Hymns of the Christian Church.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
From De Contemptu Mundi By Bernard of Morlaix. Tr. J. M. Nealecir. 1125
Latin HymnsHic Breve Vivitur
B
Brief sorrow, short-lived care;
The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life, is there.
And after this world’s night,
And after storm and whirlwind,
Is calm and joy and light.
Such pleasure as, below,
No human voice can utter,
No human heart can know:
The calm of all the blest,
Inviolate, unvaried,
Divinest, sweetest, best.
The guileless in their way,
Who keep the ranks of battle,
Who mean the thing they say.
Toil, man, to gain that light,
Send hope before to grasp it,
Till hope be lost in sight!