Of on that is so fayr and bright
    Velut maris stella,
Brighter than the day is light,
    Parens et puella:
Ic crie to the, thou see to me,
Levedy, preye thi Sone for me,
    Tam pia,
That ic mote come to thee
    Maria.

Al this world was for-lore
    Eva peccatrice,
Tyl our Lord was y-bore
    De te genetrice.
With ave it went away
Thuster nyth and comz the day
    Salutis;
The welle springeth ut of the,
    Virtutis.

Levedy, flour of alle thing,
    Rose sine spina,
Thu bere Jhesu, hevene king,
    Gratia divina:
Of alle thu ber'st the pris,
Levedy, quene of paradys
    Electa:
Mayde milde, moder es
    Effecta.

M. Howard sets stanzas 1, 3
E. Rubbra sets stanzas 1, 3

Confirmed with Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir. The Oxford Book of English Verse, Oxford: Clarendon, 1919.

GLOSS: on] one. levedy] lady. thuster] dark. pris] prize.

Modernized version (used by Britten) :

Of one that is so fair and bright
  Velut maris stella,
Brighter than the day is light,
  Parens et puella:
I cry to thee, thou see to me,
Lady, pray thy Son for me
  Tam pia,
That I may come to thee.
  Maria!

All this world was forlorn
  Eva peccatrice,
Till our Lord was y-born
  De te genetrice.
With ave it went away
Darkest night, and comes the day
  Salutis
The well springeth out of thee.
  Virtutis.

Lady, flow'r of ev'rything,
  Rosa sine spina,
Thou bare Jesu, Heaven's King,
  Gratia divina:
Of all thou bear'st the prize,
Lady, queen of paradise
  Electa:
Maid mild, mother es Effecta.
  Effecta.

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "A hymn to the Virgin", written c1300 [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):

• by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "A hymn to the Virgin", 1913?, published 1930 [ SATB chorus ], modernized version of the text ; double chorus requried [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Michael (Stockwin) Howard (1922 - 2002), "A hymn to the Virgin", 1951, stanzas 1,3 [ voice and piano ], from Three Middle English Songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "A hymn to the Virgin", op. 13 (Three songs) no. 2 (1925), published 1925, stanzas 1,3 [ soprano and harp ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Loblied auf die Jungfrau Maria", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-03-26
Line count: 27
Word count: 86