LIBRARY
THE
SEVEN GREAT
HYMNS
THE
SEVEN GREAT HYMNS
OF THE
Cfwrel)
ANNOTATED BY
CHARLES C. NOTT
REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION
NEW YORK
b, d&ofljam,
CHURCH MISSIONS HOUSE
MCMII
COPYRIGHT, 1902, ur
EDWIN S. GORHAM
FEB 1 1 1956
To
the One who First Inspired
the Work, It is
Dedicated
CONTENTS.
PAtJB
INTRODUCTION TO THIS EDITION ix
THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY ..... I
DIES IR* 44
STABAT MATER AND MATER SPECIOSA . . Il8
VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS . . . . . . ia6
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS ..... 134
VEXILILLA REGIS 14
THE ALLELUIATIC SEQUENCE .... 146
APPENDIX . . 54
INTRODUCTION.
T
SHE firft edition of the Seven Great
Hymns was publifhed anonymoufly, years
ago, because I did not wifh to affume a fcholar-
fhip which I did not poflefs. In framing the
book the procefs of felection and rejection was
inftin&ive or intuitive rather than the operation
of a well-informed judgment. It was the cafe
of one reaching out for fomething which he
intenfely defired to find with the refult of finding
it. The purpofe of the book was what might be
termed expofition to give to American readers
an expofition of the fubject by placing before
them the greateft of the mediaeval hymns, and
an expofition of each hymn by appending to it
its beft tranflation. Since then there have been
immenfe additions to the English branch of the
subject in the form of translations and com
mentaries ; and it would be an eafy tafk now
with the material at hand to make this volume
; Introduction
three times its prefent fize; but after traveling
around the circle of thefe years I flop very
nearly where I began, for I am now of the
opinion that the prefent edition, with the altera
tions and additions which it embodies, does
about all for the reader in the way of expofition,
either of the general subject or of the feveral
hymns, which it is poflible for me to do.
During this lapfe of years there have been
three books publimed which fhould be brought
to the attention of any perfon who may be
interefted in early religious poetry. The firft is
the " Chrift in Song " of Dr. Schaff. This is not
limited to mediaeval times, but on the contrary
contains a wealth of the beft hymns of all
times and lands. In it will be found many
tranflations of mediaeval hymns with Dr. SchafPs
annotations the annotations of one of the
moft learned and judicious commentators who
ever touched the fubjecl:. The fecond is a fmall
volume of mediaeval hymns with tranflations
and notes by the late Eraftus C. Benedict, a
member of the New York bar. Its title is
"The Hymn of Hildebert." The third is the
"Chriftian Life and Song" of Mrs. Charles,
Introduction.
oetter known as the author of the Schonberg-
Cotta Family. This work fweeps over the
whole wide horizon of Greek, Latin and Ger
man hymns, and is, in my opinion, the moft
interefting and trustworthy work of combined
hiftory and tranflation that has ever been pub-
limed in Englifh. Indeed, I know of no book
which fo combines the fervor of a religious and
poetic temperament with the calm difcrimina-
tion and good fenfe of a judicial mind.
During thefe intervening years, I have not,
in the proper fenfe of the term, purfued the
ftudy of mediaeval hymns, but there are fome
conclufions of my maturer judgment which I
wifh to note; and there are fome changes in
this final edition which mould be explained:
I.
The De Contemptu Mundi is not properly a
hymn. It has come to be clafled as fuch in
confequence of the admiration of Archbifhop
Trench and the beautiful paraphrafe of Dr.
Neale. It cannot, therefore, be compared with
the other hymns in this volume, but Hands
xi
Introduction.
alone a fragment taken from an extended poem.
The fubfequent notes, retained from the firft
edition, will disclofe the difficulty, the almoft
impoflibility of translation into Englifh and the
incomparable adaptability of the Latin, both for
meafure and rhyme. Neverthelefs, the Rev.
Samuel W. Duffield has made a tranflation in
the meafure of the original with the intermediate
dactylic rhymes and the final double-rhymes,
which moreover, is a literal rendering of the
poem line for line and often word for word.
The introduction of Mr. Duffield is alfo a
valuable efTay upon the conftrucl:ion of the verfe.
The great difficulty of rendering thefe mediae
val hymns into Englim is caufed by the fact
that generally they are both in Latin and in
rhyme, and the rhyme is often double-rhyme,
an element which is little better than artificial
in our monofyllabic Englifh tongue. If the
reader will compare the following fpecimens he
will fee how far apart translators can be.
The firft tranflation is Mr. Duffield s; the
fecond is one which I made for the Seven Great
Hymns \ the third, it is needlefs to fay, is Dr.
Neale s.
xii
Introduction.
Hora noviffima, || tempora peffima || funt, vigilemus.
Ecce minaciter || imminet arbiter || ille furpremus.
Imminet, imminet || et mala terminct, || aequa coronet,
Redta remuneret, | anxia liberet, || aethera donet,
Auferat afpera | duraque pondera || mentes onuftae,
Sobria muniat, | improba puniat, || utraque jufte.
Thefe are the latter times, thefe are not better
times, let us ftand waiting:
Lo, how with awfulnefs He, firft in lawfulnefs,
comes arbitrating !
Nearer and nearer yet! Wrong fhall in terror fet,
right fhine refulgent.
Sad ones He liberates, righteous renumerates, ever
indulgent ;
Harfhnefs He mitigates, burdened fouls animates,
freeing them lightly;
Holy ones blefleth He, wicked diftrefieth He
each alike rightly.
Hours of the lateft! times of the bafeft! our vigil before us!
Judgment eternal of Being fupernal now hanging o er us!
Evil to terminate, equity vindicate, cometh the Kingly;
Righteoufnefs feeing, anxious hearts freeing, crowning each fmgly,
Bearing life s wearinefs, tafting life s bitternefs, life as it must be
Th righteous retaining, finners arraigning, judging all juftly.
The world is very evil,
The times are waxing late;
Be fober and keep vigil,
The Judge is at the gate
xiii
Introduction.
The Judge that comes in mercy,
The Judge that comes with might,
To terminate the evil,
To diadem the right.
When the juft and gentle Monarch
Shall fummon from the tomb,
Let man, the guilty, tremble,
For Man, the God, fhall doom !
II.
The Dies Ira is undoubtedly the greateft of
the mediaeval hymns. It ftands "majeftic and
folitary" in the words of Mr. Benedict; its
ftrain is u fo clear and deep that its fofteft tones
are heard throughout Chriftendom," in the
words of Mrs. Charles. The zeal of the tranf-
lator has not cooled, and many tranflations
have been publifhed, and many, unpublifhed,
have been fent to me fince the firft edition of
this work. A fecond verfion was made by-
General Dix, which he deemed fuperior to the
firft, but which was unqueftionably inferior.
The firft ftanza, for example, is as follows:
Day of vengeance, lo! that morning
On the earth in afhes dawning,
David with the Sibyl warning.
xiv
Introduction.
For this he difplaced the ftanza of the firft
verfion which the Rev. Franklin Johnfon has
characterized as never furpafTed in "its high
finifh, its delicate fuggeftion of the antique and
its perfection of form." I have, therefore,
retained the firft verfion. The effort of tranf-
lators generally has been to reproduce the
double-rhyme of the original ; but the truth is
that the fingle-rhyme better preferves for the
Englifh reader the two important elements of
fimplicity and ftrength. Of fuch tranflations I
have found none better than that of Mr. Sloflbn.
In 1883 a tranflation of the Dies Irae was
publifhed by the Rev. Franklin Johnfon, of
Chicago, which I regard as the moft nearly
perfect in form that has ever been made, and
which I have incorporated in this edition. Dr.
Johnfon fays in his preface that he publifhed a
previous edition in 1865; that the work of
tranflation occupied his attention at frequent
intervals during a period of fifteen years, and
that there were weeks in succefTion during
which, both day and night, his mind was filled
with the ftanzas. I may well believe this, for
nothing has ever been publifhed which denotes
xv
Introduction.
in the tranflator fuch fervor of admiration re-
ftrained by fuch exa&ing criticifm. Indeed, I
am inclined to believe that Dr. Johnfon fo scru-
puloufly complied with his own inexorable
canons as to difpoil his tranflation of poetic
beauties which might better have been retained.
For example, he facrificed the moft exact and
poetical tranflation of the thirteenth ftanza that
has ever been made becaufe it contained the
word " fhriven " becaufe the word fhrive " is
a fectarian term, and is ufed in general with
reference to the Romim Church, the Dies Irae
being fingularly free from everything peculiar
to the communion of which its author was a
member." When the word is taken in con
nection with Him u by whom the thief was
fhriven," I deem this criticifm is too technical
and the tranflation is as free from sectarianifm
as the original. I have, therefore, taken the
liberty of reftoring the rejected ftanza. Taking
this verfion all in all, its adherence to the
meafure of the original, its retention of the
double-rhyme, its avoidance of the Englifh par
ticiple ending in " ing," its prefervation of the
ideas and imagery of the original, I doubt
xvi
Introduction.
whether a better tranflation will ever be made
by a tranflator of the critical fchool.
Neverthelefs, thefe things muft be borne in
mind that power is the great characteriftic of
the Dies Irae ; that its power cannot be tranf-
ferred to Englifh verfe by means of the weakeft
form of Englifh words ; that the double-rhyme
has, to the Englifh ear, fomething of the jingle
of the humorous ballad ; and that, if we would
feel the ftrength of the great hymn, we muft,
foregoing form, go to the old verfion of Crafhaw,
or to single-rhyme tranflations like that of Mr.
Sloflbn.
III.
The Stabat Mater lofes more by tranflation,
probably, than any other piece of poetry that
was ever written. "The foft, fad melody of
its verfe is untranflatable " (Dr. Schaff). If
we take the lines, melodious in their pathos,
Qiiae moerebat et dolebat,
Pia mater, dum videbat,
and render them into Englifh as Dr. SchafF has
done,
xvii
Introduction.
Who ftood grieving, fighs upheaving,
Spirit-reaving, bofom-cleavingj
or as Dr. Coles tranflates them,
Trembling, grieving, bofom-heaving;
While perceiving, fcarce believing,
we bring them perilously near to the abfurd.
In a word, free tranflations do not catch the
delicate pathos of the Stabat Mater, and are not
echoes of its melody. I have hitherto had an
occafion to fay that a tranflator may well make
three tranflations of a poem; one to portray its
ftructure, that is, its meafure, melody, move
ment and rhyme ; one to present in detail its
ideas and images ; and one to produce an
impreffion as fimilar as poffible to that of the
original on the mind of the reader. But many
renderings do not feem to bring nearer to us
the elufive power of this original. The more
the Stabat Mater is tranflated, the farther it
drifts from us.
Here, however, I fhould add that Dr. Franklin
Johnfon has publifhed a tranflation of the Stabat
Mater a beautiful poem in a beautiful fetting
which probably comes as near to the fpirit of
the original as Englifh verfe will ever bring us.
xviii
Introduction.
The Mater Speciofa is not one of the Seven
Great Hymns. It has been inferted here becaufe
it is clofely afTo dated with the other poem and
in fome degree an expofition of it. Like the
Stabat Mater, it has generally been afcribed to
Jacobus de Benedi&us, and I have left his name
as the reputed author. My own opinion, how
ever, is that it was neither written by him nor
before the Stabat Mater. Thefe conclufions
reft on what we know of Jacobus and on the
internal evidence of the two poems. I. One
of them is undifputably fecondary a com
panion-piece to the other. 2. The Stabat
Mater is founded on the fcriptural basis of the
text in John, "there stood by the cross of Jesus
his mother," as the Dies Irae is founded on the
scriptural basis of the terrible text in Joel.
This fact alone is fufficient to be termed con-
clufive; i. e., the poem fprings from that text
and not from another poem. Converfely, the
Mater Speciofa fprings from the other poem
and not from a fcriptural image. The picture
in John was the germ of both poems. 3. The
Stabat Mater is the poem of the great tragedy
of the world; the Mater Speciofa runs upon
xix
Introduction.
lines of ordinary human emotions. It follows
the meafure and catches the melody and adopts
the fentiment of its original ; but it is of inferior
texture, and in places its pathos verges on the
extravagant. 4. One or the other of thefe
two poems has the fundamental element of
imitation; it is neceflarily a clever piece of
literary workmanfhip, following the other in
stanza, in meafure, in words, and often in the
repetition of lines; it may be melodious, poetical,
beautiful, but confefledly it cannot be in the
true fenfe of the term original. If I muft
choofe between the two, I do not hefitate to fay
that the fecondary poem is the Speciofa. The
Stabat Mater feems to me one of thofe mar
velous outbursts which feize the hearts and
imaginations of men and come down the cen
turies with unabated power.
IV.
The Veni Sancte Spiritus is ftill reprefented by
a fingle tranflation, that of Catherine Wink-
worth, which is indeed but a tranflation of a
tranflation, the German. The reader will find
a much more actual rendering in Mrs. Charles*
xx
Introduction.
"Chriftian Life in Song. * But here again the
two renderings illuftrate how the more free is
occafionally the more literal; how it may give
the leading thought or image of the author
which the more critical may overlook. Thus
the
Come, Thou Father of the poor,
Giver from a boundlefs ftore
Light of Hearts, O fhine!
of Mrs. Charles, mhTes the impreflive Veni,
Veni, Veni of the original, which is fplendidly
rendered by Mifs Winkworth:
Come, Father of the poor, to earth;
Come with Thy gifts of precious worth;
Come, Light of all of mortal birth !
V.
The Veni Creator Spiritus has been afcribed to
Charlemagne, and in the firft edition it was faid,
with fome refervation, that his authorfhip is not
impoflible. I have allowed his name to remain
at the head of it, but my prefent conclufion is
that it was written before the time of the Great
King. Mr. Benedict, judging from internal
evidence alone, afcribes it to St. Ambrofe, who
xxi
Introduction.
died in 397. It feems to me improbable that fo
well known a hymn would not have been always
clafled with his other hymns, and that it would
have flept, if written before 397, for at leaft
three hundred years.
VI.
The Vexilla Regis is the fixth of thefe expofi-
tional hymns. The firft five, as it were,
felected themfelves, i. e., there was no queftion
as to their being taken and others left. But at
this point the work of rejection began. This
hymn is not one of the great fpiritual hymns of
the world; but the object of this compilation
was to give an expofition of the fubjet by
hymns which were both reprefentative and cele
brated. The Vexilla has indeed been a famous
hymn a hymn of ecclefiaftical warfare and
victory which has rung around the world.
"In the churches of our own country and
time," as the late Prefident Welling has faid,
"may be heard fnatches and echoes of that
antique poefy which was firft intoned in the
New World by the Jefuit miffionaries and
Romim ecclefiaftics who planted the cedar and
xxii
Introduction.
the cedar-crofs along the (hores of the Great
Lakes and the waters of the West, chanting
the while, amidft the painted favages who flood
around in their robes of beaver and buffalo, the
fonorous paffion-hymn of Fortunatus, " Vexilla
regis prodeunt."
VII.
The Alleluiatic Sequence may likewife be clafled
as a famous hymn. It was felected for the
fame reafons as the Vexilla Regis, and for the
additional reafon that it is regarded as the parent
of every Hallelujah Chorus that has been
written fince. At the time of the original com
pilation I hefitated for a long time between it
and the De Gloria et Gaudiis Paradifi of
Damiani, but at laft compromifed with my
doubts by felecting the chorus but fetting forth
Mr. Wackerbarth s tranflation of the De Gloria
in the notes to the Celeftial Country, where it
will now be found.
C. C. NOTT.
January, 1902.
xxin
THE
CELESTIAL COUNTRY.
B
lERNARD DE MORLAS, monk of Clu~
ni, is not to be confounded with the great
Bernard his contemporary, Abbot of Clairvaux,
and Saint in the Romifh calendar. The place
of his nativity is uncertain, and the years of his
birth and of his death are alike unknown. He
lived during the firft half of the twelfth cen
tury ; he was born, according to one authority,
at Morlaix^ in Bretagne ; according to another,
at Morlas, in the lower Pyrenees ; whilft a third
gives his birth-place to England, and clafles him
with her illuftrious writers (De illuftrlbus Anglic
Scriptoribus)* After feven centuries of com
parative forgetfulnefs, the genius of two Englifti
fcholars has revived a portion of his works ; and
hereafter his name will be beft known in that
country, which may poffibly poflefs his birth
place.
2 he Celeftial Country.
There ftill survive of his writings five poems,
the greateft of which is De Contemptu Mundi.
It was written about 1145, and contains three
thoufand lines, divided into three books. In
fubftance the poem is a fatire, unforgiving and
fevere : in form it is in dactylic hexameter verfe.
According to Dr. Duffield, to whofe judgment
I defer, "each line confifts of a firft part com-
pofed of two dactyls, a fecond containing two
more dactyls, and a third made up of a dactyl
and a trochee. The laft dactyls of the firft and
second parts rhyme together, and the lines are
in couplets the final trochees alfo rhyming.
This remark upon the dactylic nature of the
rhymes in the firft two parts is not made by
Neale or Coles or the compiler of the Seven
Great Hymns. They all italicife the laft two
fyllables, whereas it mould be the laft three,
i. e., the foot itself.
Sobria muniat || improba puniat || utraque juste,
is in all refpects a perfect line each foot being
a word, and the rhyme unimpeachable."
<fhe Celeftial Country. 3
This verfe, fo difficult that the Englifh lan
guage is incapable of expreffing it, is continued
through the three thoufand lines of the poem.
In his preface the monk avows the belief that
nothing but the fpecial infpiration of the SPIRIT
of GOD enabled him to employ it through fo
long a poem. After recounting its difficulties,
and alluding to the faint attempts of the two
great verifiers of his day, Hildebert de Lavar-
din and Wichard of Lyons, he exclaims : " I
" may then afTert, not in oftentation, but with
" humble confidence, that if I had not received
" directly from on high the gift of infpiration
" and intelligence, I had not dared to attempt
"an enterprife fo little accorded to the powers
" of the human mind."
" This work," fays the author of the Hijioire Litteraire de la
France, "was drawn from the duft in 1483, and its publication
" was achieved on the tenth of December of the fame year, at
" Paris, in magni domo campi Gaillardi. The Proteftants, eager
" to gather every thing which appears unfavorable to the Church
" of Rome, have fmce multiplied the editions. Some Catholics
" have alfo given to it fome praifes j and furely it merits them,
" at leaft by the fentiments of piety which it exhales, and by the
"zeal with which the author attack* the abufes of his time."
4 the Celeftial Country.
" In holy Rome the only power is gold j
There all is bought there every thing is fold.
Becaufe ihe is the very way to right,
There truth is perifhed by unholy Height.
Even as the wheel turns, Rome to evil turns,
Rome, that fpreads fragrance as when incenfe burns.
Rome wrongs mankind, and teaches men the road
To flee far off from Righteoufnefs abode !
To feek for ruinous and difgraceful gain,
The pallium s felf with fimony to ftain.
If aught you wifh, be fure a goodly bribe
Will hafte the fealing of the lingering fcribe.
Rife ! follow ! let your penny go before,
Seek boldly then the threshold ; fear no more
That any ftumbling-blocks will bar the way,
The Pope s own favor you can get for pay
Without that help, tis beft to keep away."
The opening of this monkifh fatire on the
corruptions of its barbarous age, glows with a
defcription of the Heavenly Land more beauti
ful than ever before was wrought in verfe.
This a great fcholar of our time has taken from
the poem and brought within the reach and
notice of the world (Trench). It alfo has been
re-woven into fimple Englifh verfe, and has re
ceived the appropriate name of THE CELESTIAL
COUNTRY.
^fbe Celeftial Country. 5
The tranflator of THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY
is Dr. John Mafon Neale, Warden of Sack-
ville College, Suflex, England, the moft fuccefT-
ful tranflator of mediaeval hymns, and one of
the moft varied and voluminous writers of the
time. "Lays and Legends of the Church of
England ;" " A Church Hiftory for Children ;"
feven volumes of romances ; a hiftory of Greece ;
a hiftory of Portugal ; of the Patriarchate of
Alexandria, and of the Janfenift Church of
Holland ; a large number of tales and hymns
for children, and a moft learned and elaborate
commentary on the Book of Pfalms, are included
in the long catalogue of his works.
This fcholar of Cambridge, and this monk of
Cluni, have given to the religious world the
fweeteft and deareft religious poem that our lan
guage contains. Dr. Neale fays that he looks
upon the lines of Bernard " as the moft lovely,
" in the fame way that the Dies 7r^ is the moft
" fublime,and the Stabat Mater the moft pathetic
u of mediaeval poems," but his own poem may
claim more juftly that word. THE CELESTIAL
COUNTRY is better than De Contemptu Mundi.
6 tfbe Celejlial Country.
The beautiful fimplicity of its artlefs, childlike
lines portrays more naturally the fervid imagery
of the monk. After feven hundred years of
darknefs, the holy fervor of Bernard re-kindles
in it as warmly as when in the warmth of his
devotion he believed himfelf fpecially infpired
by the Moft High. In another language, at
another time, and among thofe who can but
dimly trace his name in the crumbling record
of his works, the Rhyme of the poor monk re
lives to gladden the hearts of other Chriftians,
loved by fuch as poflefs its faith, and treafured
by the gentleft and the beft of earth.s
Celeftial Country.
THE
CELESTIAL COUNTRY
DR. NEALE.
I.
THE world is very evil,
The times are waxing late ;
Be fober and keep vigil,
The Judge is at the gate
The Judge that comes in mercy,
The Judge that comes with might,
To terminate the evil,
To diadem the right.
When the juft and gentle Monarch
Shall fummon from the tomb,
Let man, the guilty, tremble,
For Man, the GOD, {hall doom !
8 The Celefiial Country.
2.
Arife, arife, good Chriftian,
Let right to wrong fucceed ;
Let penitential forrow
To heavenly gladnefs lead
To the light that hath no evening,
That knows nor moon nor fun,
The light fo new and golden,
The light that is but one.
And when the Sole-Begotten
Shall render up once more
The kingdom to the FATHER,
Whofe own it was before,
Then glory yet unheard of
Shall fried abroad its ray,
Refolving all enigmas,
An endlefs Sabbath-day.
Then, then from his opprreflbrs
The Hebrew fhall go free,
Celejlial Country.
And celebrate in triumph
The year of Jubilee ;
And the funlit Land that recks not
Of tempeft nor of fight,
Shall fold within its bofom
Each happy Ifraelite
The Home of fadelefs fplendor,
Of flowers that fear no thorn,
Where they fhall dwell as children,
Who here as exiles mourn.
Midft power that knows no limit,
And wifdom free from bound,
The Beatific Vifion
Shall glad the Saints around
The peace of all the faithful,
The calm of all the bleft,
Inviolate, unvaried,
Divineft, fweeteft, beft.
Yes, peace ! for war is needlefs
Yes, calm ! for ftorm is paft
And goal from finiftied labor,
And anchorage at laft.
io tfhe Celeftial Country.
6.
That peace but who may claim it ?
The guilelefs in their way,
Who keep the ranks of battle,
Who mean the thing they fay
The peace that is for heaven,
And (hall be for the earth ;
The palace that re-echoes
With feftal fong and mirth ;
The garden, breathing fpices,
The paradife on high ;
Grace beautified to glory,
Unceafing minftrelfy.
There nothing can be feeble,
There none can ever mourn.
There nothing is divided,
There nothing can be torn.
Tis fury, ill, and fcandal,
Tis peacelefs peace below ;
Peace, endlefs, ftrifelefs, agelefs,
The halls of Syon know.
<?he Celeftial Country. 11
8.
O happy, holy portion,
Refeaion for the bleft,
True vifion of true beauty,
Sweet cure of all diftreft !
Strive, man, to win that glory ;
Toil, man, to gain that light ;
Send hope before to grafp it,
Till hope be loft in fight ;
Till JESUS gives the portion
Thofe blefled fouls to fill
The infatiate, yet fatisfied,
The full, yet craving ftill.
That fulnefs and that craving
Alike are free from pain,
Where thou, midft heavenly citizens,
A home like theirs fhalt gain.
Here is the warlike trumpet ;
There, life fet free from fin,
When to the laft Great Supper
The faithful (hall come in ;
12 tfbe Celeftial Country.
When the heavenly net is laden
With fifties many and great
(So glorious in its fulnefs,
Yet fo inviolate) ;
And perfect from unperfe&ed,
And fall n from thofe that ftand,*
And the fheep-flock from the goat-herd
Shall part on either hand.
10.
And thefe (hall pafs to torment,
And thofe {hall triumph then
The new peculiar nation,
Bleft number of bleft men.
Jerufalem demands them ;
They paid the price on earth,
And now fhall reap the harveft
In blifsfulnefs and mirth
The glorious holy people,
Who evermore relied
Upon their Chief and Father,
The King, the Crucified
The facred ranfomed number
Now bright with endlefs fheen,
Tte Celeftial Country. 13
Who made the Crofs their watchword
Of JESUS Nazarene,
Who (fed with heavenly ne&ar
Where foul-like odors play)
Draw out the endlefs leifure
Of that long vernal day.
II.
And, through the facred lilies
And flowers on every fide,
The happy dear-bought people
Go wandering far and wide ;
Their breafts are filled with gladnefs,
Their mouths are tun d to praife,
What time, now fafe for ever,
On former fins they gaze :
The fouler was the error,
The fadder was the fall,
The ampler are the praifes
Of Him who pardoned all.
12.
Their one and only anthem,
The fulnefs of His love,
14 The Cdejlial Country.
Who gives inftead of torment,
Eternal joys above
Inftead of torment, glory ;
Inftead of death, that life
Wherewith your happy Country,
True Ifraelites, is rife.
Brief life is here our portion,
Brief forrow, fhort-liv d care ;
The life that knows no ending
The tearlefs life, is there.
O happy retribution !
Short toil, eternal reft ;
For mortals and for finners
A manfion with the bleft !
That we fhould look, poor wand rers,
To have our home on high !
That worms ftiould feek for dwelling,
Beyond the ftarry fky !
To all one happy guerdon
Of one celeftial grace ;
*be Celeftial Country.
For all, for all, who mourn their fall,
Is one eternal place.
And martyrdom hath rofes
Upon that heavenly ground ;
And white and virgin lilies
For virgin-fouls abound.
There grief is turned to pleafure
Such pleafure as below
No human voice can utter,
No human heart can know ;
And after flefhly fcandal,
And after this world s night,
And after ftorm and whirlwind,
Is calm, and joy, and light.
16.
And now we fight the battle,
But then fhall wear the crown
Of full and everlafting
And paflionlefs renown :
And now we watch and ftruggle,
16 cfke Celejlial Country.
And now we live in hope,
And Syon, in her anguifh,
With Babylon muft cope ;
But He whom now we truft in
Shall then be feen and known,
And they that know and fee Him
Shall have Him for their own.
The miferable pleafures
Of the body fhall decay ;
The bland and flattering ftruggles
Of the flefh fhall pafs away ;
And none fhall there be jealous,
And none fhall there contend ;
Fraud, clamor, guile what fay I ?
All ill, all ill fhall end !
And there is David s Fountain,
And life in fulleft glow ;
And there the light is golden,
And milk and honey flow
The Celejlial Country. 17
The light that hath no evening,
The health that hath no fore,
The life that hath no ending,
But lafteth evermore.
19.
There JESUS {hall embrace us,
There JESUS be embraced
That fpirit s food and funfhine
Whence earthly love is chafed.
Amidft the happy chorus,
A place, however low,
Shall (hew Him us, and fhewing,
Shall fatiate evermo.
20.
By hope we ftruggle onward :
While here we muft be fed
By milk, as tender infants,
But there by Living Bread.
The night was full of terror,
The morn is bright with gladnefs ;
The Crofs becomes our harbor,
And we triumph after fadnefs.
1 8 The Celejlial Country.
21.
And JESUS to His true ones
Brings trophies fair to fee ;
And JESUS ftiall be loved, and
Beheld in Galilee
Beheld, when morn ftiall waken,
And fhadows ftia\l decay,
And each true-hearted fervant
Shall ftiine as doth the day ;
And every ear ftiall hear it
" Behold thy King s array ,
Behold thy GOD in beauty,
The Law hath pafs d away!"
22.
Yes ! GOD my King and Portion,
In fulnefs of Thy grace,
We then ftiall fee for ever,
And worftiip face to face.
Then Jacob into Ifrael,
From earthlier felf eftranged,
And Leah into Rachel
For ever ftiall be changed ; s
The Celejlial Country. 19
Then all the halls of Syon
For aye {hall be complete,
And in the Land of Beauty,
All things of beauty meet.
For thee, O dear, dear Country !
Mine eyes their vigils keep ;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep.
The mention of thy glory
Is union to the breaft,
And medicine in ficknefs,
And love, and life, and reft.
24.
O one, O onely Manfion !
O Paradife of Joy !
Where tears are ever banifhed,
And fmiles have no alloy,
Befide thy living waters
All plants are, great and fmall,
The cedar of the foreft,
2o T&&lt;? Celeftial Country.
The hyffop of the wall ;
With jafpers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy ftreets with emeralds blaze,
The fardius and the topaz
Unite in thee their rays ;
Thine agelefs walls are bonded
With amethyft unpriced ;
Thy Saints build up its fabric,
And the corner-ftone is CHRIST. 6
25-
The Crofs is all thy fplendor,
The Crucified thy praife ;
His laud and benediction
Thy ranfomed people raife :
" JESUS, the Gem of Beauty,
True GOD and Man" they fing,
ct The never-failing Garden,
The ever-golden Ring ;
The Door, the Pledge^ the Hufband,
The Guardian of his Court >
The Day-Jlar of Salvation,
The Porter and the Port /"
Celejlial Country
26.
THOU HAST NO SHORE, FAIR OCEAN !
THOU HAST NO TIME, BRIGHT DAY !
DEAR FOUNTAIN OF REFRESHMENT
To PILGRIMS FAR AWAY !
UPON THE ROCK OF AGES
THEY RAISE THY HOLY TOWER ;
THINE is THE VICTOR S LAUREL,
AND THINE THE GOLDEN DOWER !
27.
Thou feePft in myftic rapture,
O Bride that know ft no guile,
The Prince s fweeteft kifles,
The Prince s lovelieft fmile ;
Unfading lilies, bracelets
Of living pearl thine own ;
The LAMB is ever near thee,
The Bridegroom thine alone.
The Crown is He to guerdon,
The Buckler to protect,
And He Himfelf the Manfion,
And He the Architect.
22 We Celeftial Country.
28.
The only art thou needeft
Thankfgiving for thy lot ;
The only joy thou feekeft
The Life where Death is not.
And all thine endlefs leifure,
In fweeteft accents, fings
The ill that was thy merit,
The wealth that is thy King s !
29.
JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN,
WITH MILK AND HONEY BLEST,
BENEATH THY CONTEMPLATION
SlNK HEART AND VOICE OPPRESSED.
I KNOW NOT, O I KNOW NOT,
WHAT SOCIAL JOYS ARE THERE !
WHAT RADIANCY OF GLORY,
WHAT LIGHT BEYOND COMPARE !
And when I fain would fmg them,
My fpirit fails and faints ;
The Celejtial Country. 23
And vainly would it image
The aflembly of the Saints.
3 1 -
THEY STAND, THOSE HALLS OF SYON,
CONJUBILANT WITH SONG,
AND BRIGHT WITH MANY AN ANGEL,
AND ALL THE MARTYR THRONG ;
THE PRINCE is EVER IN THEM,
THE DAYLIGHT IS SERENE ;
THE PASTURES OF THE BLESSED
ARE DECKED IN GLORIOUS SHEEN.
32.
THERE is THE THRONE OF DAVID,
AND THERE, FROM CARE RELEASED
THE SONG OF THEM THAT TRIUMPH,
THE SHOUT OF THEM THAT FEAST ;
AND THEY WHO, WITH THEIR LEADER,
HAVE CONQUERED IN THE FIGHT,
FOR EVER AND FOR EVER
ARE CLAD IN ROBES OF WHITE ! 7
24 The Celejlial Country.
33-
O holy, placid harp-notes
Of that eternal hymn !
O facred, fweet refe&ion,
And peace of Seraphim !
O thirft, for ever ardent,
Yet evermore content !
O true peculiar vifion
Of GOD cun&ipotent !
Ye know the many manfions
For many a glorious name,
And divers retributions
That divers merits claim ;
For midft the conftellations
That deck our earthly fky,
This ftar than that is brighter
And fo it is on high.
34-
Jerufalem the glorious !
The glory of the Eka !
O dear and future vifion
That eager hearts expect !
The Celeftial Country.
Even now by faith I fee thee,
Even here thy walls difcern ;
To thee my thoughts are kindled,
And ftrive, and pant, and yearn.
35-
Jerufalem the onely,
That look ft from heaven below,
In thee is all my glory,
In me is all my woe ;
And though my body may not,
My fpirit feeks thee fain,
Till flefli and earth return me
To earth and flefh again.
36.
O none can tell thy bulwarks,
How glorioufly they rife !
O none can tell thy capitals
Of beautiful device !
Thy lovelinefs opprefles
All human thought and heart ;
And none, O peace, O Syon,
Can fing thee as thou art I
26 The Celejlial Country.
37-
New manfion of new people,
Whom GOD S own love and light
Promote, increafe, make holy,
Identify, unite !
Thou City of the Angels !
Thou City of the LORD !
Whofe everlafting mufic
Is the glorious decachord ! 8
38-
And there the band of Prophets
United praife afcribes,
And there the twelvefold chorus
Of Ifrael s ranfomed tribes,
The lily-beds of virgins,
The rofes martyr-glow,
The cohort of the Fathers
Who kept the Faith below.
39-
And there the Sole-Begotten
Is LORD in regal ftate
The Celeftial Country. 27
He, Judah s myftic Lion,
He, Lamb Immaculate.
O fields that know no forrow !
O ftate that fears no ftrife !
princely bowers ! O land of flowers !
realm and home of Life !
40.
Jerufalem, exulting
On that fecureft (here,
1 hope thee, wifh thee, fing thee,
And love thee evermore !
I afk not for my merit,
1 feek not to deny
My merit is deftru&ion,
A child of wrath am I ;
But yet with Faith I venture
And Hope upon my way ;
For thofe perennial guerdons
I labor night and day.
41.
The beft and deareft FATHER,
Who made me and who faved,
3
28 T& Celeftial Country.
Bore with me in defilement,
And from defilement laved,
When in His ftrength I ftruggle,
For very joy I leap,
When in my fin I totter,
I weep, or try to weep :
But grace, fweet grace celeftial,
Shall all its love difplay,
And David s Royal Fountain
Purge every fin away.
42.
O mine, my golden Syon !
O lovelier far than gold,
With laurel-girt battalions,
And fafe victorious fold !
O fweet and blefled Country,
Shall I ever fee thy face ?
fweet and blefled Country,
Shall I ever win thy grace ?
1 have the hope within me
To comfort and to blefs !
Shall I ever win the prize itfelf ?
O tell me, tell me, Yes ]
The Celeftial Country. 29
43-
Exult, O duft and ajhes !
The LORD Jhall be thy part ;
His only, His for ever,
Thou Jhalt be, and thou art !
Exult, O duft and ajhes !
The LORD Jhall be thy part ;
His only, His for ever,
Thou Jhalt be, and thou art ! 9
30 T^he Celeflial Country.
HORA NOVISSIMA.
BERNARD OF CLUNI.
HORA noviflima, tempora peflima funt,vigi-
lemus.
Ecce minaciter imminet arbiter ille fupremus.
Imminet, imminet et mala terminet, aequa coro
net,
Re6ta remuneret, anxia liberet, aethera donet,
Auferat afpera duraque pondera mentes onuftae,
Sobria muniat, improba puniat, utraque jufte.
Hie breve vivitur, hie breve plangitur, hie breve
fletur ;
Non breve vivere, non breve plangere retri-
buetur ;
O retributio ! ftat brevis a&io, vita perennis ;
O retributio ! coelica manfio ftat lue plenis ;
Quid datur et quibus ? aether egentibus et cruce
dignis,
Sidera vermibus, optima fontibus, aftra malignis.
The Celeftial Country. 31
Sunt modo praelia, poftmodo praemia ; qualia ?
plena,
Plena refectio, nullaque paflio, nullaque poena :
Spe modo vivitur, et Syon angitur a Babylone ;
Nunc tribulatio; tune recreatio, fceptra, coronas-,
Tune nova gloria pe&ora fobria clarificabit,
Solvet enigmata, veraque fabbata continuabit.
Liber et hoftibus, et dominantibus ibit Hebraeus ;
Liber habebitur et celebrabitur hinc jubilaeus.
Patria luminis, infcia turbinis, infcia litis,
Give replebitur, amplificabitur Ifraelitis ;
Patria fplendida, terraque florida, libera fpinis,
Danda fidelibus eft ibi civibus, hie peregrinis.
Tune erit omnibus infpicientibus ora Tonantis
Summa potentia, plena fcientia, pax pia fan&is ;
Pax fine crimine, pax fine turbine, pax fine rixa,
Meta laboribus, atque tumultibus anchora fixa.
Pars mea Rex meus, in proprio Deus ipfe decore
Vifus amabitur, atque videbitur Au&or in ore.
Tune Jacob Ifrael, et Lia tune Rachel efficietur,
Tune Syon atria pulcraque patria perficietur.
O bona Patria, lumina fobria te fpeculantur,
Ad tua nomina lumina fobria collacrymantur ;
y, ^fhe Celeftial Country.
Eft tua mentio pe&oris un&io, cura doloris,
Concipientibus aethera mentibus ignis amoris.
Tu locus unicus, illeque ccelicus es paradifus,
Non ibi lacryma, fed placidiflima gaudia, rifus.
Eft ibi confita laurus, et infita cedrus hyfopo ,
Sunt radiantia jafpide maenia, clara pyropo :
Hinc tibi fardius, inde topazius, hinc amethyftus \
Eft tua fabrica concio coelica, gemmaque
Chriftus.
Tu fine littore, tu fine tempore, fons modd
rivus,
Dulce bonis fapis, eftque tibi lapis undique vivus.
Eft tibi laurea, dos datur aurea, fponfa decora,
Primaque Principis ofcula fufcipis, infpicis ora :
Candida lilia, viva monilia funt tibi, Sponfa,
Agnus adeft tibi, Sponfus adeft tibi, lux fpeciofa :
Tota negocia, cantica dulcia dulce tonare,
Tarn mala debita, quam bona praebita conju-
bilare.
Urbs Syon aurea, patrea laclea, cive decora,
Omne cor obruis, omnibus obftruis et cor et ora.
Nefcio, nefcio, quae jubilatio, lux tibi qualis,
Quam focialia gaudia, gloria quam fpecialis :
Laude ftudens ea tollere, mens mea vicl:a fatifcit :
The Celeftial Country. 33
O bona gloria, vincor ; in omnia laus tua vicit.
Sunt Syon atria conjubilantia, martyre plena,
Give micantia, Principe ftantia, luce ferena :
Eft ibi pafcua, mitibus afflua, praeftita fan&is,
Regis ibi thronus, agminis et fonus eft epulantis.
Gens duce fplendida, concio Candida veftibus
albis
Sunt fine fletibus in Syon aedibus, aedibus almis ;
Sunt fine crimine, funt fine turbine, funt fine
lite
In Syon aedibus editioribus Ifraelitae.
Urbs Syon inclyta, gloria debita glorificandis,
Tu bona vifibus interioribus intima pandis :
Intima lumina, mentis acumina te fpeculantur,
Pe&ora flammea fpe modo, poftea forte lucran-
tur.
Urbs Syon unica, manfio myftica, condita coelo,
Nunc tibi gaudeo, nunc mihi lugeo, triftor,
anhelo :
Te quia corpore non queo, pe&ore faepe penetro,
Sed caro terrea, terraque carnea, mox cado
retro
Nemo retexere, nemoque promere fuftinet ore,
Quo tua moenia, quo capitalia plena decore ;
34 The Cdejlial Country.
Opprimit omne cor ille tuus decor, O Syon, O
pax,
Urbs fine tempore, nulla poteft fore laus tibi
mendax ;
O fine luxibus, O fine lu&ibus, O fine lite
Splendida curia, florida patria, patria vitse !
Urbs Syon inclyta, turris et edita littore tuto,
Te peto, te colo, te flagro, te volo, canto, fa-
luto ;
Nee mentis peto, nam mentis meto morte
perire,
Nee reticens tego, quod meritis ego films irae ;
Vita quidem mea, vita nimis rea, mortua vita,
Quippe reatibus exitialibus obruta, trita.
Spe tamen ambulo, praemia poftulo fpeque fide-
que,
Ilia perennia poftulo praemia no&e dieque.
Me Pater optimus atque piiflimus ille creavit ;
In lue pertulit, ex lue fuftulit, a lue lavit.
Gratia coelica fuftinet unica totius orbis,
Parcere fordibus, interioribus un&io morbis ;
Diluit omina coelica gratia, fons David undans
Omnia diluit, omnibus affluit, omnia mundans ;
O pia gratia, celfa palatia cernere praefta,
tfbe Celejlial Country. 35
Ut videam bona, feftaque confona, coelica fefta.
O mea, fpes mea, tu Syon aurea, clarior auro,
Agmine fplendida, ftans duce, florida perpete
lauro,
O bona patria, num tua gaudia teque videbo ?
O bona patria, num tua praemia plena tenebo ?
Die mihi, flagito, verbaque reddito, dicque,
videbis.
Spem folidam gero ; remne tenens ero ? die,
Retinebis
O facer, O pius, O ter et amplius ille beatus,
Cui fua pars Deus, O mifer, O reus hac vidu-
atus. I0
36 ^fhe Celeftial Country.
NOTES.
i "Le furnom de Bernard varie en trois manieres dans les
manufcrits. Les uns 1 expriment par Morlanenfis qui Pitfeus
rapporte a une ville d Angleterre fans la defigner ; les autres
portent Morvalenfis, que Fabricius explique de la vallee de Mau-
rienne j il en eft enfin ou Ton trouve Morlacenfis, qu on peut
appliquer ou a Morlaix en Bafle-Bretagne, ou a la Morlas dans
le comte de Bigorre. Mais il eft certain, i, que la feconde de
nomination eft la plus rare ; 2, que les anciennes chartes em-
ploient indifferemment les deux autres pour marquer un citoyen
de la derniere ville, ce qui nous fait pencher a la regarder comme
la vraie patrie de Bernard." Hijioire Litteraire de la France.
Dr. Neale fays that Bernard was " born at Morlaix in Bretagne,
but of Englifh parents." Trench calls him "the contemporary
and fellow-countryman of his more illuftrious namefake of
Clairvaux." Pitfeus fimply fays, " Natione j$ngliis y or dims S.
Bcnedifli, Monachus Cluniacenjis"
* In his introduction to " The Celeftial Country," Dr. Neale
fays : " I have here deviated from my ordinary rule of adopting
the meafure of the original ; becaufe our language, if it could be
tortured to any diftant refemblance of its rhythm, would utterly
fail to give any idea of the majeftic fweetnefs of the Latin."
Medieval Hymns and Sequences. London, 2d Edition.
? " As a contraft to the mifery and pollution of earth," fays
Dr. Neale, " the poem [De Contcmptu Mundi\ opens with a de-
Icription of the peace and glory of heaven, of fuch rare beauty
Celeflial Country. 37
as not eafily to be matched by any mediaeval competition on the
fame fubjeft. Dean Trench, in his Sacred Latin Poetry, gave
a very beautiful cento of ninety-five lines from the work. From
that cento I tranflated the larger part in the firft edition of the
prefent book, following the arrangement of Dean Trench, and
not that of Bernard. The great popularity which my tranflation,
however inferior to the original, attained, is evinced by the very
numerous hymns compiled from it, which have found their way
into modern collections 5 fo that in fome fliape or other the
Cluniac s verfes have become, as it were, naturalized among us.
This led me to think that a fuller extract from the Latin, and a
further tranflation into Englifh, might not be unacceptable to the
lovers of facred poetry."
" It would be moft unthankful did I not exprefs my gratitude
to God for the favor He has given fome of the centos made from
the poem, but efpecially Jerusalem the Golden. It has found a
place in fome twenty hymnals ; and for the laft two years it has
hardly been pofiible to read any newfpaper, which gives promi
nence to ecclefiaftical news, without feeing its employment
chronicled at fome dedication or other feftival. It is alfo a great
favorite with diflenters, and has obtained admifiion to the Roman
Catholic fervices. And I fay this, to quote Bernard s own
preface, in no wife arrogantly, but with all humility, and there
fore boldly.
" But more thankful ftill am I that the Cluniac s verfes fhould
have foothed the dying hours of many of God s fervants, the
moft ftriking inftance, of which I know, is related in the
memoir publifhed by Mr. Brownlow, under the title, A Little
Child Jhall lead them ; where he fays that the child of whom
he writes, when fuffering agonies which the medical attendants
declared to be almoft unparalleled, would lie without a murmur
or motion, while the whole four hundred lines were read.
38 The Celejlial Country.
" I have no hefitation in faying that I look on thefe verfes of
Bernard as the moft lovely, in the fame way that the Dies Ira
is the moft fublime, and the Stabat Mater the moft pathetic of
mediaeval poems. They are even fuperior to that glorious hymn
on the fame fubjeft, the De Gloria et Gaudlh Paradifi of St.
Peter Damiani. For the fake of comparifon, I quote fome of
the moft ftriking ftanzas of the latter, availing myfelf of the
admirable tranflation of Mr. Wackerbarth (Med. Hymns, ad
Edition, London) :
THE GLORY AND JOYS OF PARADISE.
THERE nor waxing moon, nor waning
Sun nor ftars in courfes bright j
For the LAMB to that glad city
Shines an everlafting light :
There the daylight beams for ever,
All unknown are time and night.
For the Saints, in beauty beaming,
Shine in light and glory pure j
Crowned in triumph s flufhing honors,
Joy in unifon fecure ;
And in fafety tell their battles,
And their foes difcomfiture.
Freed from every ftain of evil,
All their carnal wars are done 5
For the flefh made fpiritual
And the foul agree in one j
Peace unbroken fpreads enjoyment,
Sin and fcandal are unknown.
Celejlial Country. 3
Here they live in endlefs being j
Pafiingnefs hath pafled away j
Here they bloom, they thrive, they flourifh,
For decayed is all decay :
Lafting energy hath fwallowed
Darkling death s malignant fway.
Though each one s refpeftive merit
Hath its varying palm afligned,
Love takes all as his poflefiion,
Where his power hath all combined j
So that all that each pofleffes
All partake in unconfined.
CHRIST, Thy foldiers palm of honor,
Unto this Thy city free
Lead me when my warfare s girdle
I /hall caft away from roe
< A partaker in Thy bounty
With Thy blefied ones to be.
Grant me vigor, while I labor
In the ceafelefs battle prefled,
That Thou mayft, the conflict over,
Grant me everlafting reft j
And I may at length inherit
Thee, my portion ever bleft."
"Archdeacon Trench fays very well, after referring to the
Ode of Cafimir (the great Latin poet of Poland), Urit me
Patri* decor, that both < turn upon the fame theme, the heav
enly home-ficknefs; but with all the claffical beauty of the Ode,
40 ^he Celejlial Country.
and it is great, who does not feel that the poor Cluniac monk s
is the more real and deep utterance ?
" The Ode, however, is well worthy of a tranflation, and here
is an attempt :
IT KINDLES ALL MY SOUL.
IT kindles all my foul,
My Country s lovelinefs ! Thofe ftarry choirs
That watch around the pole,
And the moon s tender light, and heavenly fires
Through golden halls that roll.
O chorus of the night ! O planets, fworn
The mufic of the fpheres
To follow ! Lovely watchers, that think fcorn
To reft till day appears !
Me, for celeftial homes of glory born,
Why here, oh why fo long,
Do ye behold an exile from on high ?
Here, O ye fhining throng,
With lilies fpread the mound where I fhall lie :
Here let me drop my chain,
And duft to duft returning, caft away
The trammels that remain j
The reft of me fhall fpring to endlefs day !"
4 Thefe two lines are taken from the laft London edition.
In fome editions they are thus given :
" And the perfect from the fhattered,
And the fallen from them that ftand."
5 " Leah and Rachel are allegorized in three different ways by
mediaeval poets. Firft, of the aftive and contemplative life ; and
Celcflial Country. 41
thence alfo, by an eafy tranfition, to the toil we endure on earth,
and the eternal contemplation of God s glory in Heaven as here.
So again, in a fine but rugged profe in the Nuremberg Miflal
for St. Jerome s Day :
Then, when all carnal ftrife hath ceafed,
And we from warfare are releafed,
O grant us in that Heavenly Feaft
To fee Thee as Thou art :
To Leah give, the battle won,
Her Rachel s dearer heart}
To Martha, when the ftrife is done,
Her Mary s better part.
" The parallel fymbol of Martha and Mary is, however, in
this fenfe far more common, and is even found in epitaphs, as
in that of Gundreda de Warren, daughter of William the Con
queror :
A Martha to the houfelefs poor, a Mary in her love ;
And though her Martha s part be gone, her Mary s lives above.
" Bernard, in the paflage we are confidering, has a double pro
priety in the changes of which he fpeaks. Ifrael, according to
St. Auguftine s rendering, means, He that beholds God; Rachel,
according to the unwarrantable mediaeval explanation, That be
holds the Beginning, i. c., CHRIST. Thus, the change fpoken of
is from earth to the Beatific Vifion ; and has a reference alfo to
the New Name and White Stone of the Apocalypfe.
" The fecond allegory of Leah and Rachel expounds them of
the Synagogue and the Church j the third makes them to repre-
fent earthly affliction patiently endured " Mediaval Hymns.
ad Edition.
42 The Celejlial Country.
6 " It is not without a deep myftical meaning that thefe
ftones are felefted by the poet.
"The twelve foundation ftones of the Apocalypfe gave rife,
as might be expefted, to an infinite variety of myftical interpre
tations. Jafper, fays the comment of Marbodus, is the firft
foundation of the Church of God, and is of a green color. It
fignifies thofe who always hold the Faith of God and never depart
from it, or wither, but are always flourifhing therein, and fear
not the aflaults of the devil. The emerald is exceeding green,
furpaffmg all gems and herbs in greennefs. By the emerald we
underftand thofe who excel others in the vigor of their faith, and
dwell among infidels who be frigid and arid in their love. The
fardius, which is wholly red, fignifies the martyrs who pour forth
their blood for CHRIST. The topaz is rare, and therefore pre
cious. It has two colors, one like gold, the other clearer. In
clearnefs it furpaffes all gems, and nothing is more beautiful. It
fignifies thofe who love God and their neighbor. The amethyft
is entirely red, and flioots out rofy flames. Its color fignifies
earthly fufferingj its emiflions, prayers for thofe that caufe it. "
Medieval Hymns. 2d Edition.
7 Thefe ftanzas are evidently confidered by Dr. Neale his beft.
See page 37. In deference to that opinion, they are given here in
the form in which they appear in the laft edition of Mediaeval
Hymns.
8 "Decachord, with reference to the myftical explanation, which,
feeing in the number ten a type of perfection, underftands the
inftrument of ten firings of the perfedl harmony of heaven."
9 " I have been fo often afked to what tune the words of Ber
nard may be fung, that I may here mention that of Mr. Ewing,
the earlieft written, the beft known, and with children the moft
The Celejlial Country. 43
popular; that of my friend, the Rev. H. L. Jenner, perhaps the
moft ecclefiaftical ; and that of another friend, Mr. Edmund
Sedding, which, to my mind, beft expreffes the meaning of the
words." Mediaeval Hymns, ad Edition.
i No copy of De Contemptu Mtindl is known to be in the
United States, and hence the extract given is only the cento from
Trench s Sacred Latin Poetry^ preceded by the firft fix lines of
the poem. It is the part firft translated by Dr. Neale, beginning
at the line, "Brief life is here our portion."
NOTE, that in this edition of The Celeftial Country thefe
changes have been made :
I ft. The poem has been divided into irregular ftanzas. This
change of form is partly for the convenience of thofe who love
to refer and re-refer to favorite paffages ; partly to enable chil
dren readily to feledl from it ftanzas to be learned or fung ; but
chiefly to render its intermingling fentences more clear to thofe
who have not become familiar with its conftru&ion.
ad. The punctuation has been materially remodelled and
changed.
3d. The author s text has been altered in three inftances, where
in the errors corrected feem manifeftly flips of the pen or blunders
of the competitor, viz., in the ninth ftanza, line fourteen, "thofe"
is fubftituted for "them;" in the twenty-fecond ftanza, line two,
" Thy" is fubftituted for " His," and in the forty-firft ftanza, line
nine, "But" is fubftituted for "And."
4
44 ^he Dies
THE DIES
A FRANCISCAN monk named Thomas,
born near the beginning of the thirteenth
century, at Celano,a Neapolitan village, achieved
fome reputation in his time as the friend and
biographer of St. Francis de Aflifi, founder of
the Order of Minorites. About the year 1250, as
is fuppofed, he wrote a brief lyric, which, reach
ing above and beyond his creed and time, has
entered in fome form into the worfhip of every
Chriftian people. In the Romim Burial Ser
vice it forms the Sequence for the Dead, and is
fung with folemn majefty at the great Sixtine
Chapel, while portions of it enter into the praife
or meditations of nearly " all who profefs and
call themfelves Chriftians." So that, becoming
more highly efteemed, and more generally known
with each century of its long hiftory, it is at the
prefent time both fung at Rome and approved
by all Proteftant Chriftendom.
Dies Irz. 45
A long lift might be framed of the great who
have avowed for it a fupreme admiration, ex
celling that yielded to any other compofition of
its kind. And fuch a roll would contain the
names of men of different countries as of dif
ferent creeds ; of foldiers, ftatefmen and poets ;
of hiftorians, Churchmen, and compofers, upon
whofe lips it has hovered, and in whofe works
it has been engraved. Mozart, Haydn, Goethe,
Schlegel, Johnfon, Dryden, Scott, Milman, and
Jeremy Taylor would be among thefe names.
This lyric, which is the greateft of hymns,
neverthelefs is caft in the fimpleft of forms.
Beginning with an exclamation from the Scrip
tures, it continues through its few ftanzas the
addrefs of a fingle actor upon a fingle fubjecl:.
Its meafure could not be more artlefs, nor its
ftanzas more fimple. The auguft language in
which it is clothed, it has bent into the form of
rhyme, and this rhyme is of a kind which is
faid to be wanting in dignity, and better adapt
ed to comic than to elevated verfe. Yet it
commands the homage of the Englifhman, the
German, the Italian, and the modern Greek ;
46 The Dies lr&.
and even poflefles fo ftrange a gift of fafcination,
a gift in which no other compofition equals and
but one other approaches it, that the very found
of its words will allure him who is ignorant of
their meaning.
This marvellous power cannot be meafured
and defined, yet a diftinguifhed American cler
gyman has thus clofely analyzed it : " Com-
" bining fomewhat of the rhythm of claffical
" Latin, with the rhymes of the mediaeval Latin,
cc treating of a theme full of awful fublimity, and
" grouping together the moft ftartling imagery of
" Scripture as to the laft Judgment, and throwing
" this into yet ftronger relief by the barbaric fim-
" plicity of the ftyle in which it is fet, and adding
cc to all thefe its full and trumpet-like cadences,
" and uniting with the impaflioned feelings of the
" South, whence it emanated, the gravity of the
" North, whofe feverer ftyle it adopted." Dr.
W. R. Williams.
The Great Hymn has ever allured and eluded
tranflators. Its apparent artleflhefs and fim-
plicity indicate that it can be turned readily into
another language, but its fecret power refufes to
Dies lr<z. 47
be thus transferred. A German theologian
(Lifco, Berlin, 1843) has collected and pub-
lifhed eighty-feven verfions, nearly all of which
are in the German. In our Englifh tongue the
tafk of rendering the Latin into verfe of the
fame meafure is more difficult, and fome of our
tranflators have fought to reproduce the form,
and others to preferve the power of the original.
The reader of Scott will remember with what
ftrength a few ftanzas burft on us in the firft
reading of " The Lay." In form and meaning
they hardly claim the name of a tranflation, yet
they have caught the fpirit of the hymn with -a
vividnefs that nothing in our language equals.
The mafs was fung, and prayers were faid,
And folemn requiem for the dead ;
And bells toll d out their mighty peal,
For the departed fpirit s weal ;
And ever in the office clofe
The hymn of interceffion rofe ;
And far the echoing aifles prolong
The awful burden of the fong
DIES IR^E, DIES ILLA !
SOLVET S^ECLUM IN FAVILLA J
48 The Dies Ira.
While the pealing organ rung ;
Were it meet with facred ftrain
To clofe my lay fo light and vain,
Thus the holy Fathers fung :
That day of wrath, that dreadful day !
When heaven and earth fhall pafs away,
What power fhall be the finner s flay ?
How fhall he meet that dreadful day ?
When fhrivelling like a parched fcroll
The flaming heavens together roll ;
When louder yet, and yet more dread,
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead !
Oh ! on that day, that wrathful day
When man to judgment wakes from clay,
Be Thou the trembling finner s ftay,
Though heaven and earth fhall pafs away !
The Dies Ir<z. 49
I.
The eftablifhed verfion of the hymn is
known as that of Paris. It differs in but one
line from that of Rome, which has for the third
line, of the firft ftanza, Cruets expandens vexilla.
There have been ftanzas prefixed to the hymn
and others added ; but, in its great ftrength, it
has fhaken off all fuch fpurious additions. A
marble flab in the Church of St. Francis, at
Mantua, bore a copy of the hymn prefaced
by five ftanzas, which many fcholars have
thought, from the great age of the church,
authentic. But the church is a century younger
than the hymn, and thefe ftanzas condemn
themfelves :
Dies ilia, dies irae
Quam conemur praevenire,
Obveamque Deo irae.
The inverfion of the Scriptural text, the
poverty of the rhyme, and the weaknefs of the
thought, are not faults of the DIES IRJE. Its
author undoubtedly took the quotation from
Zcphaniah as a text, and placed it at the head
50 The Dies Ira.
of his compofition ; and the inverfion, "Dies illa^
dies ira" is the play upon words to which an
imitator alone would refort.
II.
The author of the firft translation given in
this volume, in a preface to his work, fays :
u A production univerfally acknowledged to
" have no fuperior of its class fhould be as lit-
" erally rendered as the ftructure of the lan-
" guage into which it is tranflated will admit.
" Moreover, no tranflation can be complete
ct which does not conform to the original in its
" rhythmic quantities. The mufic of the DIES
" IRJE is as old as the hymn, if not older ; and
"with thofe who are familiar with both, they
"are infeparably connected in thought. To
" fatisfy the exactions of fuch minds, the ca-
" dences muft be the fame."
In this endeavor the author has fo well fuc-
ceeded, that when this verfion is compared
ftanza by ftanza with the original, it will be
found to be in the fame trochaic meafure, in the
The Dies Ira. 51
fame difficult double rhyme, in ftanzas of the
fame triplicate conftru&ion, and, with feweft
errors, to be as a tranflation the moft literal and
juft that has been made. Yet this fuccefs in
letters was achieved by a foldier, during the
gloomieft period of a great and diftra&ing war.
The author is Major-General John A. Dix,
U. S. V., and the tranflation was made at
Fortrefs Monroe, in the fecond year of the
Rebellion.
III.
The intenfe power of the Great Hymn is
alfo exemplified in the different renderings which
have been made by the fame author. Dr. Abra
ham Coles, an American phyfician, has per
formed indeed the remarkable talk of making
thirteen different verfions ; fix of which are in
the trochaic meafure and double rhyme of the
hymn, and all are fufficiently diftinft and origi
nal to form the creditable work of thirteen
different men. This verfion is the firft of Dr.
Coles.
52 The Dies Ira.
IV.
The next verfion is that of the Rev. Franklin
Johnfon, fpoken of in the introduction and now
fubftituted in the place of one of Dr. Coles .
V.
This verfion is by that nobleman of whom
Pope has written :
"Such was Rofcommon, not more learned than good,
Of manners generous as his noble blood :
To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known,
And every author s merit but his own."
And of whom Dryden has confefled :
" It was my Lord Rofcommon s eflay on
" tranflated verfe which made me uneafy till I
" tried whether or no I was capable of follow-
" ing his rules, and of reducing the fpeculation
" into practice."
And of whom Johnfon has recorded :
" At the moment in which he expired, he
u uttered, with an energy of voice that exprefled
Dies Irx. 53
ic the moft fervent devotion, two lines of his
" own verfion of DIES
My God, my Father, and my Friend,
Do not forfake me in my end. "
In the beautiful fervor of its devotion, Rof-
common s excels all other tranflations, but its
verfe is not that of the DIES IRJE.
VI.
Crafhaw, the contemporary of Herbert, and
friend of Cowley, is the author of this verfion.
It is the oldeft in our language (1646), though
there is a weak paraphrafe by Drummond of
Hawthornden, beginning :
Ah, filly foul ! what wilt thou fay
When He, whom heaven and earth obey,
Comes man to judge in the laft day !
No tranflation furpafles Craftiaw s in ftrength,
but the form of his ftanza and the meafure of
his verfe are leaft like thofe of the original.
54 ^he Dies Ira.
VII.
The verfion of Dr. W. J. Irons may be re
garded as the accepted verfion of the prefent
day in Great Britain, and is the one felecT:ed by
the Hymnal Noted. It is in the double rhyme
and meafure of the original, and parts of it bear
a ftriking refemblance to the American verfion
of General Dix. But a much more curious
coincidence in conception, with an abfolute iden
tity of language in many parts, exifts in the un-
publifhed verfion of an accomplifhed tranflator
(Mr. A. Peries, of Philadelphia), wherein feveral
ftanzas differ but little from thofe of General
Dix. The eleventh ftands as follows :
" Righteous Judge of retribution,
Grant us finners abfolution
Ere the day of diflblution ! *
VIII.
It is a notable facl: in the hiftory of the
DIES IR.JE, that the beft Englifh tranflations
which we poflefs are not the work of our
The Dies Ira. 55
great poets. A recent verfion, which fo capable
and accomplished a critic as Mr. Prime pro
nounces to be u in many refpe&s the beft Eng-
lifh verfion hitherto produced, and peculiarly
valuable for thofe who do not read the Latin,
and who defire to gain fome idea of the power
and beauty of this moft celebrated hymn of the
Church," alio illuftrates this remarkable facl:.
The author is Edward Sloflbn, Efq., of the bar
of New York.
And in this connection it may be obferved,
that even fo accomplifhed a mafter in profe and
verfe as Macaulay has fucceeded no better in
the difficult tafk than is fhown by his verfion
written for the London Chriftian Obferver in
1826, beginning
" On that great, that awful day,
This vain world fhall pafs away.
Thus the Sibyl fang of old j
Thus hath holy David told.
There fhall be a deadly fear
When the Avenger (hall appear}
And, unveiled before his eye,
All the works of men fhall lie."
56 tte Dies
I.
THOMAS DE CELANO.
DIES IR.K, DIES ILLA, dies tribulationis et anguftiae, dies calam*
itatis et miferiae, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nebulae et
turbinis, dies tubae et clangoris fuper civitatis munitas, et fuper
angulos excelfos! Sophonia, i. 15, 1 6.
I.
DIES IRJE, DIES ILLA !
Solvet faeclum in favilla,
Tefte David cum Sybilla.
n.
Quantus tremor eft futurus,
Quando Judex eft venturus,
Cunfta ftridte difcuffurus.
in.
Tuba mirum fpargens fonum
Per fepulcra regionum,
Coget omnes ante thronum.
The Dies lr<z. 57
II.
GENERAL DIX.
THAT DAY, A DAY OF WRATH, a day of trouble and diftrefs, a
day of luaftcntfs and dcfolation, a day of darkncfs and gloominefs,
a day of clouds and thick darknefs y a day of the trumpet and alarm
again/I the fenced cities, and againft the high towers ! ZEPH-
ANIAH, 1. 15, 1 6,
I.
DA Y of vengeance, without morrow !
Earth (hall end in flame and forrow,
As from Saint and Seer we borrow.
2.
Ah ! what terror is impending,
When the Judge is feen defcending,
And each fecret veil is rending.
3-
To the throne, the trumpet founding,
Through the fepulchres refounding,
Summons all, with voice aftounding.
f 8 We Dies
IV.
Mors ftupebit, et natura,
Quum refurget creatura,
Judicanti refponfura.
v.
Liber fcriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
VI.
Judex ergo cum fedebit,
Quidquid latet, apparebit
Nil inultum remanebit.
VII.
Quid fum, mifer ! tune dihirus,
Quern patronum rogaturus,
Quum vix juftus fit fecurus ?
The Dies Ira. 59
Death and Nature, mazed, are quaking,
When, the grave s long (lumber breaking,
Man to judgment is awaking.
On the written Volume s pages,
Life is fhown in all its ftages
Judgment-record of paft ages !
6.
Sits the Judge, the raifed arraigning,
Darkeft myfteries explaining,
Nothing unavenged remaining.
7-
What (hall I then fay, unfriended,
By no advocate attended,
When the juft are fcarce defended ?
C>0 The Dies lr<z.
VIII.
Rex tremendae majeftatis,
Qui falvandos falvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis !
IX.
Recordare, Jefu pie,
Quod fum caufa tuae viae ;
Ne me perdas ilia die }
x.
Quaerens me, fedifti laffus,
Redemifti, crucem paflus :
Tantus labor non fit cafTus.
XI.
Jufte Judex ultionis,
Donum fac remiflionis
Ante diem rationis.
The Dies Ira. 6l
8.
King of majefty tremendous,
By Thy faving grace defend us,
Fount of pity, fafety fend us !
9-
Holy JESUS, meek, forbearing,
For my fins the death-crown wearing,
Save me, in that day, defpairing.
10.
Worn and weary, Thou haft fought me ;
By Thy crofs and paffion bought me
Spare the hope Thy labors brought me.
ii.
Righteous Judge of retribution,
Give, O give me abfolution
Ere the day of diflblution.
5
62 The Dt es Ira.
XII.
Ingemifco tanquam reus,
Culpa rubet vultus meus 5
Supplicant! parce, Deus !
XIII.
Qui Mariam abfolvifti,
Et latronem exaudifti,
Mihi quoque fpem dedifti.
XIV.
Preces meae non funt dignae,
Sed Tu bonus fac benigne
Ne perenni cremer igne !
xv.
Inter oves locum praefta,
Et ab haedis me fequeftra,
Statuens in parte dextra.
The Dies Ira. 63
12.
As a guilty culprit groaning,
Flufhed my face, my errors owning,
Hear, O God, my fpirit s moaning !
Thou to Mary gav ft remiflion,
Heard ft the dying thief s petition,
Bad ft me hope in my contrition.
In my prayers no grace difcerning,
Yet on me Thy favor turning,
Save my foul from endlefs burning.
Give me, when Thy fheep confiding
Thou art from the goats dividing,
On Thy right a place abiding !
64 ^he Dies
XVI.
Confutatis maledi&is,
Flammis acribus addi&is,
Voca me cum benedi&is !
XVII.
Oro fupplex et acclinis,
Cor contritum quafi cinis^
Gere curam mei finis.
XVIII.
Lacrymofa dies ilia !
Qua refurget ex favilla.
Judicandus homo reus ;
Huic ergo parce, Deus !
Dies Ir<z. 65
16.
When the wicked are confounded,
And by bitter flames furrounded,
Be my joyful pardon founded !
Proftrate, all my guilt difcerning,
Heart as though to ames turning ;
Save, O fave me from the burning f
18.
Day of weeping, when from afhes
Man mall rife mid lightning flames,
Guilty, trembling with contrition,
Save him, Father, from perdition !
66 <tb e Dies Ira.
III.
DR. COLES.
I.
TTXAY of wrath, that day of burning,
-^ Seer and fibyl fpeak concerning,
All the world to afhes turning.
2.
Oh, what fear fhall it engender,
When the Judge fhall come in fplendor,
Strict to mark and juft to render.
3-
Trumpet fcattering founds of wonder,
Rending fepulchres afunder,
Shall refiftlefs fummons thunder.
fte Dies Ir<*>. 67
DR. JOHNSON,
I.
AY of wrath, that day of burning !
Earth fhall end, to afties turning :
Thus fing Saint and Seer difcerning.
2.
Ah, the dread beyond expreflion
When the Judge in awful feflion
Searcheth out the world s tranfgreflion !
3-
Then is heard a found of wonder :
Mighty blafts of trumpet-thunder
Rend the fepulchers afunder.
68 Tbe Dies Ira.
4-
All aghaft then Death fhall fhiver,
And great Nature s frame fhall quiver,
When the graves their dead deliver.
5-
Book where a&ions are recorded,
All the ages have afforded
Shall be brought, and dooms awarded,,
6.
When fhall fit the Judge unerring,
He ll unfold all here occurring,
No juft vengeance then deferring.
7-
What fhall I fay, that time pending ?
Alk what advocate s befriending,
When the juft man needs defending ?
The Dies Ir<e. 69
4-
What can e er that woe refemble
Where even Death and Nature tremble
As the rifing throngs aflemble !
Vain, my foul, is all concealing ;
For the Book is brought, revealing
Every deed and thought and feeling.
6.
On His throne the Judge is feated,
And our fins are loud repeated,
And to each is vengeance meted.
Wretched me ! How gain a hearing,
Where the righteous falter, fearing,
At the pomp of His appearing ?
70 The Dies Ira.
8.
Dreadful KING, all power poflefling,
Saving freely thofe confefling,
Save Thou me, O Fount of Bleffing !
9-
Think, O JESUS, for what reafon
Thou didft bear earth s fpite and treafon,
Nor me lofe in that dread feafon !
10.
Seeking me Thy worn feet hafted,
On the crofs Thy foul death tailed
Let fuch travail not be wafted !
II.
Righteous Judge of retribution !
Make me gift of abfolution
Ere that day of execution !
The Dies Ira. 71
8.
King of majefty and fplendor,
Fount of pity, true and tender,
Be, Thyfelf, my ftrong defender.
From Thy woes my hope I borrow :
I did caufe Thy way of forrow :
Do not lofe me on that morrow.
10.
Seeking me, Thou weary sankeft,
Nor from fcourge and crofs Thou fhrankeft
Make not vain the cup Thou drankeft.
II.
Thou wert righteous even in flaying;
Yet forgive my guilty ftraying,
Now, before that day difmaying.
7 2 T<? Dies Ira.
12.
Culprit-like I plead, heart-broken,
On my cheek frame s crimfon token
Let the pardoning word be fpoken !
Thou who Mary gav ft remiflion,
Heard ft the dying thief s petition,
Cheer ft with hope my loft condition.
14.
Though my prayers be void of merit,
What is needful, Thou confer it,
Left I endlefs fire inherit !
15-
Be there, Lord, my place decided
With Thy fheep, from goats divided,
Kindly to Thy right hand guided !
fbe Dies Ira. 73
12.
Though my fins with mame suffufe me,
Though my very moans accufe me,
Canft Thou, Loving One, refufe me ?
He by whom the Thief was fhriven
And the Magdalen forgiven
Grants to me the hope of Heaven.
14.
Though unworthy my petition,
Grant me full and free remhTion,
And redeem me from perdition.
Be my lot in love decreed me :
From the goats in fafety lead me ;
With Thy fheep forever feed me.
74 The Dies lr<z.
16.
When th accurfed away are driven,
To eternal burnings given,
Call me with the blefled to heaven !
I befeech Thee, proftrate lying,
Heart as afhes, contrite, fighirig,
Care for me when I am dying !
18.
Day of tears and late repentance,
Man {hall rife to hear his fentence :
Him, the child of guilt and error,
Spare, LORD, in that hour of terror !
<Tt>e Dies Ira. 75
16.
When Thy foes are all confounded,
And with bitter flames furrounded,
Call me to Thy blifs unbounded.
From the duft, I pray Thee, hear me :
When my end (hall come, be near me ;
Let Thy grace fuftain and cheer me.
18.
Ah, that day, that day of weeping,
When, no more in ashes sleeping,
Man shall rise and stand before Thee !
Spare him, spare him, I implore Thee.
76 Ibe Dies lr<z.
V.
EARL ROSCOMMON.
I.
r I^HE day of wrath, that dreadful day,
A Shall the whole world in afhes lay,
As David and the Sibyls fay.
2.
What horror will invade the mind
When the ftri& Judge, who would be kind,
Shall have few venial faults to find.
3-
The laft loud trumpet s wondrous found
Shall through the rending tombs rebound,
And wake the nations under ground.
The Dies Ira. 77
VI.
RICHARD CRASHAW
I.
HEAR ST thou, my foul, what ferious things
Both the Pfalm and Sibyl fings
Of a fure Judge, from whofe {harp ray
The world in flames fhall fly away !
2.
O that Fire ! before whofe face
Heaven and earth {hall find no place :
O thofe Eyes ! whofe angry light
Muft be the day of that dread night.
3-
O that Trump ! whofe blaft mall run
An even round with th circling Sun,
And urge the murmuring graves to bring
Pale mankind forth to meet his King.
6
78 The Dies
4-
Nature and death fhall with furprife
Behold the pale offender rife,
And view the Judge with confcious eyes,
5-
Then fhall, with univerfal dread,
The facred, myftic book be read
To try the living and the dead.
6.
The Judge afcends His awful throne - 9
He makes each fecret fin be known,
And all with fhame confefs their owo.
7-
O then, what intereft fhall I make
To fave my laft important ftake
When the moft juft have caufe to quake!
We Dies Ira. 79
4-
Horror of Nature, Hell, and Death I
When a deep groan from beneath
Shall cry, " We come, we come !" and all
The caves of night anfwer one call.
5
O that book ! whofe leaves fo bright
Will fet the world in fevere light.
O that Judge ! whofe hand, whofe eye
None can endure, yet none can fly.
6.
Ah then, poor foul ! what wilt thou fay ?
And to what patron choofe to pray,
When ftars themfelves ftiall ftagger, and
The moft firm foot no more {hall ftand ?
7-
But Thou giv ft leave, dread Lord, that we
Take {belter from Thyfelf in Thee ;
And with the wings of Thine own dove
Fly to Thy fceptre of foft love !
8o
8.
Thou mighty, formidable KING !
Thou mercy s unexhaufted fpring,
Some comfortable pity bring !
9-
Forget not what my ranfom coft ;
Nor let my dear-bought foul be loft,
In ftorms of guilty terrors toft.
10.
Thou who for me didft feel fuch pain,
Whofe precious blood the crofs did ftain,
Let not thefe agonies be vain 1
II.
Thcxi whom avenging powers obey,
Cancel my debt, too great to pay,
Before the fad accounting day !
The Dies Ira. 8l
8.
Dear [LORD], remember in that day
Who was the caufe Thou cam ft this way ;
Thy fheep was ftrayed, and Thou wouldft be
Even loft Thyfelf in feeking me !
9-
Shall all that labor, all that cofl
Of love, and even that lofs, be loft ?
And this loved foul judged worth no lefs
Than all that way and wearinefs ?
10.
Juft Mercy, then, Thy reckoning be
With my price, and not with me ;
Twas paid at firft with too much pain
To be paid twice, or once in vain.
ii.
Mercy, my Judge, mercy I cry,
With blufhing cheek and bleeding eye ;
The confcious colors of my fin
Are red without, and pale within.
82 W e Dies Ira.
12.
Surrounded with amazing fears,
Whofe load my foul with anguifh bears,
I figh, I weep ! accept my tears !
Thou who wert moved with Mary s grief s
And by abfolving of the thief
Haft given me hope, now give relief
Rejecl: not my unworthy prayer ;
Preferve me from the dangerous fnare
Which death and gaping hell prepare.
Give my exalted foul a place
Among Thy chofen right-hand race,
The fons of God and heirs of grace.
^fhe Dies Ira. 83
12.
O let Thine own foft bowels pay
Thyfelf, and fo difcharge that day !
If Sin can figh, Love can forgive,
O, fay the word, my foul fhall live !
3-
Thofe mercies which Thy Mary found,
Or who Thy crofs confefs d and crowned,
Hope tells my heart the fame loves be
Still alive, and ftill for me.
Though both my prayers and tears combine,
Both worthlefs are, for they are mine ;
But Thou Thy bounteous felf ftill be,
And fhow Thou art by faving me.
O when Thy laft frown {hall proclaim
The flocks of goats to folds of flame,
And all Thy loft fheep found (hall be,
Let " Come ye bleffed " then call me !
84 We Dies Ira.
16.
From that infatiable abyfs,
Where flames devour and ferpents hifs,
Promote me to thy feat of blifs.
Proftrate my contrite heart I rend,
My God, my Father, and my Friend :
Do not forfake me in my end !
18.
Well may they curfe their fecond breath
Who rife to a reviving death :
Thou great Creator of mankind,
Let guilty man compaffion find !
T&e Dies Ira. 85
16.
When the dread " ITE " {hall divide
Thofe limbs of death from Thy left fide,
Let thofe life-fpeaking lips command
That I inherit Thy right hand !
O, hear a fuppliant heart all crufh d,
And crumbled into contrite duft !
My hope, my fear my Judge, my Friend !
Take charge of me, and of my end !
86 tfbe Dies Ira.
VII.
DR. IRONS.
I.
DAY of Wrath ! O Day of mourning !
See ! once more the Crofs returning,
Heav n and earth in afhes burning !
O what fear man s bofom rendeth,
When from Heav n the Judge defcendeth,
On whofe fentence all dependeth !
Wondrous found the Trumpet flingeth,
Through earth s fepulchres it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth !
The Dies Ira. 87
VIII.
MR. SLOSSON.
I.
DAY OF WRATH ! of days THAT DAY
Earth in flames (hall melt away,
Pfalmift thus and Sibyl fay.
2.
What fwift terrors then (hall fall,
When defcends the Judge of all,
Every a&ion to recall !
3-
When the trump, with wondrous tone
Through the graves of nations gone,
Bids the race confront the Throne.
Dies Ira.
Death is ftruck, and nature quaking,
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an anfwer making !
5-
Lo, the Book, exactly worded !
Wherein all hath been recorded ;
Thence {hall judgment be awarded.
6.
When the Judge His feat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unaveng d remaineth.
What fhall I, frail man, be pleading,
Who for me be interceding,
When the juft are mercy needing ?
T&e Dies Ira. 89
4-
Death (hall die fair nature too ;
As the creature, ris n anew,
Anfwers to his God s review.
HE the fcroll of fate fhall fpread,
Writ with all things done or faid,
Thence to judge th awaken d dead.
6.
Lo ! He takes His feat of light ;
All that s dark mall leap to fight,
Guilt, the fword of vengeance fmite,
What can I, then, wretched, plead ?
Who will mediate in my need
When the juft mall fcarce fucceed ?
go ^he Dies lr&.
8.
King of majefty tremendous,
Who doft free falvation fend us,
Fount of pity ! then befriend us {
Think ! Kind Jefu, my falvation
Caus d Thy wondrous Incarnation ;
Leave me not to reprobation!
10.
Faint and weary Thou haft fought me,
On the Crofs of fuffering bought me j
Shall fuch grace be vainly brought me !
II.
Righteous Judge of retribution,
Grant Thy gift of abfolution,
Ere that reckoning day s conclufion !
Dies Ira. 91
8.
King majeftic ! Sovereign dread !
Saving all for whom He bled,
Save Thou me ! Salvation s Head !
9-
Holy Jefus ! pricelefs ftay !
Think ! for me Thy bleeding way !
Lofe me not, upon That Day.
10.
Faint and weary, Thou haft fought,
By the Crofs, my crown haft bought
Can fuch anguifti be for naught ?
II.
Oh ! avenging Judge fevere,
Grant remiflion, full and clear,
Ere th accounting day appear.
92 cfhe Dies Ira.
12.
Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
All my fhame with anguifh owning ;
Spare, O God, Thy fuppliant, groaning !
Thou, the finful woman faveft,
Thou, the dying thief forgaveft ;
And to me a hope vouchfafeft !
14-
Worthlefs are my pray rs and fighing,
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Refcue me from fires undying !
With Thy favor d fheep, O place me !
Nor among the goats abafe me ;
But to Thy right hand upraife me.
The Dies Ira. 93
12.
Like a guilty thing I moan,
Flum d my cheek, my fins I own,
Hear, O God, Thy fuppliant s groan !
Magdalen found grace with Thee,
So the thief upon the tree ;
Hope Thou giveft e en to me.
14.
Worthlefs are my vows, I know,
Yet, dear Lord, Thy pity (how,
Left I fink in endlefs woe.
From the goats my lot divide,
With Thy lambs a place provide,
On Thy right and near Thy fide.
94 ^The Dies Ira.
16.
While the wicked are confounded,
Doom d to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me ! with Thy faints furrounded.
Low I kneel, with heart fubmiflion ;
See, like afhes, my contrition ;
Help me, in my laft condition !
18.
Ah ! that Day of tears and mourning !
From the duft of earth returning,
Man for judgment muft prepare him j
Spare ! O God, in mercy, fpare him !
Lord, who didft our fouls redeem,
Grant a blefled Requiem ! Amen.
The Dies Ira. 95
16.
When th accursed fink in fhame,
Given to tormenting flame,
With Thy blefled call my name.
Bowed to earth, I ftrive in prayer ;
Heart like cinders, fee, I bear;
Its laft throbbing be Thy care !
18.
AH ! THAT DAY of burning tears,
When from afhes reappears
Man all guilt, his doom to bear
SPARE HIM, GOD ! IN MERCY, SPARE
96 The Stabat Mater.
THE STABAT MATER.
THE STABAT MATER, with the Dies Ir#,
poflefles the power of imparting a fhad-
owy impreffion of its meaning by the melody of
its verfe. Its foft, fad cadence echoes the feeling
of its pathetic words. In fame it ranks next to
the Dies Ir&^ yet is neither fo fimple nor fo
grand ; nor does it rife, like the Great Hymn,
above fe&arian faults. It has attracted the fame
great admiration, and been praifed and repeated
by the fame great admirers, but always in a
lefler degree. As the Dies Ir<z has been pro
nounced the greateft, fo the STABAT MATER
univerfally is deemed the moft pathetic of
hymns.
The life of its author was in fit keeping with
its plaintive utterances. He was born at Todi,
of the noble Italian houfe of Benedette, and
rofe to diftin&ion as a jurift. A few years
Stabat Mater. 97
after the Dies Ira was written (1268), he loft
his wife, and, broken-hearted, renounced the
world to join, like Thomas of Celano, the
Order of St. Francis. In the ardor of his devo
tion, he tried to atone by felf-fought tortures
not only for his own fins, but, like our Saviour,
for the fins of others. At laft his forrows fank
into infancy and ended in death.
Dying about the time that Petrarch was born,
and while Dante was ftill a young man, his
Cantate Spirituali mark the dawning day of
the Italian language. In an old Venetian
copy of thefe, the hiftorian of the Francif-
cans (Wadding) found a number of Latin
poems, amongft which was the STABAT MATER,
and thus eftablimed for the Order of St. Francis
the honor of producing, within the fame cen
tury, the two moft celebrated of Latin hymns.
When the firft edition of this book was pub-
lifhed, there was a weaknefs in the Englifli ex-
pofition of the STABAT MATER which no
fearch after fitting translations could cure, and
the reader was warned that few Englifh verfions
had been made, and not one that ftricSUy pre-
98 The Stabat Mater.
ferved its meafure. That of Lord Lindfay was
fele&ed, and is ftill retained, as beft expreffing
the pathos of the original. Since then, however,
this portion of our literature has received fuch
additions as will render the expofition of the
moft pathetic of hymns as complete as it probably
ever can be made.
The firft of thefe new verfions is by the accom-
plifhed foldier whofe verfion of the Dies Ires pre-
vioufly is given. The facl: is noticeable that
while his accurate rhythmic translation of the
" Great Hymn " was written amidft the din of
war, and while its author was on duty in the field,
this pathetic verfion of the STABAT MATER
has been compofed while its author was furrounded
by the gayeties of the French capital, and engrofled
in his duties as Minifter Plenipotentiary, In a
private letter, General Dix fays :
" As I proceeded, I could not but think under how much more
favorable circumftances than mine JACOBUS DE BZNEDICTIS muft
have written the immortal hymn. He was in all probability fit-
ring in his narrow cell, the external world entirely fhut out, with
nothing before him but a crucifix, to which it was only neceflary
to lift his eyes for aid when he felt the fpirit of infpiration flag-
The Stabat Mater. 99
ging. On the other hand, I was compelled to write in a Parifian
faloon, amid the glare of meretricious gilding, almoft under the
fhadow of the great triumphal arch one of thofe gigantic
memorials of human viftories which for the caufe of human civil
ization had much better be forgotten than commemorated ; the
canvas on the walls fwarming with young fauns, cupids, and
other Pagan devices.
" In making the tranflation I kept in view three or four lead
ing objects which I will briefly ftate.
" I. An inflexible adherence to the rhythm.
" 2. A faithful prefervation of every thought contained in the
original.
" 3. A vigorous exclufion of every thought not contained in it.
" 4. A prefervation as far as poflible, of the tendernefs of feel
ing and expreffion, which is the characteriftic of the hymn."
The fecond of the new tranflations is by that
accomplifhed author, two of whofe remarkable
renderings of the Dies Ira already enrich this
work. Of the verfion now given a diftinguifhed
fcholar fays, cc The Englifh double rhyme rarely
expreffes the melody and pathos of the Latin.
Dr. Abraham Coles, of Newark, has probably
beft succeeded in a faithful rendering of the Mater
Dolor of a. "Dr. Philip Schaf.
A further expofition of the STABAT MATER is
given in the newly found companion-hymn, Stabat
loo tte Stabat Mater.
Mater Spedofa, with its tranflation, the laft work
of Dr. John Mafon Neale. This long-loft
lyric has recently been introduced to American
readers by Dr. Schaff, who has briefly told its
ftory, and thus admirably analyzed its relation to
the STABAT MATER :
" While the latter has been known and admired for nearly five
centuries, the former, though probably as old, was buried in ob-
fcurity, until it was brought to light in our day by A. F. Ozanam
in his work on the Francifcan Poets, and in the improved Ger
man edition of this work by Julius, with an admirable tranflation
of the hymn by Cardinal Diepenbrock, then bifliop of Breflau.
The poem has alfo attracted the attention of Englifh hymnologifts,
and been tranflated for the firft time into Englifh by the late Dr.
John Mafon Neale, who publifhed the original Latin with the
tranflation a few days before his death, in Auguft, 1 8 66, thus
clofing his ufeful and brilliant hymnological labors.
The Mater Speciofa and the Mater Dolorofa are, apparently, the
product of the fame genius. They are companion-hymns, and re-
femble each other like twin lifters. The Mater Dolorofa was
evidently fuggefted by the Scripture fcene, as briefly ftated by St.
John, Stabat juxta crucem mater cjus ; and this again, fuggefted the
cradle-hymn as a counterpart. It is a parallelifm of contraft which
runs from beginning to end. The Mater Speciofa is a Chriftmas
hymn, and fings the overflowing joy of Mary at the cradle of
the new-born Saviour. The Mater Dolorofa is a Good Friday
hymn, and fings the piercing agony of Mary at the crofs of her
The Stabat Mater. 101
divine human Son. They breathe the fame love to Chrift, and
the burning defire to become identified with Mary by fympathy in
the intenfity of her joy as in the intenfity of her grief. They are
the fame in ftruclure, and excel alike in the Angularly touch
ing mufic of language, and the foft cadence that echoes the fenti-
ment. Both confilt of two parts, the firft of which defcribes the
objective fituation ; the fecond identifies the author with the
fituation, and addreffes the Virgin as an object of worfhip. Both
bear the imprefs of their age and the monaftic order which
probably gave them birth. The myfterious charm and power of
the two hymns are due to the subjedl and to the intenfity of feeling
with which the author feized it. Mary at the manger, and Mary
at the crofs, opens a vifta to an abyfs of joy and of grief fuch as
the world never faw before. Mary flood there not only as the
mother, but as the reprefentative of the whole Chriftian church,
for which the eternal Son of God was born an infant in the
manger, and for which he fuffered the moft ignominious death on
the crofs.
102 The Stabat Mater.
STABAT MATER.
JACOBUS DE BENEDICTIS.
I.
STABAT Mater dolorofa,
Juxta crucem lacrymofa,
Dum pendebat filius.
Cujus animam gementem,
Contriftatam et dolentem,
Pertranfivit gladius.
II.
O quam triftis et affli&a,
Fuit ilia benedifta
Mater unigeniti !
Quae moerebat et dolebat,
Pia mater, dum videbat
Nati poenas inclyti.
Stabat Mater. 103
THE STABAT MATER.
LORD LINDSAY.
I.
BY the Crofs, fad vigil keeping,
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
While on it the Saviour hung ;
In that hour of deep diftrefs,
Pierced the fword of bitternefs
Through her heart with forrow wrung.
2.
Oh ! how fad, how woe-begone
Was that ever-bleffed one,
Mother of the Son of God !
Oh ! what bitter tears fhe fhed
Whilft before her JESUS bled
Neath the Father s penal rod 1
104 tte Stabat Mater.
in.
Quis eft homo qui non fleret 5
Chrifti matrem fi videret
In tanto fupplicio ?
Quis non poffet contriftari
Piam matrem contemplari
Dolentem cum filio ?
IV.
Pro peccatis fuae gentis,
Vidit Jefum in tormentis,
Et flagellis fubditum.
Vidit fuum dulcem natum,
Morientem, defolatum,
Dum emifit fpiritum.
v.
Eia mater, fons amoris,
Me fentire vim doloris
Fac, ut tecum lugeam.
Fac ut ardeat cor meum,
In amando Chriftum Deum
Ut illi complaceam.
Stabat Mater. 105
3-
Who s the man could view unmoved
CHRIST S fweet mother, whom HE loved,
In fuch dire extremity ?
Who his pitying tears withhold,
CHRIST S fweet mother to behold
Sharing in His agony ?
4-
For the Father s broken law,
Mary thus the Saviour faw
Sport of human cruelties
Saw her fweet, her only Son,
God-forfaken and undone,
Die a finlefs facrifice !
5-
Mary mother, fount of love,
Make me (hare thy forrow, move
All my foul to fympathy !
Make my heart within me glow
With the love of JESUS fo
Shall I find acceptancy.
ic6 ^ke Stabat Mater.
VI.
Sancta Mater, iftud agas,
Crucifix! fige plagas
Cordi meo valide.
Tui Nati vulnerati,
Tam dignati pro me pati,
Poenas mecum divide,
VII.
Fac me vere tecum flere,
Crucifixo condolere,
Donee ego vixero.
Juxta crucem tecum flare,
Et tibi me fociare
In plan&u defidero.
VIII.
Virgo virginum praeclara,
Mihi jam non fis amara ;
Fac me tecum plangerc.
Fac ut portem Chrifti mortem
Paffionis fac confortem,
Et plagas recolere.
The Stabat Mater. 107
6.
Print, O Mother, on my heart,
Deeply print the wounds, the fmart
Of my Saviour s chaftifement ;
He who, to redeem my lofs,
Deigned to bleed upon the crofs
Make me fhare His punifhment.
7-
Ever with thee, at thy fide,
Neath the CHRIST, the Crucified,
Mournful mother, let me be !
By the Crofs fad vigil keeping,
Ever watchful, ever weeping,
Thy companion conftantly !
8.
Maid of maidens, undefiled,
Mother gracious, mother mild,
Melt my heart to weep with thee !
Crown me with CHRIST S thorny wreath,
Make me confort of His death,
Sharer of His victory.
108 The Stabat Mater.
IX.
Fac me plagis vulnerari,
Fac me cruce inebriari,
Et cruore filii.
Inflammatus et accenfus,
Per te, Virgo, fim defenfus,
In die judicii.
x.
Fac me cruce cuftodiri,
Morte Chrifti praemuniri,
Confoveri gratia.
Quando corpus morietur,
Fac ut animae donetur
Paradifi gloria.
The Stabat Mater. 109
9-
Never from the mingled tide
Flowing ftill from JESUS fide,
May my lips inebriate turn ;
And when in the day of doom,
Lightning-like He rends the tomb,
Shield, oh fhield me, left I burn !
10.
So the fhadow of the tree
Where thy JESUS bled for me
Still mail be my fortalice ;
So when flefh and fpirit fever
Shall I live, thy boon, for ever
In the joys of Paradife !
110 < fbe Stabat Mater
STABAT MATER
GENERAL DIX.
I.
NEAR the Crofs the Saviour bearing
Stood the mother lone, defpairing,
Bitter tears down falling faft.
Wearied was her heart with grieving,
Worn her breaft with forrow heaving,
Through her foul the fword had patted.
2.
Ah ! how fad and broken-hearted
Was that bleffed mother, parted
From the God-begotten One !
How her loving heart did languifti
When fhe faw the mortal anguifti
Which overwhelmed her peerlefs Son.
Stabat Mater, ill
STABAT MATER.
DR. COLES.
I.
STOOD the afflifted mother weeping
Near the crofs her ftation keeping
Whereon hung her Son and Lord ;
Through whofe fpirit fympathizing,
Sorrowing and agonizing
Alfo pafled the cruel fword.
2.
Oh ! how mournful and diftreffed
Was that favored and moft blefled
Mother of the only Son !
Trembling, grieving, bofom heaving,
While perceiving, fcarce believing,
Pains of that Illuftrious One.
112 tfbe Stabat Mater
3-
Who could witnefs without weeping
Such a flood of forrow fweeping
O er the ftricken mother s breaft ?
Who contemplate without being
Moved to kindred grief by feeing
Son and mother thus opprefled ?
For our fins fhe faw Him bending
And the cruel lafh defcending
On His body ftripped and bare ;
Saw her own dear Jefus dying,
Heard His fpirit s laft out-crying
Sharp with anguifh and defpair.
5-
Gentle Mother, love s pure fountain !
Caft, oh ! caft on me the mountain
Of thy grief that I may weep ;
Let my heart with ardor burning,
Chrift s unbounded love returning,
His rich favor win and keep.
We Stabat Mater. 113
3-
Who the man, who, called a brother,
Would not weep, faw he Chrift s mother
In fuch deep diftrefs and wild ?
Who could not fad tribute render
Witnefling that mother tender
Agonizing with her child ?
4-
For His people s fins atoning,
Him (he faw in torments groaning,
Given to the fcourger s rod ;
Saw her darling offspring dying,
Defolate, forfaken, crying,
Yield His fpirit up to God.
5-
Make me feel thy forrow s power,
That with thee I tears may fhower,
Tender mother, fount of love !
Make my heart with love unceafing
Burn toward Chrift the Lord, that pleafing
I may be to Him above.
114 The Stabat Mater.
6.
Holy Mother, be thy ftudy
Chrift s dear image fcarred and bloody
To enfhrine within my heart !
Martyred Son ! whofe grace has fet me
Free from endlefs death, oh ! let me
Of Thy fufferings bear a part.
7-
Mother, let our tears commingle,
Be the crucifix my fingle
Sign of forrow while I live :
Let me by the Crofs ftand near thee,
There to fee thee, there to hear thee,
For each ligh a figh to give.
8.
Pureft of the Virgins ! turn not
Thy difpleafure on me fpurn not
My defire to weep with thee.
Let me live Chrift s paflion fharing,
All His wounds and forrows bearing
In my tearful memory.
The Stabat Mater. 115
6.
Holy mother, this be granted,
That the flain one s wounds be planted
Firmly in my heart to bide.
Of Him wounded, all aftounded
Depths unbounded for me founded,
All the pangs with me divide.
Make me weep with thee in union ;
With the Crucified, communion
In His grief and fuffering give ;
Near the crofs with tears unfailing
I would join thee in thy wailing
Here as long as I mail live.
8.
Maid of maidens, all excelling !
Be not bitter, me repelling,
Make thou me a mourner too ;
Make me bear about Chrift s dying,
Share His paflion, fliame defying,
All His wounds in me renew.
ll6 The Stabat Mater.
9-
Be, ye wounds, my tribulation !
Be, thou Crofs, my infpiration !
Mark, O blood, my Heaven-ward way,
Thus to fervor rapt, O tender
Virgin, be thou my defender
In the dreadful Judgment Day.
10.
With the Crofs my faith I ll cherifh ;
By Chrift s death fuftained I ll perifh,
Through His grace again to rife.
Come then, Death, this body fealing,
To my ranfomed foul revealing
Glorious days in Paradife.
We Stabat Mater. 117
9-
Wound for wound be there created ;
With the crofs intoxicated
For thy Son s dear fake, I pray
May I, fired with pure affe&ion,
Virgin, have through thee protection
In the folemn Judgment Day.
10.
Let me by the Crofs be warded,
By the death of Chrift be guarded,
Nourifhed by divine fupplies.
When the body death hath riven,
Grant that to the foul be given
Glories bright of Paradife.
li8 ^he Stabat Mater.
MATER SPECIOSA.
JACOBUS DE BENEDICTIS.
I.
STABAT Mater fpeciofa
Juxta foenum gaudiofa,
Dum jacebat parvulus ;
Cujus animam gaudentem
Lactabundam ac ferventem
Pertranlivit jubilus.
ii.
O quam laeta et beata
Fuit ilia immaculata
Mater Unigeniti !
Quas gaudebat et ridebat,
Exultabat, cum videbat
Nati partum inclyti.
The Stabat Mater. 119
MATER SPECIOSA
DR. NEALE.
I.
FULL of beauty ftood the mothei
By the manger, bleft o er other,
Where her little one {he lays :
For her inmoft foul s elation,
In its fervid jubilation,
Thrills with ecftafy of praife.
2.
Oh ! what glad, what rapturous feeling
Filled that blefled mother, kneeling
By the Sole-Begotten One !
How, her heart with laughter bounding,
She beheld the work aftounding,
Saw His birth, the glorious Son.
120 cfbe Stabat Mater.
in.
Quis jam eft, qui non gauderet
Chrifti matrem fi videret
In tanto folatio ?
Quis non poflet collaetari,
Chrifti matrem contemplari
Ludentem cum filio ?
IV.
Pro peccatis fuae gentis
Chriftum vidit cum jumentis
Et algori fubditum ;
Vidit fuum dulcem natum
Vagientem, adoratum
Vili diverforio.
v.
Nato Chrifto in praefepe
Coeli cives canunt laete
Cum immenfo gaudio ;
Stabat fenex cum puella
Non cum verbo nee loquela
Stupefcentes cordibus
T<? Stdbat Mater. 121
3-
Who is he, that fight who beareth,
Nor Chrift s mother s folace ftiareth
In her bofom as He lay :
Who is he that would not render
Tend reft love for love fo tender,
Love, with that dear babe at play I
4-
For the trefpafs of her nation
She with oxen faw His flation
Subjected to cold and woe ;
Saw her fweeteft offspring s wailing,
Wife men Him with worfhip hailing,
In the ftable, mean and low.
5-
Jefus lying in the manger,
Heavenly armies fang the ftranger,
In the great joy-bearing part ;
Stood the old man with the maiden,
No words fpeaking, only laden
With this wonder in their heart.
122 tte Stabat Mater.
VI.
Eja mater, fons amoris,
Me fentire vim ardoris,
Fac ut tecum fentiam !
Fac ut ardeat cor meum
In amatum Chriftum Deum,
Ut fibi complaceam.
VII.
San&a mater, iftud agas,
Prone introducas plagas
Cordi fixas valide.
Tui nati coelo lapfi,
Jam dignati foeno nafci
Poenas mecum divide.
VIII.
Fac me vere congaudere,
Jefulino cohaerere
Donee ego vixero.
In me fiftat ardor tui ;
Puerino fac me frui
Dum fum in exilio.
Hunc ardorem fac communem,
Ne me facias immunem
Ab hoc defiderio.
The Stabat Mater. 123
6.
Mother, fount of love ftill flowing,
.Let me, with thy rapture glowing,
Learn to fympathize with thee :
Let me raife my heart s devotion
Up to Chrift with pure emotion,
That accepted I may be.
7-
Mother, let me win this blefling,
Let His forrow s deep imprefling
In my heart engraved remain :
Since thy Son, from heaven defcending,
Deigned to bear the manger s tending,
Oh ! divide with me His pain.
8.
Keep my heart its gladnefs bringing,
To my Jefus ever clinging
Long as this my life (hall laft ;
Love like that thine own love, give i^
On rny little child to rivet,
Till this exile fliall be paft.
Let me fhare thine own affliction ;
Let me fuffer no rejection
Of my purpofe fixed and faft.
124 The Stabat Mater.
IX.
Virgo virginum praeclara,
Mihi jam non fis amara ;
Fac me parvum rapere ;
Fac ut pulchrum fantem portem,
Qui nafcendo vicit mortem,
Volens vitam tradere.
x.
Fac me tecum fatiari,
Nato me inebriari,
Stans inter tripudio.
Inflammatus et accenfus
Obftupefcit omnis fenfus
Tali de commercio.
XI.
Omnes ftabulum amantes,
Et paftores vigilantes
Perno&antes fociant.
Per virtutem nati tui
Ora ut ele&i sui
Ad patriam veniant.
The Stabat Mater. 125
9-
Virgin, peerlefs of condition,
Be not wroth with my petition,
Let me clafp thy little Son ;
Let me bear that child fo glorious,
Him, whofe birth, o er death victorious,
Willed that life for man was won.
10.
Let me, fatiate with my pleafure,
Feel the rapture of thy treafure
Leaping for that joy intenfe :
That, inflamed by fuch communion,
Through the marvel of that union
I may thrill in every fenfe.
ii.
All that love this ftable truly,
And the mepherds watching duly,
Tarry there the livelong night :
Pray that, by thy Son s dear merit,
His elected may inherit
Their own country s endlefs light.
126 be 7eni Santte.
THE VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS.
IN the year 997, "whilft the priefthood ftrug-
" gled to regain through their anathemas the
" property that had been taken from them by
" violence, a young man, who knew neither to
" threaten nor to lie, nor to infpire others with
" fear, fucceeded to the royal dignity which his
" father had ufurped. It was Robert, only fon
" of Hugh Capet." Sifmondi, Hift. Francais.
This King, "there is no good reafon to
" doubt" (Komgsfeld\ was the author of the
VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS, a hymn that the beft
living authority regards as " the lovelieft of all
" the hymns in the whole circle of Latin facred
" poetry." Trench.
The ability of Robert II. to have compofed
the hymn which ranks next to the Dies Ira and
J^eni Sanffe. 127
Stabat Mater, is not improbable, for, according
to the chronicle of Saint Bertin, he was a faint,
a poet, and a mufician :
" Robert etoit tres-pieux, prudent, lettre, et fuffifamment phi-
"lofophe, mais furtout excellent muficien. II compofa la profe
" du Saint-Efprit, qui commence par ces mots, Adfit nobis gratia^
" les rhythmes, Judae et Hicrufalcm, et Cornelius Centurio, qu il
" offrit a Rome fur 1 autel de Saint-Pierre, notes avec le chant
" qui leur etoit propre, de meme que 1 antiphone Eripe, et plu-
" fieurs auttes beaux morceaux."
The tranflation which is here given is from
the Lyra Germanica of Catherine Winkworth.
That work profefles to be tranflated from the
German ; but its verfion of the VENI SANCTE
SPIRITUS is a finer tranflation than any that pro
fefles to be from the Latin.
The only alteration which has been made in
the text is the firft word of the Englifti verfion.
As there was no reafon for rendering the Latin
verb by the Englifh interje&ion " O," it is pre-
fumed that this was an unintended error of the
ufually faithful and fcrupulous tranflator.
128 tte Feni Sanffe.
VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS.
ROBERT II.
I.
"I 7ENI, Sanae Spiritus,
Et emitte coelitus,
Lucis tuae radium.
II.
Veni, pater pauperum,
Veni, dator munerum,
Veni, lumen cordium.
in.
Confolator optime,
Dulcis hofpes animae,
Dulce refrigerium.
Veni Sanffe. 129
THE VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS.
CATHERINE WINKWORTH.
I.
COME, Holy Ghoft ! Thou fire divine !
From higheft heaven on us down fhine !
Comforter, be Thy comfort mine !
2.
Come, Father of the poor, to earth ;
Come with Thy gifts of precious worth ;
Come, Light of all of mortal birth !
3-
Thou rich in comfort ! Ever bleft
The heart where Thou art confront gueft,
Who giv ft the heavy-laden reft.
130 The Feni Sanffe.
IV.
In labore requies,
In aeftu temperies,
In fletu folatium.
v.
O lux beatiflima !
Reple cordis intima,
Tuorum fidelium.
VI.
Sine tuo numine,
Nihil eft in homine,
Nihil eft innoxium.
VII.
Lava quod eft fordidum,
Riga quod eft aridum,
Sana quod eft faucium.
The Veni Santfe. 131
4-
Come Thou in whom our toil is fweet,
Our fhadow in the noon-day heat,
Before whom mourning flieth fleet.
5-
Bright Sun of Grace ! Thy funftiine dart
On all who cry to Thee apart,
And fill with gladnefs every heart.
6.
Whate er without Thy aid is wrought,
Or fkilful deed, or wifeft thought,
God counts it vain and merely naught.
7-
O cleanfe us that we fin no more,
O er parched fouls Thy waters pour ;
Heal the fad heart that acheth fore.
132 The reni Santte
VIII.
Fle&e quod eft rigidum,
Fove quod eft frigidum,
Rege quod eft devium.
IX.
Da tuis fidelibus,
In te confidentibus,
Sacrum feptenarium.
x.
Da virtutis meritum,
Da falutis exitum,
Da perenne gaudium
The reni Sancte. 133
8.
Thy will be ours in all our ways ;
O melt the frozen with Thy rays ;
Call home the loft in error s maze.
And grant us, LORD, who cry to Thee,
And hold the Faith in unity,
Thy precious gifts of chanty.
10.
That we may live in holinefs,
And find in death our happinefs,
And dwell with Thee in lading blifs
J 34 tte Feni Creator.
THE VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS.
"/CHARLEMAGNE, reclame par PEglife
^^ comme un faint, par les Francais comme
u leur plus grand roi, par les Allemands comme
cc leur compatriote, par les Italiens comme leur
" empereur," is the reputed author of this
Latin hymn. Men naturally prefer to trace a
venerable and renowned compofitiori to an un
expected authorfhip, and to find the refinement
of letters in thofe otherwife diftinguifhed ; ftill
more, to difcover in a great foldier and a great
king the doubly refined gift of facred poetry.
It is not impoffible. " The eloquence of Char-
" lemagne," fays his Secretary, " was abundant.
" He was able to exprefs with facility all he
u wimed ; and, not content with his mother-
cc tongue, he beftowed great pains upon foreign
" languages. He had taken fo well to the Latin,
14 that he was able to fpeak publicly in that Ian-
The Feni Creator. 135
" guage almoft as eafily as in his own. He
" underftood Greek, and ftudied Hebrew."
There remains of his mufe an epitaph on
Adrian I., in thirty-eight verfes ; the Song of
Roland , an ode to the fcholar Warnefride, and
an epigram in hexameter verfe. This epigram
was found in a manufcript containing a com
mentary on the Epiftle to the Romans, attributed
to Origen, and corrected in the hand of Char
lemagne. The fubjecl: of the hymn feems alfo
to have engaged the attention of the Emperor,
for there is a letter by him addrefled to his
bifhops, entitled De gratia feptiformis Spiritus.
He died at Aix-la-Chapelle, his crown upon his
head, and his copy of the Gofpels upon his
knees, January 28, 814.
The Englifh verfion of the hymn is the para-
phrafe of Dryden, of which Warton fays : "This
"is a moft elegant and beautiful little morfel,
44 and one of his moft correct compofitions."
There is a tranflation in the Prayer Book (Or
dering of Priefts) which is noteworthy, as being
the only Breviary hymn retained by the Epifco-
pal Church.
136 ^ e V en i Creator.
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS.
CHARLEMAGNE.
VENI, Creator Spiritus,
Mentes tuorum vifita,
Imple fuperna gratia,
Quae tu creafti pe&ora.
Qui diceris Paraclitus,
Altiffimi donum Dei,
Fons vivus, ignis, charitas,
Et fpiritalis un6tio.
Tu feptiformis munere,
Digitus Paternae dexteras,
Tu rite promiflum Patris,
Sermone ditans guttura.
Accende lumen fenfibus,
Infunde amorem cordibus,
Infirma noftri corporis
Virtute firmans perpeti.
ft>e Veni Creator.
THE VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS.
DRYDEN.
REATOR Spirit, by whofe aid
The world s foundations firft were laid,
Come vifit every pious mind,
Come pour Thy joys on human kind j
From fin and forrow fet us free,
And make Thy temples worthy Thee.
O SOURCE of uncreated light,
The Father s promifed Paraclete !
Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire,
Our hearts with heavenly love infpire ;
Come, and Thy facred unction bring,
To fan&ify us while we fmg.
PLENTEOUS of grace, defcend from high,
Rich in Thy fevenfold energy !
Thou ftrength of His almighty hand,
Whofe power does heaven and earth command.
Proceeding Spirit, our defence,
Who doft the gifts of tongues difpenfe,
And crown ft Thy gift with eloquence !
l38 Tbe Veni Creator.
Hoftem repellas longius,
Pacemque dones protinus :
Du&ore fie te praevio
Vitemus omne noxium.
Per te fciamus da Patrem,
Nofcamus atque Filium j
Teque utriufque Spiritum
Credamus omni tempore.
Deo Patri fit gloria
Et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
In faeculorum faecula.
The Veni Creator.
REFINE and purge our earthly parts ;
But, oh, inflame and fire our hearts !
Our frailties help, our vice control,
Submit the fenfes to the foul ;
And when rebellious they are grown,
Then lay Thy hand and hold em down.
CHASE from our minds th infernal foe,
And peace the fruit of love beftow ;
And left our feet fhould ftep aftray,
Protect and guide us on the way.
MAKE us eternal truths receive,
And pra&ife all that we believe ;
Give us Thyfelf, that we may fee
The Father and the Son by Thee.
IMMORTAL honor, endlefs fame,
Attend the Almighty Father s name :
The Saviour Son be glorified,
Who for loft man s redemption died ;
And equal adoration be,
Eternal Paraclete, to Thee.
140 like Fexilla Regis.
THE VEXILLA REGIS.
THE VEXILLA REGIS was written about
the year 580 two hundred years before
the time of Charlemagne, and feven hundred
years before the birth of the Englifh language.
It is therefore one of the oldeft of mediaeval
hymns.
Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian, whofe birth
place is unknown, was in early life a citizen of
Ravenna, from which he was driven by the
great invafion of the Lombards. He patted into
France, and became the fafhionable poet of his
time. Subfequently he devoted his talents to a
holier objecl:, and became the friend of Saint
Radegunde and Saint Gregory. He removed to
Tours, was made Biftiop of Poitiers, and died
about the year 600.
tte Vexilla Regis. 141
" This world-famous hymn, one of the grand-
eft in the treafury of the Latin Church, was
compofed by Fortunatus on occafion of the
reception of certain relics by Saint Gregory of
Tours and Saint Radegunde, previoufly to the
confecration of a church at Poitiers. It is
therefore ftricl:ly and primarily a proceffional
hymn, though, very naturally, afterwards adapted
to Paffion-tide." Medieval Hymns.
" C eft de Fortunat qu eft le VEXILLA REGIS
compofe, a 1 occafion du morceau de la vraie
croix, envoye par 1 empereur Juftin a St. Rade-
gonde." Biographic Univerfelle.
The laft two verfes were added when the
hymn was appropriated to Paffion-tide. The
ending of Fortunatus is this :
" With fragrance dropping from each bough,
Sweeter than fweeteft neftar thou :
Decked with the fruit of peace and praife,
And glorious with Triumphal lays:
Hail, Altar ! Hail, O Victim ! Thee
Decks now Thy Paflion s Victory ;
Where Life for finners death endured,
And life by death for man procured."
142 the Fexilla Regis.
VEXILLA REGIS.
FORTUNATUS.
I.
VEXILLA regis prodeunt,
Fulget crucis myfterium,
Quo carne carnis conditor
Sufpenfus eft patibulo.
ii.
Quo vulneratus infuper
Mucrone diro lanceae,
Ut nos lavaret crimine
Manavit unda fanguine.
in.
Impleta funt quae concinit
David fideli carmine
Dicens : In nationibus
Regnavit a ligno Deus.
The I^exttla Regis. 143
THE VEXILLA REGIS.
DR. NEALE.
I.
r I^HE Royal Banners forward go;
The Crofs {nines forth in myftic glow ;
Where He in flefh, our flefh who made,
Our fentence bore, our ranfom paid.
2.
Where deep for us the fpear was dy d,
Life s torrent rufhing from His fide,
To wafh us in that precious flood
Where mingled water flow d, and blood.
3-
Fulfilled is all that David told
In true prophetic fong of old ;
Amidft the nations GOD, faith he,
Hath reign d and triumph d from the Tree.
144 ^e Fexilla Regis.
IV.
Arbor decora et fulgida,
Ornata regis purpura,
Ele&a digno ftipite
Tam fan&a membra tangere.
v.
Beata cujus brachiis
Pretium pependit faeculi,
Statera facta faeculi
Praedamque tulit tartaris.
VI.
O crux ave, fpes unica !
Hoc paflionis tempore,
Auge piis inftitiam
Reifque dona veniam.
VII.
Te fumma Deus Trinitas
Collaudet omnis fpiritus
Quas per crucis myfterium
Salvas, rege per faecula.
Fexilla Regis.
4-
O Tree of Beauty ! Tree of Light !
O Tree with royal purple dight !
Ele6t on whofe triumphal breaft
Thofe holy limbs fhould find their reft !
5-
On whofe dear arms, fo widely flung,
The weight of this world s ranfom hung
The price of human kind to pay,
And fpoil the Spoiler of his prey.
6.
O Crofs, our one reliance, hail !
This holy Paflion-tide, avail
To give frefh merit to the faint,
And pardon to the penitent.
7-
To Thee, Eternal Three in One,
Let homage meet by all be done ;
Whom by the Crofs Thou doft reftorc,
Preferve and govern evermore.
146 ^fhe Alleluiatic Sequence.
THE ALLELUIATIC SEQUENCE.
THIS famous Sequence, which may be re
garded as the parent of every Hallelujah
Chorus that has been written fince, was com-
pofed by Godefcalcus, prior to the year 950 the
year of his death. The little that is known of
him is given by his tranflator.
" There is only one thing," fays Dr. Neale,
" with refpecl: to the ufe of any of my hymns that
has grieved me the rejection of the noble mel
ody of the ALLELUIATIC SEQUENCE, and that for
a third-rate chant. What would be faid of chant
ing the Dies Ires ? And yet I really believe
that it would fuffer lefs than does the CANTEMUS
CUNCTI by fuch a fubftitution. Further, be it
noticed, every fentence I had almoft faid every
Alleluiatic Sequence. H7
word of the verfion was carefully fitted to the
mufic, and the length of the lines correfponds to
the length of each troparlon in the original."
" If it be faid that the original melody is diffi
cult, I can only reply that I have frequently
heard it fung by a choir of children, of ages
varying from four to fourteen ; and never more
prettily than when, without any accompaniment
at all, in the open fields the very fmall ones
joining in for the greater part with the whole of
their little energy." Medieval Hymns.
148 tfbe Alleluiatic Sequence.
CANTEMUS CUNCTL
GODESCALCUS.
/CANTEMUS cuncti melodum nunc
ALLELUIA.
II. In laudibus aeterni regis haec plebs reful-
tet ALLELUIA.
in. Hoc denique coeleftes chori cantent in
altum ALLELUIA.
iv. Hoc beatorum per prata paradifiaca pfallat
concentus ALLELUIA.
v. Quin et aftrorum micantia luminaria jubi-
lent altum ALLELUIA.
vi. Nubium curfus, ventorum volatus, ful-
gurum coruscatio et tonitruum fo-
nitus dulce confonent fimul
ALLELUIA.
Alleluiatic Sequence. 149
THE ALLELUIATIC SEQUENCE,
DR. NEALE.
THE ftrain upraife of joy and praife, Alleluia.
2. To the glory of their King
Shall the ranfom d people fing Alleluia.
3. And the Choirs that dwell on high
Shall re-echo through the fky Alleluia.
4. They through the fields of Paradife that roam,
The blefled ones, repeat through that bright
home Alleluia.
5. The planets glitt ring on their heavenly way,
The {hining conftellations, join, and fay
Alleluia.
6. Ye clouds that onward fweep !
Ye winds on pinions light !
Ye thunders, echoing loud and deep !
Ye lightnings, wildly bright !
In fweet confent unite your Alleluia.
15 tfbe Alleluiatic Sequence.
vn. Flu&us et undae, imber et procellae, tem-
peftas et ferenitas, cauma, gelu,
nix, prunae, faltus, nemora pan-
gant ALLELUIA.
viii. Hinc variae volucres creatorem laudibus
concinite cum ALLELUIA.
ix. Aft illic refpondeant voces altae diverfarum
beftiarum ALLELUIA.
x. Iftinc montium celfi vertices fonent
ALLELUIA.
xi. Hinc vallium profunditates faltent
ALLELUIA.
xn. Tu quoque maris jubilans abyfle die
ALLELUIA.
xni. Nee non terrarum molis immenfitates :
ALLELUIA.
xiv. Nunc omne genus humanum laudans ex-
ultet : ALLELUIA.
xv. Et creatori grates frequentans confonet :
ALLELUIA.
xvi. Hoc denique nomen audire jugiter de-
Ie6tatur ALLELUIA.
Alleluiatic Sequence.
7. Ye floods and ocean billows !
Ye ftorms and winter fnow !
Ye days of cloudlefs beauty !
Hoar froft and fummer glow !
Ye groves that wave in fpring,
And glorious forefts, fing Alleluia.
8. Firft let the birds, with painted plumage gay,
Exalt their great CREATOR S praife, and fay
Alleluia.
9. Then let the beafts of earth, with varying
ftrain,
Join in Creation s Hymn, and cry again
Alleluia.
10. Here let the mountains thunder forth, fono-
rous, Alleluia.
1 1 . There, let the valleys fing in gentler chorus,
Alleluia.
12. Thou jubilant abyfs of ocean, cry Alleluia.
13. Ye traces of earth and continents, reply
Alleluia.
14. To GOD, who all Creation made,
15. The frequent hymn be duly paid: Alleluia.
1 6. This is the ftrain, the eternal ftrain, the
LORD of all things loves : Alleluia
The Alleluiatic Sequence.
xvu. Hoc etiam carmen coelefte comprobat
ipfe Chriftus : ALLELUIA.
xvin. Nunc vos focii cantate laetantes :
ALLELUIA.
xix. Et vos pueruli refpondete femper
ALLELUIA.
xx. Nunc omnes canite fimul Alleluia dom
ino, Alleluia Chrifto pneumatique
ALLELUIA.
xxi. Laus Trinitati aeternae in babtifmo domini
quae clarificatur : Hinc canamus :
ALLELUIA.
Allduiatic Sequence. 153
17. This is the fong, the heav nly fong, that
CHRIST Himfelf approves : Alleluia.
1 8. Wherefore we fmg, both heart and voice
awaking, Alleluia.
19. And children s voices echo, anfwer making,
Alleluia.
20. Now from all men be out-pour d
Alleluia to the LORD ;
With Alleluia evermore
The SON and SPIRIT we adore.
21. Praife be done to the THREE in ONE.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
154 Appendix.
APPENDIX
THE concluding lines of the extract given at
page 4, are in the original :
" Si tua nuncia praevenit uncia, furge, fequaris j
Expete limina, nulla gravamina jam verearis.
Si datur uncia, flat prope gratia Pontificalis ;
Sin procul haec valet, hzec tibi lex manet eft fchola talia."
The ninth and tenth ftanzas of the STABAT
MATER are more literally rendered in the fol
lowing than in the verfion of Lord Lindfay.
They alfo ftiow the inability of the Englifli
double rhyme to exprefs the pathos which in-
vefts the Latin.
" Let me with His ftripes be rended 5
Let me by His blood be cleanfed
Looking to the Crucified.
Then, O Virgin, by thee lighted,
Wakened, warmed, aroufed, excited,
For the judgment fanftified.
* Let me by the Crofs directed,
By the death of CHRIST prote&ed,
See below His glory far.
Then, this body mouldering, riven
Then be to my fpirit given
Paradiji Gloria /"
BV 468 .549 1902
SMC
THE SEVEN GREAT HYMNS OF
THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH /
AJZ-6218 (MCFM)
of dje Cljurtl)
\
&
