Of our Truth-father to whom all eternally turn.”
ADVENT LYRIC V
This lyric begins with a praise song to the Lord of light and a plea for God to illuminate the world of sin and darkness by fulfilling the prophecy that the Word will be made flesh, and the heavenly radiance, which is greater than sunlight and the brightness of angels, will become a living light to transform this world. The poet then turns from the imagery of light to the miracle of the Virgin birth, in itself a wondrous act of radiant imbuing. Burlin notes that the poet here “has worked together his doctrinal matter and his imagery into a texture of great imaginative intricacy … [as] he alludes to a concept which Augustine tackled again and again in his sermons on the Nativity, the ‘twofold generation of Christ’: ‘Generation by the Father without a mother, and by the mother without a father: both miraculous’” (103). The antiphon for this lyric, translated from the Latin, is as follows: “O Morning Star, Splendour of eternal Light and Sun of Justice: come and shine upon humanity sitting in darkness and the shadow of death” (Muir, 48).
Advent Lyric V
O Radiance of dawn, brightest of angels,
Messenger of morning, righteous and rising,
Bright light of truth, splendor of sun,
Brilliant beyond stars, imbuing middle-earth
With the grace of growth in all seasons— 5
You are the illumination and enlightenment
Of all time and the world’s endless turning.
You are the God begotten of God,
Separate and Self, Son of the Father,
Gift and blessing of high heaven, 10
A child born who has always been
Before beginning, beyond ending.
But creation calls you. Your precious work,
Our fallen world, is in dire need.
Send us the heavenly brightness from on high, 15
The light of the Father, the light of the Son—
Radiate our darkness, redeem our lives.
We have suffered so long, shrouded in sin,
Covered by the haze of ignorance and unknowing,
Enduring death’s shadow, an unending night. 20
Now we hold the hope of salvation,
A belief brought to us by the Word of God,
Which was one with the Father from the beginning,
Co-eternal with the Creator. Now the living Word
Has become sinless flesh which the maiden bore, 25
Virgin and mother, as comfort and consolation
To the world-weary and heart-heavy:
God was among us, seen without sin.
These two together lived as one—
The Son of God and the son of man, 30
A mighty child in all his majesty,
Heaven in harmony with all of earth.
For this radiant riddle, this bright world-wonder,
We give great thanks to the Lord of victories,
Who gave us his Son who was also himself. 35
ADVENT LYRIC VI
This lyric begins with an etymological explanation of the meaning of “Emmanuel,” “God-with-us,” that Burlin calls “as much the reconciliation of the two Testaments as it is the union of God and man” (108), noting that “though the interpreting angel belongs to the New Testament, the words cited derive from the most famous of Old Testament prophecies, that of Isaiah 7:14: ‘Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel’” (108–9). With this beginning, the poet shifts to the prophets who proclaimed the coming of Christ, placing particular emphasis on Melchisedech, who “throughout the Middle ages was taken as a prototype of Christ” (Campbell, 20). The voices of the sufferers in the antiphon are normally taken to be contemporaries of the poet, but in the poem they are initially the “righteous dead in limbo awaiting the liberation of Christ’s visit to hell” (Campbell, 21). By the end of the poem, however, the voices include both those bound and suffering in hell and those bound in the earthly darkness of the poet’s world. The antiphon for this lyric, translated from Latin, is as follows: “O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, Expectation of the peoples of the earth and their Saviour: O Lord, our God, come to save us” (Muir, 49).
Advent Lyric VI
O God of souls, you were wisely named
Emmanuel, as the angel first said in Hebrew.
That secret name was afterwards interpreted
By its hidden meaning: “Now God himself
Is with us, Guardian of the high heavens.” 5
As the prophets foretold the King of kings,
The pure Priest, so Melchisedech predicted,
The Lord of lords, the light incarnate was coming.
He was wise in spirit and saw through time
To reveal the divine power of the eternal Ruler; 10
He was a great law-giver and guide to learning,
A teacher of proverbs and precepts, master of lore
To those who longed for the coming of Christ.
So the prophets had promised that the Son of God
Would cleanse the earth and all its people 15
And descend strong in spirit to harrow hell,
Hasten as a Savior to the darkest depths
Where the righteous suffered, bound in torment
Until the Child of God should unchain them.
So the wretched prisoners spoke to him: 20
“Now come to us, High King of heaven,
Lord of light—bring us life’s salvation.
We are the world-weary slaves of torment,
Bound by care, burned by hot tears,
The bitter salt of each day’s suffering. 25
Here in our dire need, you are our only hope,
Our only remedy, our dream of release.
Seek us out here in darkness with our lives undone,
Our longing made misery. Keep in mind
This great multitude of mournful prisoners. 30
Have mercy upon us—don’t leave us behind—
Redeem us with your royal promise and power,
Christ our Savior, and don’t let the cursed one
Clutch our hearts, control our lives.
Leave us the gift of your gladness and grace, 35
Your eternal glory. Shield and save this host
You created with your own shaping hands
So long ago. We long to live forever with you,
Our Lord and Father, in the heavenly homeland.”
ADVENT LYRIC VII
This lyric is constructed in dramatic dialogue form as Joseph and Mary debate her pregnancy, and Joseph voices his fear and anxiety about Mary’s possible adultery. This motif of the “doubting Joseph” has a biblical source in Matthew 1:18–21 and was a matter of religious speculation and commentary and a forerunner of the comic treatment in the Annunciation play in the later medieval mystery cycles. In Pseudo-Augustine’s “Sermon 195,” for example, Mary questions the angel Gabriel: “How can it happen that I shall become pregnant when my womb is chaste and my husband has not touched me?” and Joseph ponders Mary’s possible adultery: “Shall I speak up or stay silent? I really don’t know what to do. Shall I report the adultery or keep quiet because of the shame?” (Calder and Allen, 75–76). In the OE poetic dialogue here, Campbell observes that “the poet not only accomplishes his exposition but reveals something of Mary’s character, her love for Joseph, and her questioning, bewildered feeling at this moment in the face of his announcement” (22–23).
The speakers and speech boundaries of this lyric are not indicated in the manuscript and are thus much debated. I have followed the demarcations of Krapp and Dobbie (1936) and also of Campbell and Muir. The antiphon for this lyric, translated from Latin, is as follows: “O Joseph, why did you believe what before you feared? Why indeed? The One whom Gabriel announced would be coming, Christ, is begotten in her by the Holy Spirit” (Muir, 51).
Advent Lyric VII
[Mary:]
“O my husban
d Joseph, son of Jacob,
Descendant of David, kinsman and king,
Do you mean to cast off our love,
Unravel our vows, untie our oaths?”
[Joseph:]
“I’m deeply grieved—our trust is torn. 5
Without warning, my honor has fled.
My reputation is spoiled, my dignity undone.
Because of you, I hear harsh words,
Insult and sorrow, accusation and scorn.
Everyone bears me the gift of abuse. 10
Care is my constant companion. I cannot
Escape my shame or flee from my tears.
Only God may heal my heart’s deep sorrow,
Bring comfort to my wounds, my woe—
O Mary, my maiden, my young virgin.” 15
[Mary:]
“Why are you mourning, wounded with sorrow,
Crying this lament? I’ve never found any fault
In you, any crime or cause for blame.
You’ve done nothing wrong, yet you suffer
This wretched state, twisting words as if 20
Your life were tormented by some strange sin.”
[Joseph:]
“This wicked conception is the source of my shame.
This pregnancy has been nothing but trouble.
How can I battle slander, struggle with woe?
How can I answer my endless enemies? 25
Their hateful words are like daggers in my heart.
Everyone knows that I gladly received
From the temple of God a clean maiden,
Pure and unstained. Yet now this is undone,
Your virtue unmade in some unknown way. 30
It does me no good to speak or keep silent.
If I speak the truth, then the daughter of David
Must suffer the law—death by stoning.
If I keep silent, concealing the crime,
Then I am bound to bear the burden 35
Of whispered perjury and malicious scorn,
Loathed by everyone, accused by all.”
Then the maiden unraveled the riddle,
Unwound the mystery, revealing the wonder:
[Mary:]
“By the Son of God, the Savior of souls, 40
I speak the truth when I say to you
That I have never known a man’s embrace
Or accepted any loving arms on this earth—
But a visitor from heaven appeared to me
In my own home where I was pure and innocent. 45
The archangel Gabriel came to greet me,
Granted this privilege, saying that heaven’s spirit
Would illuminate my body so that I should bear
Life’s lasting glory, God’s bright Son,
The power and prince illustrious, unending. 50
Now I am God’s immaculate temple,
Free from sin. The spirit of comfort,
The heart’s healer, has lived in me.
Cast off your cares, set down your sorrows,
Give thanks to the Lord’s magnificent Son 55
That I have become the wonder of women,
Maiden and mother, virgin victorious,
And you, his father in the eyes of the world,
So that in him the prophecy is at last fulfilled.”
ADVENT LYRIC VIII
This lyric celebrates a divine riddle: How can Christ be born into a particular time and place and also exist co-eternal with God even before the Creation? Christ is one with the Father and born of the Father. Campbell says that “the idea of Christ’s coexistence with the Father, or as it is sometimes called, the eternal generation of the Son, is an important one, of course, to hold in mind simultaneously with the vision of the nativity at Bethlehem, in order to prevent an erroneous and sentimental conception of the birth of Christ” (25). The poet tells us that no person, no matter how wise, can finally understand this mystery. He gives us here both a recounting of the Creation and also the birth of the Christ-child, whose appearance in time and beyond time takes on special significance in the reference to the opening of the golden gates, which are at once the gates of heaven and the doors of delivery of Mary’s womb. The collected voices calling for liberation from the demonic wolf at the end of the poem are both the righteous dead awaiting Christ’s harrowing of hell and also the living who are trapped in sin. The antiphon for this lyric, translated from Latin, is: “O King of Peace, you who were born before the ages: come forth through the golden gate, visit those you have redeemed, and summon them back to that place from which they rushed headlong through sin” (Muir, 53).
Advent Lyric VIII
O true and peace-loving King of kings,
Almighty Christ, before creation,
Before the world’s wonders were conceived,
One being with the Father, born of the Father,
A child begotten from his own craft and power, 5
His strength and skill. There is no one so wise,
No sage so skilled under earthly skies,
No riddle-unraveler who can solve for us
How heaven’s guardian gathered himself
Into the spirit and flesh of his own Son. 10
What has been said or written about this?
What first came to pass was glorious creation,
When wise God separated under the skies
Darkness and light, declaring his purpose,
Saying, “Now and forever, let there be light, 15
A shimmering joy, a gleaming sun,
A candle in heaven, a generous gift
For all the generations about to be born.”
Suddenly the light appeared as it was spoken,
A radiance in the air for the race of men, 20
Gleaming among the stars, circling in time,
In days and seasons, but not before God himself
Had ordained the Son, acknowledging Christ,
Dwelling with him, co-eternal, before beginning.
Lord, you are the mind that made, the spirit that shaped, 25
This grand and glorious wonder called creation
Along with your Father—both Holy Son
And God himself. No one is so wise of mind
Or skilled with words that he can say
Just how you were conceived in spirit 30
And born in flesh, or trace your true lineage.
Come now, holy Guardian of glory,
Maker of mankind, Lord of light,
Grant us your mercy—make this manifest.
We need to know your mother’s kin 35
Since we cannot explain your father’s line,
For that is beyond our human understanding.
Bless us and all this middle-earth in your coming,
Our dear Savior, our consoling Christ,
And command the sacred, golden gates, 40
The doors of delivery, locked for so long,
To open the way for you to descend
In this Advent journey to the humble earth.
We need your mercy now that the wolf,
The demon of darkness, the savage slayer, 45
Has scattered your flock, ravaged their spirits.
What you bought with blood, he seizes and steals.
He rages and rides rough-shod over souls,
Binds us with sin’s subtle ropes, ties us in torment,
Drags us down into hell against our desires. 50
We desperately need help. We pray in our hearts
That you will end our exile, ease our woes,
So that the vicious slayer, the wolf of the world,
Will drag himself into hell, falling endlessly
Into the abyss, abject and undone. 55
And your glorious handiwork, Creator of men,
This wondrous world and its precious people,
Will arise redeemed to their rightful home
With God in heaven, that glorious kingdom
From which we were s
educed and ensnared 60
By that dark demon, that fierce hell-fiend,
Through our own sinful lust, our unrighteous desires.
That ravenous beast, that unholy spirit,
Stripped us of glory, robbed us of bliss,
Which we have lost forever unless you Lord 65
In your infinite mercy redeem us swiftly,
Save us from the pain of this endless perdition.
Deliver us from this evil, O Lord of all life—
Save us from the wolf who stalks our souls.
ADVENT LYRIC IX
This is the lyric where finally the promise of the Advent is fulfilled. Garde points out that “the poet lovingly embroiders the traditional image of the Queen of Heaven, first in terms of meritorious obedience and then in fulfillment of prophecy,” noting that Mary “is celebrated among men and angels as the Lady of heaven, earth and hell, who willingly and courageously devoted her maidenhood to God in order to participate in the redemptive act” (84–85). Once again the image of the golden gates of paradise is juxtaposed with that of the doors of Mary’s womb. Burlin points out that “by this piece of typological linking, the ‘closed gate’ of Mary’s virginity becomes the means of opening the ‘golden gates of heaven’” (148). Near the end of the poem, we reach the climax of the Advent series as the poet and his collective audience see the Christ-child at Mary’s breast. The antiphon for this lyric, translated from the Latin, is as follows: “Lady of the universe, sprung from royal seed: Christ has now come forth from your womb like the groom from the bridal chamber; He lies in a manger who also rules the stars” (Muir, 55).
Advent Lyric IX
O glorious maiden of middle-earth,
Purest of women, most precious queen,
How wisely and justly do all speech-bearers
Praise your name and bless your birthing
With joy in their hearts, delighting and saying 5
That you are the blessed bride of God,
Lord of the sky, Ruler of heaven.
The attendants of Christ, servants of God,
Proclaim and sing that with your virtue,
You are the Lady of the glorious hosts, 10
Hallowed in heaven by his primacy and power,
And Lady under heaven of all earthly hosts,
Even those dwelling in hell. Alone of all women,
You blessed the world with the boldest vision,
Sinless and strong, powerful and pure, 15
As you yearned to give your virginity to God.
No ring-adorned bride with such a clean longing,
The Complete Old English Poems Page 41
