BOOK
IX.

Deficiet cito jam consumptum tempore flumen,

Tramite decurrit quod modo precipiti! The poem of Proba Falconia, a poetess of the fourth century, was also constructed very whimsi- . cally. Her subjects were, the history of the creation, the deluge, and Christ. She narrates these histories in centos from Virgil, who knew nothing about them. She has so curiously selected above seven hundred of his lines, and so placed them, that, with the aid of titles to the different portions, the principal events of these Scripture histories are

described in the words of the Mantuan bard.2 Aldhelm's Our Anglo-Saxons display occasional exertions Latin

of the same depraved taste in their Latin poetry; Poetry :

of which the most ancient that has descended to us consists of the compositions of Aldhelm, who died in 709; and will be noticed again in the chap

; ter on their literature. His verses, from the study of better models, are preferable to his pompous prose. His poetical works which remain are entitled, De Laude Virginum, De Octo principalibus Vitiis, and Ænigmata.

Towards the close of his prose treatise on VirLaude Vir. ginum.

ginity, he stated, that he should write on the same subject in poetry. His preface to the poem is an acrostic address to the abbess Maxima, in hexameter verse. It consists of thirty-eight lines, so fantastically written that each line begins and ends with the successive letters of the words of the first line; and thus the first and last lines, and the initial and final letters of each line, consist of the same words. In the last line the words occur backwards. The final letters are to be read upwards.

his De

? Bib. Mag. tom. viii. p. 708_716.

CHAP.

V.

M ETRICA TIRONES NUNC PROMANT CARMINA CASTOS
Et laudem capiat quadrato carmine virg 0
T rinus in arce Deus, qui pollens secla creavi T
R egnator mundi, regnans in sedibus alti S
I ndigno conferre mihi dignetur in æthr A
Cum sanctis requiem, quos laudo versibus isti C
A rbiter altithronus qui servat sceptra supern A
T radidit his cæli per ludum scandere lime N
I nter sanctorum cuneos qui laude perenn I
R ite glorificant moderantem regna tonante M
Omnitenens Dominus, mundi formator et aucto R
Nobis pauperibus confer suffragia cert A
E t ne concedas trudendos hostibus istin C
Sed magis exiguous defendens dextera tanga T
N e prædo pellax cælorum claudere lime N
V el sanctos valeat noxarum fallere scen A
N e fur strophosus foveam detrudat in atra M
Conditor a summo quos Christus servat Olymp O
Pastor ovile tuens ne possit tabula rapto R
R egales vastans caulas bis dicere pup pu P
O mnia sed custos defendat ovilia jam nunc
M axima præcipuum quæ gestat numine nome N
A ddere præsidium mater dignare precat U
N am tu perpetuum promisisti lumine lume N
Titan quem clamant sacro spiramine vate S
Cujus per mundum jubar alto splendet ab ex E
A tque polos pariter replet vibramine fulmen N
R ex regum et princeps populorum dictus ab æv O
M
agnus

de

magno, de rerum regmine recto R
I llum nec mare nec possunt cingere coel I
N ec mare navigerum spumoso gurgite valla T
A ut zonæ mundi que stipant æthera cels A
Clarorum vitam qui castis moribus isti C
A uxiliante Deo vernabant flore perenn I
S anctis aggrediar studiis dicere paupe R
T anta tamen digne si pauper præmia proda T
O mnia cum nullus verbis explanat apert E
S OTSAC ANIMRAC TNAMORP CNUN SENORIT ACIRTE M. 3

ALDHELM calls this, quadratum carmen, a square verse. He was not the inventor of these idle fop

IX.

BOOK peries of versification. Fortunatus and others had

preceded Aldhelm in this tasteless path, in which
authors endeavour to surprise us, not by the genius
they display, but by the difficulties which they
overcome.
THE
poem

is not divided into books or chapters. It consists of two thousand four hundred and fortythree hexameter lines, the last eight of which are rhimed; the four first alternately; the others in couplets. We subjoin them :

Quis prius in spira morsum glomeravit inertem
Idcirco cursim festinat credere Christo
Agnoscens propriam tanta virtute salutem
Insuper et meritum cumulavit sanguinis ostro,
Præmia sumpturus cum cæli cætibus almis.
Candida post sequitur cum binis martyra sertis,
Integritas nitidam, nec non et passio rubram

Plumabant pariter macta virtute coronam.4
The first twenty-two lines of the poem are an
invocation to the Deity. The translations of the
passages which we select, as specimens of his
powers, are made as literal as possible.

Almighty Father! Sovereign of the world!
Whose word the lucid summits of the sky
With stars adorn'd, and earth's foundations fram'd;
Who ting'd with purple flowers the lonely heath;
And check'd the wandering billows of the main,
Lest o'er the lands the foamy waves should rage
(Hence rocks abrupt the swelling surge controul) :
Thou cheer'st the cultured fields with gelid streams;
And with thy dropping clouds the corn distends :
Thine orbs of light expel night's dreary shade;
Titan the day, and Cynthia tends the night :
From thee what tribes the fields of ocean roam,
What scaly hosts in the blue whirlpools play!
The limpid air with fluttering crowds abounds,

CHAP.

V.

Whose prattling beaks their joyful carols pour,
And hail thee as the universal Lord:
Give, Merciful! thine aid, that I may learn
To sing the glorious actions of thy saints. 5

*

I seek not rustic verse, nor court the Nine 6,
Nor from Castalia's nymphs their metres ask,
Said erst to guard the Heliconian hill.
Nor, Phebus! need I thy loquacious tongue,
Whom fair Latona bore on Delos' isle -
I'll rather press the thunderer with my prayers,
Who gave to man the lessons of his word ;
Words from the Word I ask, whom David sang,

5

Omnipotens genitor mundum ditione gubernans
Lucida stelligeri qui condis culmina cæli,
Nec non telluris formas fundamina verbo:
Pallida purpureo pingis qui flore vireta :
Sic quoque fluctivagi refrenas cærula ponti,
Mergere ne valeant terrarum littora lymphis,
Sed tumidos frangunt fluctus obstacula rupis :
Arvorum gelido qui cultus fonte rigabis,
Et segetum glumas nimbosis imbribus auges,
Qui latebras mundi geminato sidere demis;
Nempe diem Titan et noctem Cynthia coinit.
Piscibus æquoreos qui campos pinquibus ornas,
Squamigeras formans in glauco gurgite turmas
Limpida præpetibus, sic comples aera catervis,
Garrula quæ rostris resonantes cantice pipant
Atque creatorem diversa voce fatentur.
Da prius auxilium, clemens, ut carmina possim
Indita Sanctorum modulari gesta priorum.

Maxima Bib. Vet. Patr. tom. xiii. p. 3.

Non rogo ruricolas versus, et commata musas
Non peto Castalidas metrorum cantica nymphas
Quas dicunt Helicona jugum servare supernum,
Nec precor, ut Phæbus linguam sermone loquacem
Dedat, quem Delo peperit Latona creatrix –
Sed potius nitar precibus pulsare Tonantem,
Qui nobis placidi confert oracula Verbi,
Verbum de verbo peto, hoc Psalmista canebat,
Corde patris genitum, quod proles unica constat,
Quo pater Omnipotens per mundum cuncta creavit.
Sic patris et prolis dignetur Spiritus almus
Auxilium fragili clementer dedere servo.

BOOK
IX.

Sole offspring of the Father; and by whom
Th' Almighty Sire created all we know;
So may their gracious inspiration deign
To aid their feeble servant in his lay.

He opens his subject by telling us that there are three descriptions of persons to whom the praise of chastity belongs: the married who live virtuously; the married who live as if they were single ; and they who keep in the virgin state. After above an hundred lines in praise of virginity, he proceeds to describe forty-five characters who distinguished the state which he prefers ; and this biographical panegyric forms the substance of his poem. Most of his applauded personages are only known in the calendars of the Romish church. Some of his images, common-places, and examples, shall be quoted.

Amid his wild and diffuse panegyric on virginity, the following images occur :

Now let my verses cull the rarest flowers,
And weave the virgin crowns which grace the good;
What can more charm celestials in our conflict,
Than the

pure breast by modest virtue ruled ? ?

The chaste who blameless keep unsullied fame
Transcend all other worth, all other praise ;
The Spirit high-enthroned has made their hearts
His sacred temple.

*

7

Nunc igitur raros decerpant carmina flores
E quis virgineas valeant fabricare coronas
Quid plus cælicolas juvat in certamine nostro
Quam integritatis amor regnans in pectore puro?

Virginitas castum servans sine crimine carmen,
Cætera virtutum vincit præconia laude;
Spiritus altithroni templum sibi vindicat almus.

8