Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences/Pange lingua gloriosi (Aquinas)
Pange lingua gloriosi.[1]
Of the glorious Body telling,
O my tongue, its mysteries sing;
And the Blood, all price excelling,
Which for this world's ransoming
In a generous womb once dwelling,
He shed forth, the Gentiles' King.
Given for us, for us descending
Of a Virgin to proceed,
Man with man in converse blending
Scattered He the Gospel seed:
Till His sojourn drew to ending,
Which He closed in wondrous deed.
At the last Great Supper seated,
Circled by His brethren's band,
All the Law required, completed
In the feast its statutes planned,
To the Twelve Himself He meted
For their food with His own hand.
Word made Flesh, by Word He maketh
Very Bread His Flesh to be;
Man in wine Christ's Blood partaketh,
And if senses fail to see,
Faith alone the true heart waketh
To behold the Mystery.
Therefore we, before it bending,
This great Sacrament adore:
Types and shadows have their ending
In the new Rite evermore:
Faith, our outward sense amending,
Maketh good defects before.
Honour, laud, and praise addressing
To the Father and the Son,
Might ascribe we, virtue, blessing,
And eternal benison:
Holy Ghost, from Both progressing,
Equal laud to Thee be done! Amen.
- ↑ This hymn contests the second place among those of the Western Church with the Vexilla Regis, the Stabat Mater, the Jesu dulcis Memoria, the Ad Regias Agni Dapes, the Ad Supernam, and one or two others, leaving the Dies Iræ in its unapproachable glory. It has been a bow of Ulysses to translators. The translation above given claims no other merit than an attempt to unite the best portions of the four best translations with which I am acquainted—Mr. Wackerbarth's, Dr. Pusey's, that of the Leeds book, and Mr. Caswall's, (which last, however, omits the double rhymes.) Chiefly where, as in the first line, and the fourth and fifth verses, all seemed to me to fail, I have ventured another attempt,—possibly to display another failure. In the latter, the two concluding lines, Præstet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui, are avoided by all. The versions are: "Faith the senses dark refining Mysteries to comprehend:" "Faith, thine earnest adoration, Passing eye and touch, present." Mr. Caswall's translation, unshackled by rhyme, is nearest; "Faith for all defects supplying, Where the feeble senses fail."
The great crux of the translator is the fourth verse. I give all the translations. 1. "God the Word by one word maketh Very Bread His Flesh to be: And whoso that Cup partaketh, Tastes the Fount of Calvary: While the carnal mind forsaketh, Faith receives the Mystery." Here the incarnation of the Word, so necessary to the antithesis, is omitted; and so exact a writer as S. Thomas would never have used the expression by one word. 2. "At the Incarnate Word's high bidding, Very Bread to Flesh doth turn: Wine becometh Christ's Blood-shedding: And, if sense cannot discern, Guileless spirits, never dreading, May from Faith sufficient learn." Here, the antithesis is utterly lost, by the substitution of Incarnate for made flesh, and bidding for word, to say nothing of Blood-shedding for Blood. 3. "Word made Flesh! The Bread of nature, Thou by word to flesh dost turn: Wine, to Blood of our Creator: If no sense the work discern. Yet the true heart proves no traitor: Faith unaided all shall learn." Here the antithesis is preserved, though at the expense of the vocative case. And surely S. Thomas, in an exact dogmatical poem, would not have spoken of the Blood of our Creator. Mr. Caswall, following up the hint given by the last version, and substituting the apposite pronoun for the vocative, has given, as from his freedom of rhyme might be expected, the best version. "Word made Flesh, the Bread of nature By a word to Flesh He turns: Wine into His Blood He changes: What though sense no change discerns, Only be the heart in earnest, Faith the lesson quickly learns." In both these last translations, however, the panem verum of S. Thomas is not given; and Mr. Caswall brings in the worse than unnecessary article—By a word.
Since the first edition of my book, Hymns Ancient and Modern have produced a translation put together from former ones,—but nearer my own version than to any other. Their fourth verse is their weakest:—
Word made Flesh, True Bread He maketh
By His word His Flesh to be:
Wine His Blood; which whoso taketh
Must from carnal thoughts be free:
Faith alone, though sight forsaketh,
Shows true hearts the Mystery.It is needless to observe that the Italicised line and a half is not in the original. Forsaketh, too, is scarcely English. I have substituted an alteration of Hymns Ancient and Modern for my original 5th verse.