LAMENTATION OF THE DEFENSELESS CHURCH,

ON THE SORROWFUL PASSING

OF THE

VENERABLE AND LEARNED

PIETER NOORTDYK,

Alas, my Temple mourns! Now I miss my NOORTDYK;
He who spoke soul-oracles now rests in the Heavenly Realm:
Untimely was his death. O Defenseless Congregation!
Follow the corpse freely with tears; this tombstone covers the remains.
His hourglass has run out, that Temple-light extinguished;
That Golden-mouth a classical epithet for an eloquent orator, derived from Saint John Chrysostom is mute; the intellectual splendor of the head
Falls away; Nature is satisfied; the body must sink to the grave,
The soul returns to its God to shine there forever.
Oh! comfort yourself then with me: heed the man's lesson and teaching,
Thus you too shall shine after your death beside his God and Lord.

A. V. H.

Deceased the 20th of November 1708.