CATHEMERINON LIBEROFPRUDENTIUS

HYMNS FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S DAY NEWLY TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE

Table of Contents to the Electronic Edition

PRAEFATIO

Per quinquennia iam decem,

ni fallor, fuimus: septimus insuper

annum cardo rotat, dum fruimur sole volubili.

Instat terminus et diem

5vicinum senio iam Deus adplicat.

Quid nos utile tanti spatio temporis egimus?

Aetas prima crepantibus

levit sub ferulis: mox docuit toga

infectum vitiis falsa loqui, non sine crimine.

10Tum lasciva protervitas,

et luxus petulans (heu pudet ac piget)

foedavit iuvenem nequitiae sordibus ac luto.

Exin iurgia turbidos

armarunt animos et male pertinax

15vincendi studium subiacuit casibus asperis.

Bis legum moderamine

frenos nobilium reximus urbium,

ius civile bonis reddidimus, terruimus reos.

Tandem militiae gradu

20evectum pietas principis extulit

adsumptum propius stare iubens ordine proximo.

Haec dum vita volans agit,

inrepsit subito canities seni

oblitum veteris me Saliae consulis arguens:

25ex quo prima dies mihi

quam multas hiemes volverit et rosas

pratis post glaciem reddiderit, nix capitis probat.

Numquid talia proderunt

carnis post obitum vel bona vel mala,

30cum iam, quidquid id est, quod fueram, mors aboleverit?

Dicendum mihi; Quisquis es,

mundum, quem coluit, mens tua perdidit:

non sunt illa Dei, quae studuit, cuius habeberis.

Atqui fine sub ultimo

35peccatrix anima stultitiam exuat:

saltem voce Deum concelebret, si meritis nequit:

hymnis continuet dies,

nec nox ulla vacet, quin Dominum canat:

pugnet contra hereses, catholicam discutiat fidem,

40conculcet sacra gentium,

labem, Roma, tuis inferat idolis,

carmen martyribus devoveat, laudet apostolos.

Haec dum scribo vel eloquor,

vinclis o utinam corporis emicem

45liber, quo tulerit lingua sono mobilis ultimo.

PREFACE

Full fifty years my span of life hath run,

Unless I err, and seven revolving years

Have further sped while I the sun enjoy.

Yet now the end draws nigh, and by God's will

Old age's bound is reached: how have I spent

And with what fruit so wide a tract of days?

I wept in boyhood 'neath the sounding rod:

Youth's toga donned, the rhetorician's arts

I plied and with deceitful pleadings sinned:

Anon a wanton life and dalliance gross

(Alas! the recollection stings to shame!)

Fouled and polluted manhood's opening bloom:

And then the forum's strife my restless wits

Enthralled, and the keen lust of victory

Drove me to many a bitterness and fall.

Twice held I in fair cities of renown

The reins of office, and administered

To good men justice and to guilty doom.

At length the Emperor's will beneficent

Exalted me to military power

And to the rank that borders on the throne.

The years are speeding onward, and gray hairs

Of old have mantled o'er my brows

And Salia's consulship from memory dies.

What frost-bound winters since that natal year

Have fled, what vernal suns reclothed

The meads with roses,—this white crown declares.

Yet what avail the prizes or the blows

Of fortune, when the body's spark is quenched

And death annuls whatever state I held?

This sentence I must hear: "Whate'er thou art,

Thy mind hath lost the world it loved: not God's

The things thou soughtest, Whose thou now shalt be."

Yet now, ere hence I pass, my sinning soul

Shall doff its folly and shall praise my Lord

If not by deeds, at least with humble lips.

Let each day link itself with grateful hymns

And every night re-echo songs of God:

Yea, be it mine to fight all heresies,

Unfold the meanings of the Catholic faith,

Trample on Gentile rites, thy gods, O Rome,

Dethrone, the Martyrs laud, th' Apostles sing.

O while such themes my pen and tongue employ,

May death strike off these fetters of the flesh

And bear me whither my last breath shall rise!

I. HYMNUS AD GALLI CANTUM

Ales diei nuntius

lucem propinquam praecinit;

nos excitator mentium

iam Christus ad vitam vocat.

5Auferte, clamat, lectulos

aegros, soporos, desides:

castique recti ac sobrii

vigilate, iam sum proximus.

Post solis ortum fulgidi

10serum est cubile spernere,

ni parte noctis addita

tempus labori adieceris.

Vox ista, qua strepunt aves

stantes sub ipso culmine

15paulo ante quam lux emicet,

nostri figura est iudicis.

Tectos tenebris horridis

stratisque opertos segnibus

suadet quietem linquere

20iam iamque venturo die.

Ut, cum coruscis flatibus

aurora caelum sparserit,

omnes labore exercitos

confirmet ad spem luminis.

25Hic somnus ad tempus datus

est forma mortis perpetis,

peccata ceu nox horrida

cogunt iacere ac stertere.

Sed vox ab alto culmine

30Christi docentis praemonet,

adesse iam lucem prope,

ne mens sopori serviat:

Ne somnus usque ad terminos

vitae socordis opprimat

35pectus sepultum crimine

et lucis oblitum suae.

Ferunt vagantes daemonas

laetos tenebris noctium,

gallo canente exterritos

40sparsim timere et cedere.

Invisa nam vicinitas

lucis, salutis, numinis

rupto tenebrarum situ

noctis fugat satellites.

45Hoc esse signum praescii

norunt repromissae spei,

qua nos soporis liberi

speramus adventum Dei.

Quae vis sit huius alitis,

50salvator ostendit Petro,

ter antequam gallus canat

sese negandum praedicans.

Fit namque peccatum prius,

quam praeco lucis proximae

55inlustret humanum genus

finemque peccandi ferat.

Flevit negator denique

ex ore prolapsum nefas,

cum mens maneret innocens,

60animusque servaret fidem.

Nec tale quidquam postea

linguae locutus lubrico est,

cantuque galli cognito

peccare iustus destitit.

65Inde est quod omnes credimus,

illo quietis tempore

quo gallus exsultans canit

Christum redisse ex inferis.

Tunc mortis oppressus vigor,

70tunc lex subacta est tartari,

tunc vis diei fortior

noctem coegit cedere.

Iam iam quiescant inproba,

iam culpa furva obdormiat,

75iam noxa letalis suum

perpessa somnum marceat.

Vigil vicissim spiritus

quodcumque restat temporis,

dum meta noctis clauditur,

80stans ac laborans excubet.

Iesum ciamus vocibus

flentes, precantes, sobrii:

intenta supplicatio

dormire cor mundum vetat.

85Sat convolutis artubus

sensum profunda oblivio

pressit, gravavit, obruit

vanis vagantem somniis.

Sunt nempe falsa et frivola,

90quae mundiali gloria

ceu dormientes egimus:

vigilemus, hic est veritas.

Aurum, voluptas, gaudium,

opes, honores, prospera,

95quaecumque nos inflant mala,

fit mane, nil sunt omnia.

Tu, Christe, somnum dissice,

tu rumpe noctis vincula,

tu solve peccatum vetus

100novumque lumen ingere.

I. HYMN AT COCK-CROW

Awake! the shining day is born!

The herald cock proclaims the morn:

And Christ, the soul's Awakener, cries,

Bidding us back to life arise.

Away the sluggard's bed! away

The slumber of the soul's decay!

Ye chaste and just and temperate,

Watch! I am standing at the gate.

After the sun hath risen red

'Tis late for men to scorn their bed,

Unless a portion of the night

They seize for labours of the light.

Mark ye, what time the dawn draws nigh,

How 'neath the eaves the swallows cry?

Know that by true similitude

Their notes our Judge's voice prelude.

When hid by shades of dark malign

On beds of softness we recline,

They call us forth with music clear

Warning us that the day is near.

When breezes bright of orient morn

With rosy hues the heavens adorn,

They cheer with hope of gladdening light

The hearts that spend in toil their might.

Though sleep be but a passing guest

'Tis type of death's perpetual rest:

Our sins are as a ghastly night,

And seal with slumbers deep our sight.

But from the wide roof of the sky

Christ's voice peals forth with urgent cry,

Calling our sleep-bound hearts to rise

And greet the dawn with wakeful eyes.

He bids us fear lest sensual ease

Unto life's end the spirit seize

And in the tomb of shame us bind,

Till we are to the true light blind.

'Tis said that baleful spirits roam

Abroad beneath the dark's vast dome;

But, when the cock crows, take their flight

Sudden dispersed in sore affright.

For the foul votaries of the night

Abhor the coming of the light,

And shamed before salvation's grace

The hosts of darkness hide their face.

They know the cock doth prophesy

Of Hope's long-promised morning sky,

When comes the Majesty Divine

Upon awakened worlds to shine.

The Lord to Peter once foretold

What meaning that shrill strain should hold,

How he before cock-crow would lie

And thrice his Master dear deny.

For 'tis a law that sin is done

Before the herald of the sun

To humankind the dawn proclaims

And with his cry the sinner shames.

Then wept he bitter tears aghast

That from his lips the words had passed,

Though guileless he his soul possessed

And faith still reigned within his breast.

Nor ever reckless word he said

Thereafter, by his tongue betrayed,

But at the cock's familiar cry

Humbled he turned from vanity.

Therefore it is we hold to-day

That, as the world in stillness lay,

What hour the cock doth greet the skies,

Christ from deep Hades did arise.

Lo! then the bands of death were burst,

Shattered the sway of hell accurst:

Then did the Day's superior might

Swiftly dispel the hosts of Night.

Now let base deeds to silence fall,

Black thoughts be stilled beyond recall:

Now let sin's opiate spell retire

To that deep sleep it doth inspire.

For all the hours that still remain

Until the dark his goal attain,

Alert for duty's stern command

Let every soul a sentry stand.

With sober prayer on Jesus call;

Let tears with our strong crying fall;

Sleep cannot on the pure soul steal

That supplicates with fervent zeal.

Too long did dull oblivion cloud

Our motions and our senses shroud:

Lulled by her numbing touch, we stray

In dreamland's ineffectual way.

Bound by the dazzling world's soft chain

'Tis false and fleeting gauds we gain,

Like those who in deep slumbers lie:—

Let us awake! the truth is nigh.

Gold, honours, pleasure, wealth and ease,

And all the joys that mortals please,

Joys with a fatal glamour fraught—

When morning comes, lo! all are nought.

But thou, O Christ, put sleep to flight

And break the iron bands of night,

Free us from burden of past sin

And shed Thy morning rays within.

II. HYMNUS MATUTINUS

Nox et tenebrae et nubila,

confusa mundi et turbida,

lux intrat, albescit polus,

Christus venit, discedite.

5Caligo terrae scinditur

percussa solis spiculo,

rebusque iam color redit

vultu nitentis sideris.

Sic nostra mox obscuritas

10fraudisque pectus conscium

ruptis retectum nubibus

regnante pallescit Deo.

Tunc non licebit claudere

quod quisque fuscum cogitat,

15sed mane clarescent novo

secreta mentis prodita.

Fur ante lucem squalido

inpune peccat tempore,

sed lux dolis contraria

20latere furtum non sinit.

Versuta fraus et callida

amat tenebris obtegi,

aptamque noctem turpibus

adulter occultus fovet.

25Sol ecce surgit igneus,

piget, pudescit, paenitet,

nec teste quisquam lumine

peccare constanter potest.

Quis mane sumptis nequiter

30non erubescit poculis,

cum fit libido temperans

castumque nugator sapit?

Nunc, nunc severum vivitur,

nunc nemo tentat ludicrum,

35inepta nunc omnes sua

vultu colorant serio.

Haec hora cunctis utilis,

qua quisque, quod studet, gerat,

miles, togatus, navita,

40opifex, arator, institor.

Illum forensis gloria,

hunc triste raptat classicum,

mercator hinc ac rusticus

avara suspirant lucra.

45At nos lucelli ac faenoris

fandique prorsus nescii,

nec arte fortes bellica,

te, Christe, solum novimus.

Te mente pura et simplici,

50te voce, te cantu pio

rogare curvato genu

flendo et canendo discimus.

His nos lucramur quaestibus,

hac arte tantum vivimus,

55haec inchoamus munera,

cum sol resurgens emicat.

Intende nostris sensibus,

vitamque totam dispice,

sunt multa fucis inlita,

60quae luce purgentur tua.

Durare nos tales iube,

quales, remotis sordibus

nitere pridem iusseras,

Iordane tinctos flumine.

65Quodcumque nox mundi dehinc

infecit atris nubibus,

tu, rex Eoi sideris,

vultu sereno inlumina.

Tu sancte, qui taetram picem

70candore tingis lacteo

ebenoque crystallum facis,

delicta terge livida.

Sub nocte Iacob caerula

luctator audax angeli,

75eo usque dum lux surgeret,

sudavit inpar praelium.

Sed cum iubar claresceret,

lapsante claudus poplite

femurque victus debile

80culpae vigorem perdidit.

Nutabat inguen saucium,

quae corporis pars vilior

longeque sub cordis loco

diram fovet libidinem.

85Hae nos docent imagines,

hominem tenebris obsitum,

si forte non cedat Deo,

vires rebellis perdere.

Erit tamen beatior,

90intemperans membrum cui

luctando claudum et tabidum

dies oborta invenerit.

Tandem facessat caecitas,

quae nosmet in praeceps diu

95lapsos sinistris gressibus

errore traxit devio.

Haec lux serenum conferat

purosque nos praestet sibi:

nihil loquamur subdolum,

100volvamus obscurum nihil.

Sic tota decurrat dies,

ne lingua mendax, ne manus,

oculive peccent lubrici,

ne noxa corpus inquinet.

105Speculator adstat desuper,

qui nos diebus omnibus

actusque nostros prospicit

a luce prima in vesperum.

Hic testis, hic est arbiter,

110his intuetur quidquid est,

humana quod mens concipit;

hunc nemo fallit iudicem.

II. MORNING HYMN

Ye clouds and darkness, hosts of night

That breed confusion and affright,

Begone! o'erhead the dawn shines clear,

The light breaks in and Christ is here.

Earth's gloom flees broken and dispersed,

By the sun's piercing shafts coerced:

The daystar's eyes rain influence bright

And colours glimmer back to sight.

So shall our guilty midnight fade,

The sin-stained heart's gross dusky shade:

So shall the King's All-radiant Face

Sudden unveil our deep disgrace.

No longer then may we disguise

Our dark intents from those clear eyes:

Yea, at the dayspring's advent blest

Our inmost thoughts will stand confest.

The thief his hidden traffic plies

Unmarked before the dawn doth rise:

But light, the foe of guile concealed,

Lets no ill craft lie unrevealed.

Fraud and Deceit love only night,

Their wiles they practise out of sight;

Curtained by dark, Adultery too

Doth his foul treachery pursue,

But slinks abashed and shamed away

Soon as the sun rekindles day,

For none can damning light resist

And 'neath its rays in sin persist.

Who doth not blush o'ertook by morn

And his long night's carousal scorn?

For day subdues the lustful soul,

And doth all foul desires control.

Now each to earnest life awakes,

Now each his wanton sport forsakes;

Now foolish things are put away

And gravity resumes her sway.

It is the hour for duty's deeds,

The path to which our labour leads,

Be it the forum, army, sea,

The mart or field or factory.

One seeks the plaudits of the bar,

One the stern trumpet calls to war:

Those bent on trade and husbandry

At greed's behest for lucre sigh.

Mine is no rhetorician's fame,

No petty usury I claim;

Nor am I skilled to face the foe:

'Tis Thou, O Christ, alone I know.

Yea, I have learnt to wait on Thee

With heart and lips of purity,

Humbly my knees in prayer to bend,

And tears with songs of praise to blend.

These are the gains I hold in view

And these the arts that I pursue:

These are the offices I ply

When the bright sun mounts up the sky.

Prove Thou my heart, my every thought,

Search into all that I have wrought:

Though I be stained with blots within,

Thy quickening rays shall purge my sin.

O may I ever spotless be

As when my stains were cleansed by Thee,

Who bad'st me 'neath the Jordan's wave

Of yore my soilëd spirit lave.

If e'er since then the world's gross night

Hath cast its curtain o'er my sight,

Dispel the cloud, O King of grace,

Star of the East! with thy pure face.

Since Thou canst change, O holy Light,

The blackest hue to milky white,

Ebon to clearness crystalline,

Wash my foul stains and make me clean.

'Twas 'neath the lonely star-blue night

That Jacob waged the unequal fight,

Stoutly he wrestled with the Man

In darkness, till the day began.

And when the sun rose in the sky

He halted on his shrivelled thigh:

His natural might had ebbed away,

Vanquished in that tremendous fray.

Not wounded he in nobler part

Nor smitten in life's fount, the heart:

But lust was shaken from his throne

And his foul empire overthrown.

Whereby we clearly learn aright

That man is whelmed by deadly night,

Unless he own God conqueror

And strive against His will no more.

Yet happier he whom rising morn

Shall find of nature's strength forlorn,

Whose warring flesh hath shrunk away,

Palsied by virtue's puissant sway.

And then at length let darkness flee,

Which all too long held us in fee,

'Mid wildering shadows made us stray

And led in devious tracks our way.

We pray Thee, Rising Light serene,

E'en as Thyself our hearts make clean:

Let no deceit our lips defile

Nor let our souls be vexed by guile.

O keep us, as the hours proceed,

From lying word and evil deed,

Our roving eyes from sin set free,

Our body from impurity.

For thou dost from above survey

The converse of each fleeting day:

Thou dost foresee from morning light

Our every deed, until the night.

Justice and judgment dwell with Thee,

Whatever is, Thine eye doth see:

Thou know'st what human hearts conceive

And none Thy wisdom may deceive.

III. HYMNUS ANTE CIBUM

O crucifer bone, lucisator,

omniparens, pie, verbigena,

edite corpore virgineo,

sed prius in genitore potens,

5astra, solum, mare quam fierent:

Huc nitido precor intuitu

flecte salutiferam faciem,

fronte serenus et inradia,

nominis ut sub honore tui

10has epulas liceat capere.

Te sine dulce nihil, Domine,

nec iuvat ore quid adpetere,

pocula ni prius atque cibos,

Christe, tuus favor inbuerit

15omnia sanctificante fide.

Fercula nostra Deum sapiant,

Christus et influat in pateras:

seria, ludicra, verba, iocos,

denique quod sumus aut agimus,

20trina superne regat pietas.

Hic mihi nulla rosae spolia,

nullus aromate fragrat odor,

sed liquor influit ambrosius

nectareamque fidem redolet

25fusus ab usque Patris gremio.

Sperne camena leves hederas,

cingere tempora quis solita es,

sertaque mystica dactylico

texere docta liga strophio,

30laude Dei redimita comas.

Quod generosa potest anima,

lucis et aetheris indigena,

solvere dignius obsequium,

quam data munera si recinat

35artificem modulata suum?

Ipse homini quia cuncta dedit,

quae capimus dominante manu,

quae polus aut humus aut pelagus

aere, gurgite, rure creant,

40haec mihi subdidit et sibi me.

Callidus inlaqueat volucres

aut pedicis dolus aut maculis,

inlita glutine corticeo

vimina plumigeram seriem

45inpediunt et abire vetant.

Ecce per aequora fluctivagos

texta greges sinuosa trahunt:

piscis item sequitur calamum

raptus acumine vulnifico

50credula saucius ora cibo.

Fundit opes ager ingenuas

dives aristiferae segetis:

his ubi vitea pampineo

brachia palmite luxuriant,

55pacis alumna ubi baca viret.

Haec opulentia Christicolis

servit et omnia suppeditat:

absit enim procul ilia fames,

caedibus ut pecudum libeat

60sanguineas lacerare dapes.

Sint fera gentibus indomitis

prandia de nece quadrupedum:

nos oleris coma, nos siliqua

feta legumine multimodo

65paverit innocuis epulis.

Spumea mulctra gerunt niveos

ubere de gemino latices,

perque coagula densa liquor

in solidum coit et fragili

70lac tenerum premitur calatho.

Mella recens mihi Cecropia

nectare sudat olente favus:

haec opifex apis aerio

rore liquat tenuique thymo,

75nexilis inscia connubii.

Hinc quoque pomiferi nemoris

munera mitia proveniunt,

arbor onus tremefacta suum

deciduo gravis imbre pluit

80puniceosque iacit cumulos.

Quae veterum tuba, quaeve lyra

flatibus inclita vel fidibus

divitis omnipotentis opus,

quaeque fruenda patent homini

85laudibus aequiparare queat?

Te Pater optime mane novo,

solis et orbita cum media est,

te quoque luce sub occidua

sumere cum monet hora cibum,

90nostra Deus canet harmonia.

Quod calet halitus interior,

corde quod abdita vena tremit,

pulsat et incita quod resonam

lingua sub ore latens caveam,

95laus superi Patris esto mihi.

Nos igitur tua sancte manus

caespite conposuit madido

effigiem meditata suam,

utque foret rata materies

100flavit et indidit ore animam.

Tunc per amoena vireta iubet

frondicomis habitare locis,

ver ubi perpetuum redolet

prataque multicolora latex

105quadrifluo celer amne rigat.

Haec tibi nunc famulentur, ait,

usibus omnia dedo tuis:

sed tamen aspera mortifero

stipite carpere poma veto,

110qui medio viret in nemore.

Hic draco perfidus indocile

virginis inlicit ingenium,

ut socium malesuada virum

mandere cogeret ex vetitis

115ipsa pari peritura modo.

Corpora mutua—nosse nefas—

post epulas inoperta vident,

lubricus error et erubuit:

tegmina suta parant foliis,

120dedecus ut pudor occuleret.

Conscia culpa Deum pavitans

sede pia procul exigitur.

innuba fernina quae fuerat,

coniugis excipit inperium,

125foedera tristia iussa pati.

Auctor et ipse doli coluber

plectitur inprobus, ut mulier

colla trilinguia calce terat:

sic coluber muliebre solum

130suspicit atque virum mulier.

His ducibus vitiosa dehinc

posteritas ruit in facinus,

dumque rudes imitatur avos,

fasque nefasque simul glomerans

135inpia crimina morte luit.

Ecce venit nova progenies,

aethere proditus alter homo,