| from "THE PHOENIX" | lines 1-84 |
| Anon. | trans. Louis Rodrigues (from Anglo-Saxon) |
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Hæbbe ic gefrugnen...... þætte is feorr heonan eastdælum on...... æþelast londa firum gefræge....... Nis se foldan sceat ofer middangeard...... mongum gefere foldagendra,...... ac he afyrred is þurh Meotudes meaht...... manfremmendum. Wlitig is se wong eall,...... wynnum geblissad, mid þam fægrestum...... foldan stencum. Ænlic is þæt iglond,...... æþele se Wyrhta, modig, meahtum spedig,...... se þæ moldan gesette. Ðær bið oft open...... eadgum togeanes, onhliden hleoþra wynn,...... heofonrices duru. Þæt is wynsum wong,...... wealdas grene, rume under roderum....... Ne mæg þær ren ne snaw, ne forstes fnæst,...... ne fyres blæst, ne hægles hryre,...... ne hrimes dryre, ne sunnan hætu,...... ne sincieldu, ne wearm weder,...... ne winterscur wihte gewyrdan;...... ae se wong seomað eadig and onsund....... Is þæt æþele lond blostmum geblowen....... Beorgas þær ne muntas steape ne stondað,...... ne stanclifu heah hlifiað,...... swa her mid us, ne dene ne dalu,...... ne dunscrafu, hlæwas ne hlincas,...... ne þær hleonað oo unsmeþes wiht;...... ac se æþela feld wridað under wolcnum...... wynnum geblowen. Is þæt torhte lond...... twelfum herra folde fæðmrimes,......swa us gefreogun gleawe witgan purh wisdom...... on gewritum cyþað, þonne ænig þara beorga......þe her beorhte mid us hea hlifiað,...... under heofontunglum. Smylte is se sigewong,...... sunnbearo lixeð, wuduholt wynlic:...... wæstmas ne dreosað, beorhte blede,...... ac þa beamas a grene stondað,......swa him God bibead; wintres and sumeres...... wudu bið gelice bledum gehongen;...... næfre brosniað leaf under lyfte,...... ne him lig sceþeð æfre to ealdre,...... ær son edwenden worulde geweorðe....... Swa iu wætres þrymm ealne middangeard,...... mereflod þeahte eorðan ymbhwyrft,...... þa se æpela wong æghwæs onsund...... wið yðfare gehealden stod...... hreora wæga eadig, unwemme,...... þurh est Godes: bideð swa geblowen...... oð bæles cyme, Dryhtnes domes,......þonne deaðræced, hæleþa heolstorcofan,...... onhliden weorþað. Nis þær on þam londe...... laðeniðla, ne wop ne wracu,......weatacen nan, yldu ne yrmðu,...... ne se enga deað, ne lifes lyre...... ne laþes cyme, ne synn ne sacu,......ne sar wracu, ne wædle gewinn...... ne welan onsyn, ne sorg ne slæp,...... ne swar leger, ne wintergeweorp,...... ne wedra gebregd hreoh under heofonum,...... ne se hearda forst caldum cylegicelum...... cnyseð ænigne. Þær ne hægl ne hrim...... hreosað to foldan, ne windig wolcen,...... ne þær wæter fealleþ lyfte gebysgad;...... ac þær lagustreamas, wundrum wrættlice...... wyllan onspringað, fægrum flodwylmum......foldan leccaþ, wæter wynsumu......of þæs wuda midle, þa monþa gehwam...... of þære moldan tyrf brimcald brecað,...... bearo ealne geondfarað bragum þrymlice:...... is þæt þeodnes gebod þætte twelf siþum...... þæt firfæste lond geondlace...... lagufloda wynn. Sindon þa bearwas...... bledum gehongene wlitigum wæstmum:...... þær ne waniað o halge under heofonum...... holtes frætwe, ne feallað þær on foldan......fealwe blostman, wudubeama wlite;...... ac þær beoð wrættlice on þam treowum symle...... telgan gehladene, ofett edniwe...... in ealle tid. On þam græswonge...... grene stondaþ gehroden hyhtlice...... Haliges meahtum beorhtast bearwa...... No gebrocen weorþeð holt on hiwe,...... þær se halga stenc wunap geond wynnlond;...... þæt onwended ne bið æfre to ealdre,...... ær þon endige frod fyrngeweorc,...... se hit on frymþe gesceop. ................ ................ |
I have heard tell there lies far hence, in eastern parts, the loveliest of lands, famed among folk. That expanse of earth is not accessible to many potentates across the æorld; for, it is set apart from sinful men through the might of God. Lovely that land, delightfully dowered with earth's sweetest scents; matchless that isle; noble the Maker, proud, rich in power, who stablished that land. There Heaven's portals ever stand open with songs of rapture revealed to the blest. That plain is winsome: green woods spread under the skies. There nor rain, nor snow, nor frost's breath, nor fire's blast, nor hail's fall, nor rime's fall, nor sun's heat, nor ceaseless cold, nor warm weather, nor wintry shower work harm a whit, but the plain endures unscathed and sound. That lovely land blooms with blossoms. No hills or mountains there stand steep, nor stony cliffs rise high, as here with us: no dells, no dales, no mouptain-caves, no mounds, no dunes, nor aught unsmooth, lie there; but that pleasant plain thrives beneath the sky, blooms blissfully. That radiant land, that region, is twelve cubits higher (so sages from their studies tell us wisely in their writings) than any of the hills which here with us rise brightly under the heavenly stars. Serene is that plain: the sunny groves shine, the winsome woods: fruits do not fall, bright blossoms, but the trees ever stand green, as God bade them. Winter and summer alike the wood is laden with fruit. Leaf shall not fade under the sky nor fire scathe ever, ere the end comes to the world. As once the water's rush, the sea-flood, whelmed all middle-earth, earth's circuit, then that noble plain by the grace of God stood all secure, happy, unhurt, no whit harmed by the billowy rush of those wild waves. Thus it shall flourish, till the fire comes, the Judgment of God, when graves shall yawn. death-dwellings of men. There is no loathsome foe in that land, no weeping or pain or sign of woe, no age or anguish or narrow death, no loss of life or onset of evil, no sin or strife or misery, no pressure of want or lack of wealth, no sorrow or sleep or sore disease, no wintry squall or stormy weather fierce under heaven; no bitter frost with freezing icicles smites any man. There no hail or hoarfrost falls to earth, no wind-blown cloud; no water falls driven by gusts, but there the streams, wondrous strange, gush welling forth; fair fountains, from the forests' midst, winsome waters, irrigate the land; every month from the earth's turf they gush sea-cold, traverse the grove gloriously in season. It is God's behest that twelve times through that glorious land the joyous water-floods should flow. The groves are girt with blossoming, beautiful fruits; the forest's ornaments. holy under heaven, never wither there; nor do fallow flowers that grace the trees fall to earth; but there, in wondrous wise, the boughs on the trees are ever lade with fruit, fresh through all time, Green on that grassy plain there stands, gaily garnished by God's holy might, the brightest of groves. No breach of hue mars the holt; there sacred fragrance fills the land; never shall it suffer change to the fullness of time, ere He who first shaped it shall end His ancient work. ................ ................ |
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Transl. copyright © Louis J. Rodrigues, 1996 - publ. Llanerch Publishers
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