“Lignum amaras
Indulcat aquas
Eis immissum.
Omnes agones
Sunt sanctis dulces
Per crucifixum.”
In the following lines of ten syllables a dactyl appears to follow a trochee twice in each line:
“Tuba Domini, Paule, maxima,
De caelestibus dans tonitrua,
Hostes dissipans, cives aggrega.
Doctor gentium es praecipuus,
Vas in poculum factus omnibus,
Sapientiae plenum haustibus.”
These examples of Abaelard’s rhythms may close with the following curiously complicated verse:
“Tu quae carnem edomet
Abstinentiam,
Tu quae carnem decoret
Continentiam,
Tu velle quod bonum est his ingeris
Ac ipsum perficere tu tribuis.
Instrumenta
Sunt his tua
Per quos mira peragis,
Et humana
Moves corda
Signis et prodigiis.”
In general, one observes in these verses that Abaelard does not use a pure two-syllable rhyme. The rhyme is always pure in the last syllable, and in the penult may either exist as a pure rhyme or simply as an assonance, or not at all.[318]
Probably Abaelard wrote his hymns in 1130, perhaps the very year when Adam as a youth entered the convent of St. Victor, lying across the Seine from Paris. The latter appears to have lived until 1192. Many Sequences have been improperly ascribed to him, and among the doubtful ones are a number having affinities with the older types. These may be anterior to Adam; for the greater part of his unquestionable Sequences are perfected throughout in their versification. Yet, on the other hand, one would expect some progression in works composed in the course of a long life devoted to such composition—a life covering a period when progressive changes were taking place in the world of thought beyond St. Victor’s walls. We take three examples of these Sequences. The first contains occasional assonance in place of rhyme, and uses many rhymes of one syllable. It appears to be an older composition improperly ascribed to Adam. The second is unquestionably his, in his most perfect form; the third may or may not be Adam’s; but is given for its own sake as a lovely lyric.[319]
The first example, probably written not much later than the year 1100, was designed for the Mass at the dedication of a church. The variety in the succession of couplets and strophes indicates a corresponding variation in the melody.
1
“Clara chorus dulce pangat voce nunc alleluia,
Ad aeterni regis laudem qui gubernat omnia!
2
Cui nos universalis sociat Ecclesia,
Scala nitens et pertingens ad poli fastigia;
3
Ad honorem cujus laeta psallamus melodia,
Persolventes hodiernas laudes illi debitas.
4
O felix aula, quam vicissim
Confrequentant agmina coelica,
Divinis verbis alternatim
Jungentia mellea cantica!
5
Domus haec, de qua vetusta sonuit historia
Et moderna protestatur Christum fari pagina:
‘Quoniam elegi eam thronum sine macula,
‘Requies haec erit mea per aeterna saecula.
6
Turris supra montem sita,
Indissolubili bitumine fundata
Vallo perenni munita,
Atque aurea columna
Miris ac variis lapidibus distincta,
Stylo subtili polita!
7
Ave, mater praeelecta,
Ad quam Christus fatur ita
Prophetae facundia:
‘Sponsa mea speciosa,
‘Inter filias formosa,
‘Supra solem splendida!
8
‘Caput tuum ut Carmelus
‘Et ipsius comae tinctae regis uti purpura;
‘Oculi ut columbarum,
‘Genae tuae punicorum ceu malorum fragmina!
9
‘Mel et lac sub lingua tua, favus stillans labia;
‘Collum tuum ut columna, turris et eburnea!’
10
Ergo nobis Sponsae tuae
Famulantibus, o Christe, pietate solita
Clemens adesse dignare
Et in tuo salutari nos ubique visita.
11
Ipsaque mediatrice, summe rex, perpetue,
Voce pura
Flagitamus, da gaudere Paradisi gloria.
Alleluia!”[320]
The second example is Adam’s famous Sequence for St. Stephen’s Day, which falls on the day after Christmas. It is throughout sustained and perfect in versification, and in substance a splendid hymn of praise.