VI. Characteristics
To close this somewhat rambling account of the Latin hymn and sequence in the later medieval centuries, which is necessarily discursive even as the civilization itself was everywhere expanding, the characteristics of this poetry should be reviewed in comparison with those of earlier Latin hymns.
An increasing variety of subject matter is first to be noted, to accompany the diversification of worship brought about by new feasts and the appearance of new religious agencies. Hymns for the festivals of saints provide the best illustrations of this tendency which has been amply treated above.
A marked trend toward the compilation of local liturgical collections and the differentiation of service books accompanies the unification of rites in various European lands. This tendency was observed in earlier centuries, particularly in Spain where the Mozarabic hymnal prevailed. St. Gall had provided a monastic center of influence in German-speaking lands in its day. Now, the great diocesan and monastic centers, on a much larger scale, are furnished with a full complement of ritual books and guides to hymnody. In England, the Sarum collection achieved great prominence, acquiring national rather than diocesan proportions.
Within the hymnic poetry itself changes are seen both in form and spirit. A full development of metrical forms takes place, some of which had appeared much earlier in isolated examples and were now widely accepted; others were characteristic of late medieval literary art. The meters and rhythm of sequence poetry were popularly favored. Subjective qualities and attitudes which had been infrequent in the earlier hymns devoted to biblical themes and theological expression are much more obvious in later hymns. The personal petition and the direct address to deity and the saints are frequent. It has been suggested above in considering hymns upon the theme of the Cross, that a comparison of hymns from the earlier and later groups is instructive. But any of the great themes may be selected for this purpose, for example, the Pentecostal theme, with a group of hymns in which the earlier ones are simple narratives following the biblical account of the descent of the Holy Spirit; the later ones are exemplified by Veni, sancte spiritus, “Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come,” already cited, in which the Spirit is addressed and invoked for personal blessings and the sevenfold gifts.
With the waning of the medieval centuries came a characteristic decadence in the poetical quality of Latin hymns and in their spiritual vitality. This was true of the sequence and most obvious, perhaps, in those which were devoted to the praise of the saints. Reference to this phenomenon will be made in a later chapter in connection with the possible reason for the loss of religious significance which must be admitted although deplored by students of the subject.
Finally, one observes that certain hymns of these later centuries rival, if not surpass, the representative hymns of the first half of the Middle Ages. Four of the five sequences retained in the present-day Roman Missal were all selected from this group, namely: Lauda Sion Salvatorem, Veni sancte spiritus, Dies irae, and Stabat mater dolorosa. Other illustrative hymns and sequences mentioned above prove to be almost as familiar.
On the contrary, decadent hymns have tended to disappear. Unworthy of their theme and purpose, a multitude of examples may be unearthed from their present burial places in the Analecta Hymnica or other collections by the curious investigator. So far as actual usage is concerned they have been gradually discarded and forgotten in the process of time. Similarly those of greater merit have possessed a survival value sufficient to insure recognition in every succeeding century.