Libera me

I'll take any excuse to post one of William Herebert's hymn translations, and All Souls Day seems as good an excuse as any. This is his version of the Libera me.



Louerd, shyld me vrom helle deth at þylke gryslich stounde,
When heuene and erþe shulle quake and al þat ys on grounde,
When þou shalt demen al wyth fur þat ys on erþe yuounde.

Ich am ouergard agast and quake al in my speche
Aȝa þe day of rykenyng and þylke gryslych wreche:
When heuene and erþe shulle quake and al þat ys on grounde.

Þat day ys day of wreþthe, of wo and soroufolnesse;
Þat day shal be þe grete day, and vol of bytternesse:
When þou shalt demen al wyth fur þat ys on erþe yuounde.

Þylke reste, þat euer last, Louerd, þou hem sende,
And lyht of heuene blysse hem shyne wythouten ende.


The Latin is:

Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda:
Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra.
Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.
Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra.
Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde.
Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.


A modern English translation of that:

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day,
When the heavens and the earth shall be moved,
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath,
When the heavens and the earth shall be moved.
That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness,
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.



A more readable version of Herebert's translation:


Lord, shield me from hell and death at that grisly stound [hour]
When heaven and earth shall quake and all that is on ground,
When thou shalt judge with fire all that is on earth found.

I am utterly aghast and quake in all my speech
At that day of reckoning and that grisly wreche: [vengeance]
When heaven and earth shall quake and all that is on ground.

That day is day of wrath, of woe and sorrowfullness;
That day shall be the great day, and full of bitterness:
When thou shalt judge with fire all that is on earth found.

The rest which lasts for ever, Lord, thou them send,
And light of heavenly bliss on them shine without end.