Hymnus Matutinus
Nox et tenebrae et nubila,confusa mundi et turbida,lux intrat, albescit polus,Christus venit, discedite.
Caligo terrae scinditurpercussa solis spiculo,rebusque iam color reditvultu nitentis sideris.
Sic nostra mox obscuritasfraudisque pectus consciumruptis retectum nubibusregnante pallescit Deo.
Tunc non licebit clauderequod quisque fuscum cogitat,sed mane clarescent novosecreta mentis prodita.
Fur ante lucem squalidoinpune peccat tempore,sed lux dolis contrarialatere furtum non sinit.
Versuta fraus et callidaamat tenebris obtegi,aptamque noctem turpibusadulter occultus fovet.
Sol ecce surgit igneus,piget, pudescit, paenitet,nec teste quisquam luminepeccare constanter potest.
Quis mane sumptis nequiternon erubescit poculis,cum fit libido temperanscastumque nugator sapit?
Nunc, nunc severum vivitur,nunc nemo tentat ludicrum,inepta nunc omnes suavultu colorant serio.
Haec hora cunctis utilis,qua quisque, quod studet, gerat,miles, togatus, navita,opifex, arator, institor.
Illum forensis gloria,hunc triste raptat classicum,mercator hinc ac rusticusavara suspirant lucra.
At nos lucelli ac faenorisfandique prorsus nescii,nec arte fortes bellica,te, Christe, solum novimus.
Te mente pura et simplici,te voce, te cantu piorogare curvato genuflendo et canendo discimus.
His nos lucramur quaestibus,hac arte tantum vivimus,haec inchoamus munera,cum sol resurgens emicat.
Intende nostris sensibus,vitamque totam dispice,sunt multa fucis inlita,quae luce purgentur tua.
Durare nos tales iube,quales, remotis sordibusnitere pridem iusseras,Iordane tinctos flumine.
Quodcumque nox mundi dehincinfecit atris nubibus,tu, rex Eoi sideris,vultu sereno inlumina.
Tu sancte, qui taetram picemcandore tingis lacteoebenoque crystallum facis,delicta terge livida.
Sub nocte Iacob caerulaluctator audax angeli,eo usque dum lux surgeret,sudavit inpar praelium.
Sed cum iubar claresceret,lapsante claudus poplitefemurque victus debileculpae vigorem perdidit.
Nutabat inguen saucium,quae corporis pars viliorlongeque sub cordis locodiram fovet libidinem.
Hae nos docent imagines,hominem tenebris obsitum,si forte non cedat Deo,vires rebellis perdere.
Erit tamen beatior,intemperans membrum cuiluctando claudum et tabidumdies oborta invenerit.
Tandem facessat caecitas,quae nosmet in praeceps diulapsos sinistris gressibuserrore traxit devio.
Haec lux serenum conferatpurosque nos praestet sibi:nihil loquamur subdolum,volvamus obscurum nihil.
Sic tota decurrat dies,ne lingua mendax, ne manus,oculive peccent lubrici,ne noxa corpus inquinet.
Speculator adstat desuper,qui nos diebus omnibusactusque nostros prospicita luce prima in vesperum.
Hic testis, hic est arbiter,his intuetur quidquid est,humana quod mens concipit;hunc nemo fallit iudicem.
Words in this poem
- caligo n.
- Dimness or obscurity of sight, dependent upon a speck on the cornea; also, the speck itself. [L., darkness.]
- pectus n.
- The breast of a bird. [L., the breast.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
- adulter v. i.
- To commit adultery; to pollute. B. Jonson. [L. adulterare.]
- luce n.
- A pike when full grown. Halliwell. [OF. lus, L. lucius a kind of fish.]
- tingis n.
- A genus of small hemipterous insects which injure trees by sucking the sap from the leaves. See Illustration in Appendix. [NL.]
- loco adv.
- A direction in written or printed music to return to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher. [It.]
- docent a.
- Serving to instruct; teaching. [L. docens, -entis, p. pr. of docere to teach.]
- forte n.
- The strong point; that in which one excels. fort"a The construction of a fable seems by no means the forte of our modern poetical writers. Jeffrey. [IT. forte: cf. F. fort. See Fort.]
- tandem adv.
- One after another; -- said especially of horses harnessed and driven one before another, instead of abreast. [L. tandem at length (of time only), punningly taken as meaning, lengthwise.]
- nihil n.
- Nothing. Nihil album Etym: [L., white nothing] (Chem.), oxide of zinc. See under Zinc. [L.]
- manus n.
- The distal segment of the fore limb, including the carpus and fore foot or hand. [L., the hand.]
- speculator n.
- One who speculates. Specifically: (a) An observer; a contemplator; hence, a spy; a watcher. Sir T. Browne. [L., a spy, explorer, investigator: cf. F. spéculateur.]
- omnibus n.
- A long four-wheeled carriage, having seats for many people; especially, one with seats running lengthwise, used in conveying passengers short distances. [L., for all, dat. pl. from omnis all. Cf. Bus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymnus Matutinus is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Hymns of Prudentius, Project Gutenberg ebook #14959; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Prudentius, Hymnus Matutinus, in The Hymns of Prudentius (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14959, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/prudentius-hymns/hymnus-matutinus.html, id L23668.
Form and metre
Hymnus Matutinus is 112 lines in 28 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 14 AA-- quaestibusA · vivimusA · munera · emicat
- 20 -A-A claresceret · popliteA · debile · perdiditA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Nox et tenebrae et nubila, | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| confusa mundi et turbida, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| lux intrat, albescit polus, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Christus venit, discedite. | 7 | ······· |
| Caligo terrae scinditur | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| percussa solis spiculo, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| rebusque iam color redit | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| vultu nitentis sideris. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Sic nostra mox obscuritas | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| fraudisque pectus conscium | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| ruptis retectum nubibus | 8 | ········ |
| regnante pallescit Deo. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Tunc non licebit claudere | 7 | ······· |
| quod quisque fuscum cogitat, | 7 | ······· |
| sed mane clarescent novo | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| secreta mentis prodita. | 8 | ········ |
| Fur ante lucem squalido | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| inpune peccat tempore, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| sed lux dolis contraria | 7 | ······· |
| latere furtum non sinit. | 7 | ······· |
| Versuta fraus et callida | 8 | ········ |
| amat tenebris obtegi, | 8 | ········ |
| aptamque noctem turpibus | 7 | ······· |
| adulter occultus fovet. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Sol ecce surgit igneus, | 6 | ······ |
| piget, pudescit, paenitet, | 8 | ········ |
| nec teste quisquam lumine | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| peccare constanter potest. | 7 | ······· |
| Quis mane sumptis nequiter | 7 | ······· |
| non erubescit poculis, | 8 | ········ |
| cum fit libido temperans | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| castumque nugator sapit? | 7 | ······· |
| Nunc, nunc severum vivitur, | 8 | ········ |
| nunc nemo tentat ludicrum, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| inepta nunc omnes sua | 6 | ······ |
| vultu colorant serio. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Haec hora cunctis utilis, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| qua quisque, quod studet, gerat, | 7 | ······· |
| miles, togatus, navita, | 7 | ······· |
| opifex, arator, institor. | 9 | ········· |
| Illum forensis gloria, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| hunc triste raptat classicum, | 7 | ······· |
| mercator hinc ac rusticus | 9 | ˘/˘·//··· |
| avara suspirant lucra. | 8 | ········ |
| At nos lucelli ac faenoris | 10 | ·····//··· |
| fandique prorsus nescii, | 6 | ······ |
| nec arte fortes bellica, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| te, Christe, solum novimus. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Te mente pura et simplici, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| te voce, te cantu pio | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| rogare curvato genu | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| flendo et canendo discimus. | 9 | ········· |
| His nos lucramur quaestibus, | 8 | ········ |
| hac arte tantum vivimus, | 7 | ······· |
| haec inchoamus munera, | 7 | ······· |
| cum sol resurgens emicat. | 8 | ········ |
| Intende nostris sensibus, | 7 | ······· |
| vitamque totam dispice, | 6 | ······ |
| sunt multa fucis inlita, | 8 | ········ |
| quae luce purgentur tua. | 6 | ······ |
| Durare nos tales iube, | 5 | ····· |
| quales, remotis sordibus | 7 | ······· |
| nitere pridem iusseras, | 7 | ······· |
| Iordane tinctos flumine. | 6 | ······ |
| Quodcumque nox mundi dehinc | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| infecit atris nubibus, | 8 | ········ |
| tu, rex Eoi sideris, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| vultu sereno inlumina. | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Tu sancte, qui taetram picem | 7 | ······· |
| candore tingis lacteo | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| ebenoque crystallum facis, | 8 | ········ |
| delicta terge livida. | 7 | ······· |
| Sub nocte Iacob caerula | 7 | ······· |
| luctator audax angeli, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| eo usque dum lux surgeret, | 7 | ······· |
| sudavit inpar praelium. | 7 | ······· |
| Sed cum iubar claresceret, | 8 | ········ |
| lapsante claudus poplite | 6 | ······ |
| femurque victus debile | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| culpae vigorem perdidit. | 7 | ······· |
| Nutabat inguen saucium, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| quae corporis pars vilior | 7 | ······· |
| longeque sub cordis loco | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| diram fovet libidinem. | 8 | ········ |
| Hae nos docent imagines, | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| hominem tenebris obsitum, | 8 | /˘······ |
| si forte non cedat Deo, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| vires rebellis perdere. | 6 | ······ |
| Erit tamen beatior, | 6 | ······ |
| intemperans membrum cui | 7 | ······· |
| luctando claudum et tabidum | 9 | ········· |
| dies oborta invenerit. | 8 | ········ |
| Tandem facessat caecitas, | 8 | /˘······ |
| quae nosmet in praeceps diu | 7 | ······· |
| lapsos sinistris gressibus | 8 | ········ |
| errore traxit devio. | 6 | ······ |
| Haec lux serenum conferat | 8 | ········ |
| purosque nos praestet sibi: | 7 | ······· |
| nihil loquamur subdolum, | 8 | /˘······ |
| volvamus obscurum nihil. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sic tota decurrat dies, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| ne lingua mendax, ne manus, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| oculive peccent lubrici, | 8 | ········ |
| ne noxa corpus inquinet. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Speculator adstat desuper, | 9 | /˘·˘····· |
| qui nos diebus omnibus | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| actusque nostros prospicit | 7 | ······· |
| a luce prima in vesperum. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Hic testis, hic est arbiter, | 9 | ·/˘·˘//˘˘ |
| his intuetur quidquid est, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| humana quod mens concipit; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| hunc nemo fallit iudicem. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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