Iam moesta quiesce querela

Representative Text

1 Jam moesta quiesce querela;
lacrimas suspendite matres!
Nullus sua pignora plangat.
Mors haec reparatio vitae est.

2 Quid nam sibi saxa cavata,
quid pulchra volunt monumenta?
Res, quod nisi creditur illis
non mortua, sed data somno.

3 Nun quod requiescere corpus
vacuum, sine mente videmus
spatium breve restat, ut alti
repentant collegia sensus.

4 Venient cito secula,
cum jam socius calor ossa
revisat animataque sanguine
vivo habitucula pristina gestet.

5 Quae pigra cadavera
pridem tumulis putrefacta
jacebant volucres rapientur in auras
animas comitata priores.

6 Sic semina sicca verescut jam mortua,
animaque sepulta quia reddita
cespite ab imo veteres
meditantur aristas.

7 Nunc suscipe terra fovendum
gremioque hunc concipe molli,
hominus tibi membra sequestro
generosa et fragmina credo.

8 Animae fuit haec domus
olim factoris ab ore creatae
fervens habitavit in istis sapientia.
Principe Christo.

9 Tu depositum tege corpus,
non immemor ille requiret sua
munera fictor et autor,
propriique aenigmata vultus.

10 Veniant modo tempora just
cum spem Deus impleat
omnem reddas patefacta necesse est,
qualem tibi trado figuram.

Source: Evangelisch-Lutherisches Gesang-Buch: worin die gebräuchlichsten alten Kirchen-Lieder Dr. M. Lutheri und anderer reinen lehrer und zeugen Gottes, zur Befoerderung der wahren ... (2. verm. Aus.) #481

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Author: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, "The Christian Pindar" was born in northern Spain, a magistrate whose religious convictions came late in life. His subsequent sacred poems were literary and personal, not, like those of St. Ambrose, designed for singing. Selections from them soon entered the Mozarabic rite, however, and have since remained exquisite treasures of the Western churches. His Cathemerinon liber, Peristephanon, and Psychomachia were among the most widely read books of the Middle Ages. A concordance to his works was published by the Medieval Academy of America in 1932. There is a considerable literature on his works. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion… Go to person page >

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