Introduction
The Judge that comes in mercy,
The Judge that comes with might,
To terminate the evil,
To diadem the right.
When the juſt and gentle Monarch
Shall ſummon from the tomb,
Let man, the guilty, tremble,
For Man, the God, ſhall doom!
II.
The Dies Iræ is undoubtedly the greateſt of the mediæval hymns. It ſtands "majeſtic and ſolitary" in the words of Mr. Benedict; its ſtrain is "ſo clear and deep that its ſofteſt tones are heard throughout Chriſtendom," in the words of Mrs. Charles. The zeal of the tranſlator has not cooled, and many tranſlations have been publiſhed, and many, unpubliſhed, have been ſent to me ſince the firſt edition of this work. A ſecond verſion was made by General Dix, which he deemed ſuperior to the firſt, but which was unqueſtionably inferior. The firſt ſtanza, for example, is as follows:
Day of vengeance, lo! that morning
On the earth in aſhes dawning,
David with the Sibyl warning.
xiv
