| from "THE POET'S EPILOGUE" | from "THE DREAM OF THE ROOD" |
| Anon. | trans. Louis J. Rodrigues (from Anglo-Saxon) |
|
Gebæd ic me þa to þan beame .... bliðe mode, elne mycle, .... þær ic ana wæs mæte werede. .... Wæs modsefa afysed on forðwege; .... feala ealra gebad langung-hwila. .... Is me nu lifes hyht þæt ic þone sigebeam .... secan mote ana oftor .... þonne ealle men, well weorþian. .... Me is willa to ðam mycel on mode, .... ond min mundbyrd is geriht to þære rode. .... Nah ic ricra feala freonda on foldan. .... Ac hie forð heonon gewiton on worulde dreamum, .... sohton him wuldres Cyning; lifiaþ nu on heofenum .... mid Heahfædere, wuniaþ on wuldre. .... Ond ic wene me daga gehwylce .... hwænne me Dryhtnes rod, þe ic her on eorðan .... ær sceawode, on þysson lænan .... life gefetige ond me þonne gebringe .... þær is blis mycel, dream on heofonum, .... þær is Dryhtnes folc geseted to symle, .... þær is singal blis; ond he þonne asette .... þær ic syþþan mot wunian on wuldre, .... well mid þam halgum dreames brucan. .... Si me Dryhten freond, se ðe her on eorþan .... ær þrowode on þam gealgtreowe .... for guman synnum. He us onlysde .... ond us lif forgeaf, heofonlicne ham. ............ ............ |
Glad at heart I turned then to the tree greatly courageous, when I was alone with a small band. My spirit was eager to depart; I endured much in all my time of longing. It is now my life's delight that I can seek the victory-tree alone, more often than all other men, to worship worthily. My wish for that is much in mind, and my protection is rightly with the rood. I have not many rich friends on earth. They have fled hence, from world's delights sought the glorious King; they dwell in heaven with the Father now, abide in bliss. And each day I look for when the cross of Christ, which here on earth I formerly beheld, will take me from this transient life and bring me where delight is great, joy in heaven, where God's folk are set at a feast where gladness knows no end; and He then place me where I later may dwell in splendour, freely with the saints partake of pleasure. Be a friend to me, O Lord, who here on earth once suffered on the gallows-tree for sins of men. He liberated us and gave us life, a heavenly home. ............ ............ |
Copyright © Louis J. Rodrigues - publ. Llanerch Publishers