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Hymn For All Hours (Hymnus Omnis Horae)
by Aurelius Clemens PrudentiusNewly Translated Into English Verse By R. Martin Pope is below this original.
Hymnus Omnis Horae
Da puer plectrum, choreis ut canam fidelibus
dulce carmen et melodum, gesta Christi insignia:
hunc camena nostra solum pangat, hunc laudet lyra.
Christus est, quem rex sacerdos adfuturum protinus
infulatus concinebat voce, chorda et tympano,
spiritum caelo influentem per medullas hauriens.
Facta nos et iam probata pangimus miracula,
testis orbis est, nec ipsa terra, quod vidit, negat,
cominus Deum docendis proditum mortalibus.
Corde natus ex parentis, ante mundi exordium
alpha et _'_ cognominatus, ipse fons et clausula
omnium, quae sunt, fuerunt quaeque post futura sunt.
Ipse iussit et creata, dixit ipse, et facta sunt
terra, caelum, fossa ponti, trina rerum machina,
quaeque in his vigent sub alto solis et lunae globo.
Corporis formam caduci, membra morti obnoxia
induit, ne gens periret primoplasti ex germine,
merserat quam lex profundo noxialis tartaro.
O beatus ortus ille, virgo cum puerpera
edidit nostram salutem feta sancto spiritu,
et puer redemptor orbis os sacratum protulit.
Psallat altitudo caeli, psallite omnes angeli,
quidquid est virtutis usquam psallat in laudem Dei:
nulla linguarum silescat, vox et omnis consonet.
Ecce quem vates vetustis concinebant seculis,
quem prophetarum fideles paginae spoponderant,
emicat promissus olim: cuncta conlaudent eum.
Cantharis infusa lympha fit Falernum nobile,
nuntiat vinum minister esse promptum ex hydria,
ipse rex sapore tinctis obstupescit poculis.
Membra morbis ulcerosa, viscerum putredines
mando, ut abluantur, inquit; fit ratum, quod iusserat,
turgidam cutem repurgant vulnerum piamina.
Tu perennibus tenebris iam sepulta lumina
inlinis limo salubri, sacri et oris nectare,
mox apertis hac medela lux reducta est orbibus.
Increpas ventum furentem, quod procellis tristibus
vertat aequor fundo ab imo, vexet et vagam ratem:
ille iussis obsecundat, mitis unda sternitur.
Extimum vestis sacratae furtim mulier attigit,
protinus salus secuta est, ora pallor deserit,
sistitur rivus, cruore qui fluebat perpeti.
Exitu dulcis iuventae raptum ephebum viderat,
orba quem mater supremis funerabat fletibus:
surge, dixit: ille surgit, matri et adstans redditur.
Sole iam quarto carentem, iam sepulcro absconditum
Lazarum iubet vigere reddito spiramine:
fetidum iecur reductus rursus intrat halitus.
Ambulat per stagna ponti, summa calcat fluctuum,
mobilis liquor profundi pendulam praestat viam,
nec fatiscit unda sanctis pressa sub vestigiis.
Suetus antro bustuali sub catenis frendere,
mentis inpos efferatis percitus furoribus
prosilit ruitque supplex, Christum adesse ut senserat.
Pulsa pestis lubricorum milleformis daemonum
conripit gregis suilli sordida spurcamina,
seque nigris mergit undis et pecus lymphaticum.
Quinque panibus peresis et gemellis piscibus
adfatim refecta iam sunt adcubantum milia,
fertque qualus ter quaternus ferculorum fragmina.
Tu cibus panisque noster, tu perennis suavitas;
nescit esurire in aevum, qui tuam sumit dapem,
nec lacunam ventris inplet, sed fovet vitalia.
Clausus aurium meatus et sonorum nescius
purgat ad praecepta Christi crassa quaeque obstacula,
vocibus capax fruendis ac susurris pervius.
Omnis aegritudo cedit, languor omnis pellitur,
lingua fatur, quam veterna vinxerant silentia,
gestat et suum per urbem laetus aeger lectulum.
Quin et ipsum, ne salutis inferi expertes forent,
tartarum benignus intrat, fracta cedit ianua,
vectibus cadit revulsis cardo indissolubilis.
Illa prompta ad inruentes, ad revertentes tenax,
obice extrorsum repulso porta reddit mortuos:
lege versa et limen atrum iam recalcandum patet.
Sed Deus dum luce fulva mortis antra inluminat,
dum stupentibus tenebris candidum praestat diem,
tristia squalentis aethrae palluerunt sidera.
Sol refugit et lugubri sordidus ferrugine
igneum reliquit axem seque maerens abdidit:
fertur horruisse mundus noctis aeternae chaos.
Solve vocem mens sonoram, solve linguam mobilem,
dic tropaeum passionis, dic triumphalem crucem,
pange vexillum, notatis quod refulget frontibus.
O novum caede stupenda vulneris miraculum!
hinc cruoris fluxit unda, lympha parte ex altera:
lympha nempe dat lavacrum, tum corona ex sanguine est.
Vidit anguis inmolatam corporis sacri hostiam,
vidit et fellis perusti mox venenum perdidit,
saucius dolore multo colla fractus sibilat.
Quid tibi, profane serpens, profuit, rebus novis
plasma primum perculisse versipelli hortamine?
diluit culpam recepto forma mortalis Deo.
Ad brevem se mortis usum dux salutis dedidit,
mortuos olim sepultos ut redire insuesceret,
dissolutis pristinorum vinculis peccaminum.
Tunc patres sanctique multi conditorem praevium
iam revertentem secuti tertio demum die
carnis indumenta sumunt, eque bustis prodeunt.
Cerneres coire membra de favillis aridis,
frigidum venis resumptis pulverem tepescere,
ossa, nervos, ac medullas glutino cutis tegi.
Post, ut occasum resolvit vitae et hominem reddidit,
arduum tribunal victor adscendit Patris,
inclitam caelo reportans passionis gloriam.
Macte index mortuorum, macte rex viventium,
dexter in parentis arce qui cluis virtutibus
omnium venturus inde iustus ultor criminum.
Te senes et te iuventus, parvulorum te chorus,
turba matrum virginumque simplices puellulae,
voce concordes pudicis perstrepant concentibus.
Fluminum lapsus et undae, littorum crepidines,
imber, aestus, nix, pruina, silva, et aura, nox, dies,
omnibus te concelebrent seculorum seculis.
Hymn For All Hours
Let me chant in sacred numbers, as I strike each sounding string,
Chant in sweet, melodious anthems, glorious deeds of Christ our King;
He, my Muse, shall be thy story; with His praise my lyre shall ring.
When the king in priestly raiment sang the Christ that was to be,
Voice and lute and clashing cymbal joined in joyous harmony,
While the Spirit, heaven-descended, touched his lips to prophecy.
Sing we now the works sure proven, wrought of God in mystic wise;
Heaven is witness; earth confesses how she saw with wondering eyes
God Himself with mortals mingling, man to teach in human guise.
Of the Father's heart begotten, ere the world from chaos rose,
He is Alpha; from that Fountain all that is and hath been flows;
He is Omega, of all things yet to come the mystic Close.
By His word was all created; He commands and lo! 'tis done;
Earth and sky and boundless ocean, universe of three in one,
All that sees the moon's soft radiance, all that breathes beneath the sun.
He assumed this mortal body, frail and feeble, doomed to die,
That the race from dust created might not perish utterly,
Which the dreadful Law had sentenced in the depths of Hell to lie.
O how blest that wondrous birthday, when the Maid the curse retrieved,
Brought to birth mankind's salvation, by the Holy Ghost conceived;
And the sacred Babe, Redeemer of the world, her arms received.
Sing, ye heights of heaven, His praises; angels and archangels, sing!
Wheresoe'er ye be, ye faithful, let your joyous anthems ring,
Every tongue His name confessing, countless voices answering.
This is He whom seer and sibyl sang in ages long gone by;
This is He of old reveal'd in the page of prophecy;
Lo! He comes, the promised Saviour; let the world His praises cry!
In the urns the clear, cold water turns to juice of noblest vine,
And the servant, drawing from them, starts to see the generous wine,
While the host, its savour tasting, wonders at the draught divine.
To the leper worn and wasted, white with many a loathsome sore,
"Be thou cleansed," He said; "I bid it!" swift 'tis done, His words restore;
To the priest the gift he offers, clean and healthful as of yore.
On the eyes long sealed in darkness, buried in unbroken night,
Thou didst spread Thy lips' sweet nectar, mixed with clay: then came the sight,
As Thy gracious touch all-healing brought to those dark orbs the light.
Thou didst chide the raging tempest, when the waves with foaming crest
Leaped about the fragile vessel, buffeted and sore distressed;
Wind and wave, their fury stilling, sank to calm at Thy behest.
Once a woman's timid fingers touched Thy garment's lowest braid,
And the pallor left her visage, healing power the touch conveyed,
For the years of pain were ended and the flow of blood was stayed.
Thou didst see men bear to burial one struck down in youth's glad tide,
While a widowed mother followed, wailing for her boy that died;
"Rise!" Thou saidst, and led him gently to his weeping mother's side.
Lazarus, who lay in darkness till three nights had passed away,
At Thy voice awoke to soundness, rising to the light of day,
As the breath his frame re-entered touched already with decay.
See, He walks upon the waters, treads the billow's rolling crest;
O'er the shifting depths of ocean firm and sure His footsteps rest,
And the wave parts not asunder where those holy feet are pressed.
And the madman, chained and tortured by dark powers, from whom all fly,
As the tombs, that were his dwelling, echo to his savage cry,
Rushes forth and falls adoring, when he sees that Christ is nigh.
Then the legion of foul spirits, driven from their human prey,
Seize the noisome swine, that feeding high upon the hillside stray,
And the herd, in sudden frenzy, plunges in the waters grey.
"Gather in twelve woven baskets all the fragments that remain:"
He hath fed the weary thousands, resting o'er the grassy plain,
And His power hath stayed their hunger with five loaves and fishes twain.
Thine, O Christ, is endless sweetness; Thou art our celestial Bread:
Nevermore he knoweth hunger, who upon Thy grace hath fed,
Grace whereby no mortal body but the soul is nourish'd.
They that knew not speech nor language, closed to every sound their ears,
To the Master's call responding break the barriers of years;
Now the deaf holds joyous converse and the lightest whisper hears.
Sickness at His word departed, pain and pallid languor fled,
Many a tongue, long chained in silence, words of praise and blessing said;
And the palsied man rejoicing through the city bore his bed.
Yea, that they might know salvation who in Hades' prison were pent,
In His mercy condescending through Hell's gloomy gates He went;
Bolt and massy hinge were shattered, adamantine portals rent.
For the door that all receiveth, but releaseth nevermore,
Opens now and, slowly turning, doth the ghosts to light restore,
Who, the eternal laws suspended, tread again its dusky floor.
But, while God with golden glory floods the murky realms of night,
And upon the startled shadows dawns a day serene and bright,
In the darkened vault of heaven stars forlorn refuse their light.
For the sun in garb of mourning veiled his radiant orb and passed
From his flaming path in sorrow, hiding till mankind aghast
Deemed that o'er a world of chaos Night's eternal pall was cast.
Now, my soul, in liquid measures let the sounding numbers flow;
Sing the trophy of His passion, sing the Cross triumphant now;
Sing the ensign of Christ's glory, marked on every faithful brow.
Ah! how wondrous was the fountain flowing from His pierc'd side,
Whence the blood and water mingled in a strange and sacred tide,--
Water, sign of mystic cleansing; blood, the martyr's crown of pride.
In that hour the ancient Serpent saw the holy Victim slain,
Saw, and shed his hate envenomed, all his malice spent in vain;
See! the hissing neck is broken as he writhes in sullen pain.
Aye, what boots it, curs'd Serpent, that the man God made from clay,
Victim of thy baleful cunning, by thy lies was led astray?
God hath ta'en a mortal body and hath washed the guilt away.
Christ, our Captain, for a season deigned to dwell in Death's domain,
That the dead, long time imprisoned, might return to life again,
Breaking by His great example ancient sins' enthralling chain.
Thus, upon the third glad morning, patriarchs and saints of yore,
As the risen Lord ascended, followed Him who went before,
From forgotten graves proceeding, habited in flesh once more.
Limb to limb unites and rises from the ashes dry and cold,
And the life-blood courses warmly through the frames long turned to mould,
Skin and flesh, anew created, muscle, bone and nerve enfold.
Then, mankind to life restoring, Death downtrodden 'neath His feet,
Lo! the Victor mounts triumphant to the Father's judgment-seat,
Bringing back to heaven the glory by His passion made complete.
Hail! Thou Judge of souls departed: hail! of all the living King!
On the Father's right hand thron'd, through His courts Thy praises ring,
Till at last for all offences righteous judgment Thou shalt bring.
Now let old and young uniting chant to Thee harmonious lays,
Maid and matron hymn Thy glory, infant lips their anthem raise,
Boys and girls together singing with pure heart their song of praise.
Let the storm and summer sunshine, gliding stream and sounding shore,
Sea and forest, frost and zephyr, day and night their Lord adore;
Let creation join to laud Thee through the ages evermore.