  ev'ning  rest  he  takes. 

VI. 

Thy  eye  from  heav'n  this  land  beholdeth, 
Such  fruitful  dews  down  on  it  raining. 

That  storehouse-like  her  lap  enfoldcth 
Assured  hope  of  ploughman's  gaining, 
1870  Thy  flowing  streams  her  drought  doth  temper  so, 

That  buried  seed  through  yielding  grave  doth  grow. 

VII. 

Drunk  is  each  ridge,  of  thy  cup  drinking, 
Each  clod  relenteth  at  thy  dressing  : 


1875 


i88o 


184  PSALM   LXV. 

Thy  cloud-borne  waters  inly  sinking, 

Fair  spring  sprouts  forth,  blest  with  thy  blessing. 
The  fertile  year  is  with  thy  bounty  crown'd  ; 
And  where  thou  go'st,  thy  goings  fat  the  ground. 

VIII. 

Plenty  bedews  the  desert  places  : 

A  hedge  of  mirth  the  hills  encloseth  : 

The  fields  with  flocks  have  hid  their  faces  : 
A  robe  of  corn  the  valleys  clotheth. 

Deserts,  and  hills,  and  fields,  and  valleys  all. 

Rejoice,  shout,  sing,  and  on  thy  name  do  call. 


There  are  few  of  the  psalms  whose  prophecy,  at 
this  day,  remains  so  hopelessly  unfulfilled  or  contra- 
dicted ;  its  '  unto  thee  shall  all  flesh  come,'  changed 
into,  '  from  thee  shall  all  flesh  shrink  ; '  and  '  who 
art  the  confidence  of  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,' 
changed  into,  'who  art  a  feeble  terror  in  a  little 
spot  of  it.' 

The  beauty  of  the  ordinary  version  cannot  be 
mended,  but  Sidney's  has  another  beauty  of  its  own. 

1 84 1.  ''Dost  turn  to  smoke."  An  unusual  meta- 
phor for  the  propitiation.  Our  English  sins  arc 
turned  into  smoke  in  another  manner  ;  darken  the 
sky,  and  fall  back  in  soot. 


PSALM   LXV.  185 

1845.  "Check-roll."  Compare  the  'heavenly 
score,'  hue  336. 

1853.  "Cradle  rocks."  Whom  the  sea  rocks,  as 
a  cradle.     A  little  forced  in  construction. 

1856.  "  The  roaring  daimn!'  Dominion,  or 
power.  The  '  dam,'  in  its  present  sense,  is  the 
thing  that  has  '  dominion '  over  the  stream  itself. 

i860.  "  With  endless  ending!'  Rounding  itself 
for  ever  to  new  horizon. 

The  last  line,  after  four  exquisite  verses,  seems 
to  labour  and  droop,  nor  is  Sidney,  as  before 
noticed,  at  all  distinguished  for  skill  in  his  closing. 
But  the  steady  assertion,  '  on  thy  name  do  call,' 
has  more  real  power  in  it  than  the  glibly  current 
*  call  upon  thy  name,'  familiar  to  the  ear,  with 
which  a  common  writer  would  probably  have  con- 
trived  to   end. 

Rhythm. — Sixfold.     44445  5  — ^  a  b  a  b  c  c. 


1 86  PSALM  LXIX. 

PSALM  LXIX. 

SALVUxM    ME    FAC. 
I. 

T]<OUBLOUS  seas  my  soul  surround 
1885  Save,  O  God,  my  sinking  soul, 

Sinking,  where  it  feels  no  ground, 
In  this  gulf,  this  whirling  hole. 

Waiting  aid,  with  earnest  eying. 

Calling  God  with  bootless  crying  : 
1890  Dim  and  dry  in  me  are  found. 

Eye  to  see,  and  throat  to  sound. 

II. 
Wrongly  set  to  work  my  woe. 

Haters  have  I,  more  than  hairs  : 
Force,  in  my  afflicting  foe 
1895  Bett'ring  still,  in  me  impairs. 

Thus  to  pay  and  lose  constrained, 
What  I  never  ought  or  gained, 
Yet  say  I,  thou  God  dost  know 
How  my  faults  and  lollies  go. 

HI. 
1000  Mighty  Lord,  let  not  my  case 

Blank  the  rest  that  hope  in  thee 
Let  not  Jacob's  God  deface 
All  his  friends  in  blush  of  me. 


•  PSALM   LXIX.  187 

Thine  it  is,  thine  only  quarrel 
1905  Dights  me  thus  in  shame's  apparel  : 

Mote,  nor  spot,  nor  least  disgrace, 
But  for  thee,  could  taint  my  face. 

IV. 
To  my  kin  a  stranger  quite, 
Ouite  an  alien  I  am  grown  : 
1 9 1  o  In  my  very  brethren's  sight 

Most  uncar'd  for,  most  unknown. 
With  thy  temple's  zeal  out-eaten, 
With  thy  slander's  scourges  beaten, 
While  the  shot  of  piercing  spite 
1 9 1  5  Bent  at  thee,  on  me  doth  light. 

V. 
If  I  weep,  and  weeping  fast, 

If  in  sackcloth  sad  I  mourn, 
In  my  teeth  the  first  they  cast, 
All  to  feast  the  last  they  turn. 
1920  Now  in  streets,  with  public  prating. 

Pouring  out  their  inward  hating  : 
Private  now  at  banquets  plac'd, 
Singing  songs  of  winey  taste. 

VI. 

As  for  me,  to  thee  I  pray, 
1925  Lord,  in  time  of  grace  assign'd  : 


1 88  rSALM   LXIX. 

Gracious  God,  my  kindest  stay, 

111  my  aid  be  truly  kind. 
Keep  me  safe  unsunk,  unmired. 
Safe  from  flowing  foes  retired  : 
1930  Calm  these  waves,  these  waters  lay, 

Leave  me  not  this  whirlpool's  prey. 


VII. 
In  the  goodness  of  thy  grace. 

Lord,  make  answer  to  my  moan  : 
Eye  my  ill,  and  rue  my  case, 
1035  In  those  mercies  told  by  none. 

Let  not  by  thy  absence  languish 
Thy  true  server  drown'd  in  anguish. 
Haste,  and  hear  ;    come,  come  apace. 
Free  my  soul  from  foemcn's  chase. 

VIII. 

1940  Unto  thee  what  needs  be  told 

My  reproach,  my  blot,  my  blame .'' 
Sith  both  these  thou  didst  behold, 
And  canst  all  my  haters  name. 
Whiles  afflicted,  whiles  heart-broken, 
J  945  Waiting  yet  some  friendship's  token, 

Some  I  look'd  would  me  uphold, 
Look'd,  but  found  all  comfort  cold. 


PSALM   LXIX.  189 

IX. 

Comfort  ?   nay  (not  seen  before) 
Needing  food  they  set  me  gall : 
1950  Vinegar  they  fill'd  me  store, 

When  for  drink  my  thirst  did  call. 
O  then  snare  them  in  their  pleasures, 
Make  them  trap'd  even  in  their  treasures, 
Gladly  sad,  and  richly  poor, 
1955  Sightless  most,  yet  mightless  more. 

X. 

Down  upon  them  fury  rain, 

Lighten  indignation  down  : 
Turn  to  waste,  and  desert  plain. 

House  and  palace,  field  and  town. 
i960  Let  not  one  be  left  abiding 

Where  such  rancour  had  residing. 
Whom  thou  painest,  more  they  pain  : 
Hurt  by  thee,  by  them  is  slain. 

XI. 
Causing  sin  on  sin  to  grow, 
1965  Add  still  ciphers  to  their  sum, 

Righter  let  them  never  go. 

Never  to  thy  justice  come. 
But  from  out  the  book  be  crossed, 
Where  the  good  men  live  engrossed  : 


1 90  PSALM   LXIX, 

1970  While  my  God,  me  poor  and  low, 

High  shall  mount  from  need  and  woe. 

XII. 

Then  by  me  his  name  with  praise, 

Gladsome  praise,  shall  be  upborne. 
That  shall  more  Jehovah  please 
1975  Than  the  beast  with  hoof  and  horn. 

With  what  joy,  ye  godly  grieved, 
Shall  your  hearts  be  then  relieved  .'' 
When  Jehovah  takes  such  ways 
Bound  to  loose,  and  fallen  to  raise. 

XIII. 

1980  Laud  him  then,  O  heav'nly  skies. 

Earth  with  thine,  and  seas  with  yours 
For  by  him  shall  Sion  rise. 

He  shall  build  up  Juda's  towers. 
There  his  servants  and  their  races, 
1985  Shall  in  fee  possess  the  places  : 

There  his  name  who  love  and  prize, 
Stable  stay  shall  eternize. 


The  literal  fulfilment  of  the  twenty-first  verse  of 
this  psalm,  in  the  Crucifixion,  has  always  caused  the 
Christian  to   read   the  entire   psalm   as  if  prophetic  ; 


PSALM   LXIX.  191 

whereas  there  is  not  another  syllable  of  it  which, 
could,  by  any  straining,  be  intelligibly  applied  to 
Christ ; — the  fifth  verse,  "  O  God,  thou  knowest  my 
foolishness  ;  and  my  sins  are  not  hid  from  thee," 
being,  in  truth,  the  key  to  the  whole  :  nor  can  any 
good  be  got  of  the  reading  of  it,  unless  taken  as  a 
simple  expression  of  David's  own  feelings,  in  which 
the  verse  about  the  gall  and  vinegar  is  an  ordinary 
metaphor  for  the  unkindness  of  men  in  his  distress. 
So  Sidney  translates  it  throughout  ;  and  though 
the  words  'mote  nor  spot,'  etc.,  (1906,)  seem  too 
brave  for  any  mere  man  to  use,  the  meaning  of  the 
entire  song  is  not,  as  it  would  have  been  if  spoken 
in  Christ's  person,  that  the  speaker  of  it  became 
shameful  before  God,  for  Man's  sake  ;  but  that  the 
speaker  becomes  shameful  before  Man,  for  God's 
sake,  which  is  the  ordinary  condition  of  the  active 
service  of  God   in  this  world. 

1896.  ^^  Thus  to  pay,  and  lose."  There  is  more 
quaint  Elizabethan  opposition  of  terms  in  this  psalm 
than  in  most.  The  measure  of  it  is  so  good,  and 
this  quaintness  so  like  Sidney,  that  I  should  now 
hold  it  quite  characteristically  his,  if  reading  without 
prejudice.  Compare  lines  1954,  1955,  1962,  1963, 
1981. 

1935.  ^^  Told  by  Jioiic," — counted  by  none, — 'in 
the  multitude  of  thy  mercies.' 


192  PSALM  LXIX. 

1955.  '^Sightless  most,  yet  miglitless  more."     Sec 
note  above,  on   Sidney's  degrees  of  comparison, 

1963.  "■Hurt  by  theer     Who  is  wounded  by  thee, 
is  slain  by  them. 

1966.  "  RigJiter  let  them  never  go^  Under  what- 
ever interpretation  we  receive,  or  whatever  example 
we  take  from,  these  repeated  cursings  by  David  of 
his  enemies,  it  is  entirely  hopeless  to  narrow  their 
sweeping  malediction  into  the  one  prophetic  male- 
diction of  Judas,  '  his  bishopric  let  another  take.' 
We  may,  perhaps,  be  more  advanced  than  David 
in  wisdom  and  charity  ;  but  if  w-e  are  not  prepared 
very  decidedly  to  invoke  mischief  on  considerable 
numbers  of  persons,  we  need  not  pretend  to  use 
the  Psalter. 


PSALM   LXXI. 

PSALM  LXXI. 

IN   TE,    DOMINE,    SPERAVI. 
I. 

Lord,  on  thee  my  trust  is  grounded  : 
Leave  me  not  with  shame  confounded  ; 
1990  But  in  justice  bring  me  aid. 

Let  thine  ear  to  me  be  bended  : 
Let  my  life,  from  death  defended, 
Be  by  thee  in  safety  staid. 

II. 

Be  my  rock,  my  refuge-tower, 
1995  Show  thy  unresisted  power, 

Working  now  thy  wonted  will  : 
Thou,  I  say,  that  never  feignest 
In  thy  biddings,  but  remainest 

Still  my  rock,  my  refuge  still. 

III. 

2000  O  my  God,  my  sole  help-giver, 

From  the  wicked  me  deliver. 

From  this  wrongful,  spiteful  man  : 
In  thee  trusting,  on  thee  standing, 
With  my  childish  understanding, 

2005  ■    ^^y>  ^^^^^  ^^^^>  ^y  hopes  began, 


J93 


194  PSALM   LXXI. 

IV. 

Since  imprison'd  in  my  mother 
Thou  me  frced'st,  \vhom  have  I  other 

Held  my  stay,  or  made  my  song  ? 
Yea,  when  all  me  so  misdeemed, 
20 1  o  I  to  most  a  monster  seemed, 

Yet  in  thee  my  hope  was  strong. 

V. 

Yet  of  thee,  the  thankful  story 
Fill'd  my  mouth,  thy  gracious  glory 
Was  my  ditty  long  the  day. 
201  5  Do  not  then,  now  age  assaileth. 

Courage,  verdure,  virtue,  faileth. 
Do  not  leave  me  cast  away. 

VI. 

They  by  whom  my  life  is  hated. 
With  their  spies  have  now  debated  : 
2020  Of  their  talk,  and  lo,  the  sum  : 

God,  say  they,  hath  him  forsaken  ; 
Now  pursue,  he  must  be  taken  ; 
None  will  to  his  rescue  come. 

VII. 

O  my  God,  be  not  absented  : 
2025  O  my  God,  now,  now  presented, 


PSALM    LXXI.  195 

Let  in  haste,  thy  succours  be  : 
Make  them  fall  disgraced,  shamed, 
All  dismighted,  all  defamed. 

Who  this  ill  intend  to  me. 

VIII. 
2030  As  for  me,  resolv'd  to  tarry 

In  my  trust,  and  not  to  vary, 

I  will  heap  thy  praise  with  praise  : 
Still  with  mouth  thy  truths  recounting. 
Still  thy  aids,  though  much  surmounting, 
2035  Greatest  sum  that  number  laies. 

IX. 

Nay,  my  God,  by  thee  secured, 
Where  will  I  not  march  assured  ? 
In  my  talk,  who  just  but  thou  ? 
Who  by  thee  from  infant  cradle 
2400  Taught  still  more,  as  still  more  able. 

Have  thy  wonders  spread  till  now. 

X.      . 

Now  that  age  hath  me  attainted. 
Age's  snow  my  head  hath  painted, 

Leave  me  not,  my  God,  forlorn. 
2045  Let  me  make  thy  might's  relation 

To  the  coming  generation. 

To  the  age  as  yet  unborn. 


196  PSALM  LXXL 

XL 
God,  thy  justice,  highest  raised, 
Thy  great  works,  as  highly  praised  : 
2050  Who  thy  peer,  O  God,  doth  reign  ? 

Thou  into  these  woes  dost  drive  me  : 
Thou  again  shalt  thence  revive  me  : 
Lift  me  from  this  deep  again. 

XII. 
Thou  shalt  make  my  greatness  greater, 
2055  Make  my  good  with  comfort  better. 

Thee  my  lute,  my  harp,  shall  sing  : 
Thee  my  God,  that  never  slidest 
From  thy  word,  but  constant  bidest, 
Jacob's  holy,  heav'nly  King. 

XIIL 
2060  So  my  lips  all  joy  declaring, 

So  my  soul  no  honour  sparing. 

Shall  thee  sing,  by  thee  secure. 
So  my  tongue,  all  times,  all  places, 
Tell  thy  wreakes  and  their  disgraces, 
2065  Who  this  ill  to  me  procure. 


As  written  in  David's  old  age,  and  as  introductory 
to  the  next  one,  which  ends  the  prayers  of  the  son 
of  Jesse,  this  psalm  is  of  peculiar  interest. 


PSALM  LXXI. 


197 


Sidney's  version  is  very  sweet  and  passionate ; 
too  gay  in  the  measure  of  it  for  its  meaning,  accord- 
ing to  our  modern  feeling ;  but  I  perceive  more 
and  more,  daily,  that  men  of  true  heart  arc  grave 
through  all  gaiety,  and  bright  through  all  earnest- 
ness. 

2035.  "  That  number  laies."  Tells  of,  or  re- 
counts. 

2039.  "  Who,"  following  somewhat  stiffly  on 
'my'  in  the  previous  line.  'Who  shall  be  just  but 
thou   in   the  talk  of  me  .^    who,'  etc. 

2064.  "  JVreakes."  For  'justice,'  or  'revenges. 
A  most  beautiful  occurrence  of  it  is  quoted  by 
Johnson  from  'Henry  VI.'  "  So  flies  the  wreakless 
shepherd  from  the  wolf," — incapable  of  revenge  on 
him. 


16 


198  PSALM    LXXII. 

PSALM  LXXII. 

DEUS,    JUDICIUM. 
I. 

Teach  the  king's  son,  who  king  himself  shall  be, 
Thy  judgments,  Lord;  thy  justice  make  him  learn  : 
To  rule  thy  realms  as  justice  shall  decree, 
And  poor  men's  right  in  judgment  to  discern. 
20  70  Then  fearless  peace 

With  rich  increase 
The  mountains  proud  shall  fill  : 
And  justice  shall 
Make  plenty  fall 
2075  On  cvVy  humble  hill. 

II. 

Make  him  the  weak  support,  th'  oppress'd  relieve. 
Supply  the  poor,  the  quarrel-pickers  quail  : 
So  ageless  ages  shall  thee  reverence  give, 
Till  eyes  of  hcav'n,  the  sun  and  moon,  shall  fail. 
2080  And  thou  again 

Shall  blessings  rain, 
Which  down  shall  mildly  flow, 
As  showors  thrown 
On  meads  new  mown, 
2085  Whereby  they  freshly  grow. 


PSALM    LXXII.  199 

III. 

During  his  rule  the  just  shall  aye  be  green, 
And  peaceful  plenty  join  with  plenteous  peace  : 
While  of  sad  night  the  many-formed  queen 
Decreas'd  shall  grow,  and  grown,  again  decrease. 
2090  From  sea  to  sea 

He  shall  survey 
All  kingdoms  as  his  own  : 
And  from  the  trace 
Of  Perah's  race, 
2095  As  far  as  land  is  known. 

IV. 

The  desert-dwellers  at  his  beck  shall  bend. 
His  foes  them  suppliant  at  his  feet  shall  fling. 
The  kings  of  Tharsis  homage-gifts  shall  send  ; 
So  Seba,  Saba,  ev'ry  island  king. 
2100  Nay  all,  ev'n  all 

Shall  prostrate  fall, 
That  crowns  and  sceptres  wear  : 
And  all  that  stand 
At  their  command, 
2105  That  crowns  and  sceptres  bear. 

V. 

For  he  shall  hear  the  poor  when  they  complain, 
And  lend  them  help,  who  helpless  are  oppress'd  : 


200  PSALM    LXXII. 

His  mercy  shall  the  needy  sort  sustain  ; 
His  force  shall  free  their  lives  that  live  distress'd. 
2  1 1  o  From  hidden  sleight, 

From  open  might, 
He  shall  their  souls  redeem  : 
His  tender  eyes 
Shall  highly  prize, 
211  S  And  dear  their  blood  esteem, 

VI. 

So  shall  he  long,  so  shall  he  happy  live  ; 
Health  shall  abound,  and  wealth  shall  never  want  : 
They  gold  to  him,  Arabia  gold,  shall  give, 
Which  scantness  dear,  and  dearness  maketh  scant. 
2120  They  still  shall  pray 

That  still  he  may 
So  live,  and  flourish  so  : 
Without  his  praise, 
No  nights,  no  days, 
2125  Shall  passport  have  to  go. 

VII. 
Look  how  the  woods,  whose  interlaced  trees 
•  Spread  friendly  arms  each  other  to  embrace. 
Join  at  the  head,  though  distant  at  the  knees, 
Waving  with  wind,  and  lording  on  the  place  ; 


PSALM    LXXII.  201 

2i  id  So  woods  of  corn 

By  mountains  borne 
Shall  on  their  shoulders  wave  : 

And  men  shall  pass 

The  numerous  grass, 
2135  Such  store  each  town  shall  have. 

\"IIL 
Look  how  the  sun,  so  shall  his  name  remain  ; 
As  that  in  light,  so  this  in  glory  one  : 
All  glories  this,  as  that  all  lights  shall  stain  : 
Nor  that  shall  fail,  nor  this  be  overthrown. 
2140  The  dwellers  all 

Of  earthly  ball 
In  him  shall  hold  them  blest  : 
As  one  that  is 
Of  perfect  bliss, 
21 A  ^  ^  pattern  to  the  rest. 

IX. 

O  God  who  art, — from  \\  hom  all  beings  be  ; — 
Eternal  Lord,  whom  Jacob's  stock  adore, 
And  wondrous  works  are  done  by  only  thee, 
Blessed  be  thou,  most  blessed  evermore. 
2150  -^"d  let  thy  name. 

Thy  glorious  fame. 


2155 


202  PSALM    LXXII. 

No  end  of  blessinc^  know  : 

Let  all  this  round 

Thy  honour  sound, 
So  Lord,  O  be  it  so. 

This  prayer  and  prophecy  for  his  son  is  not 
only — as  it  must  needs  be — the  most  touching  and 
precious  of  all  the  psalms  of  David,  but  it  is  the 
most  important  passage  in  the  Bible  relating  to 
the  laws  and  happiness  of  earthly  life.  "  His  name 
shall  be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun;"  (not  longer  ; 
— it  is  earthly  and  sun-lighted  life  only  of  which 
this  psalm  tells).  "  He  shall  come  down  as  showers 
that  water  tJie  cartJi ;''  (not  as  manna  of  heaven;) 
"and  his  dominion  shall  be  from  sea  to  sea;''  (not 
where  '  there  shall  be  no  more  sea.') 

And  it  is  literally  true  that  in  all  prosperous 
nations  this  King  shall  be  called  blessed.  The 
wisdom  of  the  Proverbs,  and  the  story  of  his  reign, 
can  never  be  superseded  or  surpassed, — every 
nation  that  is  to  become  great,  must  read  and 
learn  from  these. 
"  So  ageless  ages  shall  thee  reverence  give 

Till  eyes  of  heaven,  the  sun,  and  moon,  shall  fail." 

2066 — 2069.    Sidney's     version     is     throughout 
magnificent  and  clear  beyond   praise.      He  has  put 


PSALM   LXXII. 


203 


his  full  strength  upon  it.  We  get  in  this  first  clause, 
for  the  first  time,  the  due  opposition  of  justice  and 
judgment.  The  one  means  simply  the  keeping  of 
equal  law  between  persons  whose  rights  are  known. 
The  other  means  the  examination  into  right  itself, 
the  discernment  of  character  and  claim.  "  He  shall 
judge  all  men  with  equity  ;  but  the  poor  with  loving 
insight  ; — precious  shall  their  blood  be  in  his  sight," 
is  the  full  meaning. 


'£->• 


2072.  "  TJie  motintaijisy  The  pre-eminent  forces 
of  intellect  and  wealth  in  the  nation,  however,  accu- 
mulated ;  all  becoming  to  it  in  their  proportionate 
height,  and  strength,  the  sources  of  streams  of 
blessing. 

2094.  I  can't  think  where  Sidney  got  this  '  race 
of  Perah '  from,  unless  it  is  merely  wilful  or  playful 
changing  into  a  name,  of  the   Septuagint's,  Trepdrwv 

2  I  I  o,  2  1 1 1 .  "  From  Jiidden  sleight,  from  open 
might!'  "  He  shall  redeem  their  soul  from  deceit, 
and  violence." 

The  entire  duty  of  kingship  is  founded  on  this 
verse.  '  Let  him  prevent  the  poor  from  being  either 
deceived  or  afflicted,  and  all  his  kingdom  will  be 
in  prosperity  and   limitless  power.' 


204  PSALM  LXXII. 

2  1  19.  A  little  bit  of  Sidney's  own  wisdom 
thrown  in.  Entirely  right.  Singularly  enough,  in 
an  excellent  article  on  the  depreciation  of  silver 
in  the  Monetary  Gazette,  which  I  chanced  to  see 
about  a  fortnight  ago,  (I  am  writing  at  Brantwood, 
July  23rd,)  there  occurred  an  admirable  imaginary 
examination  of  a  witness,  on  some  commercial 
catastrophe  in  which  the  said  '  depreciation '  had 
been  one  element,  with  the  following  sentences  in 
it,  or,  at  least,  sentences  to  the  following  purpose, 
I   quote  from   memory  : — 

"What  depreciation  of  the  value  of  silver  occurred 
in   the  days  of  Solomon  ?  " 

"  It  was   '  nothing  accounted   of." 

"  What   was   its  market  value  ? " 

"  The  value  of  pebbles.  He  '  made  silver  to 
be   in   Jerusalem  as  stones'." 

"  Was  this  considered   a  misfortune  by  him  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not.      Solomon   was  no  fool." 

2128.  ''■Join  at  t/ic  heady  Sidney  thinks  over 
the  words,  "  shall  shake  like  Libanus,"  till  he 
imagines  the  ears  of  corn  so  large  that  they  shall 
touch,  and  close  up  together  as  the  heads  of  trees 
do. 

END    OF    PART    I. 


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