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HERBERT HOWELLS : Take Him Earth for Cherishing

“To the honored memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy,

President of the United States”

Sunday 22 November, 1964

The National Gallery, Washington DC

Choir of the Cathedral of St. George, Kingston, Ontario

cond. George N. Maybee

Text : from 'Hymnus circa Excequias Defuncti',

Aurelius Prudentius (348-413)

H. W. Gray Co. Inc., 1964

Take him, earth, for cherishing,

to thy tender breast receive him.

Body of a man I bring thee,

noble even in its ruin.

Once was this a spirit’s dwelling,

by the breath of God created.

High the heart that here was beating,

Christ the prince of all its living.

Guard him well, the dead I give thee,

not unmindful of his creature

shall he ask it: he who made it

symbol of his mystery.

Comes the hour God hath appointed

to fulfil the hope of men,

then must thou, in very fashion,

what I give, return again.

Not though ancient time decaying

wear away these bones to sand,

ashes that a man might measure

in the hollow of his hand:

Not though wandering winds and idle,

drifting through the empty sky,

scatter dust was nerve and sinew,

is it given to man to die.

Once again the shining road

leads to ample Paradise;

open are the woods again,

that the serpent lost for men

Take, O take him, mighty leader,

take again thy servant’s soul.

Grave his name, and pour the fragrant

balm upon the icy stone.