Thou who Mary hast acquitted, And the robber's guilt remitted, Thou e'en me hast kindly pitied. Though my prayers can naught avail me, Lest the endless fire assail me. Midst thy sheep, O Saviour, hide me; On thy right a place decide me. When thy wrath the accursed is branding, Let me with the blest be standing. Lowly bowed in deep submission, Ah! that day so sad and tearful! A. C. KENDRICK. Dies Ira. DAY of wrath! that day of burning, Seer and sibyl speak concerning, All the world to ashes turning! Oh, what fear shall it engender, When the Judge shall come in splendor, Strict to mark and just to render ! DIES IREÆ. Trumpet, scattering sounds of wonder, Shall resistless summons thunder. All aghast then Death shall shiver, Book, where actions are recorded, Shall be brought and dooms awarded. When shall sit the Judge unerring, What shall I say, that time pending? Dreadful King, all power possessing, Think, O Jesus, for what reason Thou didst bear earth's spite and treason, Seeking me thy worn feet hasted; Righteous Judge of retribution? Culprit-like, I plead, heart-broken, 469 Thou, who Mary gav'st remission, Though my prayers be void of merit, Be then, Lord, my place decided When the accursed away are driven, Call me with the blessed to heaven! I beseech thee, prostrate lying, Day of tears and late repentance! ABRAHAM COLES. O God. From the Russian. THOU eternal One! whose presence bright All space doth оссиру, all motion guide; Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight; Thou only God! There is no God beside! Being above all beings! Mighty One! Whom none can comprehend and none explore; Who fill'st existence with thyself alone; Embracing all,-supporting,-ruling o'er,— Being whom we call God,—and know no more! GOD. In its sublime research, philosophy May measure out the ocean-deep-may count The sands or the sun's rays-but God! for thee 471 There is no weight nor measure:-none can mount And thought is lost ere thought can soar so high, Thou from primeval nothingness didst call Eternity had its foundation ;—all Sprung forth from thee:-of light, joy, harmony Sole Origin :-all life, all beauty thine. Thy word created all, and doth create; Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine; Thou art, and wert, and shalt be! Glorious! Great! Light-giving, life-sustaining Potentate! Thy chains the unmeasured universe surround: As sparks mount upward from the fiery blaze, So suns are born, so worlds spring forth from thee; And as the spangles in the sunny rays Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry A million torches lighted by thy hand What shall we call them? Piles of crystal light- Yes! as a drop of water in the sea, - All this magnificence in thee is lost : What are ten thousand worlds compared to thee? In all the glory of sublimest thought, Is but an atom in the balance, weighed Against thy greatness, is a cipher brought Naught! But the effluence of thy light divine, As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew. I am, O God! and surely thou must be! Thou art directing, guiding all, thou art! On the last verge of mortal being stand, Close to the realms where angels have their birth, Just on the boundaries of the spirit-land ! |