WILLIAM DUNBAR. XV-XVI. CENTS. MODERNISED BY E. M. CLERKE .
I
O Empress high, Celestial Queen most rare,
Eternal Princess, Flower immaculate,
Our sovereign Help when we to thee repair —
Hail, Rose intact; hail, Maid inviolate,
That, with the Father, was predestinate
The Bairn and Maker of us all to bear,
Untouched with slightest soil of sinful state,
But, Virgin pure, more clear than crystal fair.
O Blessed Rose, O Gem of chastity,
O Well of beauty, of all goodness Store,
O Way of bliss, Flower of virginity,
O Fount of truth, O Star ne'er darkened o'er —
Grant sinful me, who live in foulness sore,
To track the steps of perfect charity,
And to forsake my sins both less and more,
Aye serving him who shed his Blood for me.
O Blessed Lady, of all goodness made,
Since all my hope and trust is in your grace,
By your high sweetness let your Son be prayed,
To grant me leisure ere I die; and space
From out my soul all foulness to erase;
And aye to live in virtue pure arrayed,
From out the fiend's close bondage and embrace —
Now, glorious Lady, of your goodness aid.
For e'en as Phaebus, with his beams so bright,
Illumines all this earth in longitude,
E'en so, your grace, your beauty and your might
Adorneth all this world in latitude;
Therefore to me ye show your gratitude
And your magnificence, that day and night
Your grace benign to me of life be food;
And save me from each foul malignant wight.
II
Rose -M ARY , Sum of virtue virginal,
Fresh Flower on whom the dew of heaven downfell;
O Gem, conjoined in joy angelical,
In whom rejoiced the Saviour was to dwell:
Of refuge Ark, of mercy Spring and Well,
Of Ladies first, as is of letters A,
Empress of heaven, of paradise and hell —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
O Star, that blindest Phaebus' beams so bright,
With course above the empyrean crystalline;
Above the sphere of Saturn's highest height,
Surmounting all the angelic orders nine;
O Lamp, that shin'st before the throne divine,
Where sounds Hosanna in cherubic lay,
With drum and organ, harp and cymbaline —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
O Cloister chaste of pure Virginity,
That Christ hath closed 'gainst crime for evermo';
Triumphant Temple of the Trinity,
That didst the eternal Tartarus o'erthrow;
Princess of peace, imperial Palm, I trow,
From thee our Samson sprang invict in fray;
Who, with one buffet, Belial hath laid low —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
Thy blessed sides the mighty Champion bore,
Who hath, with many a bleeding wound in fight,
Victoriously o'erthrown the dragon hoar
That ready was his flock to slay and smite;
Nor all the gates of hell him succour might,
Since he that robber's rampart brake away,
While all the demons trembled at the sight —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
O Maiden meek, chief Mediatrix for man,
And Mother mild, full of humility,
Pray to thy Son, with wounds that sanguine ran,
Whereby for all our trespass slain was he.
And since he bled his Blood upon a tree,
'Gainst Lucifer our foe, to be our stay,
That we in heaven may sing upon our knee —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
Hail, Pearl made pure; hail, Port of paradise;
Hail, Ruby, redolent of rays to us;
Hail, Crystal clear; Empress and Queen, hail thrice;
Mother of God, hail, Maid exalted thus,
" O Gratia plena, tecum Dominus";
With Gabriel that we may sing and say,
" Benedicta tu in mulieribus" —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
I
O Empress high, Celestial Queen most rare,
Eternal Princess, Flower immaculate,
Our sovereign Help when we to thee repair —
Hail, Rose intact; hail, Maid inviolate,
That, with the Father, was predestinate
The Bairn and Maker of us all to bear,
Untouched with slightest soil of sinful state,
But, Virgin pure, more clear than crystal fair.
O Blessed Rose, O Gem of chastity,
O Well of beauty, of all goodness Store,
O Way of bliss, Flower of virginity,
O Fount of truth, O Star ne'er darkened o'er —
Grant sinful me, who live in foulness sore,
To track the steps of perfect charity,
And to forsake my sins both less and more,
Aye serving him who shed his Blood for me.
O Blessed Lady, of all goodness made,
Since all my hope and trust is in your grace,
By your high sweetness let your Son be prayed,
To grant me leisure ere I die; and space
From out my soul all foulness to erase;
And aye to live in virtue pure arrayed,
From out the fiend's close bondage and embrace —
Now, glorious Lady, of your goodness aid.
For e'en as Phaebus, with his beams so bright,
Illumines all this earth in longitude,
E'en so, your grace, your beauty and your might
Adorneth all this world in latitude;
Therefore to me ye show your gratitude
And your magnificence, that day and night
Your grace benign to me of life be food;
And save me from each foul malignant wight.
II
Rose -M ARY , Sum of virtue virginal,
Fresh Flower on whom the dew of heaven downfell;
O Gem, conjoined in joy angelical,
In whom rejoiced the Saviour was to dwell:
Of refuge Ark, of mercy Spring and Well,
Of Ladies first, as is of letters A,
Empress of heaven, of paradise and hell —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
O Star, that blindest Phaebus' beams so bright,
With course above the empyrean crystalline;
Above the sphere of Saturn's highest height,
Surmounting all the angelic orders nine;
O Lamp, that shin'st before the throne divine,
Where sounds Hosanna in cherubic lay,
With drum and organ, harp and cymbaline —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
O Cloister chaste of pure Virginity,
That Christ hath closed 'gainst crime for evermo';
Triumphant Temple of the Trinity,
That didst the eternal Tartarus o'erthrow;
Princess of peace, imperial Palm, I trow,
From thee our Samson sprang invict in fray;
Who, with one buffet, Belial hath laid low —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
Thy blessed sides the mighty Champion bore,
Who hath, with many a bleeding wound in fight,
Victoriously o'erthrown the dragon hoar
That ready was his flock to slay and smite;
Nor all the gates of hell him succour might,
Since he that robber's rampart brake away,
While all the demons trembled at the sight —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
O Maiden meek, chief Mediatrix for man,
And Mother mild, full of humility,
Pray to thy Son, with wounds that sanguine ran,
Whereby for all our trespass slain was he.
And since he bled his Blood upon a tree,
'Gainst Lucifer our foe, to be our stay,
That we in heaven may sing upon our knee —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.
Hail, Pearl made pure; hail, Port of paradise;
Hail, Ruby, redolent of rays to us;
Hail, Crystal clear; Empress and Queen, hail thrice;
Mother of God, hail, Maid exalted thus,
" O Gratia plena, tecum Dominus";
With Gabriel that we may sing and say,
" Benedicta tu in mulieribus" —
Mother of Christ, O Mary, hail, alway.