Cedant justi signa luctus. [Easter.] The date and authorship of this Sequence are unknown. Dr. Neale (Mediaevel Hymns, 1st edition, 1851) regarded it of French origin, and certainly not earlier than the 13th century, as evidenced by its subjective character, and the occurrence of one or two terms which were scarcely known to mediaeval writers. Daniel gives it in vol. ii. pp. 362-3, and Dr. Neale in Hymni Ecclesiae, 1851, p. 148. It is also in the Tochter Sion, Cologne, 1741, p. 251.
[Rev. W. A. Shoults, B.D.]
Translation in common use:—
Far be sorrow, tears and sighing, by J. M. Neale, published in the 1st edition of his Mediaevel Hymns, 1851, in 6 stanzas of 7 lines with the "Alleluia," but omitted from later editions. In 1872 it was given with alterations, and in 4 stanzas in the Hymnary, No. 275. This arrangement had previously appeared in Kennedy, 1863, No. 698. Dr. Neale's opening line is, "Hence with sorrow and with sighing." It is also translated as, "Joy, O joy, ye broken hearted," by Kynaston, 1862.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >
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