Guest Post I: The Poetry of Prudentius

Hello. This is Tabby, Calla's boyfriend. Today I am going to indulge you, her dear readers, in a Guest Post -- specifically, Guest Post I (that is a Roman Numeral, not an "i"). For my first post, I am going to show you a short poem by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, a Christian Roman poet who wrote in Latin and lived in the second half of the 4th century. Prudentius is famous for having written the Psychomachia, an allegorical poem that depicts a battle for the soul of man between the virtues and the vices (I was thinking of writing "humanity" instead of "man" there, but let's face it, "man" sounds better. Imagine "Son of Humanity" instead of "Son of Man". Oh no, I bet someone will translate it that way now . . .). The poem was highly influential in the Middle Ages, inspiring the genre of allegorical poetry that includes such monumental works as Piers Plowman and Everyman. But instead of Psychomachia, I want to show you a short poem from the Dittochaeon, a collection of 49 quatrains written as captions for scenes depicted on the walls of a church.


XXI. Aedificatio Templi

Aedificat templum Sapientia per Solomonis
obsequium; regina austri grave congerit aurum.
tempus adest quo templum hominis sub pectore Christus
aedificet, quod Graia colant, quod barbara ditent.


(XXI. The Building of the Temple

Wisdom builds a temple by Solomon's obedient hands, and the queen of the South piles up a great weight of gold. The time is at hand when Christ shall build his temple in the heart of man, and Greece shall reverence it and lands not Greek enrich it.)


The translation is by H.J. Thompson, from the Loeb Classical Library edition of Prudentius's works.

Incidentally, there is another quatrain in this work that speaks of the Temple at the other end of its history:


XXXI. Pinna Templi

Excidio templi veteris stat pinna superstes;
structus enim lapide ex illo manet angulus usque
in saeclum saecli, quem sprerunt aedificantes;
nunc caput est templi et lapidum conpago novorum.


(XXXI. The Pinnacle of the Temple

A pinnacle stands surviving the destruction of the old temple; for the corner built with that stone which the builders rejected remains for all time, and now it is the head of the temple and the joint which holds new stones together.)


Did you pick up on the reference? This quatrain is paraphrasing Psalm 118, which Jesus himself paraphrased in Matthew 21: "Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes." -- a Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris.

Finally, here's a picture of a stained glass window from Trinity Church in Boston, designed by Edward Burne-Jones and installed by William Morris (and the picture was taken by the great Calla Nicole herself!). It's a depiction of David's charge to Solomon to build the Temple.