"Columba aspexit" by Hildegard of Bingen, translated by Peter Dronke

Columba aspexit

[original text in Latin]

Columba aspexit

per cancellos fenestrae,

ubi ante faciem eius

sudando sudavit balsamum

de lucido Maximino.

Calor solis exarsit

et in tenebras resplenduit,

unde gemma surrexit

in edificatione templi

purissimi cordis benivoli.

Iste, turris excelsa

de ligno Libani et cipresso facta,

iacincto et sardio ornata est,

urbs precellens artes

aliorum artificum.

Ipse, velox cervus,

cucurrit ad fontem purissime aque

fluentis de fortissimo lapide,

qui dulcia aromata irrigavit.

O pigmentarii!

qui estis in suavissima viriditate

hortorum regis,

ascendentes in altum

quando sanctum sacrificium

in arietibus perfecistis:

Inter vos fulget hic artifex,

paries templi,

qui desideravit alas aquile,

osculando nutricem Sapientiam

in gloriosa fecunditate

Ecclesie.

O Maximine,

mons et vallis es,

et in utroque alta

edificatio appares,

ubi capricornus

cum elephante exivit,

et Sapientia

in deliciis fuit.

Tu es fortis et suavis

in cerimoniis

et in choruscatione altaris,

ascendens ut fumus aromatum

ad columpnam laudis:

Ubi intercedis pro populo

qui tendit ad speculum lucis,

cui laus est in altis.

[English translation by Peter Dronke]

1a.   The dove peered in

        through the latticed window,

        where before her gaze

        raining, a balm rained down

        from the brightness of Maximinus.

1b.   The sun’s heat blazed

        and streamed into the darkness

        from which blossomed the gem

        —in the building of the temple—

        of the purest generous heart.

2a.   He, the sublime tower

        made of Lebanon’s tree,

        made of cypress,

        is decked with jacinth and sardonyx,

        city that no architect’s skill can match.

2b.   He, the swift hart

        ran up to the fountain

        of purest water

        bubbling from the mightiest stone

        whose moisture made the sweet perfumes flow.

3a.   You perfumers

        who live in the gentlest greenness

        of the king’s gardens,

        you who mount into the heights

        when you have consummated

        the holy sacrifice among the rams,

3b.   Lucent among you

        is this architect, wall of the temple,

        he who longed

        for an eagle’s wings as he kissed

        his foster-mother, Wisdom,

        in Ekklesia’s glorious fecundity!

4a.   Maximinus, you are mountain and valley,

        and in both you appear, a pinnacle,

        where the mountain-goat walked, and the elephant,

        and Wisdom played in her delight.

4b.   You are both brave and gentle;

        in the rites and in the sparkling of the altar

        you mount as a smoke of fragrant spices

        to the column of praise

5.    Where you plead the cause of your people

       who aspire to the mirror of light

       for which there is praise on high.

Source of the text in Latin: Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age.  New York: Doubleday, 2001, p. 195-197.

Source of the English translation: The Medieval Lyric, Third Edition, edited by Peter Dronke.  Suffolk, England: D.S. Brewer, 1996, p. 76-77.

TJB: 9 ways of looking at a saint. This hagiography-verse uses great moving-image-scenes: the saint as tower, deer, lush mountain, altar-smoke.