Although the sequence had apparently occupied the center of attention, the writing of office and festival hymns had never been interrupted and certainly had never ceased. Gathering up the sources after the period of ninth century influence described in [Chapter Three], one pauses at the verse of Peter Damian, (988-1072), Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Superior of the monks of the Holy Cross. His theme was the joys of paradise in the hymn Ad perennis vitae fontem, “To the fount of life eternal,” a topic about which a distinguished hymnody was ultimately created.
(See [Illustrative Hymns, XIV.] Ad perennis vitae fontem, “To the fount of life eternal.”)
Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres (d. 1028), is best known for his Easter hymn, Chorus novae Ierusalem, “The chorus of the New Jerusalem,”[5] in which the militant ideal in its knightly form finds expression as the warriors of the faith acclaim the victory of their royal and divine leader.
In the twelfth century, a complete new hymnary in all its parts was written by Abelard, (1079-1142), for the Convent of the Paraclete of which Heloise was the abbess.[6] A collection of 91 hymns, it has never been highly praised by critics, yet it has provided the hymn, O quanta qualia, “How mighty are the Sabbaths,” in praise of the Sabbath and the Good Friday hymn, Solus ad victimam procedis, Domine, “Alone to sacrifice Thou goest, Lord,” both of which have found a place in recent hymnals. Helen Waddell’s translations of the two illustrate modern renderings at their best. The same century saw the achievement of Bernard of Cluny or Morlaix, (fl. 1122), whose long poem, De contemptu mundi furnished the selections on the heavenly country, Hora novissima, popularized by the translations of John Mason Neale. Perhaps the best-known of these, Urbs Sion aurea, “Jerusalem the Golden,” in its English rendering has attained a vernacular status independently of its Latin original. The great anonymous hymn, Jesu dulcis memoria, “Jesu, the very thought of Thee,” is also of the twelfth century. Its authorship has been variously ascribed but never certainly determined.
The thirteenth century was marked by the rise of hymn writing in the new religious orders founded by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic. The Franciscan Bonaventura (1221-74), wrote Recordare sanctae crucis, “Be mindful of the Holy Cross,” on the theme of the Cross. To read this hymn side by side with the Vexilla regis prodeunt of Fortunatus, is to apprehend more fully the increasing subjectivity of the Latin hymn in 500 years of its history. The passion of Christ is, moreover, a favorite theme and object of devotion of the friars, ever present to their thinking. Thomas Aquinas, (1227-74), greatest of the Dominicans, wrote the hymns for the Feast of Corpus Christi, established by Pope Urban IV in 1265. Of these, Pange lingua, gloriosi corporis mysterium, “Sing my tongue, the Saviour’s glory,”[7] modeled after the form of the Pange lingua of Fortunatus, is in its subject matter a poetic version of the mystical subtleties implicit in the dogma of the feast. John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, (1240-92), wrote Ave vivens hostia, “Hail, true Victim,” a fine hymn upon the same theme which suggests the inspiration of Aquinas.
III. Later Sequences
From the sequences of the later Middle Ages only a few have gained eminence but in certain cases as high a place as any in the whole range of their composition. Thomas Aquinas shows himself master of the sequence as well as the hymn in his Lauda Sion Salvatorem, “Praise, O Sion, praise thy Saviour,” a model of the Victorine technique.
(See [Illustrative Hymns, XV.] Lauda Sion Salvatorem, “Praise, O Sion, praise thy Saviour.”)
Dies irae, “Day of wrath,” most majestic of all sequences, universally acknowledged as the greatest achievement of Latin hymnology, was probably written by the Franciscan Thomas of Celano. It was originally used at Advent, later for All Souls’ Day and for requiem masses. The Judgment theme is obviously inspired by the words of the Prophet Zephaniah (1:15) from which the opening line Dies irae, dies illa is taken. A special literature, together with a multitude of translations, has grown up around this hymn which deserves consideration impossible here. It should be read not only with reference to its biblical sources but with the great Judgment portals of the medieval cathedrals in mind, since the sculpture and literature of the age here find a meeting place.[8] No less significant for its interpretation is the prevalence of the Black Death in the ages which produced it.[9] The thought of a period in which pain and death were so tragically familiar and before which the medieval man stood helpless, is faithfully reflected in contemporary hymns.
The lament in its poetic form is associated with the Marian hymnology of the fourteenth century. The Stabat mater dolorosa, “By the Cross her vigil keeping,”[10] its finest expression, like the Dies irae, needs little comment in these pages.