Let your wrath reach out and afflict them all.
Stretch out your hands from on high, O Lord,
And deliver me from the deeps, the savage seas,
And from the hostile hands of dangerous people,
The evil offspring, those alien strangers, 25
Whose mouths speak vain and wicked words,
Whose right hands are always reaching for iniquity.
I will skillfully sing a new canticle to God,
Making music on the psaltery or harp
Strung with ten strings. So I sing out to you, 30
My beloved Lord, with deep devotion.
You offer a sustaining salvation to kings,
As you delivered your dear servant David
From the cursed blade, the cruel sword.
Save me, Lord, from the savage seas 35
And the hostile hands of dangerous people,
The evil offspring, those alien strangers
Whose mouths speak vain and wicked words,
Whose right hands are always reaching for iniquity,
Whose sons are like splendid branches, 40
Like noble trees planted firmly in their youth,
And whose daughters have been lovingly clothed,
Dressed and adorned with precious ornaments,
So they look almost like a glorious temple.
Their storehouses are full, bursting with grain, 45
Flowing from here to there like a river.
Their sheep are prolific, their oxen fat,
Moving about in their pens and pastures.
Those people never falter or fall to the ground,
Abased or abused. They do not cry out 50
In hopeless suffering and sorrow in the streets;
Nor does passing over strike them down
Easily or often. These people are blessed—
At least some others call them so—
For whom fortune falls out so abundantly on earth; 55
But truly blessed are those beloved people
For whom the Lord God will be their judge.
144
I will keep you as king, my exalted God,
And fervently praise your name forever.
Each and every day I will bless you
And fervently praise your name forever.
The Lord is great and should be greatly praised 5
With faithful purpose and fervent intent.
The Lord’s beneficence knows no boundary—
His power is profound, his glory unfathomable.
Let each generation praise your works
With their spoken words, proclaiming your power. 10
Let them wisely describe your great majesty,
Your gracious nature, and your glorious wonders,
Speaking to the multitudes far and wide.
Let them declare the wise power of your wonders,
Your awesome strength, your endless authority. 15
Let them remember the liberality of your mind
And relate to others the generosity of your spirit,
The wisdom of your counsel, the sweetness of your grace.
Let them all understand and tell others your truth.
The Lord is loving, kind and compassionate, 20
Powerful and patient, mighty and merciful.
The Lord is gentle and gracious to all.
His mercies are manifest in his wondrous works,
Known to mankind now and forever.
May all your works acknowledge you, Lord, 25
May your holy ones bless you here on earth.
May they declare your might to the children of men
Among all the tribes and all the generations
And proclaim to all the majesty and wonder,
The grandeur and glory, of your great kingdom. 30
You have made this known over endless generations,
Wherever the children of men come together
In a shared gathering. You have also made known
That your might extends over all of middle-earth
And abides in the wisdom and glory of your realm. 35
Yours is the kingdom, eternal Lord,
Anchored in good advice and counsel.
You wisely govern the kingdoms of the world,
Ruling over all the inhabitants of earth
From family to family, generation to generation. 40
The Lord is wise in his words and works,
Holy in everything he says and shapes,
Faithful and true in all that he does.
Holy God lifts up those who have fallen,
Raising up the wretched, aiding the oppressed. 45
The eyes of the wise look up to you, Lord,
Longing for sustenance, a nourishing abundance,
And you offer them food for every season
In the proper time by your own measure.
Forever wise, you open your hands 50
And fill them with blessings for all living creatures.
The Lord is just and righteous in his ways,
Wise and holy in his works on earth.
The Lord is near to those who need him,
To those who seek him with sincere feeling, 55
Who call upon him with a faithful heart,
Who earnestly work his will on earth,
Who fervently fear and truly revere him.
He will hear their prayer and soon save them.
The Lord will protect and preserve all those 60
Who gladly maintain their love for him,
And he will scatter sinners over distant regions.
My mouth shall gladly praise the Lord
In every season. All living creatures
Should bless the Lord’s holy name 65
With faithful words and a true spirit
Now and forever for all eternity.
145
Praise the Lord and Savior, O my soul.
I will praise the Lord willingly all my life,
Singing psalms to that gracious God
As long as I live. Do not put your trust
In princes or people anywhere on earth. 5
There is not much salvation in that direction.
As their souls go forth, they will return to earth,
The bed of clay from which they came,
The grave where they are bound to lie.
On that dark day their thoughts shall perish. 10
Then blessed will be those whose faith was firm,
Who maintained their trust in Jacob’s God,
Who always aided them in days gone by.
He made heaven and also earth,
Land and sea, and the scores of creatures 15
Who live therein. The Lord maintains
His truthful word, his righteous way,
And renders wise judgments, his fair justice,
Favorable to the wretched who have endured affliction,
The hurt and heartache of each bitter wrong. 20
The Lord likewise feeds those who suffer
A severe hunger, a savage thirst.
The Lord will avenge the children of the oppressed,
Free the fettered and give them life,
And also restore sight to the blind, 25
For the Lord has always loved the just.
The Lord will gladly watch over strangers
And offer new life to widows and orphans.
He will embrace and sustain these weak ones,
But he will seize all sinners and destroy them utterly. 30
The mighty Lord rules with righteous wisdom
And fair judgment throughout eternity—
And your God, O Zion, will abide forever.
146
Praise the Lord for he is glorious and good.
Sing psalms to him earnestly and often
With beautiful music and eloquent words.
The Lord builds Jerusalem time and again
And gathers to he
r all those exiled from Israel. 5
That hero has sometimes afflicted hearts,
But he will heal suffering and bind up sorrow.
He can count the stars and call them by name.
The greatness of God is beyond measure;
No one can completely comprehend his wisdom. 10
The wonders of God are beyond all measure.
The Lord accepts the merciful and mild,
But he brings down the wicked upon the ground.
Begin to praise and acknowledge the Lord,
Sing gladly to God on the harp and lyre. 15
He covers the heavens with bright clouds
And readies the gift of rain for the world,
Sending it down to the flourishing earth.
He brings forth grass on the mountains and hills,
And hay in the fields to feed the cattle, 20
And the gift of grain to support mankind.
He sustains the fledgling raven till it grows
And soars into flight, calling out for carrion.
You have no longing for the strength of men,
Almighty Lord, nor do you take any pleasure 25
In precious tents, even though men on earth
Would shape and fashion such beautiful things.
The Lord of glory is pleased with those
Who fear and revere him in words and deeds
And who place their hopes in his merciful spirit. 30
147
Praise the Lord gladly, O Jerusalem,
And likewise praise your true God, O Zion,
For he strengthened you against hatred and hostility,
So you were able to shut your gates firmly
Against your enemies. He also blessed 5
All the children of men living within you.
He expanded your borders and helped you gain
The stability of peace in the borderlands.
He satisfied your hunger with the finest grains
Of the fattest wheat. The Lord speaks, 10
Pouring his words upon the earth,
And his speech flows on like a mighty river.
He sends down snow like tufts of wool
And scatters it like ashes everywhere on earth.
He hurls ice-crystals, hail from the clouds, 15
Like tiny bites of the hardest bread—
No one can stand in the face of such cold.
He sends down his word in a blast of wind;
It blows intensely and flows like a stream
Suddenly transformed into surging water. 20
He proclaimed his word wisely to Jacob,
That upright leader in ancient days,
As he also declared his judgments to Israel.
He had never offered this to earlier people,
Or revealed to them secretly his laws and judgments. 25
148
Praise the Savior, the Lord in the heavens,
Praise and acclaim him loudly in the heights.
Praise him, all you bands of angels,
Likewise praise him, all you hosts.
Let the sun and moon also praise him, 5
And each of the stars and the glorious light.
Let the heavens of all heavens gladly praise him.
Let the celestial waters above the clouds
In their heavenly home likewise praise him,
For he spoke and the waters were stunningly created. 10
The wonders of the world took shape with his words,
All living things, the gifts of his grandeur.
God commanded them all and they were created.
He established them all throughout eternity,
And they will thrive. He imposed nature’s law, 15
His decree laid down and observed by all.
Let the dragons likewise praise the Lord
From earth and air. Let all the depths
Of land and sea praise the name of the Lord—
Fire and frost, the hardest of hail, 20
Icy storms and new-fallen snow,
The spirits of all God’s natural wonders
That desire to fulfill his word and will;
Also mountains and hills, fields and groves,
The great trees that produce mast and fruit 25
For all of mankind, and the buds of cedars.
Let beasts and cattle praise God at once—
Every species of serpent upon the ground
By its separate name, every feathered fowl,
Every bird with wings, all the kings of earth 30
Who rule the peoples, all the earthly princes,
And the powerful ones who render judgments
Upon mankind anywhere on earth.
Let young men and joyful maidens—
Let all together, young and old, 35
Gladly praise the name of the Lord,
For his name is exalted over heaven and earth,
Acclaimed and honored over all of mankind.
He lifts up the horn of his faithful people,
Lighting up his beloved holy ones with a song. 40
May peace endure for his devoted people
Forever in Israel. May they all dwell
Gladly in his presence now and forever.
149
Sing praise-songs to the Lord in one accord.
Now sing a new praise-song to the Lord.
Let the song be sung in the assembly of holy ones.
Let the Israelites also rejoice in the Lord.
Let the children of Zion rejoice most of all, 5
Exulting in their king. Let them fervently praise
His glorious name in crowds and choirs.
Let them all praise him on the psaltery and timbrel
With great gladness at the usual times.
Let them all praise him on the harp and lyre, 10
For the Lord is surely well pleased with his people.
He will offer salvation to the meek and mild.
Then the holy ones will rejoice in glory
And fill their houses with bliss and joy.
The memory of God will be in their mouths— 15
They will partake of that with great pleasure.
They will also hold a sword in their hands
To execute judgment on their hostile enemies,
A vengeance on the wicked and wayward nations.
They will plan to capture foreign kings 20
And noble princes in alien lands
And bind them boldly in iron chains,
So they may render a grievous judgment
Against them all. And this solemn judgment
Will endure forever, inscribed in glory, 25
Written down in doom so everyone will know—
This is the glory of the holy ones on earth.
150
Praise the gracious Lord in his holy places,
Praise him for his mercy and saving power,
Praise him for the great gift of salvation,
Praise him for all his glory and grandeur,
Praise him for his endless magnificence, 5
Praise him with the true sound of a trumpet.
* * *
THE METERS OF BOETHIUS
There are two surviving OE translations of De Consolatione Philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy) by Boethius. The one in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (MS Bodley 180) contains prose translations of both the prose and poetic passages of the Latin text and is dated to the late eleventh or early twelfth century (Godden and Irvine, v. I, 12–13). The other one in the British Library in London is part of a composite manuscript (MS Cotton Otho A.vi) that contains a translation alternating prose and poetry as in the original Latin (though not all the poetic sections are so translated) as well as other materials added later (18–19). The Boethius portion of the manuscript dates to the tenth century. This manuscript was severely damaged in the Cottonian fire of 1731, and many of its poetic passages must
be taken from a copy that Franciscus Junius made of the manuscript in the seventeenth century in preparation for a book published after his death. There is also a copy of a fragment of a single leaf, now lost, that was made by Napier in 1886. (For a detailed description of these manuscripts, see Krapp, 1932b, xxxv ff., and Godden and Irvine, v. I, 9 ff.).
The relationship between the two full OE texts of Boethius is a complex and often debated one. Krapp surmises the following:
The two parchment manuscripts … represent two stages in the history of the Anglo-Saxon versions of Boethius. The first version, generally ascribed to King Alfred, contained the text of Boethius, verse and prose alike translated, with some omissions, from the original Latin into Anglo-Saxon prose. This is the text represented by MS. Bodley 180. Then someone, perhaps Alfred, made an Anglo-Saxon metrical version of the Latin Meters. This metrical version, which is not found alone in any existing manuscript, was made, not directly from the Latin text, but from the earlier Anglo-Saxon prose translation of the Latin Meters, several of the Meters being omitted. After the metrical version had been made, the several Meters in their new form were available for substitution for the corresponding texts of the older prose version. A resulting composite text of the Anglo-Saxon prose, as in the older version, and the Latin Meters represented by Anglo-Saxon verse, is found in MS. Cotton Otho A.vi. (1932b, xxxv–xxxvi)
Godden and Irvine agree that the OE meters must have been based on an earlier prose translation represented by MS Bodley 180, saying:
The prose preface claims that Alfred first translated the Latin text and then turned it into verse, and it is a reasonable supposition that the verse parts are indeed based on the corresponding OE prose rather than the other way round. The prose rendering of the Latin metres is in almost every case much closer to the Latin than the verse rendering is, with the latter characteristically being more expansive and often repetitive, and the prose rendering rarely uses poetic diction or alliteration that marks the verse. If the prose were based on the verse, it would be hard to explain how the reviser managed so successfully to remove the characteristic language of verse and so much of the expansive detail. (v. I, 44)
We don’t know if the original prose version was considered a draft to be used by a poetic translator to rework the metrical passages or if it was intended as a final version, circulated, and then recopied by someone who retooled most of the metrical sections into poetic form (Godden and Irvine, 45). The retooled poetic passages may also have been used separately for another purpose and only later worked into a version of the whole. Because of their similarity of prose passages, both manuscripts must derive from an earlier manuscript, now lost (46–48). Godden and Irvine note that if the attribution of the texts in their prefaces to Alfred is correct, the likely composition date for the prose passages is 894–899, at the end of his life, but if the attribution is not correct, then the meters were probably composed by someone else sometime between 890 and 950 (145 ff.). They point to “a number of factors which cast doubt on the reliability of the prefaces as evidence for the authorship” and finally support the hypothesis that “the OE Boethius was the work of an unknown writer of substantial learning, not necessarily connected with King Alfred or his court, but working some time in the period 890 to about 930, probably in southern England” (146). Questions about the relationship between the prose translator and the metrical translator remain.
The Complete Old English Poems Page 96