LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,103)
  • Text Authors (19,447)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348 - c413)

Hymnus ante somnum
Language: Latin 
Ades Pater supreme,
quem nemo vidit unquam,
Patrisque sermo Christe,
et Spiritus benigne.

O Trinitatis huius 
vis una, lumen unum,
Deus ex Deo perennis,
Deus ex utroque missus.

Fluxit labor diei,
redit et quietis hora,
blandus sopor vicissim
fessos relaxat artus.

Mens aestuans procellis
curisque sauciata
totis bibit medullis 
obliviale poclum.

Serpit per omne corpus
Lethaea vis, nec ullum
miseris doloris aegri
patitur manere sensum.

Lex haec data est caducis
Deo iubente membris,
ut temperet laborem
medicabilis voluptas.

Sed dum pererrat omnes 
quies amica venas,
pectusque feriatum
placat rigante somno:

Liber vagat per auras
rapido vigore sensus,
variasque per figuras,
quae sunt operta, cernit.

Quia mens soluta curis,
cui est origo caelum,
purusque fons ab aethra 
iners iacere nescit.

Imitata multiformes
facies sibi ipsa fingit,
per quas repente currens
tenui fruatur actu.

Sed sensa somniantum
dispar fatigat horror,
nunc splendor intererrat
qui dat futura nosse.

Plerumque dissipatis 
mendax imago veris
animos pavore maestos
ambage fallit atra.

Quem rara culpa morum
non polluit frequenter,
nunc lux serena vibrans
res edocet latentes.

At qui coinquinatum
vitiis cor inpiavit,
lusus pavore multo 
species videt tremendas.

Hoc patriarcha noster
sub carceris catena
geminis simul ministris
interpres adprobavit.

Quorum reversus unus
dat poculum tyranno,
ast alterum rapaces
fixum vorant volucres.

Ipsum deinde regem 
perplexa somniantem
monuit famem futuram
clausis cavere acervis.

Mox praesul ac tetrarches
regnum per omne iussus 
sociam tenere virgam
dominae resedit aulae.

O quam profunda iustis
arcana per soporem
aperit tuenda Christus,
quam clara! quam tacenda!

Evangelista summi
fidissimus magistri
signata quae latebant
nebulis videt remotis:

ipsum tonantis agnum
de caede purpurantem,
qui conscium futuri
librum resignat unus.

Huius manum potentem 
gladius perarmat anceps
et fulgurans utrimque
duplicem minatur ictum.

Quaesitor ille solus
animaeque corporisque 
ensisque bis timendus
prima ac secunda mors est.

idem tamen benignus
ultor retundit iram
paucosque non piorum 
patitur perire in aevum.

Huic inclitus perenne
tribuit Pater tribunal,
hunc obtinere iussit
nomen supra omne nomen.

Hic praepotens cruenti
extinctor antichristi,
qui de furente monstro
pulchrum refert tropaeum.

Quam bestiam capacem 
populosque devorantem,
quam sanguinis charybdem
Ioannis execratur.

Haec nempe, quae sacratum
praeferre nomen ausa est,
imam petit gehennam
Christo perempta vero.

Tali sopore iustus
mentem relaxat heros,
ut spiritu sagaci 
caelum peragret omne.

Nos nil meremur horum,
quos creber inplet error,
concreta quos malarum
vitiat cupido rerum.

Sat est quiete dulci
fessum fovere corpus:
sat, si nihil sinistrum
vanae minentur umbrae.

Cultor Dei memento 
te fontis et lavacri
rorem subisse sanctum,
te chrismate innotatum.

Fac, cum vocante somno
castum petis cubile,
frontem locumque cordis
crucis figura signet.

Crux pellit omne crimen,
fugiunt crucem tenebrae:
tali dicata signo 
mens fluctuare nescit.

Procul, o procul vagantum
portenta somniorum,
procul esto pervicaci
praestigiator astu!

O tortuose serpens,
qui mille per Maeandros
fraudesque flexuosas
agitas quieta corda,

Discede, Christus hic est,
hic Christus est, liquesce:
signum quod ipse nosti
damnat tuam catervam.

Corpus licet fatiscens
iaceat recline paullum,
Christum tamen sub ipso
meditabimur sopore.

Text Authorship:

  • by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348 - c413), "Hymnus ante somnum" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Helen Jane Waddell (1889 - 1965) , "Before sleep", appears in Medieval Latin Lyrics, first published 1929 [an adaptation] ; composed by Gustav Holst, Michael Howard, Charles Wilfred Orr.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-03-26
Line count: 152
Word count: 482

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris