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.
_This edition of the_ Cathemerinon of Prudentius _has been prepared for
the Temple Classics by_ Rev. R. MARTIN POPE, M.A. (_St John's College,
Cambridge, translator of the_ "Letters of John Hus"), _who has done the
translation of the_ Praefatio _and_ Hymns i., ii., iii., viii., xi.,
xii., _with notes thereon and the note on_ Prudentius. _For the rendering
of_ Hymns iv., v., vi., vii., ix., x., _and the_ Epilogus _with notes
thereon,_ Mr R.F. DAVIS, M.A. (_St John's College, Cambridge_), _is
responsible. The text, with some minor alterations in orthography and
punctuation, is that of_ Dressel (Lipsiae, 1860). _The frontispiece is
due to the kind suggestion of_ Dr SANDYS, _Public Orator of Cambridge
University, to whom the thanks of the translators are hereby presented._