 | Sequences, Hymns, and Other Ecclesiastical Verses |  |
78
Cattle Plague Hymn.
“And shall not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein
are . . . also much cattle?”
All Creation groans and travails:
Thou, O God, shalt hear its groan:
For of man and all Creation
Thou alike art Lord alone.
Thou, O God, shalt hear its groan:
For of man and all Creation
Thou alike art Lord alone.
Pity then Thy guiltless creatures,
who, not less, man's suffering share:
For our sins it is they perish:
let them profit by our prayer.
who, not less, man's suffering share:
For our sins it is they perish:
let them profit by our prayer.
79
Cast thine eye of love and mercy
on the misery of the land:
Say to the destroying Angel:
“'Tis enough: stay now thine hand.”
on the misery of the land:
Say to the destroying Angel:
“'Tis enough: stay now thine hand.”
In our homesteads, in our valleys,
through our pasture lands give peace;
Through the Goshen of Thine Israel
bid the grievous murrain cease.
through our pasture lands give peace;
Through the Goshen of Thine Israel
bid the grievous murrain cease.
But, with deeper, tenderer pity,
call to mind, O Son of God,
Those in Thine own Image fashioned,
ransomed with Thy Precious Blood.
call to mind, O Son of God,
Those in Thine own Image fashioned,
ransomed with Thy Precious Blood.
Hear and grant the supplications,
like a cloud of incense sent
Up toward Thy seat of mercy,
through the Forty Days of Lent;
like a cloud of incense sent
Up toward Thy seat of mercy,
through the Forty Days of Lent;
80
For the widow, for the orphan,
for the helpless, hopeless poor:
Helpless, hopeless, if Thou spare not
of their basket and their store.
for the helpless, hopeless poor:
Helpless, hopeless, if Thou spare not
of their basket and their store.
So—while these her earnest accents,
day by day Thy Church repeats—
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our streets:
day by day Thy Church repeats—
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our streets:
That our oxen, strong to labour,
may not know nor fear decay:
That there be no more complaining,
and the plague have passed away.
may not know nor fear decay:
That there be no more complaining,
and the plague have passed away.
And, at last, to all Thy servants,
when earth's troubles shall be o'er,
Threefold Godhead, give a portion
with Thyself for evermore.
when earth's troubles shall be o'er,
Threefold Godhead, give a portion
with Thyself for evermore.
Amen.
| Sequences, Hymns, and Other Ecclesiastical Verses | |