Save me, Lord! thou King Eternal!
From those dark domains infernal,
Where is weeping, where is wailing;
Where all prayers are unavailing;
Where each soul doth self-inherit
Proof of its own damned demerit;—
Tortures reaping, ever crying,
From the worm that is undying;
Where no hope can come to sever
Life from death, in hell for ever!Me to Zion take in pity!
David's Zion, tranquil city!
Built by God, of light; its portal
Cross of Christ, the wood immortal:
Key that locks, the tongue of Peter;
Tuned, the songs of gods not sweeter:
Walled, heaven-high, the scaleless story,
Guarded by the King of Glory?In this city, light eternal
Reigns for ever—peace superna;
Odors flow in such completeness,
Heaven is filled with songs of sweetness;There the soul knows no corruption,
Frailty none, nor interruption;
None too little, none dilated—
All in Christ are consummated.Heavenly city! glorious city!
Built upon the rock of pity!
City, in whose gates are gathered
All I long for, all I fathered!
Now I greet thee, thee I sigh for,
Whose possession I would die for!With what warm congratulations
Meet in thee the joyful nations!
How delighted stand they gazing
At the walls, with glory blazing—
Hyacinth and chalcedony—
Heaven's own wealth their patrimony!In this city's streets, for greeting,
Clouds of blessed souls are meeting—
Singing songs, such as the pious
Moses sang for rapt Elias!

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Save me, Lord! thou King Eternal!
From those dark domains infernal,
Where is weeping, where is wailing;
Where all prayers are unavailing;
Where each soul doth self-inherit
Proof of its own damned demerit;—
Tortures reaping, ever crying,
From the worm that is undying;
Where no hope can come to sever
Life from death, in hell for ever!Me to Zion take in pity!
David's Zion, tranquil city!
Built by God, of light; its portal
Cross of Christ, the wood immortal:
Key that locks, the tongue of Peter;
Tuned, the songs of gods not sweeter:
Walled, heaven-high, the scaleless story,
Guarded by the King of Glory?In this city, light eternal
Reigns for ever—peace superna;
Odors flow in such completeness,
Heaven is filled with songs of sweetness;There the soul knows no corruption,
Frailty none, nor interruption;
None too little, none dilated—
All in Christ are consummated.Heavenly city! glorious city!
Built upon the rock of pity!
City, in whose gates are gathered
All I long for, all I fathered!
Now I greet thee, thee I sigh for,
Whose possession I would die for!With what warm congratulations
Meet in thee the joyful nations!
How delighted stand they gazing
At the walls, with glory blazing—
Hyacinth and chalcedony—
Heaven's own wealth their patrimony!In this city's streets, for greeting,
Clouds of blessed souls are meeting—
Singing songs, such as the pious
Moses sang for rapt Elias!" in the context of "Oratio Hildeberti ('Hildebert's Oration')
• Translated by Thomas H. Chivers in The Literary World (30 April 1853), p. 356" to mean that wisdom is timeless.