III.
The following metrical version appeared in the columns of the Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette for April 5, 1889. Its author, the late J. J. Murphy, Esq., was a well-known and valued writer, and for many years Hon. Sec. of the Diocesan Synod of the Diocese of Down, Connor, and Dromore. We quote Mr. Murphy's remarks:—
'In offering a new metrical version of this poem, I do not mean to challenge comparison with Mrs. Alexander's. Hers is meant to be sung as a hymn, for which purpose mine is not suitable.
'The irregular stanzas of this version represent those of the original. The Latin verses which conclude the Irish original are translated by longer lines than the rest.
'I have made this version partly from the translation in Stokes's and Wright's "Writings of St. Patrick," and partly from Dr. Todd's [see p. 15].
I bind as armour on my breast
The Threefold Name whereon I call,
Of Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
The Maker and the Judge of all.
I bind as armour on my breast
The power in flesh made manifest
Of Him, the Son, from Heaven who came,
His baptism in the Jordan's wave,
His cross of pain and bitter shame,
His burial, and His opened grave;
And God's eternal power, whereby
He rose, ascended up on high,
And will return to judge and save.
