Final Judgment XI, pt. 2

He shall be glad-hearted in sight to the good:
beautiful and winsome to the holy multitudes,
fair in his rejoicing, pleasant and gracious
it will be for his beloved people to look upon
that shining figure willingly, the sweet arrival
of the Sovereign, the King of Powers,
for those who had previously pleased him well
in mind with their words and their works. (910-17)

To the evil he shall be terrifying and grim to see,
to the sinful men who come forth condemned by their crimes.
This can be a warning of retribution for those who
have sagacious forethought—that he dreads nothing at all
who does not become terrified at that visage,
frightened in his soul, when he witnesses
the presence of the Master of All Creation
faring amid mighty marvels to judge the many,
and on his every side a throng of heaven-angels
revolving about him, a shoal of the ever-brilliant,
armies of the hallowed, flocking in squadrons. (918-29)

The depths of creation shall resound, and before the Lord
the greatest of whelming flame shall flare out
across the broad earth. The heated fires shall crash,
the heavens burst—brilliant and true, the stars will tumble down.
Then the sun will be darkened, turned the color of blood,
which once shone brightly over the world before
for the benefit of the children of men.
And so the moon itself, which lighted mankind before
by night, will fall out of the sky and the stars
just the same will be strewn from the skies
by the strong breezes of a battering storm. (930-40)

The Almighty with his company of angels,
the Measurer of Great Kings, will come to the moot,
a Prince Fast in Majesty. There will be there as well
a triumphant mass of his thanes. The souls of the holy
will fare with their Master, when the Watchman of the People
with a terrible convulsion will seek out the tribes of the earth.
The voice of the heavenly trumpet will be heard
loud across the broad earth, and from seven directions
the winds shall roar, blowing, breaking with the loudest voice,
weakening and enervating the world with its storms,
filling the creatures of the earth with fear.
Then will a terrible crash, loud, measureless,
leaden and powerful, the greatest clamor of noise,
terrifying to the people, be revealed.
There the weary multitude of man-kind
shall turn in their masses into the wide fire,
where the destroying flame meets the living,
some will go up, some down, filled with burning. (941-59)

Doubtlessly then the kindred of Adam will be there,
filled with cares, lamenting, afflicted—a people wretched
not at all on behalf of the small things, but for the greatest
and most powerful miseries instead. Then all three together
shall be widely seized by the whelming of a black fire,
the swart flame: the seas with their fishes, the earth
with its mountains, and upper heaven bright with its stars.
The ravening flame with burn all three together at once,
grimly and powerfully. All middle-earth, pained so sore,
shall lament at that notorious moment. (960-71)

The Final Judgment (Christ III), part XI

And then the mighty day of the Mighty Lord
shall overmaster the earth-dwellers with fear
in the middle of the night, and with his power
the radiant creation—just as a corrupt harmer,
a bold-coming thief, who often comes in darkness,
in the black night, suddenly seizes those bound in sleep,
sorrowless men, unready earls assailed with evil.
So upon the mountain of Sinai there will come
a great and powerful people, true to the Measurer,
bright and blissful. To them the fruits shall be given! (867-77)

Then from the four corners of the earth,
from the utmost of the earthly realm,
angels all-bright shall blow trumpets
together with one voice. Middle-earth shall tremble,
the ground below men. They shall resonate together,
strong and brilliant, with the course of the stars,
singing and reverberating in the south and the north,
in the east and the west, across all of creation.
The children of the multitude of men shall be awakened
from death, all of mankind terrified from the olden earth,
into their measured fate—by this they will order them
to stand up at once from their fixed sleep. (878-89a)

There one can hear the sorrowing people,
miserable at mind, hurrying harshly,
carefully crying out over the deeds of their lives,
affrighted by fear. That shall be the greatest foretokening
which was ever, before or since, shown to men—
there shall be commingled an entire commotion
of angels and devils, both the brilliant and the black.
There will be a coming together of both white and swart,
just as there are unlike homes made for each,
the angels and the devils. (889b-98)

Then suddenly upon Sion’s peak from the south-east
the light of the sun shall come shining from the Shaper
more brilliant that humans can perceive in their minds,
blazing brightly, when the Child of God is revealed
here through the vaults of heaven.
The wonderful form of Christ shall come,
the Noble-King’s face, eastwards from the skies,
sweetly into the understanding of his own people,
yet bitter to the baleful, marvelously flecked with beauty
to the blessed, yet different altogether to the wretched. (899-909)

Christ II is finished

Here is The Ascension, section X, the final part of Cynewulf's section of the Christ poems, complete with his runic signature.

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None of the kindred of man on earth needs dread
these diabolical arrows, spear-paths of the fearsome,
if God shields him, the Lord of Multitudes.
It is near to that judgment that we must acquire
our appropriate recompense just as we have burdened
ourselves with our deeds through the course of our lives,
throughout the broad earth. Books speak to us
how in principio the Humble One climbed up
into middle-earth, the Gold-Hoard of Every Power,
into the female’s fathoming embrace the Free-Born Son
of God, holy from the heights. Indeed I believe for myself
and dread as well the more severe judgment
when the Prince of Angels arrives once again,
I who have not held close what my Savior
has commanded me in his books. For this I must
look into terror, the wrack of sin, for this I shall make
a true account—where many will be conducted
to the meeting before the Eternal Deemer. (779-96)

When the keen ones (C) quake, hearing the King,
the Righter of the Heavens, affirm and swear a harsh word
upon those who listened only weakly to him in the world,
so long as they could have discovered their comfort
most easily through the blowing horn (Y) and its urges (N).
There must be many affrighted waiting there,
weary in that terrible place, for what he wishes to allow them
according to their deeds, what wrathful torments.
The joy (W) in mortal adornments shall be departed.
Our (U) share of living joy was long encircled by flooding waters (L)
and our wealth (F) on earth. Then all those trappings
must burn in the pyre and brightly shall the swift red flame rage—
quickly it shall race throughout the wide world.
The plains will crumble, the city-steads burst.
The torches shall be on the move, kindling
the ancient treasures without remorse,
the most greedy of spirits, that men once kept
so long as glory was theirs on the earth. (797-814)

Therefore I wish to instruct every one of my beloved friends
so that he should not neglect his soul’s needs,
nor affirm in his boasting that, so long as God wishes,
he is allowed to dwell here in the world,
faring forth, soul united with body in its guest-house.
Every man must eagerly take care in the days of his life
to remember that the Wielder of Powers came to us
mildly in the beginning through the angel’s word.
But when he comes again, he shall be grim, dreadful,
yet righteous. The skies will be stirred
and the greater part of middle-earth then will quake.
The brilliant King shall pay them back who have lived
on earth with sluggish action, stained with sins—
afterwards they must long receive wrathful retribution
in the fire’s bath, beaten around by its welling. (815-31)

Then the powerful King shall come to the moot,
in his greatest majesty. The loud human-terrors
will be heard along with a heavenly clatter
a wailing of mourners—carefully they will lament
before the face of the Eternal Deemer,
those who trusted weakly in their works.
There will be revealed a greater terror
than ever was heard on the earth from its early inception.
There will be for every one of the sin-workers
in that quickly approaching hour something
much more dear than all this loaned creation,
where he himself in that victorious crowd
can be concealed when the First of the Armies,
Start of Noblemen, judges them all,
both the beloved and the despised,
rewards according to right, for every person.
There is a great need for us to ponder eagerly
our soul’s beauty before that moment
of awful terror in that dying time. (832-49)

At this moment it is most like this:
that we are sailing across the cold waters in ships,
beyond the broad sea in steeds of the deep,
ferried in flood-wood. The course of water is perilous,
waves beyond measure on which we bounce here
throughout this fragile existence, the windy waters
over the deep ways. Our way of living is harsh
before we had sailed to land over the stormy spine.
Then help comes to us, that haled us to health in harbor,
the Spirit-Son of God, and gave to us grace
so that we could recognize over the sides of the ship
where we must moor our ocean-horses,
the olden chargers of the waves, with our anchors fast. (850-63)

Let us plant our hopes in that harborage,
that the Sovereign of the Skies opened up for us,
holy from the heights, when he ascended to heaven. (864-66)

Christ II, part IX (finished)

Thus here on the ground the Eternal Child of God
jumps leaping across the lofty hillsides,
mindful over the mountains. So we humans must
leap our hearts in jumps through our thoughts—
from power to power, aspiring to glories—
so that we may climb up to the highest roof
with our holy works, where there is hope and bliss,
the notable throng of teeming servants.
There is a great need for us to seek our salvation
with our hearts, where we eagerly believe
with our spirits, that the Son of Health will rise upwards
with our body-home from here, the Living God. (744-55)

Therefore we must always renounce empty lusts,
the wounds of sin, and celebrate the better part.
We should keep the Father as our comfort,
almighty in the heavens. He dispatches his heralds
holy from the heights from there to here,
and they shield us against the showers of hideous arrows,
sent by scathers, lest the devils work our wounding
when the crime-bearer sends forth bitter missiles
into the people of God from his braided bow.
Therefore we must always hold watch fixedly
and warily against the devil’s distant shots,
lest the poisonous point should sink in
under the bone-locks, a bitter war-missile,
the sudden trap of our foes—
and that would be a perilous injury, a most ghastly wound. (756-71a)

Let us shelter ourselves then, so long as we keep
a home on this earth—let us entreat the Father
for peace, beg the Child of God and the Blissful Spirit
to shield us against the weapons of the harmers,
the hateful deceiving devices. He who gave us life,
limbs, body, and soul. Eternal praise be to him
all glory in heaven, world without end. (771b-78)

Christ II part IX (first half)

I'm back from vacation, but it is uncertain whether posts will be more frequent, at least until I get my pre-semester things taken care of. Here's the first part of section IX of Christ II (The Ascension).

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Thus Almighty God, the King of All Creatures craftily
honors the stock of the earth with bountiful gifts—
likewise he gives the fruits to the blessed in heaven,
rearing eternal peace for angels and men forever.
So he worthies his workmanship.
So the prophet spoke about this, saying that
the holy gems were heaved up on high,
the bright stars of heaven, the sun and the moon.
What may those gems so splendid be but God himself?
He is the sooth-fast rays of the sun, a noble burning
for both angels and the dwellers on the earth.
Over middle-earth the moon radiates, a ghostly light,
so the church of God brightly shine through
truth and righteousness united.
So it says in the book, after the God-Child ascended
from the earth, the King of All Cleanness,
then the church of the law-dutiful here endured
persecution within the power of heathen princes.
Those sin-scathers heeded not the truth,
the requirements of the soul, yet they broke and burned
the temple of God, wreaking bloodshed, hating and slaying. (686-709a)

Still the glory of thanes of God was realized
through the soul’s grace, after the mounting up
of the Eternal Lord. Solomon sang about this,
the son of David, readily wise in verses,
the sovereign of human nations, and spoke
these words of spiritual mystery: “It is known
that it shall come to pass—that the King of Angels,
the Measurer of such great power, shall jump the mountains,
leaping the tall hills, surmounting the heights and knolls
with his glory, loosing the world and all
its inhabitants, by those noble springings.” (709b-19)

The first leap was when he went inside that woman,
the virgin undefiled, and there took on mannish shape
without marring so that he could become a comfort
to all earth-dwellers. The second leap was his birth
as a child, when he was placed in a manger,
in the form of a baby wound up in cloth,
majesty of all majesties. The third leap was
the rushing of the Heavenly King, when he climbed
onto the Cross, the Father, the Comfort of Souls.
The fourth leap was into his grave, when he gave up
that tree, fast in his earthen hall. The fifth leap
was when he humiliated the heap of hell-dwellers
in the living torment, bound the king within,
the enemies’ intercessor, in flaming fetters,
malignant, where he lies to this day fastened
with chains incarcerated and sealed in his sins.
And the sixth leap was the Holy One’s playing of hope,
when he ascended into the heavens into his ancient people.
Then was the thronging of angels become blithe
with jubilant celebrations in that holy season.
They saw then Glory Majestic, the Origin of Noblemen,
seeking his homeland, the brilliant halls.
Then the games of that Noble Son became
a perpetual delight to the dwellers of the blessed city. (720-43)

Ascension VIII (concluded)

Here's the end of section eight of the Christ II (The Ascension), which includes a breathtaking sequence of anaphora that mirrors the "Gifts of Men" catalogue poem.

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They could not know then of that bird’s flight,
who made denial of his climbing up, and did not believe
that the Origin of Life was taken up in the shape of man,
holy from the earth, across the Power Majestic.
He who shaped the world honored us then,
the Ghostly Son of God, and gave to us his grace,
eternal foundations upwards among the angels,
and also sowed and established the manifold
wisdom of the heart throughout the minds of men. (654-63)

To some he sends wise articulation into the memory
of his mind through the aspiration of his mouth,
noble perception. One man can sing and tell of all things
in whom the craft of wisdom is committed in his soul.
Some can vibrate the harpstrings with his fingers
very well and loudly before other men, touching the mirth-wood.
Some can reckon aright the laws of the people of God.
Some can tell of the mysterious orbit of the stars,
the broad creation. Some can craftily write statements of words.
To some he grants success in warfare in their battles,
when the spear-corps and shooters send the flickering
of wrought missiles over the covering of locked shields.
Some very bravely can drive the swimming wood
over the salty sea, stirring the agitation of the ocean.
Some can climb the highest and steepest of trees.
Some can create weapons, the sword of steel.
Some know the course of plains, the wide-spreading ways.
So the Sovereign dispenses his many gifts to us
on earth, the God-Child. He does not wish to give
all his wisdom of spirit to any one man,
lest boasting over others should harm him
due to his unique talents. (664-85)

Ascension VIII (mostly)

Here is as much as I could get through today -- maybe I'll finish the last few stanzas later today, we'll see.

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It is worthwhile that the human tribes should speak
thanks to the Lord for his every glory, which have
before and since have been performed
through the mysteries of manifold might.
He has given us food and plenty of possessions,
wealth across these wide lands and pleasant weather
under the sheltering skies. The sun and the moon
most noble of all the stars which are shining,
the candles of heaven, for the heroes on earth. (600-08)

The dew and rain falls, waking glory for the children
of men to nourish their souls, increasing their share
of earthly wealth. Therefore every one of us must
speak our thanks and praise for our Prince,
and indeed for the healing that he gave to us,
our hopeful joy, when he transformed our misery
at his ascension, the sadness which we suffered before,
and he interceded for the dwellers of nations, the King Sole-Born,
with his own father, in the greatest of feuds. (609-18a)

The terrible sentence he turned around again,
peace for every soul, which was sung earlier
with an angry purpose to sorrow all humanity:
“I had created you upon this earth, and there
you must dwell in constant struggle, suffering
my vengeance, and to the delight of fiends,
sing a song of hurrying hence and towards that same
death you shall soon experience—welling with worms,
and to that place you must be forced to seek
the fires of punishment, away from the earth.” (618b-26)

Listen! This princeling has made our lot easier
when he assumed the limbs and the lineaments
of the stock of mankind! Since the Son of Measurer
wished to climb up to the homeland of angels,
the God of Armies, his desire came as a help
for us in our humiliation in that holy season. (627-32)

Job recited a song about this, as he know how,
praising the Helmet of Men, celebrating the Healer,
and with his peaceable love conceived of a noble name
for the Son of the Sovereign, naming him a bird,
which the Jews never could comprehend
in the strength of the Godhead’s spirit.
This fowl’s flight was secretive, concealed
from his enemies on earth, who had dark thoughts
in their breasts and hearts of stone.
They did not wish to perceive these bright tokens
which the Free-Child of God performed before them,
many and manifold, throughout middle-earth. (633-44)

And so the faithful fowl tested his wings in flight—
sometimes he sought the homeland of angels,
that famous home, proud and secure in his powers,
and sometimes he swooped down upon the earth,
through the grace of his spirit seeking the world’s corners,
venturing into this realm. About this, the prophet sang:
“He was heaved upwards in the embrace of angels,
in the plentitude of his great puissance,
high and holy, over the majesty of heaven.” (645-53)

Christ II (the Ascension), section VII

Here is section seven. This contains on those great Cynewulfian runs of internal rhyme (ll. 591-6) which I have tried (perhaps a bit overhard) to preserve.

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With such a company, we wish to ferry
the Lord across the vaults of heaven
to the bright city with this blissful band,
the best and most noble of all the Sons of Victory,
who you all look upon here and see
glistening with adornments in comfort—
even though he will seek out the earth again
with an enormous army, and the he will judge
the folk’s every deed committed under the heavens.” (517-26)

Then was the Warden of Glory taken upwards
over the roofs, the King of the High-Angels,
into the clouds, the Helmet of the Holy.
Joyous expectation was renewed—
bliss in the cities, by the coming of that Child.
Victory-exulting, he was seated at the right hand
of his own Father, the Eternal Origin of Blesings. (527-32)

Then they departed to go to Jerusalem
heart-eager heroes, into that holy city,
sad-minded, from where they had just seen
God rising up with their own eyes,
their Giver of Good. There was a ring of cries—
covered over by grief. Their true love
was hot about their hearts, chests welling within,
breast-boxes burning. The magnificent thanes
all awaited there ten more nights the promise
of their Lord, as the Owner of the Skies
had commanded them himself before
the Sovereign of All had ascended upwards
into the keeping of heaven. (533-45a)

They came down to the noblemen’s Giver
of Blessings, the shining angels—
that is well attested, as the Scriptures say—
that the all-bright angels came down to him
in that holy season in a great mass,
draining from the sky. Then the great feast
was held in glory. That behooved well
that his thanes entered into that bliss,
covered by brightness, into the Lord’s city,
an army shining beautifully. They made welcome
to the Giver of the People’s Life
upon his lofty throne, the Wielder of Heaven,
the Wielder of all Adornment,
of middle-earth and the Power Majestic. (545b-57)

“The Holy One has bereaved hell of its thralls,
who succumbed to the unrighteous warfare
of years gone by. Now the overthrown,
oppressed and made captive in living torment,
shall be deprived of their glory in the depths of hell,
the devil’s champions. Nor can his opposing foes
find success in war, in the tossing of weapons,
since the King of Glory, Helmet of Heaven’s Realm,
has made his battle against his olden adversaries
with one single power—there he drew forth
most of their captives from their imprisonment
in the fiend’s city, a innumerable people—
this same crowd which you all stare upon here! (558-70)

“Now the Preserver of Souls wishes to seek out now,
the giving-throne of spirits, God’s Own Child,
after the play of war. Now you readily know
who this lord is who leads forth this army,
Now go forth glad-minded to meet your friends boldly! (571-76a)
“O Gates of Heaven, open up!
The Wielder of All wishes to enter into you,
the king into his citadel with no small company,
the Author of Olden-Works, leading his people
into the Joy of All Joys, who he seized
from the devil by means of his own victory.
Peace shall be shared by angels and men alike
henceforth and forever, to the extent of life.
A pledge is created between men and God together,
a ghost-holy troth—love, the hope of life,
and all the joys of light.” (576b-85)

Hey! We have now heard how the Child of Salvation
through his coming hither has given us good health again,
liberating and defending his people under the skies,
the famous Son of the Measurer, so that all of mankind
now living may now choose while they abide here
hell’s abasement as well as heaven’s aggrandizement,
the light of lights as well as the hateful nights,
the majestic thrack as well as the shadows’ wrack,
with the joy of the Lord as well as the devil’s agonized sword,
punishment with wrath as well as glory with grace
life as well as death, just as it is more precious to him
to perform, so long as flesh and spirit dwell in the world.
May the glory and gracious thought of the majesty
of the Trinity endure without end! (586-99)

The Ascension VI, pt 2

“Rejoice in your souls!
I shall never depart,
but I shall attend you
all with love always,
and give to you my strength
and dwell with you
forever and evermore,
so that there will never be
a want for God
through my grace. (476-80)

“Travel now throughout
this entire enormous earth,
beyond the wide waves,
and reveal to the multitudes
preach and pronounce
your bright belief,
and baptize the people
beneath the stars above. (481-84)

“Turn towards heathen people,
and shatter their idols,
chop them down and humiliate them,
wash clean their hostility,
to sow peace
in the hearts of men
by the power of my might.
I shall abide among you,
as a comfort to you from here,
and hold for you my peace
my strength fixed as foundations
in every place you go.” (485-90)

Then suddenly was a loud voice heard
upon the breeze. A throng of heavenly angels,
a shining squadron, heralds of glory flocked
crowding down. Our King departed
through the temple roof where they looked,
those who still remained in the trace of their beloved
in that place of assembly, his chosen thanes. (491-97)

They saw their Lord mount up to the heights,
the God-Child from the ground. Their minds were sad,
hot about the heart, thoughts mourning
for they would never again be allowed
to see their loved lord any longer under the skies.
The heralds hove up a song, of the kindred above,
praising that noble one, celebrating
the Origin of Life, rejoicing in the light
which illuminated the head of the Savior. (498-505)

They saw two all-bright angels beautifully
agleam with adornments about that First-Child,
the Glory of Kings. They called down from the heights
with wrought words across the multitude of men
with a bright voice: “What are you waiting for,
people of Galilee in a circle? You may clearly
see the True Lord travelling into the skies—
the Owner of Victories will ascend upwards from here
to his new home, the Start of Nobility,
with his company of angels, the Origin
of Humanity, to the homeland of his Father.” (506-16)

Christ II, Section VI (part one)

With Christ I finished, now it is time to move on to Cynewulf's Christ II.

VI.

Seek now eagerly into the secret mysteries
of the soul, reputable man, by the skill of your mind
and the wisdom of your heart, so that you will know
the truth about how it happened—when the Almighty,
became conceived through the state of virginity,
after he selected the safe have within Mary,
greatest of maidens, most famous of womankind—
that angels did not show themselves there,
wearing brilliant raiment when that nobleman arrived,
the boy in Bethlehem. Heralds were ready,
who revealed by the cry of their voices to the shepherds,
speaking of true rejoicing, that the Son of the Measurer
was made flesh in middle-earth, in Bethlehem. (440-53a)

However, it does not record in books how they revealed
themselves there in shining garb in that perfect moment,
as they soon did when the famous Lord, the Glory-Fast Prince
assembled his body of thanes to Bethany, the dearest band.
They did not depise the teacher’s words on that precious day,
their Giver of Treasure. At once they made themselves ready,
heroes with their lord, unto the holy city, where
the Dispenser of Glory made manifest many tokens,
the Helmet of Majesty, in wordful mysteries
before he mounted up, the Only-Begotten Son,
Child evenly eternal with his own Father,
after forty counts of days then he arose
out of death from the earth. (453b-67)

Then he had fulfilled, as was sung before,
the words of the prophets throughout the world,
by his sufferings. His thanes praised him,
celebrating dear-worthily the Owner of Life,
the Father of First-Creation. He gave them
fair rewards after that, his beloved companions,
and spoke these words, the Wielder of Angels,
hurrying, Mighty Lord, to his father’s realm: (468-75)

Advent lyrics 11-12

The last of the Advent Lyrics. Coming soon: Christ II

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11.

Hail the divine and dignified,
high and holy, heaven-kindly Trinity,
blessed across the broad and abundant plains,
who the speech-bearers, the dejected earth-dwellers
must by rights praise highly with all their means,
now that the pledge-fast God has revealed to us
the Savior so that we are able to understand him.

Therefore they, deed-brave, have been endowed
with glory, so that the soothfast kindred of the Seraphim,
glorying upwards among the angels forever,
unwearying they sing of majesty very loftily
with a loud voice, fair to all far and near.

They hold an office most choice with their king—
and Christ granted it to them, so that they might
brook his presence at the table in their eyes
for ever and ever, adorned with the sky,
worthying the Wielder widely and broadly,
and with their wings ward over the face
of Lord Almighty, the Eternal Ruler,
and about the princely seat they eagerly throng—
whichever of them can bounce in flight
nearest to our Savior in those peaceful yards.

They adore the Dear One and in dazzling light
they call these words to him, glorifying
the noble Originator of all creation:

“Holy you are, holy, Lord of the High-Angels,
True Power of Victories, always you shall be holy,
Lord of All Lords! Always shall your splendor
abide, earthly among mankind—through all time
widely worthied. You are the God of Armies,
because you filled both earth and heaven,
Shelter of Warriors, with your glories,
Helmet of All Creatures!

Let there be in the heights eternal salvation,
and praises on the earth, bright among the warriors.
You are blessed dearly, who came to the multitudes
in the name of the Lord, as a comfort to the abject.
May you be the eternal praises of the lofty heavens
forever without end.” (378-415)

12.

Hail and behold! What a marvelous exchange
in the lives of men, that the Gentle Shaper
of humankind should take up sinless flesh
in a woman, who knows naught
of the caress of a man, nor did the Owner of Victories
come through the seed of any man on earth—
but it was a keener craft than all the earth-dwellers
could comprehend due to its mysterious nature.
How he, Triumph of the Skies, High-Lord of Heaven,
effected help for humankind through his mother’s womb.

And so going forth, the Savior of the People
deals out every day his forgiveness as a help
to men, the Lord of Hosts. Therefore let us
praise him faithfully and vigorously
in our words and deeds. It is a lofty counsel
in every person that always keeps the memory,
that most often, most inwardly, and most eagerly
that they should honor God.

He shall reward them with recompense
of his love, the hallowed Savior himself,
even in the homeland where had never come,
in the delights of the land of the living,
where he shall blessedly afterwards abide,
and inhabit to the fullness of life
without end. Amen. (416-39)

Advent Lyrics 10

Whoopie! These guys are fun to translate! Here's a nice short one, Advent Lyric 10, for your delectation.

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10.

Hail holy Lord of the Heavens,
you were coeval with your father
of old in that excellent home.

There were no angels yet made,
none of that ample and powerful majesty
which administer the realm

up in the heavens,
the splendid palace of the Prince
and his body of thanes,

when you first established
yourself along with the Eternal Lord
and this spacious creation,

the broad and abundant earth.
For both of you in common
is the High-Spirit fast in its shelter.

We all pray to you, Savior Christ,
in all humility that you hear
the voice of the captives,

your constrained captives,
preserving God, how we are all
oppressed by our own yearning.

The exiled kindred, the cursed ghasts
have constrained us cruelly,
the hell-harmers full of hate,

binding us with ropes of many harms.
The cure belongs to you
alone, Eternal Lord.

Help the body-sorrowing,
so that your hither-coming
might comfort the destitute,

although we have made a feud
against you with our lust
for every sort of crime.

Be merciful to your servants,
consider our miseries,
how we totter with a feeble mind,

wander about abjectly.
Come now, King of Warriors,
and do not tarry too long.

There is a need for your mercy—
that you should redeem us
and grant us the soothfast

grace of your salvation,
so that we may henceforth
prosper the better

in your fellowship
at your will. (348-77)

Daily update (Advent Lyric 9)

I've been making a practice recently of sitting over breakfast and coffee these past few days working on the Christ translation while chatting with my Dad and his wife. It has been very productive, and you, the people, reap the benefit. Allow me to present the ninth of the Advent Lyrics from Christ I.

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9.

O you are the most famous of middle-earth,
the cleanest queen across the earth—
of those who have been to the ends of life—
how rightfully all speech-bearing men
all over the world, call you and say,
with a blithe mind, that you should be
the bride of the best Dispenser of the Skies.

Likewise, the highest in the heavens,
the thanes of Christ, call out and sing
with holy might that you should be
the lady of the glorious armies,
and of the worldly-kinds, the orders
under heaven, and the denizens of hell also.

Because you alone of all humans,
bold-thinking, gloriously conceived
that you would bring your maiden-head
before the Measurer, giving it to him without sin.

No one like this has been found
no one else among all humankind,
no woman adorned with rings,
who offered this shining gift
afterwards with a pure heart,
to the heavenly hue.

Therefore the First of Victories
ordered his high-herald to fly here
from his majestic might and swiftly
reveal the magnitude of his power,
that you were to conceive
the Son of the Lord through a pure pregnancy
as a mercy to mankind, and you, Mary,
could keep yourself ever afterward
unmarred —

We have also heard that, a certain prophet
soothfast in the days of yore long ago—
he was Isaiah—said this about you:
that he was taken away so he could be shown
the station of life in that eternal home.

Then the prophet so fixed in his wisdom
looked over that inhabited place
until he stared where a noble entryway
was established. The huge door
was bound all over with precious treasure,
girded with amazing braces.

He was convinced that no human
could ever heave up such a fixed bolt
in all eternity, or unlock the fastening
of that city’s gate—before an angel of God
with thoughts of gladness unraveled
that puzzle and spoke these words:

“I can say to you that it will come true:
that God himself, by the power of his Spirit,
the Father Almighty will at a moment to come
shall sanctify these golden gates
and seek out the earth through these fastened locks—
they will stand behind him for eternity,
always and in perpetuity, so closed up
so that no other, except the Savior God,
shall unlock them ever again.”

Now it is fulfilled what the wise man
saw there with his own eyes—
you are the door in the wall,
through which the Wielding Lord
made his journey alone to the earth,
and even so Christ Almighty found you,
adorned with powers, pure and choice.
So the Prince of Angels, Dispenser of Life,
locked you up behind him with his limb-key,
again unblemished by any thing.

Show us now the grace which the angel brought you,
the message-bearer of God, Gabriel.
Indeed the city-dwellers beg you for this,
that you should reveal comfort for the people,
your own son. Afterwards we may be allowed
to celebrate all with a single heart
when we look upon the bairn upon your breast.

Plead for us with your courageous words
so that he will no longer abandon us
in any wise in this deadly valley,
to heed the words of the betrayer,
but instead ferry us into the Father’s realm,
where we without sorrow may afterwards
dwell in glory with the God of Hosts. (275-347)

Advent Lyrics 8 (Christ I cont'd)

Whew! This one was time-consuming! I decided to go with a very sparse line which spreads out the verse over a great deal of space. Maybe that was not good planning, since #8 is pretty long of its own, but I like the breathing room.

--------------------

8.

Hail Almighty Christ,
peaceable and true
King of All Kings!

Before every majesty
of the entire world
you were conceived

becoming a child
with your Glory-Father
by his craft and his might!

There is now no nobleman
under the windy sky,
no perspicacious man,

surpassingly wise
that he can speak of this
to sea-dwelling men,

or righteously relate
how the Holder of Heaven
in the beginning

hatched you
as his free-born son.

Of the many things
that the kindred of men
have frained among the folk,

what first happened
under the heavens
at the start of the world,

was that Wise God,
the Starting-Point of Life,
divided divinely

light and shadow,
and the power
of judgment was his,

and the Lord of Hosts
ordained this subtle thing:

“Let there become
light from now, evermore
until the end of the world,

a sparkling joy
to all that live
which will be born

in their generation.”
And it happened at once,
when it should be so—

illuminated rays
the tribes of men,
brilliant among the stars,

after the arrival
of the proper time.

He established himself
that you were his Son
dwelling at the same instant

with your Solitary Lord
before any of this
even happened.

You are the wisdom
which created everything
of this spacious creation,

along with the Sovereign.
Therefore there is no one
so quick-witted,

nor so mind-crafty
that can clearly affirm

your inception
to the children of men.

Come now,
Warden of Victories,
Measurer of Mankind,

fixed in grace
reveal to us here
your mercy!

There is in all of us
a great desire to be allowed
to understand

your mother’s kindred,
the righteous mystery,
since we cannot at all

explain any farther
your father’s descent.

Make joyous this middle-earth
mildly through your
coming here, Savior Christ—

command those golden gates
to be opened wide,
which have in days of old,

for a very long time,
stood closed fast,
Highest Lord of Heaven—

and seek us out
through your own arrival
humbly to the earth.

There is need of your mercies!
The cursed wolf,
the beast of death’s shadow,

has brought your flock,
O Lord, to naught,
scattering them widely.

The sheep, my Sovereign,
you bought before
with your blood

which the baleful foe
woefully afflicts,
and takes them captive

for himself,
over the urging
of our desires.

Therefore we, Savior,
entreat you earnestly
with our breasts’ thoughts

that you quickly render us
assistance, weary wretches,
so that the tormenting slayer

may tumble into abjection
to the depths of hell,
and the work of your hands,

Shaper of Heroes,
may arise and arrive
at the right,

into that upward
and noble kingdom,
whence the dark ghast

drew us apart and seduced us
through our sinful lust,
so that we, lacking glory,

must suffer misery
forever without end,
unless you,

Eternal Lord, the Living God,
Helmet of All Creatures,
wish to defend us

more readily,
from the destroyer of peoples. (214-74)

Advent Lyrics 7

Here is a bit of dramatic poetry in the seventh Advent Lyric, in the conversation between Mary and Joseph about her pregnancy. Not as funny as the one recorded in the York play of "Joseph's Trouble About Mary," but still intriguing.

----------------------

7.

Mary:
“O my Joseph, son of Jacob, kin of David
the most famous of kings! Must you now
separate yourself so firmly from my affection,
renouncing my love?”

Joseph:
“I am quickly seized in deep offense at you,
bereaved of my reputation, because I have heard
many words of harm about you, broad sorrows
and painful words, and they speak insults to me,
many many wounding allegations.

I must pour forth many tears in a miserable mind.
God can easily heal the heart-sorrows in my head
and comfort the meagerly endowed.
Alas young virigin, my maiden Mary!”

Mary:
“What are you mourning,
crying out so carefully?”

Joseph:
“I have never found any fault in you,
nor any reason to doubt you,
no deeds of defilement, and now you speak
these words to me when you are filled
with every sort of sin and crime.”

Mary:
“I too have received many hurts
from this child-bearing state.”

Joseph:
“How can I forgive this hateful speech
or find any answer in reply to the wrathful?
It is widely known that I took on
from the bright temple of the Lord
a free-born and clean virgin, without blot,
and now everything has changed
by I don’t know who—

“Neither course avails me at all,
to speak up or to be silent.
If I tell the truth then
the daughter of David must die,
losing her life through stones.
The situation is even stronger
if I should cover up her crime—
the perjurer must live afterwards
hated by all peoples, abominated by men.”

Then the virgin revealed the righteous
mysteries, and spoke thus:
“I shall speak the truth by the Son of the Measurer,
the Helper of Souls, that I still know nothing
of the caresses of any man in any place on earth,
but it was granted to me, youthful in the yard,
that the high-angel of heaven,
Gabriel gave me greeting.

“He spoke to me soothfully that the Spirit of the Skies
would illuminate me with light, and the life’s
majesty I must bear forth, the Bright Son,
the powerful Child of God, the Brilliant Origin of Glory.
Now I am made into his temple without stain,
and inside me the Soul of Comfort indwells.
Now abandon all sorrowful thoughts of pain.

“Speak your neverending thanks
to the famou Son of the Measurer
that I am become his mother,
though still a virgin, and that you
will be called his worldly father
in the eyes of men—this prophecy
must be realized in his own person.” (164-213)

Advent Lyrics 6

Hallelujah! Here is the sixth Advent Lyric--halfway through the lot of them.

---------------

6.

O God of Spirits, how wisely
you were named by the name
Emmanuel, as the angel
first spoke it in Hebrew!

That is readily translated
generously in its mysteries:
“Now is the Warden of Heaven,
God himself among us!”

So the men of old many years ago
truthfully prophesied
the King of All Kings,
just as the clean priest as well,

the most famous of all,
Melchisedech wise in spirit once
revealed the divine majesty
of the Eternal All-Wielding God.

He was the bringer of the law,
the teacher of holy lessons
to those hoping for a long time
for the hither-coming,

just as was foretold to him,
that the Son of the Measurer
himself would cleanse
the citizens of the earth,

and likewise seek out
a journey to the deep as well
by the power of his spirit.

Now they bide in their bonds
patiently for the Bairn of God
to come to the chary.
Enfeebled by their agonies,

therefore they call out thus:
“Now come to us yourself,
High-King of Heaven.
Bring us the life of salvation,

the weary thralls of torment,
worn out by our weeping,
with bitter tears of burning salt.
The cure for our pressing need
lies with you alone.

Search here for these
mind-miserable captives,
and do not leave us behind you,
when you come here again,

a multitude so massive,
but reveal to us regally
your mercies, Christ the Savior,
Nobleman of Glory,

nor allow those cursed ones
to keep power over us.
Bequeath us eternal joys
your own glories,
that we may praise you,

Glory-King of Armies,
which you once worked
with your own hands.

In the lofty heights
you shall abide forever
with the Sovereign Father. (130-63)

Lazy Sunday (Advent Lyrics 5)

Not much else to do today except translate -- what I would call a good vacation!

Here is Advent Lyric 5 from the second section of Christ I.

These verses are feeling so much better than the lyrics of the Metres of Boethius. Maybe it is because they actually have interesting images and figurative language here--there are things to chew on in these poems.

5.

Hail shining ray! Hail brightest of angels
and illumination of the soothfast sun
sent over middle-earth to all mankind,
more brilliant than the stars—always
you light up every season of your own self!

As you, God born readily from God,
Son of the True Father, were ever
without beginning in the glory of the sky,
so now needfully your own creation
abides you faithfully, so that you send us
the bright sun, and that you come yourself
to illuminate those who for the longest time,
shrouded in shadow and in darkness here,
reside in the everlasting night—
enfolded in our sins, they have had to endure
the dark shadows of death.

Now we joyously believe in salvation
brought to the many by the word of God,
who at the start was the Father Almighty,
eternal even with God, and now become again
flesh without sin, that the virgin birthed
as a comfort to the miserable.

God was among us, seen without sins—
they dwelt together: the mighty Son of the Measurer
and the Child of Man both, concordant
among humankind. We may tell our thanks
perpetually according to his desert,
because he wished to send us himself. (104-29)

Advent Lyrics 4

More holiday celebration to come, with the fourth lyric from Christ I.

--------------------

4.

Hail joy of women through the triumph of glory,
the most noble of virgins across every corner of the earth
that sea-dwelling men have ever heard spoken of—
relate to us the mysteries which came to you from the heavens;
how you ever took on your increasing, through the birthing of a child,
never knowing any kind of coupling that the minds of men
would understand. Truly we have never learned
of anything like this happening in the days gone by,
that you should take hold of this in your unique grace,
nor need we look that event occurring any time ahead.

Indeed that troth indwells within you worthily,
now that you have borne that glory majestic
within your breast, and your mighty maidenhead
was not destroyed. And as all children of men
have sown in their sorrows, so they will soon reap—
conception is a killing to them.

So spoke the Blessed Virgin, sainted Mary
filled always with her victory:

“What is this wonderment at which you all
stand amazed, and mourning lament your cares,
O son of Salem and his daughter too?
Curious, you inquire how I kept my virgin state
and its warding hand and also became the mother
of the famous Measurer’s Son. However,
this is not a mystery knowable by men,
yet Christ revealed how in the kinswoman
dear to David that the sin of Eve is wholly turned aside,
her curse cast down, and the weaker kind glorified.
A hope is taken up so that a blessing may abide
in both men and women together, now
and always for all time to come in the highest
delight of angels with the True Father.” (71-103)

Advent Lyrics 3

Turns out I have better internet access than I anticipated, plus some spare time, so here's another Advent Lyric from Christ I.

---------------------

3.

Hail sight of peace, holy Jerusalem
best of national thrones, land of cities of Christ,
the center of the angels’ homeland—
and in you alone the souls of the soothfast
may find their rest, exultant in your glories.

Never shall a slightest symbol of sin
be revealed in that dwelling-place,
but each and every fault shall far turn aside,
wickedness and strife.

You are replete in every glory,
the holy expectation,
just as you are named —

See now for yourself:
looking around every corner
throughout this wide creation
and the roomy roof of the heavens—

how the King of the Skies
seeks a journey in you
and arrives himself—

how he takes his abode in you,
as the wisely fixed prophets
told it before long ago.

They revealed the birth of Christ,
speaking to you as a comfort,
most excellent of all cities.

Now is the child come,
born as an amendment,
to the sins of the Hebrews.

He brings bliss to you,
loosing your bonds
compelled upon you
in malice. He knows
the pressing necessity,
how the wretched
must await mercy. (50-70)

Advent Lyric 2

Here is the second of the Advent Lyrics of Christ I. I leave for CO for two weeks in about two hours, so updates will be spotty for a while.

---------------------

2.

O, you are the Reckoner and the Rightful King,
who keeps the stronghold, revealing life
and the lofty ways to the blessed, withholding
the lovely lanes of desire to those others,
if their deeds are not sufficient.

Indeed we speak these words needfully
and praise the one who shaped mankind—
[damage to the manuscript obliterates most of a line]
the condition of the careful, we who sit
sorrowing in prison—

We expect the sun, the moment when
the Life-Lord reveals the light to us,
becoming protection for us in our minds,
and winding up our frail wits in glory.

Make us worthy—
who admits us into magnificence,
when we must depart miserably
into this narrow place,
beshorn of our homeland.

Therefore one can say,
who speaks truthfully to you,
that he delivered the tribe of men,
who were once perverted.

It was through a young woman,
a maiden without wickedness,
who he chose to be his mother.

That was done without the love of a man,
so that the lady became large
with the bearing of a child.

Nothing could compare to this,
before or since, arising in the world,
this woman’s yearning—
that was a secret, the Lord’s mystery.

All spiritual gifts will pervade
the regions of the earth—
where many wise men were enlightened,
their enduring teachings through the Origin of Life,
which before lay hidden beneath the grave,

and the wordy songs of the prophets,
when the Wielder came, he who amplifies
the mystery of every statement
of those who, through active state
eagerly wish to extol the Shaper’s name. (18-49)

First Advent Lyric (Christ I)

I know it's a little late for the season, but here is the first of the twelve Advent lyrics that make up the first section of Christ I, the first entry in the most famous collection of Anglo-Saxon verse, the Exeter Book.

The first poem is acephalous due to lost leaves. Some posit that one or more lyrics are missing, but there is something nice and round about the number twelve (The later Middle English poem Pearl, for instance, is obsessed with the religious significances of the number).

--------------------------

1.

… to the king.
You are the wall-stone that the stonewrights
once rejected from their labors. It suits you
that you should be the capital of the glorious hall,
and you gather up the capacious walls,

with fixed joint and stone unbroken,
so that throughout all earthly cities,
by the sight of the eyes, all men
can marvel forever at the Lord of Glory.

Manifest now through your skillful craft
the work of your own, sooth-fast, victor-bright,
and allow wall to meet wall at once.

Now there is need for the building
for the Architect and the King himself to come
and make amends to that which is fallen
to disrepair, the house under its roof.

He shaped the body and its limbs of clay—
now shall the Lord of Life deliver the wearied heap
from his wrath, the wretched from their terrors,
just as he often has done. (1-17)

A status update

Just for fun, I thought I'd calculate just how far I've come in terms of sheer number of lines of Anglo-Saxon poetry translated. With the finish of Daniel, I have rendered 11,297 lines of poetry out of roughly 20,000 lines extant. That works out to 56% of all available Old English poetry! And with the inevitable completion of Judith and the three parts of Christ, which should follow later this spring, that number will leap up to 13,355 or 67% of the extant canon.

I'd say between the plethora of Beowulf translations available, the publication of Word Exchange in 2011, and the evolving resources of this website, it is a good time for studying Anglo-Saxon poetry for scholars and teachers.

I pitch it all the time (on the sidebar of this site), but I'll say it again. This site exists in order to be useful to teachers of Anglo-Saxon poetry, to expose today's students to broader range of Old English texts written in translations more open to contemporary ideas of the Middle Ages and free from unnecessary archaisms. I am interested in receiving any and all criticism and commentary directed at improving the approach and accuracy of the texts, and I will gladly accept suggestions about what sorts of materials could be added in order to better serve the target population (who are primarily seen as students and non-specialist scholars). The point of operating this site as a blog, and not on my university's web server, is to make interaction with you more streamlined.

Happy New Year II (Daniel LV)

Here is the conclusion to Daniel, featuring the feast of Belshazzar (Baldazar in the manuscript) and the writing on the wall. With this section, you can now find the complete Junius Manuscript here on this site. Which is terribly exciting to me, as that gives me two complete book-length manuscripts of translated poems.

-----------------------------

Then among that nation was born the third generation after him.
The prince of the fortresses was Balthazar,
wielding the realm of men, until his pride devastated him,
a hideous over-mind. Then was the ending of days
that the Chaldeans kept the kingdom,
when the Measurer granted sovereignty
to the Medes and the Persians in a short space,
allowing the prosperity of Babylon to wane,
which those heroes should have held onto. (675-83)

God knew that their elder-men lived in unrighteousness
who should have directed the realm.
So then the lord of the Medes, sitting at home,
conceived something no man had ever before:
that he would destroy Babylon,
the temple-grounds of nobles, where noblemen
under the shelter of their walls passed around their wealth. (684-90)

That was the most well-known fortress to the people,
the greatest and the most famous inhabited by men,
the city of Babylon, until Balthazar by his terrible boasting
was tested by God. They sat at wine, enclosed in their walls,
never fearing the malice of their enemies,
even though a nation of foes had come traveling
in warrior’s kit unto that high citadel
so that they could break down Babylon. (691-99)

Then the Chaldean king sat at the feast unto the final day,
amid the men of his generation, when the leader
of that power grew drunk with mead.
He ordered his nobles to bear forth the treasures
of Israel, the holy vessels of sacrament,
in the hands of his men, the clean objects
which the Chaldeans had earlier seized
in Jerusalem with their majestic might
and their champions in the city,
when they destroyed the prosperity
of the Jews with the edges of their swords,
and through their clamorous coming,
the armies seized the bright trappings.
Then they dispersed the temple,
the hall of Solomon, boasting mightily. (700-711)

Then the prince of cities became blithe-minded,
vaunting terribly to anger God, speaking
that his armies were the most powerful
and more efficacious to make peace with men
than the Eternal Lord of Israel.
A sign appeared to them where he was staring,
terrifying for the earls inside the hall,
that he had spoken lying words before his people,
when an angel of the lord there in fright
allowed his hand to enter into that lofty palace,
and wrote upon the wall in mysterious letters,
blazing red book-staves, before those sitting in the citadel.
Then the folk-leader became fearful in his mind,
dismayed by the terror. He saw the angel’s hand
in the hall inscribing the punishment of the Shinarites. (712-26)

The multitude of men, heroes in the hall,
orated upon what that hand had written
as a signal to the city-dwellers.
Many men came to look upon that miracle.
They earnestly sought within their hearts’ thought
what the hand of the holy spirit had written.
Nor could the men crafty in secrets read
the angel’s message, nor the kin of nobles,
until Daniel came, chosen by the Lord,
wise and sooth-fast, venturing into the palace.
God’s craft was great in his spirit,
to whom the guardians of the city, as I have heard,
eagerly tried to purchase him with gifts
so that he would read and relate those book-staves
for them, what mystery dwelt there. (727-40)

Skilled in the law, he answered them,
the messenger of God, wise in his thoughts: (741-42)

“I will not bear to the people the judgments of the Lord
for payments of coin, nor can I for riches,
but I shall speak of fate unremunerated,
the mysteries of the word, which you cannot change.
In your presumption you bear in your possession
vessels of the holy sacrament, in the hands of men.
You all have been drinking to devils in them,
which before were held in Israel within the law,
beside the Ark of God, until your boasting betrayed them,
your wits drunken with wine—so shall it be for you! (743-52)

“Your lord never would have borne in boast
the gold vessels of God, nor crow more swiftly,
even though his armies brought the treasures
of Israel into the control of his keeping,
yet more often the lord of nations spoke
in true words over his own forces,
after the miracle of the Warden of Glory was revealed to him,
that he was alone the Lord and Sovereign of all creation,
who gave him glory, the undimmed profit of earthly reign,
and now you deny that he is living
who rules over devils in his majesty.”

[Possibly incomplete, but the final invocation of devils blends well with the next poem, Christ and Satan]

Daniel LIV pt 2

Happy new year!

Here is the final bit of the second-to-last section of Daniel, comprising the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar. I am almost finished with the complete Junius Manuscript with this section, with just about a hundred lines to go after today. Hopefully, I can finish that off before my second holiday trip begins on Friday.

---------------------

Then, on account of this boasting, the lord of men
became seized and departed into flight,
alone in his over-pride above all men.
So he went forth as men do in days of struggle,
upon the most bitter path in God’s punishment,
who, living through, soon regain their homeland,
and so did Nebuchadnezzar, after the enmity of God,
swift from the heavens, had punished him terribly. (612-21)

Seven winters together he suffered this torment,
and the wilderness of wild beasts, the king of the wine-city.
When the wretched man looked up,
with the wits of beasts, through the goings of clouds—
he was mindful then in his heart that the Measurer,
the High-King of Heaven, was for the sons of man
the only Eternal spirit. Then he soon turned from
madness in his wits, where he had before borne
widely, oppressing the heart and mind of the warrior. (622-28)

Then his spirit turned again to the memory of God,
his mind to humanity, once he understood the Maker.
Then the miserable man departed soon upon a journey,
a naked and needy traveler, enduring scorn,
an exotic exile and without clothing as well,
more moderate in his mind-thoughts, to mankind,
than when the warden of men was in his vaunting.
Middle-earth stood before the lord of men,
ground and home before that nobleman,
seven winters together, and it had not diminished
his realm beneath the stars until its leader had returned. (629-39)

Then he was soon reestablished in his lordship,
the guardian of Babylon, having better ways,
a lighter belief in the Origin of Life,
that God gave prosperity and punishment
to every man, just as he wished to do. (640-44)

Then the prince of peoples did not linger at the words
of prophets, rather he proclaimed abroad
the might of the Measurer wherever he held power,
He spoke unto his people of his journey,
his wide wanderings where he roamed with the wild animals,
until the constant counsel of the Lord God came
into his soul, when he peered upon the heavens.
These events occurred, and a miracle revealed,
the dream confirmed, and the torment overcome,
and the judgment decreed, just as Daniel had said—
that the folk-leader was to discover a wretched journey
on account of his overweening.
And so Daniel eagerly preached the good news
of the might of the Measurer before mankind
afterwards for a long while among the city-dwellers
of Babylon, speaking precepts and true judgments. (645-661a)

After the companion of beasts, the exile of the wild,
had come from his wanderings, from the scornful vengeance,
Nebuchadnezzar, then he guarded a great realm,
holding the treasures of men and their high city,
wise now, a surpassingly mighty leader of his people,
the Chaldean king, until his killing knocked him down,
since there was no rival to him across the earth,
no man until God himself wished to divest him
of that lofty realm through the crumbling of his body.
Afterwards his heirs distributed the prosperity there,
the weal and the wound gold, in that wide citadel,
the temple grounds of noblemen, steadfast,
the lofty hoarded riches, when their lord fell dead. (661b-74)