|
Inmolat Deo Patri pius, fidelis, innocens, pudicus dona conscientiae, quibus beata mens abundat intus: 5alter et pecuniam recidit, unde victitent egeni. Nos citos iambicos sacramus et rotatiles trochaeos, sanctitatis indigi 10nec ad levamen pauperum potentes; adprobat tamen Deus pedestre carmen, et benignus audit. Multa divitis domo sita est per omnes angulos supellex. 15Fulget aureus scyphus, nec aere defit expolita pelvis: est et olla fictilis, gravisque et ampla argentea est parabsis. Sunt eburna quaepiam, 20nonnulla quercu sunt cavata et ulmo: omne vas fit utile, quod est ad usum congruens herilem, Instruunt enim domum ut empta magno, sic parata ligno. 25Me paterno in atrio ut obsoletum vasculum caducis Christus aptat usibus, sinitque parte in anguli manere. Munus ecce fictile 30inimus intra regiam salutis; attamen vel infimam Deo obsequelam praestitisse prodest. Quidquid illud accidit, iuvabit ore personasse Christum. |
|
The pure and faithful saint, whose heart is whole, To God the Father makes his sacrifice From out the treasures of a stainless soul, Glad gifts of innocence, beyond all price: Another with free hand bestows his gold, Whereby his needy neighbour may be fed. No wealth of holiness my heart doth hold, No store have I to buy my brothers bread: So here I humbly dedicate to Thee The rolling trochee and iambus swift; Thou wilt approve my simple minstrelsy, Thine ear will listen to Thy servant's gift. The rich man's halls are nobly furnishèd; Therein no nook or corner empty seems; Here stands the brazen laver burnishèd, And there the golden goblet brightly gleams; Hard by some crock of clumsy earthen ware, Massive and ample lies a silver plate; And rough-hewn cups of oak or elm are there With vases carved of ivory delicate. Yet every vessel in its place is good, So be it for the Master's service meet; The priceless salver and the bowl of wood Alike He needs to make His home complete. Therefore within His Father's spacious hall Christ fits me for the service of a day, Mean though I be, a vessel poor and small,-- And in some lowly corner lets me stay. Lo in the palace of the King of Kings I play the earthen pitcher's humble part; Yet to have done Him meanest service brings A thrill of rapture to my thankful heart: Whate'er the end, this thought will joy afford, My lips have sung the praises of my Lord. |
This edition of the Cathemerinon of Prudentius has been prepared for the Temple Classics by Rev. R. MARTIN POPE, M.A. (St John's College, Cambridge, translator of the "Letters of John Hus"), who has done the translation of the Praefatio and Hymns i., ii., iii., viii., xi., xii., with notes thereon and the note on Prudentius. For the rendering of Hymns iv., v., vi., vii., ix., x., and the Epilogus with notes thereon, Mr R.F. DAVIS, M.A. (St John's College, Cambridge), is responsible. The text, with some minor alterations in orthography and punctuation, is that of Dressel (Lipsiae, 1860). The frontispiece is due to the kind suggestion of Dr SANDYS, Public Orator of Cambridge University, to whom the thanks of the translators are hereby presented.