BEDE'S HYMN IN PRAISE OF VIRGINITY

Bede's poem in honor of St. Æthelthryth is an alphabetical acrostic poem, or abecedarian, composed in elegiac couplets. Each couplet begins with a sequential letter of the alphabet, and the first letters of the last four couplets spell out AMEN. The phrase at the end of the second line of each couplet echoes the phrase at the beginning of the first line. Elegiac couplets of this kind came to be known as "serpentine" or "reciprocal" elegiacs (see Plummer ii.242).

Several Hebrew acrostic poems are included in the Old Testament, including Psalm 119 (118 in the Vulgate). The closest Biblical model for this kind of poem is Proverbs 31:10–31, which in the original Hebrew is an abecedarian, and which is an encomium of "a woman of noble character," or an ideal wife. Bede praises a woman of noble character of another sort: the Christian martyr and saint.

For a book-length treatment of Bede's hymn, see Harris 2016.

PREFACE

Vidētur opportunum: “It seems like a good time to,” leading to two infinitives, īnserere and imitārī. The syntax then breaks slightly for the last clause. See articulated text.

ideō vērāciter regīnae quia: “truly a queen because”

cuius historiae carmina plūrima indita: “into the history of which a number of poems have been inserted”

et haec metrō ac versibus cōnstat esse conposita: “these too, as is well-known, were written in verse.” Bede defends his own artistic choice with reference to Biblical precedents. For the impersonal constat of well known, established facts, see LS, consto II.B.2.

THE HYMN

(1) alma ... Trinitās: in apposition to Deus: “God, the blessed Trinity…”

(2) adnue iam coeptīs: an echo of Vergil, Georgics 1.40 and Aeneid 9.625

(3) Marō: Vergil. Bede is referring to the Aeneid.

(5) fēdae: foedae > foedus -a -um, “foul, sordid.” Bede himself (incorrectly, from our point of view) argued in his grammatical works for spelling the word with a long e so as to distinguish it from the honomymous noun foedus, foederis n., “pact” (see TLL 6.1.998.82).

nōn raptus Helēnae: raptus is a noun ("abduction"), and is contrasted with the carmina casta that Bede composes: "chaste songs are for me, not the rape of foul Helen."

(6) lubricīs: dative of possession (AG 373), parallel with mihi (dative of reference, AG 376)

(8) quibus: ablative, with gaudet (“in which the earth rejoices”)

(11) fēmina virgō … dēvōta: take virgō dēvōta in apposition to fēmina: “a woman, a devout virgin”

(12) porta Maria Deī: take porta Deī in apposition to Maria: “Mary, God’s gate”

(13) Tonantis: “of the Thunderer,” with amīca cohors. Tonāns, “Thunderer,” is an epithet of Jupiter, and is used occasionally by Christian poets, especially Prudentius, for God.

(17) Agathē: St. Agatha, a third century martyr, who was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

(18) Eulalia: St. Eulalia of Mérida, another third century martyr who was burned at the stake. See Prudentius, Peristephanon 3.

perfert: “endures”

(19) Kasta: = casta (spelled with a K to preserve the alphabetical order)

prō: “by virtue of”

culmine: “the exalted nature” (= auctoritas, potentia, dignitas, TLL 4.0.1293.14)

Tecla … Eufemia: Thecla and Euphemia, two Greek saints sentenced to death by wild animals in the arena.

(21) Agnes: another third century martyr, Agnes of Rome, the patron saint of chastity. She was killed with a sword. See Prudentius, Peristephanon 14.

(22) Caecilia: St. Cecilia, a second century martyr, the patron saint of music.

(25) nostra … egregia: nostra modifies tempora (“our age”), egregia (“excellent”) modifies virgō.

(27) rēgālī et stemmate clārā: = rēgālī et clārā stemmate

(28) nōbilior Dominō: Dominō cannot be an ablative of comparison (“more noble than the Lord”), so it must be dative: “more noble for the Lord”

(30) manēns: “waiting for,” taking the direct object plūs

(31) quid: “why?”

dēdita: modifying the subject of petis, in apposition

(33) rēgis … sequāris: probably a purpose clause introduced by spōnsus adest Chrīstus in the previous line. Take crēdō as parenthetical: “in order, I believe, to…” Re-order ut (crēdō) iam sequāris matrem rēgis aethereī.

(34) Tū … aethereī: another purpose clause, as in the previous line; re-order: ut tū quoque sis mater rēgis aethereī.

(37) polō: “to heaven” (AG 428.h)

(39) est tumulāta bis octo Novembrēs: “has been buried for sixteen Novembers”; Novembrēs is the accusative of extent of time (AG 423.2)

(40) pūtet: < pūteō -ēre, “to rot”

(41) tuī est operis: predicate genitive: “it is [of] your doing” (AG 343.b–c)

(43) Ydros et āter abit: “and the black serpent departs…” Ydros (pronounced hüdros) = ὕδρος, “hydra, serpent.” To preserve the alphabetical order of the poem, Bede needed a Greek word beginning with Y (upsilon).

(45) Zēlus: “resentment”

(48) maneat: “awaits”

(52) Spōnsa ... dulcisonō: re-order et nova spōnsa (“as a new spouse...”) exultās hymnō dulcisonō

(53) comitātū: ablative of separation (AG 401)

(54) quam ... altithrōnī: re-order quam nūllus tulerat (“carried away”) ab affectū altithōnī.