The Complete Old English Poems
Page 43
And the gift of grace, hastened toward heaven
And his Father’s embrace, speaking these words:
“Rejoice in spirit, hold joy in your hearts,
For I shall never leave you, but walk lovingly
Beside you, never forsaking you in your faith. 40
My presence will always empower you
With truth and virtue through my gift of grace.
You will never be without the goodness of God.
Go now through the wide world, traveling
Each winding road, preaching to people, 45
Proclaiming to all of mankind on middle-earth
Our radiant and redeeming faith, our blessed belief,
Baptizing all people under earthly skies
And turning them toward the truth of heaven.
Destroy their idols, abolish their enmity, 50
Sow the seeds of peace in men’s minds,
And hope in their hearts with your forceful spirits.
Then know that I will abide with you always,
A sure comfort, and keep you in peace
With a steadfast strength wherever you preach.” 55
Then suddenly a bright harmony was heard,
A symphony of angels resounding in the air,
A host of hosannas reverberating in glory,
As Christ the King ascended into heaven,
Rising through the roof of the great temple, 60
While his faithful servants gazed at his going,
The watchers who waited in the hall below.
They followed his hallowed footsteps in the air,
Their hearts burning within their breasts,
Their spirits sad, their minds mourning, 65
Because they could no longer behold
Their beloved Lord here under heaven.
Then the race of angels raised a song,
Praising their Prince, the Lord of life,
Rejoicing in the wondrous light shining 70
Round their Savior’s head. They suddenly saw,
Clothed in white, two bright angels
Robed in radiance by the first-born son,
The greatest of kings, the glory of God.
They cried out from heaven with clear voices 75
In words of wonder to the people below:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand waiting
In a circle? Do you not see the Son of God,
Your Lord and Savior, ascending into heaven,
The Prince of all peoples rising in radiance, 80
Returning home with a host of angels
To his Father’s throne where glory thrives?
Our blessed band will bear homeward
The noblest victory-child through the vaults of heaven
Into the shining city, the shelter of bliss. 85
The God you gaze upon, your strength and solace,
Shining in splendor, will one day return
With his throng of angels, his bright thanes.
The Prince will come to judge the deeds
Of every person in every nation on earth.” 90
Then the Guardian of glory, the archangels’ king,
The Protector of saints, was raised into heaven
Over men’s rooftops, wrapped in clouds,
Ascending the skies with the bright seraphim.
Hope was renewed and joy was revived 95
In the cities of men at the Prince’s coming.
The Lord of life, the bearer of bliss,
Sat in triumph at his Father’s right hand.
Then the disciples, brave-hearted but sad-minded,
Journeyed to the holy city of Jerusalem, 100
From where they had seen with their own eyes
Their gracious giver ascending from earth.
There was a round of tears, the sound of weeping,
A circle of woe, where the deepest love,
The hottest hearts, were engulfed in grief. 105
The glorious thanes stayed in the bright city,
Waiting ten days for the Prince’s promise,
As the Lord had commanded before he left,
Ascending into heaven, the sheltering sky.
Bright angels in white greeted the Lord, 110
The bearer of all bounty, the giver of all good.
The scripture says in its gift of words
That a throng of bright angels came
Through the clouds in that holy hour
To meet the blessed Lord of mankind. 115
A song of celebration reverberated in heaven,
Wrapping everyone in glory. His angelic orders
Arrived in that holy city to serve him,
Brightly clad, a beautiful host.
Then the welcome guests of heaven saw 120
The Prince of peoples, the Lord of life,
The source and sustainer of all that is,
Sitting on his throne in bright majesty,
The Ruler of middle-earth and high heaven.
* * *
[Then the angels sang their celebrant hymns 125
Of glorious welcome to Christ their Lord,
As he ascended into heaven with the saints, saying:]
“Now the holy one has harrowed hell,
Taken back the devil’s dark tribute,
The gorge of spirits unfairly swallowed 130
In days of strife. The demon-warriors,
Fiendish and fallen, are now humbled,
Tied up in their own torment, bound to suffer
Separation from God in the endless abyss.
Those satanic warriors could not succeed 135
With sword-slash or spear-thrust
When the King of glory, Protector of heaven,
Waged war with his singular strength,
His infinite power, against his ancient foes.
He freed from that fortress of fierce fiends 140
The righteous host that you see before you.
After this war-strife, the Prince of victory,
The Savior of souls, God’s only Son,
Will ascend to take up that blessed throne
Where brighter spirits abide in grace. 145
Now that you clearly know who the Lord is,
Who lives in power and leads this band,
Go likewise into all lands, greeting your friends.
Rejoice in his harrowing and his redeeming power.
Open up, O gates of heaven! Unhasp your hold, 150
For the Lord of life, the King of creation,
Comes to the city with no small crowd,
A host he saved from the devil’s clutch,
The good folk gathered from the fiend’s fist.
He has made peace between angels and people, 155
A solemn bond, a sacred covenant,
Between God and men, an eternal promise:
Life’s hope is redeemed, its light revived.”
So now we have heard how the Savior-Son,
The child who offers us hope and healing, 160
Has carried the gift of salvation in his coming,
Defended and freed us here under heaven,
So that each one living here might choose:
Hell’s humiliation or heaven’s glory,
Satan’s tragedy or Christ’s redeeming story, 165
The dearest light of the Lord’s love
Or the darkest night of the devil’s hatred,
The dream of joy or the screams of suffering,
Endless antagonism and constant bickering
Or infinite joy, Christ’s comfort and consolation, 170
Glory with the angels or gloom with the devils,
Eternal life or infernal doom, endless bliss or the abyss.
We must choose life or death while body and soul
Abide together in this limited life
Let us give thanks without end to God, 175
The blessed Trinity who abides in eternity.
/> It is only right that the race of men
Should be grateful for the countless gifts from God,
His infinite treasures early and late,
His manifold mysteries, his world-wonders. 180
He gives us food and fullness, sustenance and shelter,
A wealth of land and gentle weather,
The sheltering sky and heaven’s helm,
Sun and moon, the glimmering stars
In the dark sky, heaven’s candles 185
Brightening the night for all on earth.
Dew forms and raindrops fall, nourishing
All forms of life from fields to families,
Seedlings to succulence, sustaining us all.
Let’s praise him most for our salvation 190
Who raised our hopes in his own Ascension
And took our misery in a trade for mercy.
The only begotten Son atoned for our sins,
Settling the greatest of feuds with our Father,
Weaving peace in place of wrath, 195
Offering love to avert God’s law
Spoken so long ago to the sorrow of men
As we were expelled from our own innocence:
“I dreamed you from dust, created you from clay,
Shaped you from earth—and on earth are you exiled 200
Where you shall endure toil and torment,
Hunger and want, unbounded misery,
And untold suffering. Your death-song will be
Your enemies’ elation and the devils’ delight
As you return to earth, a feast for worms, 205
And afterwards find release in the fires of torment.”
Listen! The Lord made it easier for us,
For all living people and their progeny,
When he took on the form of flesh and blood,
Embraced a body, lived with limbs 210
In a world of time, growing from child to man.
God’s Son wanted to save us when he ascended
In that holy hour to the home of angels
To untie our torment and ease our woe.
Job in his story somehow knew this, 215
And singing as well as he could, praised God,
The Protector of people, the sustaining Savior,
And out of his love and devotion devised a name
For the Son of God, calling him a sacred bird
Beyond the Jews’ conception, in the strength 220
Of his divine spirit. The flight of this bird
Was concealed from his enemies, a deep mystery.
No one could see it whose mind was hazy,
Whose heart was rigid. Many were blind
To the bird’s flight and the bright tokens 225
That the Son of God had given them as signs.
The holy One himself had walked among them,
Offering his message and mercy to middle-earth.
So the glorious bird took flight with strength
In his great wings and mighty spirit, 230
Sometimes seeking his homeland in heaven,
Surrounded by angels and a radiant grace,
Sometimes diving back down to earth,
Seeking the ground through a spirited power.
Concerning this wonder, the prophet Job sang: 235
“He was borne aloft in the arms of angels
And the embrace of God, in the mastery and mystery
Of the Lord’s high and holy grace,
A bird of the spirit in the splendor of heaven.”
Those who were blind could not see the bird 240
Or fathom its flight. They denied the Ascension
And refused to see the Lord of life lifted up
In the form of a man returning home
To the heavenly hosts. This ghost and guest
In our human home, both breath and body, 245
The Son of God, ennobled us and gave us gifts,
The hope of a home in heaven, eternal with angels,
And also on earth, a manner of mind,
A sowing of skills, our earthly abilities.
To one he sends the gift of speech, 250
A fine memory and wise words
From mind to mouth, so he can sing
And tell stories with secret power
And deep insight. One plays the harp well
With his agile fingers in a hall of warriors, 255
Waking up music on the joyful wood.
One can comprehend his divine law;
Another, the constellations, stars on the sky-road.
One is skilled at writing down speech;
Another shoots arrows instead of words, 260
A shower of darts in the storm of war,
Articulating death over the shield wall.
One guides a ship over the salt-sea,
Stirring the waves with the ocean-wood.
One can climb up the towering tree; 265
One can shape weapons, both sword and spear.
One knows the roads that wind through the world.
Thus the Son of God hands out skills,
Gives each person gifts, a measure of mind,
But God grants no man unlimited wisdom, 270
Lest he be plagued with pride in his own power,
Puffed up with arrogance, in love with himself.
So almighty God, King of all creatures,
Lord of all life, honors earth’s offspring
With great gifts and certain skills, 275
And also bestows a wealth of grace
On the blessed in heaven, a permanent peace,
The heart’s home, for angels and mankind.
God honors his handiwork and celebrates
The shape of creation. The prophet once said 280
That sacred stones were raised on high,
Holy jewels, bright stars of heaven,
Both sun and moon. What are these precious gems
Shimmering in the sky but God himself?
He is the sacred light of the sun, 285
Steady and true, sustaining all life,
A radiance unending for angels and earth-dwellers.
The moon shines high over middle-earth,
A spiritual star, a reflecting spirit.
Likewise the church of God gathers 290
And gives forth light both righteous and true,
As scriptures say, since the Son of God,
King of all creatures clean and pure,
All souls innocent and unfettered, ascended
From earth. But the church faithful suffered 295
From unfit rulers, unjust leaders,
Heathen kings. And the evildoers,
Stained with sin, untaken with truth,
Unheeding the soul’s deep need,
Blasted and burned the temple of God, 300
Both bodies and buildings, raising Cain,
Causing bloodshed, murder and mayhem.
But then the power of the Spirit prevailed,
And the servants of God, the Lord’s thanes,
Found grace and glory after the Ascension 305
Of the eternal Lord, the everlasting Son.
King Solomon, son of David, ruler of nations,
Singer and shaper of sacred poems,
Maker of mysteries, sang these words:
“It shall be revealed that the Lord of angels, 310
The King of creation, almighty God,
Shall come leaping into life in middle-earth,
Bounding over mountains, springing over valleys,
Enveloping the hills with his glory, the dales
With his joy. His spirit shall skip endlessly 315
Everywhere. His leaping will be an act
Of love and truth, and he will redeem the life
Of all earth-dwellers with his abounding grace.”
The first leap came when he descended
Into a woman, slipping quietly 320
Into the
Virgin’s womb, a sinless mother
Without stain, pregnant and pure,
To become a solace, a comfort and cure,
The hope of salvation to the human race.
The second leap came when he slid through 325
The doors of delivery, a baby born,
Wrapped in radiance and swaddling clothes,
The Glory of all glories, a mystery and miracle
For middle-earth in a manger in Bethlehem.
The third leap came when the King of heaven 330
Climbed up on the cross, riding the rood—
Father, Son, and Spirit saving mankind.
The fourth leap came when he climbed down
From the cross, moving from tree to tomb,
Lying down in the sepulcher, embraced by the earth. 335
The fifth leap came when he harrowed hell,
Humbling its inhabitants with fiery chains,
Leaving them locked in living torment,
Binding the foul fiends’ demon-king,
Their mad-mouthed Satanic spokesman, 340
That soul-grim spirit-ghost, roped in rage,
Secured in sin, tied in torment,
Fixed in flame, where he suffers still.
The sixth leap came when our holy Lord
Ascended from earth, skipping through the sky, 345
Hopping into heaven, eager and exultant
To return home again to his almighty Father—
His passion and power, a divine child’s play
Delighting everyone in that eternal city.
In that holy hour, a host of angels 350
Gathered to greet him, singing to the Savior
Songs of great gladness, hosannas in the highest.
They saw the Prince of all people, the glorious
Crown of creation, come back to the bright hall
Of his own beginning, his infinite being. 355
The Prince’s play, his radiant revel,
His dance of holy and humane play,
Delighted all the inhabitants of heaven,
Sheathing and sustaining them in eternal light.
Thus here on earth God’s eternal Son 360
Ascended by leaps and bounds over lofty hills,
Lifted by the might of mercy, the courage of creation,
Higher than mountains. Now we must also
Let our hearts leap in meditation and might
From peak to peak, power to power, 365
Virtue to virtue, striving for glory
In all of our everyday words and works
So that we too may ascend to the joy and bliss
Of heaven where a host of angels awaits us.
We should seek salvation with our hearts and minds, 370
Hoping in faith that the Son and Savior,
The Child and Healer, the living God,
Will ascend from earth with our bodily forms.
Therefore we should scorn sensual pleasures,