Day of anger, that dread day. By H. Alford, from the Paris Missal. The opening stanza of this translation [of Dies irae, dies illa] is:—
”Day of anger, that dread day
Shall the sign in Heav'n display,
And the earth in ashes lay."
It appeared in his Psalms & Hymns, 1844, in two parts, the second beginning, "Thou didst toil my soul to gain"; and was repeated in his Year of Praise, 1867. In Windle's Hymnal, No. 83, there is given a cento from this translation into which many alterations are introduced, and a refrain is added to each stanza which is altogether new to the hymn. The cento in the Marlborough School Collection, 1869, No. 49, beginning with the first line from I. Williams, is from this translation but greatly altered. Dean Alford's translation is also given in a few American hymn-books.
--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Alford, Henry, D.D., son of the Rev. Henry Alford, Rector of Aston Sandford, b. at 25 Alfred Place, Bedford Row, London, Oct. 7, 1810, and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in honours, in 1832. In 1833 he was ordained to the Curacy of Ampton. Subsequently he held the Vicarage of Wymeswold, 1835-1853,--the Incumbency of Quebec Chapel, London, 1853-1857; and the Deanery of Canterbury, 1857 to his death, which took. place at Canterbury, Jan. 12, 1871. In addition he held several important appointments, including that of a Fellow of Trinity, and the Hulsean Lectureship, 1841-2. His literary labours extended to every department of literature, but his noblest undertaking was his edition of the Greek Testament, the result… Go to person page >
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