Hear the vast repentant throng
Singing as they march along
Their triumphant happy song,
"Glory to the Righteous!"
Hear them coming from the east,
Saints, whose souls have been released
To enjoy Jehovah's feast,
"Glory to the Righteous!"
Hear them coming from the west,
Saints of God who have been blest
To enjoy Jehovah's rest,
"Glory to the Righteous!"
Hear them come from the world's end,
And praises that ascend
To their Master and their Friend,
"Glory to the Righteous!"
Where did He spend the hours of that last night?
The Mount of Olives where He had valued life
And with His Father had joy that was divine;
Gethsemane: there His will must collide
With Satan's will to swerve Him from the right.
Yet if there lay before Him hours of strife
And grief more fierce that any can indite
His soul recoiled but Christ would not resile.
The enemy might try each thwart device:
He could not touch the dignity of Christ.
Before fire touched the offering in the types
The water proved the sacrifice refined.
One has been found We have found
Slain, in the land; who A heifer never
Is the slayer? Subject to man’s will.
Measure with the reed; Bring it to the watercourse
Is that the nearest city, Which has its spring
Jerusalem? Beyond the will of man.
Measure more closely Take the heifer
The line stretches to To the flowing watercourse
Heart and conscience. Break its neck there.
The blood of Jesus
Is the only atonement
For the sin that shed it.
The ardent love which Laeda’s offspring showed,
The twins she bore through Jupiter’s deceit,
Fails when compared with love with which Christ glowed:
He’s God and Man, whose purity’s complete.
If the beloved Pollux shared with Castor,
His brother, life, the gain was qualified,
If one lived for the other death was master:
If one arose, one perished with the tide.
But life which is beyond death’s might and main
Christ gains, and also gives to the elect.
The living praise: His death won’t be in vain:
Don’t be lost, through His victory’s effect.
For deep in hell there is a place secreted
For everything by which you were defeated.
Another Elizabeth Weston; comment on translation would be appreciated!
Mortem non gustabunt
Non fratres inter tantus fuit ardor amantes,
Quos decepta tulit Laeda furore Jovis: which deceived took Laeda with fury
Jove
Quanto hominum mitis flagrabat amore Redemptor,
Qui Deus, & puro corpore purus homo est.
Mutate enim Pollux charo cum Castore vitam
Fratre suam; certa conditione tamen.
Alter ut alterius moriatur orogine vitae:
Dumque hic surgite quis, ille feratur aquis.
At vitam, alterius Christus sine morte perennem
Obtinet, Electis & dat habere suis.
Vivus ovat; non te mors illius ergo fefellit:
Ne pereas, sed eas per supera, ille perit.
Omnia qui te eum victurus secula, solus
Expertem stygiae te facit esse plagae.
In you, O Christ my Hope, my hopes depend;
Amid confusing wickedness, defend;
I do not trust in images or art,
For nothing can be certain on man’s part.
My Hope, Thou art mine own, through rock and fire:
I’ll cross the seas, if that’s what you require;
Your arms will even overcome the sea,
Wherever your command to me may be.
Elizabeth Jane Weston (c.1581-1612)
In Symbolam Westoniae Auctoris
Spes mea Christus
In te, Christe, mihi spes derivata recumbit;
Sed ne confundant me mala tot, fer opem:
Non ego imaginibus confido, ne arte; salutis,
Quam spero, certae nil mihi praestat homo.
Tu spes, tu mea res, Meus es, per saxa per ignes:
Si vis esse, sequar per freta: se esse jubes
Per freta; freta tuo munimine vinco: petitis
Certa, vel hic, summi vel patris aede tui.
2 Kings 11: 2
True faithfulness preserved the royal line,
Noble behaviour risked to save a child,
Just actions proved the impulse was divine,
Pure priestliness found Judah reconciled,
Amiable care sustained through watching days:
This good report tells of a soul that's fine:
Virtue in her conduces to God's praise.
(Micah 7: 7)
Amid this world of trouble I will wait for
The God of my salvation; He will hear me
Although the turbulence may not abate for
A moment in His goodness He will cheer me.
I rest upon His promise and His favour
Since He has told me that He will be near me:
He is my Rock, although I flinch and waver.
Tottering forth she would have found
New lands to conquer every day;
And reaping in her fields of play
Have set her feet on firmer ground.
She would have brought her faculties
Within her ego's vassalage;
Like tropes deployed upon a page
She would have been her personal traits.
But, like us, going her own way
She would have trudged the wilderness
Till met by One intent to bless
Who bent her heart and knees to pray.
And as a shepherdess her skill
Might have secured her little fold:
Her fable was more briefly told,
Since this desire was not God's will.
See https://dcbverse.blogspot.com/2017/07/marina-i.html for the rest of this.
Of the ideal village, such as will inhabit
The world to come? These are the archetypes
Which would dwell there: firstly, the priest,
For I understand that priests on earth
Will officiate again. Then the head man,
To a Scot, the Laird. Under the shepherding
Of these two will be the ploughman or peasant,
Garnering abundance; the shepherd or fisher,
Folding abundance; and the soldier or sailor,
Wars now over, pensioner of the abundance.
There will be the pilgrim, the village’s journeyer
To Jerusalem – for the nations will flow to it.
Finally the poet, or psalmist, or bard.
From this developed the custom of testing
Persons against the archetypes. King David
Or King Charles, James Graham
Or Jacob – Rosalie, and Marina and me:
We have all been measured against this standard.
And since perfection in manhood is Christ
These have been measured rather against
Him. If He is priest we have to expand the title
To Great Priest, for the quality of His priestliness,
To High Priest, for the dignity of His priesthood,
And for the scope of His service – Minister
Of the holy places. To whom else could belong
The title, Prince of the princes of the Levites!
And He is Lord of all; certainly because
Of who His is in those other dimensions
He is at home in, but because, too,
Of His worth, of His walk and of
His achievements. He has displayed Himself as Sower – but all
Of the landsman’s crafts have correspondence
In the Lord’s activities; but He has exceeded
By graciously broadcasting seed irrespective
Of the quality of the ground.
As shepherd The Good Shepherd has expended His vigour
For us, and deliberately offered Himself;
As the Great Shepherd has forged through death
A path for us; and as Chief Shepherd engaged
Shepherds for our good.
But who is conqueror
Like Christ? That constrictor death, and that
Venomous serpent Satan both dungen:
Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro!
Someone questioned my referring to Christ
As a pilgrim. To me a pilgrim is a person
With an objective – and who fulfils the description
As fully as Christ? For He came from the heart
Of God to the cross and pioneered for us the path
From the cross to the heart of God.
But what
Of psalmist? Each production of the range
Of poet and hymn-writer from Pentecost -
And the ancient psalmists and prophets – were makars
At the hand of the great Maker.
"To Gislebertus" was a bit of a blog before blogs had begun. Not all of the snippets from it are so positive!
(Written 15 October 1984)
My little daughter, you know no language yet -
Forgive me then while I expatiate
With this new composition didactic verse
Using a style I've borrowed from Old French.
It's no new wisdom which I have to dispense
But you may find it's helpful none the less.
Your life is an adventure and you'll explore
Though you may not wander from pole to pole.
Never, my daughter, repose in what you know
But always be a person who pries and probes -
Through wind and rain, like a keen Viking, row
Until you land on you own Vinland shore.
Plough your own furrow and always plough it straight;
Do not divert to someone else's way;
Broadcast good seed and then, with patience, wait -
Anything good will grow in months, not days;
When it is ripe harvest before the rain
And for the future be generous with you grain.
Allow the time occasionally to wander
Across the hills or by the babbling waters;
Perceive the boredom; the glory and the horror
Within all nature - slow slugs or leaping horses,
Ravenous shrew or deft fish-killing otters.
Let each one halt you and give you cause to ponder.
Fish just to meet your own and other's wants
But not for pleasure - a sport which God abhors.
Both good and evil will come within your trawl:
Discriminate - don't keep and swallow all.
Although winds blow and bucking billows toss
Persist until you can relish what's caught.
To be a poet would do you little good
And whether I would like it I am not sure.
There's poetry in life as you will prove -
In every movement a subtle rhythm moves,
In every word a fertile tension broods;
And every object is image for a mood.
I know that you will never be a queen
- But you must rule within yourself at least;
Only by self-control can you be free.
Be careful not to watch all that you see;
Be careful not to heed all that you hear;
Your heart is the most precious thing that you keep.
Philip had four daughters who prophesied -
If he was fortunate I can't decide!
So, little one, prophesy if you like
But you must pray from your depths to God's height,
Must find the answer to darkness in God's light,
Must find in Jesus the purpose of your life.
My little Rosalie, I'll soon have ended:
I'm sure you think I've been too long already.
To tell the truth you don't seem interested
In being wrapped in archetypal vestments.
I guess it's nearly time that you were bedded,
A so good night and may God add His blessing.
The One by whom the worlds began
Who furnished Earth by what He said
Was found in figure as a Man
Without a place to lay His Head.
By Him on good and worthless ground
The seed, the word of God, was sown
And now for His delight abound
Fruits from good ground for Him alone.
From this world's raging seas He brought
Disciples, sinners born again:
He patiently and gently taught
Till they were also "catching men".
Unending gentleness and care
For those whom men despised as least,
With constant toil for men in prayer,
Displayed perfection of a priest.
And as the perfect Victim too
He met death in the darkest hour,
Emerging as the Victor who
Quelled death and him who had its power.
Ascended high to God's right hand
He sits upon the throne of grace
Acclaimed by all who understand
He has secured their heavenly place.
And as the Chief Musician now
He moves God's service, phrase by phrase,
Touching each harp-string to endow
Eternal, orchestrated praise.
Pre-eminently David was a shepherd:
One with a heart his flock could all rely on.
He was no hireling but prepared to jeopard
His life to fight against the bear or lion
To lead his flock or lead his men to Zion.
But the Good Shepherd, Jesus, supersedes:
In love He suffered and in grace He leads.
Into the valley, humble yet defiant,
Confident in the way Jehovah led,
David went down to battle with the giant:
A skilful sling-stone smote Goliath dead
And David carried off his severed head.
Through greater depths and through exceeding woe
The Lord has quelled a more injurious foe.
Rejected and despised, a wanderer,
David found refuge in Adullam's cave;
And needy souls who gathered to him there
Because their debts were great or needs were grave
Found that he had ability to save:
Christ, who had once no place to lay His head,
Is Saviour now as risen from the dead.
As God's anointed David had dominion
That ranged from the Euphrates to the Sea;
Hundreds of judgments hung on his opinion,
Myriads of minions hung on his decree
While Israel was glorious and free.
But Christ will shoulder just administration
As King of every people, tribe and nation.
To build the house of God was his desire
And under God he was its architect;
It was most worthy that he should aspire
To serve God in a place he would erect
But God refused to give his will effect.
Only through Christ could God acquire a place
To dwell with men in righteousness and grace.
David went in to sit before the ark
To hear Jehovah in complacency;
He laid aside his realm's and household's cark
And heard the promise God had to convey:
Sustained by this he rose and went his way.
But in God's presence our High Priest remains –
All things by love and vigour He sustains.
Whether the waters by his feet were calm
Or he was bruised by torrents of oppression
From each experience David formed a psalm.
He raised a hymn to God through his confession
And found a song as carried through depression.
But Christ now leads a heavenly company
Surrounding Him to praise eternally.
