human
Can you write me a poem about salt, hymn and catholic in the style of Harry Leon Wilson?
assistant
Sure, here's a poem about salt, hymn and catholic in the style of Harry Leon Wilson:
  Per quinquennia iam decem,
ni fallor, fuimus: septimus insuper
annum cardo rotat, dum fruimur sole volubili.
Instat terminus et diem
vicinum senio iam Deus adplicat.
Quid nos utile tanti spatio temporis egimus?
Aetas prima crepantibus
flevit sub ferulis: mox docuit toga
infectum vitiis falsa loqui, non sine crimine.
Tum lasciva protervitas,
et luxus petulans (heu pudet ac piget)
foedavit iuvenem nequitiae sordibus ac luto.
Exin iurgia turbidos
armarunt animos et male pertinax
vincendi studium subiacuit casibus asperis.
Bis legum moderamine
frenos nobilium reximus urbium,
ius civile bonis reddidimus, terruimus reos.
Tandem militiae gradu
evectum pietas principis extulit
adsumptum propius stare iubens ordine proximo.
Haec dum vita volans agit,
inrepsit subito canities seni
oblitum veteris me Saliae consulis arguens:
ex quo prima dies mihi
quam multas hiemes volverit et rosas
pratis post glaciem reddiderit, nix capitis probat.
Numquid talia proderunt
carnis post obitum vel bona vel mala,
cum iam, quidquid id est, quod fueram, mors aboleverit?
Dicendum mihi; Quisquis es,
mundum, quem coluit, mens tua perdidit:
non sunt illa Dei, quae studuit, cuius habeberis.
Atqui fine sub ultimo
peccatrix anima stultitiam exuat:
saltem voce Deum concelebret, si meritis nequit:
hymnis continuet dies,
nec nox ulla vacet, quin Dominum canat:
pugnet contra hereses, catholicam discutiat fidem,
conculcet sacra gentium,
labem, Roma, tuis inferat idolis,
carmen martyribus devoveat, laudet apostolos.
Haec dum scribo vel eloquor,
vinclis o utinam corporis emicem
liber, quo tulerit lingua sono mobilis ultimo.
Full fifty years my span of life hath run,
Unless I err, and seven revolving years
Have further sped while I the sun enjoy.
Yet now the end draws nigh, and by God's will
Old age's bound is reached: how have I spent
And with what fruit so wide a tract of days?
I wept in boyhood 'neath the sounding rod:
Youth's toga donned, the rhetorician's arts
I plied and with deceitful pleadings sinned:
Anon a wanton life and dalliance gross
(Alas! the recollection stings to shame!)
Fouled and polluted manhood's opening bloom:
And then the forum's strife my restless wits
Enthralled, and the keen lust of victory
Drove me to many a bitterness and fall.
Twice held I in fair cities of renown
The reins of office, and administered
To good men justice and to guilty doom.
At length the Emperor's will beneficent
Exalted me to military power
And to the rank that borders on the throne.
The years are speeding onward, and gray hairs
Of old have mantled o'er my brows
And Salia's consulship from memory dies.
What frost-bound winters since that natal year
Have fled, what vernal suns reclothed
The meads with roses,--this white crown declares.
Yet what avail the prizes or the blows
Of fortune, when the body's spark is quenched
And death annuls whatever state I held?
This sentence I must hear: "Whate'er thou art,
Thy mind hath lost the world it loved: not God's
The things thou soughtest, Whose thou now shalt be."
Yet now, ere hence I pass, my sinning soul
Shall doff its folly and shall praise my Lord
If not by deeds, at least with humble lips.
Let each day link itself with grateful hymns
And every night re-echo songs of God:
Yea, be it mine to fight all heresies,
Unfold the meanings of the Catholic faith,
Trample on Gentile rites, thy gods, O Rome,
Dethrone, the Martyrs laud, th' Apostles sing.
O while such themes my pen and tongue employ,
May death strike off these fetters of the flesh
And bear me whither my last breath shall rise!
Ales diei nuntius
lucem propinquam praecinit;
nos excitator mentium
iam Christus ad vitam vocat.
Auferte, clamat, lectulos
aegros, soporos, desides:
castique recti ac sobrii
vigilate, iam sum proximus.
Post solis ortum fulgidi
serum est cubile spernere,
ni parte noctis addita
tempus labori adieceris.
Vox ista, qua strepunt aves
stantes sub ipso culmine
paulo ante quam lux emicet,
nostri figura est iudicis.
Tectos tenebris horridis
stratisque opertos segnibus
suadet quietem linquere
iam iamque venturo die.
Ut, cum coruscis flatibus
aurora caelum sparserit,
omnes labore exercitos
confirmet ad spem luminis.
Hic somnus ad tempus datus
est forma mortis perpetis,
peccata ceu nox horrida
cogunt iacere ac stertere.
Sed vox ab alto culmine
Christi docentis praemonet,
adesse iam lucem prope,
ne mens sopori serviat:
Ne somnus usque ad terminos
vitae socordis opprimat
pectus sepultum crimine
et lucis oblitum suae.
Ferunt vagantes daemonas
laetos tenebris noctium,
gallo canente exterritos
sparsim timere et cedere.
Invisa nam vicinitas
lucis, salutis, numinis
rupto tenebrarum situ
noctis fugat satellites.
Hoc esse signum praescii
norunt repromissae spei,
qua nos soporis liberi
speramus adventum Dei.
Quae vis sit huius alitis,
salvator ostendit Petro,
ter antequam gallus canat
sese negandum praedicans.
Fit namque peccatum prius,
quam praeco lucis proximae
inlustret humanum genus
finemque peccandi ferat.
Flevit negator denique
ex ore prolapsum nefas,
cum mens maneret innocens,
animusque servaret fidem.
Nec tale quidquam postea
linguae locutus lubrico est,
cantuque galli cognito
peccare iustus destitit.
Inde est quod omnes credimus,
illo quietis tempore
quo gallus exsultans canit
Christum redisse ex inferis.
Tunc mortis oppressus vigor,
tunc lex subacta est tartari,
tunc vis diei fortior
noctem coegit cedere.
Iam iam quiescant inproba,
iam culpa furva obdormiat,
iam noxa letalis suum
perpessa somnum marceat.
Vigil vicissim spiritus
quodcumque restat temporis,
dum meta noctis clauditur,
stans ac laborans excubet.
Iesum ciamus vocibus
flentes, precantes, sobrii:
intenta supplicatio
dormire cor mundum vetat.
Sat convolutis artubus
sensum profunda oblivio
pressit, gravavit, obruit
vanis vagantem somniis.
Sunt nempe falsa et frivola,
quae mundiali gloria
ceu dormientes egimus:
vigilemus, hic est veritas.
Aurum, voluptas, gaudium,
opes, honores, prospera,
quaecumque nos inflant mala,
fit mane, nil sunt omnia.
Tu, Christe, somnum dissice,
tu rumpe noctis vincula,
tu solve peccatum vetus
novumque lumen ingere.
Awake! the shining day is born!
The herald cock proclaims the morn:
And Christ, the soul's Awakener, cries,
Bidding us back to life arise.
Away the sluggard's bed! away
The slumber of the soul's decay!
Ye chaste and just and temperate,
Watch! I am standing at the gate.
After the sun hath risen red
'Tis late for men to scorn their bed,
Unless a portion of the night
They seize for labours of the light.
Mark ye, what time the dawn draws nigh,
How 'neath the eaves the swallows cry?
Know that by true similitude
Their notes our Judge's voice prelude.
When hid by shades of dark malign
On beds of softness we recline,
They call us forth with music clear
Warning us that the day is near.
When breezes bright of orient morn
With rosy hues the heavens adorn,
They cheer with hope of gladdening light
The hearts that spend in toil their might.
Though sleep be but a passing guest
'Tis type of death's perpetual rest:
Our sins are as a ghastly night,
And seal with slumbers deep our sight.
But from the wide roof of the sky
Christ's voice peals forth with urgent cry,
Calling our sleep-bound hearts to rise
And greet the dawn with wakeful eyes.
He bids us fear lest sensual ease
Unto life's end the spirit seize
And in the tomb of shame us bind,
Till we are to the true light blind.
'Tis said that baleful spirits roam
Abroad beneath the dark's vast dome;
But, when the cock crows, take their flight
Sudden dispersed in sore affright.
For the foul votaries of the night
Abhor the coming of the light,
And shamed before salvation's grace
The hosts of darkness hide their face.
They know the cock doth prophesy
Of Hope's long-promised morning sky,
When comes the Majesty Divine
Upon awakened worlds to shine.
The Lord to Peter once foretold
What meaning that shrill strain should hold,
How he before cock-crow would lie
And thrice his Master dear deny.
For 'tis a law that sin is done
Before the herald of the sun
To humankind the dawn proclaims
And with his cry the sinner shames.
Then wept he bitter tears aghast
That from his lips the words had passed,
Though guileless he his soul possessed
And faith still reigned within his breast.
Nor ever reckless word he said
Thereafter, by his tongue betrayed,
But at the cock's familiar cry
Humbled he turned from vanity.
Therefore it is we hold to-day
That, as the world in stillness lay,
What hour the cock doth greet the skies,
Christ from deep Hades did arise.
Lo! then the bands of death were burst,
Shattered the sway of hell accurst:
Then did the Day's superior might
Swiftly dispel the hosts of Night.
Now let base deeds to silence fall,
Black thoughts be stilled beyond recall:
Now let sin's opiate spell retire
To that deep sleep it doth inspire.
For all the hours that still remain
Until the dark his goal attain,
Alert for duty's stern command
Let every soul a sentry stand.
With sober prayer on Jesus call;
Let tears with our strong crying fall;
Sleep cannot on the pure soul steal
That supplicates with fervent zeal.
Too long did dull oblivion cloud
Our motions and our senses shroud:
Lulled by her numbing touch, we stray
In dreamland's ineffectual way.
Bound by the dazzling world's soft chain
'Tis false and fleeting gauds we gain,
Like those who in deep slumbers lie:--
Let us awake! the truth is nigh.
Gold, honours, pleasure, wealth and ease,
And all the joys that mortals please,
Joys with a fatal glamour fraught--
When morning comes, lo! all are nought.
But thou, O Christ, put sleep to flight
And break the iron bands of night,
Free us from burden of past sin
And shed Thy morning rays within.
Nox et tenebrae et nubila,
confusa mundi et turbida,
lux intrat, albescit polus,
Christus venit, discedite.
Caligo terrae scinditur
percussa solis spiculo,
rebusque iam color redit
vultu nitentis sideris.
Sic nostra mox obscuritas
fraudisque pectus conscium
ruptis retectum nubibus
regnante pallescit Deo.
Tunc non licebit claudere
quod quisque fuscum cogitat,
sed mane clarescent novo
secreta mentis prodita.
Fur ante lucem squalido
inpune peccat tempore,
sed lux dolis contraria
latere furtum non sinit.
Versuta fraus et callida
amat tenebris obtegi,
aptamque noctem turpibus
adulter occultus fovet.
Sol ecce surgit igneus,
piget, pudescit, paenitet,
nec teste quisquam lumine
peccare constanter potest.
Quis mane sumptis nequiter
non erubescit poculis,
cum fit libido temperans
castumque nugator sapit?
Nunc, nunc severum vivitur,
nunc nemo tentat ludicrum,
inepta nunc omnes sua
vultu colorant serio.
Haec hora cunctis utilis,
qua quisque, quod studet, gerat,
miles, togatus, navita,
opifex, arator, institor.
Illum forensis gloria,
hunc triste raptat classicum,
mercator hinc ac rusticus
avara suspirant lucra.
At nos lucelli ac faenoris
fandique prorsus nescii,
nec arte fortes bellica,
te, Christe, solum novimus.
Te mente pura et simplici,
te voce, te cantu pio
rogare curvato genu
flendo et canendo discimus.
His nos lucramur quaestibus,
hac arte tantum vivimus,
haec inchoamus munera,
cum sol resurgens emicat.
Intende nostris sensibus,
vitamque totam dispice,
sunt multa fucis inlita,
quae luce purgentur tua.
Durare nos tales iube,
quales, remotis sordibus
nitere pridem iusseras,
Iordane tinctos flumine.
Quodcumque nox mundi dehinc
infecit atris nubibus,
tu, rex Eoi sideris,
vultu sereno inlumina.
Tu sancte, qui taetram picem
candore tingis lacteo
ebenoque crystallum facis,
delicta terge livida.
Sub nocte Iacob caerula
luctator audax angeli,
eo usque dum lux surgeret,
sudavit inpar praelium.
Sed cum iubar claresceret,
lapsante claudus poplite
femurque victus debile
culpae vigorem perdidit.
Nutabat inguen saucium,
quae corporis pars vilior
longeque sub cordis loco
diram fovet libidinem.
Hae nos docent imagines,
hominem tenebris obsitum,
si forte non cedat Deo,
vires rebellis perdere.
Erit tamen beatior,
intemperans membrum cui
luctando claudum et tabidum
dies oborta invenerit.
Tandem facessat caecitas,
quae nosmet in praeceps diu
lapsos sinistris gressibus
errore traxit devio.
Haec lux serenum conferat
purosque nos praestet sibi:
nihil loquamur subdolum,
volvamus obscurum nihil.
Sic tota decurrat dies,
ne lingua mendax, ne manus,
oculive peccent lubrici,
ne noxa corpus inquinet.
Speculator adstat desuper,
qui nos diebus omnibus
actusque nostros prospicit
a luce prima in vesperum.
Hic testis, hic est arbiter,
his intuetur quidquid est,
humana quod mens concipit;
hunc nemo fallit iudicem.
Ye clouds and darkness, hosts of night
That breed confusion and affright,
Begone! o'erhead the dawn shines clear,
The light breaks in and Christ is here.
Earth's gloom flees broken and dispersed,
By the sun's piercing shafts coerced:
The daystar's eyes rain influence bright
And colours glimmer back to sight.
So shall our guilty midnight fade,
The sin-stained heart's gross dusky shade:
So shall the King's All-radiant Face
Sudden unveil our deep disgrace.
No longer then may we disguise
Our dark intents from those clear eyes:
Yea, at the dayspring's advent blest
Our inmost thoughts will stand confest.
The thief his hidden traffic plies
Unmarked before the dawn doth rise:
But light, the foe of guile concealed,
Lets no ill craft lie unrevealed.
Fraud and Deceit love only night,
Their wiles they practise out of sight;
Curtained by dark, Adultery too
Doth his foul treachery pursue,
But slinks abashed and shamed away
Soon as the sun rekindles day,
For none can damning light resist
And 'neath its rays in sin persist.
Who doth not blush o'ertook by morn
And his long night's carousal scorn?
For day subdues the lustful soul,
And doth all foul desires control.
Now each to earnest life awakes,
Now each his wanton sport forsakes;
Now foolish things are put away
And gravity resumes her sway.
It is the hour for duty's deeds,
The path to which our labour leads,
Be it the forum, army, sea,
The mart or field or factory.
One seeks the plaudits of the bar,
One the stern trumpet calls to war:
Those bent on trade and husbandry
At greed's behest for lucre sigh.
Mine is no rhetorician's fame,
No petty usury I claim;
Nor am I skilled to face the foe:
'Tis Thou, O Christ, alone I know.
Yea, I have learnt to wait on Thee
With heart and lips of purity,
Humbly my knees in prayer to bend,
And tears with songs of praise to blend.
These are the gains I hold in view
And these the arts that I pursue:
These are the offices I ply
When the bright sun mounts up the sky.
Prove Thou my heart, my every thought,
Search into all that I have wrought:
Though I be stained with blots within,
Thy quickening rays shall purge my sin.
O may I ever spotless be
As when my stains were cleansed by Thee,
Who bad'st me 'neath the Jordan's wave
Of yore my soilëd spirit lave.
If e'er since then the world's gross night
Hath cast its curtain o'er my sight,
Dispel the cloud, O King of grace,
Star of the East! with thy pure face.
Since Thou canst change, O holy Light,
The blackest hue to milky white,
Ebon to clearness crystalline,
Wash my foul stains and make me clean.
'Twas 'neath the lonely star-blue night
That Jacob waged the unequal fight,
Stoutly he wrestled with the Man
In darkness, till the day began.
And when the sun rose in the sky
He halted on his shrivelled thigh:
His natural might had ebbed away,
Vanquished in that tremendous fray.
Not wounded he in nobler part
Nor smitten in life's fount, the heart:
But lust was shaken from his throne
And his foul empire overthrown.
Whereby we clearly learn aright
That man is whelmed by deadly night,
Unless he own God conqueror
And strive against His will no more.
Yet happier he whom rising morn
Shall find of nature's strength forlorn,
Whose warring flesh hath shrunk away,
Palsied by virtue's puissant sway.
And then at length let darkness flee,
Which all too long held us in fee,
'Mid wildering shadows made us stray
And led in devious tracks our way.
We pray Thee, Rising Light serene,
E'en as Thyself our hearts make clean:
Let no deceit our lips defile
Nor let our souls be vexed by guile.
O keep us, as the hours proceed,
From lying word and evil deed,
Our roving eyes from sin set free,
Our body from impurity.
For thou dost from above survey
The converse of each fleeting day:
Thou dost foresee from morning light
Our every deed, until the night.
Justice and judgment dwell with Thee,
Whatever is, Thine eye doth see:
Thou know'st what human hearts conceive
And none Thy wisdom may deceive.
O crucifer bone, lucisator,
omniparens, pie, verbigena,
edite corpore virgineo,
sed prius in genitore potens,
astra, solum, mare quam fierent:
Huc nitido precor intuitu
flecte salutiferam faciem,
fronte serenus et inradia,
nominis ut sub honore tui
has epulas liceat capere.
Te sine dulce nihil, Domine,
nec iuvat ore quid adpetere,
pocula ni prius atque cibos,
Christe, tuus favor inbuerit
omnia sanctificante fide.
Fercula nostra Deum sapiant,
Christus et influat in pateras:
seria, ludicra, verba, iocos,
denique quod sumus aut agimus,
trina superne regat pietas.
Hic mihi nulla rosae spolia,
nullus aromate fragrat odor,
sed liquor influit ambrosius
nectareamque fidem redolet
fusus ab usque Patris gremio.
Sperne camena leves hederas,
cingere tempora quis solita es,
sertaque mystica dactylico
texere docta liga strophio,
laude Dei redimita comas.
Quod generosa potest anima,
lucis et aetheris indigena,
solvere dignius obsequium,
quam data munera si recinat
artificem modulata suum?
Ipse homini quia cuncta dedit,
quae capimus dominante manu,
quae polus aut humus aut pelagus
aere, gurgite, rure creant,
haec mihi subdidit et sibi me.
Callidus inlaqueat volucres
aut pedicis dolus aut maculis,
inlita glutine corticeo
vimina plumigeram seriem
inpediunt et abire vetant.
Ecce per aequora fluctivagos
texta greges sinuosa trahunt:
piscis item sequitur calamum
raptus acumine vulnifico
credula saucius ora cibo.
Fundit opes ager ingenuas
dives aristiferae segetis:
his ubi vitea pampineo
brachia palmite luxuriant,
pacis alumna ubi baca viret.
Haec opulentia Christicolis
servit et omnia suppeditat:
absit enim procul ilia fames,
caedibus ut pecudum libeat
sanguineas lacerare dapes.
Sint fera gentibus indomitis
prandia de nece quadrupedum:
nos oleris coma, nos siliqua
feta legumine multimodo
paverit innocuis epulis.
Spumea mulctra gerunt niveos
ubere de gemino latices,
perque coagula densa liquor
in solidum coit et fragili
lac tenerum premitur calatho.
Mella recens mihi Cecropia
nectare sudat olente favus:
haec opifex apis aerio
rore liquat tenuique thymo,
nexilis inscia connubii.
Hinc quoque pomiferi nemoris
munera mitia proveniunt,
arbor onus tremefacta suum
deciduo gravis imbre pluit
puniceosque iacit cumulos.
Quae veterum tuba, quaeve lyra
flatibus inclita vel fidibus
divitis omnipotentis opus,
quaeque fruenda patent homini
laudibus aequiparare queat?
Te Pater optime mane novo,
solis et orbita cum media est,
te quoque luce sub occidua
sumere cum monet hora cibum,
nostra Deus canet harmonia.
Quod calet halitus interior,
corde quod abdita vena tremit,
pulsat et incita quod resonam
lingua sub ore latens caveam,
laus superi Patris esto mihi.
Nos igitur tua sancte manus
caespite conposuit madido
effigiem meditata suam,
utque foret rata materies
flavit et indidit ore animam.
Tunc per amoena vireta iubet
frondicomis habitare locis,
ver ubi perpetuum redolet
prataque multicolora latex
quadrifluo celer amne rigat.
Haec tibi nunc famulentur, ait,
usibus omnia dedo tuis:
sed tamen aspera mortifero
stipite carpere poma veto,
qui medio viret in nemore.
Hic draco perfidus indocile
virginis inlicit ingenium,
ut socium malesuada virum
mandere cogeret ex vetitis
ipsa pari peritura modo.
Corpora mutua--nosse nefas--
post epulas inoperta vident,
lubricus error et erubuit:
tegmina suta parant foliis,
dedecus ut pudor occuleret.
Conscia culpa Deum pavitans
sede pia procul exigitur.
innuba fernina quae fuerat,
coniugis excipit inperium,
foedera tristia iussa pati.
Auctor et ipse doli coluber
plectitur inprobus, ut mulier
colla trilinguia calce terat:
sic coluber muliebre solum
suspicit atque virum mulier.
His ducibus vitiosa dehinc
posteritas ruit in facinus,
dumque rudes imitatur avos,
fasque nefasque simul glomerans
inpia crimina morte luit.
Ecce venit nova progenies,
non luteus, velut ille prior:
sed Deus ipse gerens hominem,
corporeisque carens vitiis.
Fit caro vivida sermo Patris,
numine quam rutilante gravis
non thalamo, neque iure tori,
nec genialibus inlecebris
intemerata puella parit.
Hoc odium vetus illud erat,
hoc erat aspidis atque hominis
digladiabile discidium,
quod modo cernua femineis
vipera proteritur pedibus.
Edere namque Deum merita
omnia virgo venena domat:
tractibus anguis inexplicitis
virus inerme piger revomit,
gramine concolor in viridi.
Quae feritas modo non trepidat,
territa de grege candidulo?
inpavidas lupus inter oves
tristis obambulat et rabidum
sanguinis inmemor os cohibet.
Agnus enim vice mirifica
ecce leonibus inperitat:
exagitansque truces aquilas
per vaga nubila, perque notos
sidere lapsa columba fugat.
Tu mihi Christe columba potens,
sanguine pasta cui cedit avis,
tu niveus per ovile tuum
agnus hiare lupum prohibes,
sub iuga tigridis ora premens.
Da locuples Deus hoc famulis
rite precantibus, ut tenui
membra cibo recreata levent,
neu piger inmodicis dapibus
viscera tenta gravet stomachus.
Haustus amarus abesto procul,
ne libeat tetigisse manu
exitiale quid aut vetitum:
gustus et ipse modum teneat,
sospitet ut iecur incolume.
Sit satis anguibus horrificis,
liba quod inpia corporibus
ah miseram peperere necem,
sufficiat semel ob facinus
plasma Dei potuisse mori.
Oris opus, vigor igneolus
non moritur, quia flante Deo
conpositus superoque fluens
de solio Patris artificis
vim liquidae rationis habet.
Viscera mortua quin etiam
post obitum reparare datur,
eque suis iterum tumulis
prisca renascitur effigies
pulvereo coeunte situ.
Credo equidem, neque vana fides,
corpora vivere more animae:
nam modo corporeum memini
de Phlegethonte gradu facili
ad superos remeasse Deum.
Spes eadem mea membra manet,
quae redolentia funereo
iussa quiescere sarcophago
dux parili redivivus humo
ignea Christus ad astra vocat.
Blest Cross-bearer, Source of good,
Light-creating, Word-begot,
Gracious child of maidenhood,
When earth, sea and stars were not.
With Thy cloudless, healing gaze
Shine upon me from above:
Let Thine all-enlightening rays
Bless this meal and quicken praise,
Praise unto Thy name of Love.
Lord, without Thee nought is sweet,
Nought my life can satisfy,
If Thy favour make not meet
What I drink and what I eat;
Let faith all things sanctify!
O'er this bread God's grace be poured,
Christ's sweet fragrance fill the bowl!
Rule my converse, Triune Lord,
Sober thought and sportive word,
All my acts and all my soul.
Spoils of rose-trees are not spent,
Nor rich unguents on my board:
But ambrosial sweets are sent,
Of faith's nectar redolent,
From the bosom of my Lord.
Scorn, my Muse, light ivy-leaves
Wherewith custom wreathed thy brow:
Love a mystic crown conceives
And a rhythmic garland weaves:
Bind on thee God's praises now.
What more worthy gift can I,
Child of light and aether, bring
Than for boons the Maker high
From His bounty doth supply
Lovingly my thanks to sing?
He hath set 'neath our command
All that ever rose to be,
All that sky and sea and land
Breed in air, in glebe and sand,
Made my slaves, His own made me.
Fowler's craft with gin and net
Feathered tribes of heaven ensnares:
Osier twigs with lime o'erset
That their airy flight may let
His relentless guile prepares.
Lo! with woven mesh the seine
Swimming shoals draws from the wave:
Nor do fish the bait disdain
Till they feel the barb's swift pain,
Captives of the food they crave.
Native wealth that knows no fail,
Golden wheat springs from the field:
Tendrils lush o'er vineyards trail,
Nursed of Peace the olives pale
Berries green unbidden yield.
Christ's grace fills His people's need
With these mercies ever fresh:
Far from us be that foul greed,
Gluttony that loves to feed
On slain oxen's bloodstained flesh.
Leave to the barbarian brood
Banquet of the slaughtered beast:
Ours the homely, garden food,
Greenstuff manifold and good
And the lentils' harmless feast.
Foaming milkpails bubble o'er
With the udders' snowy stream,
Which in thickening churns we pour
Or in wicker baskets store,
As the cheese is pressed from cream.
Honey's nectar for our use
From the new-made comb is shed:
Which the skilful bee imbues
With thyme's scent and airy dews,
Plying lonely toils unwed.
Orchard-groves now mellowed o'er
Bounteously their fruitage shed:
See! like rain on forest floor
Shaken trees their riches pour,
High-heaped apples, ripe and red.
What great trumpet voice or lyre
Famed of yore could fitly praise
Blessings that His own require,
Richly lavished through their days?
When morn breaks upon our sight,
Hymns, O Lord, to Thee shall ring:
Thee, when streams the midday light,
Thee, when shadows of the night
Bid us sup, our voices sing.
For my body's vital heat,
For my heart-blood's pulsing vein,
For my tongue and speech complete
Unto Thee, Most High, 'tis meet
That I raise my grateful strain.
'Twas, O Holy One, Thy care
Wrought us from the plastic clay,
Made us Thine own image bear,
And for our perfection fair
Did Thy Breath to man convey.
On the twain Thou didst bestow
Leafy bowers in pleasaunce fair:
Where spring's scents for aye did blow,
And four stately streams did flow
O'er meads pied with blossoms rare.
"All this realm ye now shall sway:"
(Saidst Thou) "use it at your will,
Yet 'tis death your hands to lay
On the Tree, whose verdant sway
Doth the midmost garden fill."
Then the Serpent's guileful hate
Would not innocency spare:
Bade the maiden urge her mate
With the fruit his lips to sate,
Nor 'scaped she the self-same snare.
Each their nakedness perceives
When the feast they once partook:
Smit with shame their conscience grieves:
Wove they coverings of leaves
Shielding from lascivious look.
Far they both in terror fled
Thrust from dwelling of the pure:
She who erst had dwelt unwed
Subject to her spouse was led,
Bidden Hymen's bonds endure.
On the Serpent, too, His seal
God hath set, Who guile abhorred,
Doomed in triple neck to feel
Impress of the woman's heel,
Fearing her, who feared her lord.
Thus sin in our parents sown
Brought forth ruin for the race;
Good and evil having grown
From that primal root alone,
Nought but death could guilt efface.
But the Second Man behold
Come to re-create our kin:
Not formed after common mould
But our God (O Love untold!)
Made in flesh that knows not sin.
Word of God incarnated,
By His awful power conceived,
Whom a maiden yet unwed,
Innocent of marriage-bed,
In her virgin womb received.
Now we see the Serpent lewd
'Neath the woman's heel downtrod:
Whence there sprang the deadly feud,
Strife for ages unsubdued,
'Twixt mankind and foe of God.
Yet God's mother, Maid adored,
Robbed sin's poison of its bane,
And the Snake, his green coils lowered,
Writhing on the sod, outpoured
Harmless now his venom's stain.
What fierce brute that doth not flee
Lambs of Christ, white-robed and clean?
'Midst the flock from fear set free,
Slinks the drear wolf sullenly,
Checked his maw and tamed his mien.
Wondrous change! restrained by love
Lions the mild lamb obey:
Eagles wild, before the dove
Fluttering from the stars above,
Speed o'er cloudy winds away.
Thou, O Christ, my Dove dost reign
Where the vulture gnaws no more:
Thou dost, snow-white Lamb, enchain
Tigers fierce, and wolves restrain
Gaping at the sheepfold's door.
God of Love, Thy servants we
Pray Thee now to grant our prayer
That our feast may frugal be,
Nor that we dishonour Thee
By coarse surfeit of rich fare.
May we taste no bitter gall
In our cup, nor handle we
Aught of death or harm at all,
Nor intemperately fall
Into gross debauchery.
Be the powers of Hell content
With their primal fraud, whereby
Death into this world was sent,
And that, for sin's chastisement,
God's own creatures once should die.
But in us God's Breath of fire
Cannot lose its vital force:
Never can its might expire,
Flowing from the Eternal Sire,
Who of Reason's strength is source.
Nay, from out death's chilling tomb
Mortal atoms shall arise:
Man from earth's vast, hidden womb
Other, yet the same, shall bloom,
Dust re-made in glorious guise.
'Tis my faith--and faith not vain--
Bodies live e'en as the soul:
Since I hold in memory plain
God as man uprose again,
Loosed from Hell, to His true goal.
Whence from Him the hope I reap
That these limbs the same shall rise,
Which enwrapped in balmy sleep
Christ the Risen safe shall keep
Till He call me to the skies.
Pastis visceribus ciboque sumpto,
quem lex corporis inbecilla poscit,
laudem lingua Deo patri rependat;
Patri, qui Cherubin sedile sacrum,
nec non et Seraphin suum supremo
subnixus solio tenet regitque.
Hic est, quem Sabaoth Deum vocamus,
expers principii carensque fine,
rerum conditor et repertor orbis:
fons vitae liquida fluens ab arce,
infusor fidei, sator pudoris,
mortis perdomitor, salutis auctor.
Omnes quod sumus aut vigemus, inde est:
regnat Spiritus ille sempiternus
a Christo simul et Parente missus.
Intrat pectora candidus pudica,
quae templi vice consecrata rident,
postquam conbiberint Deum medullis.
Sed si quid vitii dolive nasci
inter viscera iam dicata sensit,
ceu spurcum refugit celer sacellum.
Taetrum flagrat enim vapore crasso
horror conscius aestuante culpa
offensumque bonum niger repellit.
Nec solus pudor innocensve votum
templum constituunt perenne Christo
in cordis medii sum ac recessu:
sed ne crapula ferveat cavendum est,
quae sedem fidei cibis refertam
usque ad congeriem coartet intus.
Parcis victibus expedita corda
infusum melius Deum receptant.
Hic pastus animae est, saporque verus:
sed nos tu gemino fovens paratu
artus atque animas utroque pastu
confirmas Pater ac vigore conples.
Sic olim tua praecluens potestas
inter raucisonos situm leones,
inlapsis dapibus virum refovit.
Illum fusile numen execrantem
et curvare caput sub expolita
aeris materia nefas putantem
Plebs dirae Babylonis ac tyrannus
morti subdiderant, feris dicarant
saevis protinus haustibus vorandum.
O semper pietas fidesque tuta!
lambunt indomiti virum leones
intactumque Dei tremunt alumnum.
Adstant cominus et iubas reponunt,
mansuescit rabies fameque blanda
praedam rictibus ambit incruentis.
Sed cum tenderet ad superna palmas
expertumque sibi Deum rogaret,
clausus iugiter indigensque victu:
Iussus nuntius advolare terris,
qui pastum famulo daret probato,
raptim desilit obsequente mundo.
Cernit forte procul dapes inemptas,
quas messoribus Abbacuc propheta
agresti bonus exhibebat arte.
Huius caesarie manu prehensa
plenis, sicut erat, gravem canistris
suspensum rapit et vehit per auras.
Tum raptus simul ipse prandiumque
sensim labitur in lacum leonum,
et, quas tunc epulas gerebat, offert:
Sumas laetus, ait, libensque carpas,
quae summus Pater, angelusque Christi
mittunt liba tibi sub hoc periclo.
His sumptis Danielus excitavit
in caelum faciem ciboque fortis
Amen reddidit, Halleluia dixit.
Sic nos muneribus tuis refecti,
largitor Deus omnium bonorum,
grates reddimus et sacramus hymnos.
Tu nos tristifico velut tyranno
mundi scilicet inpotentis actu
conclusos regis et feram repellis,
Quae circumfremit ac vorare temptat
insanos acuens furore dentes,
cur te, summe Deus, precemur unum.
Vexamur, premimur, malis rotamur;
oderunt, lacerant, trahunt, lacessunt,
iuncta est suppliciis fides iniquis.
Nec defit tamen anxiis medela;
nam languente trucis leonis ira
inlapsae superingeruntur escae.
Quas si quis sitienter hauriendo
non gustu tenui, sed ore pleno
internis velit inplicare venis,
Hic sancto satiatus ex propheta,
iustorum capiet cibos virorum,
qui fructum domino metunt perenni.
Nil est dulcius ac magis saporum,
nil quod plus hominem iuvare possit,
quam vatis pia praecinentis orsa.
His sumptis licet insolens potestas
pravum iudicet, inrogetque mortem,
inpasti licet inruant leones,
nos semper Dominum patrem fatentes
in te, Christe Deus, loquemur unum
constanterque tuam crucem feremus.
Refreshed we rise, and for this bread that feeds,
By law of man's weak flesh, our daily needs,
Let every tongue, the Father's praises sing;
The Father Who on His exalted throne,
O'er Cherubim and Seraphim, alone
Reigns in His majesty, Eternal King.
God of Sabaoth is His name: 'tis He
Who ne'er began and ne'er shall cease to be,
Builder of worlds created at His word;
Fountain of Life that flows from out the sky,
He breathes within us Faith and Purity,
Great Conqueror of Death, Salvation's Lord.
From Him each creature life and vigour gains,
And over all the Eternal Spirit reigns
Who cometh from the Father and the Son:
When, dovelike, on pure hearts the heavenly Guest
Descends, they are by God's own presence blest,
As temples where His holy work is done.
But if the taint of vice or guile arise
Within the consecrated shrine, He flies
With speed from out the sin-defilèd cell;
For, driven forth by guilt's black, surging tide,
The offended Godhead may not there abide
Where conscious sin and noisome foulness dwell.
Not chastity nor childlike faith alone
Build up for Christ an everlasting throne
Deep in the inmost heart, devoid of shame:
But watchful ever must His servants be,
Lest the dark power of sated gluttony
Should bind about the abode of faith its chain.
Yet simple saints, content with frugal fare,
More surely find the Spirit present there,
Who is our soul's true strength and heavenly food:
Thy love for us a twofold feast supplies,
O Father, whence the soul may strengthened rise
And eke the body gain new hardihood.
Thus, fed and sheltered by Thy matchless might,
The lions' hideous roar could not affright
Thy loyal servant in the days of old:
He boldly cursed the molten deity
And stood with stubborn head uplifted high
That scorned to bow before a god of gold.
Then Babylon's vile mob with fury glows;
Death is his doom; and straight the tyrant throws
The youth to be his savage lions' prey:
But faith and piety Thou still dost save,
For lo! the untamed brutes no longer rave,
But round God's unscathed child they gently play.
Close by his side they stand with drooping mane,
The grisly, gaping jaws from blood refrain
And with rough tongues their whilom prey caress:
But when in prayer he raised his hands to heaven
And called the God, from Whom such help was given,
Close-prisoned, hungry, and in sore distress,
A wingèd messenger to earth He sends,
Who swiftly through the parting clouds descends
To feed His servant, proven by the test:
By chance he sees from far the unbought fare
Which the good seer Habakkuk's kindly care
With rustic art had for the reapers dressed:
Then, grasping in strong hand the prophet's hair,
He bears him gently through the rushing air,
Still burdened with the platter's savoury load,
Till o'er the lions' den at last they stayed
And straightway to the starving youth displayed
The food thus brought, by God's good grace bestowed.
"Take this with joy," he said, "and thankful feed,
The bread that in thy hour of direst need,
By the great Father sent, Christ's angel brings."
Then Daniel lifts his eyes to heaven above
And, strengthened by the wondrous gift of love,
"Amen!" he cries, and Alleluia sings.
Thus, therefore, by Thy bounties now restored,
Giver of all things good, Almighty Lord,
We render thanks and sing glad hymns to Thee:
Though prisoned in an evil world we dwell
Where sin's grim tyrant rules, Thou dost repel
With sovran power our mortal enemy.
He roars around us, and would fain devour,
Grinding his angry teeth when 'gainst his power
In Thee alone, O God, we still confide:
By evil things we are beset and vexed,
Tormented, hated, harassed and perplexed,
Our faith by cruel suffering sorely tried,
Yet help ne'er fails us in our time of need,
For Thou canst quell the lions' rage, and feed
Our hungry spirits with celestial fare:
And if some soul no meagre taste would gain
Of that repast, but thirstily is fain
Full measure of the heavenly sweets to share,
He by the holy seers of old is fed,
And shall partake the loyal reapers' bread
Who labour in the eternal Master's field:
For nothing sweeter than the Word can be
That fell from righteous lips, once touched by Thee,
And nought can richer grace to mortals yield.
With this sustained, though vaunting tyranny
By unjust judgment doom us straight to die,
And starvèd lions rush these limbs to tear;
Confessing ever Thine Eternal Son,
With Thee, Almighty Father, ever one,
His cross with faith unshaken will we bear.
Inventor rutili, dux bone, luminis,
qui certis vicibus tempora dividis,
merso sole chaos ingruit horridum,
lucem redde tuis Christe fidelibus.
Quamvis innumero sidere regiam
lunarique polum lampade pinxeris,
incussu silicis lumina nos tamen
monstras saxigeno semine quaerere:
in Christi solido corpore conditam,
qui dici stabilem se voluit petram,
nostris igniculis unde genus venit.
Pinguis quos olei rore madentibus
lychnis aut facibus pascimus aridis:
quin et fila favis scirpea floreis
presso melle prius conlita fingimus.
Vivax flamma viget, seu cava testula
sucum linteolo suggerit ebrio,
seu pinus piceam fert alimoniam,
seu ceram teretem stuppa calens bibit.
Nectar de liquido vertice fervidum
guttatim lacrimis stillat olentibus,
ambustum quoniam vis facit ignea
imbrem de madido flere cacumine.
Splendent ergo tuis muneribus, Pater,
flammis mobilibus scilicet atria,
absentemque diem lux agit aemula,
quam nox cum lacero victa fugit peplo.
Sed quis non rapidi luminis arduam
manantemque Deo cernat originem?
Moyses nempe Deum spinifera in rubo
vidit conspicuo lumine flammeum.
Felix, qui meruit sentibus in sacris
caelestis solii visere principem,
iussus nexa pedum vincula solvere,
ne sanctum involucris pollueret locum.
Hunc ignem populus sanguinis incliti
maiorum meritis tutus et inpotens,
suetus sub dominis vivere barbaris,
iam liber sequitur longa per avia:
qua gressum tulerant castraque caerulae
noctis per medium concita moverant,
plebem pervigilem fulgure praevio
ducebat radius sole micantior.
Sed rex Niliaci littoris invido
fervens felle iubet praevalidam manum
in bellum rapidis ire cohortibus
ferratasque acies clangere classicum.
Sumunt arma viri seque minacibus
accingunt gladiis, triste canit tuba:
hic fidit iaculis, ille volantia
praefigit calamis spicula Gnosiis.
Densetur cuneis turba pedestribus,
currus pars et equos et volucres rotas
conscendunt celeres signaque bellica
praetendunt tumidis clara draconibus.
Hic iam servitii nescia pristini
gens Pelusiacis usta vaporibus
tandem purpurei gurgitis hospita
rubris littoribus fessa resederat.
Hostis dirus adest cum duce perfido,
infert et validis praelia viribus:
Moyses porro suos in mare praecipit
constans intrepidis tendere gressibus:
praebent rupta locum stagna viantibus
riparum in faciem pervia, sistitur
circumstans vitreis unda liquoribus,
dum plebs sub bifido permeat aequore.
Pubes quin etiam decolor asperis
inritata odiis rege sub inpio
Hebraeum sitiens fundere sanguinem
audet se pelago credere concavo:
ibant praecipiti turbine percita
fluctus per medios agmina regia,
sed confusa dehinc unda revolvitur
in semet revolans gurgite confluo.
Currus tunc et equos telaque naufraga
ipsos et proceres et vaga corpora
nigrorum videas nare satellitum,
arcis iustitium triste tyrannicae.
Quae tandem poterit lingua retexere
laudes Christe tuas? qui domitam Pharon
plagis multimodis cedere praesuli
cogis iustitiae vindice dextera.
Qui pontum rapidis aestibus invium
persultare vetas, ut refluo in salo
securus pateat te duce transitus,
et mox unda rapax devoret inpios.
Cui ieiuna eremi saxa loquacibus
exundant scatebris, et latices novos
fundit scissa silex, quae sitientibus
dat potum populis axe sub igneo.
Instar fellis aqua tristifico in lacu
fit ligni venia mel velut Atticum:
lignum est, quo sapiunt aspera dulcius;
uam praefixa cruci spes hominum viget.
Inplet castra cibus tunc quoque ninguidus,
inlabens gelida grandine densius:
his mensas epulis, hac dape construunt,
quam dat sidereo Christus ab aethere.
Nec non imbrifero ventus anhelitu
crassa nube leves invehit alites,
quae conflata in humum, cum semel agmina
fluxerunt, reduci non revolant fuga.
Haec olim patribus praemia contulit
insignis pietas numinis unici,
cuius subsidio nos quoque vescimur
pascentes dapibus pectora mysticis.
Fessos ille vocat per freta seculi
discissis populum turbinibus regens
iactatasque animas mille laboribus
iustorum in patriam scandere praecipit.
Illic purpureis tecta rosariis
omnis fragrat humus calthaque pinguia
et molles violas et tenues crocos
fundit fonticulis uda fugacibus.
Illic et gracili balsama surculo
desudata fluunt, raraque cinnama
spirant et folium, fonte quod abdito
praelambens fluvius portat in exitum.
Felices animae prata per herbida
concentu parili suave sonantibus
hymnorum modulis dulce canunt melos,
calcant et pedibus lilia candidis.
Sunt et spiritibus saepe nocentibus
paenarum celebres sub Styge feriae
illa nocte, sacer qua rediit Deus
stagnis ad superos ex Acheronticis.
Non sicut tenebras de face fulgida
surgens oceano Lucifer inbuit,
sed terris Domini de cruce tristibus
maior sole novum restituens diem.
Marcent suppliciis tartara mitibus,
exultatque sui carceris otio
functorum populus liber ab ignibus,
nec fervent solito flumina sulphure.
Nos festis trahimus per pia gaudia
noctem conciliis votaque prospera
certatim vigili congerimus prece
extructoque agimus liba sacrario.
Pendent mobilibus lumina funibus,
quae suffixa micant per laquearia,
et de languidulis fota natatibus
lucem perspicuo flamma iacit vitro.
Credas stelligeram desuper aream
ornatam geminis stare trionibus,
et qua bosporeum temo regit iugum,
passim purpureos spargier hesperos.
O res digna, Pater, quam tibi roscidae
noctis principio grex tuus offerat,
lucem, qua tribuis nil pretiosius,
lucem, qua reliqua praemia cernimus.
Tu lux vera oculis, lux quoque sensibus,
intus tu speculum, tu speculum foris,
lumen, quod famulans offero, suscipe,
tinctum pacifici chrismatis unguine.
Per Christum genitum, summe Pater, tuum,
in quo visibilis stat tibi gloria,
qui noster Dominus, qui tuus unicus
spirat de patrio corde paraclitum.
Per quem splendor, honos, laus, sapientia,
maiestas, bonitas, et pietas tua
regnum continuat numine triplici
texens perpetuis secula seculis.
Blest Lord, Creator of the glowing light,
At Whose behest the hours successive move,
The sun has set: black darkness broods above:
Christ! light Thy faithful through the coming night.
Thy courts are lit with stars unnumberèd,
And in the cloudless vault the pale moon rides;
Yet Thou dost bid us seek the fire that hides
Till swift we strike it from its flinty bed.
So man may learn that in Christ's body came
The hidden hope of light to mortals given:
He is the Rock--'tis His own word--that riven
Sends forth to all our race the eternal flame.
From lamps that brim with rich and fragrant oil,
Or torches dry this heaven-sent fire we feed;
Or make us rushlights from the flowering reed
And wax, whereon the bees have spent their toil.
Bright glows the light, whether the resin thick
Of pine-brand flares, or waxen tapers burn
With melting radiance, or the hollow urn
Yields its stored sweetness to the thirsty wick.
Beneath the might of fire, in slow decay
The scented tears of glowing nectar fall;
Lower and lower droops the candle tall
And ever dwindling weeps itself away.
So by Thy gifts, great Father, hearth and hall
Are all ablaze with points of twinkling light
That vie with daylight spent; and vanquished Night
Rends, as she flies away, her sable pall.
Who knoweth not that from high Heaven first came
Our light, from God Himself the rushing fire?
For Moses erst, amid the prickly brier,
Saw God made manifest in lambent flame.
Ah, happy he! deemed worthy face to face
To see heaven's Lord within that sacred brake;
Bidden the sandals from his feet to take,
Nor with his shoon defile that holy place.
The mighty children of the chosen name,
Saved by the merits of their sires, and free
After long years of savage tyranny,
Through the drear desert followed still that flame.
Striking their camp beneath the silent night
Where'er they went, to lead their darkling way,
The cloud of glory lent its guiding ray
And shone more splendid than the noonday light.
Calls his great host to battle for their lord:
Swiftly the cohorts gather at his word,
And down the mail-clad lines the clarions ring.
Girding their trusty swords the warriors go
To fill the ranks; hoarse bugles rend the air;
These seize their massy javelins, these prepare
The death-winged arrow and the Cretan bow.
The footmen throng in close battalions pressed;
The chariots thunder; to the saddle spring
The riders of the Nile, as forth they fling
And now, forgetful of the bondage past,
Thy children, tortured by the desert heat,
Drag to the Red Sea's brink their weary feet,
And on its sandy margin rest at last.
See! with their forsworn king the savage foe
Draws nigh: the threatening squadrons nearer ride;
But ever onward urged the intrepid guide
And through the waves bade Israel fearless go.
Before that steadfast march the billows fall,
Then raise on either hand their crystal mass,
While through the sundered deep Thy people pass
And ocean guards them with a liquid wall.
But, mad with baffled rage, the dusky horde
Athirst the hated Hebrews' blood to shed
Pursued, all reckless of the o'er-arching flood.
Swift as the wind the royal squadrons ride,
But swifter yet the crystal barriers break,
The waves exultantly their bounds forsake
And roll together in a roaring tide.
'Mid steeds and chariots and drifting mail
With all their swart retainers 'neath the wave;
And in their haughty courts the mourners wail.
What tongue, O Christ, Thy glories can unfold?
Thine was the arm, outstretched in wrath, that made
The stricken land of Pharaoh, sore afraid,
Bow down before Thy minister of old.
Thy pathless deep did at the voice restrain
Its surging billows, till with Thee for guide
Thy host passed scathless, and the refluent tide
Swept down the wicked to the engulfing main.
At Thy command the desert, parched and dry,
Breaks into laughing rills, and water clear
Wells from the smitten rock Thy flock to cheer
And quench their thirst beneath that brazen sky.
Then Marah's bitterness grew passing sweet,
Touched by the mystic tree; so by the grace
Of Thine own Tree, O Christ, our sinful race
Regains its lost hopes at Thy piercèd feet.
Faster than icy hail the manna falls,
Like snow down drifting from a wintry sky;
The feast is set: they heap the tables high
With that rich food from Thy celestial halls.
Fresh blow the breezes from the distant shore
And bear a fluttering cloud that hides the light,
Till the frail pinions, faltering in their flight,
Sink in the wilderness to rise no more.
How great the love of God's own Son, that shed
Such wondrous bounty on His chosen race!
And still to us He proffers in His grace
The mystic Feast, wherewith our souls are fed.
Through the world's raging sea He bids us come,
And 'twixt the sundered billows guides our path,
Till, spent and wearied with the ocean's wrath,
He calls His storm-tossed saints to Heaven and home.
There in His paradise red roses blow,
With golden daffodils and lilies pale
And gentle violets, and down the vale
The murmuring rivulets for ever flow.
Sweet balsams, welling from the slender tree,
And precious spices fill the fragrant air,
And, hiding by the stream, that blossom rare
Whose leaves the river hurries to the sea.
There the blest souls with one accord unite
To hymn in dulcet song their Saviour's praise,
And as the chanting quire their voices raise
They tread with shining feet the lilies bright.
Yea, e'en the spirits of the lost, that dwell
Where the black stream of sullen Acheron flows,
Rest on that holy night when Christ arose,
And for a while 'tis holiday in Hell.
No sun from ocean rising drives away
Their darkness, with his flaming shafts far-hurled,
But from the cross of Christ o'er that wan world
There streams the radiance of a new-born day.
The sulphurous floods with lessened fury glow,
The aching limbs find respite from their pain,
While, in glad freedom from the galling chain,
The tortured ghosts a short-lived solace know.
In holy gladness let this night be sped,
As here we gather, Lord, to watch and pray;
To Thee with one consent our vows we pay
And on Thy altar set the sacred Bread.
From pendent chains the lamps of crystal blaze;
By fragrant oil sustained the clear flame glows
With strength undimmed, and through the darkness throws
High o'er the fretted roof a golden haze,
As 'twere Heaven's starry floor our wondering eye
Beheld, wherein the Bears their light display,
Where Phosphor heralds the approach of day
And Hesper's radiance floods the evening sky.
Meet is the gift we offer here to Thee,
Father of all, as falls the dewy night;
Thine own most precious gift we bring--the light
Whereby mankind Thy other bounties see.
Thou art the Light indeed; on our dull eyes
And on our inmost souls Thy rays are poured;
To Thee we light our lamps: receive them, Lord,
Filled with the oil of peace and sacrifice.
O hear us, Father, through Thine only Son,
Our Lord and Saviour, by Whose love bequeathed
The Paraclete upon our hearts has breathed,
With Him and Thee through endless ages one.
Through Christ Thy Kingdom shall for ever be,
Thy grace, might, wisdom, glory ever shine,
As in the Triune majesty benign
He reigns for all eternity with Thee.
Ades Pater supreme,
quem nemo vidit unquam,
Patrisque sermo Christe,
et Spiritus benigne.
O Trinitatis huius
vis una, lumen unum,
Deus ex Deo perennis,
Deus ex utroque missus.
Fluxit labor diei,
redit et quietis hora,
blandus sopor vicissim
fessos relaxat artus.
Mens aestuans procellis
curisque sauciata
totis bibit medullis
obliviale poclum.
Serpit per omne corpus
Lethaea vis, nec ullum
miseris doloris aegri
patitur manere sensum.
Lex haec data est caducis
Deo iubente membris,
ut temperet laborem
medicabilis voluptas.
Sed dum pererrat omnes
quies amica venas,
pectusque feriatum
placat rigante somno:
Liber vagat per auras
rapido vigore sensus,
variasque per figuras,
quae sunt operta, cernit.
Quia mens soluta curis,
cui est origo caelum,
purusque fons ab aethra
iners iacere nescit.
Imitata multiformes
facies sibi ipsa fingit,
per quas repente currens
tenui fruatur actu.
Sed sensa somniantum
dispar fatigat horror,
nunc splendor intererrat
qui dat futura nosse.
Plerumque dissipatis
mendax imago veris
animos pavore maestos
ambage fallit atra.
Quem rara culpa morum
non polluit frequenter,
nunc lux serena vibrans
res edocet latentes.
At qui coinquinatum
vitiis cor inpiavit,
lusus pavore multo
species videt tremendas.
Hoc patriarcha noster
sub carceris catena
geminis simul ministris
interpres adprobavit.
Quorum reversus unus
dat poculum tyranno,
ast alterum rapaces
fixum vorant volucres.
Ipsum deinde regem
perplexa somniantem
monuit famem futuram
clausis cavere acervis.
Mox praesul ac tetrarches
regnum per omne iussus
sociam tenere virgam
dominae resedit aulae.
O quam profunda iustis
arcana per soporem
aperit tuenda Christus,
quam clara! quam tacenda!
Evangelista summi
fidissimus magistri
signata quae latebant
nebulis videt remotis:
ipsum tonantis agnum
de caede purpurantem,
qui conscium futuri
librum resignat unus.
Huius manum potentem
gladius perarmat anceps
et fulgurans utrimque
duplicem minatur ictum.
Quaesitor ille solus
animaeque corporisque
ensisque bis timendus
prima ac secunda mors est.
idem tamen benignus
ultor retundit iram
paucosque non piorum
patitur perire in aevum.
Huic inclitus perenne
tribuit Pater tribunal,
hunc obtinere iussit
nomen supra omne nomen.
Hic praepotens cruenti
extinctor antichristi,
qui de furente monstro
pulchrum refert tropaeum.
Quam bestiam capacem
populosque devorantem,
quam sanguinis charybdem
Ioannis execratur.
Haec nempe, quae sacratum
praeferre nomen ausa est,
imam petit gehennam
Christo perempta vero.
Tali sopore iustus
mentem relaxat heros,
ut spiritu sagaci
caelum peragret omne.
Nos nil meremur horum,
quos creber inplet error,
concreta quos malarum
vitiat cupido rerum.
Sat est quiete dulci
fessum fovere corpus:
sat, si nihil sinistrum
vanae minentur umbrae.
Cultor Dei memento
te fontis et lavacri
rorem subisse sanctum,
te chrismate innotatum.
Fac, cum vocante somno
castum petis cubile,
frontem locumque cordis
crucis figura signet.
Crux pellit omne crimen,
fugiunt crucem tenebrae:
tali dicata signo
mens fluctuare nescit.
Procul, o procul vagantum
portenta somniorum,
procul esto pervicaci
praestigiator astu!
O tortuose serpens,
qui mille per Maeandros
fraudesque flexuosas
agitas quieta corda,
Discede, Christus hic est,
hic Christus est, liquesce:
signum quod ipse nosti
damnat tuam catervam.
Corpus licet fatiscens
iaceat recline paullum,
Christum tamen sub ipso
meditabimur sopore.
Draw near, Almighty Father,
Ne'er seen by mortal eye;
Come, O Thou Word eternal,
O Spirit blest, be nigh.
One light of threefold Godhead,
One power that all transcends;
God is of God begotten,
And God from both descends.
The hour of rest approaches,
The toils of day are past,
And o'er our tired bodies
Sleep's gentle charm is cast.
The mind, by cares tormented
Amid life's storm and stress,
Drinks deep the wondrous potion
That brings forgetfulness.
O'er weary, toil-worn mortals
The spells of Lethe steal;
Sad hearts lose all their sorrow,
Nor pain nor anguish feel.
For to His frail creation
God gave this law to keep,
That labour should be lightened
By soft and healing sleep.
But while sweet languor wanders
Through all the pulsing veins,
And, wrapt in dewy slumber,
The heart at rest remains,
The soul, in wakeful vigour,
Aloft in freedom flies,
And sees in many a semblance
The hidden mysteries.
For, freed from care, the spirit
That came from out the sky,
Born of the stainless aether,
Can never idle lie.
A thousand changing phantoms
She fashions through the night,
And 'midst a world of fancy
Pursues her rapid flight.
But divers are the visions
That night to dreamers shows;
Rare gleams of straying splendour
The future may disclose;
More oft the truth is darkened,
And lying fantasy
Deceives the affrighted sleeper
With cunning treachery.
To him whose life is holy
The things that are concealed
Lie open to his spirit
In radiant light revealed;
But he whose heart is blackened,
With many a sin imbued,
Sees phantoms grim and ghastly
That beckon and delude.
The patriarch of old
Unto the king's two servants
Their fateful visions told:
And one is brought from prison
The monarch's wine to pour,
One, on the gibbet hanging,
Foul birds of prey devour,
He warned the king, distracted
By riddles of the night,
To hoard the plenteous harvests
Against the years of blight.
Soon, lord of half a kingdom,
A mighty potentate,
He shares the royal sceptre
And dwells in princely state.
But ah! how deep the secrets
The holy sleeper sees
To whom Christ shows His highest,
Most sacred mysteries.
For God's most faithful servant
The clouds were rolled away,
And John beheld the wonders
That sealed from mortals lay.
The Lamb of God, encrimsoned
With sacrificial stains,
Alone the Book can open
That destiny contains.
By His strong hand is wielded
A keen, two-edgèd brand
That, flashing like the lightning,
Smites swift on either hand.
Before His bar of judgment
Both soul and body lie;
He whom that dread sword smiteth
The second death shall die.
Yet mercy tempers justice,
And few the Avenger sends
(Whose guilt is past all pardon)
To death that never ends.
To Him the Father yieldeth
The judgment-seat of Heaven;
To Him a Name excelling
All other names is given.
For by His strength transcendent
Shall Antichrist be slain,
And from that raging monster
Fair trophies shall He gain:
That all-devouring Dragon,
With blood of martyrs red,
On whose abhorrèd power
John's solemn curse is laid.
And thus the proud usurper
Of His high name is cast
By Him, the true Christ, vanquished
To deepest hell at last.
Upon the saint heroic
Such wondrous slumber falls
That, in the spirit roaming,
He treads heaven's highest halls.
We may not, in our weakness,
To dreams like these aspire,
Whose souls are steeped in error
And evil things desire.
Enough, if weary bodies
In peaceful sleep may rest;
Enough, if no dark powers
Our slumbering souls molest.
Christian! the font remember,
The sacramental vow,
The holy water sprinkled,
The oil that marked thy brow!
When at sleep's call thou seekest
To rest in slumber chaste,
Let first the sacred emblem
On breast and brow be traced.
The Cross dispels all darkness,
All sin before it flies,
And by that sign protected
The mind all fear defies.
Avaunt! ye fleeting phantoms
That mock our midnight hours;
Avaunt! thou great Deceiver
With all thy guileful powers.
Thou Serpent, old and crafty,
Who by a thousand arts
And manifold temptations
Dost vex our sleeping hearts,
Vanish! for Christ is with us;
Away! 'tis Christ the Lord:
The sign thou must acknowledge
Condemns thy hellish horde.
And, though the weary body
Relaxed in sleep may be,
Our hearts, Lord, e'en in slumber,
Shall meditate on Thee.
O Nazarene, lux Bethlem, verbum Patris,
quem partus alvi virginalis protulit,
adesto castis Christe parsimoniis,
festumque nostrum rex serenus adspice,
ieiuniorum dum litamus victimam.
Nil hoc profecto purius mysterio,
quo fibra cordis expiatur uvidi,
intemperata quo domantur viscera,
arvina putrem ne resudans crapulam
obstrangulatae mentis ingenium premat.
Hinc subiugatur luxus et turpis gula,
vini atque somni degener socordia,
libido sordens, inverecundus lepos,
variaeque pestes languidorum sensuum
parcam subactae disciplinam sentiunt.
Nam si licenter diffluens potu et cibo
ieiuna rite membra non coerceas,
sequitur frequenti marcida oblectamine
scintilla mentis ut tepescat nobilis,
animusque pigris stertat in praecordiis.
Frenentur ergo corporum cupidines,
detersa et intus emicet prudentia:
sic excitato perspicax acumine
liberque flatu laxiore spiritus
rerum parentem rectius precabitur.
Elia tali crevit observantia,
vetus sacerdos, ruris hospes aridi:
fragore ab omni quem remotum et segregem
sprevisse tradunt criminum frequentiam,
casto fruentem syrtium silentio.
Sed mox in auras igneis iugalibus
curruque raptus evolavit praepete,
ne de propinquo sordium contagio
dirus quietum mundus adflaret virum,
olim probatis inclitum ieiuniis.
Non ante caeli principem septemplicis
Moyses tremendi fidus interpres throni
potuit videre, quam decem recursibus
quater volutis sol peragrans sidera
omni carentem cerneret substantia.
Victus precanti solus in lacrimis fuit:
nam flendo pernox inrigatum pulverem
humi madentis ore pressit cernuo,
donec loquentis voce praestrictus Dei
expavit ignem non ferendum visibus.
Ioannis huius artis hand minus potens,
Dei perennis praecucurrit filium,
curvos viarum qui retorsit tramites
et flexuosa conrigens dispendia
dedit sequendam calle recto lineam.
Hanc obsequelam praeparabat nuntius
mox adfuturo construens iter Deo,
clivosa planis, confragosa ut lenibus
converterentur, neve quidquam devium
inlapsa terris inveniret veritas.
Non usitatis ortus his natalibus
oblita lactis iam vieto in pectore
matris tetendit serus infans ubera:
nec ante partu de senili effusus est,
quam praedicaret virginem plenam Deo.
Post in patentes ille solitudines
amictus hirtis bestiarum pellibus
setisve tectus hispida et lanugine
secessit, horrens inquinari et pollui
contaminatis oppidorum moribus.
Illic dicata parcus abstinentia
potum cibumque vir severae industriae
in usque serum respuebat vesperum,
parvum locustis et favorum agrestium
liquore pastum corpori suetus dare.
Hortator ille primus et doctor novae
fuit salutis, nam sacrato in flumine
veterum piatas lavit errorum notas:
sed tincta postquam membra defaecaverat,
caelo refulgens influebat spiritus.
Hoc ex lavacro labe dempta criminum
ibant renati non secus, quam si rudis
auri recocta vena pulchrum splendeat,
micet metalli sive lux argentei,
sudum polito praenitens purgamine.
Referre prisci stemma mine ieiunii
libet fideli proditum volumine,
ut diruendae civitatis incolis
fulmen benigni mansuefactum Patris
pie repressis ignibus pepercerit.
Gens insolenti praepotens iactantia
pollebat olim, quam fluentem nequiter
conrupta vulgo solverat lascivia,
et inde bruto contumax fastidio
cultum superni negligebat numinis.
Offensa tandem iugis indulgentiae
censura iustis excitatur motibus,
dextram perarmat rhompheali incendio
nimbos crepantes et fragosos turbines
vibrans tonantum nube flammarum quatit.
Sed paenitendi dum datur diecula,
si forte vellent inprobam libidinem
veteresque nugas condomare ac frangere,
suspendit ictum terror exorabilis
paullumque dicta substitit sententia.
Ionam prophetam mitis ultor excitat,
paenae inminentis iret ut praenuntius,
sed nosset ille qui minacem iudicem
servare malle, quam ferire ac plectere,
tectam latenter vertit in Tharsos fugam.
Celsam paratis pontibus scandit ratem,
udo revincta fune puppis solvitur,
itur per altum, fit procellosum mare:
tum causa tanti quaeritur periculi,
sors in fugacem missa vatem decidit.
Iussus perire solus e cunctis reus,
cuius voluta crimen urna expresserat,
praeceps rotatur et profundo inmergitur:
exceptus inde beluinis faucibus
alvi capacis vivus hauritur specu.
Intactus exin tertiae noctis vice
monstri vomentis pellitur singultibus,
qua murmuranti fine fluctus frangitur,
salsosque candens spuma tundit pumices,
ructatus exit seque servatum stupet.
In Ninivitas se coactus percito
gressu reflectit, quos ut increpaverat
pudenda censor inputans opprobria;
Inpendet, inquit, ira summi vindicis,
urbemque flamma mox cremabit, credite.
Apicem deinceps ardui montis petit
visurus inde conglobatum turbidae
fumum ruinae cladis et dirae struem,
tectus flagellis multinodis germinis,
nato et repente perfruens umbraculo.
Sed maesta postquam civitas vulnus novi
hausit doloris, heu supremum palpitat:
cursant per ampla congregatim moenia
plebs et senatus, omnis aetas civium,
pallens iuventus, eiulantes feminae.
Placet frementem publicis ieiuniis
placare Christum, mos edendi spernitur,
glaucos amictus induit monilibus
matrona demptis, proque gemma et serico
crinem fluentem sordidus spargit cinis.
Squalent recincta veste bullati patres,
setasque plangens turba sumit textiles,
inpexa villis virgo bestialibus
nigrante vultum contegit velamine,
iacens arenis et puer provolvitur.
Rex ipse Coos aestuantem murices
laenam revulsa dissipabat fibula,
gemmas virentes et lapillos sutiles,
insigne frontis exuebat vinculum
turpi capillos inpeditus pulvere.
Nullus bibendi, nemo vescendi memor,
ieiuna mensas pubis omnis liquerat,
quin et negato lacte vagientium
sucum papillae parca nutrix derogat.
Greges et ipsos claudit armentalium
sollers virorum cura, ne vagum pecus
contingat ore rorulenta gramina,
potum strepentis neve fontis hauriant,
vacuis querelae personant praesepibus.
Mollitus his et talibus brevem Deus
iram refrenat temperans oraculum
prosper sinistrum, prona nam clementia
haud difficulter supplicem mortalium
solvit reatum fitque fautrix flentium.
Sed cur vetustae gentis exemplum oquor?
pridem caducis cum gravatus artubus
Iesus dicato corde ieiunaverit,
praenuncupatus ore qui prophetico
Emanuel est, sive NOBISCUM DEUS.
Qui corpus istud molle naturaliter
captumque laxo sub voluptatum iugo
virtutis arta lege fecit liberum:
emancipator servientis plasmatis
regnantis ante victor et cupidinis.
Inhospitali namque secretus loco
quinis diebus octies labentibus
nullam ciborum vindicavit gratiam,
firmans salubri scilicet ieiunio
vas adpetendis inbecillum gaudiis.
Miratus hostis posse limum tabidum
tantum laboris sustinere ac perpeti,
explorat arte sciscitator callida,
Deusne membris sit receptus terreis,
sed increpata fraude post tergum ruit.
Hoc nos sequamur quisque nunc pro viribus,
quod consecrati tu magister dogmatis
tuis dedisti Christe sectatoribus,
ut, cum vorandi vicerit libidinem,
late triumphet inperator spiritus.
Hoc est, quod atri livor hostis invidet,
mundi polique quod gubernator probat,
altaris aram quod facit placabilem,
quod dormientis excitat cordis fidem,
quod limat aegram pectoris rubiginem.
Perfusa non sic amne flamma extinguitur,
ut turbidarum scabra culparum seges
vanescit almo trita sub ieiunio,
si blanda semper misceatur largitas.
Est quippe et illud grande virtutis genus
operire nudos, indigentes pascere,
opem benignam ferre supplicantibus,
unam paremque sortis humanae vicem
inter potentes atque egenos ducere.
Satis beatus quisque dextram porrigit,
laudis rapacem, prodigam pecuniae,
cuius sinistra dulce factum nesciat:
illum perennes protinus conplent opes,
ditatque fructus faenerantem centuplex.
Thou offspring of a Virgin's womb,
Be present at our frugal board;
Accept our fast, our sacrifice,
And smile upon us, gracious Lord.
For by this holiest mystery
The inward parts are cleansed from stain,
And, taming all the unbridled lusts,
Our sinful flesh we thus restrain,
Lest gluttony and drunkenness
Should choke the soul and cloud the brain.
Hence appetite and luxury
Are forced their empire to resign;
The wanton sport, the jest obscene,
The ignoble sway of sleep and wine,
And all the plagues of languid sense
Feel the strict bonds of discipline.
For if, full fed with meat and drink,
The flesh thou ne'er dost mortify,
The mind, that spark of sacred flame,
By pleasure dulled, must fail and die,
And pent in its gross prison-house
The soul in shameful torpor lie.
So be thy carnal lusts controlled,
So be thy judgment clear and bright;
Then shall thy spirit, swift and free,
Be gifted with a keener sight,
And breathing in an ampler air
To the All-Father pray aright.
Elias by such abstinence,
Seer of the desert, grew in grace,
Who left the madding haunts of men
And found a peaceful resting-place,
Where, far from sinful crowds, he trod
The pure and silent wilderness.
Till by those fiery coursers drawn
The swift car bore him through the air,
Lest earth's defiling touch should mar
The holiness it might not share,
Or some polluting breath disturb
The peace attained by fast and prayer.
Moses, through whom from His dread throne
The will of God to man was told,
No food might touch till through the sky
The sun full forty times had rolled,
Ere God before him stood revealed,
Lord of the heavens sevenfold.
Tears were his meat, while bent in prayer
Through the long night he bowed his head
E'en to the thirsty dust, that drank
The drops in bitter weeping shed;
Till, at God's call, he saw the flame
No eye may bear, and was afraid.
The Baptist, too, was strong in fast--
Forerunner in a later day
Of God's Eternal Son--who made
The byepaths plain, the crooked way
A road direct, wherein His feet
Might travel on without delay.
This was the messenger's great task
Who for God's advent zealously
Prepared the way, the rough made smooth,
The mountain levelled to the sea;
That, when Truth came from heaven to earth,
All fair and straight His path should be.
He was not born in common wise,
For dry and wrinkled was the breast
Of her that bare him late in years,
Nor found she from her labour rest,
Till she had hailed with lips inspired
The Maid with unborn Godhead blest.
For him the hairy skins of beasts
Furnished a raiment rude and wild,
As forth into the lonely waste
He fared, an unbefriended child,
Who dwelt apart, lest he should be
By evil city-life defiled.
There, vowed to abstinence, he grew
To manhood, and with stern disdain
He turned from meat and drink, until
He saw night's shadow fall again;
And locusts and the wild bees' store
Sufficed his vigour to sustain.
The first was he to testify
Of that new life which man might win;
In Jordan's consecrating stream
He purged the stains of ancient sin,
And, as he made the body clean,
The radiant Spirit entered in.
Forth from the holy tide they came
Reborn, from guilt's pollution free,
As bright from out the cleansing fire
Flows the rough gold, or as we see
The glittering silver, purged of dross,
Flash into polished purity.
Now let us tell, from Holy Writ,
Of olden fasts the fairest crown;
How God in pity stayed His hand,
And spared a doomed and guilty town,
In clemency the flames withheld
And laid His vengeful lightnings down.
A mighty race of ancient time
Waxed arrogant in boastful pride;
Debauched were they, and borne along
On foul corruption's loathsome tide,
Till in their stiff-necked self-conceit
They e'en the God of Heaven denied.
At last Eternal Mercy turns
To righteous judgment, swift and dire;
He shakes the clouds; the mighty sword
Flames in His hand, and in His ire
He wields the roaring hurricane
'Mid murky gloom and flashing fire.
Yet in His clemency He grants
To penitence a brief delay,
That they might burst the bonds of lust
And put their vanities away;
His sentence given, He waits awhile
And stays the hand upraised to slay.
To warn them of the wrath to come
The Avenger in His mercy sent
Jonah the seer; but,--though he knew
The threatening Judge would fain relent
Nor wished to strike,--towards Tarshish town
The prophet's furtive course was bent.
As up the galley's side he climbed,
They loosed the dripping rope, and passed
The harbour bar: then on them burst
The sudden fury of the blast;
And when their peril's cause they sought,
The lot was on the recreant cast.
The man whose guilt the urn declares
Alone must die, the rest to save;
Hurled headlong from the deck, he falls
And sinks beneath the engulfing wave,
Then, seized by monstrous jaws, is plunged
Into a vast and living grave.
At last the monster hurls him forth,
As the third night had rolled away;
Before its roar the billows break
And lash the cliffs with briny spray;
Unhurt the wondering prophet stands
And hails the unexpected day.
Thus turned again to duty's path
To Nineveh he swiftly came,
Their lusts rebuked and boldly preached
God's judgment on their sin and shame;
"Believe!" he cried, "the Judge draws nigh
Whose wrath shall wrap your streets in flame."
Thence to the lofty mount withdrew,
Where he might watch the smoke-cloud lower
O'er blasted homes and ruined halls,
And rest beneath the shady bower
Upspringing in swift luxury
Of twining tendril, leaf and flower.
But when the guilty burghers heard
The impending doom, a dull despair
Possessed their souls; proud senators,
Poor craftsmen, throng the highways fair;
Pale youth with tottering age unites,
And women's wailing rends the air.
A public fast they now decree,
If they may thus Christ's anger stay:
No food they touch: each haughty dame
Puts silken robes and gems away,
In sable garbed, and ashes casts
Upon her tresses' disarray.
In dark and squalid vesture clad
The Fathers go: the mourning crowd
Dons rough attire: in shaggy skins
Enwrapped, fair maids their faces shroud
With dusky veils, and boyish heads
E'en to the very dust are bowed.
And rends the robe of Coan hue;
Bright emeralds and lustrous pearls
Are flung aside, and ashes strew
The royal head, discrowned and bent,
As low he kneels God's grace to sue.
None thought to drink, none thought to eat;
All from the table turned aside,
And in their cradles wet with tears
Starved babes in bitter anguish cried,
For e'en the foster-mother stern
To little lips the breast denied.
The very flocks are closely penned
By careful hands, lest they should gain
Sweet water from the babbling stream
Or wandering crop the dewy plain;
And bleating sheep and lowing kine
Within their barren stalls complain.
Moved by such penitence, full soon
God's grace repealed the stern decree
And curbed His righteous wrath; for aye,
When man repents, His clemency
Is swift to pardon and to hear
His children weeping bitterly.
Yet wherefore of that bygone race
Should we anew the story tell?
For Christ's pure soul by fasting long
The clogging bonds of flesh did quell;
He Whom the prophet's voice foretold
As GOD WITH US, Emmanuel.
Man's body--frail by nature's law
And bound by pleasure's easy chain--
He freed by virtue's strong restraint,
And gave it liberty again:
He broke the bonds of flesh, and Lust
Was driven from his old domain.
Deep in the inhospitable wild
For forty days He dwelt alone
Nor tasted food, till, thus prepared,
All human weakness overthrown
By fasting's power, His mortal frame
Rejoiced the spirit's sway to own.
The Adversary, marvelling
To see this creature of a day
Endure such toil, spent all his guile
To learn if God in human clay
Had come indeed; but soon rebuked
Behind His back fled shamed away.
Therefore let each with all his might
Follow the way the Master taught,
The law of consecrated life
Which Christ unto His servants brought;
Till, with the lusts of flesh subdued,
The spirit reigns o'er act and thought.
'Tis this our jealous foe abhors,
'Tis this the Lord of earth and sky
Approves; by this the soul is made
Thy holy altar, God Most High:
Faith stirs within the slumbering heart
And sin's corroding power must fly.
Swifter than water quenches fire,
Swifter than sunshine melts the snow,
Crushed out by soul-restoring fast
Vanish the sins that rankly grow,
If hand in hand with Abstinence
Sweet Charity doth ever go.
This too is Virtue's noble task,
To clothe the naked, and to feed
The destitute, with kindly care
To visit sufferers in their need;
For king and beggar each must bear
The lot by changeless Fate decreed.
Happy the man whose good right hand
Seeks but God's praise, and flings his gold
Broadcast, nor lets his left hand know
The gracious deed; for wealth untold
Shall crown him through eternal years
With usury an hundredfold.
Christe servorum regimen tuorum,
mollibus qui nos moderans habenis
leniter frenas facilique septos
lege coerces:
ipse cum portans onus inpeditum
corporis duros tuleris labores,
maior exemplis famulos remisso
dogmate palpas.
Nona submissum rotat hora solem
partibus vixdum tribus evolutis,
quarta devexo superest in axe
portio lucis.
Nos brevis voti dape vindicata
solvimus festum fruimurque mensis
adfatim plenis, quibus inbuatur
prona voluptas.
Tantus aeterni favor est magistri,
doctor indulgens ita nos amico
lactat hortatu, levis obsequela ut
mulceat artus.
Addit et, ne quis velit invenusto
sordidus cultu lacerare frontem,
sed decus vultus capitisque pexum
comat honorem.
Terge ieiunans, ait, omne corpus,
neve subducto faciem rubore
luteus tinguat color aut notetur
pallor in ore.
Rectius laeto tegimus pudore,
quidquid ad cultum Patris exhibemus:
cernit occultum Deus et latentem
munere donat.
Ille ovem morbo residem gregique
perditam sano male dissipantem
vellus adfixis vepribus per hirtae
devia silvae.
Inpiger pastor revocat lupisque
gestat exclusis humeros gravatus,
inde purgatam revehens aprico
reddit ovili:
Reddit et pratis viridique campo,
vibrat inpexis ubi nulla lappis
spina, nec germen sudibus perarmat
carduus horrens:
Sed frequens palmis nemus et reflexa
vernat herbarum coma, tum perennis
gurgitem vivis vitreum fluentis
laurus obumbrat.
Hisce pro donis tibi, fide pastor,
servitus quaenam poterit rependi?
nulla conpensant pretium salutis
vota precantum.
Quamlibet spreto sine more pastu
sponte confectos tenuemus artus,
teque contemptis epulis rogemus
nocte dieque;
Vincitur semper minor obsequentum
cura, nec munus genitoris aequat,
frangit et cratem luteam laboris
grandior usus.
Ergo ne limum fragilem solutae
deserant vires et aquosus albis
humor in venis dominetur aegrum
corpus inervans,
Laxus ac liber modus abstinendi
ponitur cunctis, neque nos severus
terror inpellit, sua quemque cogit
velle potestas.
Sufficit, quidquid facias, vocato
numinis nutu prius, inchoare,
sive tu mensam renuas cibumve
sumere temptes.
Adnuit dexter Deus et secundo
prosperat vultu, velut hoc salubre
fidimus nobis fore, quod dicatas
carpimus escas.
Sit bonum, supplex precor et medelam
conferat membris, animumque pascat
sparsus in venas cibus obsecrantum
christicolarum.
O Christ, of all Thy servants Guide,
Mild is the yoke Thou mak'st us bear,
Leading us gently by Thy side
With gracious care.
Thy love took up our life's hard load
And spent in grievous toils its might:
Thy bond-slaves tread the easier road
Led by Thy light.
Nine hours have run their course away,
The sun sped three parts of its race:
And what remains of the short day
Fadeth apace.
The holy fast hath reached its end;
Our table now Thou loadest, Lord:
With all Thy gifts true gladness send
To grace our board.
Such is our Master's gentle sway,
So kind the teaching in His school,
That all find rest who will obey
His easy rule.
Thou would'st not have us scorn the grace
Of cleanliness and vesture fair:
Thou lovest not a soilèd face
And unkempt hair.
Let him that fasts, Thou saidst, be clean,
Nor lose health's fair and ruddy glow:
Let no wan sallowness be seen
Upon his brow.
'Tis better in glad modesty
Of our good works to shun display:
God sees what 'scapes our neighbour's eye
And will repay.
That Shepherd keen seeks one lost sheep
Sickly and weak, strayed from the fold,
Fleece torn with briers of thickets deep,
Foolishly bold.
He drives the wolves far from the track:
And found He brings on shoulders borne
To sunlit pen the wanderer back,
No more forlorn:
Yea, to the meads and grassy fields
The lamb restores, where no thorn balks,
No rough burrs tear, no thistle yields
Its bristling stalks:
But leaves of green herbs brightly glance
And in the grove the palm-trees dream,
And laurels shade the eddying dance
Of crystal stream.
For all these gifts, O Shepherd dear,
What service can I render Thee?
No grateful vows my debt shall clear
For love so free.
Though by self-chosen fasts severe
Our strength of limb we waste away:
Though, spurning food, we Thee revere
By night and day:
Yet our works never can o'ertake
Thy love or with Thy gifts compare:
Our toils this earthen vessel break,
The more we dare.
Therefore lest failing powers consume
Our fragile life and shrivelled veins
Pale 'neath the tyranny of rheum
And weakening pains:
Thou dost not rule perpetual Lent
For man, nor modest fare deny:
Fearless may each unto his bent
His wants supply.
Enough that all our acts by prayer
Be sanctified unto Thy will,
Whether we fast, or with due care
Our needs fulfil.
Then shall God bless us for our good
And lead us to our soul's true wealth;
For, if but consecrated, food
Shall bring us health.
O Lord, grant that our feast may spread
Marrow and strength throughout our flesh:
And may all Christly souls be fed
With vigour fresh.
Da puer plectrum, choreis ut canam fidelibus
dulce carmen et melodum, gesta Christi insignia:
hunc camena nostra solum pangat, hunc laudet lyra.
Christus est, quem rex sacerdos adfuturum protinus
infulatus concinebat voce, chorda et tympano,
spiritum caelo influentem per medullas hauriens.
Facta nos et iam probata pangimus miracula,
testis orbis est, nec ipsa terra, quod vidit, negat,
cominus Deum docendis proditum mortalibus.
Corde natus ex parentis, ante mundi exordium
alpha et _Ô_ cognominatus, ipse fons et clausula
omnium, quae sunt, fuerunt quaeque post futura sunt.
Ipse iussit et creata, dixit ipse, et facta sunt
terra, caelum, fossa ponti, trina rerum machina,
quaeque in his vigent sub alto solis et lunae globo.
Corporis formam caduci, membra morti obnoxia
induit, ne gens periret primoplasti ex germine,
merserat quam lex profundo noxialis tartaro.
O beatus ortus ille, virgo cum puerpera
edidit nostram salutem feta sancto spiritu,
et puer redemptor orbis os sacratum protulit.
Psallat altitudo  caeli, psallite omnes angeli,
quidquid est virtutis usquam psallat in laudem Dei:
nulla linguarum silescat, vox et omnis consonet.
Ecce quem vates vetustis concinebant seculis,
quem prophetarum fideles paginae spoponderant,
emicat promissus olim: cuncta conlaudent eum.
Cantharis infusa lympha fit Falernum nobile,
nuntiat vinum minister esse promptum ex hydria,
ipse rex sapore tinctis obstupescit poculis.
Membra morbis ulcerosa, viscerum putredines
mando, ut abluantur, inquit; fit ratum, quod iusserat,
turgidam cutem repurgant vulnerum piamina.
Tu perennibus tenebris iam sepulta lumina
inlinis limo salubri, sacri et oris nectare,
mox apertis hac medela lux reducta est orbibus.
Increpas ventum furentem, quod procellis tristibus
vertat aequor fundo ab imo, vexet et vagam ratem:
ille iussis obsecundat, mitis unda sternitur.
Extimum vestis sacratae furtim mulier attigit,
protinus salus secuta est, ora pallor deserit,
sistitur rivus, cruore qui fluebat perpeti.
Exitu dulcis iuventae raptum ephebum viderat,
orba quem mater supremis funerabat fletibus:
surge, dixit: ille surgit, matri et adstans redditur.
Sole iam quarto carentem, iam sepulcro absconditum
Lazarum iubet vigere reddito spiramine:
fetidum iecur reductus rursus intrat halitus.
Ambulat per stagna ponti, summa calcat fluctuum,
mobilis liquor profundi pendulam praestat viam,
nec fatiscit unda sanctis pressa sub vestigiis.
Suetus antro bustuali sub catenis frendere,
mentis inpos efferatis percitus furoribus
prosilit ruitque supplex, Christum adesse ut senserat.
Pulsa pestis lubricorum milleformis daemonum
conripit gregis suilli sordida spurcamina,
seque nigris mergit undis et pecus lymphaticum.
Quinque panibus peresis et gemellis piscibus
adfatim refecta iam sunt adcubantum milia,
fertque qualus ter quaternus ferculorum fragmina.
Tu cibus panisque noster, tu perennis suavitas;
nescit esurire in aevum, qui tuam sumit dapem,
nec lacunam ventris inplet, sed fovet vitalia.
Clausus aurium meatus et sonorum nescius
purgat ad praecepta Christi crassa quaeque obstacula,
vocibus capax fruendis ac susurris pervius.
Omnis aegritudo cedit, languor omnis pellitur,
lingua fatur, quam veterna vinxerant silentia,
gestat et suum per urbem laetus aeger lectulum.
Quin et ipsum, ne salutis inferi expertes forent,
tartarum benignus intrat, fracta cedit ianua,
vectibus cadit revulsis cardo indissolubilis.
Illa prompta ad inruentes, ad revertentes tenax,
obice extrorsum repulso porta reddit mortuos:
lege versa et limen atrum iam recalcandum patet.
Sed Deus dum luce fulva mortis antra inluminat,
dum stupentibus tenebris candidum praestat diem,
tristia squalentis aethrae palluerunt sidera.
Sol refugit et lugubri sordidus ferrugine
igneum reliquit axem seque maerens abdidit:
fertur horruisse mundus noctis aeternae chaos.
Solve vocem mens sonoram, solve linguam mobilem,
dic tropaeum passionis, dic triumphalem crucem,
pange vexillum, notatis quod refulget frontibus.
O novum caede stupenda vulneris miraculum!
hinc cruoris fluxit unda, lympha parte ex altera:
lympha nempe dat lavacrum, tum corona ex sanguine est.
Vidit anguis inmolatam corporis sacri hostiam,
vidit et fellis perusti mox venenum perdidit,
saucius dolore multo colla fractus sibilat.
Quid tibi, profane serpens, profuit, rebus novis
plasma primum perculisse versipelli hortamine?
diluit culpam recepto forma mortalis Deo.
Ad brevem se mortis usum dux salutis dedidit,
mortuos olim sepultos ut redire insuesceret,
dissolutis pristinorum vinculis peccaminum.
Tunc patres sanctique multi conditorem praevium
iam revertentem secuti tertio demum die
carnis indumenta sumunt, eque bustis prodeunt.
Cerneres coire membra de favillis aridis,
frigidum venis resumptis pulverem tepescere,
ossa, nervos, ac medullas glutino cutis tegi.
Post, ut occasum resolvit vitae et hominem reddidit,
arduum tribunal victor adscendit Patris,
inclitam caelo reportans passionis gloriam.
Macte index mortuorum, macte rex viventium,
dexter in parentis arce qui cluis virtutibus
omnium venturus inde iustus ultor criminum.
Te senes et te iuventus, parvulorum te chorus,
turba matrum virginumque simplices puellulae,
voce concordes pudicis perstrepant concentibus.
Fluminum lapsus et undae, littorum crepidines,
imber, aestus, nix, pruina, silva, et aura, nox, dies,
omnibus te concelebrent seculorum seculis.
Let me chant in sacred numbers, as I strike each sounding string,
When the king in priestly raiment sang the Christ that was to be,
While the Spirit, heaven-descended, touched his lips to prophecy.
Sing we now the works sure proven, wrought of God in mystic wise;
Of the Father's heart begotten, ere the world from chaos rose,
He is Alpha; from that Fountain all that is and hath been flows;
He is Omega, of all things yet to come the mystic Close.
By His word was all created; He commands and lo! 'tis done;
Earth and sky and boundless ocean, universe of three in one,
He assumed this mortal body, frail and feeble, doomed to die,
That the race from dust created might not perish utterly,
Every tongue His name confessing, countless voices answering.
This is He whom seer and sibyl sang in ages long gone by;
This is He of old revealèd in the page of prophecy;
In the urns the clear, cold water turns to juice of noblest vine,
To the leper worn and wasted, white with many a loathsome sore,
On the eyes long sealed in darkness, buried in unbroken night,
Wind and wave, their fury stilling, sank to calm at Thy behest.
Once a woman's timid fingers touched Thy garment's lowest braid,
And the pallor left her visage, healing power the touch conveyed,
Lazarus, who lay in darkness till three nights had passed away,
At Thy voice awoke to soundness, rising to the light of day,
As the breath his frame re-entered touched already with decay.
See, He walks upon the waters, treads the billow's rolling crest;
Rushes forth and falls adoring, when he sees that Christ is nigh.
Then the legion of foul spirits, driven from their human prey,
"Gather in twelve woven baskets all the fragments that remain:"
He hath fed the weary thousands, resting o'er the grassy plain,
Grace whereby no mortal body but the soul is nourishèd.
Sickness at His word departed, pain and pallid languor fled,
Bolt and massy hinge were shattered, adamantine portals rent.
For the door that all receiveth, but releaseth nevermore,
Opens now and, slowly turning, doth the ghosts to light restore,
Who, the eternal laws suspended, tread again its dusky floor.
In the darkened vault of heaven stars forlorn refuse their light.
For the sun in garb of mourning veiled his radiant orb and passed
Deemed that o'er a world of chaos Night's eternal pall was cast.
Now, my soul, in liquid measures let the sounding numbers flow;
Sing the trophy of His passion, sing the Cross triumphant now;
Sing the ensign of Christ's glory, marked on every faithful brow.
Ah! how wondrous was the fountain flowing from His piercèd side,
In that hour the ancient Serpent saw the holy Victim slain,
Saw, and shed his hate envenomed, all his malice spent in vain;
See! the hissing neck is broken as he writhes in sullen pain.
God hath ta'en a mortal body and hath washed the guilt away.
Breaking by His great example ancient sins' enthralling chain.
Thus, upon the third glad morning, patriarchs and saints of yore,
From forgotten graves proceeding, habited in flesh once more.
Limb to limb unites and rises from the ashes dry and cold,
Bringing back to heaven the glory by His passion made complete.
Hail! Thou Judge of souls departed: hail! of all the living King!
Now let old and young uniting chant to Thee harmonious lays,
Maid and matron hymn Thy glory, infant lips their anthem raise,
Deus ignee fons animarum,
duo qui socians elementa
vivum simul ac moribundum
hominem Pater effigiasti:
Tua sunt, tua rector utraque,
tibi copula iungitur horum,
tibi, dum vegetata cohaerent,
et spiritus et caro servit.
Rescissa sed ista seorsum
solvunt hominera perimuntque,
humus excipit arida corpus,
animae rapit aura liquorem.
Quia cuncta creata necesse est
labefacta senescere tandem,
conpactaque dissociari,
et dissona texta retexi.
Hanc tu, Deus optime, mortem
famulis abolere paratus
iter inviolabile monstras,
quo perdita membra resurgant:
Ut, dum generosa caducis
ceu carcere clausa ligantur,
pars illa potentior extet,
quae germen ab aethere traxit.
Si terrea forte voluntas
luteum sapit et grave captat,
animus quoque pondere victus
sequitur sua membra deorsum.
At si generis memor ignis
contagia pigra recuset,
vehit hospita viscera secum,
pariterque reportat ad astra.
Nam quod requiescere corpus
vacuum sine mente videmus,
spatium breve restat, ut alti
repetat conlegia sensus.
Venient cito secula, cum iam
socius calor ossa revisat
animataque sanguine vivo
habitacula pristina gestet.
Quae pigra cadavera pridem
tumulis putrefacta iacebant,
volucres rapientur in auras
animas comitata priores.
Hinc maxima cura sepulcris
inpenditur: hinc resolutos
honor ultimus accipit artus
et funeris ambitus ornat.
Candore nitentia claro
praetendere lintea mos est,
adspersaque myrrha Sabaeo
corpus medicamine servat.
Quidnam sibi saxa cavata,
quid pulchra volunt monumenta,
nisi quod res creditur illis
non mortua, sed data somno?
Hoc provida Christicolarum
pietas studet, utpote credens
fore protinus omnia viva,
quae nunc gelidus sopor urget.
Qui iacta cadavera passim
miserans tegit aggere terrae,
opus exhibet ille benignum
Christo pius omnipotenti:
Quin lex eadem monet omnes
gemitum dare sorte sub una,
cognataque funera nobis
aliena in morte dolere.
Sancti sator ille Tobiae
sacer ac venerabilis heros,
dapibus iam rite paratis
ius praetulit exequiarum.
Iam stantibus ille ministris
cyathos et fercula liquit,
studioque accinctus humandi
fleto dedit ossa sepulcro.
Veniunt mox praemia caelo
pretiumque rependitur ingens:
nam lumina nescia solis
Deus inlita felle serenat.
Iam tunc docuit Pater orbis,
quam sit rationis egenis
mordax et amara medela,
cum lux animum nova vexat.
Docuit quoque non prius ullum
caelestia cernere regna,
quam nocte et vulnere tristi
toleraverit aspera mundi.
Mors ipsa beatior inde est,
quod per cruciamina leti
via panditur ardua iustis
et ad astra doloribus itur.
Sic corpora mortificata
redeunt melioribus annis,
nec post obitum recalescens
conpago fatiscere novit.
Haec, quae modo pallida tabo
color albidus inficit ora,
tunc flore venustior omni
sanguis cute tinget amoena.
Iam nulla deinde senectus
frontis decus invida carpet,
macies neque sicca lacertos
suco tenuabit adeso.
Morbus quoque pestifer, artus
qui nunc populatur anhelos,
sua tunc tormenta resudans
luet inter vincula mille.
Hunc eminus aere ab alto
victrix caro iamque perennis
cernet sine fine gementem
quos moverat ipse dolores.
Quid turba superstes inepta
clangens ululamina miscet,
cur tam bene condita iura
luctu dolor arguit amens?
Iam maesta quiesce querela,
lacrimas suspendite matres,
nullus sua pignora plangat,
mors haec reparatio vitae est.
iam mortua iamque sepulta,
quae reddita caespite ab imo
veteres meditantur aristas.
Nunc suscipe terra fovendum,
gremioque hunc concipe molli:
hominis tibi membra sequestro
generosa et fragmina credo.
Animae fuit haec domus olim
factoris ab ore creatae,
fervens habitavit in istis
sapientia principe Christo.
Tu depositum tege corpus,
non inmemor illa requiret
sua munera fictor et auctor
propriique aenigmata vultus.
Veniant modo tempora iusta,
cum spem Deus inpleat omnem;
reddas patefacta necesse est,
qualem tibi trado figuram.
Non, si cariosa vetustas
dissolverit ossa favillis,
fueritque cinisculus arens
minimi mensura pugilli.
Nec, si vaga flamina et aurae
vacuum per inane volantes
tulerint cum pulvere nervos,
hominem periisse licebit.
Sed dum resolubile corpus
revocas, Deus, atque reformas,
quanam regione iubebis
animam requiescere puram?
Gremio senis addita sancti
recubabit, ut est Eleazar,
quem floribus undique septum
Dives procul adspicit ardens.
Sequimur tua dicta redemptor,
quibus atra morte triumphans
tua per vestigia mandas
socium crucis ire latronem.
Patet ecce fidelibus ampli
via lucida iam paradisi,
licet et nemus illud adire,
homini quod ademerat anguis.
Illic precor, optime ductor,
famulam tibi praecipe mentem
genitali in sede sacrari,
quam liquerat exul et errans.
Nos tecta fovebimus ossa
violis et fronde frequenti,
titulumque et frigida saxa
liquido spargemus odore.
Fountain of life, supernal Fire,
Who didst unite in wondrous wise
The soul that lives, the clay that dies,
And mad'st them Man: eternal Sire,
Both elements Thy will obey,
Thine is the bond that joins the twain,
And, while united they remain,
Spirit and body own Thy sway.
Yet they must one day disunite,
Sunder in death this mortal frame;
Dust to the dust from whence it came,
The spirit to its heavenward flight.
For all created things must wane,
And age must break the bond at last;
The diverse web that Life held fast
Death's fingers shall unweave again.
Yet, gracious God, Thou dost devise
The death of Death for all Thine own;
The path of safety Thou hast shown
Whereby the doomèd limbs may rise:
So that, while fragile bonds of earth
Man's noblest essence still enfold,
That part may yet the sceptre hold
Which from pure aether hath its birth.
For if the earthy will hold sway,
By gross desires and aims possessed,
The soul, too, by the weight oppressed,
Follows the body's downward way.
But if she scorn the guilt that mars--
Still mindful of her fiery sphere--
She bears the flesh, her comrade here,
Back to her home beyond the stars.
The lifeless body we restore
To earth, must slumber free from pain
A little while, that it may gain
The spirit's fellowship once more.
The years will pass with rapid pace
Till through these limbs the life shall flow,
And the long-parted spirit go
To seek her olden dwelling-place.
Then shall the body, that hath lain
And turned to dust in slow decay,
On airy wings be borne away
And join its ancient soul again.
Therefore our tenderest care we spend
Upon the grave: and mourners go
With solemn dirge and footstep slow--
Love's last sad tribute to a friend.
With fair white linen we enfold
The dear dead limbs, and richest store
Of Eastern unguents duly pour
Upon the body still and cold.
Why hew the rocky tomb so deep,
Why raise the monument so fair,
Save that the form we cherish there
Is no dead thing, but laid to sleep?
This is the faithful ministry
Of Christian men, who hold it true
That all shall one day live anew
Who now in icy slumber lie.
And he whose pitying hand shall lay
Some friendless outcast 'neath the sod,
E'en to the almighty Son of God
Doth that benignant service pay.
For this same law doth bid us mourn
Man's common fate, when strangers die,
And pay the tribute of a sigh,
As when our kin to rest are borne.
Of holy Tobit ye have read,
(Grave father of a pious son),
Who, though the feast was set, would run
To do his duty by the dead.
Though waiting servants stood around,
From meat and drink he turned away
And girt himself in haste to lay
The bones with weeping in the ground.
Soon Heaven his righteous zeal repays
With rich reward; the eyes long blind
In bitter gall strange virtue find
And open to the sun's clear rays.
Thus hath our Heavenly Father shown
How sharp and bitter is the smart
When sudden on the purblind heart
The Daystar's healing light is thrown.
He taught us, too, that none may gaze
Upon the heavenly demesne
Ere that in darkness and in pain
His feet have trod the world's rough ways.
So unto death itself is given
Strange bliss, when mortal agony
Opens the way that leads on high
And pain is but the path to Heaven.
Thus to a far serener day
Our body from the grave returns;
Eternal life within it burns
That knows nor languor nor decay.
These faces now so pinched and pale,
That marks of lingering sickness show,
Then fairer than the rose shall glow
And bloom with youth that ne'er shall fail.
Ne'er shall crabbed age their beauty dim
With wrinkled brow and tresses grey,
Nor arid leanness eat away
The vigour of the rounded limb.
Racked with his own destroying pains
Shall fell Disease, who now attacks
Our aching frames, his force relax
Fast fettered in a thousand chains:
While from its far celestial throne
The immortal body, victor now,
Shall watch its old tormentor bow
And in eternal tortures groan.
Why do the clamorous mourners wail
In bootless sorrow murmuring?
And why doth grief unreasoning
God's righteous ordinance assail?
Hushed be your voices, ye that mourn;
Ye weeping mothers, dry the tear;
Let none lament for children dear,
For man through Death to Life is born.
So do dry seeds grow green again,
Now dead and buried in the earth,
And rising to a second birth
Clothe as of old the verdant plain.
Take now, O earth, the load we bear,
And cherish in thy gentle breast
This mortal frame we lay to rest,
The poor remains that were so fair.
For they were once the soul's abode,
That by God's breath created came;
And in them, like a living flame,
Christ's precious gift of wisdom glowed.
Guard thou the body we have laid
Within thy care, till He demand
The creature fashioned by His hand
And after His own image made.
The appointed time soon may we see
When God shall all our hopes fulfil,
And thou must render to His will
Unchanged the charge we give to thee.
For though consumed by mould and rust
Man's body slowly fades away,
And years of lingering decay
Leave but a handful of dry dust;
Though wandering winds, that idly fly,
Should his disparted ashes bear
Through all the wide expanse of air,
Man may not perish utterly.
Yet till Thou dost build up again
This mortal structure by Thy hand,
In what far world wilt Thou command
The soul to rest, now free from stain?
In Abraham's bosom it shall dwell
'Mid verdant bowers, as Lazarus lies
Whom Dives sees with longing eyes
From out the far-off fires of hell.
We trust the words our Saviour said
When, victor o'er grim Death, he cried
To him who suffered at His side
"In Mine own footsteps shalt thou tread."
See, open to the faithful soul,
The shining paths of Paradise;
Now may they to that garden rise
Which from mankind the Serpent stole.
Guide him, we pray, to that blest bourn,
Who served Thee truly here below;
May he the bliss of Eden know,
Who strayed in banishment forlorn.
But we will honour our dear dead
With violets and garlands strown,
And o'er the cold and graven stone
Shall fragrant odours still be shed.
Quid est, quod artum circulum
sol iam recurrens deserit?
Christusne terris nascitur,
qui lucis auget tramitem?
Heu quam fugacem gratiam
festina volvebat dies,
quam pene subductam facem
sensim recisa extinxerat!
Caelum nitescat laetius,
gratetur et gaudens humus,
scandit gradatim denuo
iubar priores lineas.
Emerge dulcis pusio,
quem mater edit castitas,
parens et expers coniugis,
mediator et duplex genus.
Ex ore quamlibet Patris
sis ortus et verbo editus,
tamen paterno in pectore
sophia callebas prius.
Quae prompta caelum condidit,
caelum diemque et cetera,
virtute verbi effecta sunt
haec cuncta: nam verbum Deus.
Sed ordinatis seculis,
rerumque digesto statu
fundator ipse et artifex
permansit in Patris sinu,
donec rotata annalium
transvolverentur milia,
atque ipse peccantem diu
dignatus orbera viseret.
Nam caeca vis mortalium
venerans inanes nenias
vel aera vel saxa algida,
vel ligna credebat Deum.
Haec dum sequuntur, perfidi
praedonis in ius venerant,
et mancipatam fumido
vitam barathro inmerserant:
Stragem sed istam non tulit
Christus cadentum gentium
inpune ne forsan sui
Patris periret fabrica.
Mortale corpus induit,
ut excitato corpore
mortis catenam frangeret
hominemque portaret Patri.
Hic ille natalis dies,
quo te creator arduus
spiravit et limo indidit
sermone carnem glutinans.
Sentisne, virgo nobilis,
matura per fastidia
pudoris intactum decus
honore partus crescere?
O quanta rerum gaudia
alvus pudica continet,
ex qua novellum seculum
procedit et lux aurea!
Vagitus ille exordium
vernantis orbis prodidit,
nam tunc renatus sordidum
mundus veternum depulit.
Sparsisse tellurem reor
rus omne densis floribus,
ipsasque arenas syrtium
fragrasse nardo et nectare.
Te cuncta nascentem puer
sensere dura et barbara,
victusque saxorum rigor
obduxit herbam cotibus.
Iam mella de scopulis fluunt,
iam stillat ilex arido
sudans amomum stipite,
iam sunt myricis balsama.
O sancta praesepis tui,
aeterne rex, cunabula,
populisque per seclum sacra
mutis et ipsis credita.
Adorat haec brutum pecus
indocta turba scilicet,
adorat excors natio,
vis cuius in pastu sita est.
Sed cum fideli spiritu
concurrat ad praesepia
pagana gens et quadrupes,
sapiatque quod brutum fuit:
Negat patrum prosapia
perosa praesentem Deum:
credas venenis ebriam
furiisve lymphatam rapi.
Quid prona per scelus ruis?
agnosce, si quidquam tibi
mentis resedit integrae,
ducem tuorum principum.
Hunc, quem latebra et obstetrix,
et virgo feta, et cunulae
et inbecilla infantia
regem dederunt gentibus,
peccator intueberis
celsum coruscis nubibus,
deiectus ipse et inritus
plangens reatum fletibus:
Cum vasta signum bucina
terris cremandis miserit,
et scissus axis cardinem
mundi ruentis solverit:
Insignis ipse et praeminens
meritis rependet congrua,
his lucis usum perpetis,
illis gehennam et tartarum.
Iudaea tunc fulmen crucis
experta, qui sit, senties,
quem te furoris praesule
mors hausit et mox reddidit.
Why doth the sun re-orient take
A wider range, his limits break?
Lo! Christ is born, and o'er earth's night
Shineth from more to more the light!
Too swiftly did the radiant day
Her brief course run and pass away:
She scarce her kindly torch had fired
Ere slowly fading it expired.
Now let the sky more brightly beam,
The earth take up the joyous theme:
The orb a broadening pathway gains
And with its erstwhile splendour reigns.
Sweet babe, of chastity the flower,
A virgin's blest mysterious dower!
Rise in Thy twofold nature's might:
Rise, God and man to reunite!
Though by the Father's will above
Thou wert begot, the Son of Love,
Yet in His bosom Thou didst dwell,
Of Wisdom the eternal Well;
Wisdom, whereby the heavens were made
And light's foundations first were laid:
Creative Word! all flows from Thee!
The Word is God eternally.
For though with process of the suns
The ordered whole harmonious runs,
Leaves not the Father's inmost shrine.
The rolling wheels of Time had passed
O'er their millennial journey vast,
Before in judgment clad He came
Unto the world long steeped in shame.
The purblind souls of mortals crass
Had trusted gods of stone and brass,
To things of nought their worship paid
And senseless blocks of wood obeyed.
And thus employed, they fell below
The sway of man's perfidious foe:
Plunged in the smoky sheer abyss
They sank bereft of their true bliss.
But that sore plight of ruined man
Christ's pity could not lightly scan:
Nor let God's building nobly wrought
Ingloriously be brought to nought.
He wrapped Him in our fleshly guise,
That from the tomb He might arise,
And man released from death's grim snare
Home to His Father's bosom bear.
This is the day of Thy dear birth,
The bridal of the heaven and earth,
When the Creator breathed on Thee
The breath of pure humanity.
Ah! glorious Maid, dost thou not guess
What guerdon thy chaste soul shall bless,
How by thy ripening pangs is bought
An honour greater than all thought?
O what a load of joy untold
Thy womb inviolate doth hold!
Of thee a golden age is born,
The brightness of the earth's new morn!
Hearken! doth not the infant's wail
The universal springtide hail?
For now the world re-born lays by
Its gloomy, frost-bound apathy.
Methinks in all her rustic bowers
The earth is spread with clustering flowers:
Odours of nard and nectar sweet
E'en o'er the sands of Syrtes fleet.
All places rough and deserts wild
Have felt from far Thy coming, Child:
Rocks to Thy gentle empire bow
And verdure clothes the mountain brow.
Sweet honey from the boulder leaps:
The sere and leafless oak-bough weeps
A strange rich attar: tamarisks too
Of balsam pure distil the dew.
Blessèd for ever, cradle dear,
The lowly stall, the cavern drear!
Men to this shrine, Eternal King,
The ox and ass in homage low
Obedient to their Maker bow:
Bows too the unlearn'd heartless crowd
Whose minds the sensual feast doth cloud.
Though, by the faithful Spirit impelled,
Shepherds and brutes, unreasoning held,
Yea, folk that did in darkness dwell
Discern their God in His poor cell:
Yet children of the sacred race
Blindly abhor the Incarnate grace:
By philtres you might deem them lulled
Or by some bacchic phrenzy dulled.
Why headlong thus to ruin stride?
If aught of soundness in you bide,
Behold in Him the Lord divine
Of all your patriarchal line.
Mark you the dim-lit cave, the Maid,
The humble nurse, the cradle laid,
The helpless infancy forlorn:
Yet thus the Gentiles' King was born!
Ah sinner, thou shalt one day see
This Child in dreadful majesty,
See Him in glorious clouds descend,
While thou thy guilty heart shalt rend.
Vain all thy tears, when loud shall sound
The trump, when flames shall scorch the ground,
When from its hinge the cloven world
Is loosed, in horrid tumult hurled.
Then throned on high, the Judge of all
Shall mortals to their reckoning call:
To these shall grant the prize of light,
To those Gehenna's gloomy night.
Then, Israel, shalt thou learn at length
The Cross hath, as the lightning, strength:
Doomed by thy wrath, He now is Lord,
Whom Death once grasped but soon restored.
Quicumque Christum quaeritis,
oculos in altum tollite,
illic licebit visere
signum perennis gloriae.
Haec stella, quae solis rotam
vincit decore ac lumine,
venisse terris nuntiat
cum carne terrestri Deum.
Non illa servit noctibus
secuta lunam menstruam,
sed sola caelum possidens
cursum dierum temperat.
Arctoa quamvis sidera
in se retortis motibus
obire nolint, attamen
plerumque sub nimbis latent.
Hoc sidus aeternum manet,
haec stella nunquam mergitur,
nec nubis occursu abdita
obumbrat obductam facem.
Tristis cometa intercidat,
et si quod astrum Sirio
fervet vapore, iam Dei
sub luce destructum cadat.
En Persici ex orbis sinu,
sol unde sumit ianuam,
cernunt periti interpretes
regale vexillum Magi.
Quod ut refulsit, ceteri
cessere signorum globi,
nec pulcher est ausus suam
conferre formam Lucifer.
Quis iste tantus, inquiunt,
regnator astris inperans,
quem sic tremunt caelestia,
cui lux et aethra inserviunt.
Inlustre quiddam cernimus,
quod nesciat finem pati,
sublime, celsum, interminum,
antiquius caelo et chao.
Hic ille rex est gentium
populique rex Iudaici,
promissus Abrahae patri
eiusque in aevum semini.
Aequanda nam stellis sua
cognovit olim germina
primus sator credentium,
nati inmolator unici.
Iam flos subit Davidicus
radice Iesse editus,
sceptrique per virgam virens
rerum cacumen occupat.
Exin sequuntur perciti
fixis in altum vultibus,
qua stella sulcum traxerat
claramque signabat viam.
Sed verticem pueri supra
signum pependit inminens,
pronaque submissum face
caput sacratum prodidit.
Videre quod postquam Magi,
eoa promunt munera,
stratique votis offerunt
tus, myrrham, et aurum regium.
Agnosce clara insignia
virtutis ac regni tui,
puer o, cui trinam Pater
praedestinavit indolem.
Regem Deumque adnuntiant
thesaurus et fragrans odor
turis Sabaei, ac myrrheus
pulvis sepulcrum praedocet.
Hoc est sepulcrum, quo Deus,
dum corpus extingui sinit
atque id sepultum suscitat,
mortis refregit carcerem.
O sola magnarum urbium
maior Bethlem, cui contigit
ducem salutis caelitus
incorporatum gignere.
Altrice te summo Patri
haeres creatur unicus,
idemque sub membris Deus.
Hunc et prophetis testibus
isdemque signatoribus,
testator et sator iubet
adire regnum et cernere:
Regnum, quod ambit omnia
diva et marina et terrea
a solis ortu ad exitum
et tartara et caelum supra.
Audit tyrannus anxius
adesse regum principem,
qui nomen Israel regat
teneatque David regiam.
Exclamat amens nuntio,
successor instat, pellimur;
satelles i, ferrum rape,
perfunde cunas sanguine.
Mas omnis infans occidat,
scrutare nutricum sinus,
interque materna ubera
ensem cruentet pusio.
Suspecta per Bethlem mihi
puerperarum est omnium
fraus, ne qua furtim subtrahat
prolem virilis indolis.
Transfigit ergo carnifex
mucrone destricto furens
effusa nuper corpora,
animasque rimatur novas.
Locum minutis artubus
vix interemptor invenit,
quo plaga descendat patens
iuguloque maior pugio est.
O barbarum spectaculum!
inlisa cervix cautibus
spargit cerebrum lacteum
oculosque per vulnus vomit.
Aut in profundum palpitans
mersatur infans gurgitem,
cui subter artis faucibus
singultat unda et halitus.
Salvete flores martyrum,
quos lucis ipso in limine
Christi insecutor sustulit,
ceu turbo nascentes rosas.
Vos prima Christi victima,
grex inmolatorum tener,
aram ante ipsam simplices
palma et coronis luditis.
Quid proficit tantum nefas,
quid crimen Herodem iuvat?
unus tot inter funera
inpune Christus tollitur.
Inter coaevi sanguinis
fluenta solus integer
ferrum, quod orbabat nurus,
partus fefellit virginis.
Sic stulta Pharaonis mali
edicta quondam fugerat
Christi figuram praeferens
Moyses, receptor civium.
Cautum et statutum ius erat,
quo non liceret matribus,
cum pondus alvi absolverent,
puerile pignus tollere.
Mens obstetricis sedulae
pie in tyrannum contumax
ad spem potentis gloriae
furata servat parvulum:
Quem mox sacerdotem sibi
adsumpsit orbis conditor,
per quem notatam saxeis
legem tabellis traderet.
Licetne Christum noscere
tanti per exemplum viri?
absolvit Israel iugo.
At nos subactos iugiter
erroris inperio gravi
dux noster hoste saucio
mortis tenebris liberat.
Hic expiatam fluctibus
plebem marino in transitu
repurgat undis dulcibus,
lucis columnam praeferens:
Hic praeliante exercitu,
pansis in altum brachiis,
sublimis Amalech premit,
crucis quod instar tunc fuit.
Hic nempe Iesus verior,
qui longa post dispendia
victor suis tribulibus
promissa solvit iugera.
Qui ter quaternas denique
refluentis amnis alveo
fundavit et fixit petras,
apostolorum stemmata.
Iure ergo se Iudae ducem
vidisse testantur Magi,
cum facta priscorum ducum
Christi figuram finxerint.
Hic rex priorum iudicum,
rexere qui Iacob genus,
dominaeque rex ecclesiae,
templi et novelli et pristini.
Hunc posteri Efrem colunt,
hunc sancta Manasse domus
omnesque suspiciunt tribus
bis sena fratrum semina.
Quin et propago degener
ritum secuta inconditum,
quaecumque dirum fervidis
Baal caminis coxerat,
fumosa avorum numina
saxum, metallum, stipitem,
rasum, dolatum, sectile,
in Christi honorem deserit.
Gaudete quidquid gentium est,
rex unus omnes possidet.
Laudate vestrum principem
omnes beati, ac perditi,
vivi, inbecilli ac mortui:
iam nemo posthac mortuus.
Lift up your eyes, whoe'er ye be
That fare the new-born Christ to see:
For yonder is the shining sign
Of grace perennial and divine.
What means this star, whose piercing rays
Outshine the sun's resplendent blaze?
'Tis token sure that God is come
In mortal flesh to make His home.
No courtier of the realms of night
Nor monthly moon's bright acolyte,
This star directs the course of day,
Sole sovereign of the heavenly way.
Although the Bears their track retrace,
Nor wholly their clear beams efface,
Yet ofttimes 'neath the dun cloud's haze
They hide themselves from mortal gaze.
But yon Star's glory hath no end,
Nor to the depths can it descend:
It ne'er is whelmed by envious cloud
That seeks its beauty to enshroud.
Now let the baleful comet die,
The brood of blazing Sirius fly:
God's orb shall quench their sultry heats
And drive them from their haughty seats.
Lo! from the regions of the morn
Wherein the radiant sun is born,
The Persian sages see on high
God's ensign shining in the sky.
Soon as its rising beams prevail
The starry hosts in order pale:
E'en Lucifer durst not upraise
The silvery splendours of his face.
Who is this sovereign (they enquire)
That lords it o'er the ethereal choir?
'Fore whom the heavens bow down afraid,
Of all the worlds of light obeyed?
Sure 'tis the sign most reverend
Of Being that doth know no end:
Of One in state sublime arrayed
Ere sky and chaos yet were made.
Of all in Gentile lands that dwell:
The King to Abram and his seed
Throughout all ages erst decreed.
To him 'twas given his progeny
As stars innumerous to see:
First of believers! moved to slay
His only son, so God to obey.
Behold the Flower of David shine,
Of Jesse's root the Branch benign:
The sceptre spread with blossoms rare
Wields o'er the world its lordship fair.
Roused by the portent of the sky
The sages fix their gaze on high,
And speed them 'neath the furrowed way
Marked by the star's effulgent ray.
At length its flaming steps it stayed
Poised over where the Child was laid:
Straightway with downcast mien it shed
Its splendours on the sacred Head.
Whereat the travellers outpour
Of Eastern gifts their treasure-store,
Myrrh and sweet-smelling frankincense,
Gold meet for regal opulence.
Behold herein the triple sign
Of Thy pure being, King divine:
Seeing the Father willed in Thee
To plant a threefold majesty.
The gift of gold thee King proclaims:
Thee God the fragrant incense names:
The myrrh declares that Death shall thrust
Within the tomb Thy body's dust.
Ah! that dark sepulchre, whose fold
God's body quenched in death doth hold:
Yet shall He from that durance wake
And Death's strong prison-fetters break.
O Bethlehem! no longer thou
The least of cities: all shall vow
That thou art greatest on the earth:
For thou man's King didst bring to birth.
Yea thou didst on thy bosom bear
The All-loving Father's only heir:
Man of the Thunderer's Spirit made
And God in human flesh arrayed.
The prophets witnessed to the bond
Which sealed to Him the realm profound:
The Father's Kingdom He received
And the vast legacy perceived.
All things are His in sea and sky,
In hell beneath, in heaven on high:
From East to setting sun, in fee
He holds the earth's immensity.
Distraught, the tyrant base doth hear
That now the King of Kings draws near
To reign in David's seat of state
And Israel's empire dominate.
"Betrayed are we," he maddened cries,
"Our throne's usurper doth arise:
Go, soldiers, go with sword in hand
And slay all babes within my land.
"Spare no male child: each nurse's robe
Your scrutinizing steel must probe:
Spare not the suckling infant, though
O'er mother's breast its life-blood flow.
"On Bethlehem our suspicion falls,
On every hearth within its walls:
Lest mothers with love's tender zeal
Some manly scion may conceal."
With daggers drawn the infuriate crew
Upon their murderous errand flew:
Each latest offspring of the womb
To bloody death they foully doom.
Ah tiny limbs! 'twas hard to know
How best to strike the fatal blow:
Too wide the sword-blades are to smite
Those throats so silken-fragile, slight.
O horrid sight! the tender bones
Are dashed against the jaggèd stones:
Sightless and mangled there they lie,
Poor babes! untimely doomed to die.
Perchance the still deep river laves
Their bodies thrust into the waves:
The current with their sighing sighs,
Sobs with their latest, broken cries.
Ye flowers of martyrdom, all hail!
Of rising morn pure blossoms frail!
By Jesu's foe were ye downcast,
Like budding roses by the blast.
Lambs of the flock too early slain,
Ye first fruits of Christ's bitter pain!
Close to His very altar, gay
With palms and crowns, ye now do play.
Of what avail is deed so vile?
Doth Herod gain by murderous guile?
Of all to death so foully done
Escapes triumphant Christ alone.
Amidst that tide of infant gore
Alone He wins the sheltering shore:
The virgin's Child survives the stroke,
When every mother's heart was broke.
Thus Moses 'scaped the mad decree
Of evil Pharaoh and set free
The flock of God, prefiguring so
Christ spared from fate's malignant blow.
Vain too the king's hostility
Who framed the pitiless decree
That Israel's mothers should not rear
To manhood's strength their offspring dear.
Quickened by love, a woman's mind
Found means to thwart that law unkind,
And, falsely true, the child concealed
Destined to be his people's Shield.
On him it was that God did place
The august priesthood's holy grace,
The law on stony tablets writ
Did to his trembling hands commit.
And may we not with prophet's eye
In such a hero Christ descry?
And freed his kinsmen from the yoke.
So we by Error's might hemmed round
Were by our Captain's strength unbound:
His foe He wounded in the fight
And saved us from Death's horrid night.
Cheering by sign of flame their feet,
Moses renewed with waters sweet
His folk, albeit purified
From stain, what time they crossed the tide.
And he, remote on peaceful height,
Amalek's banded hosts did smite:
He prayed with arms stretched out above,
Yet truer Jesus surely he,
Who after many a victory
And labours long the tribes' renown
With promised heritage did crown;
Who when the waters rose on high
And now the Jordan's bed was dry,
Set up twelve stones of memory,
Types of apostles yet to be.
Rightly the Wise Men said, I ween,
That they Judaea's King had seen,
Since noble deeds of other days
Prophetic chant the Saviour's praise.
Of those old rulers He is King
Who did to Jacob judgment bring,
King of the Mother Church divine,
God's ancient and God's present Shrine.
Of Ephraim's sons He is adored:
Manasseh's sacred house as Lord
Reveres Him: to His might the seed
Of brethren twelve their fealty plead.
Nay, each degenerate race hath fled
Its shameful rites and orgies dread:
Grim Baal in glowing furnace cast
Sinks to the earth, forsook at last.
Idols smoke-blackened, wooden-hewn,
Of brass and stone, in dust are strewn:
The chiselled deities downtrod:
For all confess in Christ their God.
Persians and Scythian land forlorn,
Rejoice: the world's great King is born!
Behold your Chief! His praise forth tell:
Ye sick, ye hale, all heaven and hell:
Ay, you whose vital spark hath sped:
For lo! in Him e'en Death is dead.
pius, fidelis, innocens, pudicus
dona conscientiae,
quibus beata mens abundat intus:
alter et pecuniam
recidit, unde victitent egeni.
Nos citos iambicos
sacramus et rotatiles trochaeos,
sanctitatis indigi
nec ad levamen pauperum potentes;
adprobat tamen Deus
pedestre carmen, et benignus audit.
Multa divitis domo
sita est per omnes angulos supellex.
Fulget aureus scyphus,
nec aere defit expolita pelvis:
est et olla fictilis,
gravisque et ampla argentea est parabsis.
Sunt eburna quaepiam,
nonnulla quercu sunt cavata et ulmo:
omne vas fit utile,
quod est ad usum congruens herilem,
Instruunt enim domum
ut empta magno, sic parata ligno.
Me paterno in atrio
ut obsoletum vasculum caducis
Christus aptat usibus,
sinitque parte in anguli manere.
Munus ecce fictile
inimus intra regiam salutis;
attamen vel infimam
Deo obsequelam praestitisse prodest.
Quidquid illud accidit,
iuvabit ore personasse Christum.
The pure and faithful saint, whose heart is whole,
To God the Father makes his sacrifice
From out the treasures of a stainless soul,
Glad gifts of innocence, beyond all price:
Another with free hand bestows his gold,
Whereby his needy neighbour may be fed.
No wealth of holiness my heart doth hold,
No store have I to buy my brothers bread:
So here I humbly dedicate to Thee
The rolling trochee and iambus swift;
Thou wilt approve my simple minstrelsy,
Thine ear will listen to Thy servant's gift.
The rich man's halls are nobly furnishèd;
Therein no nook or corner empty seems;
Here stands the brazen laver burnishèd,
And there the golden goblet brightly gleams;
Hard by some crock of clumsy earthen ware,
Massive and ample lies a silver plate;
And rough-hewn cups of oak or elm are there
With vases carved of ivory delicate.
Yet every vessel in its place is good,
So be it for the Master's service meet;
The priceless salver and the bowl of wood
Alike He needs to make His home complete.
Therefore within His Father's spacious hall
Christ fits me for the service of a day,
Mean though I be, a vessel poor and small,--
And in some lowly corner lets me stay.
Lo in the palace of the King of Kings
I play the earthen pitcher's humble part;
Yet to have done Him meanest service brings
A thrill of rapture to my thankful heart:
Whate'er the end, this thought will joy afford,
My lips have sung the praises of my Lord.
We know little more of the life of Prudentius than he himself has
 _Prudentium, unum inter Christianos vere facundum poetam._
white-coloured garb of a Roman citizen who at his sixteenth year
laid aside the purple-edged _toga praetexta_, which was worn
during the days of boyhood.
Though in the translation the usual meaning has been given to
_militia_, it must be regarded as uncertain in the absence of
monastery of St. Paul's outside the city bearing the words
_"praeco diei iam sonat
noctis profundae pervigil,
nocturna lux viantibus
a nocte noctem segregans._
_surgamus ergo strenue:
gallus iacentes excitat,
et somnolentos increpat:
gallus negantes arguit._
_gallo canente spes redit,
aegris salus refunditur,
mucro latronis conditur,
lapsis fides revertitur."_
"Dawn's herald now begins to cry,
Lone watcher of the nightly sky:
Light of the dark to pilgrims dear,
Speeding successive midnights drear.
Brisk from our couch let us arise!
Hark to the cock's arousing cries!
He chides the sluggard's slumbrous ease,
And shames his unconvincing pleas.
At cock-crow Hope revives again,
Health banishes the stress of pain,
Sheathed is the nightly robber's sword,
And Faith to fallen hearts restored."
See also Ambrose, _Hexaem._, v. 24, for an eloquent passage in
passage serves as a kind of text for Prudentius' first two hymns,
unsworn is the heart." Cf. Augustine, _cont. mendacium_: "In that
Nazianzen: "What can be more blessed than to imitate on earth the
for Thursday at Lauds, consisting of ll. 25 (_lux ecce surgit
knelt down and began to pray." Dressel quotes from Juvencus (iv.
_genibus nixi regem dominumque salutant_, "on bended knees they
make obeisance unto their King and Lord."
last verse contains a distinct echo of the closing words of the
fourth chapter of Polycarp: "None of the reasonings or thoughts,
nor any of the hidden things of the heart escape His notice."
Prudentius cannot be guilty of the error which he expressly
condemns (_Apoth._ 249) as _perquam ridiculum_ and regard the
original of "the Word was made flesh" (_verbum caro factum est_),
Greek equivalents. (_Vid._ also note on iv. 15.)
_"Christusque nobis sit cibus
Potusque noster sit fides;
Laeti bibamus sobriam
"May Christ be now the Bread we eat,
Be simple Faith our potion sweet:
Let our intoxication be
The Spirit's calm sobriety."
The idea is familiar to readers of Herbert and Herrick, though it
"O what sweetnesse from the bowl
Fills my soul!
Is some starre (fled from the sphere)
Melted there,
As we sugar melt in wine?
Doubtless neither starre nor flower
Hath the power
Such a sweetnesse to impart:
Only God, Who gives perfumes,
Flesh assumes,
And with it perfumed my heart."
"Lord, I confess too, when I dine,
The pulse is thine.
'Tis thou that crown'st my glittering hearth
With guiltless mirth,
And giv'st me wassail bowls to drink,
Spiced to the brink."
"But (what's more strange) their modest appetites,
Averse from Venus, fly the nuptial rights;
No lust enervates their heroic mind,
Nor wastes their strength on wanton womankind,
But in their mouths reside their genial powers,
They gather children from the leaves and flowers."
shall be whiter than snow'" (Vulg.).
"... fierce Phlegethon,
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage."
latter is assigned by several critics to 400 or thereabouts, and
translation (see the essay on _The Greek Christian Poets_) of a
passage in that poem may be quoted:--
"Down Thou earnest, low as earth,
Bound to those of mortal birth;
Down Thou earnest, low as hell,
Where Shepherd-Death did tend and keep
A thousand nations like to sheep,
While weak with age old Hades fell
Shivering through his dark to view Thee.
So, redeeming from their pain
Chains of disembodied ones,
Thou didst lead whom thou didst gather
Upward in ascent again,
With a great hymn to the Father,
Upward to the pure white thrones!"
For a modern treatment of the theme see _Christ in Hades_, by
not only in an actual sarcophagus or stone coffin, as expressly
mentioned in the text, but in hollow places cut out of rock or
"Alexander is not dead, but lives above the stars
and his body rests in this tomb."
(_Ep. ad Turib._, c. 1), "_de utroque processit._" The addition
was not embodied into the Creed as used at Rome as late as the
the doctrine generally held by the Spanish Church of his day; in
Vespers. The Mozarabic Breviary (seventh century) contains the
psalms, one responsory and lauds, a hymn and prayer are to be
said." St. Basil also writes: "It seemed good to our fathers not
to receive in silence the gift of the evening light, but to give
thanks as soon as it appeared." It is probable, therefore, that
question is fully discussed by Brockhaus (_A. Prudentius Clemens
"Then thou dost weepe
Still as thou burn'st, and the warm droppings creepe
To measure out thy length."
damnation itself, abides upon them."
vigil into the light of day by means of lamps suspended in every
part, setting up also great waxen tapers, as large as columns,
throughout the city." Gregory of Nyssa also speaks of "the cloud
"So much the rather thou, Celestial Light,
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
The last seven stanzas of this hymn are used in the Moz. Brev. at
_non pii_ is not equivalent to _impii_, but rather refers to the
class that is neither decidedly good nor definitely bad, and that
condemned in proportion to the number that deserve condemnation.
however, while expressly affirming that John's baptism differed
from that of Christ, allowed that the stains of sin were washed
away by the former. St. Chrysostom draws this distinction: "There
placing the prophet in the very jaws of the whale.
"_Transmissa raptim praeda cassos dentium
eludit ictus incruentam transvolans
inpune linguam, ne retentam mordicus
offam molares dissecarent uvidi,
os omne transit et palatum praeterit._
_Ternis dierum ac noctium processibus
mansit ferino devoratus gutture,
errabat illic per latebras viscerum,
ventris recessus circumibat tortiles
anhelus extis intus aestuantibus._"
was an endeavour to ascertain whether Jesus was the Son of God
"Who this is we must learn, for Man he seems
In all his lineaments, though in his face
The glimpses of his Father's glory shine."
declares that prayers are to be offered up with thanksgiving when
century it was a fairly common practice as a preparation for Holy
The stated fasts of the Western Church were (1) _annual_, that
is, ante-paschal or Lent; (2) _monthly_, or the fasts of the four
pipe in his hand; while the poets Calpurnius and Tibullus both
refer to the custom of carrying a stray or neglected lamb on the
therefore used for His own purpose and transfigured with new
meaning a familiar figure. The gradual transition from paganism
syllable), appears to indicate that the names Omega and Omikron
during the first three centuries, the dead were laid in the
Catacombs, in which Prudentius took conspicuous interest (see
Translator's Note), but after 338 A.D. this practice became less
frequent, and was completely abandoned after 410 A.D. Elsewhere,
chants expressive of triumphant faith were sung as the body was
merely of a name and age, or simple words like--
but later (cf. l. 171), they were engraved on small marble slabs.
onustum_, etc.
"The Body, too, with Yesterday's excess
Burthened and tired, shall the pure Soul depress,
Weigh down this Portion of celestial Birth,
grave, the assembled company were conscious of a spicy odour
diffusing itself from the tomb. Cf. Tertullian (_Apol._ 42): "The
"_Nosco meum in Christo corpus resurgere; quid me
Desperare iubes? veniam, quibus ille revenit
Calcata de morte viis: quod credimus hoc est._
_Pellite corde metum, mea membra, et credite vosmet
Cum Christo reditura Deo; nam vos gerit ille
Et secum revocat: morbos ridete minaces:
Inflictos casus contemnite; tetra sepulcra
Despuite; exsurgens quo Christus provocat, ite._"
"I know in Christ my body shall arise;
Why bid me, then, despair? for I shall go
By that same path whereby my Lord returned,
Death trodden 'neath His feet: this is my creed.
Banish, my limbs, all terror; and believe
That ye with Christ our God shall yet return;
He beareth you and with Himself recalls.
Laugh at the threats of sickness; scorn the blows
Of fate; despise the horrors of the tomb;
And fare ye where the risen Christ doth call."
in Nineveh, was reduced to beggary as the result of his zeal in
"_Nos pio fletu, date, perluamus
Marmorum sulcos._"
The early Christian epitaphs, of which many thousands exist, are
common
"Hail and farewell"
or inscriptions like
"To a very sweet babe, whom the angry gods gave to unending
"Here slumbers in the sleep of peace the sweet and innocent
Severianus, whose spirit is received in the light of the Lord"
"Laurentius was born into eternity in his twentieth year. He
sleeps in peace."
See also note on iii. 205.
season of the Nativity takes an opposite line of thought, and
"Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy bring,
And fragrant herbs (the promises of spring)
As her first off'rings to her infant king.
Unlaboured harvest shall the fields adorn,
And clustered grapes shall blush on every thorn;
The knotted oaks shall showers of honey weep,
And through the matted grass the liquid gold shall creep."
(Dryden's Trans.)
circumstances of the Nativity, Origen proceeds to say: "That was
unclean animal out of pagan nations knew its master's crib. 'But
literature earlier than in the _Pseudo-Matthew Gospel_, which
making a _presepio_ at Greccio, to which a living ox and ass are
townsfolk. This act of St. Francis inaugurated the custom, still
observed in the Roman Church, of representing by means of waxen
images the whole of the Nativity manger-scene, Mother and Child
together with the adoring animals.
"With such a horrid clang
As on Mount Sinai rang
While the red fire and smould'ring clouds outbrake:
The aged earth aghast
With terror of that blast,
Shall from the surface to the centre shake;
When at the world's last session
The dreadful Judge in middle air shall spread his throne."
(3) For the Feast of Holy Innocents at Matins, beginning _Audit
(4) Also the Feast of Holy Innocents at Lauds, beginning _Salvete
"But stay! what light is that doth stream
And drop here in a gilded beam?
It is Thy star runs Page and brings
Thy tributary Eastern kings.
Lord! grant some light to us that we
May find with them the way to Thee!"
light excelled them all."
above the north horizon. The same applies to the majority of the
stars in the Great Bear. Some few would sink below the horizon
King, a Man and a God," and is again alluded to by Prudentius in
"Gold to the kingly,
Incense to the priestly,
Myrrh to the mortal:"
universe: the four points of the compass, the 'height, breadth,
length and depth' of the Apostle expressed, or were expressed by,
Forsake their temples dim
And sullen Moloch fled,
Hath left in shadows dread,
His burning idol all of blackest hue.
Our Babe, to show his Godhead true,
Can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew."