MEDIÆVAL HYMNS.
87
I have no hesitation in saying that I look on these verses of Bernard as the most lovely, in the same way that the Dies Iræ is the most sublime, and the Stabat Mater the most pathetic of mediæval poems. They are even superior to that glorious hymn on the same subject, the De Gloriâ et gaudiis Paradisi of St. Peter Damiani. For the sake of comparison I quote some of the most striking stanzas of the latter, availing myself of the admirable translation of Mr. Wackerbarth:
There nor waxing moon nor waning,
Sun nor stars in courses bright:
For the Lamb to that glad city
Shines an everlasting light:
There the daylight beams for ever,
All unknown are time and night.
Sun nor stars in courses bright:
For the Lamb to that glad city
Shines an everlasting light:
There the daylight beams for ever,
All unknown are time and night.
For the Saints, in beauty beaming,
Shine in light and glory pure:
Crowned in triumph's flushing honours
Joy in unison secure:
And in safety tell their battles,
And their foes' discomfiture.
Shine in light and glory pure:
Crowned in triumph's flushing honours
Joy in unison secure:
And in safety tell their battles,
And their foes' discomfiture.
Freed from every stain of evil,
All their carnal wars are done:
For the flesh made spiritual
And the foul agree in one:
Peace unbroken spreads enjoyment,
Sin and scandal are unknown.
All their carnal wars are done:
For the flesh made spiritual
And the foul agree in one:
Peace unbroken spreads enjoyment,
Sin and scandal are unknown.
Here they live in endless being:
Passingness has passed away:
Passingness has passed away:
