O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, A second Adam to the fight And to the rescue came.
O wisest love! that flesh and blood Which did in Adam fail, 810 Should strive afresh against the foe, Should strive and should prevail;
And that a higher gift than grace Should flesh and blood refine, God's Presence and His very Self, And Essence all divine.
O generous love! that He who smote In man for man the foe, The double agony in man For man should undergo; 820
And in the garden secretly, And on the cross on high, Should teach His brethren and inspire To suffer and to die.
§6
ANGEL
Thy judgment now is near, for we are come Into the veiled presence of our God.
SOUL
I hear the voices that I left on earth.
ANGEL
It is the voice of friends around thy bed, Who say the "Subvenite" with the priest. Hither the echoes come; before the Throne 830 Stands the great Angel of the Agony, The same who strengthened Him, what time He knelt Lone in the garden shade, bedewed with blood. That Angel best can plead with Him for all Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.
ANGEL OF THE AGONY[32]
Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on Thee; Jesu! by that cold dismay which sickened Thee; Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrilled in Thee; Jesu! by that mount of sins which crippled Thee; Jesu! by that sense of guilt which stifled Thee; 840 Jesu! by that innocence which girdled Thee; Jesu! by that sanctity which reigned in Thee; Jesu! by that Godhead which was one with Thee; Jesu! spare these souls which are so dear to Thee, Who in prison, calm and patient, wait for Thee; Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them come to Thee, To that glorious Home, where they shall ever gaze on Thee.
SOUL
I go before my Judge. Ah!...
ANGEL
... Praise to His Name! The eager spirit has darted from my hold, 850 And, with the intemperate energy of love, Flies to the dear feet of Emmanuel; But, ere it reach them, the keen sanctity, Which with its effluence, like a glory, clothes And circles round the Crucified, has seized, And scorched, and shrivelled it; and now it lies Passive and still before the awful Throne. O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe, Consumed, yet quickened, by the glance of God.
SOUL
Take me away, and in the lowest deep[33] 860 There let me be, And there in hope the lone night-watches keep, Told out for me. There, motionless and happy in my pain, Lone, not forlorn,-- There will I sing my sad perpetual strain, Until the morn. There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast, Which ne'er can cease To throb, and pine, and languish, till possest 870 Of its Sole Peace. There will I sing my absent Lord and Love:-- Take me away, That sooner I may rise, and go above, And see Him in the truth of everlasting day.
§7
ANGEL
Now let the golden prison ope its gates, Making sweet music, as each fold revolves Upon its ready hinge. And ye great powers, Angels of Purgatory, receive from me My charge, a precious soul, until the day, 880 When, from all bond and forfeiture released, I shall reclaim it for the courts of light.
SOULS IN PURGATORY[34]
1. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every generation;