For the Feast of the Conception of St. Anne
Hymn to the Virgin
Of one that is so fair and bright
Velut maris stella,
Brighter than the day is light,
Parens et puella:
I cry to thee, thou see to me,
Lady, pray thy Son for me,
Tam pia,
That I may come to thee.
Maria!
All this world was forlorn
Eva peccatrice,
Till our Lord was yborn
De te genetrice.
With ave it went away
Darkest night, then comes the day
Salutis:
The well springeth out of thee
Virtutis.
Lady, flower of everything,
Rosa sine spina,
Thou bare Jesu, heaven's King,
Gratia divina:
Of all thou bear'st the prize,
Lady, queen of paradise
Electa:
Maid mild, mother es
Effecta.
--Anonymous, c.1300 Oxford Book of English Verse
Note: Benjamin Britten, at the age of 16, wrote a
setting of this macaronic Hymn, which may be heard here.
(With great thanks to quicquid)
posted by Bernard Brandt at 7:08 PM
3 Comments:
You mean that "macaronic" is NOT an Italian meal-enhancer??
Dear Ian,
Thank you for your comments, and for the reference and quote from the Mediaeval Baebes. While Anonymous 4 they're not, and while I'm not quite sure how Mediaevel they are, they are definitely Baebes.
A pity about the translation, though: it would have only taken a bit more work to have come up with something like this, which would have fit the scansion of the other verses better:
Of care and counsel thou art best,
Felix fecundata;
Of all weary ones thou art rest.
Mater honorata.
Beseek Him with thy mildest mood,
That for us all who shed His blood
In cruce,
That we may come unto Him
In luce.
(p.s., I owe you a link or two to your excellent weblogs)
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