"Time will be ending soon, heaven will be rending
soon, fast we and pray we;
Come the most merciful; comes the most terrible,
watch we while may we."
The imagery in the original poem is gorgeous; but Dr. Neale has exceeded the original [Footnote 236] in many parts of his translation'. We add a few gems. The opening lines are—
"Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt vigilemus!
Ecce minaciter imminet arbiter ille supremus.
Imminet, imminet, ut mala terminet, aequa coronet
Recta remuneret, anxia liberet aethera donet."
"The world is very evil,
The times are waxing late,
Be sober and keep vigil,
The Judge is at the gate;
The Judge that comes in mercy,
The Judge that comes with might,
To terminate the evil,
To diadem the right."
[Footnote 236: The best edition of this poem is the little shilling volume by Dr. Neale, called the Rhythm of Bernard de Morlaix, published by Hayes, Lyall-place, Eaton-square. It contains between two and three hundred of the original lines, with Dr. Neale's complete translation.]
Dr. Neale has proved himself a true poet in this translation; the rendering is most happy, and the whole version forms one of the finest sacred poems in the language. The lines—
"Patria luminis, inscia turbinis, inscia litis.
Cive replebitur amplificabitur lsraelitis
Patria splendida, terraque florida, libera spinis
Danda fidelibus est ibi civibus, hic peregrinis,"
are thus happily rendered—
"And the sunlit land that reeks not
Of tempest nor of fight
Shall fold within its bosom
Each happy Israelite;
The home of fadeless splendor,
Of flowers that fear no thorn,
Where they shall dwell as children,
Who here as exiles mourn."
Then the episode—