Natvs Est Lavrentivs in Eternvm Ann. XX. Dormit in Pace (A.D. 329) XII
This poem has given four hymns to the Roman Breviary:--(1) For the Feast of the Transfiguration, Vespers and Matins(2) For the Epiphany at Lauds, beginning O sola magnarum urbium,(3) For the Feast of Holy Innocents at Matins, beginning Audit(4) Also the Feast of Holy Innocents at Lauds, beginning Salvete
"But stay! what light is that doth streamAnd drop here in a gilded beam?It is Thy star runs Page and bringsThy tributary Eastern kings.Lord! grant some light to us that weMay find with them the way to Thee!"
This symbolism of the gifts of the Magi is also found in Juvencus(I. 250): "Frankincense, gold and myrrh they bring as gifts to aKing, a Man and a God," and is again alluded to by Prudentius inApoth. 631 et seq. The idea is expressed in the hymn of Jacoponeda Todi, beginning Verbum caro factum est (Mone, Hymni Latini,Vol. 2):
"Gold to the kingly,Incense to the priestly,Myrrh to the mortal:"
"Peor, and BaaelimForsake their temples dim
And sullen Moloch fled,Hath left in shadows dread,His burning idol all of blackest hue.
Our Babe, to show his Godhead true,Can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew."
Words in this poem
- transfiguration n.
- A change of form or appearance; especially, the supernatural change in the personal appearance of our Savior on the mount. [L. transfiguratio: cf. transfiguration.]
- epiphany n.
- An appearance, or a becoming manifest. [F. épiphanie, L. epiphania, Gr. Fancy.]
- sola n.
- A leguminous plant (Æschynomene aspera) growing in moist places in Southern India and the East Indies. Its pithlike stem is used for making hats, swimming-jackets, etc. [Native name.]
- audit n.
- An audience; a hearing. [L. auditus a hearing, fr. audire. See Audible, a.]
- symbolism n.
- The act of symbolizing, or the state of being symbolized; as, symbolism in Christian art is the representation of truth, virtues, vices, etc., by emblematic colors, signs, and forms.
- factum n.
- A man's own act and deed; particularly: (a) (Civil Law) Anything stated and made certain. [L. See Fact.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- moloch n.
- The fire god of the Ammonites in Canaan, to whom human sacrifices were offered; Molech. Also applied figuratively. [Heb. molek king.]
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Natvs Est Lavrentivs in Eternvm Ann. XX. Dormit in Pace (A.D. 329) XII 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, Natvs Est Lavrentivs in Eternvm Ann. XX. Dormit in Pace (A.D. 329) XII, in The Hymns of Prudentius (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14959, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/prudentius-hymns/natvs-est-lavrentivs-in-eternvm-ann-xx-dormit-in-pace-a-d-32-2.html, id L23698.
Form and metre
Natvs Est Lavrentivs in Eternvm Ann. XX. Dormit in Pace (A.D. 329) XII is 27 lines in 7 stanzas.
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.
- 2 AABBCC streamA · beamA · bringsB · kingsB · weC · theeC
- 6 AA- fledA · dreadA · hue
- 7 AA trueA · crewA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| This poem has given four hymns to the Roman Breviary:-- | 14 | ·/·/····/˘/˘˘˘ |
| (1) For the Feast of the Transfiguration, Vespers and Matins | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| (2) For the Epiphany at Lauds, beginning O sola magnarum urbium, | 18 | ··˘/˘··˘/˘·/˘····· |
| (3) For the Feast of Holy Innocents at Matins, beginning Audit | 16 | ····/˘/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| (4) Also the Feast of Holy Innocents at Lauds, beginning Salvete | 16 | /˘···/˘/˘··˘/˘·· |
| "But stay! what light is that doth stream | 8 | ········ |
| And drop here in a gilded beam? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It is Thy star runs Page and brings | 8 | ········ |
| Thy tributary Eastern kings. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Lord! grant some light to us that we | 8 | ········ |
| May find with them the way to Thee!" | 8 | ········ |
| This symbolism of the gifts of the Magi is also found in Juvencus | 20 | ·/˘·˘·····/˘·/˘····· |
| (I. 250): "Frankincense, gold and myrrh they bring as gifts to a | 13 | ·/˘·········· |
| King, a Man and a God," and is again alluded to by Prudentius in | 19 | ········˘/˘/˘······ |
| Apoth. 631 et seq. The idea is expressed in the hymn of Jacopone | 17 | ·····˘/·˘/······· |
| da Todi, beginning Verbum caro factum est (Mone, Hymni Latini, | 20 | ···˘/˘··/˘/˘˘/···˘/˘ |
| Vol. 2): | 1 | · |
| "Gold to the kingly, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Incense to the priestly, | 6 | /···/˘ |
| Myrrh to the mortal:" | 5 | ···/˘ |
| "Peor, and Baaelim | 4 | ···· |
| Forsake their temples dim | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And sullen Moloch fled, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Hath left in shadows dread, | 6 | ···/·· |
| His burning idol all of blackest hue. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Our Babe, to show his Godhead true, | 8 | /····/·· |
| Can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew." | 11 | ···/˘·˘/··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.