And yf ye take it awaye ye robbe hym: whyche
is a ryght shamfull dede to ony noble man to do yt that theuys
& brybours done: whyche are punysshed for theyr evyll dedes
by the necke & other wyse whan they maye be aspyed &
taken.
is a ryght shamfull dede to ony noble man to do yt that theuys
& brybours done: whyche are punysshed for theyr evyll dedes
by the necke & other wyse whan they maye be aspyed &
taken.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v03 - Bag to Ber
We can hardly find in a whole province
wherewithal we condescend to be clothed. · The monk and the
knight cut their garments, the one his cowl, the other his cloak,
from the same piece. No secular person, however great, whether
king or emperor, would be disgusted at our vestments if they
were only cut and fitted to his requirements.
But, say you,
religion is in the heart, not in the garments ?
True; but you,
when you are about to buy a cowl, rush over the towns, visit the
as
## p. 1824 (#628) ###########################################
1824
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
markets, examine the fairs, dive into the houses of the merchants,
turn over all their goods, undo their bundles of cloth, feel it with
your fingers, hold it to your eyes or to the rays of the sun, and
if anything coarse or faded appears, you reject it. But if you are
pleased with any object of unusual beauty or brightness, you at
once buy it, whatever the price. I ask you, Does this come from
the heart, or your simplicity ?
I wonder that our abbots allow these things, unless it arises
from the fact that no one is apt to blame any error with confi-
dence if he cannot trust in his own freedom from the same; and
it is a right human quality to forgive without much anger those
self-indulgences in others for which we ourselves have the strong-
est inclination. How is the light of the world overshadowed!
Those whose lives should have been the way of life to us, by
the example they give of pride, become blind leaders of the
blind. What a specimen of humility is that, to march with such
pomp and retinue, to be surrounded with such an escort of hairy
men, so that one abbot has about him people enough for two
bishops. I lie not when I say, I have seen an abbot with sixty
horses after him, and even more. Would you not think, as you
see them pass, that they were not fathers of monasteries, but
lords of castles — not shepherds of souls, but princes of prov-
inces? Then there is the baggage, containing table-cloths, and
cups and basins, and candlesticks, and well-filled wallets - not
with the coverlets, but the ornaments of the beds.
My lord
abbot can never go more than four leagues from his home with-
out taking all his furniture with him, as if he were going to
the wars, or about to cross a desert where necessaries cannot be
had. Is it quite impossible to wash one's hands in, and drink
from, the same vessel ? Will not your candle burn anywhere
but in that gold or silver candlestick of yours, which you carry
with you? Is sleep impossible except upon a variegated mat-
tress, or under a foreign coverlet? Could not one servant har-
ness the mule, wait at dinner, and make the bed ?
If such a
multitude of men and horses is indispensable, why not at least
carry with us our necessaries, and thus avoid the severe burden
we are to our hosts?
By the sight of wonderful and costly vanities men
prompted to give, rather than to pray. Some beautiful picture
of a saint is exhibited and the brighter the colors the greater
the holiness attributed to it: men run, eager to kiss; they are
are
## p. 1825 (#629) ###########################################
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
1825
near
invited to give, and the beautiful is more admired than the
sacred is revered. In the churches are suspended, not corona,
but wheels studded with gems and surrounded by lights, which
are scarcely brighter than the precious stones which are
them. Instead of candlesticks, we behold great trees of brass
fashioned with wonderful skill, and glittering as much through
their jewels as their lights. What do you suppose is the object
of all this? The repentance of the contrite, or the admiration
of the gazers ? O vanity of vanities! but not more vain than
foolish. The church's walls are resplendent, but the poor are
not there.
The curious find wherewith to amuse them-
selves; the wretched find no stay for them in their misery.
Why at least do we not reverence the images of the saints,
with which the very pavement we walk on is covered ? Often
an angel's mouth is spit into, and the face of some saint trodden
on by passers-by.
But if we cannot do without the
images, why can we not spare the brilliant colors ? What has
all this to do with monks, with professors of poverty, with men
of spiritual minds?
Again, in the cloisters, what is the meaning of those ridicu-
lous monsters, of that deformed beauty, that beautiful deformity,
before the very eyes of the brethren when reading? What are
disgusting monkeys there for, or satyrs, or ferocious lions, or
monstrous centaurs, or spotted tigers, or fighting soldiers, or
huntsmen sounding the bugle ? You may see there one head
with many bodies, or one body with numerous heads. Here is
a quadruped with a serpent's tail; there is a fish with a beast's
head; there a creature, in front a horse, behind a goat; another
has horns at one end, and a horse's tail at the other. In fact,
such an endless variety of forms appears everywhere, that it is
more pleasant to read in the stonework than in books, and to
spend the day in admiring these oddities than in meditating on
the law of God. Good God! if we are not ashamed of these
absurdities, why do we not grieve at the cost of them ?
III-115
## p. 1826 (#630) ###########################################
1826
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
FROM HIS SERMON ON THE DEATH OF GERARD
“As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. ” — Sol. Song i. 5
PER
ERHAPS both members of the comparison — viz. , “As the tents
of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon ” — refer only to the
first words, "I am black. ” It may be, however, that the
simile is extended to both clauses, and each is compared with
each. The former sense is the more simple, the latter the more
obscure. Let us try both, beginning with the latter, which seems
the more difficult. There is no difficulty, however, in the first
comparison, “I am black as the tents of Kedar,” but only in the
last. For Kedar, which is interpreted to mean “darkness or
"gloom," may be compared with blackness justly enough; but
the curtains of Solomon are not so easily likened to beauty.
Moreover, who does not see that “tents” fit harmoniously with
the comparison ? For what is the meaning of “tents” except
our bodies, in which we sojourn for a time? Nor have we an
abiding city, but we seek one to come. In our bodies, as under
tents, we carry on warfare. Truly, we are violent to take the
kingdom. Indeed, the life of man here on earth is a warfare;
and as long as we do battle in this body, we are absent from
the Lord, - i. e. , from the light. For the Lord is light; and so
far as any one is not in Him, so far he is in darkness, i. l. , in
Kedar. Let each one then acknowledge the sorrowful exclama-
tion as his own:-“Woe is me that my sojourn is prolonged! I
have dwelt with those who dwell in Kedar. My soul hath long
sojourned in a strange land. ” Therefore this habitation of the
body is not the mansion of the citizen, nor the house of the
native, but either the soldier's tent or the traveler's inn. This
body, I say, is a tent, and a tent of Kedar, because, by its inter-
ference, it prevents the soul from beholding the infinite light, nor
does it allow her to see the light at all, except through a glass
darkly, and not face to face.
Do you not see whence blackness comes to the Church
whence a certain rust cleaves to even the fairest souls ? Doubt-
less it comes from the tents of Kedar, from the practice of
laborious warfare, from the long continuance of a painful so-
journ, from the straits of our grievous exile, from our feeble,
cumbersome bodies; for the corruptible body presseth down the
soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that
## p. 1827 (#631) ###########################################
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
1827
museth upon many things. Therefore the souls' desire to be
loosed, that being freed from the body they may fly into the
embraces of Christ. Wherefore one of the miserable ones said,
groaning, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death! ” For a soul of this kind knoweth
that, while in the tents of Kedar, she cannot be entirely free
from spot or wrinkle, nor from stains of blackness, and wishes
to go forth and to put them off. And here we have the reason
why the spouse calls herself black as the tents of Kedar. But
now, how is she beautiful as the curtains of Solomon ? Behind
these curtains I feel that an indescribable holiness and sub-
limity are veiled, which I dare not presume to touch, save at
the command of Him who shrouded and sealed the mystery.
For I have read, He that is a searcher of Majesty shall be over-
whelmed with the glory. I pass on therefore. It will devolve
on you, meanwhile, to obtain grace by your prayers, that we
may the more readily, because more confidently, recur to a sub-
ject which needs attentive minds; and it may be that the pious
knocker at the door will discover what the bold explorer seeks
in vain.
## p. 1828 (#632) ###########################################
1828
BERNARD OF CLUNY
Twelfth Century
BY WILLIAM C. PRIME
ITTLE is known concerning the monk Bernard, sometimes
called Bernard of Morlay and sometimes Bernard of Cluny.
The former name is probably derived from the place of his
origin, the latter from the fact that in the introduction to his poem
De Contemptu Mundi' he describes himself as a brother of the
monks of Cluny. He lived in the twelfth century, a period of much
learning in the church; and that he was himself a man of broad
scholarship and brilliant abilities, the Latin poem, his only surviving
work, abundantly testifies.
This poem, divided int ree books, consists in all of about three
thousand lines. It is introduced by a short address in prose to
Father Peter, the abbot of the monastery, in which the author
describes the peculiar operations of his mind in undertaking and
accomplishing his marvelous poem. He believes and asserts, “not
arrogantly, but in all humility and therefore boldly, that he had
divine aid. "Unless the spirit of wisdom and understanding had been
with me and filled me, I had never been able to construct so long a
work in such a difficult metre. ”
This metre is peculiar. In technical terms each line consists of
three parts: the first part including two dactyls, the second part two
dactyls, the third part one dactyl and one trochee. The final trochee,
a long and a short syllable, rhymes with the following or preceding
line. There is also a rhyme, in each line, of the second dactyl with
the fourth. This will be made plain to the ordinary reader by
quoting the first two lines of the poem, divided into feet:-
Hora no | vissima | tempora | pessima | sunt, vigi | lemus;
Ecce mi | naciter | imminet | arbiter | ille su | premus.
The adoption of such a metre would seem to be a clog on flexi-
bility and force of expression. But in this poem it is not so. The
author rejoices in absolute freedom of diction. The rhythm and
rhyme alike lend themselves to the uses, now of bitter satire and
revilings, now of overpowering hope and exultant joy.
The title scarcely gives an idea of the subject matter of the
The old Benedictine, living for the time in his cell, had
nevertheless known the world of his day, had lived in it and be
poem.
## p. 1829 (#633) ###########################################
BERNARD OF CLUNY
1829
of it. It was an evil world, full of shames and crimes, full of moils,
deceits, and abominations. The church, from the Pontiff at its head
to the lowest order of its organization, was corrupt, venal, shameless.
Rome was the centre and the soul of this accursed world. Ponder-
ing on these conditions, the monk turned his weary gaze toward the
celestial country, the country of purity and peace, and to the King
on his throne, the centre and source of eternal beatitude. The con-
trast, on which he dwelt for a long time, filled him on the one hand
with burning indignation, on the other with entrancing visions and
longings. At last he broke out into magnificent poetry. It is not
possible to translate him into any other language than the Latin in
which he wrote, and preserve any of the grandeur and beauty
which result from the union of ardent thought with almost miracu-
lous music of language. Dr. Neale aptly speaks of the majestic
sweetness which invests Bernard's poem. The expression applies
specially to those passages, abounding in all parts of the poem, in
which he describes the glory and the peace of the better country.
Many of these have been translated or closely imitated by Dr. Neale,
with such excellent effect that several hymns have been constructed
from Dr. Neale's translations, which are very popular in churches of
various denominations. Other portions of the poem, especially those
in which the vices and crimes of Rome are denounced and lashed
with unsparing severity, have never been translated, and are not
likely to be, because of the impossibility of preserving in English
the peculiar force of the metre; and translation without this would
be of small value. The fire of the descriptions of heaven is in-
creased by the contrast in which they stand with descriptions of
Rome in the twelfth century. Here, for example, is a passage
addressed to Rome:-
1
1
«Fas mihi dicere, fas mihi scribere (Roma fuisti,?
Obruta menibus, obruta moribus, occubuisti.
Urbs ruis inclita, tam modo subdita, quam prius alta ;
Quo prius altior, tam modo pressior, et labefacta.
Fas mihi scribere, fas mihi dicere (Roma, peristi. '
Sunt tua menia vociferantia Roma, ruisti. ) »
And here is one addressed to the City of God :-
“O sine luxibus, O sine luctibus, ( sine lite,
Splendida curia, florida patria, patria vitæ.
Urbs Syon inclita, patria condita littore tuto,
Te peto, te colo, te flagro, te volo, canto, saluto. ”
While no translation exists of this remarkable work, nor indeed
can be made to reproduce the power and melody of the original,
.
1
1
## p. 1830 (#634) ###########################################
1830
BERNARD OF CLUNY
yet a very good idea of its spirit may be had from the work of Dr.
J. Mason Neale, who made from selected portions this English poem,
which is very much more than what he modestly called it, “a close
imitation. ” Dr. Neale has made no attempt to reproduce the metre
of the original.
Wt. Rinne
BRIEF LIFE IS HERE OUR PORTION
B
RIEF life is here our portion,
Brief sorrow, short-lived care:
The Life that knows no ending,
The tearless Life, is there:
O happy retribution,
Short toil, eternal rest!
For mortals and for sinners
A mansion with the Blest!
That we should look, poor wanderers,
To have our home on high!
That worms should seek for dwellings
Beyond the starry sky!
And now we fight the battle,
And then we wear the Crown
Of full and everlasting
And passionless renown:
Then glory, yet unheard of,
Shall shed abroad its ray;
Resolving all enigmas,
An endless Sabbath-day.
Then, then, from his oppressors
The Hebrew shall go free,
And celebrate in triumph
The year of Jubilee:
And the sun-lit land that recks not
Of tempest or of fight
Shall fold within its bosom
Each happy Israelite.
'Midst power that knows no limit,
And wisdom free from bound,
## p. 1831 (#635) ###########################################
BERNARD OF CLUNY
1831
The Beatific Vision
Shall glad the Saints around;
And peace, for war is needless,
And rest, for storm is past,
And goal from finished labor,
And anchorage at last.
There God, my King and Portion,
In fullness of His Grace,
Shall we behold forever,
And worship face to face;
There Jacob into Israel,
From earthlier self estranged,
And Leah into Rachel
Forever shall be changed;
There all the halls of Syon
For aye shall be complete:
And in the land of Beauty
All things of beauty meet.
To thee, ( dear, dear country!
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep:
The mention of Thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.
O one, (onely mansion!
() Paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished,
And smiles have no alloy:
Beside thy living waters
All plants are, great and small;
The cedar of the forest,
The hyssop of the wall;
With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz
Unite in thee their rays;
Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethyst unpriced:
Thy saints build up its fabric,
And the Corner-stone is CHRIST.
Thou hast no shore, fair Ocean !
Thou hast no time, bright Day!
1
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## p. 1832 (#636) ###########################################
1832
BERNARD OF CLUNY
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!
Upon the Rock of Ages
They raise thy holy Tower.
Thine is the Victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.
Thou feel'st in mystic rapture,
() Bride that know'st no guile,
The Prince's sweetest kisses,
The Prince's loveliest smile.
Unfading lilies, bracelets
Of living pearl, thine own;
The Lamb is ever near thee,
The Bridegroom thine alone;
And all thine endless leisure
In sweetest accents sings
The ills that were thy merit,
The joys that are thy King's.
Jerusalem the golden!
With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation
Sink heart and voice opprest;
I know not, oh, I know not
What social joys are there,
What radiancy of glory,
What light beyond compare;
And when I fain would sing them,
My spirit fails and faints,
And vainly would it image
The assembly of the Saints.
They stand, those halls of Syon,
All jubilant with song,
And bright with many an Angel,
And many a Martyr throng;
The Prince is ever in them,
The light is aye serene;
The Pastures of the Blessed
Are decked in glorious sheen;
There is the Throne of David,
And there, from toil released,
The shout of them that triumph,
The song of them that feast;
And they, beneath their Leader,
Who conquered in the fight,
## p. 1833 (#637) ###########################################
BERNARD OF CLUNY
1833
For ever and for ever
Are clad in robes of white.
Jerusalem the glorious !
The glory of the elect,
O dear and future vision
That eager hearts expect:
Ev'n now by faith I see thee,
Ev'n here thy walls discern;
To thee my thoughts are kindled
And strive and pant and yearn:
Jerusalem the onely,
That look'st from Heav'n below,
In thee is all my glory,
In me is all my woe:
And though my body may not,
My spirit seeks thee fain;
Till flesh and earth return me
To earth and flesh again.
0 Land that seest no sorrow!
0 State that fear'st no strife!
O princely bowers! 0 Land of Powers!
O realm and Home of Life!
.
1
## p. 1834 (#638) ###########################################
1834
JULIANA BERNERS
(Fifteenth Century)
BOUT the year 1475 one William Caxton, a prosperous English
wool merchant of good standing and repute, began printing
books. The art which he introduced into his native country
was quickly taken up by others; first, it seems, by certain monks at
St. Albans, and shortly afterward by Wynkyn de Worde, who had
been an apprentice to Caxton. In 1486 the press at St. Albans issued
two books printed in English, of which one was entitled "The Boke
of St. Albans. Of this volume only three perfect copies are known
to exist. It is a compilation of treatises on
hawking, on hunting, and on heraldry, and
contained but little evidence as to their
authorship. Ten years later Wynkyn de
Worde reprinted the work with additions,
under the following elaborate title, in the
fashion of the time: -'Treatyse perteyn-
ynge to Hawkynge, Huntynge, and Fyssh-
ynge with an Angle; also a right noble
Treatyse on the Lynage of Coote Armeris;
ending with a Treatyse which specyfyeth
of Blasyng of Armys. '
JULIANA BERNERS
The authorship of this volume, one of
the earliest books printed in the English
language, has generally been ascribed to a certain (or uncertain)
Juliana Berners, Bernes, or Barnes, who lived in the early part of
the fifteenth century, and who is reputed to have been prioress of the
Nunnery of Sopwell, - long since in ruins, - near St. Albans, and
close to the little river Ver, which still conceals in its quiet pools
the speckled trout. If this attribution be correct, Dame Berners was
the first woman to write a book in English. Although the question
of the authorship is by no means settled, yet it is clear that the
printer believed the treatise on hunting to have been written by this
lady, and the critics now generally assign a portion at least of the
volume to her. In the sixteenth century the book became very
popular, and was reprinted many times.
Of the several treatises it contains, that on fishing has the
greatest interest, an interest increased by the fact that it probably
suggested “The Compleat Angler' of Izaak Walton, which appeared
one hundred and sixty years later.
## p. 1835 (#639) ###########################################
JULIANA BERNERS
1835
HERE BEGYNNYTH
THE TREATYSE OF FYSSHYNGE WYTH AN ANGLE
SALE
ALOMON in his parablys sayth that a glad spyryte makyth a
flourynge aege, that is a fayre aege and a longe. And syth
it is soo: I aske this questyon, whiche ben the meanes and
the causes that enduce a man in to a mery spyryte: Truly to my
beste dyscrecon it seemeth good dysportes and honest gamys in
whom a man Joyeth without any repentaunce after.
Thenne folowyth it yt gode dysportes and honest games ben
cause of mannys fayr aege and longe life. And therefore now
woll I chose of foure good disportes and honest gamys, that is to
wyte: of huntynge: hawkynge: fysshynge: and foulynge. The
best to my symple dyscrecon whyche is fysshynge: called Ang-
lynge wyth a rodde: and a lyne and an hoke. And thereof to
treate as my symple wytte may suffyce: both for the said reason
of Salomon and also for the reason that phisyk makyth in this
wyse. Si tibi deficiant medici tibi fiant: hec tria mens leta labor
et modcrata dieta. Ye shall vnderstonde that this is for to saye,
Yf a man lacke leche or medicyne he shall make thre thynges
his leche and medycyne: and he shall nede neuer no moo. The
fyrste of theym is a mery thought. The seconde is labour not
outrageo. The thyrd is dyete mesurable.
Here folowyth the order made to all those whiche shall haue
the vnderstondynge of this forsayd treatyse & vse it for theyr
pleasures.
Ye that can angle & take fysshe to your pleasures as this
forsayd treatyse techyth & shewyth you: I charge & requyre
you in the name of alle noble men that ye fysshe not in noo
poore mannes seuerall water: as his ponde: stewe:
or other
necessary thynges to kepe fysshe in wythout his lycence & good
wyll. Nor that ye vse not to breke noo mannys gynnys lyenge
in theyr weares & in other places dve vuto theym. Ne to take
the fysshe awaye that is taken in theym. For after a fysshe is
taken in a mannys gynne yf the gynne be layed in the comyn
waters: or elles in suche waters as he hireth, it is his owne
propre goodes.
And yf ye take it awaye ye robbe hym: whyche
is a ryght shamfull dede to ony noble man to do yt that theuys
& brybours done: whyche are punysshed for theyr evyll dedes
by the necke & other wyse whan they maye be aspyed &
taken. And also yf ye do in lyke manere as this treatise
## p. 1836 (#640) ###########################################
1836
JULIANA BERNERS
Also ye
shewyth you: ye shal haue no nede to take of other menys:
whiles ye shal haue ynough of your owne takyng yf ye lyste to
labour therfore. Whyche shall be to you a very pleasure to se
the fayr bryght shynynge scalyd fysshes dysceyved by your
crafty meanes & drawen vpon londe. Also that ye breke noo
mannys heggys in goynge abowte your dysportes: ne opyn
noo mannes gates but that ye shytte theym agayn.
shall not vse this forsayd crafty dysporte for no covety senes to
thencreasynge & sparynge of your money oonly, but pryncypally
for your solace & to cause the helthe of your body, and spe-
cyally of your soule. For whanne ye purpoos to goo on your
disportes in fysshyng ye woll not desyre gretly many persones
wyth you, whiche myghte lette you of your game.
And thenne
ye maye serue God deuowtly in sayenge affectuously youre cus-
tumable prayer.
And thus doynge ye shall eschewe & voyde
many vices, as ydylnes whyche is pryncypall cause to enduce
man to many other vyces, as it is ryght well knowen.
Also ye shall not be to rauenous in takyng of your sayd
game as to moche at one tyme: whyche ye maye lyghtly doo,
yf ye doo in euery poynt as this present treatyse shewyth you in
euery poynt, whyche lyghtly be occasyon to dystroye your owne
dysportes & other mennys also. As whan ye haue a suffycyent
mese ye sholde coveyte nomore as at that tyme. Also ye shall
besye yourselfe to nouryssh the game in all that ye maye: & to
dystroye all such thynges as ben devourers of it. And all those
that done after this rule shall haue the blessynge of god &
saynt Petyr, whyche be theym graunte that wyth his precyous
blood vs boughte.
And for by cause that this present treatyse sholde not come to
the hondys of eche ydle persone whyche wolde desire it yf it
were enpryntyd allone by itself & put in a lytyll plaunflet ther-
fore I have compylyd it in a greter volume of dyverse bokys
concernynge to gentyll & noble men to the entent that the for-
sayd ydle persones whyche sholde have but lytyll mesure in the
sayd dysporte of fyshyng sholde not by this meane utterly
dystroye it.
EMPRYNTED
AT WESTMESTRE BY WYNKYN THE WORDE THE YERE THYN-
CARNACON OF OUR LORD M. CCCC. LXXXXVI.
Reprinted by Thomas White, Crane Court
MDCCCXXVII.
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wherewithal we condescend to be clothed. · The monk and the
knight cut their garments, the one his cowl, the other his cloak,
from the same piece. No secular person, however great, whether
king or emperor, would be disgusted at our vestments if they
were only cut and fitted to his requirements.
But, say you,
religion is in the heart, not in the garments ?
True; but you,
when you are about to buy a cowl, rush over the towns, visit the
as
## p. 1824 (#628) ###########################################
1824
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
markets, examine the fairs, dive into the houses of the merchants,
turn over all their goods, undo their bundles of cloth, feel it with
your fingers, hold it to your eyes or to the rays of the sun, and
if anything coarse or faded appears, you reject it. But if you are
pleased with any object of unusual beauty or brightness, you at
once buy it, whatever the price. I ask you, Does this come from
the heart, or your simplicity ?
I wonder that our abbots allow these things, unless it arises
from the fact that no one is apt to blame any error with confi-
dence if he cannot trust in his own freedom from the same; and
it is a right human quality to forgive without much anger those
self-indulgences in others for which we ourselves have the strong-
est inclination. How is the light of the world overshadowed!
Those whose lives should have been the way of life to us, by
the example they give of pride, become blind leaders of the
blind. What a specimen of humility is that, to march with such
pomp and retinue, to be surrounded with such an escort of hairy
men, so that one abbot has about him people enough for two
bishops. I lie not when I say, I have seen an abbot with sixty
horses after him, and even more. Would you not think, as you
see them pass, that they were not fathers of monasteries, but
lords of castles — not shepherds of souls, but princes of prov-
inces? Then there is the baggage, containing table-cloths, and
cups and basins, and candlesticks, and well-filled wallets - not
with the coverlets, but the ornaments of the beds.
My lord
abbot can never go more than four leagues from his home with-
out taking all his furniture with him, as if he were going to
the wars, or about to cross a desert where necessaries cannot be
had. Is it quite impossible to wash one's hands in, and drink
from, the same vessel ? Will not your candle burn anywhere
but in that gold or silver candlestick of yours, which you carry
with you? Is sleep impossible except upon a variegated mat-
tress, or under a foreign coverlet? Could not one servant har-
ness the mule, wait at dinner, and make the bed ?
If such a
multitude of men and horses is indispensable, why not at least
carry with us our necessaries, and thus avoid the severe burden
we are to our hosts?
By the sight of wonderful and costly vanities men
prompted to give, rather than to pray. Some beautiful picture
of a saint is exhibited and the brighter the colors the greater
the holiness attributed to it: men run, eager to kiss; they are
are
## p. 1825 (#629) ###########################################
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
1825
near
invited to give, and the beautiful is more admired than the
sacred is revered. In the churches are suspended, not corona,
but wheels studded with gems and surrounded by lights, which
are scarcely brighter than the precious stones which are
them. Instead of candlesticks, we behold great trees of brass
fashioned with wonderful skill, and glittering as much through
their jewels as their lights. What do you suppose is the object
of all this? The repentance of the contrite, or the admiration
of the gazers ? O vanity of vanities! but not more vain than
foolish. The church's walls are resplendent, but the poor are
not there.
The curious find wherewith to amuse them-
selves; the wretched find no stay for them in their misery.
Why at least do we not reverence the images of the saints,
with which the very pavement we walk on is covered ? Often
an angel's mouth is spit into, and the face of some saint trodden
on by passers-by.
But if we cannot do without the
images, why can we not spare the brilliant colors ? What has
all this to do with monks, with professors of poverty, with men
of spiritual minds?
Again, in the cloisters, what is the meaning of those ridicu-
lous monsters, of that deformed beauty, that beautiful deformity,
before the very eyes of the brethren when reading? What are
disgusting monkeys there for, or satyrs, or ferocious lions, or
monstrous centaurs, or spotted tigers, or fighting soldiers, or
huntsmen sounding the bugle ? You may see there one head
with many bodies, or one body with numerous heads. Here is
a quadruped with a serpent's tail; there is a fish with a beast's
head; there a creature, in front a horse, behind a goat; another
has horns at one end, and a horse's tail at the other. In fact,
such an endless variety of forms appears everywhere, that it is
more pleasant to read in the stonework than in books, and to
spend the day in admiring these oddities than in meditating on
the law of God. Good God! if we are not ashamed of these
absurdities, why do we not grieve at the cost of them ?
III-115
## p. 1826 (#630) ###########################################
1826
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
FROM HIS SERMON ON THE DEATH OF GERARD
“As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. ” — Sol. Song i. 5
PER
ERHAPS both members of the comparison — viz. , “As the tents
of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon ” — refer only to the
first words, "I am black. ” It may be, however, that the
simile is extended to both clauses, and each is compared with
each. The former sense is the more simple, the latter the more
obscure. Let us try both, beginning with the latter, which seems
the more difficult. There is no difficulty, however, in the first
comparison, “I am black as the tents of Kedar,” but only in the
last. For Kedar, which is interpreted to mean “darkness or
"gloom," may be compared with blackness justly enough; but
the curtains of Solomon are not so easily likened to beauty.
Moreover, who does not see that “tents” fit harmoniously with
the comparison ? For what is the meaning of “tents” except
our bodies, in which we sojourn for a time? Nor have we an
abiding city, but we seek one to come. In our bodies, as under
tents, we carry on warfare. Truly, we are violent to take the
kingdom. Indeed, the life of man here on earth is a warfare;
and as long as we do battle in this body, we are absent from
the Lord, - i. e. , from the light. For the Lord is light; and so
far as any one is not in Him, so far he is in darkness, i. l. , in
Kedar. Let each one then acknowledge the sorrowful exclama-
tion as his own:-“Woe is me that my sojourn is prolonged! I
have dwelt with those who dwell in Kedar. My soul hath long
sojourned in a strange land. ” Therefore this habitation of the
body is not the mansion of the citizen, nor the house of the
native, but either the soldier's tent or the traveler's inn. This
body, I say, is a tent, and a tent of Kedar, because, by its inter-
ference, it prevents the soul from beholding the infinite light, nor
does it allow her to see the light at all, except through a glass
darkly, and not face to face.
Do you not see whence blackness comes to the Church
whence a certain rust cleaves to even the fairest souls ? Doubt-
less it comes from the tents of Kedar, from the practice of
laborious warfare, from the long continuance of a painful so-
journ, from the straits of our grievous exile, from our feeble,
cumbersome bodies; for the corruptible body presseth down the
soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that
## p. 1827 (#631) ###########################################
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
1827
museth upon many things. Therefore the souls' desire to be
loosed, that being freed from the body they may fly into the
embraces of Christ. Wherefore one of the miserable ones said,
groaning, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death! ” For a soul of this kind knoweth
that, while in the tents of Kedar, she cannot be entirely free
from spot or wrinkle, nor from stains of blackness, and wishes
to go forth and to put them off. And here we have the reason
why the spouse calls herself black as the tents of Kedar. But
now, how is she beautiful as the curtains of Solomon ? Behind
these curtains I feel that an indescribable holiness and sub-
limity are veiled, which I dare not presume to touch, save at
the command of Him who shrouded and sealed the mystery.
For I have read, He that is a searcher of Majesty shall be over-
whelmed with the glory. I pass on therefore. It will devolve
on you, meanwhile, to obtain grace by your prayers, that we
may the more readily, because more confidently, recur to a sub-
ject which needs attentive minds; and it may be that the pious
knocker at the door will discover what the bold explorer seeks
in vain.
## p. 1828 (#632) ###########################################
1828
BERNARD OF CLUNY
Twelfth Century
BY WILLIAM C. PRIME
ITTLE is known concerning the monk Bernard, sometimes
called Bernard of Morlay and sometimes Bernard of Cluny.
The former name is probably derived from the place of his
origin, the latter from the fact that in the introduction to his poem
De Contemptu Mundi' he describes himself as a brother of the
monks of Cluny. He lived in the twelfth century, a period of much
learning in the church; and that he was himself a man of broad
scholarship and brilliant abilities, the Latin poem, his only surviving
work, abundantly testifies.
This poem, divided int ree books, consists in all of about three
thousand lines. It is introduced by a short address in prose to
Father Peter, the abbot of the monastery, in which the author
describes the peculiar operations of his mind in undertaking and
accomplishing his marvelous poem. He believes and asserts, “not
arrogantly, but in all humility and therefore boldly, that he had
divine aid. "Unless the spirit of wisdom and understanding had been
with me and filled me, I had never been able to construct so long a
work in such a difficult metre. ”
This metre is peculiar. In technical terms each line consists of
three parts: the first part including two dactyls, the second part two
dactyls, the third part one dactyl and one trochee. The final trochee,
a long and a short syllable, rhymes with the following or preceding
line. There is also a rhyme, in each line, of the second dactyl with
the fourth. This will be made plain to the ordinary reader by
quoting the first two lines of the poem, divided into feet:-
Hora no | vissima | tempora | pessima | sunt, vigi | lemus;
Ecce mi | naciter | imminet | arbiter | ille su | premus.
The adoption of such a metre would seem to be a clog on flexi-
bility and force of expression. But in this poem it is not so. The
author rejoices in absolute freedom of diction. The rhythm and
rhyme alike lend themselves to the uses, now of bitter satire and
revilings, now of overpowering hope and exultant joy.
The title scarcely gives an idea of the subject matter of the
The old Benedictine, living for the time in his cell, had
nevertheless known the world of his day, had lived in it and be
poem.
## p. 1829 (#633) ###########################################
BERNARD OF CLUNY
1829
of it. It was an evil world, full of shames and crimes, full of moils,
deceits, and abominations. The church, from the Pontiff at its head
to the lowest order of its organization, was corrupt, venal, shameless.
Rome was the centre and the soul of this accursed world. Ponder-
ing on these conditions, the monk turned his weary gaze toward the
celestial country, the country of purity and peace, and to the King
on his throne, the centre and source of eternal beatitude. The con-
trast, on which he dwelt for a long time, filled him on the one hand
with burning indignation, on the other with entrancing visions and
longings. At last he broke out into magnificent poetry. It is not
possible to translate him into any other language than the Latin in
which he wrote, and preserve any of the grandeur and beauty
which result from the union of ardent thought with almost miracu-
lous music of language. Dr. Neale aptly speaks of the majestic
sweetness which invests Bernard's poem. The expression applies
specially to those passages, abounding in all parts of the poem, in
which he describes the glory and the peace of the better country.
Many of these have been translated or closely imitated by Dr. Neale,
with such excellent effect that several hymns have been constructed
from Dr. Neale's translations, which are very popular in churches of
various denominations. Other portions of the poem, especially those
in which the vices and crimes of Rome are denounced and lashed
with unsparing severity, have never been translated, and are not
likely to be, because of the impossibility of preserving in English
the peculiar force of the metre; and translation without this would
be of small value. The fire of the descriptions of heaven is in-
creased by the contrast in which they stand with descriptions of
Rome in the twelfth century. Here, for example, is a passage
addressed to Rome:-
1
1
«Fas mihi dicere, fas mihi scribere (Roma fuisti,?
Obruta menibus, obruta moribus, occubuisti.
Urbs ruis inclita, tam modo subdita, quam prius alta ;
Quo prius altior, tam modo pressior, et labefacta.
Fas mihi scribere, fas mihi dicere (Roma, peristi. '
Sunt tua menia vociferantia Roma, ruisti. ) »
And here is one addressed to the City of God :-
“O sine luxibus, O sine luctibus, ( sine lite,
Splendida curia, florida patria, patria vitæ.
Urbs Syon inclita, patria condita littore tuto,
Te peto, te colo, te flagro, te volo, canto, saluto. ”
While no translation exists of this remarkable work, nor indeed
can be made to reproduce the power and melody of the original,
.
1
1
## p. 1830 (#634) ###########################################
1830
BERNARD OF CLUNY
yet a very good idea of its spirit may be had from the work of Dr.
J. Mason Neale, who made from selected portions this English poem,
which is very much more than what he modestly called it, “a close
imitation. ” Dr. Neale has made no attempt to reproduce the metre
of the original.
Wt. Rinne
BRIEF LIFE IS HERE OUR PORTION
B
RIEF life is here our portion,
Brief sorrow, short-lived care:
The Life that knows no ending,
The tearless Life, is there:
O happy retribution,
Short toil, eternal rest!
For mortals and for sinners
A mansion with the Blest!
That we should look, poor wanderers,
To have our home on high!
That worms should seek for dwellings
Beyond the starry sky!
And now we fight the battle,
And then we wear the Crown
Of full and everlasting
And passionless renown:
Then glory, yet unheard of,
Shall shed abroad its ray;
Resolving all enigmas,
An endless Sabbath-day.
Then, then, from his oppressors
The Hebrew shall go free,
And celebrate in triumph
The year of Jubilee:
And the sun-lit land that recks not
Of tempest or of fight
Shall fold within its bosom
Each happy Israelite.
'Midst power that knows no limit,
And wisdom free from bound,
## p. 1831 (#635) ###########################################
BERNARD OF CLUNY
1831
The Beatific Vision
Shall glad the Saints around;
And peace, for war is needless,
And rest, for storm is past,
And goal from finished labor,
And anchorage at last.
There God, my King and Portion,
In fullness of His Grace,
Shall we behold forever,
And worship face to face;
There Jacob into Israel,
From earthlier self estranged,
And Leah into Rachel
Forever shall be changed;
There all the halls of Syon
For aye shall be complete:
And in the land of Beauty
All things of beauty meet.
To thee, ( dear, dear country!
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep:
The mention of Thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.
O one, (onely mansion!
() Paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished,
And smiles have no alloy:
Beside thy living waters
All plants are, great and small;
The cedar of the forest,
The hyssop of the wall;
With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz
Unite in thee their rays;
Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethyst unpriced:
Thy saints build up its fabric,
And the Corner-stone is CHRIST.
Thou hast no shore, fair Ocean !
Thou hast no time, bright Day!
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## p. 1832 (#636) ###########################################
1832
BERNARD OF CLUNY
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!
Upon the Rock of Ages
They raise thy holy Tower.
Thine is the Victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.
Thou feel'st in mystic rapture,
() Bride that know'st no guile,
The Prince's sweetest kisses,
The Prince's loveliest smile.
Unfading lilies, bracelets
Of living pearl, thine own;
The Lamb is ever near thee,
The Bridegroom thine alone;
And all thine endless leisure
In sweetest accents sings
The ills that were thy merit,
The joys that are thy King's.
Jerusalem the golden!
With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation
Sink heart and voice opprest;
I know not, oh, I know not
What social joys are there,
What radiancy of glory,
What light beyond compare;
And when I fain would sing them,
My spirit fails and faints,
And vainly would it image
The assembly of the Saints.
They stand, those halls of Syon,
All jubilant with song,
And bright with many an Angel,
And many a Martyr throng;
The Prince is ever in them,
The light is aye serene;
The Pastures of the Blessed
Are decked in glorious sheen;
There is the Throne of David,
And there, from toil released,
The shout of them that triumph,
The song of them that feast;
And they, beneath their Leader,
Who conquered in the fight,
## p. 1833 (#637) ###########################################
BERNARD OF CLUNY
1833
For ever and for ever
Are clad in robes of white.
Jerusalem the glorious !
The glory of the elect,
O dear and future vision
That eager hearts expect:
Ev'n now by faith I see thee,
Ev'n here thy walls discern;
To thee my thoughts are kindled
And strive and pant and yearn:
Jerusalem the onely,
That look'st from Heav'n below,
In thee is all my glory,
In me is all my woe:
And though my body may not,
My spirit seeks thee fain;
Till flesh and earth return me
To earth and flesh again.
0 Land that seest no sorrow!
0 State that fear'st no strife!
O princely bowers! 0 Land of Powers!
O realm and Home of Life!
.
1
## p. 1834 (#638) ###########################################
1834
JULIANA BERNERS
(Fifteenth Century)
BOUT the year 1475 one William Caxton, a prosperous English
wool merchant of good standing and repute, began printing
books. The art which he introduced into his native country
was quickly taken up by others; first, it seems, by certain monks at
St. Albans, and shortly afterward by Wynkyn de Worde, who had
been an apprentice to Caxton. In 1486 the press at St. Albans issued
two books printed in English, of which one was entitled "The Boke
of St. Albans. Of this volume only three perfect copies are known
to exist. It is a compilation of treatises on
hawking, on hunting, and on heraldry, and
contained but little evidence as to their
authorship. Ten years later Wynkyn de
Worde reprinted the work with additions,
under the following elaborate title, in the
fashion of the time: -'Treatyse perteyn-
ynge to Hawkynge, Huntynge, and Fyssh-
ynge with an Angle; also a right noble
Treatyse on the Lynage of Coote Armeris;
ending with a Treatyse which specyfyeth
of Blasyng of Armys. '
JULIANA BERNERS
The authorship of this volume, one of
the earliest books printed in the English
language, has generally been ascribed to a certain (or uncertain)
Juliana Berners, Bernes, or Barnes, who lived in the early part of
the fifteenth century, and who is reputed to have been prioress of the
Nunnery of Sopwell, - long since in ruins, - near St. Albans, and
close to the little river Ver, which still conceals in its quiet pools
the speckled trout. If this attribution be correct, Dame Berners was
the first woman to write a book in English. Although the question
of the authorship is by no means settled, yet it is clear that the
printer believed the treatise on hunting to have been written by this
lady, and the critics now generally assign a portion at least of the
volume to her. In the sixteenth century the book became very
popular, and was reprinted many times.
Of the several treatises it contains, that on fishing has the
greatest interest, an interest increased by the fact that it probably
suggested “The Compleat Angler' of Izaak Walton, which appeared
one hundred and sixty years later.
## p. 1835 (#639) ###########################################
JULIANA BERNERS
1835
HERE BEGYNNYTH
THE TREATYSE OF FYSSHYNGE WYTH AN ANGLE
SALE
ALOMON in his parablys sayth that a glad spyryte makyth a
flourynge aege, that is a fayre aege and a longe. And syth
it is soo: I aske this questyon, whiche ben the meanes and
the causes that enduce a man in to a mery spyryte: Truly to my
beste dyscrecon it seemeth good dysportes and honest gamys in
whom a man Joyeth without any repentaunce after.
Thenne folowyth it yt gode dysportes and honest games ben
cause of mannys fayr aege and longe life. And therefore now
woll I chose of foure good disportes and honest gamys, that is to
wyte: of huntynge: hawkynge: fysshynge: and foulynge. The
best to my symple dyscrecon whyche is fysshynge: called Ang-
lynge wyth a rodde: and a lyne and an hoke. And thereof to
treate as my symple wytte may suffyce: both for the said reason
of Salomon and also for the reason that phisyk makyth in this
wyse. Si tibi deficiant medici tibi fiant: hec tria mens leta labor
et modcrata dieta. Ye shall vnderstonde that this is for to saye,
Yf a man lacke leche or medicyne he shall make thre thynges
his leche and medycyne: and he shall nede neuer no moo. The
fyrste of theym is a mery thought. The seconde is labour not
outrageo. The thyrd is dyete mesurable.
Here folowyth the order made to all those whiche shall haue
the vnderstondynge of this forsayd treatyse & vse it for theyr
pleasures.
Ye that can angle & take fysshe to your pleasures as this
forsayd treatyse techyth & shewyth you: I charge & requyre
you in the name of alle noble men that ye fysshe not in noo
poore mannes seuerall water: as his ponde: stewe:
or other
necessary thynges to kepe fysshe in wythout his lycence & good
wyll. Nor that ye vse not to breke noo mannys gynnys lyenge
in theyr weares & in other places dve vuto theym. Ne to take
the fysshe awaye that is taken in theym. For after a fysshe is
taken in a mannys gynne yf the gynne be layed in the comyn
waters: or elles in suche waters as he hireth, it is his owne
propre goodes.
And yf ye take it awaye ye robbe hym: whyche
is a ryght shamfull dede to ony noble man to do yt that theuys
& brybours done: whyche are punysshed for theyr evyll dedes
by the necke & other wyse whan they maye be aspyed &
taken. And also yf ye do in lyke manere as this treatise
## p. 1836 (#640) ###########################################
1836
JULIANA BERNERS
Also ye
shewyth you: ye shal haue no nede to take of other menys:
whiles ye shal haue ynough of your owne takyng yf ye lyste to
labour therfore. Whyche shall be to you a very pleasure to se
the fayr bryght shynynge scalyd fysshes dysceyved by your
crafty meanes & drawen vpon londe. Also that ye breke noo
mannys heggys in goynge abowte your dysportes: ne opyn
noo mannes gates but that ye shytte theym agayn.
shall not vse this forsayd crafty dysporte for no covety senes to
thencreasynge & sparynge of your money oonly, but pryncypally
for your solace & to cause the helthe of your body, and spe-
cyally of your soule. For whanne ye purpoos to goo on your
disportes in fysshyng ye woll not desyre gretly many persones
wyth you, whiche myghte lette you of your game.
And thenne
ye maye serue God deuowtly in sayenge affectuously youre cus-
tumable prayer.
And thus doynge ye shall eschewe & voyde
many vices, as ydylnes whyche is pryncypall cause to enduce
man to many other vyces, as it is ryght well knowen.
Also ye shall not be to rauenous in takyng of your sayd
game as to moche at one tyme: whyche ye maye lyghtly doo,
yf ye doo in euery poynt as this present treatyse shewyth you in
euery poynt, whyche lyghtly be occasyon to dystroye your owne
dysportes & other mennys also. As whan ye haue a suffycyent
mese ye sholde coveyte nomore as at that tyme. Also ye shall
besye yourselfe to nouryssh the game in all that ye maye: & to
dystroye all such thynges as ben devourers of it. And all those
that done after this rule shall haue the blessynge of god &
saynt Petyr, whyche be theym graunte that wyth his precyous
blood vs boughte.
And for by cause that this present treatyse sholde not come to
the hondys of eche ydle persone whyche wolde desire it yf it
were enpryntyd allone by itself & put in a lytyll plaunflet ther-
fore I have compylyd it in a greter volume of dyverse bokys
concernynge to gentyll & noble men to the entent that the for-
sayd ydle persones whyche sholde have but lytyll mesure in the
sayd dysporte of fyshyng sholde not by this meane utterly
dystroye it.
EMPRYNTED
AT WESTMESTRE BY WYNKYN THE WORDE THE YERE THYN-
CARNACON OF OUR LORD M. CCCC. LXXXXVI.
Reprinted by Thomas White, Crane Court
MDCCCXXVII.
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