And young again. Each soul shall be filled
With all the good and evil it accumulated 165
Earlier in its earthly life, its breadth of days.
Body and soul together shall reclaim
Their sum of memory, the extent of experience,
Their lifetime collection of words and works.
Each one’s virtues and vices shall come to light 170
In the pure perception of the mind of God.
Then mankind shall be remade and renewed
Through the might of God. Multitudes shall arise
To receive judgment after the Lord of life
Loosens the death-bonds. The air shall burn, 175
The heavens blaze, the bright stars fall,
The planets plummet, the greedy fire
Plunder the land. Souls will go
To their eternal home. The acts of men
Shall be laid open, made manifest 180
Throughout middle-earth. The mind’s thoughts,
The heart’s secret desires, shall no longer
Be hidden away like guarded treasures.
Nothing will be concealed from the Creator
On that day of judgment, of doom or delight. 185
Everyone’s earthly deeds will be known,
The sum of life’s days, early and late.
Each one’s measure will be carefully taken,
Each ones’s way of being will be weighed.
Everyone will test his soul’s state 190
When he intends to bring before God
In hope and faith, his heart’s radiant grace—
When the fires of judgment begin to burn
To separate the weak who are twisted by sin
From those who are strong, straight in spirit, 195
Pure in soul, and worthy of salvation.
Then will come the sound of the trumpet,
The sign of God, the raging flame,
The throngs of glory, and the threat of doom.
Christ’s cross of suffering and salvation, 200
The holy rood, will rise as a sign
Of God’s sovereignty to summon the people
Into his presence, all souls early and late,
Filled out with flesh, alive with limbs.
Then this untold clutch of creatures 205
Shall come before their Creator, a multitude
Of men and women, all made young again,
Made whole, made eternally alive
Before the judgment fire and the face of God.
They will each come, called by name, 210
Driven by delight or dragged by need,
Carrying their heart’s hoard, their soul’s treasure,
To the Son of God. Their righteous Father
Shall see how the soul of each has flourished,
Whether it emerges from its living days 215
Wounded or wondrous, marred or magnificent.
The bold and blessed will bring their Lord
Their beautiful aspect and reap a reward,
A bounty of blessings for their good works.
It would be good to please God in that grim hour. 220
Many people will be stained with sin,
Hounded by dread, grim with grief,
Trembling in spirit at the coming judgment.
The Lord’s cross, the brightest of beacons,
Shall stand strong before the multitudes, 225
Offering grace—but not to them.
It will shine forth, streaming with blood,
Saturated with Christ’s sweat and gore.
That bright beam will banish shadow
Over all creation—that radiant rood 230
Will unshade the world. Christ’s cross
Will be a bliss to some, a bane to others,
The faithless who forgot to give thanks to God.
Christ willingly climbed that holy tree
To be hanged in shame to save the world, 235
Murdered for the crimes of mankind, buying
Salvation for the sinful with his sinless body.
That was no small price to pay for our reward.
For that gift of grace, a priceless sacrifice,
He will ask a simple fee, the soul’s surety, 240
When the sky brightens not with the sun,
But the red blood of the cross, the holy rood.
Then the sinful shall look a little fearful,
Sick with sorrow as they realize their own
Dark deeds, their twisted souls. 245
His gift of glory shall be their bane.
If only they had seen the truth in time—
Now they will see only desolation and dread
In the wounds of Christ, those open sores
That might have saved them, the body-stabs 250
Offered by those who nailed our God,
His fair hands and feet, to the wood
And slashed his side, so that bright blood
And water flowed from his heart’s hold.
In the eyes of creation, Christ was on the rood. 255
This will be made manifest to the children of men—
That the Son of God suffered for all sinners,
Lost his life to save the people he loved.
All of the faithless children of men
Will suddenly see in their false hearts 260
How cruelly they mocked and scorned him,
Spat in his eyes, taunted and tormented him—
How the hell-bound struck him, slapped his face,
Battered his body with their balled-up fists,
Blind in their hearts to his holy purpose. 265
Those foolish sinners fashioned a crown
Of thorns for his head, a twist of torment.
They saw then the agony of the living earth
And the tears of heaven as creation wept.
The dumb world mourned while sinners slept. 270
The silent creatures shared Christ’s suffering
But had no hands to help when men seized
Their lord with wicked grasp and grim clutch.
The sun was squelched, shaded with misery.
In Jerusalem the wall-hangings in the holy temple 275
Were suddenly rent as the foundation shuddered.
The veil of the temple was torn in two,
Its radiant colors ripped as if by sword-slash.
The earth trembled, buildings quaked,
Walls crumbled, stones shattered— 280
Fear stalked the living. The sea grew angry
And savaged the shore. The storm-wind
Whipped waves over the lap of the land.
The stars glowered and lost their grace,
But in that hour heaven discovered 285
The radiant power who made it, raised it high,
And adorned it with gems, beautiful star-stones,
When it sent its herald, the nativity star,
To brighten the world as the Christ-child,
The King of creation, was born in Bethlehem. 290
On the cruel day of Christ’s suffering,
Sinners saw another wonder as the ground split.
Graves opened up, gave forth their bodies,
Raised up the faithful with resurrected life.
Then fierce Hell, the avenger of sin, 295
Knew deep down the Creator had come
When its heart was opened, so the faithful host
Could pass through the fiery demon-doors
As their souls sought comfort from endless sorrow
In their dear Savior’s harrowing of hell. 300
The seas made known the mighty Lord,
Who set the waves on their watery bed;
The surface firmed when the Son of God
Walked on water—it dared not drown its maker
Or swamp the Savior’s feet in the flood. 305
The trees proclaimed the power of the Lord,<
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Who shaped them, root and bloom,
Branch and blossom, each exulting
In Christ’s rood-riding on one of their own
When he endured misery for the sake of sinners 310
On that best of trees where God was tortured
And tasted bitter death to deliver mankind.
Then trees wept blood under their bark,
A gathering of sap, red with Christ’s gore.
Speech-bearers cannot understand or explain 315
How the silent creatures were so sensible
To Christ’s suffering, how they deemed his death.
Everything in creation wept for the Lord
From the edges of earth to the heights of heaven.
These things knew in their unconscious bones, 320
Their unthinking leaves, their silent stones,
That God was going, leaving his life-house.
The creatures on earth and heaven’s high halls
Were gripped with fear, suffused with sorrow.
Blind-hearted men, ensnared in iniquity, 325
Harder than stone, could not then see
In Christ’s suffering their salvation from sin,
Or know that their Maker might save them
From the torments of hell with his harrowing might,
Or remember that prophets had predicted the coming 330
Of the glorious Christ-child in their blessed visions.
They knew he would come through the gates of heaven,
The doors of delivery of the purest virgin,
The noblest woman. They said he would be
The most precious jewel, the salvation-stone 335
That would brighten the world, the best treasure,
Our radiance and refuge, our solace and shelter,
Our gift and grace, through the blessed Queen.
What is he thinking who will not bear in mind
The mild teachings of our merciful Lord 340
And all the suffering he bore for mankind
So that we might gain a homeland in heaven?
Woe to the ones who discover a hard judgment,
Damned by sin on that day of doom,
When they see the Lord’s body marked with scars, 345
Terrible sores, and torturous wounds,
Signs of our Savior’s passion. With desolate souls
And mournful minds, they will know in their hearts
The greatest of griefs, how Christ the King
In his gentle mercy bought with his body 350
Their salvation from sin so that finally they could be
Set free from evil and live a life of bliss.
They forgot to thank God for that gift,
So they will see in the Savior’s signs,
His redeeming wounds, no hint of hope, 355
When they come before Christ on his royal throne,
Their radiant Creator who gives out rewards—
Bliss to some, bale to others, delight or doom
To each person according to his or her works.
Then the pure and virtuous people shall be gathered 360
At the right hand of God, the righteous Christ—
The faithful ones who followed his teachings,
Fulfilling his words and works with joyful hearts
In their days on earth. At the left hand of God
Shall be grimly gathered those who loved sin, 365
Cherished harm in their hearts, enjoyed evil.
Rewards for the unholy will be righteous and cruel.
Christ the king of victory shall call them
To the sinister side where, unmasked and exposed,
They shall whimper and groan, weep and wail, 370
Fearful in their unfaith, as foul as goats,
So gravely ungraced, despairing of mercy.
On Doomsday the Lord shall mete out rewards
According to each one’s words and works.
Those saved by God shall be known by three signs. 375
This is the first—that they will shine brightly
With a glorious light over all the people
Of the great cities. Their days of faith
And their righteous deeds will illuminate their faces,
And their light will be greater than that of the sun. 380
This is the second—they will know God’s glory,
Experience his grace within their hearts,
And suddenly see with their eyes of delight
That they are welcome to share the joys
Of the company of angels in their heavenly home. 385
This is the third sign—that the saved will see
The lost souls suffering punishments for their sins
In the lurid darkness, tormented by pain,
The ravening fire, the serpent’s jaws,
The great worm’s bitter fangs, the unfaithful souls 390
Suffering for sin in the ravenous flame.
Those who are saved will surely be relieved
When they discover what’s in store for the damned.
Then they will know what mercy means
And thank God for the glory given to them. 395
The fate of the damned will heighten their delight
In being called to Christ, who has saved them
From cruel torment and offered them eternal glory.
Some souls on that day will be lifted into heaven;
Some will be locked in hell. Some will know joy; 400
Some will know nothing but the dread demon.
Some will bask in truth; some will burn in torment.
So good souls are rewarded for their love of God,
But the damned will see in their own darkness
A quite different joy, cruel and un-Christlike. 405
They will see sins enough, an abundance of evil,
Punishment and pain for their past lives.
Torment will hang heavy upon them,
Grief gather about them in three ways:
The first is this—all they will see is misery. 410
All they will feel are the fierce fires of hell,
All they will remember is a darkness of deeds,
All they will look forward to is a fathomless flame
And endless days of unremitting damnation.
The second is this—the shame and guilt 415
Of being undone by sin, for their reward is ruin,
Their promise is pain, their unfortune is endless.
God shall see in their faces a grotesque agony,
An outrage of unlove, a loathing of evil.
Everyone on earth and angels and devils 420
Will see their dark deeds finally revealed,
Their perverted power, their gruesome guilt.
Everyone will see through their transparent flesh
Their souls mired in sin. Their bodies will be clear
As glass through which eternity gazes at their shame. 425
They will never be blameless, never escape the flame.
The third way is this—they will always know
Grim sorrow and suffering, the pain of grief,
As they see those pure ones, who are promised salvation,
Rejoicing in their good deeds, which the wicked scorned, 430
Despising virtue, disdaining God, in their earthly days.
They will weep sorely for their evil works,
Their embrace of sin, as they behold their betters,
Bright with glory. They will be bound to misery—
The bliss of the faithful will be their bane. 435
In their lives they scorned pure, permanent joys
And loved the body’s impure delights,
Drinking desire from a fleshly cup.
They will sink with shame, lurch with guilt,
Bent with the burden of sin, bearing the weight 440
Of their wicked works, their shame made manifest.
&nb
sp; It would be better for them if they had been ashamed
Of their wicked deeds before even one man,
Confessing to God’s messenger, acknowledging their guilt.
The confessor cannot see through flesh 445
To ascertain the secret truth of the soul
Or know the heart’s deep cruelty or kindness,
Yet sins can be healed with honest confession.
No one, however, can hide the grim stain
Of unatoned sin on that harsh Judgment Day, 450
354 | THE EXETER BOOK
When multitudes will see each unconcealed crime.
If we could only see into our own souls
With eyes of the spirit, not of the body,
To recognize the signs of sin, the deep wounds,
The unclean thoughts, the wicked words, 455
The evil acts, the agony of guilt—
Then our passion for life with the Lord
Would pass beyond all human understanding.
We would earnestly strive for eternal life
With every skill and strength, breathless for bliss, 460
Determined to fulfill our better being
By cleansing our souls of the canker of sin,
Healing our heart’s deepest wounds
During the brief loan of days in this life,
So that we might live unashamed in the eyes 465
Of our neighbors, ourselves, and our Lord,
And enjoy a blessed life without blame,
While body and soul are bound together,
Abiding on earth and under heaven.
Now we must look with the eyes of the mind 470
And the knowledge of the heart for secret sins
Hidden deep within. With those other eyes,
The gems of the head, we cannot fully fathom
The depths of thought, the ambiguity of intent,
The measure of memory, to see what good or evil 475
Resides there, so that when we arrive before God
At the grim hour, our being may be pleasing to him
When he blazes in glory from his bright throne
Over all the angels and the endless multitudes.
There he will begin to speak to the blessed, 480
Promise them peace, offer them solace
With his holy voice, bid them enter unharmed
The house of angels, the harmony of heaven,
And enjoy forever the sweetest symphony
In their new homeland. Then the high King, 485
The Lord of hosts, will say to them all:
“Come into the kingdom of heaven with your friends,
A radiant homeland joyfully prepared
Before the ages, made ready long ago
For the day when you would be with the blessed 490
In this land of life’s riches and celestial delight.
You earned this reward when you succored the poor,
The Complete Old English Poems Page 45
