i j :;■:?; ::< FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Section Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://archive.org/details/diesiragOOnevi y^ DIES \RJE JAN 10 NINE ORIGINAL ENGLISH VERSIONS BY W. W. NEVIN, M.A. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK 27 West Twenty-third Street LONDON 24 Bedford Street, Strand Ube Tkntcfeerbocfcer press 1895 Copyright, 1895 BY W. W. NEVIN Ube Ifcnicfeerbocfcer {press, IWcw IRocbelle, 1R. JB, preface* T T was many years ago while studying for the law that my attention, in reading the Dies Irce, was arrested by the remarkable amount of legal phrase- ology used in its few brief lines. Witness as to this: "Teste," "Judex," "Judicanti responsura," " Cuncta stricte," "Judex cum sedebit," "Quern patronum," "Juste judex," "Diem rationis," "Culpa," "Reus," "Gere curam," " Reus judi- candus " ; and every verse is gloomy with the black imagery and despairing atmosphere of the court- room. It is a picture of a criminal trial as criminals were tried in the thirteenth century — dismal, hope- PREFA CE. less, hapless. " In curia domini regis, ipse, in propria persona jura decernit." It is hard for any one not read in the history of criminal jurisprudence adequately to conceive the terrible and hopeless surroundings that environed the unhappy accused put on trial in mediaeval times. The king perhaps no longer sat in the aula regis, but in his seat there was commonly found the ecclesiastic, clothed by delegation with all his limit- less powers, and administering what was then sup- posed to be justice, with methods of procedure and rules of evidence which the humaner later ages have swept away in righteous wrath. The prisoner at the bar stood alone, without friends, without rights, without a cause, removed from human aid and apparently from human sympathies. The very charge seemed to take him out of this world and throw him on the kinder mercies of the next. In PRE FA CE. those methods of trial, indeed, generically known as the judicium dei, embracing the ordeal, the ser- ment, the trial by battel, the corsned (the conse- crated bread) and others, everything proceeded on the fundamental assumption that the accused was guilty in the eyes of man, and was to be cleared or saved only by the special interference of God. It was conviction or a miracle. Even in the more intelligent and rational procedures, torture was a legitimate part of the machinery of evidence ; the prisoner was not allowed counsel ; a copy of the charge or indictment was not furnished frequently until the moment of trial ; and the final judgment was read in cruel and unusual punishments, burning alive, burying alive, perpetual bondage, confisca- tion, escheats, attainder of blood, excommunication — the death of the soul. The unborn child was punished in the flesh of its father, and the pre- PREFA CE. sumptuous hand of an earthly tribunal essayed to stretch into the kingdom of heaven and there en- force its pitiless decrees. Often, too, these fearful trials were held in secret, and there was no code or pandect or body of the law open to the many, and for the guidance and protection of all. In many cases there was no appeal or review, and the con- victed prisoner was hurried dramatically from the judgment hall to a chamber of execution by torture. It is hard for us now to conceive of such merciless conditions, but even in later times and under the milder common law of England a prisoner on trial for a capital crime was not so much as allowed counsel. Indeed, this privilege was never fully attained until the reign of William IV., and then by statute. Blackstone, lecturing about 1760, says : 44 Lastly it was an antient practice derived from the PREFA CE. civil law, and which also at this day obtains in the Kingdom of France, that as counsel was not allowed to any prisoner accused of a capital crime, so neither should he be suffered to exculpate himself by the testimony of any witnesses." Even the extraor- dinary process of alleged reasoning which led to the establishment of such a rule as this is not intelli- gible to our more humane and juster modes of thought.* But it was in this barbaric, bloody and revenge- ful way that these people in the thirteenth century * A curious survival of this feeling of the extreme hopeless- ness of a criminal trial exists in certain formula of the law still in use in some parts of this country. In Pennsylvania to this day in the criminal courts the jury is sworn " to well and truly try and a true deliverance make between the common- wealth and the prisoner at the bar." And on a plea of not guilty being entered by the prisoner, the clerk of the court responds, u And may God grant you a safe deliverance." I am aware that the word " deliverance " in this formula is capable of at least one other construction, but its use by the clerk seems to support the construction here adopted. PREFA CE. tried each other, and expected God to try them- selves. And in that time, too, the terrible Day of the Lord was earnestly believed to be near at hand, for the period of the fateful " thousand years " was impending. There is, as a consequence, in old mediaeval reli- gious poetry much of the same hopeless dread of the judgment-day and its near approach, as in the Dies Irfes irae. i. FMES iroe, dies ilia, Solvet sseclum in favilla ; Teste David cum Sibylla. 2. Quantus tremor est futurus, Quando judex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus. 3. Tuba minim spargens sonum, Per sepulcra regionum, Coget omnes ante thronum. 4. Mors stupebit et natura, Cum resurget creatura, Judicanti responsura. DIES IRM. 5. Liber scriptus proferetur, In quo totum continetur, Unde mundus judicetur. 6. Judex ergo cum sedebit, Quidquid latet, apparebit, Nil inultum remanebit. 7. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus, Quern patronum rogaturus ? Quum vix Justus sit securus. 8. Rex tremendae majestatis, Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Salva me fons pietatis. 9. Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuae viae ; Ne me perdas ilia die. DIES IR&. io. Quaerens me sedisti lassus, Redemisti crucem passus ; Tantus labor non sit cassus. ii. Juste judex ultionis, Donum fac remissionis Ante diem rationis. 12. Ingemisco tanquam reus, Culpa rubet vultus meus . Supplicanti parce Deus. 13. Qui Mariam absolvisti Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti. 14. Preces mese non sunt dignse, Sed tu bonus fac benigne, Ne perenni cremer igne # DIES IRM. 15. Inter oves locum praesta, Et ab hsedis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra. 16. Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis ; Voca me cum benedictis. 17. Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor contritum, quasi cinis : Gere curam mei finis. 18. Lacrymosa dies ilia, Qua resurget ex favilla, Judicandus homo reus. 19. Huic ergo parce Deus ! Pie Jesu Domine ! Dona eis requiem. Amen. DIES IRM. 2>ies Urae* 1. C\R Day °f prophecy appalling, When the stars from Heaven are falling And Kings upon the rocks are calling, 2. To fall and hide them as the rending Heavens disclose the Judge descending And the world in wrath is ending. 3. Blasts shall burst through ages swelling Where the silent dead are dwelling, All before the Bar compelling. DIES IR.E. 4. Nature and Death stand pallid, fearing At the Creature reappearing To answer at the final hearing. 5. Lo ! the seal'd Book of Revelation, Record from the first creation, Borne forth now for condemnation. 6. God the fatal scrolls unsealing, All the sins of time revealing, Judgment to the world is dealing. 7. Where turn I in consternation, When e'en the just in tribulation Trembling face the dread citation ? 8. King of most majestic station, Fount of grace and mediation, Save me, with thy free salvation. DIES IRjE. 9. Oh recall to my defending, Thou for me to earth descending, Lose me not when time is ending. 10. Thou for me to earth once hasted, Bitter death for me once tasted, Can such toil and love be wasted ? 11. Righteous is Thy condemnation, But, Lord, recall Thy mediation Ere the last adjudication. 12. Crimson in my shame, and groaning, All my conscious frailties owning, Spare, oh God, the suppliant moaning. 13. With frail Mary tossed and driven, With the thief on Calvary shriven, I have hope to be forgiven. DIES IRM. 14. Worthless all my tears and crying, Save on Thy free grace relying I perish in the fires undying. 15-16. When the fatal valediction Dooms the lost to dire affliction Grant me, then, Thy benediction. 17. Prone I fall when Doom's-day crashes, I repent in dust and ashes, Take my cause when judgment flashes. 18. Oh that Day of tears and wailing, When the arisen soul stands failing, Spare him God — Thy peace unveiling ; 19. And as fades this life diurnal Grant him in that hour supernal Sweet rest in the Light eternal. Amen. DIES IRM. 2>fes 1Fne. ii. i. C\& Day of Weeping and of Wailing, The firmament in ashes failing, All the signs foretold unveiling. 2. Oh what terror and what trembling, When a summoned world assembling Sees the end of all dissembling ; 3. And the last trumpet's awful calling Wakes the dead — and leads them falling To the Judgment Bar appalling. DIES IR/E. 4. Nature with pale Death is blending, When is seen all flesh ascending At the resistless call attending. 5. Open lies the Book of Ages In whose dread recording pages Every thought shall read its wages. 6. Lo ! in the air our God descending, Stern the veil of judgment rending Shows the wrath to come, unending. 7. Oh what plea shall I then tender, Cry to whom as my defender, Scarce the just a prayer may render ? 8. Dread King of Majesty and glory, Whose dying is the world's great story, Forget not that free offertory. DIES IRM, g. Oh be mindful, my salvation, Jesus caused Thy tribulation, Remember now that great oblation. 10. Wearily through life Thou sought me, Bitterly in death Thou bought me, Can that life and death for nought be ? ii. Judge of righteous reparation, Grant Thy gracious condonation Ere the day of last citation. 12. In crimsoned shame my frailties moaning Wretched, sinful, guilty, groaning, Spare me by Thy grace atoning. 13. Thou that consoled Mary sighing And heard the thief repentant dying, On Thee my hopes are all relying. DIES IR&. 14. In vain all mortal supplication, Unless thou grant me free salvation I perish in the last damnation. 15. Oh when Heaven and Earth dissever, With the lost condemn me never, But, at Thy right hand forever, 16. Let me stand in pastures vernal, While the doomed in depths infernal Writhe in fire and flames eternal. 17. My heart I lay with deep contrition In the ashes of submission, Let my last end be Thy commission. 18. Dark Day of tears and desolation, When man in guilty trepidation Awaits his righteous condemnation, DIES IRM. 19. Oh Lord, then by Thine arms surrounded, Trusting in Thy love unbounded, Let him never be confounded. Amen. DIES IRsG. 2>ies 1Fr*e, in. 1. F\ AY of Wrath— that Day of Wailing When the sun and stars are paling, - Day when heart and flesh are failing. 2. Wide the shaking earth is rending, When from Heaven the Judge descending Strict account on all is sending. 3. Lo ! the last trumpet's sounds are flinging Through the under regions ringing, All before the white throne bringing. DIES IRjE. . 4. Nature cowers with faint and quiver, When in a weird spectral river Death and Hell their dead deliver. 5. See the judgment scrolls unrolling ; For all souls their doom controlling, Hear the knells of judgment tolling. 6. God the Judge enclad in splendor, Comes to each his works to render, Searching to the last offender. 7. What my plea that Day appalling ? On what Intercessor calling ? E'en the just have fear of falling. 8. King of bright transcendant glory, Lamb of sacrificial story, Afford Thy grace expiatory. DIES IRJE. 9. Oh remember, Lord, Thy buying, — I have caused Thy crucifying, Leave me not when time is dying. 10. Weary by the well Thou sought me, On the tree of death Thou bought me, Can such labor all for nought be ? 11. Judge of strict determination, Grant thy gracious expiation, Ere the final condemnation. 12. Like a culprit pale I shiver, With the blood of shame I quiver, Lord, my suppliant soul deliver. 13. By Magdalen's absolved transgression, By the dying thief's confession, My trust is Thy intercession. DIES IRJE. 14. Vain my prayers and lamentation ; Unless Thy free mediation, For me the endless conflagration. 15. Oh when earth and time are ending, The pale lost to death descending, And the blest to heaven ascending, 16. Save me from the doom impending ; And, my helpless cause befriending, Take me to Thy peace unending. 17. Prone I pray in sore dejection, Gracious Lord, be my protection In the Hour of resurrection. 18. Oh Day of direful desolation, When Man in guilty isolation Stands in pallid consternation, DIES IRM. 19. Spare him, God, the undefended, And by legions bright attended Grant him rest when time has ended. Amen. DIES IRM. ®iee fine* IV. 1. pv AY of Wrath — the world illuming, Earth and sky in flame consuming, Dark though seer and sibyl looming. 2. Oh, what terror, tears and quaking When the Judge his dread throne taking Shall arraign a world awaking. 3. At the trumpet's awful rending, Tongues and tribes in troops unending Throng from riven graves ascending. DIES IRsE. 4. Death shall start and nature paling When all flesh ariseth, quailing At the summons earth unveiling. 5. Forth is borne the record fated, Naught forgotten — naught abated, For the world with judgment freighted. 6. God the judgment-seat ascending, Silence now forever ending, Vengeance on a world is sending. 7. Where shall I stand, lost offender, Whither look for a defender, Scarce the just a plea dare tender ? 8. King of Majesty tremendous, Thou whose grace did erst defend us, Save me — Christ deliverance send us. 26 DIES IRA?. 9. Jesus ! now to mind be calling Earth, lest I defenceless falling, Perish in that Day appalling. 10. Thou hast borne the Cross's pressure, For me suffered without measure, Is it vain — that bloody treasure ? 11. God, impartial judgment wielding, Pardon grant the sinner shielding Ere the world account is yielding. 12. Guilty groans from dust ascending, Shame and fears their colors blending- Spare, oh God, the suppliant bending. 13. Thou that bearedst Mary's burden, With the thief that breasted Jordan Givest my faith a hope of guerdon. DIES IR/E. 14. Worthless all my poor petition, Let Thy goodness have fruition, That I burn not through perdition. 15. With the cursed consign me never, But may I, when earth shall sever, Stand at Thy right hand forever. 16. When the lost with horror shaken, Are to flames and fire forsaken, Let me to Thine arms be taken. 17. Crushed I cry — in anguish bending, Sighs in sorest sorrow sending. Take my cause when time is ending. 18. Oh tearful Day, when wrath ascendant Man for sentence stands attendant, Spare him, God — the lone defendant. DIES IRM. ig. And when heart and flesh are failing, By the bitter cross' impaling, Grant him safe — Thy rest unveiling. Amen. DIES IRJE. H>iee 1Tra:. v. i. T^vAY of Wrath when hearts shall fail, When the powers of hell assail, As the Seer and Sibyl wail. 2. Oh, what terror to awake And for all strict answer make, When the Judge his throne shall take. 3. Through the regions of the dead Blare and peal the trumpets dread, As to the Bar all souls are led. DIES IR&. 4. Death and life in dumb surprise See the aeons all arise, Ranged at the last assize. 5. Forth is borne the fatal scroll, — See the sins of time unroll — Every word a dying soul. 6. Jehovah takes his awful seat, — The avenging record all complete- Judgment to the world to mete. 7. Where shall I stand in that hour? Look to what supporting power ? O'er the just the heavens lour. 8. King of dreadful majesty, King that died on Calvary, King of pity — save Thou me. DIES IRJE. 9. Lord, my soul forget not then ; Oh remember, Jesus, when Thou came down to die for men. 10. All for me Thou walked this vale, All for me the spear and nail ; Shall such travail naught avail ? n. Judge of justice just and fit, Mercifully my sin remit Ere is closed the final writ. 12. In my face my doings stare, And crush my heart in deep despair, Lord, the crimsoned suppliant spare. 13. By forgiven Mary's grief, By the pardoned dying thief, I have hope of last relief. DIES IRsE. 14. Vain all prayers and cries and tears ; Unless mercy free appears, I perish through the eternal years. 15-16. When fly the blest where nothing harms And sink the lost to dark alarms, Fold me in Thy sheltering arms. 17. Low my heart lies in the dust, Take me, Jesus, — with the just, In the End be Thou my trust. 18. Oh that hour when from the gloom And darkness of the seonial tomb Man rises naked to his doom, 19. Spare him, God, in that inquest And in the regions of the blest Grant him at last eternal rest. Amen. DIES IRM. %>iee irrae. VI. i. P)AY of Wrath, that doleful day, When the Earth shall melt away, David and the Sibyl say. 2. Lo ! the trembling Heavens rend, See the Judge of all descend, See the coming of the End. 3. At the trumpets clangor dread, From far graves and lands are led, To the Bar, the quick and dead. DIES IRjE. 4. Nature reels in blanched surprise When the sheeted dead arise And falter to the last assize. 5. Forth the fatal scroll is borne, Dread Record of the Judgment morn, Unveiling thoughts and deeds unborn. 6. Earth's dark secrets all lie bare, When, enthroned in the air, God His judgments shall declare. 7. Wretched, lone, what then my rede, Who for me shall intercede ? Scarce the righteous dare to plead. 8. King of awful majesty, Saving men in mercy free, Fount of pity — save Thou me. DIES IRJE. q. Oh be mindful, Jesus, pray, Of the Cross's bitter way, Nor forget me in that day. 10. Me, through weary life Thou sought, Me, upon the cross Thou bought, Can such labor be for naught ? 11. Judge that shall just judgment deal, Mercifully Thy grace reveal, Ere the Day without appeal. 12. Low, with crimsoned face I groan, All my evil doings own, Hear, oh God, the suppliant prone. 13. By repentant Mary's sighs, By the thief in Paradise, I have hope with .them to rise. 36 DIES IRsE. 14. Vain my prayers, my tears, my cries, If His mercy God denies, For me, the worm that never dies. 15-16. When the sheep and goats divide, When the flaming gulf yawns wide, Hold me to Thy sheltering side. 17. Crushed in heart I humbly bend, To the dust my face I send, Lord, be Thou my final friend. 18. Day of wrath and dolorous tears, When in dire resurgent fears, From the clay the man appears, 19. Spare him, God, when ages quake, And vouchsafe, for Jesus' sake, At the last his soul to take. Amen. DIES IR/E. Wice 1frar. VII. i. r\H Day of Wrath, that dreadful Day, The heavens in fire shall flame away, So David and the Sibyl say. 2. Earth trembles like the beat of drums When God the Judge to judgment comes And the fatal balance sums. 3. Lo, at the trumpet's awful sound, Through the dark regions underground, All flesh before the Bar is found. DIES IRM. 4. Pale nature faints, death shall be dumb As down the ages' lengthening sum The failing souls to judgment come. 5. When forth the fateful roll is brought, Into which all the world is wrought, Abated aught — forgotten nought ; 6. Then God shall mount the great white throne, The world its inmost secrets own, And all things hidden shall be known. 7. How, then, pray I, in sin enslaved, Plead through whom for mercy craved, When scarce the righteous shall be saved ? 8. Terrible King of Majesty, Who savest the saved by grace and free, Fount of Mercy — save Thou me. DIES IRM. 3Q 9. Oh remember, Saviour, pray, For whom Thou trod Earth's bitter way, Nor once forsake me in that Day. 10. For me thou lived life's weary drain, For me was borne the Cross's pain, Can all such labor be in vain ? 11. Just Judge must strict account begin ? For Jesus' sake remit my sin Ere comes the Day of Reckoning in. 12. Oh my God, I am ashamed, And blush to hear my frailties named, My countenance in the dust is framed. 13. Oh Thou that quenched Mary's grief, And heard in death the dying thief, Thou art my hope of sure relief. DIES IRM. 14. Worthless and vain my tears and cries, If God the judge free grace denies, My soul in endless torment dies. 15-16. When the pale lost implore in vain And sink where Hell and horror reign, Close to Thy side let me remain. 17. Prone and with bruised heart I fain Would cry, Lord, be my stay, and deign To take my cause when time shall wane. 18. Dark Day of Wrath— that tearful Day, When man arises from the clay, — Oh Miserere Domine — 19. Lord, let him enter by the pain And passion of a Saviour slain, The rest that for us doth remain. Amen. DIES IR&. Dies 1fnc. VIII. 1. C\R Day of Wrath— that dread Last Day, When earth to ashes flames away So David and the Sibyl say. 2. What trembling pale — what terror dumb, When the approaching Judge shall come, The length'ning crimes of life to sum. 3. Trumpets thundering worse than war, Rending tombs and graves afar, Shall compel all to the Bar. DIES IRjG. 4. Nature and death shall quail in gloom, When man must leave his hiding tomb To answer at the bar of doom. 5. Then the scroll shall forth be brought, Dread record that omitteth nought, For all the world with judgment fraught. 6. Oh when our God shall take His throne, All that is hidden shall be shown, And nothing shall remain unknown. 7. What then shall I poor sinner say, On what support my safety stay, When scarce the saints shall dare to pray ? 8. Great King of awful Majesty, Who savest the world by Mercy free, Fountain of grace — My Saviour be. DIES IRM. 9. Oh remember, Jesus, pray, For whom Thou trod the bitter way, Him spare in that defenceless day. 10. For me thou bore life's weary strain, For me the Cross's bitter pain, Is labor such for me in vain ? 11. Just Judge — thine arm avenging stay, Pardon before shall come that Day, When Thou the accounts of earth shall weigh. 12. Low in the dust, contrite I groan, With conscious flush my guilt I own, Spare, Oh God, the suppliant prone. 13. Thou that lifted Mary's grief, Thou that heard the dying thief, Grant me in that hour relief ! DIES IRJE. 14. Worthless my prayers and poor desires, Have mercy or my soul expires, Through ages in the quenchless fires. 15-16. When the pale lost depart to doom, Where only flames light up the gloom, At Thy right hand afford me room. 17. With suppliant heart, contrite I bend, Lord, take the cause of my last end, And in that Hour be Thou my friend. 18. Oh Day of Wrath— that fatal Day, When comes to judgment sinful clay, Spare him, Oh God, we faintly pray, 19. And for sake of Jesus deign Surcease of eternal pain, And Rest that is eternal gain. Amen. DIES IRM. Dies 1frae. IX. i. (^H Day of Wrath— that awful Day, When Heaven and earth shall glow- away, As David and the Sibyl say. 2. Oh what trembling and what tears, When the final Judge appears, To call the record of the years. 3. Loud shall sound the trumpet dread, As the pale armies of the dead, To the judgment Bar are led. 46 DIES IRJE. 4. Nature shall faint, and tremble death, When the dead retake their breath, And each to God his answer saith. 5. Then the dread book shall be unsealed, Whose pages are the judgment field, Nought forgotten — nought concealed. 6. When the Judge ascends his throne, The hidden things shall all be known, And every deed in judgment groan. 7. How then shall I plead, naked, poor, What Intercessor then secure, When even the saints may not be sure ? 8. Oh King of Dreadful Majesty, Lifted in Crucifixion free, Fount of free grace — deliver me. DIES IRsE. 47 9. Oh remember, Jesus, pray, I am the cause of Thy lone way, Forget me not in that Great Day. 10. Me — through a weary world Thou sought, Me — on the bitter cross Thou brought, Can travail such in vain be wrought ? 11. Judge of strict reckoning, hear my cries, And pardon grant, ere mercy dies, When comes the day of last assize. 12. Oh, God, I bend in grief and shame, My sins my guilty face inflame, The suppliant spare in Jesus' name. 13. Thou that forgavest Mary's fall, And heard the dying thief's faint call, Thou art my hope, my faith, my all. DIES IRM. 14. All my prayers and cries are vain ; If thou refuse Thy grace to deign, I perish in eternal pain. 15-16. When the lost forever banned, Depart to gloom, oh let me stand, Forever saved, at Thy right hand. 17. Low in the dust I groan and start, With bruised head and contrite heart, Lord — in that End take Thou my part. 18. Oh tearful Day of wrath and gloom, When from the clay and sheltering tomb Man trembles at the bar of doom, 19. Oh Lord, then keep him with the blest, Enfold him safe on Jesus' breast, And lead him to eternal rest. Amen. IP OBI '••■'■ •■•'''•'' ©1111 EnSnHHV ■Hi. vfiHHlw kSBSs