THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. I. DAY of doom! that dreadful day! Heaven and earth shall pass away— Sybils thus and prophets say. II. Dire shall then the trembling be! III. Hark! the trumpet's thrilling tone, IV. Death, aghast, his realms hath fled: Lo! to judgment, from their bed, Wake the nations of the dead. V. Lo! the book of doom outspread, Deed and thought, of quick and dead. VI. On his throne the Judge is seated; VII. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus? Cùm vix justus sit securus. VIII. Rex tremendæ majestatis, IX. Recordare, Jesu pie, X. Quærens me, sedisti lassus- XI. Juste Judex ultionis, Donum fac remissionis Ante diem rationis. XII. Ingemisco tanquam reus ; XIII. Qui Mariam absolvisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti. VII. What shall then a sinner plead? VIII. Thou, who sav'st for love alone, IX. Oh! forget not, in that day, X. Me to seek, didst toil and pain- XI. Righteous Judge, of vengeance dread! Free forgiveness on me shed, Ere the day of grace be sped. XII. Deeply groans my breast with shame : Crimsoned is my face for blame : Spare me, Lord, for thy dear name. XIII. Thou didst set the adultress free, XIV. Preces meæ non sunt dignæ, XV. Inter oves locum præsta, XVI. Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis, XVII. Oro supplex et acclinis, ANCIENT HYMN. XIV. Worthless are the prayers I make; XV. Separate from the accursed band, XVI. When the lost, to silence driven, XVII. Low in dust I bow my knee; *The above translation has been formed from several sources. Mr. Williams's translation has supplied one or two of the best stanzas; though, as a whole, it entirely fails to represent the force and pathos of the original, which may, indeed, be considered absolutely untranslatable. |