Another great hymn of the Middle Ages, as great at least as some of those mentioned among the seven, is the magnificent Passion hymn, the "Pange Lingua," of Fortunatus, which Daniel, the noted hymnologist, reckons among the number of the most beautiful. And again, the same may be said of the great Communion hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas, known by the same title.

The question of the greatness of a hymn is a difficult one to determine. Some readers will be influenced by the thought, some by the versification, others, perhaps, by the historical associations, and others, still, by the poetic imagery or the religious fervency of the work. If a hymn can be found to possess all these poetic and religious requirements, it is safe to give it a high rank.

The "Dies Irae," possesses, in these respects a greater degree of perfection, perhaps, than any other known hymn. For ages this poem has commanded the admiration of religious men of nearly all denominations, as well as persons of taste in general. It has been a favorite with the greatest scholars and with the humblest men of prayer. Poets and musicians have dwelt upon it with loving insistance. It seems to have some strange power to stir our nature. Indeed it is said that men become influenced with its message without being able to understand the language in which it is written. In this respect it resembles music, the very sound of the words carrying their meaning to the mind of the listener.

Daniel characterizes the hymn as "The chief glory of sacred poetry, and the most precious gem of the Latin Church." And this is a fair statement of the sentiment of most men who have written upon the subject. No hymn ever received so many attempted translations. In the English and German languages alone the number runs into hundreds.

Why has this poem been such a temptation to the translator? And why have so many able men, some of them of high poetic talent, fallen back, baffled before its wonderful beauties? If one would judge of the reason for this he has but to read the description of the poem given by Dr. Schaff, which is no exaggeration, but a calm and critical statement of its qualities.

"This marvelous hymn," he says, "is the acknowledged masterpiece of Latin poetry, and the most sublime of all uninspired

hymns. The secret of its irresistible power lies in the awful grandeur of the theme, the intense earnestness and pathos of the poet, the simple majesty and solemn music of its language, the stately metre, the triple rhyme, and the vowel assonances, chosen in striking adaptation to the sense,-all combining to produce an overwhelming effect, as if we heard the final crash of the universe, the commotion of the opening graves, the trumpet of the Archangel, summoning the quick and the dead, and saw the King of tremendous majesty, seated on the throne of justice and mercy, and ready to dispense everlasting life or everlasting woe."

This poem has inspired poets of all nations to mould it anew in their own tongues, and lifted the greatest musicians into raptures in their attempts to give it adequate musical setting. Usually, however, the musician has been as unsuccessful as the poet. The simplicity and grandeur of the original hymn is probably beyond the power of modern tongues; and so, indeed, the sublime simplicity of the Gregorian chant may be said to be the only musical setting worthy of the majesty of the song.

Is it then useless to attempt new translations? By no means. Every new translation of a Latin Church hymn may be considered as a distinct advantage. Each new translator is likely to perceive the meaning of the poet from a different point of view, and so is often able to bring out the thought in a more or less novel manner.

Again, this hymn itself was probably not wholly written by Thomas of Celano or any other one person. It was no doubt the result of many old hymns on the Day of Judgment, founded upon prophecy and psalm, a favorite theme of the old song-writers of the Church. It was the perfection of many imperfect attempts.

So among all the trials in the way of translation into the English tongue, there may eventually appear one so nearly perfect as to make further attempts needless. When the thought shall have been displayed with a fair rendering of the musical, vocal and consonantal assonances, together with the rhythm, metre and rhyme of the original, there will probably remain no motive for further attempts at translation. No one has any desire to gild refined gold.

After having said so much as to the difficulties of a perfect rendering, it may be thought audacious for a modern hand to

make another attempt. But the temptation still exists; and, as I have said, every new translation may be of some advantage.

I have preserved the trochaic movement, and the triple feminine rhyme, in this latest translation. I have also tried to preserve many of the vocal assonances and other musical effects of the original. The effort may at least assist toward the final production of the true rendering by a more fortunate hand.

A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE "DIES IRAE."

Day of Anger! Day of sorrow!
From the ruin comes no morrow!
This from saint and sage we borrow.

What shall be the consternation
When the Judge, in solemn station,
Makes the vast investigation!

Tribes, by trumpet tones of wonder,
Called from earth and caverns under,
Rise before the throne of thunder.

Death and nature faint in fearing
While the dead are reappearing
Swift before that awful hearing.

Open now the book remaineth,
Which the written sum containeth,
Whence the world its judgment gaineth.

When the Lord in session heareth,
Then each hidden stain appeareth,
Vengeance every evil seareth.

What shall be my wretched pleading?
Whither seek for interceding,
When the just his trust is needing?

Monarch, throned in highest station,
Freely pouring forth salvation,
Be my shield from condemnation.

Ah! remember, Saviour tender,
Thou for me Thy life didst render;
On that day be my defender.

Weary was Thy quest embroiling,
Foulness by Thy torture foiling;
Be not vain Thy sacred toiling.

Judge of just administration,
Pardon deign and grant salvation
Ere the day of desolation.

Sore my faults offend and grieve me, Flush with fear, of strength bereave me; In Thy love, O Lord, relieve me.

Who forgavest Mary sighing,
And the thief beside Thee dying,
Cheerest me, on Thee relying.

Prayers of mine are all unworthy,
Yet I bow in hope before Thee;
Lord, for mercy I implore Thee.

Me among Thy sheep deliver;
From the goats my station sever;
On Thy right hand keep me ever.

When from Thee the doomed are driven,

And in bitter torments riven,
Be to me Thy blessings given.

Hear the moan of my petition
From a heart of true contrition,-
Guard me, Father, from perdition.

Day of sorrow, day of mourning,
When from out the grave returning,
Man in guilt awaiteth sentence,
Spare him Lord, and deign repentance.

Gentle Jesus, with the blest,

Yield Thy servants endless rest.

Amen.

While the poetry of Adam of St. Victor shows a profound acquaintance with the whole circle of theology, and a knowledge of Scripture that cannot be characterized as less than wonderful; yet there is a freshness and sweetness breathing through it which give it a peculiar modern cast. Archbishop Trench, a competent hymnologist, is highly laudatory of Adam as a poet. "The exquisite art," he says, "and the variety with which for the most part his verse is managed, and his rhymes disposed; their rich melody, multiplying and ever deepening at the close; the strength which he often concentrates into a single line; his skill in conducting a story; and most of all, the evident nearness of the things which he celebrates to his own heart of hearts-all these and other excellences render him, as far as my judgment goes, the foremost among the Latin poets of the Middle Ages."

This is surely lofty praise; but Dr. John Mason Neale, a good hymnologist and a capital translator of Latin hymns, says, "If this estimate have a fault, it is that it hardly does this wonderful poet justice."

Adam lived and died in the twelfth century. He was called by his contemporaries a Briton. Whether he was an Englishman or a native of Britany is not certain; but as he was educated at Paris and entered the Abbey of St. Victor at an early age, he was probably French. Under his hand the sequence was developed into its final and perfect form.

Here is a translation of one of his shorter poems. It is on the Resurrection of our Lord, and is a good example of his treatment of a subject. Here he shows the coincidence of the natural and spiritual spring, and his fond treatment of nature is a new element in the poetry of early writers: