LXVIII. IN DEDICATIONE ECCLESIÆ. U Dicta pacis visio, [RBS beata Hirusalem, Quæ construitur in cœlis, LXVIII. Clichtoveus, Elucidat. Eccles., p. 46; Thomasius, Hymnarium, Opp., v. 2, p. 378; Rambach, Anthol. Christl. Gesänge, p. 179; Mohnike, Hymnol. Forschungen, v. 2, p. 187.— This rugged but fine old hymn, of which the author is not known, is probably of date as early as the eighth or ninth century: such is Mohnike's conclusion. I have alluded already, in the introduction to this volume, p. 15, to the manner in which these grand old compositions were recast in the Romish Church, at the revival of learning, which was, in Italy at least, to so great an extent a revival of Paganism. This is one of the few which has not utterly perished in the process, in which some beauty has survived the transformation. And yet if we compare the first two rugged and somewhat uncouth stanzas, which yet withal are so sweet, with the smooth iambics which in the Roman breviary have taken their place, we shall feel that, if not all, yet a great part of their beauty has disappeared. They are read there in the following form: Cœlestis urbs Jerusalem, Beata pacis visio, Quæ celsa de viventibus O sorte nupta prosperâ, Cœlo coruscas civitas. A little further on, we are amidst the heathen associations of Olympus. But the most illustrious example of what I mean, is yielded by a comparison of the grand old Paschal hymn, (how old, it is impossible to say,) Ad cœnam Agni providi, with the same as burnished and brightened up in the Roman breviary. Let us take, for instance, this stanza on Christ the true Paschal Lamb, in the old : Cujus corpus sanctissimum, In arâ crucis torridum, Cruore ejus roseo Gustando, vivimus Deo; and its equivalent in the new : Divina cujus caritas Sacrum propinat sanguinem, Amor sacerdos immolat. The lines satisfy indeed, now, the claims of metre,-though they have lost their rhyme; but all the sharpness and distinctness of the Paschal allusions has wholly vanished, and vague generalities take their place; not to say that there is a nameless charm diffused over those lines, which is altogether absent from these. Daniel (Thes. Hymnol., v. 1, p. 88) gives the old and the new in parallel columns. 29. Syon] It is not an accident that the poet uses Syon here where he is speaking of the Church militant, and Hirusalem, ver. 1, where he was addressing the Church triumphant. Durandus (Rational., 1. 1, c. 1), gives the explanation of the distinction: Dicitur enim præsens Ecclesia Syon, eò quod ab hâc peregrinatione longè posita promissionem rerum cœlestium speculatur; et ideo Syon, id est, speculatio, nomen accepit. Pro futurâ verò patriâ et pace, Hierusalem vocatur: nam Hierusalem pacis visio interpre tatur. Hoc in templo, summe Deus, Et clementi bonitate Hic promereantur omnes 40 37-48. These two last stanzas of this hymn, Daniel, (v. 1, p. 240), conceives not to have belonged to it, as first composed; that it was simply a yearning after the heavenly city, with no relation to the dedication of a material temple, and that these were added, when, at a later period, it was turned to this use: Hæc supernæ civitatis laudatio, ut mihi videtur, ex poetæ consilio nihil spectabat ad Festum Dedicationis, neque ultra versum decimum octavum genuinam esse puto. Quæ sequuntur v. 19-24, illo tempore adjecti sunt, quo nostrum canticum in Ecclesiæ usum convertebatur. But this is certainly a mistake. The hymn coheres intimately in all its parts, and to turn it away from its purpose of being a hymn In Dedicatione Ecclesiæ, is to rob it of its chiefest beauty. It is most truly a hymn "of degrees," an ascending from things earthly to things heavenly, and a making of the first to be interpreters of the last. Durandus ( Rational., 1. 1, c. 1, §. 7—10, and elsewhere,) shews how the prevailing thought in the building and the dedication of a church, with the rites thereto appertaining, was to carry up men's thoughts from that temple built with hands, which was before their eyes, to that other built of living stones in heaven, of which this was but a weak shadow. Compare two beautiful sermons by Hildebert, p. 641, 648, Beaugendre's edit. A sequence which Daniel himself gives, (v. 2, p. 23,) should have hindered him from falling into this error. It, too, is entitled De Dedicatione Ecclesiæ, and thus commences : Psallat Ecclesia, mater illibata et virgo Sine rugâ, honorem hujus ecclesiæ; In laude Regis cœlorum et ceremoniis, Et lumine continuo æmulans civitatem sine tenebris. own. Et adepta possidere Cum sanctis perenniter, Translati in requiem. 45 48. This poem testifies for its own true inspiration, in the fact that it has proved the source of manifold inspiration in circles beyond its The rich hymnology of Protestant Germany possesses certainly two, it may be more, noble hymns, which evidently had their first motive here; however the matter is wrought up and the subject handled with a freedom which leaves them original compositions, notwithstanding. The older of these is Meyfart's (1590— 1642,) Jerusalem, du hochgebaute Stadt, (no. 495, in Bunsen's Gesangbuch,) a lovely hymn, yet perhaps inferior to that of Kosegarten (1758-1818.) From this, which I do not find in Bunsen's collection, these glorious stanzas may be quoted; the comparison between the old poet and the new must needs be instructive: Stadt Gottes, deren diamantnen Ring Kein Feind zu stürmen wagt: Drin kein Tyrann haust, drin kein Herrscherling Die freien Bürger plagt; Recht nur und Licht und Wahrheit Stützt deines Königs Thron, Und Klarheit über Klarheit Umglänzt den Königssohn. Stadt, deren Gassen sind durchlauchtig Gold, Die Mauern Marmelstein; Der Glanzstrom, der durch deine Strassen rollt, Krystallne Fluthen baden Der Königsgärten Saum, Schattet der Lebensbaum. Dir scheint, o Stadt, der Sonne Antlitz nicht, Und nicht ihr bleiches Bild; Es leuchtet dir ein himmlisch Angesicht, Das wunderlich und mild. Gott Selbst ist deine Sonne, Dein leuchtend Licht das Lamm, Das aller Heilkraft Bronne Gebüsst am Marterstamm. |