The Old Sailor — The cuckoo warns you with his fateful song, No hero knows what he must bear, who sets The Young Sailor Wherefore my Thought now hovers o'er my heart, Far o'er the lap of earth; and now wings back, That lonely Flier yells, and drives me forth The extracts from the two Homilies which follow, and the Hymn De Die Judicii, are printed from Mr. Gollancz's edition of the Christ Every critic has pointed out these homiletic sources, but Professor Cook (Modern Language, Notes, June 1889) was the first, I think, to show that this ancient Latin Hymn was probably used by Cynewulf. I say probably, because there must have been, before the eighth century, a great number of Hymns on this subject; and no doubt a similar treatment and similar phrases ran through them all. When it is said, then, that this was one of Cynewult's sources, we do not mean that Cynewulf used this or that which was not fairly his own. The phrases were common property; every preacher used them. The originality of any poet or preacher consisted, not in the invention of a new treatment of the subject or a new phrase, but in the way he filled up the old treatment, or in the way he turned an old phrase so as to dignify it. Cynewulf has made the things he has taken from the Hymn-if it was this special Hymn which lay before him- quite distinct in manner and feeling. Take the phrase, Erubescet orbis lunae, sol et obscurabitur As blood shall be the Moones sphere and dark shall grow the Sun; This is the Latin. It may be better, in the opinion of many, than Cynewulf's work; but that is not the point. The point is that Cynewulf has passed it through the furnace of his own imagination, and made it another thing altogether. It is no longer Latin, it is Northumbrian; and it illus trates all I have said in the Chapter on the distinctiveness of native Northumbrian poetry. When the Latin traditions did enter Northumbria, they were vitally altered. They lost their Latin note and sounded an English note. Here is the English ponne weorbeð sunne sweart gewended Nihtes lyhte niper gehreoseð And steorran swa some stredað of heofone Then shall the Sun, all dusky turned, be changed To hue of blood, that once so brightly shone Lighted mankind, precipitately falls, Likewise the stars from heaven hurtle down, Through the strong Lift lashed to and fro by storms. It is expanded, no doubt; but it is English, not Latin. Moreover, it is worth while to compare Gregory's phrase, "Quis enim solis nomine nisi Dominus, et quae lunae nomine nisi ecclesia designatur?" with Cynewulf's expansion of it into a simile which I have given in the note on p. 229. How much tenderness, how much delight, in the nature of the sun and moon themselves is added to the Latin! The prose has become soft poetry. The passage which concerns the leaps of Christ may also be compared. It is said that the words, "Quamvis adhuc rerum perturbationibus animus fluctuet, jam tamen spei vestrae anchoram in aeternam patriam figite," is the source of the sea-simile beginning — Nu is bon gelicost swa we on lagu-flode, which is translated at p. 231; but, if so, what a change; what an illustration it is of what a poet can do with a well-worn thought! How little of the Latin convention is in it, how much of Northumbrian individuality and of Cynewulf's distinctive feeling! See, too, all that he has added in his working up (p. 234) of the passage in the Homily in Die Epiphaniae about the sorrow of the universe at the death of Jesus. § 9. Hoc autem nobis primum quaerendum est, quidnam fit quod Albae nato Domino apparuerunt Angeli, et tamen non leguntur in albis vestibus vestes apparuisse ascendente autem Domino missi Angeli in albis leguntur indicia. laetitiae Act i. 9. vestibus apparuisse. Sic etenim scriptum est: Videntibus illis elevatus est, et nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum. Cumque intuerentur in coelum euntem illum, ecce duo viri steterunt juxta illos in vestibus albis. In albis autem vestibus gaudium et solemnitas mentis ostenditur. Quid est ergo quod nato Domino, non in albis vestibus; ascendente autem Domino, in albis vestibus Angeli apparent: nisi quod tunc magna solemnitas Angelis facta est, cum coelum Deus homo penetravit ? Quia nascente Domino videbatur divinitas humiliata: ascendente vero Domino, est humanitas exaltata. Albae etenim vestes exaltationi magis congruunt quam humiliationi. In assumtione ergo ejus Angeli in albis vestibus videri debuerunt: quia qui in nativitate sua apparuit Deus humilis, in Ascensione sua ostensus est homo sublimis. Ex Ascensione Psal. lxvii. 19. § 10. Sed hoc nobis magnopere, fratres carissimi, in hac solemnitate pensandum est: quia deletum est hodierna die chirographum damnaChristi quid tionis nostrae, mutata est sententia corruptionis nostrae. Illa enim natura proficiamus. Gen. iii, 19. cui dictum est: Terra es, et in terram ibis, hodie in coelum ivit. Pro hac ipsa namque carnis nostrae sublevatione per figuram beatus Job Dominum avem vocat. Quia enim Ascensionis ejus mysterium Judaeam non intelligere conspexit, de infidelitate ejus sententiam protulit, dicens: Job xxviii.7. Semitam ignoravit avis. Avis enim recte appellatus est Dominus; quia corpus carneum ad aethera libravit. Cujus avis semitam ignoravit quisquis eum ad coelum ascendisse non credidit. De hac solemnitate per Psal. viii. 2. Psalmistam dicitur: Elerata est magnificentia tua super coelos. De hac Psal. xlvi. 6. rursus ait: Ascendit Deus in jubilatione, et Dominus in voce tubae. De hac iterum dicit: Ascendens in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem, dedit dona hominibus. Ascendens quippe in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem: quia corruptionem nostram virtute suae incorruptionis alsorluit. 1 Cor. xii. 8. Dedit vero dona hominibus; quia misso desuper Spiritu, alii sermonem sapientiae, alii sermonem scientiae, alii gratiam virtutum, alii gratiam curationum, alii genera linguarum, alii interpretationem tribuit sermonum. Dedit ergo dona hominibus. De hac Ascensionis ejus gloria etiam Habacuc ait: Elevatus est sol, luna stetit in ordine suo. Quis enim selis nomine nisi Dominus, et quae lunae nomine nisi ecclesia designatur? Quousque enim Dominus ascendit ad coelos, sancta ejus Ecclesia adversa mundi omnimodo formidavit: at postquam ejus Ascensione roborata est, aperte praedicavit, quod occulte credidit. Elevatus est ergo sol, et luna stetit in ordine suo: quia cum Dominus coelum petiit, sancta ejus Ecclesia in auctoritate praedicationis excrevit. Hinc ejusdem Ecclesiae voce Cant. ii. 8. per Salomonem dicitur: Ecce iste venit saliens in montibus, et transiliens colles. Consideravit namque tantorum operum culmina, et ait: Ecce iste venit saliens in montibus. Veniendo quippe ad redemtionem nostram, quosdam, ut ita dixerim, saltus dedit. Vultis, fratres carissimi, ipsos ejus saltus agnoscere? De coelo venit in uterum, de utero venit in praesepe, de praesepe venit in crucem, de cruce venit in sepulcrum, de sepulcro rediit in coelum. Ecce ut nos post se currere faceret, quosdam Psal. xvii. 6. pro nobis saltus manifestata per carnem veritas dedit: quia exultarit ut gigas ad currendam viam suam, ut nos ei diceremus ex corde: Trake woS post te, curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum. Habac. iii. 11. Cant. i. 3. Dominum ascendentem in coelum sequi festinemus. § 11. Unde, fratres carissimi, oportet ut illuc sequamur corde, ubi eum corpore ascendisse credimus. Desideria terrena fugiamus, nihil nos jam delectet in infimis, qui patrem habemus in coelis. Et hoc nobis est magnopere perpendendum: quia is qui placidus ascendit, terribilis redibit: et quidquid nobis cum mansuetudine praecepit, hoc a nobis cum dis trictione exiget. Nemo ergo indulta poenitentiae tempora parvipendat; nemo curam sui, dum valet, agere negligat: quia Redemtor noster tanto tunc in judicium districtior veniet, quanto nobis ante judicium magnam patientiam praerogavit. Haec itaque vobiscum, fratres, agite: haec in mente sedula cogitatione versate. Quamvis adhuc rerum perturbationibus animus fluctuet: jam tamen spei vestrae anchoram in aeternam patriam figite, intentionem mentis in vera luce solidate. Ecce ad coelum ascendisse Dominum audivimus. Hoc ergo servemus in meditatione, quod credimus. Et si adhuc hic tenemur infirmitate corporis, sequamur tamen eum passibus amoris. Non autem deserit desiderium nostrum ipse qui dedit, Jesus Christus Dominus noster, qui vivit et regnat cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia secula seculorum. Amen. [Sancti Gregorii Magni xl. Homiliarum in Evangelia Lib. ii., Homil. xxix.] HYMNUS DE DIE IUDICII (Cf. passus tertius) Apparebit repentina dies magna domini, Brevis totus tum parebit prisci luxus saeculi, Clangor tubae per quaternas terrae plagas concinens, De coelesti iudex arce, maiestate fulgidus, Erubescet orbis lunae, sol et obscurabitur, Flamma, ignis anteibit iusti vultum iudicis, Gloriosus in sublimi rex sedebit solio, Huius omnes ad electi colligentur dexteram, Karitate qui fraterna me iuvistis pauperem, Laeti dicent: quando, Christe, pauperem te vidimus, Te, rex magne, vel egentem miserati iuvimus ? Magnus illis dicet iudex: cum iuvistis pauperes, Panem, domum, vestem dantes, me iuvistis humiles. Nec tardabit et sinistris loqui iustus arbiter: Obsecrantem me audire despexistis mendicum, Peccatores dicent: Christe, quando te vel pauperem, Te, rex magne, vel infirmum contemnentes sprevimus? Quibus contra iudex altus: mendicanti quamdiu Retro ruent tum iniusti ignes in perpetuos, Satan atro cum ministris quo tenetur carcere, Tunc fideles ad coelestem sustollentur patriam, XPM. regem iam paterna claritate splendidum Ydri fraudes ergo cave, infirmentes subleva, Zona clara castitatis lumbos nunc praecingere, |