One of the hymns of the immediately preceding time, which attained great popularity during the Thirteenth Century--a popularity that reflects credit on those among whom it is noted as well as upon the great hymn itself--was Bernard of Cluny's or Bernard of Morlaix's hymn, concerning the contempt of the world, many of the ideas of which were to be used freely in the book bearing this title written by the first Pope of the century, Innocent III, whose name is usually, though gratuitously associated with quite other ideas than those of contempt for worldly grandeur. The description of the New Jerusalem to come, which is found at the beginning of this great poem, is the basis of all the modern religious poems on this subject. Few hymns have been more praised. Schaff, in his Christ in Song says: "This glowing description is the sweetest of all the new Jerusalem Hymns of Heavenly Homesickness which have taken their inspiration from the last two chapters of Revelation." The extreme difficulty of the meter which its author selected and which would seem almost to preclude the possibility of expressing great connected thought, especially in so long a poem, became under the master hand of this poetic genius, whose command of the Latin language is unrivaled, the source of new beauties for his poem. Besides maintaining the meter of the old Latin hexameters he added double rhymes in each line and yet had every alternate line also end in a rhyme. To appreciate the difficulty this must be read. {206} Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt, vigilemus, Ecce minaciter imminet arbiter ille supremus Imminet, imminet ut mala terminet, aequa coronet. Recta remuneret, anxia liberet, aethera donet, Auferat aspera duraque pondera mentis onustae, Sobria muniat, improba puniat, utraque juste. Hic breve vivitur, hic breve plangitur, hic breve fletur; Non breve vivere, non breve plangere retribuetur; O retributio! stat brevis actio, vita perennis; O retributio! coelica mansio stat lue plenis; Quid datur et quibus? aether egentibus et cruce dignis, Sidera vermibus, optima sontibus, astra malignis. There are many versions, but few translators have dared to attempt a close imitation of the original meter. Its beauty is so great, however, that even the labor required for this has not deterred some enthusiastic admirers. Our English tongue, however, does not lend itself readily to the production of hexameters, though in these lines the rhyme and rhythm has been caught to some extent: "These are the latter times, these are not better times; Let us stand waiting; Lo! how with, awfulness, He, first in lawfulness, Comes arbitrating." Even from this it may be realized that Doctor Neale is justified in his enthusiastic opinion that "it is the most lovely, in the same way that the Dies Irae is the most sublime, and the Stabat Mater the most pathetic, of medieval poems."