Day of Wrath,--that Day of Days,--
When earth shall vanish in a blaze,
As David, with the Sibyl, says!
What a trembling will come o'er us,
When the Judge shall be before us,
For every hidden sin to score us!
The trumpet with its wondrous sound,
Piercing each sepulchral mound,
Shall summon all, the throne around.
Nature and death will stand aghast,
When those who to the grave have past,
Come answering to the judgment blast!
The Written Book shall be unrolled,
Wherein the deeds of all are told,
And shall the doom of all unfold.
For when the Judge shall be enthroned,
No secret shall be left unowned,
No crime or trespass unatoned.
When for a guilty wretch like me,
What plea, what pleader, will there be,
When scarcely shall the just go free!
King of tremendous majesty,
Whose grace saves all who saved may be,
Fountain of mercy, oh save me!
Forget not then, dear Son of God,
For my sake Thou thy way hast trod,
Nor let me sink beneath thy rod.
Yes, me to save Thou sat'st in pain,
Nor didst the bitter Cross disdain,--
Let not such anguish be in vain!
Unerring Judge, thy wrath restrain,
And let my sins remission gain,
While still the days of grace remain.
--Tr. Robert C. Winthrop
_AD SANCTUM SPIRITUS_[8]
Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
Et emitte coelitus
Lucis tuae radium.
Veni, pater pauperum,
Veni, dator munerum,
Veni, lumen cordium;
O lux beatissima,
Reple cordis intima
Tuorum fidelium!
Sine tuo numine
Nihil est in homine,
Nihil est innoxium.
Da tuis fidelibus
In te confitentibus
Sacrum septenarium;
Da virtutis meritum,
Da salutis exitum,
Da perenne gaudium!
[Footnote 8: Ascribed to Innocent III, Robert II, of France, and
others. Ranks second to _Dies Irae_ among the Great Hymns. Can be
sung to the tune of Rock of Ages.]