See! once more the Cross returning—
Heav'n and earth in ashes burning!
O what fear man's bosom rendeth,
When from heav'n the Judge descendeth,
On Whose sentence all dependeth!
Wond'rous sound the Trumpet flingeth,
Through earth's sepulchres it ringeth,
All before the Throne it bringeth!
Death is struck, and nature quaking—
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making!
Lo, the Book, exactly worded!
Wherein all hath been recorded;—
Thence shall judgment be awarded.
When the Judge His seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unaveng'd remaineth.
What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding?—
When the just are mercy needing.
King of majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity! then befriend us!
Think! kind Jesu,—my salvation
Caus'd Thy wond'rous incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation!
Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the cross of suffering bought me;—
Shall such grace be vainly brought me!
Righteous Judge of retribution,
Grant Thy gift of absolution,
Ere that reckoning-day's conclusion!
Guilty now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning,
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant, groaning!
Thou, the sinful woman savest—
Thou, the dying thief forgavest;
And to me a hope vouchsafest!
Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying!
With Thy favour'd sheep, O place me!
Nor among the goats abase me;
But to Thy right hand upraise me.
While the wicked are confounded,
Doom'd to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me! with Thy saints surrounded.
Low I kneel, with heart-submission;
See, like ashes, my contrition—
Help me, in my last condition!
Ah! that Day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning
Man for judgment must prepare him;—
Spare! O God, in mercy spare him!
Lord, Who didst our souls redeem,
Grant a blessed Requièm! Amen!
(Requièm is Latin for rest.)
—Thomas of Celano (attr.), trans. William J. Irons
From The Christian Servant's Book (1851).
Sequence: Dies Iræ (courtesy Wikipedia).
About the Authors
Thomas of Celano (13th c.) is one of those mostly-forgotten figures of the Middle Ages. The three salient points of his life are that he was one of the first Franciscan monks (under Francis of Assisi, and also the biographer of that figure); that he was the custos of the Worms, Mentz, and Cologne convents, and later of all the Rhine district; and that he is said to have authored the Latin poem Dies iræ.William Josiah Irons (1812–1833) was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, and took Holy Orders in 1835. In 1837 he became Incumbent of St. Peter's, Walworth, and was subsequently Vicar of Barkway, Incumbent of Brompton, Rector of Wadingham; and in 1872, Rector of St. Mary-Woolnoth, formerly held by his father's friend, John Newton. He was also Bampton Lecturer in 1870, and Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral. (I don't have a clue what any of those titles mean; I simply cut and pasted straight from The Dictionary of Hymnology.) Dr. Julian ranks his hymns among the finest of modernity, and this translation of the Dies iræ is one of his greatest works.
Thoughts
This is supposed to be one of the finest Latin hymns, if not the finest, ever written, and one of the finest English translations of it. The tune is one of the most-often-quoted, as far as I am aware—it was supposedly even used in the soundtrack for Star Wars. Wikipedia states that "a major inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from Zeph 1:15–16. Other images come from Rev 20:11–15, Matt 25:31–46, 1 Thess 4:16, 2 Pet 3:7, and Luke 21:26. From the Jewish liturgy, the prayer Unetanneh Tokef also appears to have been a source." (Wikipedia, "Dies Irae," excerpted.)As far as a recommended recording, the one above is one of the best I have found, though it lacks the Amen at the end. Contrary to my predictions, however, the best recording I think I found on iTunes was by the Benedictine Nuns of Notre Dame on their album Voices (via iTunes or Amazon); I had expected that men's voices would be needed to give the piece the requisite gravity, but instead found that it is the sequence, not the singer, that is weighty.
The sequence is grand. I have found that Gregorian chant is not, on a whole, something my ears have adapted to, but to this I give my rapt attention. The words, however, are more incredible. It is not until we know the absolute hopelessness of our plight in sin that we can begin to understand what kind of grace we have been given, and the author of the hymn senses this with a keenness too little felt today. No amount of sorrow, no filthy-rag goodness (Isa 64:6), no prayer I pray, can make me one whit more acceptable in the sight of God. The only reason—I say again, the only one—that God saves me is because he has chosen to do so. So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that striveth, but of God that sheweth mercy, Rom 9:16.
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