Page:The seven great hymns of the mediaeval church - 1902.djvu/165

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
The Veni Creator.
135

guage almoſt as eaſily as in his own. He underſtood Greek, and ſtudied Hebrew."

There remains of his muſe an epitaph on Adrian I., in thirty-eight verſes; the Song of Roland, an ode to the ſcholar Warnefride, and an epigram in hexameter verſe. This epigram was found in a manuſcript containing a commentary on the Epiſtle to the Romans, attributed to Origen, and corrected in the hand of Charlemagne. The ſubject of the hymn ſeems alſo to have engaged the attention of the Emperor, for there is a letter by him addreſſed to his biſhops, entitled De gratia ſeptiformis Spiritus. He died at Aix-la-Chapelle, his crown upon his head, and his copy of the Goſpels upon his knees, January 28, 814.

The Engliſh verſion of the hymn is the paraphraſe of Dryden, of which Warton ſays: "This is a moſt elegant and beautiful little morſel, and one of his moſt correct compoſitions." There is a tranſlation in the Prayer Book (Ordering of Prieſts) which is noteworthy, as being the only Breviary hymn retained by the Epiſcopal Church.