Latinised Hymns

There is a book, who runs may read

There is a book, who runs may read,
Which heavenly truth imparts,
And all the lore its scholars need,
Pure eyes and Christian hearts.
The works of God above, below,
Within us and around,
Are pages in that book, to show
How God himself is found.

The glorious sky, embracing all,
Is like the Maker's love,
Wherewith encompassed, great and small,
In peace and order move.
The moon above, the Church below,
A wondrous race they run;
But all their radiance, all their glow,
Each borrows of its sun.

The Saviour lends the light and heat
That crown his holy hill;
The saints, like stars, around his seat
Perform their courses still.
The dew of heaven is like thy grace,
It steals in silence down;
But where it lights, the favoured place
By richest fruits is known.

One name, above all glorious names,
With its ten thousand tongues
The everlasting sea proclaims,
Echoing angelic songs.
The raging fire, the roaring wind,
Thy boundless power display;
But in the gentler breeze we find
Thy Spirit's viewless way.

Two worlds are ours: 'tis only sin
Forbids us to descry
The mystic heaven and earth within,
Plain as the sea and sky.
Thou who hast given me eyes to see
And love this sight so fair,
Give me a heart to find out thee,
And read thee everywhere.

J.Keble

Est codex, cursor quem legat,
ut vera noverit,
dum puriter inspiciat
et Christianus sit.
Quotquot sunt opera Dei
nos, ubicumque sunt,
ut eius paginae libri
ad ipsum dirigunt.

Caelum notetur splendidum
Factoris ut amor,
amplexu cuius omnium
tranquillus est tenor.
Ut luna, sic Ecclesia
mirandum cursum it,
suus sed, ut sit lucida,
utrique sol facit.

Lux et calor colli sacro
a Salvatore sunt,
eumque siderum modo
sancti circueunt.
Descendit gratia tua
ut ros silentio,
fit et seges notissima
quo cecidit loco.

Supremum nomen nominum
proclamat plurimis
aeternum vocibus fretum,
respondens angelis.
Tu flabris borealibus
cognosceris potens
mollique zephyro tuus
clam Spiritus agens.

Duplex est mundus: extera
videntibus patent;
internum nostra vitia
discerni prohibent.
Das, Deus, oculos mihi,
ut pulchra videam;
da mentem, instar ut libri
ubique te legam.

MM 8–17.3.00