Poems original and translated By John Herman Merivale ... A new and corrected edition with some additional pieces |
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| SACRED AND SCRIPTURAL. |
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 | Poems original and translated |  |
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SACRED AND SCRIPTURAL.
PROVERBS, CHAP. I. v. 20–31.
Wisdom aloud proclaimeth. In the streetHer voice is heard aloud—
In the chief place, where men assembled meet;
And to the listening crowd
Thus from betwixt the expanded gates gives warning:
“How long, ye fools, will ye
Embrace simplicity?—
How long, ye scorners, take delight in scorning?
Turn ye at my reproof.
Behold! for your behoof
On you my inmost spirit I will outpour,
And spread from shore to shore.
Because I call'd, and ye refused—because
My hand I stretchéd forth, and no man heeded—
But ye have set at naught my counsell'd laws,
And spurn'd the lore that from my lips proceeded;
I too will laugh for that ye inly bleed;
I too will mock when fear, as desolation,
Cometh upon you, and with whirlwind speed
Swift devastation.
Then shall they call on me, and I refuse;
Shall seek me early, but they shall not find;
For that they hated knowledge, nor did choose
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They would none of my counsel; they despised
All my reproof; so may they freely reap
That they have sown; and, what they have devised,
Be theirs to keep!”
ECCLESIASTICUS, CHAP. I.
All Wisdom is from Thee, O Lord! with TheeAbideth ever.
The drops of rain that fall—the sand of the sea—
The sum of days that makes eternity,
Who shall endeavour
To number?—who, to measure Heaven's height,
Earth's breadth, the depth of ocean infinite,
The boundless stream
Of Wisdom—first of all created things—
Wisdom, that from the eternal fountain springs
Of God supreme?
Her ways are everlasting laws—to whom
Have the recesses of her secret womb
Been e'er reveal'd?
Who knows her solemn councils? who so blest,
To whom she hath herself made manifest,
And kept conceal'd
From all beside?—Yet is there One, most wise,
One, greatly to be fear'd, who in the skies
Hath built his throne;
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And saw, and number'd, and hath since thro' all
His works made known—
And, most of all, to them that live, and move,
And their Almighty Father know and love,
Hath given her for their own.
The fear of the Lord is Honour, Glory, Gladness;
A crown of happiness without alloy;
The fear of the Lord dispelleth grief and sadness,
And giveth length of years, increase of joy.
Who fears the Lord, with him it shall be well
E'en to the last, and peace upon his death bed dwell.
The fear of the Lord is Wisdom's first creation,
Found with the faithful yet within the womb,
And will continue with them to the tomb,
And with their seed upon secure foundation.
WISDOM OF SOLOMON, CHAP. II.
Thus said the heathen, in their reasonings vain;
“Man's life is short, or but prolonged in pain:
In death no remedy, no comfort, lies,
And from the grave we may not look to rise.
Born to all chance, on all adventures driven,
The sport of fortune or capricious heaven,
We pass away, and are no longer seen,
And leave no record that we once have been.
Our breath is smoke, our heart's warm pulse a spark,
Soon kindled, soon extinct, then all is dark;
Consumed to ashes our poor house of clay,
Our spirit vanish'd like soft air away;
Our name erased from Time's unfaithful page;
Our works unnoticed by the rising age.
We die, alas! and leave no trace behind,
Like empty vapour driven before the wind,
Or mists that, gathering thick at close of night,
Are scatter'd by the day's increasing light.
And, when this vision is dissolved at last,
This airy, trifling, fleeting shadow past,
A seal is put upon the funeral urn,
And Fate itself prohibits our return.
“Man's life is short, or but prolonged in pain:
In death no remedy, no comfort, lies,
And from the grave we may not look to rise.
Born to all chance, on all adventures driven,
The sport of fortune or capricious heaven,
We pass away, and are no longer seen,
And leave no record that we once have been.
Our breath is smoke, our heart's warm pulse a spark,
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Consumed to ashes our poor house of clay,
Our spirit vanish'd like soft air away;
Our name erased from Time's unfaithful page;
Our works unnoticed by the rising age.
We die, alas! and leave no trace behind,
Like empty vapour driven before the wind,
Or mists that, gathering thick at close of night,
Are scatter'd by the day's increasing light.
And, when this vision is dissolved at last,
This airy, trifling, fleeting shadow past,
A seal is put upon the funeral urn,
And Fate itself prohibits our return.
“Come, then, enjoy the hours that yet are thine,
Give thy full soul to perfumes, baths, and wine;
Let youth enhance the moments as they fly,
And let no flower of painted spring go by!
With early rose-buds let us crown our head,
Ere yet their full-blown leaves be torn and shed!
No pleasure pass untried, nor dear delight—
The festive day, the soft voluptuous night;
Leave through the world the tokens of your bliss,
This is our portion, and our lot is this.
Give thy full soul to perfumes, baths, and wine;
Let youth enhance the moments as they fly,
And let no flower of painted spring go by!
With early rose-buds let us crown our head,
Ere yet their full-blown leaves be torn and shed!
No pleasure pass untried, nor dear delight—
The festive day, the soft voluptuous night;
Leave through the world the tokens of your bliss,
This is our portion, and our lot is this.
“Let us the poor and righteous man oppress,
Nor spare the widow nor the fatherless,
Nor hold in reverence grey antiquity—
But let our strength the law of justice be.
That which is weak is ever worthless found—
Let then our toils the righteous man surround;
For that he thwarts our arts, and doth prevent
By stern reproof our lawless will's intent;
And boasts himself of knowledge all divine,
And claims descent from God's peculiar line.
Nay—e'en his face it irks us to behold;
For not like other men's his days are told:
His ways are of a different fashion,—He
Proclaims the end of the just man bless'd to be.
But let us see if so his words be sooth:
For, say the just man be God's child in truth,
Then surely God will help, and set him free
From powerless hands of human enemy.”
Nor spare the widow nor the fatherless,
Nor hold in reverence grey antiquity—
But let our strength the law of justice be.
That which is weak is ever worthless found—
Let then our toils the righteous man surround;
For that he thwarts our arts, and doth prevent
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And boasts himself of knowledge all divine,
And claims descent from God's peculiar line.
Nay—e'en his face it irks us to behold;
For not like other men's his days are told:
His ways are of a different fashion,—He
Proclaims the end of the just man bless'd to be.
But let us see if so his words be sooth:
For, say the just man be God's child in truth,
Then surely God will help, and set him free
From powerless hands of human enemy.”
Such thoughts they did conceive, by sin made blind.
God's hidden mysteries were not in their mind;
The meed of goodness 'twas not theirs to earn,
Nor the reward of blameless souls discern.
For God made man immortal—form'd to be
The image of His own Eternity.
God's hidden mysteries were not in their mind;
The meed of goodness 'twas not theirs to earn,
Nor the reward of blameless souls discern.
For God made man immortal—form'd to be
The image of His own Eternity.
[Great Universal Father—Thou]
Great Universal Father—Thou
Whose form no eye hath seen,
Whose seat we image in the space
Of the infinite Serene!
Whose form no eye hath seen,
Whose seat we image in the space
Of the infinite Serene!
Thy name with reverential awe
Be ever hallow'd here,
And not a thought profane the place
Where angels come not near.
Be ever hallow'd here,
And not a thought profane the place
Where angels come not near.
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In lowliest confidence we wait
For thine appointed day:
“Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done!”
This only let us pray.
For thine appointed day:
“Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done!”
This only let us pray.
Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done
On earth as 'tis in Heaven;
And what our feeble nature craves
Be in like measure given.
On earth as 'tis in Heaven;
And what our feeble nature craves
Be in like measure given.
Forgive us, Father, O forgive
Our still increasing debt
Of sin, as We forgiveness grant
To those who Us forget.
Our still increasing debt
Of sin, as We forgiveness grant
To those who Us forget.
When stormy passion o'er the brink
Our tossing souls would urge,
O lead us not within the gulf,
Of that o'erwhelming surge!
Our tossing souls would urge,
O lead us not within the gulf,
Of that o'erwhelming surge!
But from the power of Sin and Death,
The soul's worst enemy,
Deliver us—Thou who alone
Canst set the prisoner free!
The soul's worst enemy,
Deliver us—Thou who alone
Canst set the prisoner free!
For only Thine the kingdom is,
And Thine the sovereign sway,
And Thine the glory that abides
Through everlasting day.
And Thine the sovereign sway,
And Thine the glory that abides
Through everlasting day.
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[Father of mercies, God of might]
Father of mercies, God of might,
By whom all things were made;
We from thy paths of truth and light
Like wandering sheep have stray'd;
Lost, but for Thee, our stedfast hold,
All-seeing guardian of the fold.
By whom all things were made;
We from thy paths of truth and light
Like wandering sheep have stray'd;
Lost, but for Thee, our stedfast hold,
All-seeing guardian of the fold.
The vain devices and desires
Of hearts propense to wrong,
The flickerings of delusive fires,
We follow'd have too long:
Against Thy wise and holy laws
We have rebell'd without a cause.
Of hearts propense to wrong,
The flickerings of delusive fires,
We follow'd have too long:
Against Thy wise and holy laws
We have rebell'd without a cause.
The good Thou willest us to do,
That we have left undone;
The evil that Thou bidd'st eschew,
We into it have run;
And none amongst us can be found,
But all is tainted, all unsound.
That we have left undone;
The evil that Thou bidd'st eschew,
We into it have run;
And none amongst us can be found,
But all is tainted, all unsound.
Yet, Lord, have mercy!—Mercy, Lord,
On us, thy humbled race!
To them that own their guilt accord
The riches of thy grace.
Spare them that in true lowliness
Of soul their inmost thoughts confess.
On us, thy humbled race!
To them that own their guilt accord
The riches of thy grace.
Spare them that in true lowliness
Of soul their inmost thoughts confess.
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Spare us, good Lord! save and restore
According to thy will,
Declared in promises of yore,
And sure and constant still,
By Him—to make the charter good,
Who seal'd it with his precious blood.
According to thy will,
Declared in promises of yore,
And sure and constant still,
By Him—to make the charter good,
Who seal'd it with his precious blood.
For whose dear sake, O Father! grant
Our lives henceforth may prove
The mercies of thy covenant,
The wonders of thy love.
Righteous, and pure from sinful blame,
In honour of Thy glorious name.
Our lives henceforth may prove
The mercies of thy covenant,
The wonders of thy love.
Righteous, and pure from sinful blame,
In honour of Thy glorious name.
[Almighty God! before Thy Throne]
Almighty God! before Thy Throne
We kneel for grace to cast away
The robes of darkness, and put on
The armour of eternal day;
Even now, in life's meridian way,
The spring-tide of our mortal prime,
Or e'er we sink in swift decay,
And nature's doom is seal'd by Time.
We kneel for grace to cast away
The robes of darkness, and put on
The armour of eternal day;
Even now, in life's meridian way,
The spring-tide of our mortal prime,
Or e'er we sink in swift decay,
And nature's doom is seal'd by Time.
Even now, to this benighted clime
When Thine own Son, in humble strain
Descending, left his seat sublime
To help us, struggling with our chain:
That, when he shall return again
The judge of quick and dead to be,
We may, through His great love, attain
A glorious immortality.
When Thine own Son, in humble strain
Descending, left his seat sublime
To help us, struggling with our chain:
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The judge of quick and dead to be,
We may, through His great love, attain
A glorious immortality.
[Thou Great First cause of life and light]
Thou Great First cause of life and light,
Unsearchable by mortal sight,
From whose perpetual fountains flow
All we enjoy, and all we know;
Unsearchable by mortal sight,
From whose perpetual fountains flow
All we enjoy, and all we know;
Who in our days hast deign'd dispense
A larger view of Providence,
And on the thirsty nations pour'd
The boundless riches of Thy word;
A larger view of Providence,
And on the thirsty nations pour'd
The boundless riches of Thy word;
O grant that we may so embrace
The means allotted by Thy grace,
So read Thy will, and so improve
The stores of Thine exhaustless love;
The means allotted by Thy grace,
So read Thy will, and so improve
The stores of Thine exhaustless love;
That, by the help of thoughts resign'd,
By patient humbleness of mind,
By daily prayer before Thy throne,
By pious trust in Thee alone,
By patient humbleness of mind,
By daily prayer before Thy throne,
By pious trust in Thee alone,
We may attain that blissful coast,
Where hope in certainty is lost,
And truth reveals, through every line,
The wonders of Thy vast design.
Where hope in certainty is lost,
And truth reveals, through every line,
The wonders of Thy vast design.
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“EVIL, BE THOU MY GOOD.”
—MILTON.
“Evil, be thou my good”—in rage
Of disappointed pride,
And hurling vengeance at his God,
The apostate angel cried.
Of disappointed pride,
And hurling vengeance at his God,
The apostate angel cried.
“Evil, be thou my good”—repeats,
But in a different sense,
The christian, taught by faith to trace
The scheme of Providence.
But in a different sense,
The christian, taught by faith to trace
The scheme of Providence.
So deems the hermit, who abjures
The world for Jesus' sake;
The patriot midst his dungeon bars,
The martyr at his stake.
The world for Jesus' sake;
The patriot midst his dungeon bars,
The martyr at his stake.
For he who happiness ordain'd
Our being's only end—
The God who made us, and who knows
Whither our wishes tend,
Our being's only end—
The God who made us, and who knows
Whither our wishes tend,
The glorious prize hath station'd high
On virtue's hallow'd mound,
Guarded by toil, beset by care,
With danger circled round.
On virtue's hallow'd mound,
Guarded by toil, beset by care,
With danger circled round.
Virtue were but a name, if vice
Had no dominion here,
And pleasure none could taste, if pain
And sorrow were not near.
Had no dominion here,
And pleasure none could taste, if pain
And sorrow were not near.
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The fatal cup we all must drain
Of mingled bliss and woe;
Unmix'd, the cup would tasteless be,
Or quite forget to flow.
Of mingled bliss and woe;
Unmix'd, the cup would tasteless be,
Or quite forget to flow.
Then cease to question Heaven's decree,
Since Evil, understood,
Is but the tribute nature pays
For Universal Good.
Since Evil, understood,
Is but the tribute nature pays
For Universal Good.
| Poems original and translated | |