The Complete Old English Poems

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by Craig Williamson


  A rich reward in the radiance of heaven;

  Some will find a harder justice,

  Torment and terror in the halls of hell.

  The multitudes will stand before God, 180

  Still as stone. The fate of the faithless

  Will be grim. Many will find no mercy.

  What will you do then, my sinful flesh,

  To escape damnation? What are you doing now?

  The time for your tears will be long gone. 185

  The Lord will come—life will be past lamenting.

  Woe to the one who serves only himself,

  Who lives lustily in his wanton ways

  With a stiff goad to prick him on.

  Why don’t you fear the blazing terror, 190

  The ravenous fire? Why don’t you dread

  The pain and punishment, the endless agony

  That God gave Satan and the demon-spirits

  As a grim reward for their rebellious sins?

  These torments surpass the mind of man. 195

  No words can catch this terror, no story

  Or song do justice to this flaming fear,

  No thought be as dark as the deep abyss,

  No earthly grief equal the anguish of hell.

  There is the cruelest chaos mixed together— 200

  Burning frost and biting flame.

  Sometimes the eyes weep in that unholy oven,

  Sometimes the teeth gnash in that hellish cold.

  Sometimes the black night seethes with pitch,

  Sometimes the bright blaze singes the flesh. 205

  There is nothing but woe in that underworld.

  There is no voice but the wailing of the damned,

  No face but the horror of faceless demons,

  No scent but the stench of filth and flesh,

  No sight but the endless agony of the abyss. 210

  Those who can open their mouths at all

  Will swallow a throatful of loathsome flame.

  Serpents will crawl up their arms and legs,

  Slit open their skin, feed on their flesh,

  Gnaw their sinews and scorch their bones 215

  With their razor teeth and blazing fangs.

  The worms of hell will shred their bodies,

  Slaughter-snakes ravenous for the taste of blood.

  Beyond all this, the breastbone will break,

  The exposed heart will know bitter sorrow, 220

  The soul discover terror and torment,

  The mind wonder why the foolish flesh

  Devised for its pleasure such dark delights,

  Such dangerous desires, such senseless sins,

  So that the horrors of hell would surely be 225

  The endless outcome, where unleashed tears

  Would find no respite, where unmitigated misery

  Would have no hope for heaven’s mercy.

  No spark of light will brighten that hell-hall;

  No silence provide peace in the endless squall 230

  Of pain and punishment. No pity will be possible.

  Comfort and consolation will be long gone,

  Having fled the flames. No friendly face

  Will be found in hell but faceless terror—

  No mercy for the mind, no solace for the soul, 235

  No bliss for the body. The flesh will only feel

  The grinding of teeth. Ubiquitous despair

  Will haunt the demon-halls, ravaging everywhere.

  Disease and darkness, fear and fury,

  Woe and wailing, will savage the body, 240

  And the sinful soul will slide slowly down

  Into a pit of perilous fire, a blind hole

  Of burning bale and unholy dreams.

  Then the dangerous delights of the world,

  The wounding ways, will fade and fall: 245

  Gluttony will shrivel on an empty belly,

  Debauchery fall down in a drunken dive,

  Foolish laughter echo and fade away,

  Lust leave its cruel conquests behind

  On the solitary road. Stinginess will be strangled, 250

  Desire driven down like a dangerous dream.

  Sloth will keep sleeping its life away,

  Eternally a do-nothing. These evils will then

  Emerge in hell like living memories

  To torment the sinners, terrorize their souls, 255

  Drench their bodies in liquid flame.

  The bodies unblinded will finally see

  The prison of their sins, and everything good

  Will be loathsome to them, withheld from them—

  The wonder of heaven, a hell in their hearts. 260

  What will be blessed then, and blessed again

  And again, will be the humble, penitent one

  Whose heart is healthy, his soul free from sin,

  Who serves the Lord and rejoices with him,

  Trading in misery for mercy, sin for salvation, 265

  The grimmest gloom for the greatest glory,

  A plague of pains for the peace of heaven,

  Where night will never steal the shining,

  Ever-rich radiance of the Lord’s light.

  There will be no sadness or sorrow, 270

  Poverty or pain, illness or old age,

  Hunger or thirst, sloth or shame,

  Fever or fury, punishment or plague—

  No bitter frost or burning flame,

  No loneliness or loss, anxiety or evil, 275

  No storm-lightning or winter freeze,

  No thunderclaps or hard hail-blasts,

  No distress or deceit, decay or death.

  There peace shall reign with prosperity,

  Mercy with grace, goodness with glory, 280

  Comfort with compassion, honor with an abiding

  Life of eternal love in the embrace of the Lord.

  To those who are called homeward to heaven,

  God will grant them every benefit and boon,

  A gathering of gifts to favor the faithful. 285

  He will bless them together and gladden their hearts,

  Cherish and clothe them in the radiant robes

  Of grace and glory, celebrate their beauty,

  Lift them on high to the heavenly throne.

  The Son of God, gentle and generous, 290

  The Giver of victory, Ruler and Redeemer,

  Will offer each person a priceless treasure,

  A place in heaven in the peerless company

  Of saints and angels, prophets and patriarchs,

  In the celestial cities. There they will find 295

  The holy apostles of almighty God,

  Faithful martyrs who have spilled their blood,

  Red roses ever radiant in their reward,

  And a train of virgins, spotless in their virtue,

  White blooms blessed by the sacred Son 300

  And led by the matchless Mother of God,

  The Virgin Mary, peerless and pure,

  Who brought forth the blessed child

  Who is Christ the Lord. She stands radiant

  In the shining realm between Father and Son, 305

  The greatest of maidens, the gift of women,

  Leading the hosts of heaven to their eternal home.

  If you are always willing to tell the truth

  To anyone who asks, what hardship can there be

  Here in this life when you understand 310

  That you can live forever without sin,

  And enjoy endless bliss among the blessed,

  At one with God in that homeland of heaven?

  THE REWARDS OF PIETY

  This poem is a combination of two poems in ASPR, An Exhortation to Christian Living and A Summons to Prayer. Robinson has argued convincingly that “the visual evidence of the manuscript [MS 201 of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge] considered by itself indicates clearly that these two (so-called) [poems] are in fact one continuous text subdivided i
nto sections, as most longer Old English poems usually are divided” (1994, 182). The break between the two sections occurs after line 90 in the translation here. The first half of the poem is written in Old English, while the second half is in macaronic verse, with the first half of each line in OE and the second half in Latin. This seemed to earlier editors to indicate two distinctly separate poems, but Robinson points out that such a mixture is found elsewhere in OE—for example, at the end of The Phoenix (183). Following a suggestion by Whitbread (1957), Robinson summarizes the thematic linkage between the two poems: “In both poems a confessor addresses a penitent: in the first poem, the confessor explains how to repent and live properly; and, in the second, he promises a happy afterlife to the friend who follows this advice” (1994, 181). In making this translation, I have relied on Robinson (1994, 180 ff.) for his edition of the combined poems and also on Cain (2001) for his edition of the macaronic section. Because of the complex demands of the poetic translation here, I have not attempted to indicate the OE and Latin half-lines in the macaronic section of the poem. For both text and a literal prose translation with the separate OE and Latin half-lines indicated, see Jones (134–37).

  The Rewards of Piety

  Now I will teach you, lend you some learning,

  As a good mentor should endeavor to do

  With a dear student. If you desire to reach

  That flourishing realm where blessing blooms,

  Be humble and charitable, merciful and mild, 5

  Wise in words, prudent in speech,

  Virtuous in acts, vigilant in thought.

  Maintain a gentle spirit, a saintly mind—

  Keep a sense of joy, a belief in blessings

  In this wayward world, this transient time. 10

  Pursue your prayers day and night

  When you’re alone because holy prayer,

  A pure love of God and other people,

  Giving out alms and keeping the heart’s

  Hope in the Healer, the Son and Savior, 15

  That he may be willing to wash away your sins—

  All these and many other good works

  Will adorn the spirit and bring the righteous soul

  To a resting place in a realm of joy,

  The sublime happiness of the celestial city. 20

  Whatever you do each day in words or deeds,

  Respect and fear your Ruler and Lord

  As you move among men, for surely that

  Is the beginning of wisdom, so that you will keep

  From losing his love and the everlasting light. 25

  The world lurches toward its inevitable end,

  And we are left poor beggars bereft of the kingdom—

  That’s a heavy burden to bear on the last road.

  Even after death, if you distribute your goods

  And let the world inherit all your acquisitions 30

  Like some ghostly alms-giver to appease God,

  You still won’t save your soul with all that

  If it’s caught in the clutch of evil demons,

  Deprived of comfort, denied all joy,

  Unhappy and undone. You might ask 35

  With an earnest heart that the God of glory,

  Eternal and almighty, not deliver you up

  To the claws of devils, the clench of demons,

  The terrible delight of the fierce fiends

  Who dog your heels as you try to flee. 40

  Give alms now, often and without ostentation.

  Let charity be your heart’s secret consolation—

  That is the Lord’s gift, a quiet sacrifice

  For anyone who follows faith and believes in God.

  Buy with your earthly goods eternal light, 45

  A life without end, the price of unperishing,

  Before you lose the power of giving.

  It’s a terrible evil to love God less

  Than selfish pleasures or earthly treasures.

  Guard against gluttony, filling the belly, 50

  For it gathers into greatness these sins for the soul:

  Deep drunkenness and secret, sexual pleasures,

  Fornication, folly, unchecked desire

  For guzzling and gobbling, fat wickedness,

  And endless sleeping. These excessive sins 55

  Can only be expelled by fasting and temperance,

  And attending church in the coldest of weathers

  To pray humbly and earnestly to the Lord of heaven,

  Your merciful protector, to grant you salvation,

  If he believes in your faith and it seems fit. 60

  Beware of secret desires that lurk in dreams,

  Dangerous thoughts that slide into sins,

  Those wailing wounds that will not humanly heal

  As your hair grows gray and your limbs wither.

  This will be an unbearable burden, 65

  The soul’s inescapable, wearisome weight.

  Know then that you must give up all earthly goods,

  Trinkets and treasures, hearth and home.

  Only God can determine when your end arrives,

  And your daylight falls down into darkness, 70

  Shrouding your memory of earthly delights.

  Now you must guard against demons who desire

  Your soul, who surround you with devious sins

  Day and night, struggling with your spirit,

  Snagging your life against the Lord’s leave. 75

  You can banish these banes, drum out these demons,

  By taking to heart my private teachings:

  Begin each dawning day with a quiet and careful

  Morning meditation on the state of your soul.

  Consider how your faith can help you find 80

  An eternal light and live in that radiance.

  Work hard day and night in the hope of heaven.

  Abhor drunkenness and abandon gluttony.

  If you want to seek a celestial home

  And be gathered in glory in a hall in heaven, 85

  Then begin planning for your own posterity.

  Restrain yourself from the byways of sin;

  Keep virtuous company on the righteous road.

  Abandon those vices you’ve always valued,

  The pleasures you’ve practiced and loved in life. 90

  Then the world-ruler, the King of creation,

  From his glorious, high throne in heaven,

  Almighty God may have mercy on you,

  Be a friend to your soul forever without end.

  May the Author of peace, the Shaper of salvation, 95

  Grant you the gift of blessing and tranquility;

  May the all-wise Creator, the almighty Poet,

  And the righteous Son, Savior and Redeemer,

  Master and Maker of the unending universe,

  Protect and preserve you, shelter and save you— 100

  Our Lord who was begotten without sin

  In a spotless virgin, born of the benevolent,

  Best of women and acclaimed Christ—

  Born the Son of God and Redeemer of the world

  Through his mother Mary and the Holy Spirit. 105

  Beseech him often to bestow his blessings.

  Call out to Christ, the consoling God,

  Who was sent from heaven’s high throne

  To help and heal us. Celebrate in clear song

  The childbearing Virgin, pregnant and pure, 110

  A chaste maiden who brought us the child,

  Our Creator Christ, King of all kings.

  Come as a suppliant, petition the Virgin,

  Blessed and beautiful, mild and merciful,

  Beseeching her aid, and afterwards pray 115

  To the blessed saints with a joyful heart,

  Asking them to intercede for you with one voice

  In unified song to the Lord of high heaven,

  Who holds the power of healing in his hands,

  So that the
Ruler and Judge, Lord and Savior, 120

  Prince of all peoples, will lead your soul

  To the eternal light where all the blessed

  Are gathered together, holy ones in heaven,

  At peace in the kingdom, in the endless embrace

  Of our Redeemer Christ, Lord of Creation. 125

  THE LORD’S PRAYER II

  See the previous two headnotes for a description of the manuscript, MS 201 of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. This is the longest of three Lord’s Prayer poems in Old English. The much shorter Lord’s Prayer I is in the Exeter Book, and The Lord’s Prayer III is included in the Benedictine (MS Junius 121) Office materials below. Dobbie explains that The Lord’s Prayer II “is ostensibly a verse paraphrase of the Latin text, but in view of its length it is perhaps better regarded as an original poem on the theme of the Lord’s Prayer” (1942, lxxiii). Keefer points out that The Lord’s Prayer II “departs more frequently from its liturgical model than do the other two Lord’s Prayer poems, by incorporating material from different prayers or hymns, or from texts at a substantial remove from the ritual language of Mass or Office” (2010, 52). The poem offers a commentary on the various Latin lines of the prayer, weaving in themes from other OE religious poems. Caie argues that The Lord’s Prayer II and the next poem, Gloria I, which follow Judgment Day II and The Rewards of Piety in MS 201 of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, are “devotional works and in their manuscript context are thematically linked to the[se] preceding [two] poems; they might well be exercises given by the confessor to the penitent as part of the necessary act of satisfaction” (2000, 19). A version of the Gloria (see below) is also part of the Office poems in MS Junius 121 in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and Ure suggests that both The Lord’s Prayer II and The Gloria I might well be parts of these Benedictine Office poems (53). Jones argues that “monks and secular clergy celebrated slightly different versions of the daily office, and while some features of [the] compilation in Junius 121 do suggest a monastic or ‘Benedictine’ background, others seem to point to a secular one,” and he prefers the term, “Junius Office” (284–85). Keefer reminds us that “there is no standardized Old English version for the Lord’s Prayer as we might have expected; instead, for the Anglo-Saxons it was a dynamic and living act of commitment, praise, and humble request, whose various translations allowed its spiritual immediacy to be accessible both to well-read monastic scholars and to illiterate members of the parish” (2010, 25). In the translation below, the lines originally in Latin are printed in italics; the lines originally in OE, in Roman type.

  The Lord’s Prayer II

  Our Father:

  You are our Father, Ruler of all,

 

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