m m MR J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. t W4tf- — # ~&% t \U % UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, t THE Hymn of Hildebert AND OTHER MEDIAEVAL HYMNS WITH TRANSLATIONS BY ERASTUS C. BENEDICT A NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION NEW YORK ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO 1869 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by ANSON D. F. EANDOLPH & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of New York. Bradstreet Press. PKEFAOE These translations have been the agreeable labor of occasional honrs of leisure. Several of them have at different times, during the last fifteen years, appeared in public journals, literary and religious, and the favorable mention made of some of them has induced me to collect those which have been published, and to add some others, including the Hymn of Hildebert to the Trinity. Of some of them, previous translations are numerous and excel- lent. In making this selection, my aim has been to bring together such a variety of hymns and topics as should, in small compass, exhibit the evangelical faith and character of those eminent and devout men, whose light shone so purely in that period of Christianity which we call the Middle Ages ; their ideas of God and his attributes, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; their knowledge of the Scriptures; their exhaustive treatment of their topics, and their modes of thought and expression, so IV PREFACE. simple and unpretentious. I was also especially influ- enced by a desire to exhibit that oneness of evangelical faith, and that Christian union in the great characteristic and essential elements of our holy religion, which enables us to acknowledge our brotherhood with these simple- minded, cultivated, and sanctified men, who devoted their lives to religion as it was presented by the Saviour and his sacred family, and their early successors, appealing to the heart instead of to the senses, and manifesting itself in great but simple and intelligible truths, and not in forms and rites, and ceremonies and vestments. I make little account of the fact that they may have believed something which I cannot believe, and may have used a ritual and liturgy which I disapprove. I never stop to think that the authors of the "Imitation of Christ," of the "Holy Living and Dying," of the "Pilgrim's Progress," held to points of faith, and used rites and modes of worship different from mine, any more than I do that the holy apostles themselves, who were with the Lord continually, and listened to those daily teachings which drew such crowds of hearers, and who saw all his miracles, were, even after the resurrection, still ignorant of the nature of his kingdom, of his sacrifice, and of his great salva- tion. I make no apology for the simplicity and naturalness of these translations. It would have been less laborious PREFACE. V and difficult, to make translations which, to certain tastes, would have been more agreeable, and would have seemed more poetical — expanded paraphrases — English hymns founded upon the Latin ones, intensified by epithets and ornamented with imagery. My own taste, however, found a great charm in the great simplicity and brevity of the originals, and I preferred to translate those striking qualities. I have accordingly kept the English version within the length of the Latin original, and have en- deavored to perform this task, certainly difficult, and sometimes said to be impossible, without sacrificing ease in versification, or the meaning and spirit of the original. How far I have succeeded must be left to the judgment of others. In most cases also I have adopted the stanza and measure of the original, and the double rhymes and dac- tylic terminations so common with those Latin hymnolo- gists. I do not share the opinion sometimes expressed, that in our language such rhymes are inconsistent with the dignity, gravity, and tenderness which may be ex- pressed by them in Latin, and without which sacred hymns would lose their character. To this opinion, per- haps, may be attributed the fact, that in the English version of the psalms by Dr. Watts, there are no double rhymes, except three couplets in his translation of tho Fiftieth Psalm, and in the versions of Tate and Brady, VI PREFACE. and of Sternhold and Hopkins none, and that the earlier translations of the Dies Irce were made in single rhyme. Many of the more recent ones, however, are made with double rhyme, and I apprehend that the opinion is now general that the true spirit and solemnity of that great hymn are better exhibited in some of the double rhyme translations than they are in any others. When the line is trochaic, the trochaic ending preserves, instead of im- pairing, the tone and feeling of the lines — which may be expressive of any sentiment, however grave or tender. Many of the sweetest and most devotional hymns in our language, are in double rhyme, and I need refer only to the grace and dignity, as well as tenderness and strength, with which Wesley and Heber and others, use the double rhyme, to show the truth of these remarks. I am, indeed, by no means certain that the double rhyme may not in the end, prove to be the higher and better style of versification and rhythm. I incline to the belief that there is in it a more graceful cadence, a more flowing and easy transition, and a more unbroken harmony, than in the sometimes crisp and sharp ending of the single rhyme. • : It is surprising that Milton, who used rhyme with ad- mirable skill, should speak of it as the invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter and lame metre. In the universality of rhyme, as in the further fact that it is peculiar neither to the rudeness of an early and bar- PREFACE. Vll barons age, nor to the over-refined ingenuity of a late and artificial one, but runs through whole literatures, we find its best defence, and the evidence that it lies deep in our human nature, since otherwise so many peoples would not have lighted upon it, or so inflexibly main- tained it ; for no people has ever adopted an accentual rhythm without also adopting rhyme, which only in weak and indistinct beginnings makes its first appearance, and with advancing refinement, poetical cultivation, and per- fection of language, rises to its highest excellence. It has been well said, that rhyme, well managed, is one of the most pleasing of all inventions for entertaining the mind — constantly raising expectation, and as often satis- fying it. The ear anticipates the sound without knowing what the sound would express. This expectation and its gratification are a constant pleasure, different from that conveyed by the thought, but always playing about it, and in harmony with it — like music, adorning and intensi- fying it. It is hardly to be believed that the classical versification could be native or vernacular to any people, and it is not more easy to believe, that if it had been natural to the Eomans, it would have so easily retired before that rhythmical versification which supplanted it. It is worthy of remark, in this connection, that all those peoples, which in our day are spoken of as the Latin race, to distinguish them from the Gothic and Sclavic races, Vlll PREFACE. have their poetical literature characterized by rhythmical and accentual versification and by rhyme, and that the metres of Virgil and Horace and Catullus have given place to rhyme and accent, even in the Italian peninsula. Of some of these hymns (some, indeed, which have been better translated by others) I have made more than one translation. Without assigning any satisfac- tory reason why I should thus be willing to come into comparison with others of established reputation, I may say that the reason which would induce me to make one translation might well induce me to make several — differ- ent tastes being gratified by various forms of presenting the same thoughts. As to the translations of the Dies Irce, I will also say that the second in order was published many years ago, before the thought of using English double rhyme for so serious a purpose, had entered my mind. The third was afterwards written in double rhyme, and, finally, the other was the result of an attempt to use nothing but the Gothic-English language, discarding en- tirely the use of Latin derivatives. This one being more agreeable to my taste, I have given it the first place. All these early Latin hymns were written before the invention of printing, and copies were often taken down from memory or learned from oral tradition, which, doubt- less, furnishes the reason why, sometimes, one or more stanzas are omitted in some copies, and why the arrange- PREFACE. IX merit of the stanzas differs, in different copies of the same hymn. I have followed what seemed to me the best authority for the text, and I have not hesitated to adopt the arrangement of the stanzas which seemed to me the most forcible and beautiful. In like manner I have also substituted a word and changed the arrangement of words in a line, where the rhythm so plainly demanded it as to compel the belief that such was the author's arrange- ment. I have preceded most of the hymns with a brief sketch of the supposed author, or a sort of argument of the hymn, or brief commentary upon it. I am, however, far from believing that the authorship of them is thus attributed on sufficient evidence in all cases. There is hardly one that has not been attributed, with equal confi- dence, to more than one author, and there are few of them whose authorship can be considered as settled, on evidence. A word more as to the thread by which these hymns are here connected — so slight that, perhaps, it might not be perceived, unless it were pointed out. The Christian faith, life, and hope, founded upon the being and attri- butes of God; the birth, teachings, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, and commemoration of our Lord, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, are exhibited in the order which I have adopted, while the doctrines of faith and grace, and the spirit of devotion, animate the whole. X PREFACE. The careful and learned remarks of the Rev. Dr. Wil- liams in his ''Miscellanies," p. 72, of Dr. Coles in his "Dies Irse," of Dr. Schaff in his "New Stabat Mater," of Dr. Neale in his " Medieval Hymns," and, above all, the Preface, Introduction, and notes of Archbishop Trench in his "Sacred Latin Poetry," are worthy of careful study by all who desire to be informed on the subject of Latin hymnology. I have read them with the greatest interest, and have borrowed much from them, as well in this preface as elsewhere, for which I desire to make this acknowledgment, because I have almost always neglected to do so in the text of my remarks. TABLE OF HYMNS. Alpha et ft, magne Deus 2 Astant angelorum chori - - 122 Apparebit repentina dies magna - 34 Cur mundus militat - 28 Dies Tree, dies ilia 110 Ecquis binas columbinas - 58 Gravi me terrore pulsas 128 Hceres peccati, natura filius tree - 100 Heri mundus exultavit 102 Jam moesta quiesce querela - 140 Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem - 92 Pange, lingua, gloriosi • - 54 Parendum est, cedendum est 132 Portas vestras atternales - 80 Si vis vere ghriari - 70 Stabat Mater dolorosa - 64 N - Stabat Mater speeiosa 20 Vent, creator Spiritus ... - 41 Vent, sancte Spiritus - 86 Victims Paschali laudes - 78 INDEX Abbey of St. Victor, 98. Adam of St. Victor, 76, 98. Agnes, Mount St., 121. Alpha et £2, Magne Deus, 2. Ambrose, 42. Angel choirs ori high, 123. An heir of sin, 101. Apparebit repentina dies, 34. Aquinas, Thomas, 52, 75, 90. Ascension, 80. Astant angelorum chori, 122. At the last, the great day, 35. Beautiful his mother standing, 21. Beautiful mother, 21. Bede, 32. Benedette, 18. Benedictis, 18. Bernard, 26. Bertin, St., 85. Be still the voice, 141. Campen, 121. Celano, Thomas de, 109 Charlemagne, 42. Christians, raise, 79. Classical versification, 74. Clichtoveus, 84, 85. Coles, Dr., x. Comforter denominated, 7. Come, thou Spirit, 50. Communion, 52, 90, 93. Contemptu Mundi, 26, 28. Corona spinea, 70. Crown of thorns, 70. Crucifixion, 58. Cur mundus militat. 18, 28. Cygnus Exspirans, 127, 132. Damiani, 126. Day of death, 129. Day of judgment, 32, 35. Day of threatened wrath, 111. Day of wrath, that final day, 116. Day of wrath, 118. De die judicii. 34. De die mortis, 127, 129. Deventer, 121. Deus, 12. . Dies Iras, 32, 108, 110, 116, 118. Doctor Angelicus, 52. Doctor Melhfluus, 43. Doctor Mellitissimus, 43. Dramatic hymn, 77. Dying swan, 133. Easter hymn, 74, 78. Ecquis binas columbinas, 58. Epitaph of Adam, 100. Father, 3. Father, God, my God, 3. Feckenham, 53. Fides orthodoxa, 1, 8. Frangipani, 75. Funeral Hymn, 141. G-iacomo, 18. G-iacopone, 18. God, 13. Goethe, 108. Gravi me terrore, 128. Grey, Lady Jane. 53. Haeres peccati, 1 00. INDEX. Xlll Hamerken, 121. Heaven, 15, 123. Heri mundus, 102. Hermanns, 75, 84. Hildebert, 1, 2. Holy Spirit, 6. Holy Spirit from above. 87. Imitation of Christ, 121. I must obey, 133. In exequiis, 140. Innocent III., Pope, 84. Jacobus de Benedictis, 18. Jacopone, 18. Jam quiesce, 140. Joys of heaven, 123. Judgment, 32. Kempis, Thomas a, 121. Last Supper, 52. Lavardin, 1. Lauda Sion salvatorem, 75. 00,92. Lord's Supper, 90. Malabranca, 75. Mater dolorosa, 18, 62, 99. Mater speciosa, 18, 20. Milton, vi. Mount' St. Agnes, 121. Nate Patri cosequalis, 4. Nativity, 19. Neale, Dr., x. Notker, 75. 85. Oh, had it the wings, 58. Oratio ad Filium, 4. Oratio ad Pairem, 2. Oratio ad Spiritum, G. Oratio ad Trinitatem, 2. Over-Yssel, 121. Pange lingua gloriosi, 52, 54, 90. Parendum est, 132. Paracletus increatus, 6. Passion, 58. Passover, 75. Pentecost, 42, 75, 84. Portas vestras asternales, 80. Proses, 74, 75. Prudentius, 138. Raise the everlasting gates, 81. Real presence, 53, 91. Resurrection, 78. Rhyme, v., vi., vii., 75, 76. Rhythm, vi., vii., 74. Robert II., 75, 84. Sacrament, 52, 90, 91. Schaff. Dr., x., 19, 63. Sequence, Sequentia, 74. Sing, my tongue, the theme, 55. Sion, 14. Si vis vere gloriari, 70. Son, 4. Spirit, creative, power divine. 48. Spirit, heavenly life, 45. Spirit, Holy, 6, 42 to 50, 84 to 87. Stabat Mater dolorosa, 62, 99. Stabat Mater speciosa, 18, 19, 20. St. Agnes, Mount, 121. St. Bertin, 85. Stephen, 99, 102. Thomas Aquinas, 52. Thomas of Celano, 109. Thomas a Kempis, 121. Transubstantiation, 52. Trench, x., 26. Trinity, 1, 2, 122. Tusser, 26. Urban IV., 52. Yeni, creator Spiritus, 42, 48, 50. Yeni, sancte Spiritus, 84, 87. Victimse Paschali laudes, 74, 78 Yictor, St., 98. Walter Scott, 108. Weeping stood his mother, 65. Why does the world serve, 29. Williams, Dr., x. With terror thou dost, 129. Would st thy spirit glory, 7 1 . Yesterday the world, elated, 103. Zion, praise thine interceder, 93. MEDIAEVAL HYMNS HILDEBERT Hildebert de Lavardin was a Frenchman. He was born in 1057 and was educated in the highest scholarship and culture of his time, having studied under Beranger and St. Hugh of Cluny whose life he wrote. He was consecrated Bishop of Mans in 1097, and in 1125 became Archbishop of Tours and was one of the great ornaments of the French Koman Catholic Church. All the authors of that period speak in his praise. It was commonly said of him, Inclytus et prosa versuque per omnia primus, Hildebertus olet prorsus ubique rosam. His Hymn to the Trinity is every way worthy of him. It is characterized, equally, by harmony and grace and by sententious brevity. Its fullness and discrimination as a theological essay and its easy and familiar use of Scriptural allusion, are quite as remarkable as its gentle spirit of devotion and its poetical animation, in which it has been said to equal the very best productions which Latin Christian poetry can anywhere boast. The Poem has a sort of epic completeness ; its Begin- ning — the knowledge of God — Fides orthodoxa — the true creed, as to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity — ex- hibiting their attributes, as the foundation of the Christian character ; its Middle — the weakness, the trials and the temptations of the Christian life, in its progress to perfect trust and confidence in God and assurance of His final grace; its End — the joys and glories of the Heavenly Home of the blessed. 1 HILDEBERTI HYMNUS. ORATIO DEVOTISSIMA AD TRES PERSONAS SANCTISSIMjE TRINITATJS. AD PATREM. Elplja et Q, magne Heus ! 3Elt ! 3EU ! ©eus meus — (Cuius btrtus, totum posse; (STujus sensus, totum nosse ; (&ujus esse, summum oonum ; <£ujus opus, pteciuitr oonum. JE>uper euneta, suttee euneta ; lErtra euneta, intra euneta. Jntra euneta, nee inclusus ; lErtra euneta, nee exelusus ; j£>uper euneta, nee elatus ; gutter euneta, nee suostratus. j&uper totus, pt^stoentro ; puttee totus, sustinentro ; 2Srtra totus, eotnplectenoo ; Jntra totus es, implenoo. Jntra, nunquam coaretarts ; HYMN OF HILDEBERT. An Address to the Three Persons of the most Holt Trinity. TO THE FATHER. Father, God, my God, all seeing! Alpha and Omega being — Thou whose power no limit showeth Thou whose wisdom all things knoweth, God all good beyond comparing — God of love for mortals caring — Over, under, all abounding, In and out and all surrounding — Inside all, yet not included, Outside all, yet not excluded, Over all, yet not elated, Under all, yet not abated — Thou above — Thy power ordaining — Thou beneath — Thy strength sustaining- Thou without — the whole embracing — Thou within — Thy fullness gracing. Thee within, no power constraineth — HILDEBERTI HYMNUS. 3Extca, nunquam trilataris. j&uper, nuUo sustentaris ; gutter, nullo fattgaris. Jftuntrum mobens, non moberis; ILocum tenens, non teneris ; ©empus mutans, non mutatis ; Uaga nrmans, non bagaris. V\# externa, bel necesse, j^on attentat tuttm esse. f^eri nostrum, eras et prtoem, temper tibi nunc et toem. ®uum, 2ieus, tjooiernum JJnoibisum, sempiternum ; Jn ijoc, totum prsebitristi, ©otum simul pertecisti an exemplar summ$ mentis, dormant pr&stans dementis. AD FILIUM. i^ate, ^atrl coa^ualis, $atri consubstanttalis, Harris splentror, et ngura, jfactor (actus creatura, Carnem nostram intiutstt, (ttausam nostram suscepisti. gempiternus, temporalis; jftloriturus, immortalis ; Uerus ijomo, bcrus Beus ; ^mpermixtus |^omo=29eus. HYMN OF HILDEBERT. Thou without, no freedom gaineth — Over all. Thee none sustaineth, Under all, no burden paineth. Moving all, no change Thou knowest — Holding fast, Thou freely goest. Changing time, Thou art unchanging Thou the fickle all arranging. Force and fate whichever showing Are but footsteps of Thy going, Past and future to us, ever Are to Thee but now forever. Thy to-day, with Thee abiding Endless is, no change dividing — Thou, in it, at once foreseeing All things, by Thee perfect being, Like the plan Thy mind completed. When creation first was meted TO THE SON. Son, the Father's equal ever, From His substance changing never, Like in brightness and in feature, Though creator, still a creature, Thou our human body worest Our redemption too Thou borest Endless, still Thy time declaring, Deathless, though Thy death preparing, Man, and God, divided never, Thou Man-God, unmixed forever, HILDEBERTI HTMNUS. j^on eonbersms fjte in earnem, Jtec minutus propter earnem ; fflii assmnptus est in Beum, $,ec consnmptus propter Heum ; patri compar oeitate, i<ttor earnts beritate. ©eus pater tantum 29 et, Uirgo mater est, setr Bet. Jn tarn noba Ugatura j£ie utrape stat natura, Sit eonserbet qtiieciuiir erat, 4Faeta tjuttitram quotr won erat. poster tete iftteiriator, Jste noster legis fcator ; (ttireumeisus, oaptijatus, Crueinrus, tumulatus, ©btiormibit, et oeseentrit, Itesurrerit, et aseenoit ; j$ie air etelos elebatus, Jutrieaoit juoieatus. AD SPIRITUM. ^araeletus, inereatuss, iBtepe taetus, neane nattis, ftatri consors genitoque, jgnc proeeoit ao utroque, Ifie sit minor potentate, ^ee oiseretus qualitatc. <©uanti illi, tantus iste ; HYMN OF HILDEBERT. God is not to flesh converted, Nor by flesh the God perverted — God in human form appearing, Never human weakness fearing — With the Father equal being Fleshly weakness disagreeing, God the God begetting solely, Virgin both conceiving wholly. In this union, thus created, Both the natures there are mated, Each its own existence taking, Both a new existence making. He, alone our Interceder, Our Lawgiver and our Leader, He the law and Gospel heeded, To the cross and grave proceeded, There He slept and there descended, There He rose and then ascended. Judged on earth — in heaven He liveth, And the world its judgment giveth. TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. Comforter, denominated, Never born and not created, Both the Son and Father knowing — Spirit from them both outgoing, Thus in power their equal being And in quality agreeing, Great as they, He still remaineth, 8 HILDEBERTI HYMNUS. (JHuales mi, talis iste ; 3Er quo tilt, zx tunc iste; (Quantum illi, tantum iste. pater alter, setr gignenou ; jfratus alter, scu nascenfco ; jFlamen, at ijis proceotniro ; ©res sunt unum, subsistence, (©uisque trium glenus Ileus; fww tres tauten Bt, setr Heus: Jn ijoe 23 eo, 31 eo bero, &res et unum assebero ; 31ans usia? unitatem, 3Et personis trinitatem. Jn personis, nulla prior, $,ulla major, nulla minor; Bnapaque semper ipsa, j£ic est eonstans atque nra, ©t nee in se barietur, 3£,ec in ulla transmutetur. f^ac est fifties ortfyottora, iBton i)ie error sine nora, £5icut oico, sie et creoo, iBtec in prabam partem eetro : Jnbt benit, bone ©eus, lie orsperem, ciuambis reus, ifteus mortis, non orspero, £efc in morte bitam quaro. <®uo te plaeem, nil pratentro HYMN OF HILDEBERT. All their goodness, he retaineth, With them from the first existing, All their power in him subsisting. Father He begetting showeth, Son, from human birth He groweth, Spirit, from them both outflowing, They are one, the Godhead showing. Each is God, in fullness ever, All are God and three Gods never. In this God, true God completing, Three in one, are ever meeting, Unity in substance showing, Trinity in persons knowing. Of the persons none is greater, Neither less and neither later, Each one still itself retaining, Fixed and constant still remaining, In itself no variation, Neither change, nor transmutation. This is true faith, for our keeping. Error bringeth sin and weeping — As I teach it, I believe it, Nor for other will I leave it. Trusting Lord thy goodness ever Though I sin, I hope forever. Worthy death, but not despairing, By my death, my life preparing. When I please thee, nothing showing 2 IO HILDEBEliil HYMNUS. |lisi tftrem quam ostenoo. Jfitrem bitres,— Ijanc tmploro, ILeba tascem quo laboro ; ^et ijoc sacrum cataplasma Olonbalescat agrum plasma. ISxtta portam jam trelatum, 3am ftctentem, tumulatum, Uttta ligat, lapis urget ; J5eti si jutes, ijic resurget. Jube! lapis rebolbetur, Jube! bitta turumpetur;— lExiturus nescit moras, ^ostquam clamas "ISri foras!" Jn ijoc salo, mea ratis Jnfestatur a piratis: $Hnc assultus, inoe ductus; f^inc ct intre, mors ct luctus; g?eo tu, bone nauta, beni; 3|reme bentos, mare leni; ,lFac abscetrant iji pirate, 3Buc a*r portum, salba rate. Jnftecunoa mea ncus; <£ujus ramus, ramus siccus, Jnctoetur, incentretur, Sbi promulgas quotr meretur. £etr ijoc anno oimittatur, j£tercoretur, fooiatur; <©uotr si necoum responoebit,— J^lens ijoc loquor— tunc artrebit. HYMN OF HILDEBERT. I I But the faith on Thee bestowing. Hear my prayer, my faith perceiving, From my burden, me relieving — Here, my sickness now revealing, Let Thy med'cine be my healing. Now, without the city taken, Dead, offensive and forsaken, Grave clothes bind, the stone confineth — At Thy word the grave resigneth — Speak ! the stone away is rolling — Speak ! the shroud no more controlling — When " Come forth" Thy summons sayeth, Then at once the dead obeyeth. On this sea of troubles resting Pirates are my bark infesting — Strifes, temptations, billows sweeping, Everywhere are death and weeping, Come, Good Pilot, calm proclaiming, Hush the winds, the billows taming, Drive these pirates to their hiding, Safe to port my vessel guiding. My unfruitful fig tree growing, Dry and withered branches showing, Should'st Thou judge, the truth discerning. Thou would'st give unto the burning — But another season bless it, Dig about it, Lord, and dress it, If it then no fruit returneth, I will praise Thee while it burneth. 1 2 HILDEBER TI HTMNUS. l^etus fjostis in me turit, &ouis mersat, ttammis urit; Jntre languens, et atetictuss, &ibi soli sum delictus. St innrmus eonbaleseat, Bt f)tc ijostis ebanescat, ©u birtutem jejunanfti, 23es innrmo, ties orantri; ^tx lja>e fcuo, <£ijristo teste, Hiberabor aft ijac peste. &fc tjac peste sotbe mentem, ,iPac trebotum, pcenitentem; Ba timorem, auo projeeto, Be salute nil eonjeeto; 23a uirem, spent, earitatem; Ba triscretam pietatem; 3Ba eontemptum terrenorum, Eppetitum supernorum. Eotum, Beus, in te spero, Beus, ex te totum au&ro;— Su laus mea, meum bonum; iftlea cuneta tuum tronum. &u solamen in labore; iEetiicamen in languore; ©u in luetu mea Inra, &u lenimen es in ira; 3Tu in areto liberator; ®u in lapsu relebator: HYMN OF HILDEBERT. 1 3 Me the Evil one possessing, Flames and floods by turns oppressing, Feeble, sick and helpless lying, To thy grace, my soul is flying. That my weakness all may vanish, Thou the evil spirit banish. Teach me Lord, my weakness staying, Grace of fasting and of praying, This alone, the Savior telleth, Such a demon e'er expelleth. Thou my sickened sense restoring — Faith and penitence imploring — Give me fear which, once ejected, Leaves salvation all perfected. Faith and hope and love conferring, Give me piety, unerring, Earthly joys forever spurning, Heavenward still my footsteps turning. > God, in Thee, all things desiring, From Thee, every thing requiring — Thou my praise, my good abiding, All I have, Thy gift providing — In fatigue, Thy solace feeling, In my sickness, Thou my healing, Thou, my harp, my grief assuaging, Thou who soothest all my raging, Thou who freest my enthralling, Thou who raisest me when falling, 1 4 HILDEBERTI HYMNVS. iHotum pra>stas in probeetu; j£pem eonserbas in tietectu; 3i pis la^Utt, tu repenois; g>f minatur tu otfentris ; <©uoTr est aneeps, tu oissolbis; <®uotr tegentrum, tu inbolbis. £u intrare me non sinas Jnfernales om'einas, SJbi trneror, ubi metus; ©bifcetor, ubifletus; WLU probra oeteguntur, WlM ret eonfunountur, WLbi tortor semper eatrens, 23bi bermis semper etrens;— ©bi totum toe perenne, <©uia perpes mors geljenn&. fflt reeeptet gion ilia, j£ion, ©abio urbs tranauilla, atujus faber, auetor iueis ; (tfujus porta*, lignum erueis; OTufus elabes, lingua $etri; €ujus eibes, semper lati; (tfujus muri, lapis bibus; ©ujus eustos, 3£tex festibus. Jn Ijae urbe, lux solemnis; Uer sternum, par perennis; 3in ijae, otror implens etelos, Jn ijae, semper festum melos. HYMN OF H1LDEBERT. I 5 'Tis Thy grace my footsteps guideth Strengthening hope, when it subsideth. None would hurt, but Thou forefendest, Who may threaten, Thou defendest, What is doubtful, Thou revealest, What is myst'ry, Thou concealest. Never, Lord, with Thy permission, Let me enter in perdition, Where is fear and where is wailing, Shame and weeping unavailing, Every loathsome thing displaying, In confusion, disarraying, Where the fierce tormentor lieth, And the worm that never dieth, Where this endless woe, infernal, Maketh death and hell eternal. Let me be in Sion savdd, Sion, peaceful home of David, Built by Him, the light who maketh, And the cross for portals taketh — And for keys the welcome given By the joyful saints in Heaven — Walls of living stone erected, By the Prince of joy protected — Where the light, that God is sending, Endless spring and peace are blending. Perfume, every breeze is bearing, Festive strains the joy declaring. 1 6 HILDEBERTI HTMNUS. $ton est ttu eorruptela, i^ott oefeetus, non querela, i^on minuti, non oetormes — ^mnes <£ijristo sunt eontormes. ©rbs ctelestis! urbs beata! JSuper petram eolloeata;— ffitrbs in portu satis tuto, Be longinquo, te saluto;— ©e saluto, te suspiro, ®e affeeto, te require. (Quantum tui gratulantur, (Qtuam testibe ronbibantur; <©uis affectus eos stringat, &ut p# gemma muros pingat, (®uis eljaleetron, quis jaenntijus,- iBtorunt illi qui sunt intus. 3n platets ijujus urbts, j&oeiatus pits turbis, <£um Iftogse et ISlija ^ium eantem f^alleluia! HYMN OF HILDEBERT. I J No corruption there appeareth, None defect, or sorrow feareth, None deformed or dwarfed remaining, All the form of Christ retaining. Heavenly City ! happy dwelling ! Built upon that stone excelling. City safe in heavenly keeping Hail ! in distant glory sleeping ! Thee I hail, for thee am sighing — Thee I love, for thee am dying. How thy heavenly hosts are singing — And their festive voices ringing — What the love their souls conforming — What the gems the walls adorning — Chalcedon and jacinth shining Know they all, those walls confining. In that City's glorious meeting, Moses and Blias greeting — Holy prophets gone before us — Let me sing the heavenly chorus. i8 JACOBUS DE BENEDICTIS. Jacobus de Benedictis. sometimes called Giacomo da Todi, sometimes Giacomo de Benedetti, but more fre- quently Giacopone, or Jacopone, was an Italian lawyer, of the noble family of the Benedetti, at Todi. The sudden death of his wife at the Theatre, impressed him so power- fully, that he abandoned his successful practice of the law, sold what he had and gave it to the poor, and joined the then young and popular order of the Franciscans and devoted himself to a life of religious austerity. He was extravagant and, if not insane, was sometimes ridiculous in his conduct — in the language of his epitaph "Stultus propter Christum." He attacked with great severity the priestly abuses of his time, for which he suffered a living martyrdom, in the prisons of a bad pope, from which he was finally released. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on Christmas day, 1306, at a great age. The three poems which I have embraced in this volume, as his, the Mater Speciosa, the Mater Dolorosa and the Cur Mundus, if correctly attributed to him, fully estab- lish his rank as a poet of the greatest merit — and one of them, the Stabat Mater Dolorosa, has been admired be- yond any other Latin Hymn, except the unapproachable Dies Irce. The Mater Speciosa, is here placed before the Mater Dolorosa, not because I suppose with Dr. Neale that it was the first written, as I do not, but because, in the J A GOB US BE BENEDICTIS. 1 9 arrangement which I have adopted, a Hymn of the Nativity should precede one of the Passion. If it had stood alone, or even had it been the first written, it would not have been left to our day to announce its beauties. It seems to me to bear to the Mater Dolorosa, something like the relation of a copy to an original, and thus the excellence and freshness of the original may have kept out of sight the copy, with all its merit, until recent discovery has placed it by the side of its more distinguished sister — if indeed they be by the same author. It is not impossible that the original of the two may have been written by one of the eminent men, earlier than Jacopone, to whom it has been attributed and that the other was but a later imitation. Those early monks and priests who were really devoted to religion for its own sake and who lived ages before the art of printing, had but few books and of those the Bible was the chief, and their study of it gave them the famili- arity with its sacred words, which is so conspicuous in their writings. In this poem, Jacopone while he fully per- ceives and presents the poetical character of the scene, weaves into his verse, even more than in the Mater Dolorosa, all the striking incidents which the Sacred Record details as part of the wonderful story, and all are enlivened by touches of nature which are as charming as they are truthful. I am indebted to an interesting article, by Dr. Schaff, under the title "A New Stabat Mater" in the " Hours at Home" for May 1867, for my first sight of this poem. It contains a translation by Neale. 20 STABAT MATER SPECIOSA. jfctabat Iftater gpectosa Juxta ftcnum gautrtoga, Mum jacebat parbulus— <£ujus antmam gautrentem, Haetabuntram ac fetbentem, ^ertransibit jubilug. <© quam teta et beata ^jFutt ijaec immaculata, Watet mnigeititi! <©u& gaufcebat et ritrebat, IBxultabat, cum btoebat i^ati pactum fnclgti. <&ute jam eat, qui non gaufceret Cijciati matcem sst btoecet Jn tanto solatto? <©ute non posset collartaci, scpe, ©tell ctbes canunt la>te <£um immense gautrio— jfctaoat senex cum puella, i^on cum berbo ncc locjuela, j&tupescentes coriribus. 3Eja mater, tons amoris, iEe sentire bim artrotis, jFac ut tecum sentiam! jfac ut actjeat cot meum Jn amatum (Stijristum 20eum Wit sibi complaceam. j&ancta mater, istutr agas, $tone introfcucas plagas ©oetii fixas baiitre. ©ut natt ctelo lapsi, Jam oignati fteno nasct, $emas mecum oibtoe. jpac me bere congauoere, Jesuliuo cohere ©onec ego bixero. Jn me sistat artroe tui— ^uertno fac me ftut Bum sum in exilio. f^unc aroorem fac communem, §Lt me facias immuuem &b tot tresitrerio. THE BEAUTIFUL MOTHER BY THE MANGER. 23 Wise men knelt where he was lying, Still she saw her dear one crying. In a cheerless tavern there. Saviour, cradled in a manger ! Angels hail the heavenly stranger, Jn their great felicity — Virgin and her husband gazing, Speechless, saw the sight, amazing, Of so great a mystery. Fount of love, beyond concealing ! May the love which thou art feeling, Fill my heart, unceasingly — Let my heart like thine be glowing — Holy love of Jesus knowing, And, with thee, in sympathy. Holy mother, for him caring, Let the ills thy Son is bearing, Touch my heart, indelibly — Of thy Son, from Heaven descended, In a stable, born and tended, Share with me the penalty. With thee, all thy love dividing, Be my soul in Christ abiding, While this life enchaineth me. May thy love, my bosom warming. Make my soul to his conforming, While exile detaineth me. Let my love with thine still blending, Be for Jesus never ending, Nothing e'er restraining me. 24 STAB AT MATER SPECIOSA. Uirgo birginum predata, iEtiji jam non sis amara, jfac me narbum rapere, jFac ut nulctjrum fantem nortem, <5|ui nascentro bieit mortem Uolens bitam tratrere. jFae me teeum satiari, $,ato me ineoriari, jgjtantem in trinuMo. Jnttammatus et aecensus, <©bstuneseit omnis sensus Call tie eommereto. ©nines staimlum amantes, 3Et nastores bigilantes ^ernoetantes soeiant. ^er birtutem nati tui <©ra nt eleeti sui &Tr natriam beniant. jFae me nato eustofcirt, Vtxho M ei nramuniri, Conserbari gratia— <©uaniro eorpus morietur, jFae ut anim& tronetur Cui nati bisio. THE BEAUTIFUL MOTHER BY THE MANGER. 25 Virgin, first in virgin beauty ! Let me share thy love and duty — Clasping, with fidelity, That dear child, who for us liveth, By his birth, for death, who giveth Life and immortality. With thee, let me, thrilled with pleasure, Feel his love, beyond all measure, In a sacred dance with thee — "With a holy zeal excited, Every ravished sense delighted In a holy trance with thee. All who love this sacred manger, Every watching shepherd stranger, All, at night, who come with him — By thy Son's dear intercession, May his chosen take possession Of his heavenly home with him. By thy holy Son attended — By the word of Grod defended — By his grace forgiving me — When my mortal frame is perished, May my soul, above be cherished — Thy dear Son receiving me. 26 DE CONTEMPTU MUNDL CUR MUNDUS MILITAT. This poem is but an expansion of this gospel truth, 11 All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower u of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof " fadeth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth for- "ever." It is now generally attributed to Jacopone (ante, p. 18). Up to a few years since it was as gen- erally attributed to St. Bernard. Tusser translated it three hundred years ago, calling it "St. Barnard's Verses." He however gives but eight stanzas, omitting the fourth and the tenth, and they are not arranged as they are in the copy given by Trench. Daniel arranges the stanzas in still another manner and omits the third. I have cop- ied from Trench, but have adopted still another arrange- ment, as better exhibiting the spirit of the poem. I have also ventured to transpose two words for the sake of the rhythm, reading Magis credendum est, instead of Creden- dum magis est. Omissions, errors in arrangement, and false notions of authorship, could not fail to be common, before the art of printing, especially in small poems, which passed from one to another by oral repetition and by manuscript copies, made often by persons who had neither skill nor care in copying. The following is Tusser's translation : BE CUNTEMPTU MUNDI. 1 J u Why so triumphs the World, in pomp and glory vain. Whose state so happy thought, so fickle doth remain 9 Whose bravery so slippery stands, and doth so soon decay, As doth the potter's pan, compact of brittle clay. More credit see thou give, to letters wrote in ice, Than unto vain deceits, of brittle world's device, In gifts to virtue due, beguiling many one, Yet those same never have, long time to hope upon. To false dissembling men, more trust is to be had, Than to the prosperous state of wretched world so bad. What with voluptuousness, and other maddish toys, False studies won with pain, false vanities and joys. Tell where is Salomon, that once so noble was ? Or where now Samson is, in strength whom none could pass ? Or worthy Jonathas, that prince so lovely bold ? Or fair Absalom, so goodly to behold ? Shew whither is Caesar gone, that conquered far and near? Or that rich famous carl, so given to belly cheer ? Shew where is Tully now, for eloquence so fit ? Or Aristoteles, of such a pregnant wit ? thou fit bait for worms ! thou great heap of dust ! dew ! vanity ! why so extoll'st thy lust ? Thou therefore ignorant, what time thou hast to live, Do good to every man, while here thou hast to give. How short a feast (to count) is this same world's re- nown ? Such as men's shadows be, such joy it brings to town, Which always plucketh us from God's eternal bliss, And leadeth man to hell, a just reward of his. The bravery of this world, esteemed here so much, In Scripture likened is to flowers of grass and such, Like as the leaf so light, which wind abroad doth blow, So doth this worldly life, the life of man bestow." 28 DE CONTEMPT-IT MUNDI. bana gloria, (Knjus prosperitas est transitoria ? Jam cito lafoitur ems potentia, <©uam basa nguli, qu& sunt tragilia. $lus noe Uteris scriptis in glaeie, 4|uam munoi tragilis bans fallacies, jfallax in pramtiis, birtutis specie, <©ui nunquam ijafiuit tempus titouciav iftlagis creoenTmm est bids fallacious, <£uam munoi miseris orosperitatious, jFalsis insaniis et banitatiims, jFalsisque stuoiis et boluptatitms. &ot clari proceres, tot rerum spatia, dot ora praesulum, tot regna fortia, Cot muntii orinetpes, tanta potentia, Jn ietu oculi, clauountur omnia. ©ic, uoi Salomon, olim tarn nooilis, VtX utri i&amson est, trur inbincioilis, Vti pttlcjjer Absalom, bultu mirabilis, Vt\ onlcis Jowatijas, multum amabilis? 29 CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD Why does the world serve the glory it cherisheth, Since its prosperity all surely perisheth, Passing away with its strength and ability, Quickly as pottery, with its fragility ? Think that a record on ice may be permanent, More than the fallacies under the firmament, False in rewards, without virtue or verity, Never the world hath a time for sincerity. Far better trust men of falsehood, deceiving thee, Than the vain world that forever is giving thee Pleasures that vanish and foolish insanities, Studies delusive and perishing vanities. Nobles and prelates, in all ages flourishing — Pride and dominion and vainglory nourishing — Kings of the earth, with their power and stability- All, at a glance, show the end of nobility. Where now is Solomon, learned and glorious ? Where now is Samson, so strong and victorious ? Where, too, is Absalom, princely and beautiful? Jonathan, loving and lovely and dutiful ? 30 DE CONTEMPTU MUNDI. (Quo (JT^sar abiit, celsus imperio, Vti 23ibes splentitous, totus in pranoio? 23 ic, ubi ©ullius, clarus eloquio, Vti glristoteles, summus ingenio ? <&uam brebe festum est Ij#c muntii gloria! St umbra ijominis, sic ejus gautria, 4&u# semper subtraijunt sterna pramtia, iSt trucunt ijominem ati irura fcebia. © esca bermium ! © massa puibcris ! <© ros, <© banitas, cut sic cxtollcris ? ^gnocans penitus, utrum eras bireris, jFac bonum omnibus, quam&iu potcris. 1$m carnis gloria, qu$ tanti jientritur, joacris in Uteris, flos fceni Bicitur— St lebe folium, uuofc bento rapitur, j£ic bita Ijominis luci subtraijitur. 0il tuum oireris quot» potes pertrere, 0uoti muntrus tribuit, intentiit rapere— jsupcrna cogita, cor sit in anijere, jf clir, qui potuit muntrum contemnere ! CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD. 3 I Where now is Caesar, so proud and imperious? Dives the sumptuous, rich and luxurious ? Say, where is Cicero, famous and eloquent ? Where Aristotle, in genius preeminent? World of vainglory, a vanishing festival ! How like the shadows pass pleasures terrestrial ! Eobbing the soul of its hopes and its purity — Leading man on to a woeful futurity. Food of the worm ! Here thy dust is the most of thee! Vanishing dew-drop ! why do they boast of thee ! Ignorant soul ! thy to-morrow may perish thee, Then, while thou canst, do the good that may cher- ish thee. Pride of the flesh, which thou thinkest so dearly of! Flower of the grass, which the Word speaketh clearly of! Like the dead leaf, which the autumn wind scat- tered, So passeth life, with the vain hope that flattereth. Call nothing thine, which so quickly may break away; What the world giveth, it meaneth to take away ; Think on the skies, set thy heart on eternity — Happy, despising this world of infirmity ! 3 2 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. This old alphabetic poem is of a very early period, at least as early as the seventh century, being referred to by Bede, who died early in the eighth century. The author's name has been lost in the ages. It is more properly narrative than lyrical, and lacks polish and grace; but this is more than made up by its simplicity and solemnity. Having been written before the Dies Irce, it has been supposed to have suggested that majestic and solitary hymn, but with slight reason. The topic and the scene are different, as well as the instruc- tion and the spirit of the whole piece. That is but the natural and agonizing expression of penitence and prayer by an individual sinner, in view of the awful solemnities of the final day of wrath. This is a noble, simple and trusting paraphrase of the 29th and 30th verses of the 24th chapter of Matthew and of the 31st to the 45th verses of the 25th chapter, which contain a striking account of a trial at the Judgment— -the organization of the court, the summons, the complaint, the trial, the judg- ment, the execution, so circumstantially and solemnly reported by the Judge Himself, that it is impossible to doubt that it was intended to convey to us a lively and instructive representation of the circumstances and man- ner of the final Judgment, and, in the most forcible man- ner, to teach us, as His life had done, that when He shall THE DAY OF JUD GMENT. 3 3 come to judge every man according to his works, it will be a life of goodness and love of Christ, which will be the test of pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father. 34 DE DIE JUDICII. &pparebit repentina tries magna Bomini, 4Fut obscura belut nocte improbisos oc= cupans. 13rebis totus tunc parebit ptisci luxuss sa>euli, .ftotum simul cum ciarebit ptaeterisse saculum. Clangor tuba* pet quaternas terras pla= gas concinens, Uibos una mottuosque Cfjristo ctet obs biam. lie celesti Jutrex arce, majestate tulgitrus, ©laris angelorum cijoris comitatus aoe= rit. lErubescet orbis luna>, sol bel obscura= bitur, Jgjtella catrent pallescentes, munm' ttemet ambitus— 4Flamma ignis anteibit justi bultum Juoieis, (Mum, terras, et profundi fluctus ponti otborans. (Hloriosus in sublimi Mer setrebit solio, 35 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. At the last, the great day of the Lord shall arise, As a thief in the night, to dismay and surprise. Then how transient will seem all the pleasures of earth, When the end of all time shall be past, like its birth— When the trumpet shall call from all quarters below, Both the quick and the dead to the judgment to go. From his heavenly palace, majestic and bright, Shall the Judge, with His angels, come glorious in light, While the sun shall be dark and the moon be like blood, And the stars fade and fall, and earth shake like a flood. From the face of the Judge shall the flame of his ire, All the air and the earth and the sea, burn with fire. And the King shall then sit on his throne in the sky, 3 6 DE DIE JUDICII. &ttgelotum txemebuirtra cixcumstafcunt agmina. I^uius omwes afc elect! collegentux Trex= texam, |}tabi pabent a sinistxis, t&M belut fte= titii— Jta fcicet 9&ex ati Trextros, xegnum call sumite, $atex orits quo* parabit ante omne s&s culum. Hatitate qui txaterna me jubtstis pau= pexem. (Eaxitatis nunc mexcefcem repoxtate Ijus bites. Haeti lucent (©uantro, artiste, pauperem te btoimus, ©e, Hex magne, bel egentem misetati jubtmus, JHagnus Ulis titcet Jutrex— (Kum jubistis pauperem, panern, oomum, bestem nantes, me ju= bistis tjumiles. &tt taxiiabit et sinistxis loqui Justus Exs fcitex— Jit gdjennfc, maletricti, ttammas ijinc fliseetiite, ©bsecrantem me autrixeirespexistis mens tricum, $,utro bestem won fcefcistis, neglexistis languioum. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 37 And all of His angels stand worshipping by. To His right His elect He shall call by His grace, While the wicked, like goats, on the left He shall place. Then to those on His right hand the King shall declare, "Take the kingdom my Father for you did pre- pare — For 'twas when I was poor that your love gave me aid — From the riches of love your reward now is made." Then the righteous shall ask, "When, oh Lord, did we bless Thee, our heavenly King, or relieve Thy dis- tress?" And the Judge shall reply, "When the poor ye did heed, Giving shelter and clothing and bread for their need." And to those on His left shall the Just Judge pro- claim, "Ye accursed, depart to unquenchable flame; Ye despised me when I for your alms did im- plore, Being sick and forsaken and naked and sore." J 8 DE DIE JUDICU. IJeccatores oicent— (tfijriste, quanfco te bel pauperem, fte Mtx magne bel infirmum contents planter sprebimus ? (©uibus contra Juoer altus — i^lentiicantt quamoiu ©pent ferre tie^pexistiss, me sprebistis improbi. Itetro ruent turn injusti igneg in peeped uos, dermis quorum non morietur, flamnta nee restinguitur, g>atan atro cum ministris quo tenetur carcere, jfletus ubi mugitusque strtoent omneg oentibus. &unc fibeles atr ctelestem sustollentur patriam, Oijoros inter angelorum regni petent gauoia, Sirbis summae ^Jerusalem introibunt gloriam, "tftxa lucte atque pacis in qua tulget bisio. Xrtetum Regent, jam paterna claritate splenoioum, WLU celsa beatorum contemplantur ags mina. ptiri ftautres ergo cabe, inftrmantes subs leba, THE DA Y OF JUDGMENT. 3 9 And the wicked shall say, "Lord, oh when did we spurn Thee, King, and away from thy poverty turn?" " This to me ye have done," then the great Judge shall say, " When the poor ye despised and from him turned away." And then back shall they rush to the flames that arise, Where the fire is not quenched and their worm never dies — Where the devil is bound in his prison be- neath — Where are weeping and groaning and gnashing of teeth. Then the faithful shall rise to their heavenly home, In the joys of the kingdom with angels to roam, They shall enter the bliss of the city of God — Where the visions of peace and of light shine abroad — Where the throngs of the blessed Christ Jesus adore, As He shineth in glory His Father before. Shun the wiles of the serpent, give aid to the weak, 4-0 DE DIE JUDICII. Eurum tcmnc, fuge luxus, si bis astra pctcrc— %>on& data castitatis lunvfcos nunc ac= cingcce, Jn occursum magni Hegis fee attrantcs latnpatrcs. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 41 Flee thy worldly desires, if the skies thou wouldst seek. And begird up thy loins, with a zone pure and white ; Be prepared for the King, with thy lamps burning bright 6 42 VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS. This Hymn has always been held in the highest esti- mation as an invocation of that Creative Spirit which gives the birth of a new spiritual life. " That which is born of the spirit is spirit." From its use as a prayer for the regeneration of the new birth it passed easily into use, in the Roman Catholic Church, as an appointed song for those sacred and solemn occasions where the blessing of the Spirit is invoked upon one about to enter upon a new life, in which the divine aid is especially necessary, as in the ordering of priests, the consecration of bishops and archbishops, and the coronation of kings and popes. It is also used as a Pentecostal hymn. There is a translation of it in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church, in the Form for ordering priests. It is, however, more properly a paraphrase than a translation — the seven stanzas of the original being expanded into sixteen. Its authorship is commonly attributed to Charlemagne, who died in the year 814. I adopt, however, the opinion of Trench, that it is certainly older than the time of that great monarch. Judging from internal evidence alone, I should not hesitate to ascribe it to St. Ambrose, who died in 397. I give but little importance to the ascrip tion of it to Charlemagne. It may very well be but one VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS. 43 of the many examples of the facility with which opinions on such matters, once expressed, even without evidence, are repeated until they are generally believed, no one taking the trouble to inquire into their foundation. The high character and various talents of St. Ambrose — " Doctor Mellifluus et Mellitissimus" as he was called — caused to be attributed to him many hymns of great an- tiquity, of which he was finally believed not to be the author, the effect of which was to make many believe that there are no hymns which can with certainty be said to be his, and I know of no authority for saying that this is his. Except as a matter of literary history, it is of little importance who was the author. The merit of the hymn is in itself alone. Its comprehensiveness and brevity, its simplicity and beauty, its gentle spirit of trust and devotion, and its earnest directness of expression, mark it as the production of a great and practised writer and a devout Christian, studiously familiar with the Scriptures and with theological truth, rather than of a proud monarch and a great soldier. 44 VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS. Ueni, creator gjpiritus, ittentes tuorum bisita, Jmple superna gratia ptrttum (Stretramus omni tempore, (gloria ^atri Domino, $ui moras incolatus iftflito clausit orbine. Jn supreme nocte tm\$, 3&ecumbens cum ftatritms, (©bseebata lege plene alibis in legalibus, (Eiijum turbae buofcena? g>e trat suis manibus. Uerbum earn, panem betum 1fc7erbo earnem em'cit : ,jf itpe sanguis OHjtisti meeum; 3Bt si sensus deficit, 55 SING, MY TONGUE, Sing, my tongue, the theme undying, Mystery which His Body knoweth ; Precious blood of crucifying, Which the world's Eedeemer showeth ; Fruit of heavenly sanctifying, Whence the world's redemption flowetk From the Blessed Virgin going, lie with men on earth resided ; Sacred seed for ever sowing, He the fruit to us confided ; Till His end, His triumph showing, He His wondrous sojourn guided In the night of His last meeting, With His brethren there united, All the Paschal forms completing, By the ancient law indited, Him He offered for their eating, And His dying love recited. Word made flesh, among us dwelling, With true bread and wine regaleth ; By His word the mystery telling — And if sense imperfect faileth — 56 PANGE, LINGUA, GLORIOSI. Wits firmantrum cor sincerum jg>ola norss suflicit. Santum ergo j£acramentum Ucneremur arnui ; 5Bt antiquum irocumentum $lobo cetrat ritut, fpmstet fifoes suoplementum jbensuum otfectui. (©enitori, genitoque Haus n jubilatio, j&alus, fjonor, btrtus pope £it et oeneoictio : ^roceoenti at utrocjue (Kompar sit lautratio. PANGE, LINGUA, GLORIOSI. 57 From the true heart, doubt dispelling, Still the trust of faith prevaileth. Such a sacrament provided, Bowed and humble let us take it ; Eites to ancient times confided, Yield to what the new rites make it ; Be not by the sense misguided, But in humble faith partake it. Father, God of our salvation ! Son, for sinners interceding ! Holy Ghost, our renovation, Spirit, from them both proceeding ! To the Three be jubilation, Honor, praise, and joy exceeding! 8 58 DE PASSIONE DOMINI. IScouis binas columbinas &las oabtt anting? ffitt In almam cruets palmam iSbolet citisstme, $n qua Jesus totus laesus, t©rbis fcestoertum, 3St immensus est suspensus, ,if actus improperium ! <©lj cor, scanoe— Jesu, panbe (tfaritatts biscera, 3St protunoe me recontie Jntra sacra bulnera— Jn superna me caberna (tfolloca maceria*— 3^tc bibenti, (jutescenti Joints est mtseriae ! © mi 23eus, amor meus! &une pro me pateris ? |Jro inoigno, cruets Ugno, Jesu mi, sumgeris ? |Jro latrone, Jesu tone, £u in crucem tollerts ? 59 THE PASSION OF THE LORD, Oh ! had it the wings of a dove, Quick my soul would to Calvary fly, And light on the cross of His love, Where they've nailed the Eedeemer to die : Where Jesus, the hope of the earth, By their cruelty, bleeding and torn, And crowned as a sport for their mirth, All their scoffs and derision has borne. Oh ! rise then, my heart, and away ; Where Thy yearning, dear Jesus, abounds, There now in Thy love let me stay, Let me hide in the depth of Thy wounds. On high, in the home of the blest, In the cleft of the Eock give me peace, Where dwelling, my spirit may rest, And my trouble and misery cease. Oh ! tell me, my Love and my God, If indeed Thou art suff' ring for me ? For me hast to Calvary trod, And dost hang on the merciless tree? With thieves, Lord of goodness and grace, Have Thine enemies crucified Thee ? 60 BE PASSIONE DOMINI. $ro peccatis meis gratis, iJita mea, moreris ? lion sum tanti, Jesu quanti amor tuus a>stimat— f^eu ! cur ego bitam irego J&i tor te non rrtramat ? 13eneoictus sit inbictus amor bincens omnia, ^mor fortis, tela mortis l&eputans ut somnia. Jste fecit et refecit amor, Jesu, oertritum. <© insignis, amor, ignis ©or accenoe ftigtoum ! (© fac bere cor aroere jfac me te oiligere— Ma conjungi, "Da trefungi ©ecum, Jesu, bibere ! DE PASSIONE DOMINI. 6 1 My sins dost Thou bear in my place ? And, my Life, art Thou dying for me ? Jesus ! unworthy am I — Undeserving the love Thou hast shown. Ah ! what does this life signify, If my heart do not love like Thine own ? The love that o'er all doth prevail, Let it blest and unconquered remain, And death and his darts that assail Be but dreams that are transient and vain. This love that has made us Thine own, Blessed Saviour, the lost doth reclaim ; The warmth of that love make it known, Till it kindle my heart with its flame. My heart, let it burn with Thy love ; With a holy desire let me sigh, To join with my Saviour above, And to dwell with Thee, Jesus, on high. 62 STABAT MATER DOLOROSA. The most striking poetical situation in sacred history is the Mother of Jesus at the Cross. It could not fail to be the subject of a mediaeval hymn. The world-renowned Stabat Mater is that hymn, which, after being ascribed to many eminent authors, is now commonly attributed to Jacopone (ante, page 18). u The mysterious charm and power of the hymn is due to the subject, and to the intensity of feeling with which the author has seized it. Mary stood there not only as the mother, but as the representative of the whole Christian church, for which the eternal Son of God suffered the most ignominious death on the cross. The author had the rare poetic faculty to bring out, as from immediate vision and heartfelt sympathy, the deep meaning of these scenes, in stanzas of classic beauty and melody that melt the heart and start the tear of peniten- tial grief at the cross of Christ." " The Mater Dolorosa has been regarded by universal consent as the most pathetic and touching of Latin church lyrics, and inferior only to the Dies Ira, which stands alone in its glory and overpowering effect. Daniel calls it the queen of sequences. It breathes the spirit of pro- found repentance and glowing love, such as can be kindled only by long and intense contemplation of the mystery STAB A T MA TER D OL OB OS A. 63 of the cross — that most amazing and affecting spectacle ever presented to the gaze of heaven and earth. The agon j of Mary at the cross, and the sword which then pierced through her soul, according to the prophecy of Simeon, never found more perfect expression. It sur- passes in effect the Mater Dolorosas of the greatest paint- ers. The key-note of the hymn is contained in the first two lines, and is suggested by the brief but pregnant sentence of St. John, Stabat juxta crucem mater ejus. Vulg. It is brought out with overpowering effect in the Hymn, as has been felt even by those who have little re ligious sympathy with the theme. ' The loveliness of sorrow,' says Tieck, 'in the depth of pain, the smiling in tears, the childlike simplicity which touches on the high- est heaven, had to me never before risen so bright in the soul. I had to turn away to hide my tears, especially at the place, l Vidit suum dulcem natum. 1 " "The Mater Dolorosa has furnished the text of some of the noblest musical compositions by Palestrina, Per- golesi, Astorga, B^dn, Bellini, Rossini, Neukomm. That of Palestrina is still annually performed in the Sistine Chapel, during Passion week. " There are about eighty translations of this hymn in German, and there are several in English ; but very few of those in English preserve the original metre." The foregoing quotations are from the admirable article of Dr. Schaff, in the "Hours at Home," to which I have elsewhere referred. 6 4 STABAT MATER DOLOROSA. £tabat iftatet Dolorosa Juxta crueem lacrnmosa, Bum penirebat JMlius— GTujus animam gementem, (ftontristantem & oolentem, ^etttansibit glaring. (© quam tristis & aflicta jFuit ilia beneoicta, JHaterBnigeniti! <®ua> nuerebat, & oolebat, iEt tremebat cum bioebat $tati pcenas inclnti ! (Suis est Ijomo pi non fleret, ©Ijristi Jftatrcm si biberet Jn tanto supplieio ? <©uis posset non contristari $iam jHflatrem contemplari, ©olentem cum jftlto ? ^Pto peccatis su# gcntis, Uioit Jesum in tormentis, 3Et flagellis suboitum. Wait suum ouleem |latum, Jftorientem, besolatum, ©urn emisit spiritttm *5 WEEPING STOOD HIS MOTHER Weeping stood His mother, signing By the cross where Jesus, dying, Hung aloft on Calvary ; Through her soul, in sorrow moaning, Bowed in grief, in spirit groaning, Pierced the sword in misery. Filled with grief beyond all others, Mother — blessed among mothers — Of the God-begotten one ! How she sorroweth and grieveth, Trembling as she thus perceiveth Dying her unspotted one ! Who could there refrain from weeping, Seeing Christ's dear mother keeping, In her grief, so bitterly ? Who could fail to share her anguish, Seeing thus the mother languish, Lost in woe so utterly ? For the trespass of his nation She beheld his laceration, By their scourges suffering. She beheld her dearest taken, Crucified, and God-forsaken, Dying by their torturing. 9 66 STABAT MATER DOLOROSA. 3Eta ittater tons amoris, Mt sentlre bun fcoloris, ,iFac tit tecum lugeam. jFac ut artreat cor meum Jn amanfco ortjristum 23eum, Wit sibi complaceam. J&ancta Jiilater, istuTr agas, (Srucitm uge plagas (JToroi meo balioe. 2Tui i^ati bulnerati, Jam oignatt pro mc pati, jlcenas mccum oibftre. jFac mc bcrc tecum Acre, (tfrucinro contoolere, 23 once ego bixero. Juxta (Erucem tecum stare, &e libenter soctare, Jn planctu otstoero. Utrgo btrginum pr#clara, Mtyi jam non sis amara, ,jFac me tecum plangere. ,tFac ut portem i bis bere gloriari, 35t a Wto coronati l^onore et gloria, l^anc coronam contemplart jfctuueas, atpe sectari $ortantig bestigia. I^anc (SMorum Hex portabit, l^onorabit et sacrabit j&acro guo capite— Jn Ijac galea pugnabit, (ffium antiquum ijostem strabit, ©tiumpijanss in stipite. I^aec pugnantis galea, ©riumptantte laurea, &iara pontincis— ^vimum tuit spinea, liostmoijum fit aurea ©actu sancti beeticte. j&pinarum aculeos Virtus fecit aureos epulcrum Otfmstt btbentte, tt glortam biUt resurgentte. &ngelicos tt$tt$, suiratium tt bestes. i&umxtt (B^rtetus, spes tnea: praceoet bos in (galtlaam. Sbtimu* atijrtetum sumxtese a mot? tuts bete. &u noote, btctor, 9ftex, tnte= ccere. 19 TO THE PASCHAL VICTIM RAISE Christians, raise your grateful strain To the Paschal victim, slain ; Now the Lamb the flock hath bought — To the Father, long besought, Christ, the pure and undefiled, Hath the sinner reconciled. Here contending Death and Life Now have met in wondrous strife ; Death the Prince of Life hath slain, Now he reigns in life again ! " Tell us, Mary, what, to-day, Thou beh eldest on thy way." " Where the buried Lord had been, There His glory I have seen, Angel witnesses around, Grave clothes that His body bound. Christ, my hope, alive and free, Follow Him to Galilee." Christ, the just, for sinners slain, From the dead is risen again. Thee, our victor King, we know — To us, now, Thy mercy show. 8o DE MYSTERIO ASCENSIONIS DOMINI. Aortas bestras females, Criumpijales, ptineipales, &ngeli, attollite. 3Eja, tollite actutum, Vtnit Homimis birtutum, 3to aterna glotia. "fcJenit totus latabuntms, (Kantriaus et rubieuntms, ©metis darts bestibus. $,oba gloriosus stola, (Srauiens bittute sola, ^ftultis cinetus millibus. j&olus wat in egressu, j£en ingentem in regtessu &ffert multituirinem, jFruetum sua passtonis, Western resurreetionts, liobam eali segetem, 3Eja, jubilate 23 eo, Jaeent tjostes, bicit ILeo, 1fc7icit semen Ebralja, Jam ruina replebuntur, albabuntut annua. 8i THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD Raise the everlasting gates, Triumph now the Lord awaits — Angels raise them hastily. Open wide the pearly portal, Now ascends the Lord immortal, King of glory endlessly. Now he comes in joy sufficing, White and radiant in his rising — Vestments dyed and glorious — In new robes, to triumph rising, Walking in his strength surprising, With a throng victorious. He, alone, to earth descended, See him back to Heaven ascended, Bringing thousands with him here — Fruit of his incarnate dying — To his rising testifying — Heaven's harvest gathered here. Shout aloud Jehovah's praises — O'er his foes, the Lion raises Triumph now to Abra'm's seed. Now our ruin quickly ceases — Now the heavenly host increases — Souls will now be saved indeed ii g 2 DE MYSTERIO ASCENSIONIS DOMINI. Kegttet (Kljrtetus trittmpijator ^ominuittque liberator, &tx mteericorTriae, ^rinceps pacts, 23eus tortte Vim fcator, bictor mortis, Halts ccelestis curia?. &u, qui cfflum reserasti. 3Bt in illo pra>parasti, Hocum tuis famults, ,lFac mc tibt famulari, (Qt te pits benerari 3$ic in terra jubilis, 2Ut post actum bit# cursum, lEgo quoque scantrens sursum Et bioere baleam, Jurta ^atrem constoentem, Eriumpfjantcm ct regentem <©mnia per gloriam. THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD. 83 Christ shall make his reign enduring, Man's redemption now securing, Pardoning with fidelity. Heavenly hosts his praises singing, He in strength and peace is bringing, Life and immortality. Thou the gates of heaven unbarring, Thou, within, a place preparing For thy servants dwelling here, Let me with thy servants joining, With thy worshippers combining, Praise thee while remaining here, So that when my course is ended, Eising as my Lord ascended, I may see thee ever there With the Father — seated by Him — Triumphing in glory nigh him — Eeigning with him everywhere 8 4 VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS. This hymn, which Trench declares to be the loveliest of all the hymns in the whole circle of Latin sacred poetry, is another of the four principal proses — the prose for Pentecost. Clichtoveus says that it is beyond all praise, as well on account of its remarkable grace and ease, as of the richness and fullness of its thoughts and the finished beauty of its construction, seeming to show that the author, "whoever he may have been," was filled by the Holy Spirit with a heavenly sweetness, which enabled him to pour forth such delightful thoughts in such com- prehensive and appropriate language. It has been attributed to various authors, among others to Pope Innocent III. and to Hermanus Con- tractus, a learned monk of St. Gall. It is now commonly attributed to Eobert II., King of France. Archbishop Trench says there exists no sufficient reason for calling in question the attribution which has been commonly made of it to King Robert. I am very slow to doubt when so great an authority says there exists no sufficient reason for doubting, but I am compelled to say that I know of no sufficient proof that King Robert was really the author of it. I should be quite ready to believe that he had set it to music, if I were convinced that so beau- VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS. 85 tiful a specimen of rhymed accented Latin verse had been written before his day. In the authority quoted on page 75, the prose written by him is said to be the Sancti Spiritus adsit nobis gratia, which is now usually attrib- uted to Notker, the first writer of proses. I borrow from the "Seven great hymns" an extract from the Chronicle of St. Bertin: "Robert etait tres pieux, prudent, lettr6 et suffisamment philosophe, mais surtout excellent musi- cien. II composa la prose du St. Esprit, qui commence par ces mots, Adsit nobis gratia, les rhythm es Judce et Hierusalem, et Cornelius Centurio, qu'il offrit a Borne sur Tautel de St. Pierre, note avec le chant qui leur etait propre, de meme que l'antiphone Eripe et plusieurs autres beaux morceaux." The facts, that no mention is here made of this gem, and that Clichtoveus, a careful inquirer, who died in 1543, speaks of the authorship as unknown, or so much in dispute that he would not name the author, throw, certainly, some doubt on the question. I incline to the belief that this and the Veni Creator have lived by force of their innate vitality, and that, without any real evidence, they have been attributed to their illustrious supposed authors. Being worthy of the highest author- ship, they would naturally enough be attributed to kings and popes. 86 VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS. Vtni, sancte gpiritus, 35t emitte etelitus Hueis ttiap radium. Vmi, $ater pauperum; Utwi, Bator munerum ; Ueni, lumen eortrtum. (ftonsolator optime, ©uleis ijospes anim#, Mulct reftigettum. Jn labore refutes, Jn astu tempettes, Jn fletu solatium. © lux oeatissima, Heple eorois intima Quorum fitrelium. £ine tuo ttumine ifrtijil est in ijomtne, iliijil est innoxium. Haba qtiotr est soroioum, iftiga potr est arioum, gana potr est saucium. jFleete potr est rtgioum, Jf obe ouotr est ftigioum, ^ftege quotr est oebium. 87 COME, HOLY SPIRIT. Holy Spirit from above, Shine upon us in Thy love With Thy heavenly radiance. Father of the poor below, Who dost every gift bestow, Light our hearts to gladden us. Of the soul the dearest guest, Of the heart the sweetest rest, Sent of Grod to comfort us — Freshness for the summer's heat. In our tears a solace sweet, Sweet repose in weariness — Let Thy faithful in Thy sight Feel Thy cheering, heavenly light, Warming and enlightening us. Oh! without Thy quickening power, We must perish in an hour, Everything condemning us. Wash away each guilty stain, Water with Thy gracious rain, In Thy mercy healing us. Move our stubborn lips to praise, Warm our coldness with Thy rays, Call us from our wanderings. 88 VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS. Ba tuis ftrelftu* Jn te cofitrentifms factum septenarium. 23a birtutte metttum, Ha salutte exitum, 29a ymnnz gauirttnn. VENl SANCTE SPIRITUS. 89 Them who on Thy grace depend, Them, Thy faithful, ever send Sacred sevenfold peace with Thee. Give them virtue's best reward, Give salvation with the Lord ; Give them joy unceasingly. 12 9 D LAUDA, SION, SALVATOREM. Of all the mediaeval hymnologists, no one used the Latin rhymed versification in greater perfection than St. Thomas Aquinas, nor is there any hymn which better exhibits his remarkable power as a writer of Latin hymns, than the Lauda Sion Salvatorem, the prose for the holy sacrament, one of the four princi- pal proses. As has been before stated (page 52), it, together with the Pange, Lingua, Gloriosi, was written by St. Thomas, as part of the office for the feast of the Holy Sacrament, composed by him, at the request of Pope Urban IV., when he instituted that divinely ap- pointed rite as one of the regular festivals of the Roman Catholic Church. According to his view of that solemn supper, he has in this prose exhausted the subject, not only in its theo- logical and ecclesiastical sense, but in its administrative and receptive significance, while in the matter of versi- fication it leaves nothing to be desired. Its harmony is without a jar, and the flow of its rhythm is as easy and undisturbed as aptly chosen words can make it, while its gentle cadences are in accord with the divine love which LAUD A, SIOK, SALVATOREM. 91 inspired the sacred rite. It is but just to say that he doubtless intended that his words should be understood according to the faith which the Koman Catholic Church now teaches; but it may also be said that the hymn might have been written by a Protestant, in the same words, without doing violence to the faith of the Pro- testant Church, although it does not fully express that faith ; and I have preferred to translate it in that sense. 9 2 LAUDA, SION, SALVATOREM. ILaufca, jgnon, gjalbatotem, Haufca trucetn & pastorem Jn ijgmnte & eanticte. (Quantum potes, tantum autre, <&uia major omni lauoe, $,ec lautrare suflicte. Hautits tljema specialis, iPanis bibuss & bitalte f^ooie ptoponitur. <£uem in sacr# mensa «en$, &uxb$ ftatrum Buoaen$ ©atum non amfcigitur. jg>it laus plena, git sonora: j&it jucuntra, sit fcecora mentis jubilatio. Bies solemnis agitur, Jn qua mens& tecolitue, l^ujus institutio. Jn ijae mensa nobi ^egis, j^obum ^ascija nob# legis ^Ijase betus terminat. IfcTetustatem nobitas, ®mbram fugat beritas, i^octem lux eliminat. 93 SION, PRAISE THY SAVIOUR, Sion, praise thine Interceder ; To thy Shepherd and thy Leader Songs and anthems elevate. With thy highest powers sing Him, Still the praises thou canst bring Him Never can be adequate. Theme of praise, all praise transcending, Bread of life, from heaven descending ! He to us has offered it, As He in that final meeting, "When the sacred twelve were eating. To them freely proffered it. Lift aloud the voice of praising, Sweet and holy accents raising, Strains divine to execute. 'Tis the solemn feast provided, Where the Lord Himself presided, This His feast to institute. Table of the Lord ascended, Paschal Lamb for us intended, Ancient form here terminates. New things now the old supplying, From the truth the shadows flying, Light the darkness dissipates. 94 LAUDA, SION, SALVATOREM.' (©uotr in crcna Vastus gessit, J^acientiutu ijoc expressit Jn sui memoriam. Hocti sacris instituttjs, $anem, binum in salutis (tfonsecramus ijostiam. Bogma tratur Gtijristianis, <©uotr in carncm transit panis, iEt btnum in sanguinem. <®uoO non capis, quotr non btoes, glnimosa urmat litres, ^rauer rerum oroinem. j£ub oibersis specieous, j£ignis tantum & non rebus, ILatent res eximia?. (ftaro cibus, sanguis potus, ffoanet tamen Otijristus totus j£ub utraque specie. H sumente non concisus, lion contractus, non oibisus; Jnteger accipitur. j&umit unus, sumunt mille, Quantum isti, tantum file: iBtec sumptus consumitur. J5umunt boni, sumunt malt, £orte tamen ina>quali, "fcTitae bel interims. fBlors est malts, bita bonis: ■fcTiire paris sumptionis <©uam sit trispar exitus. LAUD A, SIOK. SALVATOREM. 95 Doing what the Lord was doing, Here, His own commandment showing, We His love commemorate. Taught by Jesus' inculcation, Bread and wine for our salvation Here to Him we dedicate. Here to Christians Jesus preacheth, Here to us the mystery teacheth, Never sense perceiving it — Flesh and blood, for us devoted, Are by bread and wine denoted, Living faith believing it. In the different kinds He places, Signs of hidden gifts and graces, Precious things He telleth here : That His flesh is meat unto us, And His blood is drink unto us — In them both He dwelleth here. He this blessed bread that breaketh, He that of this wine partaketh, All the Saviour cherisheth ; All the Church on earth may break it, All the faithful may partake it. None of Jesus perisheth. Good and bad, together meeting, And the sacred supper eating, Each how different taketh it ! To the wicked condemnation, To the worthy sweet salvation, Christ the Saviour maketh it ! 96 LAUDA, SION, SALVATOREM. ,KFraeto Oemum Sacramento, ftx baeilles, seo memento Cantum esse sui) ftagmento Quantum toto tegttur. j&ulla rci fit seissura, Signi tantum fit ftaetura, Qua nee status nee statura Signati minuitur. lEcee pants &ngelorttm, J^actus etous biatorum : IfcTere pants filtorum, jfron mittenous eanibus. Jn figuris pra>stgnatur, (Slum Jsaac immolatur, Egnus ^ascija* oeputatur, Hatur manna patrious. 93one pastor, pants bere, Jesu nostrt miserere, £u nos pasee, nos tuere, En nos oona fae bioere Jn terra bibentium. En qui ettneta sets & bales, Qui nos pascis i)ic tuortales, Cuos ioi eommensales, ©oijsreoes U sooales, Jfac sanetorum cibium. LAUD A, SION, SALVATOREM. 97 When this sacred feast thou makest, When thou but a morsel breakest, Thou the Saviour still partakest — He is all in all to thee. By the sign that is divided, Real food, for thee provided, Still unbroke, to thee confided, Jesus doth recall to thee. Angel bread, from heaven descended, Food to wanderers here extended, For the children's bread intended, Dogs should never take of it. Isaac, as a type, promoted, And the Paschal Lamb, devoted, And the manna — all denoted Only His might break of it. Thou Grood Shepherd, Bread of Heaven ! Jesus, let us be forgiven ! Feed and guard us by Thy kindness, Take us from our earthly blindness To the glory giv'n by Thee. Thou, all powerful and all knowing — Blessed food on us bestowing — At Thy Table with Thee eating, Thy coheirs together meeting, Let us dwell in heaven with Thee ! 13 9 8 ADAM OF ST. VICTOR. The Abbey of St. Victor, near Paris, was one of the most celebrated religious houses in France seven hun- dred years ago — celebrated for its learning, its theology, its genuine devotion, and its fondness for sacred lyrics. It was, hence, the home and resort, as well as the parent and teacher, of great men. Among these Adam, a regular canon of the Abbey, was deservedly held in very high estimation for all the qualities of a devout and learned man. His familiarity with the Sacred Scriptures was most remarkable, and evidently could have been the result of nothing less than the most constant reading, and the most careful study and comparison, of the sacred writers in the riper years of his cultivated intellect. The Holy Word seemed to be almost the only language that he knew — so easily and gracefully did it flow from his pen in the harmonious lines of his lyrical compositions, of which one hundred and six are now extant. They all have the same general characteristics of style and versification, and in them all we are continually delighted with the felicity as well as the facility with which he writes, while he is sometimes brief and sententious with- out a parallel. ADAM OF ST. VIC TOE. 97 Trench, in his Sacred Latin Poetry, has given us many of the best of his lyrics, so many and so various that we are made familiar with his characteristics. "We seem to know him. The only one of these which I have selected for this little book is his poem on the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, which Trench calls a sublime composition ; and we see that it well deserves the name, when, in imagina- tion, we -take the place of the old monk and become a spectator of that first martyrdom, passing with him from the present to that early dawn of Christianity, and from the description of the bloody scene, to the rapt ecstasy in which he apostrophizes the suffering saint and beholds the sympathizing Saviour in the opening heaven, upholding him and strengthening him in the triumph of his mar- tyrdom. Dr. Trench accords to him the highest place among the writers of Latin Sacred Poetry, but not without some doubt whether that honor may not properly belong to Arch- bishop Hildebert. He would except the authors of the Dies Irce and the Stabat Mater, if the harps on which those unequalled strains were improvised did not seem to have been immediately broken into silence. He died July 8, 1177, and his epitaph, written by him- self, was preserved for several hundred years on the walls of the Abbey, near the door of the choir, where the echo of his hymns had been so often heard. The tone of penitent humility, and the impressive, solemn, movement of the epitaph, have induced me to insert it here as a part of this sketch, to exhibit his character, by his own hand, as it was his last desire to appear. IOO EPITAPHIUM $a>res peccati, natura n'lius ira>, ISriliique reus, nascitur omnis fjomo. Winttt superbit ijomo, cuius conceptio culpa, i^asct piena, labor bita, necesse mori? T^ana salus ijomiuis, banus oecor, oms nta bana— Jnter baua niijil banius est tjomine— Burn magis alluoit praesentis gloria bitae, ^ratterit, immo fugit— non tugit, immo perit. IJost ijominem bermis, post bermem n't etuis, ijeu, Ijeu ! j£ic retrit at» cinerem gloria nostra simul. I^ic ego pi jaceo, miser et miseratulis &oam, ©nam pro summo munere poseo pre= eem— ^eccabi, fateor, beniam peto, paree fas tenti, $arce pater ; fratres pareite ; paree Heus! IOl E P I T A P II An heir of sin and child of wrath by nature here below, A stranger every man is born — an exile's life to know. Whence doth he boast himself in pride whose thought is guilt, innate, Whose birth is pain, whose life is toil, and death his only fate ? Vain health of man, vain beauty too, vain boast of earthly pride, Vain thing is man, among the vain, vainer than all beside. The glory of this present life, what time it doth delight, Doth quickly pass, not pass but fly, not fly but perish quite. And then, to man the worm succeeds, and after worms the dust, At once to dust he must return with every earthly trust. And I, poor Adam lying here, 'tis mercy all I need, One only prayer I now can make — for heaven's last gift I plead, My sins confess, my pardon seek — oh let a sinner live ! Father, and brothers in the faith, and God, oh God, forgive ! 102 DE. S. STEPHANO. I^ert muntrus eiultabit, iBt eiultans celebrabit albatori, pro quo Trulce oucit mori jg?ub ipsis lapioibus. j&aulus serbat omnium testes lapioantium, Hapioans in omnibus. ST. STEPHEN. IO5 In the skies thy witness liveth, And, in faith and truth, he giveth Fullest proof of innocence. Crowned is the name thou wearest, And the tortures that thou bearest Give thy crown its radiance. For a crown of light, unfading, Meet the force of pain, invading — Victory shall remain with thee. Death to thee becometh natal, For its final pang so fatal, Giveth endless life to thee. See, by God's right hand is standing Jesus, for thee help commanding — Stephen, see he aideth thee ; For thee, heavenly gates unsealing, For thee, Christ the Lord revealing — Cry unto him earnestly. Stephen is to heaven gazing, On the heavenly scenes amazing — Holy Ghost sustaining him ; God's full glory to him showing, While to victory he is going — Love and hope constraining him. To the Lord his soul commending, Sweet he finds the death impending, While the stones are bruising him ; And young Saul, the garments holding Of those stoning, is upholding, And, himself, is using them, u io6 DE S. STEPHANO. jfre peccatum statuatut ?$te, a quifm* lapitratur (genu pontt et prccatur, (tfontiolnts insaniae— Sit (Kijrtsto sic obtiormibit, ^ui DIES IR ^E " Of all the Latin hymns of the Church, this has the widest fame. The grand use which Goethe has made of it in his Faust may have helped to bring it to the knowledge of some who would not otherwise have known it, or, if they had, would not have believed its worth, if the sage and seer of this world, a prophet of their own, had not thus set his seal of recognition upon it. To another illustrious man this hymn was eminently dear. How affecting is that incident recorded of Sir Walter Scott by his biographer, how, in those last clays of his, when all of his great mind had failed, or was failing, he was yet heard to murmur to himself some lines of this hymn, an especial favorite with him in other days. Nor is it hard to account for its wide and general popularity. The metre, so grandly devised, of which I remember no other example, fitted though it has here shown itself for bringing out some of the noblest powers of the Latin language ; the solemn effort of the triple rhyme, which has been likened to blow following blow of the hammer on the anvil; the confidence of the poet in the univer- sal interest of his theme, a confidence which has made him set out his matter with so majestic and unadorned a plainness as at once to be intelligible to all — these merits, with many more, have given the Dies Irce a fore- DIES IRJE. 1 09 most place among the master-pieces of sacred song." — Trench. Its great power, its universal sympath}^ with every man, lbs in its absolute selfishness — not in a bad sense, in the highest and purest and best sense — and in the sincerity and earnestness of its simple and natural lan- guage. It is the language of one man, in relation to himself alone, in view of the awful realities of that ulti- mate responsibility which all right-minded men so often feel, and which all men, the most hardened even, some- times feel with great solemnity. The conflagration, the judge, the trumpet, the book, the whole scene, are men- tioned only to give force to the exclamation, " Quid sum, miser! tunc dicturusf ' " "What can I then say?" And every confession and every prayer is for individual self, and is a renunciation of all hope, except through the free grace of Christ. The last stanza is omitted in some copies. Trench omits it, as do some others. If it be translated, as it sometimes is, as a prayer for the salvation of all mankind at the last day, then it certainly is not in har- mony with the rest of the hymn, and ought to be omitted. On the other hand, if it be translated as it is here, and has been by some others, and as it clearly should be, rendering the last line "Spare me," then the last stanza, instead of being feeble and inconsequent, becomes a har- monious and proper close of a hymn with such a beginning. It is usually ascribed to Thomas of Celano, an Italian monk of the thirteenth century ; but I think, with Trench, that there is no certainty — I should say but little proba- bility — that the authorship belongs to him. no DIES I RM Bies (retries ilia! jjolbet sa>clum in tabilla, Eeste Babio cum j£goilla. <©uantus tremor est tuturus, (©uantro Juoer est benturus, <£uncta stricte otscussurus. £uba mirum spargens sonum $er sepulcra regionum, Coget omnes ante tijronum. Uflors stupebit, et natura, <®uum resurget crcatura, Juiricanti responsura. Hiber scriptus proteretur, Jn quo totum continetur, WMtit muntrus fuoicetur. Jutrex ergo cum setreoit, (£uftr