Poem: The Flower

The Flower is a poem by George Herbert (1593–1633).  It was published posthumously in 1633 as part of his collection, The Temple. The version of The Flower included in the Poems for Advent and Christmas Appendix of the Divine Office (1974) is an abridgement of Herbert's original 7 stanza poem.

THE FLOWER by George Herbert, 1633

Who would have thought my shrivel’d heart
Could have recover’d greenness? It was gone
Quite under ground; as flowers depart
To see their mother-root, when they have blown;
Where they together
All the hard weather,
Dead to the world, keep house unknown.

These are thy wonders, Lord of power,
Killing and quickning, bringing down to hell
And up to heaven in an houre;
Making a chiming of a passing-bell,
We say amiss,
This or that is:
Thy word is all, if we could spell.

Poem: The Nativity of Christ

15th Century Painting by Petrus Christus - Wikipedia

The Nativity of Christ is a poem by the Jesuit Priest, Fr. Robert Southwell (1561-1595). Because of his efforts as a missionary loyal to the Holy See in post-Reformation England; he was tried, convicted, and hanged for high treason. In 1970, he was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. The Nativity of Christ is included in the Poems for Advent and Christmas Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).

Setting by Christopher M. Wicks

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST. By Robert Southwell

Behold the father is his daughter's son,
The bird that built the nest is hatch'd therein,
The old of years an hour hath not outrun,
Eternal life to live doth now begin,
The word is dumb, the mirth of heaven doth weep,
Might feeble is, and force doth faintly creep.

O dying souls! behold your living spring!
O dazzled eyes! behold your sun of grace!
Dull ears attend what word this word doth bring!
Up, heavy hearts, with joy your joy embrace!
From death, from dark, from deafness, from despairs,
This life, this light, this word, this joy repairs.

Gift better than Himself God doth not know,
Gift better than his God no man can see;
This gift doth here the giver given bestow,
Gift to this gift let each receiver be:
God is my gift, Himself He freely gave me,
God's gift am I, and none but God shall have me.

Man alter'd was by sin from man to beast;
Beast's food is hay, hay is all mortal flesh;
Now God is flesh, and lies in manger press'd,
As hay the brutest sinner to refresh:
Oh happy field wherein this fodder grew,
Whose taste doth us from beasts to men renew!

Poem: Deign at My Hands

Painting by Jose de Sarabia (1608-1699) - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Deign at My Hands is a poem by the English poet, lawyer, and Anglican Cleric, John Donne (1572-1631). It is the first poem of La Corona - a cycle of seven sonnets written in 1618 about the life of Christ. The first line of this poem ("Deign at my hands this crown of prayer and praise"), also serves as the final line of the last sonnet of the cycle. Deign at My Hands is included in the Poems for Advent and Christmas Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


DEIGN AT MY HANDS by John Donne

Deign at my hands this crown of prayer and praise,
Weav'd in my low devout melancholy,
Thou which of good, hast, yea art treasury,
All changing unchanged Ancient of days,
But do not, with a vile crown of frail bays,
Reward my muse's white sincerity,
But what thy thorny crown gained, that give me,
A crown of Glory, which doth flower always;
The ends crown our works, but thou crown'st our ends,
For at our end begins our endlesse rest,
The first last end, now zealously possest,
With a strong sober thirst, my soul attends.
'Tis time that heart and voice be lifted high,
Salvation to all that will is nigh.

Poem: Sussex Carol (On Christmas Night All Christians Sing)

Painting by Guido Reni (1575-1642) - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Sussex Carol (On Christmas Night All Christians Sing) is an anonymous English Christmas carol. An early version was published in the 17th century by Fr. Luke Wadding O.F.M. (October 1588-1657), but it is uncertain if he was the original author or was setting down an existing folksong. None-the-less, the song remained popular in oral tradition and was collected in 1919 by the folklorist,  Cecil Sharp (1859-1924) together with the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). It is this version which is most commonly known today. Sussex Carol is included in the Poems for Advent and Christmas Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).

Arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams

SUSSEX CAROL (Anonymous)

On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring.
News of great joy, news of great mirth,
News of our merciful King's birth.

Then why should men on earth be so sad,
Since our Redeemer made us glad,
When from our sin he set us free,
All for to gain our liberty?

When sin departs before His grace,
Then life and health come in its place.
Angels and men with joy may sing
All for to see the new-born King.

All out of darkness we have light,
Which made the angels sing this night:
"Glory to God and peace to men,
Now and for evermore, Amen!"

Poem: I Sing of a Maiden (I Syng of a Mayden)

Painting by Bartolme Esteban Murillo - Wikipedia 

I Sing of a Maiden (I Syng of a Mayden) is an anonymous English poem which dates back to a 15th century manuscript, but likely goes back in oral tradition much further. Based upon the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary found in Luke 1:26-38, it is considered by scholars to be one of the finest examples of Middle English lyrics. I Sing of a Maiden is included in the Poems for Advent and Christmas Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).

Setting by Patrick Hadley (1899-1973)

I SING OF A MAIDEN (Anonymous)

I sing of a maiden
That is matchless;
King of all Kings
For her Son she chose.

He came all so still,
Where His mother was,
Adv As dew in April
That falleth on the grass.

He came all so still
To His mother's bowr,
As dew in April
That falleth on flower.

He came all so still,
Where His mother lay,
As dew in April
That falleth on the spray.

Mother and maiden
Was ne'er none but she;
Well may such a lady
Godes mother be.

O Felix Culpa (Adam Lay Ybounden)

15th Century Painting by Berthold Furtmeyr - Courtesy Wikipedia

O Felix Culpa is an anonymous English poem which dates back to a 15th century manuscript, but likely goes back in oral tradition much further. Scholars have suggested that it may be an example of a minstrel's begging song or that it was intended for use in a mystery play. The Latin phrase felix culpa is often translated as "happy fault," and is derived from the writings of St. Augustine regarding the Fall of Man and original sin. O Felix Culpa is included in the Poems for Advent and Christmas Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Setting by Boris Ord (1897-1961), performed by Kings College Choir

O FELIX CULPA (Anonymous, 15th century)

Adam lay y-bounden,
   Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
   Thought he not too long;
And all was for an apple,
   An apple that he took,
As clerkès finden written
   In theirè book.
Ne had one apple taken been,
   The apple taken been,
Then haddè never Our Lady
   A been heaven's queen.
Blessed be the time
   That apple taken was!
Therefore we may singen
   'Deo Gratias!'

Poem: Of the Birth of Christ

Painting by Gerard van Honthorst - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Of the Birth of Christ is a translation by Edgar Allison Peers (1891-1952) of a poem by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). Peers published a number of translations of Spanish works into English, including the complete writings of St John of the Cross and of St Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582). Of the Birth of Christ is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974). The complete text can be found here.

Poem: Concerning the Divine Word

15th Century Painting by Meister de Marienlebens - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Concerning the Divine Word is a translation by Roy Campbell (1901-1957) of the Spanish poem: Del Verbo Divino, by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). In 1936, while living in Toledo, Spain, Campbell was entrusted with manuscripts of St. John's writings for safe keeping by the monks of a Carmelite monastery during a period of anti-clerical riots.  Their fears were not unfounded, as the following day a number of the monks were executed and the library that had housed the manuscripts was set ablaze. Campbell attributed his family's safe escape from Spain to England to the intersession of St. John. On an interesting side note, Campbell was the inspiration for the character of Aragorn in the JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Concerning the Divine Word is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).  The complete text can be found here.


Del Verbo Divino performed by Amancio Prada with English Subtitles

Poem: The Incarnation

'The Annunciation' by Bl. Fra Angelico (1395-1455) - Courtesy Wikipedia

The Incarnation is a translation by Roy Campbell (1901-1957) of a poem by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). Originally published as Ballad 8 of nine meditations on the Gospels from the Codex of Sanlucar de Barrameda, it is believed to have been initially composed interiorly while undergoing a brutal imprisonment.  The Incarnation is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).  The complete text can be found here.

Poem: O Light Invisible, We Praise Thee!

We See the Light, But See Not Whence it Comes

O Light Invisible, We Praise Thee! is an excerpt from Choruses from The Rock by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965). The Rock is a play that Elliot wrote in the form of a medieval pageant which included music by Martin Shaw and was first performed in 1934. O Light Invisible, We Praise Thee! is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).

Poem: Trinity Sunday

Fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Trinity Sunday is by George Herbert (1593–1633). It was published posthumously in 1633 as part of the collection, The Temple and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).

TRINITY SUNDAY by George Herbert, 1633 (Public Domain)

Lord, who hast form’d me out of mud,
       And hast redeem’d me through thy blood,
       And sanctifi’d me to do good;

Purge all my sins done heretofore:
       For I confess my heavy score,
       And I will strive to sin no more.

Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,
       With faith, with hope, with charity;
       That I may run, rise, rest with thee.

Poem: Pied Beauty

For Rose-Moles All in Stipple Upon Trout That Swim: Praise Him!

Pied Beauty is by the Jesuit Priest and poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). Although written in 1877, it remained unpublished until it's inclusion in the posthumous collection: Poems (1918). It is known as a curtal sonnet, a poetic form of his own invention. Pied Beauty is included in the Poetry for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Read by Michael Graves

PIED BEAUTY by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1918 (Public Domain)

Glory be to God for dappled things –
     For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
          For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
     Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
          And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
     Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
          With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
               Praise him.

Poem: That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection

Nature's Bonfire Burns On

That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection is by the Jesuit Priest and poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). It was first published in the posthumous collection: Poems (1918) and is included in the Poetry for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974). Heraclitus (c.535- c.475 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who taught that fire is the primordial element from which all else comes into being and ultimately, passes away. For an interesting commentary, check out the article and podcast - Poetry and Judgment Day 3: Gerard Manley Hopkins “That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection”.


Reading

THAT NATURE IS A HERACLITEAN FIRE AND OF THE COMFORT OF THE RESURRECTION by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1918 (Public Domain)

Cloud-puffball, torn tufts, tossed pillows | flaunt forth, then chevy on an air-
Built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs | they throng; they
       glitter in marches.
Down roughcast, down dazzling whitewash, | wherever an elm arches,
Shivelights and shadowtackle ín long | lashes lace, lance, and pair.
Delightfully the bright wind boisterous | ropes, wrestles, beats earth bare
Of yestertempest's creases; | in pool and rut peel parches
Squandering ooze to squeezed | dough, crust, dust; stanches, starches
Squadroned masks and manmarks | treadmire toil there
Footfretted in it. Million-fuelèd, | nature's bonfire burns on.
But quench her bonniest, dearest | to her, her clearest-selvèd spark
Man, how fast his firedint, | his mark on mind, is gone!
Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark
Drowned. O pity and indig | nation! Manshape, that shone
Sheer off, disseveral, a star, | death blots black out; nor mark
                         Is any of him at all so stark
But vastness blurs and time | beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,
A heart's-clarion! Away grief's gasping, | joyless days, dejection.
                         Across my foundering deck shone
A beacon, an eternal beam. | Flesh fade, and mortal trash
Fall to the residuary worm; | world's wildfire, leave but ash:
                         In a flash, at a trumpet crash,
I am all at once what Christ is, | since he was what I am, and
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, | patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
                         Is immortal diamond.

Poem: In No Strange Land (The Kingdom of God is Within You)

Not of Genesareth, but Thames!

In No Strange Land (The Kingdom of God is Within You) is by the English poet, Francis Thompson (1859-1907). Published posthumously, the poem was found among his papers following his death. It is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Reading

IN NO STRANGE LAND by Francis Thompson (Public Domain)

O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!

Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?

Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.

The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.

But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.

Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!

Poem: The World

Like a Great Ring of Pure and Endless Light

The World is by the Welch physician, author, and poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). It was first published in his 1650 collection: Silex Scintillans (The Flaming Flint) and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Reading

THE WORLD by Henry Vaughan, 1650 (Public Domain)  

I Saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
       All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years
       Driv'n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd; in which the world
       And all her train were hurl's.
The doting lover in his quaintest strain
       Did there complain;
Near him, his lute, his fancy, and his flights,
       Wit's sour delights;
With gloves, and knots, the silly snares of pleasure,
       Yet his dear treasure,
All scatter'd lay, while he his eyes did pour
       Upon a flow'r.

The darksome statesman, hung with weights and woe,
Like a thick midnight-fog, mov'd there so slow,
       He did nor stay, nor go;
Condemning thoughts—like sad eclipses—scowl
       Upon his soul,
And clouds of crying witnesses without
       Pursued him with one shout.
Yet digg'd the mole, and lest his ways be found,
       Work'd under ground,
Where he did clutch his prey; but one did see
       That policy:
Churches and altars fed him; perjuries
       Were gnats and flies;
It rain'd about him blood and tears, but he
       Drank them as free.

The fearful miser on a heap of rust
Sate pining all his life there, did scarce trust
       His own hands with the dust,
Yet would not place one piece above, but lives
       In fear of thieves.
Thousands there were as frantic as himself,
       And hugg'd each one his pelf;
The downright epicure plac'd heav'n in sense,
       And scorn'd pretence;
While others, slipp'd into a wide excess
       Said little less;
The weaker sort slight, trivial wares enslave,
       Who think them brave;
And poor, despisèd Truth sate counting by
       Their victory.

Yet some, who all this while did weep and sing,
And sing, and weep, soar'd up into the ring;
       But most would use no wing.
O fools—said I—thus to prefer dark night
       Before true light!
To live in grots and caves, and hate the day
       Because it shows the way;
The way, which from this dead and dark abode
       Leads up to God;
A way where you might tread the sun, and be
       More bright than he!
But as I did their madness so discuss,
       One whisper'd thus,
“This ring the Bridegroom did for none provide,
       But for His bride.”

Poem: Peace

Mosaic from the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul - Courtesy of Wikipedia  

Peace is by the Welch physician, author, and poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). It was first published in his 1650 collection: Silex Scintillans (The Flaming Flint) and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Reading

PEACE by Henry Vaughan, 1650 (Public Domain)

My soul, there is a country
     Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingèd sentry
     All skillful in the wars :
There, above noise and danger,
     Sweet Peace sits crown'd with smiles,
And One born in a manger
     Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious Friend,
     And—O my soul awake !—
Did in pure love descend,
     To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
     There grows the flower of Peace,
The Rose that cannot wither,
     Thy fortress, and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges ;
     For none can thee secure,
But One, who never changes,
     Thy God, thy life, thy cure.


Choral setting by Hubert Parry

Poem: The Morning-Watch

Prayer is the World in Tune, a Spirit Voice

The Morning-Watch is by the Welch physician, author, and poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). It was first published in his 1650 collection: Silex Scintillans (The Flaming Flint) and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Read by poet, Brian Nellist


THE MORNING-WATCH by Henry Vaughan, 1650 (Public Domain)

O joys! infinite sweetness! with what flower’s
And shoots of glory my soul breaks and buds!
              All the long hours
              Of night, and rest,
              Through the still shrouds
              Of sleep, and clouds,
       This dew fell on my breast;
       Oh, how it bloods
And spirits all my earth! Hark! In what rings
And hymning circulations the quick world
              Awakes and sings;
              The rising winds
              And falling springs,
              Birds, beasts, all things
       Adore him in their kinds.
              Thus all is hurl’d
In sacred hymns and order, the great chime
And symphony of nature. Prayer is
              The world in tune,
              A spirit voice,
              And vocal joys
       Whose echo is heav’n’s bliss.
              O let me climb
When I lie down! The pious soul by night
Is like a clouded star whose beams, though said
              To shed their light
              Under some cloud,
              Yet are above,
              And shine and move
       Beyond that misty shroud.
              So in my bed,
That curtain’d grave, though sleep, like ashes, hide
My lamp and life, both shall in thee abide.

Poem: At a Solemn Music

To His Celestial Consort Us Unite

At a Solemn Music is by the English poet, John Milton (1608-1674). It was first published in his collection, 1645 Poems. The British composer, Hubert Parry's setting of the ode: Blest Pair of Sirens was premiered in 1887 at a concert before Queen Victoria, celebrating her Golden Jubilee. In 2011 it was performed at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. At a Solemn Music is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Sung by the Choir of Winchester Cathedral

AT A SOLEMN MUSIC by John Milton

Blest pair of sirens, pledges of heaven's joy,
Sphere-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Verse,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixed power employ 
Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce,
And to our high-raised phantasy present,
That undisturbed song of pure content,
Ay sung before the sapphire-coloured throne
To him that sits theron
With saintly shout, and solemn jubilee,
Where the bright seraphim in burning row
Their loud uplifted angel trumpets blow,
And the cherubic host in thousand choirs
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires, 
With those just spirits that wear victorious palms,
Hymns devout and holy psalms
Singing everlastingly; 
That we on earth with undiscording voice
May rightly answer that melodious noise;
As once we did, till disproportioned sin
Jarred against nature's chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair music that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed
In perfect diapason, whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.
O may we soon again renew that song,
And keep in tune with heaven, till God ere long
To his celestial consort us unite,
To live with him, and sing in endless morn of light.


Reading

Poem: His Litany to the Holy Spirit

Sweet Spirit, Comfort Me!

His Litany to the Holy Spirit is by the English poet and Anglican Vicar, Robert Herrick (1591-1674). It was first published in his collection: Noble Numbers (1647), and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


Choral setting by David Solomons

LITANY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT by Robert Herrick, 1647 (Public Domain)

In the hour of my distress,
When temptations me oppress,
And when I my sins confess,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When I lie within my bed,
Sick in heart and sick in head,
And with doubts discomforted,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the house doth sigh and weep,
And the world is drown'd in sleep,
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the passing bell doth toll,
And the Furies in a shoal
Come to fright a parting soul,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the tapers now burn blue,
And the comforters are few,
And that number more than true,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the priest his last hath pray'd,
And I nod to what is said,
'Cause my speech is now decay'd,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When, God knows, I'm toss'd about
Either with despair or doubt;
Yet before the glass be out,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the tempter me pursu'th
With the sins of all my youth,
And half damns me with untruth,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the flames and hellish cries
Fright mine ears and fright mine eyes,
And all terrors me surprise,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the Judgment is reveal'd,
And that open'd which was seal'd,
When to Thee I have appeal'd,
       Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

Poem: Antiphon

Let All the World in Ev'ry Corner Sing, My God and King!

Antiphon is a poem by George Herbert (1593–1633). It was published posthumously in 1633 as part of the collection, The Temple. In 1911, the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) published Five Mystical Songs, a setting of five of Herbert's poems from The Temple. Williams' Antiphon (featured in the following video), along with three other poems from Five Mystical Songs: The Call, Easter, and Love are included in the Religious Poems Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).


From Five Mystical Songs - "Antiphon" begins at 7:40

ANTIPHON I by George Herbert, 1633 (Public Domain)

Chorus: Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
                         My God and King.

Verse: The heav’ns are not too high,
           His praise may thither flie:
           The earth is not too low,
           His praises there may grow.

Chorus: Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
                        My God and King.

Verse: The church with psalms must shout,
           No doore can keep them out:
           But above all, the heart
           Must bear the longest part.

Chorus: Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
                         My God and King.