Religion
Of On That Is So Fayr and Bright
From Egerton MS 613
Of on that is so fayr and bright
Velud maris stella,
Brighter than the day is light,
Parens et puella;
Ic crie to the, thou se to me,
Levedy, preye thi sone for me,
Tam pia,
That ic mote come to the,
Maria!
Of kare conseil thou ert best,
Felix fecundata;
Of alle wery thou ert rest,
Mater honorata.
Bisek him wiz milde mod,
That for ous alle sad is blod
In cruce,
That we moten comen til him
In luce.
Al this world was forlore,
Eva peccatrice,
Tyl our lord was ibore
De te genetrice.
With Ave it went away
Thuster nyth and comet the day
Salutis;
The welle springet hut of the
Virtutis.
Levedi, flour of alle thing,
Rosa sine spina,
Thu bere Jhesu, hevene king,
Gratia divina;
Of alle thu berst the pris,
Levedi, quene of Parays
Electa,
Mayde milde, moder es
Effecta.
Wel he wot he is thi sone,
Ventre quem portasti;
He wyl nout werne the thi bone,
Parvum quem lactasti.
So hende and so god he his,
He havet brout ous to blis
Superni,
That havez hidut the foule put
Inferni.
Codex Note
A hymn to the Virgin in English and Latin, each English couplet answered by a Latin tag (‘Velud maris stella’, like the star of the sea), in five stanzas; it turns on Eve’s ‘Eva’ reversed by the angel’s ‘Ave’. Text from E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick, Early English Lyrics (1907).
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Middle English). “Of On That Is So Fayr and Bright.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-middle-english/9/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Middle English). “Of On That Is So Fayr and Bright.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-middle-english/9/.
Read this poem with the Codex →