Gerontius," said that it is the most important oratorio of recent times, not excepting Brahms' Requiem. "'Gerontius,'" he added, "is a lofty work, and, from a technical point of view, more masterly than Brahms ever dreamed of. It is by far the most important and satisfying modern work written for voices and orchestra." It is understood that Cardinal Newman himself suggested that his poem should be set to music. The delicacy of his ear as to sounds is shown by the changes of the verse-music,--which is made up of accent, pause, and rhythm,--to fit the varying feeling of the work. If the student will scan the lines and reduce them to musical expression,--leaving out, of course, the quality of pitch, he can easily corroborate this. [Illustration: Jesu, Maria, I am near to death, And Thou art calling me.] This is in two-beat rhythm: [Illustration] The first syllable of "Jesu" is the anacrusis; the measure of the metre begins with the first accent. Whether this system of verse-notation or that of the usual scansion be followed, the meaning of the changing forms will be made plain. The system of verse-notation will be found more satisfactory in the metrical study of the poem. The second form of primary rhythm--that based on three beats in the measure--is effectively used. We find it in the Song of the Demons: [Illustration: Low-born clods Of brute earth, They aspire,--] [Illustration] [1] From Merlin's song in Tennyson's "Coming of Arthur." [2] Coventry Patmore's "Ode to the Body." [3] From the Psalm, "De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine."--"Out of the depths have I cried to Thee, O Lord." [4] "Come to his assistance, ye saints of God; come forth to meet him, ye angels of the Lord: Receiving his soul: Offering it in the sight of the Most High." [5] This passage in "The Dream of Gerontius" calls to mind Tennyson's lines in "The Princess": "Ah, sad and strange, as in dark summer dawns The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds To dying ears, when unto dying eyes The casement slowly grows a glimmering square." [6] La Psychologie du Purgatoire (The Psychology of Purgatory): AbbÈ Chollet, Doctor of Theology at Lille. [7] The Holy Father "creates" Cardinals, he does not appoint them. [8] Catholic Life and Letters by Cardinal Newman; with Notes on the Oxford Movement and its Men:--John Oldcastle (Mr. Wilfred Meynell). To which work the editor is under obligation for important parts of the appended chronology. [9] [Greek: gerÙn--ontos.] [10] The word "refrigerium" was used for "refreshment," "rest" in the epitaphs of the early Latin Christians. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN Born in the city of London, February 21, 1801, son of Mr. John Newman (of the banking firm of Ramsbottom, Newman & Co.) and of Jemima Fourdrinier, his wife. Went at an early age to Dr. Nicholas's school at Ealing, to the head of which he rapidly rose. Thence to Trinity College, Oxford, graduating in 1820.