We said that _Te Deum_ is a Hymn of the Incarnation, and that it is an elaborate composition. It is necessary to examine these points at some length. And first we must get rid of the modern way of printing it out in 29 verses. Many of them are half-verses quoted from the Psalms and Isaiah: and when we have begun to restore these with their colons, we find that the other verses answer to the same treatment. In short, most of the verses should be read two together with a colon to separate them for singing purposes. Having thus restored the Hymn to its original lines, we find that it consists of 13 verses in 3 Stanzas, the first and third having five lines each, and the middle Stanza having three lines. The three lines of the Middle Stanza correspond to the three divisions of our Saviour's Existence--(1) before He was made Man--(2) when He {67} lived on Earth--(3) after His Ascension (see the Latin Form). The Saviour's Existence, from the Eternal Beginning on to the Eternal Future, is the central thought of the Hymn. The dual form of each line in this Middle Stanza proves it to be a separate Stanza. The Incarnation is its theme--The Incarnation and its Antecedents and Consequences. Tu Rex . . . . . . . . . . Tu Filius . . . . . . Tu non horruisti . . . . . Tu aperuisti . . . . Tu in gloria . . . . . . . Judex venturus . . . The prominent place, in each line, of the pronoun Tu--Thou--is here to be noticed. It is characteristic of this middle Stanza that each of the three phases of the Saviour's existence is expressed by _two_ thoughts which are included in one line. The pronoun Tu introduces each of the thoughts in each line, except the last of the three. The completeness of the summary of the Lord's Existence is a strong argument for treating these three lines as a Stanza: and the use of the pronoun _Tu_ confirms the argument. For turning to the First Stanza, we find each line has _three_ thoughts. The prominent word in the first line is TE--Thee--and occurs three times. Similarly in the second line TIBI--to Thee: and in the fourth line TE. The last line of this Stanza varies, it is true, as the last line of the middle Stanza does, but retaining a triple thought, viz. the Holy Trinity. The third line has the Ter-Sanctus. Thus the 1st Stanza, by its form, is separated from the 2nd Stanza, and the 2nd from the 3rd in like manner. For, in the Third Stanza although TE is still {68} prominent as the first word, it is very sparingly introduced afterwards--once in the 11th line, and twice in the 13th. Here again we notice a variation with the object of marking the Stanza's last line, for in the last line TE occurs twice. The word _Domine_ supplants Te in the 10th and 12th lines, and appears with Te twice in the 13th line. The elaborate arrangement of the Hymn has been exhibited so as to eliminate the notion of an extempore composition. Its method however is worthy of some further consideration.