ANONYMOUS. FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.
This was till recently a favorite in the Lutheran churches of Germany. Like most of the other hymns in this collection, it has often been translated; as by Schaff in his Christ in Song. The oldest text known is as early as the fourteenth century.
The subject is the birth of Christ. Cf. Matthew 2. 1. Bethlehem: indeclinable, like most proper names of Hebrew origin. 5, 6. The ox and ass were believed to have occupied the stable with Christ on the combined authority of the Septuagint reading of Hahakkuk 3. 2: 'Between two animals shalt thou be known'; and of Isaiah 1. 3: 'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib.' quod: that. 7. Reges: Isaiah 60. 3; Psalms 72. 10, 15. Saba: Psalms 72. 10, 15. 11. Sine serpentis vulnere: without 'original sin.' Cf. Genesis 3. 14, 15; 1 John 3. 5.
FOR EASTER DAY.
This fine sequence was highly esteemed by Luther and became a favorite in many countries. Its composition was as early as the eleventh century. At first sight it appears to be prose, but proves on closer examination to be rhymed throughout. The dialogue form made possible its dramatic use in the Easter Mystery Plays and the church service. For this and for translations see Julian, p. 1223 ff.
The subject is the Resurrection. Cf. Matthew 28. 1-15; John 20. 1-18.
2. Agnus: John 1. 29. oves: John 10. 11. 3. regnat: Matthew 25. 34. 4-9.
Dic ff.: the conversation supposed to have taken place between Mary
Magdalene and the disciples after her return from the sepulchre.
Surrexit: Luke 24. 34.
PLAUDITE CAELI.
This hymn was composed by a member of the Jesuit Order. Its date is of the fourteenth to the sixteenth century; its subject the Resurrection.
1. Plaudite: cf. Flumina plaudent manu, Psalms 97. 8; 'All the trees of the field shall clap their hands.'—Isaiah 55. 12. 2. aether: the upper air. 3, 4. Let the heights and the depths of the world rejoice. 5, 6. The black storm-rack has passed by. 7. almae: bountiful. 11, 12. pictis…campis: cf. 'daisies…do paint the meadows.'—Love's Labour's Lost, V. 2. 905. 17, 18. Full veins are metaphorical for the full strong flow of song. 20. Barbytha: bad spelling for barbita, lutes. 26. Ludite: flow merrily.