I Tb oUi? t-Pi'fW*’''’ AA^x IjfeX '<“5 ^AiToCCus DIES IR^ AND STABAT MATER, WITH ORIGINAL TRANSLATIONS. fW. DIES IRM. IN THIRTEEN ORIGINAL VERSIONS BY ABRAHAM COLES, M.D., Ph. D. IVith Photographic Illustrations FOURTH EDITION NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1866 Kntered according to Act of Congress in the year 1859,1#^ Abraham Coles, in the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the District of New Jersey. RIVF.RSIDE, CAMBKIDGE : STEREOTYPET) AND PRINTED BY II. O. IIOUOnTON AND COMPANY. INTRODUCTION. T would be difficult to find, in the whole range of literature, a producSfion to which a profounder intereft attaches than to that magnificent canticle of the Middle Ages, the DIES IR^. Faftening on that which is indeftrudlible in man, and giving fitter ex- preffion than can elsewhere be found, to experiences and emotions which can never cease to agitate him, it has loft after the lapse of fix centuries none of its original freftiness and transcendent power to affedl the heart. It has commanded alike the admiration of men of piety and men of tafte. By common con¬ sent, it is as Daniel remarks; sacrce poeseos summum decus et Ecclesics Latince keliitjXlov est pretiojiffimum. Among gems it is the diamond. It is solitary in VI INTRODUCTION. its excellence. Of Latin Hymns, it is the beft— known and the acknowledged mafterpiece. There are others which pofless much sweetness and beauty, but this ftands unrivalled. It has superior beauties, with none of their defe6ls. For the moft part they are more or less Romifli, but this is Catholic, and not Romifli at all. It is universal as humanity. It is the cry of the human. It bears indubitable marks of being a personal experience. The author is supposed to have been a monk: an incredible suppofition truly did we not know that a monk is also a man. One thing is certain, that the monk does not appear, and that it is the man only that speaks. He no longer dreams and drivels. He is efFe6tually awake. The veil is lifted. He sees Chrifl: coming to Judgment. All the tumult and the terror of the Lafl: Day are present to him. The final pause and syncope of Nature ; the fliuddering of a horror-ftruck Universe ; the down-rufliing and wreck of all things—all are present. But these material circumflances of horror and amazement, he feels are as nothing compared with ‘‘ the infinite terror of being found guilty before the Juft Judge.” This INTRODUCTION. Vll fingle confideration swallows up every other. The interefts of an eternity are crowded into a moment. One great secret of the power and enduring popu¬ larity of this Hymn is, undoubtedly, its genuineness. A vital fincerity breathes throughout. It is a cry de profundis ; and the cry becomes sometimes—so in¬ tense are the terror and solicitude—almoft a ftiriek. It is in the higheft degree pathetic. The Muse is Mater Lachrymarum, Our Lady of Tears.’’ Every line weeps. Underneath every word and syl¬ lable, a living heart throbs and pulsates. The very rhythm, or that alternate elevation and depreflion of the voice, which prosodifts call the arfts and the thefis^ one might almoft fancy were synchronous with the contraction and the dilatation of the heart. It is more than dramatic. The horror and the dread are real: are aCtual not aCted. A human heart is laid bare, quivering with life, and we see and hear its tumultuous throbbings. We sympathize—nay, be¬ fore we are aware, we have changed places. We, too, tremble and quail and cry aloud. All true Lyric Poetry is subjeClive. The Dies Ir^ is, as we have seen, remarkable for its intense Vlll INTRODUCTION. subjedtivity j and whoever duly appreciates this char- afteriftic, will have little difficulty in underftanding its superior effedliveness over everything else that has been written on the same theme. I'he life of the writer has palled into it and informs it, so that it is itself alive. It has vital forces and emanations. Its life mingles with our life. It enters into our veins and circulates in our blood. A virtue goes out from it. It is ele6lrically charged, and conta6I is inftantly followed by a fhock and fhuddering. Springing from its subjedlivity, if not identical with it, we would further notice, the intenfifying effe6l of what may be called its personalism, in other words its ego-ism. It is I and not We. Subftitute the plural pronoun for the fingular, and it would lose half its pungency. We have had occafion to observe the weakening effedf of this in tranflation. The truth is, the feeling is of a kind too concentrated and too exa£ling to allow itself to be diffipated in the vagueness of any grouping generality. The heart knoweth its own bitterness. There is a grief that cannot be fhared, neither can it be joined on to another’s. It is not social nor common. It is mine INTRODUCTION. IX and not yours. It is exclufive, not because it is sel¬ fish, but because it has depths beyond the soundings of ordinary sympathy. This is especially true of some of the intenser forms of religious experience, proceeding as they do from that which is moft intimate and innermoft, the penetralia of a man’s consciousness, his moft secret and peculiar self. There is an inner and privileged sanftuary of the heart, which is kept as a chamber locked up. It is hidden and sacred. It may be, that the individual, dwelling habitually in the outer courts of his being, rarely if ever enters into it him¬ self. For man is twofold. A veil divides between the outer and the inner man. Gross and sensual, the majority of mankind are averse to lifting the con¬ cealing medium, for fear of unwelcome revelations and discoveries respe6ling themselves. Goethe is an example of this portentous preference for half knowl¬ edge : Man,” he says, is a darkened being ; he knows not whence he came, nor whither he goes ; he knows little of the world and less of himself. I know not myself, and may God prote6t me from it.” In converfion to God this veil is rent from top to b X INTRODUCTION. bottom. There is a self-revelation. Behind the curtain, there in the Moft Holy Place, where ought to be the Shekinah, the fliining, senfible Manifefta- tion of the Divine Presence, he beholds the Abomi¬ nation of Iniquity set up. He awakes to the ftart- ling fa6l that he is without God and without hope in the world.” A voice of urgency is sounding in his ears: “Flee from the Wrath to Come.” He anticipates the terrors of the Judgment. He feels that there is not a moment to lose. Instin6l; prompts, and the Word of God enjoins, that he seek to save himself firft. He knows not whether others are in as bad a case as he. But of his own guilt and danger he has no doubt. An offended Maker con¬ fronts him, him in particular. So he prays and ago¬ nizes. His may not be “the thews which throw the world”—he is conscious of weakness rather than ftrength—yet fingly and alone, he wreftles with God like Jacob, and prevails like Israel. The Hymn is not only lyrical in its effence, but also in its form. It is inftin£l with mufic. It lings itself. The grandeur of its rhythm, and the affo- nance and chime of its fit and powerful words, are. INTRODUCTION. XI even in the ears of those unacquainted with the Latin language, suggeftive of the richeft and mightieft har¬ monies. The verse is ternary; and the ternary number, having been efteemed anciently a symbol of perfecSlion and held in great veneration, may pos¬ sibly have had something to do with the choice of the ftrophe. Be this as it may, its metrical ftruc- ture, as all agree, conftitutes by no means the leaft of its extraordinary merits. Trench, in his Seledlions from Latin Poetry, speaks of the metre as being grandly devised, and fitted to bring out some of the nobleft powers of the Latin language j and as being, moreover, unique, forming the only example of the kind that he remembers. He notices the solemn effedf of the triple rhyme, comparable to blow fol¬ lowing blow of the hammer on the anvil. Knapp, in his Liederschatz, likens the original to a blaft from the trump of resurredtion, and declares its power inimitable in any tranflation. HISTORY OF THE HYMN. HE authorfhip of the Dies Irae is as¬ cribed, apparently upon good grounds, to Thomas of Celano, so called from a small town of that name in Italy. He was a friend and pupil and subsequently the biog¬ rapher of St. Francis of Affifi, the founder of the order of Minorites, (called also Friars-Minor, Grey Friars or Franciscans, being one of the four orders of mendicant friars,) inftituted in 1208. Wadding, an Irlfliman and a Minorite, who lived in the firft half of the seventeenth century, and who wrote a hiftory of his order, expreffly refers it to Celano. He rqentions two other hymns or Sequences com¬ posed by him, one beginning : Fregit violor virtua- Us ; the other : SanFlitatis nova ftgna. The circum- XIV HISTORY OF THE HYMN. ftance of the Dominican Sixtus Senenfis affefting to sneer at it, calling it rhythmus inconditus^ is re¬ garded as confirmatory of the opinion, that it was at leaf!: the work of a Franciscan ; the bitter rivalries subfifting between the two orders affording, it is thought, the mofl: plaufible explanation of a criticism so manifeftly splenetic and unjuft. Another cor¬ roborative circumftance is, its early admiflion into the Franciscan Miffals, by which means a knowl¬ edge of it was spread throughout Europe. The correctness of this inference is further suftained by the faft, that, inscribed on a marble llab in the Franciscan Church of St. Francis at Mantua, was found one of the earliefi: copies of the hymn, rep¬ resenting, it is believed, the text as it came from the hands of the author. Dr. Mohnike, a learned and able editor of the Dies Irae, furnifhes an old copy of the Mantuan text, which differs from the Received text chiefly in this, that the firft four ftanzas are additional. They are here given with a tranflation annexed ; also the heading which is as follows : HISTORY OF THE HYMN. XV Meditatio Vetufta et Venufta de NovifTimo Judicio quae Mantuae in aede D. Francisci in marmore legitur. j. Cogita, anima fidelis, Ad quid respondere velis, Chrifto venturo de coelis. Weigh with solemn thought and tender. What response, thou. Soul, wilt render, Then when Chrifi: fhall come in splendor 2 . Cum deposcet rationem Ob boni omifiionem, Ob mali commifiionem. And thy life fhall be inspected. All its hidden guilt detected. Evil done and good neglefted. 3- ^ ies ilia, dies irse, Quam conemur prsevenire Obviamque Deo ire ; For that day of vengeance neareth : Ready be each one that heareth God to meet when He appeareth. XVI HISTORY OF THE HYMN. 4. Seria contritione, Gratiae apprehenfione, , Vitae emendatione. By repenting, by believing, By God’s offered grace receiving. By all evil courfes leaving. The succeeding fixteen verfes are the same, with flight variations, as those of the Church or Received text; but in place of the next verse, which forms the 17th of this, beginning; Oro supplex et acclinis^ the Mantuan copy has the following for its 21ft and concluding ftanza : 21. Confers ut beatitatis Vivam cum juftificatis In aevum aeternitatis. Amen. That in fellowlhip fraternal With inhabitants supernal I may live the life eternal. Amen. That the abbreviation of the poem, by the omis- fion of the four opening ftanzas, adds greatly to its general, and ftill more to its lyric efFedtiveness, there can be no doubt. The rejedled verfes, partaking of HISTORY OF THE HYMN. XVll a quiet and meditative chara6ter, impair the force of the lyric element. In its present form, all is vehe¬ ment ftir and movement, from the grand and ftart- ling abruptness of its opening, to the sweet and powerful pathos of its solemn and impreffive close. Befides Celano, various other names have had their supporters for the honor of the authorfhip of this poem. It has been attributed to Gregory the Great, who lived at a period some fix hundred years earlier. But this would involve the necelRty of suppofing that a poem of such extraordinary merit could remain unknown and unnoticed during* so many centuries, which is not at all likely, Befides, it is certain, that, while rhyme was not altogether unknown or unused at that time, it had by no means reached that ftate of perfe6lion which this poem exhibits.”^ Leonard Meifter, a Swiss writer, claimed that Felix Hammerlin, (Latinized into Malleolus,) a Church dignitary of Zurich, born in 1389, and who died about 1457, was the author of Dies Irae, because among Hammerlin’s poems he found a manuscript of this hymn ; but the evidence is quite conclufive, * See Appendix—Origin of Latin Rhyme. XVIll HISTORY OF THE HYMN. that the hymn was in exiftence before his time. In the Hammerlin text, the i6th verse is followed by eight more, probably supplied by Hammerlin him¬ self. They are here subjoined. 17. Oro supplex a ruinis, Cor contritum quafi cinis ; Gere curam mei finis! From the ruins of creation, Make I contrite supplication : Interpose for my salvation! rfS. Lachrymosa die ilia, Cum resurget ex favilla, Tanquam ignis ex scintilla. On that day of woe and weeping. When, like fire from spark upleaping. Starts, from afiies where he’s fleeping, 19. Judicandus homo reus, Huic ergo parce, Deus! Efto semper adjutor meus ! Man account to Thee to render: Spare the miserable offender ! Be my Helper and Defender ! HISTORY OF THE HYMN. X 20. Quando coeli sunt movendi, Dies adsunt tunc tremendi, Nullum tempus poenitendi. When the heavens away are flying. Days of trembling then and crying. For repentance time denying; 21. *Sed salvatis laeta dies, Et damnatis nulla quies. Sed daemonum efligies. To the saved a day of gladness. To the damned a day of sadness. Demon forms and fliapes of madness. 22. O tu Deus majeftatis, Alme candor Trinitatis, Nunc conjunge cum beads I God of infinite perfection, Trinity’s serene reflection, Give me part with the eleCtionl 23. Vitam meam fac felicem Propter tuam genetricem, JeflTe florem et radicem. XX HISTORY OF THE HYMN. Happiness upon me ftiower, For Thy Mother’s sake, with power Who is Jefle’s root and flower. r 24. Praefla nobis tunc levamen. Dulce noftrum fac certamen, Ut clamemus omnes, Arnen ! From Thy fulness comfort pour us. Fight Thou with us or fight for us. So we’ll fhout, Amen, in chorus. Taking for granted that the Mantuan was the original text, it would follow that the truncation of the four introdudlory verfes spoken of had already taken place at the time of Hammerlin ; and it is furthermore obvious that the 17th and 18th verfes of the Received text muft have been formed out of the firft three of the supplemented verfes of Ham- merlin, as follows, viz. ; by subftituting, in the 17th verse, et acclinis ” for “ a minis,” and taking the firft two lines of the two succeeding verfes, being triplets, t;o make up the i8th verse, which confifts of four lines. Bating a few verbal varia¬ tions, the firft fixteen verfes of the Hammerlin and HISTORY OF THE HYMN. XXI Church texts correspond. The laft named is founded on the Roman Miflal firft publifhed in 1567, under the sanilion and after the revifion of the Council of Trent. It forms the bafis of the present, as it does of moft tranflations. A brief reference to some of the more important variations in the text, and an explanation of certain allufions which occur therein, may not be unintereft- ing. I The firft line, Dies irce^ dies illa^ plainly points to a pafTage of Scripture from the Vulgate,— Zephaniah I. 15. The whole verse reads thus : Dies ir^, dies illa, dies tribulationis et anguftias, dies calamitatis et miseriae, dies tenebrarum et caligi¬ nis, dies nebulae et turbinis, dies tubae et clangoris.” In the third line, the change of the Mantuan read¬ ing, Petro ” into David,” as it now ftands, may have been due, it is conje 61 :ured, to a feeling that there was greater appropriateness in David’s being aflbciated with the ante-Chriftian Sibyl. From the averfion felt to the introdu6tion of a heathen Sibyl into a Chriftian and ftill more a Church hymn, a Miflal of the diocese of Metz, publiflied in 1778, rejecting the third line, adopts, but without XXll HISTORY OF THE HYMN. the authority of a fingle manuscript, another reading as follows : Dies irae, dies ilia. Crucis expandens vexilla, Solvet saeclum in favilla. Day of wrath, that day amazing. High the bannered cross upraifing, While the universe is blazing. K The allufion here is to the fign of the coming of the Son of Man in heaven, mentioned in Matthew xxiv. 3 ; and is indicative of the belief, that the fign there spoken of would have its fulfilment in the apparition of a cross in the (ky. But the older and the true reading is doubtless the other, which refers to the Sibyl as bearing concurrent teftimony with the prophet of the Old or the New Teftament, David or Peter, (Psalm xcvi. 13 ; xcvii. 3 ; xi. 6 ; 2 Peter iii. 7,) touching the deftrudfion of the world and the final judgment. The 2d, 7th, and 8th books of the Sibylline Oracles ” are full of pas¬ sages which refer to these, but it is probable that the reference here is more immediately to verfes ex- HISTORY OF THE HYMN. XXllI trafted therefrom, found in La6lantius (Divin. In- ftitut. lib. vii. De Vita Beata, cap. 16—24). earlier ages of the Church, these pretended prophecies were regarded with no little veneration ; wherefore it is by no means uncommon to find Chriftian writ¬ ers placing them fide by fide with Scriptural proph¬ ecies, and, as in the case before us, making solemn appeal to them. The discovery of their true char- after as worthless forgeries was reserved for a later period. This poem, which, there is every reason to believe, was originally the inspiration of retirement, the soli¬ tary outpouring of “ a suppliant heart all crufhed Ai;d crumbled into contrite duft,”— to adopt the language of Crafhaw’s verfion at the 17th verse,—came afterwards, when it had palTed into Church use, to receive the title of Sequence, from the place affigned to it in the service of the Mass for the Dead. The precise time when this occurred cannot be determined, but it muft have been early, for Albizzi speaks of it as being in common use as a Sequence in 1385. For an explanation of this XXIV HISTORY OF THE HYMN. term, the reader is referred to the Appendix at the end of this volume. If the origin of the hymn be somewhat obscure, not so have been its subsequent fortunes. Through the long centuries that have elapsed fince the time it firft became known to the world, its ex¬ traordinary merits have been fteadily recognized. Its light has been that of a ftar, whose keen and diamond luftre intermits not nor grows dim, but ftiines on the same from age to age. Its miffion from the beginning has been one of power. To some, there is reason to believe, it has been the power of God unto salvation.” Scattered every¬ where along its track are seen the luminous foot¬ prints of its victorious progress as the subduer of hearts. The greateft minds have delighted to bear teftimony to its worth. Goethe evinced his appre¬ ciation of it by introducing certain verses of it into his ‘‘Fauft,”—with how grand an effect we all know. Boswell relates of Dr. Johnson, that, ‘‘ when he would try to repeat the celebrated Prosa Ecclefiajtica pro Mortuis^ beginning : Dies irte^ dies illa^ he could never pass the ftanza ending thus : Tantus labor non fit cajfus^ without burfting into a flood of tears.” HISTORY OF THE HYMN. XXV It is said that Ancina, a Profeflbr of Medicine in the Univerfity of Turin, was so ftrongly afFe£led by hearing one day the Dies Irae chanted in the service for the dead, that he determined to abandon the world. He afterwards became Bifhop of Saluzzo. Milman, in his Hiftory of Chriftianity,” speaking of the Latin poetry of the Chriftian Church, remarks : There is nothing, in my judgment, to be compared with the monkifli Dies ira^ dies illa^ To these names might be added those of many other eminent scholars and critics, all bearing like teftimony. But the crowning proof of its unrivalled excellence is found in the fact, that, mingled with the fighs and gaspings of diffolving Nature, the measured beat of its melodious rhythm has been so often heard ; now, it may be, in the soft murmur of words half audible, and. now in the clear tones of a diftinft utterance, illuing from the pale and trembling lips of the dying. The Earl of Roscommon, we are told, repeated with great energy and devotion, in the moment when he expired, two lines of his own tranflation of the 17th verse :— ‘‘ My God, my Father, and my Friend, Do not forsake me in my end ! ” d XXVI HISTORY OF THE HYMN. Sir Walter^Scott evinced his regard for it in the same afFe£fing manner, during his laft hours : ‘‘We very often,” says his biographer, “ heard diftin6l]y the cadence of the Dies Irae.” It is certainly somewhat remarkable, that, while thus solemnly aflbciated with the dying moments of these two illuftrious mafters of song, who had likewise employed their pens in the tafk of rendering it into Englifh, it fhould have had a connedlion not diffim- ilar with the death of that great composer by whose means this immortal poem has come to be worthily wedded to immortal mufic. It is well known that Mozart’s Requiem is founded on it. This, his greateft work, perhaps, was deftined also to be his laft, of which, it is said, he had a solemn presenti¬ ment. His death occurred before it was entirely finifhed. Befides Mozart, other diftinguiftied com¬ posers, such as Cherubini, Haydn, Jomelli, Palaftrina, and Pergolefi, have exercised their genius upon the same theme and the same text. I'RANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. HE number of tranflations made of this hymn into different languages it were not easy to eftimate. Those in Ger¬ man are particularly numerous. In a work dedicated to these, edited by Dr. F. G. Lisco, (Berlin, 1840,) as many as seventy verfions, more or less complete, are given ; the number being further increased three years afterwards by the addition of seventeen others, appended to a volume of tranfla¬ tions, by the same editor, of the Stabat Mater.* * For the loan of both the above works the writer is in¬ debted to the Rev. William R. Williams, D. D., who, in a Note, afterwards somewhat enlarged and thrown into an Appen¬ dix, affixed to an Address on the “ Conservative Principle of our Literature,” firft publiffied in 1843, and subsequently in¬ cluded in his volume of “ Miscellanies,” has, with his usual XXVIII TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. There is one in French, one in Romaic or Modern Greek, one in Dutch, and one in Latin, all the reft being German. In nearly every case, pains have been taken to preserve the exa£I measure and form of the original. The superior flexibility of the Ger¬ man, and its greater supply of words adapted for double rhyme, give tranflators in that language a decided advantage. The difficulty involved in tripli¬ cating the double rhymes, owing to the poverty of our language in words suitable for the purpose, with¬ out pradlifing awkward and inelegant inverfions, is probably the reason why English tranflators, even where they have been careful to retain the triplet form of the ftanza, have failed to preserve the rhyming close. Craftiaw’s, one of the oldeft and nobleft of the English tranflations, and which in the opinion of an eminent critic was not surpaflTed by anything he ever wrote, is done in quatrains, or Angle rhymed couplets eloquence and exhauftive learning, given a very full and inftruc- tive account of this hymn and its tranflations ; adding in the later editions a verfion of his own, one of the first made in ternary double rhyme. TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. XXIX repeated ; and, on account of the Freeness of the ren¬ dering, might more properly be called a reproduftion than a tranflation. The Earl of Roscommon, cele¬ brated in Dryden’s verse as the greateft poet of his time, was the author of a verfion praised by Pope as the beft of his poetical performances ; although he is confidered as having borrowed both from Crafliaw and Dryden. It is in triplets like the original, but without double rhyme, and the verse is iambic in- ftead of trochaic. The few verfes introduced by Sir Walter Scott into the Lay of the Laft Minftrel,’^ and which have found their way into almofl all the more recent Col¬ lections of Hymns used in our Churches, though spirited and impreffive, can scarcely be called a trans¬ lation, being little more than an echo of one or two of the leading sentiments of the Latin original. Another familiar hymn, contained in moft Hymn books, commencing, “ Lo ! He comes in clouds descending,” purports to be a tranflation of the Dies Irae ; but in respect neither to form nor spirit does it corre- XXX TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. spend very accurately to the original. Although there are other verfions of more or less merit, som-e made by our own scholars, a further enumeration might be tedious. It is not wonderful,” as Trench remarks, ‘‘that a poem such as this fhould have continually allured and continually defied tranflators.” The Author, of the Tranflations here publifhed scarcely knows how to fhield himself from the im¬ putation of presumption to which his attempt ex¬ poses him. The number of his verfions is Thir¬ teen. The first fix have the somewhat rare merit, so far at leaf! as Englifh verfions are concerned, of being metrically conformed, both as it respects rhyme and rhythm, to the original. The five suc¬ ceeding ones are like in rhythm, but vary from the original in not preserving the double rhyme. The one which follows is in iambic triplets, like Roscom¬ mon’s ; and the laft in quatrains, after the manner of Crafhaw’s verfion. It has been the aim of the Tranflator to be in all cafes as faithful as poflible to the senfe and spirit of the original, and likewise to the letter, but not so flavifhly as to preclude variety. He has en- TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. XXXi deavored to carry out likeness in unlikeness, and to give to each verfion, so far as prafticable, the intered of a diftinct poem. How far he has succeeded others muft judge. The preservation of the double rhyme involved some special difficulties, which he has overcome as well as he could ; but he would not be surprised if some readers preferred the eafier metres, and indulges the hope that the multiplication of ver- fions may serve, among other things, to meet*this diverfity of tafte. But there are some, if he mis¬ takes not, who enjoy those pleasing surprises in viewing an obje6l, that result from an altered atti¬ tude and a new angle of vision,—the curious changes which follow every fresh turn of a revolving kaleido¬ scope,—and the writer is willing therefore to believe that such, at any rate, will not be displeased at this attempt to supply the deficiency of one verfion by another and yet another, in the hope that thereby the original may be exhibited, approximately at least, in its solid entireness. Young, in his ‘‘EfTay on Lyric Poetry,” afferts that difficulty overcome gives grace and pleasure, and he accounts for the pleasure of rhyme in general XXXIl TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. upon this principle. Having failed in his own case to afford an exemplification of great success in this particular, his critic and biographer, Johnson, some¬ what sarcaftically remarks: But then the writer muft take care that the difficulty is overcome ; that is, he muft make rhyme confift with as perfect senfe and expreffion as would be expe6f:ed, if he were perfectly free from that ftiackle.” Hence, the greater the difficulties to be surmounted, the greater is the need of elaboration, until art conceals art. The present Tranflator, recognizing fully the pro¬ priety of the rule here ftated, does not feel that he has any right to plead the arduousness of his talk, as an excuse for any inftances, if such there be, of forced and unnatural conftru6iion, resorted to in order to meet the exigencies of rhyme or metre. What is called poetic license is, he is aware, a license of power and grace, and not of weakness and deformity, being tantamount to a license to dance or fing, in place of ordinary walking or speaking. Po¬ etic chains, undoubtedly,-were meant not to confine and cripple, but to regulate movement in conformity with settled laws ; the objeft being, not to punifh TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. xxxin speech, but to exalt and honor it,—to grace language, not disgrace it. To preserve, in connedlion with the utmost fidelity and ftricSness of rendering, all the rhythmic merits of the Latin original,—to attain to a vital likeness as well as to an exa£t literalness, at the same time that nothing is sacrificed of its mufical sonorousness and billowy grandeur, easy and graceful in its swing as the ocean on its bed,—to make the verbal copy, otherwise cold and dead, glow with the fire of lyric passion,—to refledt, and that too by means of a fingle verfion, the manifold aspedls of the many-sided orig¬ inal, exhaufting at once its wonderful fulness and pregnancy,—to cause the white light of the primitive so to pass through the medium of another language as that it (hall undergo no refradtion whatever,— would be defirable, certainly, were it pradticable; but so much as this it were unreasonable to expedl in any tranflation. All the verfions here given were written and nearly ready for the press more than two years ago; but, influenced partly by a senfe of their imperfedtness, and partly by a doubt as to the reception that a book e . XXXiv TRANSLATIONS OF THE HYMN. exclufively devoted to a fingle hymn might meet with from the public, the Translator has delayed their appearance until now, when, encouraged by the favorable opinion expreffed by some, whose names, were it proper to give them, would be re¬ garded, he doubts not, as an apology for his bold¬ ness, he ventures the experiment of *publication. He does not deny that the amount of public favor that has been alreadv accorded to two of the ver- j fions, viz., those marked 1 . and II., publiflied anony- moufly in the ‘‘Newark Daily Advertiser” sev¬ eral years fince, the firft as long ago as 1847, had something to do with overcoming his diftruft. To avoid misapprehenfion, it is right to ftate, that two verses of the firft were introduced into Mrs. Stowe’s “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and by these acci¬ dental means have enjoyed a world-wide currency. More recently this verfion has been honored with a place in the “ Plymouth Colledlion of Hymns and Tunes,” edited by Henry Ward Beecher, and set to mufic. It was, so far as the Tranflator knows, the firft attempt, with a fingle exception, to repro¬ duce in English the ternary double rhyme of the original. r- I i. DE NOVISSIMO JUDICIO. lES irae, dies illa ) Solvet saeclum in favilla, V Tefte David cum Sibylla. Quantus tremor eft futurus, Qiiando Judex eft venturus, Cundla ftri6le discufiurus ! Tuba, mirum spargens sonum Per sepulchra regionum. Coget omnes ante thronum. Mors ftupebit et natura, Quum resurget creatura Judicanti responsura. 1 2 DIES IR^. Liber scriptus proferetur, In quo totum continetur, De quo mundus judicetur. Judex ergo quum sedebit, Quidquid latet, apparebit, Nil inultum remanebit. Quod sum miser tunc difturus. Quem patronum rogaturus, Quum vix juftus fit securus ? Rex tremendae majeftatis, Qui salvandos salvas gratis. Salva me, fons pietatis! Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tu^ via;. Ne me perdas illa die ! Quaerens me sedifti lallus, Redemifti crucem paflus : Tantus labor non fit cafTus! DIES IR^. 3 Jufte Judex ultionis, Donum fac remiflionis Ante diem rationis ! Ingemisco tanquam reus. Culpa rubet vultus meus : Supplicanti parce, Deus ! Qui Mariam absolvifti, Et latronem exaudifti, Mihi quoque spem dedifti. Praeces meas non sunt dignae, Sed tu bonus fac benigne Ne perenni cremer igne! Inter oves locum praefta. Et ab haedis me sequeftra, Statuens in parte dextra! Confutatis maledi6lis. Flammis acribus addi6lis, Voca me cum benedi6lis I A DIES IRJE Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor contritum quasi cinis ; Gere curam mei finis ! Lachrymosa dies ilia, Qua resurget ex favilla, Judicandus homo reus : Huic ergo parce, Deus! I. AY of wrath, that day of burning, Seer and Sibyl speak concerning, All the world to afties turning. Oh, what fear fliall it engender, When the Judge fliall come in splendor, Stridf to mark and jufl: to render ! Trumpet, scattering sounds of wonder. Rending sepulchres asunder. Shall resiftless summons thunder. All aghaft then Death (hall fhiver. And great Nature’s frame fliall quiver. When the graves their dead deliver. / 6 DIES IR^. Book, where actions are recorded. All the ages have afforded, Shall be brought and dooms awarded. When fliall fit the Judge unerring. He’ll unfold all here occurring. No juft vengeance then deferring. What fliall I say, that time pending Ask what advocate’s befriending. When the juft man needs defending ? Dreadful King, all power pofleffing. Saving freely those confefEng, Save thou me, O Fount of Blefling ! Think, O Jesus, for what reason Thou didft bear earth’s spite and treason. Nor me lose in that dread season ! Seeking me Thy worn feet hafted. On the cross Thy soul death tafted : Let such travail not be wafted! DIES IRiE. 7 Righteous Judge of retribution ! Make me gift of absolution Ere that day of execution ! Culprit-like, I plead, heart-broken. On my cheek fliame’s crimson token : Let the pardoning word be spoken! Thou, who Mary gav’ft remiflion, Heard’ft the dying Thief’s petition, Cheer’ft with hope my loft condition. Though my prayers be void of merit, What is needful. Thou confer it. Left I endless fire inherit! Be there. Lord, my place decided With Thy ftieep, from goats divided, Kindly to Thy right hand guided ! When th’ accursed away are driven. To eternal burnings given. Call me with the blessed to heaven! 8 DIES IR^. I beseech Thee, proftrate lying, Heart as afhes, contrite, fighing, Care for me when I am dying ! Day of tears and late repentance, Man fliall rise to hear his sentence: Him, the child of guilt and error, Spare, Lord, in that hour of terror ! II. AY ftiall dawn that has no morrow, Day of vengeance, day of sorrow. As from Prophecy we borrow. It fhall burn, that day of trouble, As a furnace heated double, And the wicked fhall be ftubble. O, what trembling, when the rifted Skies lhall fhow the Judge uplifted, And all ftrictly fhall be fifted! Trump fhall sound a blaft appalling, On the grave’s deep ftillness falling. Small and great before Him calling. Death with fear fhall be o’ertaken. Nature to her base be fhaken. When the fleeping dead fhall waken. 10 DIES IRJE. Volume fhall be brought, whose pages Regifter the deeds of ages, Whence the world (hall have juft wages. When that Court fhall hold its seffion, • Every mouth fhall make confeflion, Left unpunifhed no transgreflion. How, alas ! in that dread season. Shall I answer for my treason, When the righteous fear with reason ? Awful King, who nothing craveft. Since Thyself full ransom gaveft. Save 'Fhou me, who freely saveft! Me, for whom, with love so tender. Thou didft leave Thy throne of splendor, Jesus, do not then surrender ! Wearily for me Thou toiledft, Diedft for me and Satan spoiledft ; Let not triumph whom Thou foiledft ! DIES IRJE, 1 1 Thou, whose frown will be damnation. Grant me earneft of salvation. Ere that day of consummation ! Culprit-like, I, self-convifted, Blufliing, proftrate, and afflidfed, Kneel for mercy unreftridled. Thou, who Mary’s faith rewardedft. Pardon to the Thief accordedft. Me, too, trembling hope afFordedft. Poor my prayers, but give ensample Of Thy goodness rich and ample. Left insulted Juftice trample ! With Thy chosen flock unspotted. Severed from the herd besotted. Be my place that day allotted ! When Thy curse fliall blaft and wither. Doom to hell and banifli thither. Bid me with the blelTed, Come hither ! r 2 DIES IR^ Care for me as one who feareth, One who hafteth when he heareth, When my solemn exit neareth! When the light of that day flafties^ And man rises from his afhes At Thy bar account to render, Spare then, Lord, the pale offender ! III. AY of Vengeance and of Wages, Fiery goal of all the ages, Burden of prophetic pages ! Guilty wretches, vainly fleeing From that flaming Eye, whose seeing Searches all the depths of being. Wakened by that Trump of Wonder, Answering Earthquakes, roaring under, Heave and split the ground asunder; And the buried generations. People of all times and nations. Live again and take their ftations. Each immortal pale offender. Round the Great White Throne of Splendor, Stridl account to God to render; ‘4 DIES IRiE. Who, unmocked and unmiftaken, Shall pronounce the doom unfliaken, And long flumbering vengeance v^raken. What if weighed and found deficient? Standing at that bar omniscient, Who hath righteousness sufficient ? King of Holiness unspotted. By Thy merit me allotted Let my guilt be freely blotted ! Me, for whom Thou fhame didft borrow, Trod’ft the paths of earthly sorrow. Lose not on that dreadful morrow! Seeking me Thou weary sankeft. All my cup of trembling drankeft. Nor from death, to save me, shrankeft. Muft I fink yet to perdition ? God of Vengeance, grant remiffion, Ere that Day of Inquifition ! DIES IR^. 15 Filled with fhame and confternation. Lifting hands of supplication, Spare me, God of my Salvation ! Let such grace be manifefted. As on weeping Mary retted. As was towards the Thief attetted ! Though no worth in me discerning, Spurn not, though I merit spurning : Rescue me from endless burning ! When divifion is effefted ’Mong the race of men colle£fed. Leave me not with the 'reje 61 :ed ! When Thy curse from Thee fliall sever. Kindling hells, extinguiflied never. Join me to Thyself forever! From the afhes of contrition. From the depths I make petition : Grant my soul a safe dismilEon ! i6 DIES IR^. When that day fhall snare th’ unwary. And Iball guilty man unbury, Spare me then, Dread Adversary ! IV. AY of Prophecy ! it flafhes, Falling spheres together dafhes. And the world consumes to afhes. O, what fear of wrath impending, When the Judge is seen descending, Inquifition ftrict intending! God’s awakening Trump fhall scatter Summons through the world of matter. And the Throne of Death fhall fhatter. What amazement, when forgotten Generations, dead and rotten. Suddenly are rebegotten! Book and Record universal Shall be opened for rehearsal. Whence the doom without reversal. 3 i8 DIES IRJE. When by that dread Judge inspected. Nothing (hall pass undetected, Unavenged nor uncorrected. How {hall I, a wretch unftable. Bide that hour inevitable, When the juft man scarce is able f Dreadful King, from Thee, the Giver, Flows salvation like a river : Fount of Mercy, me deliver ! Thou, who, touched with my condition. Sought to save me from perdition. Be Thou mindful of Thy miflion! Let Thy death for my offences. Horror of Thy soul and senses, Be not void of consequences! Blot my fins, ere that revifion, Day of ultimate decifion. When Thy foes are in derifion ! DIES IRiE. ^9 From my eyes repentance gufhes, O’er my cheeks spread crimson blufhes ; Spare the worm Thy terror crufhes ! Thou, who wert of old moft gracious Ev’n to finners moft audacious, Is Thy mercy now less spacious i Worthless all the prayers I offer : Grace muft seal what grace doth proffer, Else I perifti with the scoffer. When Thou makeft separation. With Thy sheep aflign my ftation. Saints of every age and nation ! When the malison eternal Baniflies to fires infernal. Bid me enter realms supernal! Thou, who doft, with care unfleeping. Keep that trufted to Thy keeping. Save my eves from endless weeping ! 20 DIES IRJE, Day of tears, consuming, cruel. With a burning world for fuel, Man (hall rise from glowing embers. Made complete in all his members ; Ah! what plea will then be valid,' When the finner, trembling, pallid. Waits to hear his sentence given ? Spare him then, O God of Heaven! V. AY of vengeance, end of scorning, World in aflies, world in mourning, Whereof Prophets utter warning ! O, what trembling, when the falling Rocks and mountains hear men calling, “Hide me from that face appalling! ’’ Freezing fear the blood will thicken. Death and Hell be horror-ftricken. When the myftic Trump fhall quicken All the buried duft of ages,— Monarchs, chieftains, ftatesmen, sages, A£i:ors on unnumbered ftages,— Summoned to the dread recital Of that Record ftriil and vital, Basis of a juft requital. 22 DIES IR^. Every mafk of falsehood riven,— Guilt, from every covert driven. Shall to puniftiment be given. ’Mid the horror and confufion Of that sorrowful conclufion Of each miserable delufion. Whither, ah! fhall I betake me? Thou, O King, whose terrors fhake me, Of Thy grace a trophy make me 1 Jesus ! by Thine incarnation. By Thy million of salvation. Then avert juft condemnation! By Thy pity, love unfailing, By the cross’s bitter nailing. Let not all be unavailing ! Dread Avenger of transgreftion. Cleanse these lips that make confellion. Ere th’ awards of that laft sellion. DIES IRJE, 23 Spare a culprit, groans faft heaving, Self-conviited, blufhing, grieving, In Thy power and grace believing. Since Thy nature doth not vary, Thou, who heard’ft the Thief and Mary, My transgreflions blot and bury ! Worthless works behind me caftirig— Grace mull save, not prayer nor falling. From the fire that’s everlalling. On Thy right hand fix my llation With the chosen generation. In the fheep-fold of salvation ! * When Thy curse the wicked chases, With the Well in heavenly places Call me to Thy dear embraces! Care for me, whom guilt abafhes, Prollrate, contrite, heart as alhes. When that day of terror flafhes ! 24 DIES IR^. Day of weeping and of wailing, Human hearts and fates unveiling ; Then, when Time fhall be no longer. And the ftrong yields to the Stronger, Death and Hell their dead surrender. And the Sea its own fhall tender. Multitudinous, unbounded Generations rise aftounded. Each to answer for his finning. He who lived at the beginning. He who when the world is hoary,— Spare, O, spare. Thou God of Glory! VI. AY of wrath and confternation. Day of fiery consummation, Prophefied in Revelation! O, what horror on all faces, When the coming Judge each traces. Flaming, dreadful, in all places ! Trump fhall sound, and every fingle Mortal slumberer’s ears ftiall tingle. And the dead lhall rise and mingle ; All of every tribe and nation, That have lived fince the creation. Answering that dread citation. Volume, from which nothing’s blotted. Evil done nor evil plotted. Shall be brought and dooms allotted. 4 26 DIES IRJE, Judge, who fits at that aflizes, Shall, deceived by no disguises, I'ry each work that man devises. How fhall I, a wretch polluted. Answer then to fins imputed, When the juft man’s case is mooted ? Awful Monarch of Creation ! Saving without compensation, Save me, fountain of Salvation! Lose me not then, Jefus, seeing I am Thine by gift of being. Doubly Thine by price of freeing! Thou, the Lord of Life and Glory, Hung’ft a vi£lim gaftied and gory: Let not all be nugatory! Pardon, Thou whose vengeance smiteth. But whom mercy moft delighteth. Ere that reck’ning day affrighteth! DIES IRJE, 27 As a culprit, ftand 1 groaning, Blufhing, my demerit owning : Sprinkle me with blood atoning ! Thou, who Mary’s sins remittedft. And the softened Thief acquittedft. Likewise hope to me permittedft. Weak these prayers Thy throne aflailing; But let grace, o’er guilt prevailing. Save me from eternal wailing! While the goats afar are driven, ’Mid Thy fheep me place be given, Blood-wafhed favorites of Heaven ! While Depart! ” fhall doom and gather Those to flame, address me rather: “ Come thou blelTed of my Father ! ’’ In my final hour, when faileth Heart and flefh, and my cheek paleth. Grant that succor which availeth! 28 DIES IRM. Day unutterably solemn : Crypt and pyramid and column, Ifle and continent and ocean, Rocking with a fearful motion. Shall give up, a countless number Starting from their long, long dumber. Horror ftamping every feature. While is judged each finful creature, End of pending controversy : Spare Thou then, O God of Mercy ! VII. AY of wrath, that day of days. Present to my thought always, When the world (hall burn and blaze! O, what trembling, O, what fear. When th’ Omniscient Judge draws near. Scanning all with eyes severe! When the Trump of God fliall sound Through the vague and vaft profound Of the regions under ground ; And th’ innumerable dead. Answering to that summons dread. Shall forsake their dufty bed j And that Book of ancient date Shall be opened, whereon wait Mighty iffues big with fate ; DIES IRi«E. 30 And each secret thing fliall lie Thenceforth bare to every eye. Nought unpunifhed or pafTed by. Ah, me ! what fhall I then plead. Who for me then intercede. When the juft of help have need ? Thou, who doft, O Heavenly King, Free forgiveness freely bring. Let me drink of Mercy’s Spring! Thou didft empty and exhauft Heaven for me: when such the coft, Jesus, let me not be loft! Wearily Thou soughteft me, Bought’ft me on th’ accursed tree: Let it not all fruitless be ! Righteous Judge, who wilt repay. Grant me pardon, ere that day Of decifion and dismay ! DIES IKJE. 3 * I, a finful man and base, Blufliing, groaning o’er my case, Seek and supplicate Thy grace. Thou, who heardeft Mary’s fighs. Thou, who openedft Paradise To the Thief, regard my cries! Worthless are my prayers and worse. But, good Lord, be not adverse. Left I fink beneath the curse ! Set me, when at Thy command All mankind divided ftand. With the ftieep at Thy right hand! When th’ insufferable doom Shall the reprobate consume, With Thy chosen give me room ! In the solemn hour of death, When the earthly vanifheth, O, receive my parting breath! 32 DIES IKJE. Ah! that day,made up of tears, When, from aflies reappears Th’ Adam of fix thousand years,— Who, by its red glare and gleam, Sees, as in an awful dream, Juftice lift her trembling beam,— Conscious on that hinge of fate All things hang and hefitate : Spare then. Lord, if not too late! VIIL THAT dreadful day, my soul! Which the ages fhall unroll, When the knell of Time fhall toll ! O, the terror and the fhame, When the Judge with eyes of flame Shall make piercing search of blame! Suddenly the Trumpet’s fhock Doors of Hades fhall unlock. And before Him all fhall flock. Struck with wonder and dismay. Death and Nature fhall obey Summons to give up their prey. Loudly each indiftment dread Shall in every ear be read Of the living and the dead. 5 34 DIES IKJE, Every idle word and thought, Every work in secret wrought, Into Judgment fhall be brought. Scarce the juft man’s case is sure. Scarce the heavens themselves are pure Ah ! how then ftiall I endure ? Dreadful Potentate and high, Who doft freely juftify. Fount of Grace, my need supply! Jefus, mind the kind intent Of Thy weary baniftiment. And my ruin then prevent! Let Thy paflion and Thy pain, All Thou sufFeredft me to gain, Be not barren and in vain ! Righteous Arbiter of fate ! Life and death upon Thee wait, Pardon, ere it be too late ! DIES IRJE 35 Spare me, vileft of the race, Guilty, infamous and base, Blufhing mendicant of grace ! Though of finners I be chief. Hear me, Thou who heard’ft the Thief, Driedft the fount of Mary’s grief! All my prayers are guilty breath. And the beft nought meriteth : But in mercy save from death ! When, disposed on either hand, All mankind before Thee ftand. Set me with Thy chosen band ! When, O, terrible to tell! Yawns inevitable Hell, With the blelTed bid me dwell! When I reach the awful goal. And Death’s billows o’er me roll, Care for my undying soul! 36 DIES IRJE. Day of weeping and surprise. Opening tomb^ and opening eyes, Rocking earth and burning fkies ! ’ Day of universal dread, When the quick and quickened dead Shall have solemn sentence said ! Then, O, then, when in despair, Man fhall speak or ftiriek the prayer, “ Spare me ! ” God of Mercy, spare ! IX. AY foretold, that day of ire, Burden erft of David’s lyre. When the world fhall fink fire ! O, what horror and amaze, When at once on mortal gaze All the Judge’s pomp fhall blaze! When the Trumpet’s myftic blaft. To the world’s four corners caft. Disentombs the buried Paft ; And from all the heaving sod. From each foot of trampled clod, Starts a multitude to God ; in And that Volume is unrolled Wherein are minutely told All men’s doings from of old ; 38 DIES JRJE, While, from what is there contained. Shall be judged a world arraigned, And eternal fates ordained : What defence can I then make. To what Patron me betake, When the righteous fear and quake ? King, who doft all power pofless. Free Thy grace and limitless. Save me. Fount of BlelTedness ! Jefus, Mafter, Thou doft know I Thy million caused below. All Thy weariness and woe ! Let Thy blood, that drenched the hilt Of that sword unfheathed for guilt. Be not vainly fhed and spilt ! O my Judge, forgive, forget! Cancel my tremendous debt. Ere the sun of grace lhall set! DIES 39 Filled with fliame I hang my head, Blullies deep my face o’erspread ; Stay Thy lightnings fierce and red ! 'Thou canft darkeft ftains efface ; Haft made monuments of grace Of the vileft of the race. My poor prayers please not repel ! Grace and goodness with Thee dwell ; Snatch me from the flames of Hell! When Thou fhalt discriminate. Sheep from goats fhalt separate, Let me on Thy right hand wait ! When Thy sentence, smiting dumb, Down to Hell fhall banifh some, With the blelTed bid me come! To Thy care, O Kind as Juft! Heart all penitential duft, I my end commit and truft ! 4-0 DIES Floods of tears that day lhall pour; Man (hall wake to fleep no more ; Guilty, horribly afraid ; Spare him, Lord, whom Thou haft made ! X. O ! it comes, with ftealthy feet, Day, the ages fliall complete. When the world lhall melt with heat! O, what trembling lhall there be. When all eyes the Judge lhall see. Come to fift iniquity ! Trump lhall syllable command, And the dead of sea and land All before the Throne lhall Hand. Death lhall Ihudder, Nature too, When the creature lives anew. Called to render answer true. Volume, that omitteth nought Man e’er said or did or thought. Shall for sentence then be brought. 6 42 DIES IR^. When (hall fit the Judge severe, All that’s dark fhall be made clear, Nothing unavenged appear. What, alas! fhall I then say. To what Interceflbr pray. When the juft fhrink with dismay? Awful King, fince all is free. Without merit, without fee. Fount of Mercy, save Thou me ! Mind, O Jesus, Friend fincere. How I caused Thy advent here. Nor me lose who coft so dear J Straying, I by Thee was sought. On the cross with blood was bpught : Let it not be all for nought ! Righteous Judge! Avenging Lord! Full remiflion me afford, Kre that final day’s award ! DIES IR^. Groan I, like a culprit base, Conscious guilt inflames my face : Spare the suppliant, God of Grace! Thou, who erfl: didft Mary clear. And the dying Thief didfl: hear, Hope haft given me to cheer. Though my prayers create no claim, Be propitious. Lord, the same. Left I burn in endless flame! Place among Thy fheep provide. From the goats me sunder wide. Standing safe at Thy right fide ! While ‘‘Depart!” to foes addrefled Baniflieth to woes unguelTed, Call me near Thee with the bleffed! Contrite pangs my bosom tear. Heart as afties: hear my prayer. Let my end be not despair! 44 DIES IR^. On that day of grief and dread, When man, rifing from the dead. Shall eternal juftice face, Spare the finner, God of Grace ! XI. AY of wrath, that day of dole. When a fire (hall wrap the whole. And the earth be burnt to coal ! O, what horror, smiting dumb When the Judge of all fhall come. Sinful deeds to search and sum! Trump’s reverberating roar Through the sepulchres fhall pour. Citing all the Throne before. Death and Nature ftand aghaft. While the dead in numbers vaft Rise to answer for the paft. Volume, writ by God’s own pen. Chronicling the deeds of men, Shall be brought, and dooms be then. 4b DIES IRJE. When the Judge {hall sit, behold ! What is secret He’ll unfold, No jufl punifhment withhold. « Ah ! what plea (hall I prepare. To what Patron make my prayer, ^ When the juft well-nigh despair ? King, majeftic beyond thought. Whose free grace cannot be bought. Save me, whose desert is nought! O, remember, Jefus, I Was the cause and reason why Thou didft come on earth to die! Me Thou sought’ft with weary feet^ And my ransom didft complete ; Let such pity nought defeat! Judge, inflexible and ftriif, Pardon, ere that day convift And th’ unchanging doom infli£l ! DIES IRiE. 47 Like a criminal I sigh, Blufliing, penitently cry: Pass, Lord, my offences -by ! Thou, who Mary erft did’ft bless, Heard’ft the Thief in his diftress, Hope haft given me no less. Worthless are my prayers and vain. But in love do not disdain. Left I reap eternal pain ! On Thy right hand grant me place ’Mid the fheep, a chosen race,— Far from goats devoid of grace! When the thunder of Thine ire Headlong hurls to quenchless fire. Let Thy welcome me inspire ! I entreat Thee, bending low, Heart as afhes, full of woe. Succor in my end beftow! 48 DIES IKJE. When upon that day of tears Man from duft again appears. Fate depending on Thy nod : Spare the finner then, O God ! XIL DAY of wrath ! O day of fate! Day foreordained and ultimate, When all things here fhall termi nate ! What numbers horribly afraid, When comes the Judge, in fear arrayed. To try the creatures He hath made! The blare of Trumpet, pealing clear. Shall through the sepulchres career. And wake the dead, and bring them near. Aftoniftied Nature then fhall quail. What time the yawning graves unveil, And man comes forth, amazed and pale. To answer : The overwritten scroll Shall charge and certify the whole. Whence fhall be judged each human soul. 7 DIES IRJE, 5C The Judge enthroned fhall bring to light Whate’er is hid, in open fight Avenge and vindicate the right. Ah! with what plea fhall I then come, When, terror-locked, each sense is numb. And even righteous lips are dumb ? O King immortal and supreme. Whose fear is great, whose grace extreme. Make me to drink of Mercy’s ftream ! Remember, Jefus, Thou didft make Thyself incarnate for my sake. Left Hell insatiate claim and take! Thou soughteft me when far aftray, Didft on the cross my ransom pay : Let not such love be thrown away ! Juft Judge, of purity intense. Remit my infinite offence. Before that day of recompense I DIES IRJE, 5» Like one convinced of heinous deed, I groan, I weep, I blufli, I plead : Lord, spare me in that hour of need ! Thou, who wert moved by Mary’s tears. Absolved the Robber from his fears. Haft given me hope in former years. My prayers are worthless well I know ; But, good, do Thou Thy'goodness fhow. And save me from impending woe ! Number and place me ’mong Thy own, Beneath the (belter of Thy Throne, Until Thy wrath be overblown! When that the almighty word (hall leap From out Thy Throne, Thy foes to sweep. My soul in perfect safety keep ! In proftrate wor(hip, I implore. With heart all penitent and sore : Then care for me when life is o’er! 5^ DIES IRi*E. Ah ! on that day of grief and dread. And resurreition of the dead, Of trial and of juft award, In wrath remember mercy. Lord ! XIII. HAT day, that awful day, the laft. Result and sum of all the Part, Great necelTary day of doom. When wrecking fires (hall all con¬ sume ! ^ What dreadful fhrieks the air fhall rend. When all fliall see the Judge descend. And hear th’ Archangel’s echoing fhout From heavenly spaces ringing out ! The Trump of God with quickening breath Shall pierce the filent realms of Death, And sound the summons in each ear: Arise ! thy Maker calls ! Appear ! ” From eaft to weft, from south to north. The earth (hall travail and bring forth j 54 DIES As desert’s sands and ocean’s waves Shall be the sum of empty graves. Th’ unchanging Record of the Paft Shall then be read from firft to laft ; And out of things therein contained, Shall all be judged and fates ordained. No lying tongue, that truth diftorts. Shall witness in that Court of Courts , Each secret thing fhall be revealed, And every righteous sentence sealed. Ah! who can ftand when He appears ? Confront the guilt of finful years ? What hope for me, a wretch depraved. When scarce the righteous man is saved ? Dread Monarch of the Earth and Heaven For that salvation’s great ’tis given ; And fince the boon is wholly free, O Fount of Pity, save Thou me ! DIES IRJE, 55 Remember, Jefus, how my case Once moved Thy pity and Thy grace, And brought Thee down on earth to Hay : O, lose me not, then, on that day! I seek Thee, who didft seek me firft. Weary and hungry and athirft ; Didft pay my ransom on the tree : Let not such travail fruftrate be ! Juft Judge of vengeance in the end, Now in the accepted time befriend! My fins, O, gracioufly remit, Ere Thou judicially (halt fit! Low at Thy feet I groaning lie; With bluftiing cheek, and weeping eye, And Hammering lips, I urge the prayer : O spare me, God of Mercy, spare ! When Mary Thy forgiveness sought. Wept, but articulated nought. 5^ DIES IRiE. Thou didft forgive ; didft hear the brief Petition of the dying Thief. On grace thus great my hope is built That Thou wilt cancel, too, my guilt; That, though my prayers are worthless breath, Thou wilt deliver me from death. When Thy dividing rod of might Appointeth ftations oppofite, Among Thy flieep grant me to ftand. Far from the goats, at Thy right hand! And when despair fhall seize each heart That hears the dreadful sound, ‘^Depart!’’ Be mine, the heavenly lot of some. To hear that word of welcome,, Come ! I come to Thee with trembling truft. And lay my forehead in the dull; In my laft hour do Thou befriend, And glorify Thee in my end! APPENDIX.—SEQUENCE. STATEMENT of the order observed in the celebration of Mass will beft ex- plain the nature and import of this term, hi in its application by the Romifti Church to a large body of hymns,—Daniel, in the 5th vol¬ ume of his learned and laborious work, ‘‘ Thesaurus Hymnologicus,” citing no less than eight hundred, the laft one given being a new Sequence, composed in honor of the Virgin in 1855, Sequentia de Beata Maria Virgine fine Labe Concepta, Virgo Virginum Praeclara.” The dispofition of parts in the Mass is as follows, viz. : I. 1 'he Introit, which is the part sung or chanted when the prieft enters within the rails of the altar. 2. T'he Collect, or Prayer. 3. Reading OF THE Epistle, being, in the Mass for the Dead, I Cor. XV. 51—57, or Rev. xiv. 13. 4. The Grad¬ ual, so called from its having been sung or chanted 8 58 SEQUENCE. formerly from the fteps {gradus) of the altar, clofing with the Alleluia. 5. The 7 'ract, which is omitted when the Alleluia is sung; otherwise it is sung in the interval to prepare for the following. The primary meaning of the word (from traho^ to protra6l or draw out) is adapted to suggeft either the use here indicated, i. e. to fill up time, or else to ex¬ press the flow, mournful movement which charadler- izes the chant. 6. The Sequence, being, in the Mass for the Dead, the Dies Ikje. 7. Reading OF THE Gospel, being, in the Mass for the Dead, John V. 25-29. 8. The Offertory, which is a fhort sentence that varies. 9. The Secret, a brief prayer recited by the prieft in a very low tone of voice. 10. Communion, or the application of the Mass. II. Post-Communion. The Sequence, it will be seen, occupies a pofition exactly midway, being jufl: after the Gradual and Tract, and immediately before the Gospel. The Reading of the Gospel happening to be introduced by the words, Sequentia Sanfti Evangelii secundum (The Continuation of the Holy Gospel ac¬ cording to-,) some have supposed that the term Sequentia or Sequence was derived from this source. Michael Praetorius was of this opinion. But the SEQUENCE. 59 moft approved authorities give the following explana¬ tion of its origin. fVom an early period, it was the cuftorn of the Latin Church to fmg the Gradual with the Alleluia between the Epiftle and the Gospel ; the Gradual being completed, the Alleluia followed ; and in order to give to the officiating prieft or deacon sufficient time to prepare and ascend the ambon or pulpit, the choir repeated and continued the laft syllable A through a series of notes. This neuma^ as it was called, or mufical prolongation of a letter, was named Sequentia, because it was sequent to and governed by the melody and rhythm of the Alleluia. At a later period, this palTage of notes sung without text, conftituting the original form of the Sequence, came to have words set thereto, thereby preparing the way for other changes ; and forasmuch as the firft elTays of this kind were unmetrical in their ftrufture, the term Prosa or Prose was applied by way of dis- tin6lion to this species of compofition ; of which Notker, surnamed the Stammerer, (Balbulus,) who died in 912, canonized in 1514, is confidered to have been the originator. Gradually, rhyme, so much and so fondly cultivated in the Middle Ages, found its way into these also \ and from the twelfth century 6o SEQIFENCE. onward. Sequences became proper metrical songs, differing from other hymns only in this, that the ftrophes, inftead of four, were made to consist of three or fix lines, according as they were double or fingle. To this rule, however, there were some exceptions. The name of Prose, although not ftrictly proper in its application to metrical composi¬ tions, continued to be used, nevertheless, as a general title for all Sequences ; and so we find the Dies Irae bearing the appellation in the Mass-books of Prosa Ecclefiaftica de Mortuis.’’ Defigned in the firft inftance, as alleged by Notker, merely to affift the memory in retaining the long- drawn, caudal melodies of the Alleluia, the defirable- ness of having other songs for the Mass than the Gloria in Excelfis, Kyrie, Credo, &c., songs eafier in ftrufture, which could be joined in, not only by the choir, but also by the congregation,—perhaps, too, the wifti to introduce greater variety into the service, and bring the finging into closer relation with the objects of particular Church feftivals, which could be done more readily by these Sequences,— caused them to be multiplied greatly. But the Roman ritual finally limited them to four, viz. : Victimes paschali laudis^ S. for Eafier Sunday \ SEQUENCE. 6l Feni Sancte Spiritus^ S. for Whitsunday and St Peter’s Day ; Lauda Sion Salvatore?n^ S. for Solem¬ nity of Corpus Chrifti; and Dies Irce^ S. Mass for the Dead and All-Souls’ Day ; nevertheless, other Mass-books of diocefes and monaftic orders con¬ tain more Sequences. The Sequence firft named has a different metre from the other three, being one of those rare cafes in which the charaileriftic triplet form of the ftrophe is departed from. The second named, Veni SancSe Spiritus, which. Trench speaks of as the lovelieft, though not the grandeft, of all the hymns in the whole circle of Latin sacred poetry,” contains ten ftrophes of three lines each. Its author was Robert the Second, son of Hugh Capet, who ascended the throne of France in the year 997, and died in 1031. Like Henry the Sixth of England, of a meek and gentle dispolition, a lov¬ er of peace, he was ill suited to contend with the turbulent and reftless spirits who surrounded him, whose delight was in war. The next Sequence has twelve double ftrophes of fix lines each. It is com¬ monly attributed to the so-called Angelical Doctor, 3 t. Thomas Aquinas. The laft, which is the Dies iRiE, grand and unapproachable in its excellence, comprises seventeen ftrophes of three lines each, and one of four lines. ORIGIN OF LATIN RHYME. HILE it is true that the Latin hymns written during the firft centuries of the Chriftian era are, speaking generally, charadlerized by the absence of rhyme, and that the prevalence of rhyme belongs peculiarly and almoft exclufively to the period intervening between the pontificate of Gregory the Great and that of Leo X., it would be a great error to suppose that rhyme was then firft introduced, or that it was borrowed, as some have surmised, from the Romance or Gothic languages. If we look for its origin, we ftiall find preludings and anticipations of it in every one of the Latin poets, not excepting the oldeft. Examples of both middle and final rhyme occur in all. In the Introduction to Trench’s Sacred Latin ORIGIN OF LATIN RHYME. ^3 Poetry,” where this whole subject is ably discull'ed, we have a collation of many of these. Witness the following. An ancient author, quoted by Cicero, (Tusc. 1 . I. c. 28,) poffibly Ennius, has this *— Coelum nitescer^*, arbores frondescere. Vites laetificae pampinis pubescere. Rami baccarum ubertate incurvescere. Of middle rhyme, we have in Ennius : — Non cauponantes bellum, sed belligerantes ; In V irgil: — Limus ut hic durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit; In Ovid : — Quem mare carpentem, substrictaque crura gerentem ; Where also is found this example of leonine pen¬ tameter : — Quaerebant fiavos per nemus omne favos. Of final rhyme, we have, in Virgil : — Nec non Tarquinium ejectum Porsenna jubebat Accipere, ingentique urbem obsidione premebat; Also : — Omnis campis difibgit arator. Omnis et agricola, et tuta latet arce viator; 6s ORIGIN OF LATIN RHYME. In H orace : — Non satis est pulcra esse poemata ; dulcia sunto. Et quocumque volent, animum auditoris agunto; Also . — Multa recedentes adimunt. Ne forte seniles Mandentur juveni partes, pueroque viriles. Lucan abounds in examples. Even the Latin prose- writers, it would seem, did not disdain now and then to play at rhyme, by putting rhyming words in jux- tapofition. Cicero has Jiorem et colorem ; Pliny, ve¬ ram et meram ; Plautus, melle et felle ; and so others. Rhyme being thus shown to have been a thing known to the language from the earlieft times, it may be thought surprifing, that what at a later period was so highly prized, and so fondly and so laboriously cultivated, should have been, during so many centuries, to such an extent, negledfed ; having been apparently fliunned rather than sought for, par¬ ticularly by those great mafters of poetry who illus¬ trated the Auguftan age. The fa6l is, that the ancient claflic metres, though found occafionally, as we have seen^ toying with rhyme, never seriously ORIGIN OF LATIN RHYME. 65 afFecSted it; and it was not until the (hackles imposed by these had been wholly fhaken off, and a fimpler and more natural verfification, based upon accent inftead of quantity, had succeeded in eftablifhing its juft claims over the Greek intruder, that the regime of rhyme fairly commenced. 9 ^itjgorian ^hant. From the Graduale Romanum.’’ 7. Quod sum mi • sei* 8. Rex tre-men-dae 13. Qui Ma - ri - am 14. Prae-ces me-ae tunc die - tu • rus, Queiu pa - tro-num ma • jes - ta - tis, Qui sal • van-dos ab - sol - vis - ti. Et la - tro-nem non sunt dig-nae, Sed tu bo-nus ro - ga - tu-rus, Cum vix justus sit se-cu-rus? 9. Re - cor-da - re sal-vas gra tis, Sal-va me, fons pi - e - ta - tis ! 10. Quaerens me se- ex - au- dis - ti, Mi - hi quo-que spem de-dis-ti. 15. In - ter o - ves fac be-nig-ne, Ne per-en-ni cre-mer ig-ne. 16. Con-fu - ta - tis spargens so - num Per se - pul-chra re - gi - o - nura, Co- get om-nes et na - tu - ra. Cum re - sur-get ere - a - tu - ra, Ju - di - can - ti Je - su pi - e. Quod sum cau-sa tu - ae vi - ae, Ne me per-das dis - ti las - sus Re - de - mis- ti cru-cem pas-sus : Tan-tus la - bor lo-cum prae-sta. Et ab h e-dis me se - questra, Sta-tu-ens in ma - le - die - tis. Flammis a - cri - bus ad -.die- tis, Vo - ca me cum re-S))On-su - ra. 6. Ju-dex er- go cum se-de - bit. Quidquid latet il - la