In the second half of their Cantiones (18–34) Tallis and Byrd treat the biblical Last Judgment as a means of advancing and concluding the titular argumento (persuasive argument) that they make throughout the entire book as they move from one sacred topic to another. Here, as before, they show their rhetorical prowess in highlighting Aristotelian pathos (emotion) and ethos (character and common ground) in making their case. But now they focus especially on logos (reasoning) to put effectively their best Catholic claims before Elizabeth I, the ruler of their Protestant nation.

Obviously, given her religious as well as her royal status, Elizabeth needed to be treated with special care. On the one hand, the composers knew they had to cross her confessional line at some point, so that the work would convey the argument they wished to make. But for this very reason, it behooved them, on the other hand, somehow to be as discreet and convincing as possible in taking such a dangerous step beyond what they knew to be the boundaries of Elizabeth's belief-system.

In making their case Tallis and Byrd faced a considerable obstacle in Protestant polemicized readings of the Last Judgment and Second Coming, which followed an historical approach that demonized the papacy. It is only with an understanding of the full scope and influence of these tracts that one can properly gauge the effect and significance of Tallis and Byrd's achievement. Their strategy was to devise for this section a tripartite Morality Tale that retained elements of the panegyric, but that drew from the “mirror for princes” tradition, which was meant to give rulers advice through example.

As the story turns didactic, Tallis and Byrd adjust their musical expression to fit their rhetorical goal to establish logos, which leads them to special feats of compositional ingenuity and virtuosity. The story begins with a Summons – marked by pleas for help – that is narrated in the texts of the following works, tabulated below.

Although Tallis and Byrd change their tone and setting to involve their auditors as subjects to be taught, they do not forgo the sequential nature of their narrative, or their mimetic approach. To mark the shift in their approach toward the here and now, they introduce into their story “new” characters of Death, Elizabeth as Everyman, and Christ as Guide.