Through all peril, Saviour, guide
To Thy heaven Thy crownèd Bride.
2. Greek.—What is often called the first Christian hymn is found in the Paedagogus, or Tutor, of St. Clement of Alexandria (d. cir. 212). It has been translated into English by many writers. Dean Plumptre’s version is the best known. At the end of his treatise Clement ‘burst out into a kind of choral, dithyrambic ode, in anapæstic metre, the lines very short and abrupt, and the whole being more exclamatory and fervid than most later hymns.’
Curb for the stubborn steed,
Making its will give heed;
Wing that directest right
The wild bird’s wandering flight;
Helm for the ships that keep
Their pathway o’er the deep;
Shepherd of sheep that own