Behold, He has expanded the arched volumes of the globe and cut the spheres with unequal sections. A Observe all the stars towards the rim, upon which Titan balances the night and the day as he begins; receive the slants of the zodiac, and the renowned centers of the meridian meeting shall not escape you.
NOTICE
The following ten hymns are of a twofold order. Namely, the four earlier ones, which it seems Synesius composed when he was already imbued with Christian dogmas but not yet initiated by baptism, breathe the fruits of pious meditations or prayers directed to God, with most ardent and sublime affections. The six later ones, however, made after he had become a Christian, almost everywhere sing the praises of Christ and invoke his aid.
HYMNS OF BISHOP SYNESIUS
HYMN I
Come, my shrill lyre, after the Teian song, after the Lesbian melody, sing a Dorian ode for more venerable hymns. Not for delicate virgins laughing with Aphrodisian allure, nor for the much-loved youth of blooming boys. 10 For the pure travail of the God-pregnant Wisdom urges me to stir the strings of the lyre toward a divine song. It commands me to flee the honeyed loves of earthly things. For what is strength, what is beauty, what is gold, what is fame, and royal honors? If they are compared with the cares of God? 20 One may skillfully drive a horse, another may well stretch a bow, another may guard heaps of possessions, golden wealth; to another, pride is the hair hanging down his neck; he may be very celebrated among youths and maidens for the sparks of his face. But may it be granted to me to lead a quiet 30 life, unknown to others indeed, but known to God. May Wisdom be present to me, good for youth,
A a wealth of calm old age, bearing poverty without toil, laughing, and inaccessible to the bitter cares of life. Let there dwell with me only so much as is sufficient to ward off the need of neighbors, 40 lest necessity drive me to gloomy cares. Hearken also to the song of the grasshopper, which drinks the morning dew. Lo, my strings resound unsought, and a certain inspiration flies all around me. What then, at last, will the divine birth of this song bring forth for me? 50 He, the self-originate beginning, the steward and Father of all that is, unbegotten, sitting immovably above the high peaks of heaven, rejoicing in immortal glory, the holy unity of unities, the first monad of monads, having joined and brought forth the summit of simplicities in a supersubstantial birth; whence itself leaping forth through the primeval form, the Unity, diffused in an ineffable manner, attained a threefold power. B But the supersubstantial fountain is crowned by the beauty of the offspring which hath sprung from the center and revolves around the center. C Be silent for me, O bold lyre; be silent, nor bring forth sacred mysteries to the common crowd. Go, and sing of earthly things; let silence cover the things above. The mind now cares for the worlds which it knows intellectually. For from there indeed the beginning of the human spirit was divided indivisibly. And the mind, having fallen into matter, being an immortal offshoot of divine parents, is small indeed, but being wholly of them and one everywhere, D and fully infused into the whole, it turns the vast hollow of the heavens; and, preserving this whole, it is present, distributed into diverse forms. One part is the course of the stars; another is the choirs of angels; another also, by a heavy bond, has obtained an earthly form, and, separated from its parents, has gulped down dark forgetfulness, and in blind anxieties has admired the joyless earth. 100 But God, looking upon human things, is present, yet there is some light in our covered eyes; there is also for those who have fallen here a certain power of recall to heaven, when, having emerged from the waves of this life, they carefree walk the holy paths to the palace of the Father. Blessed is he who, escaping the voracious barking of matter and rising from the earth, directs his trace toward God with a light leap.
Blessed is he who, after destiny, After labors, after bitter Earthly cares, Having entered the paths of the mind, Has seen the depth shining with divine light. It is an arduous thing to stretch the whole Soul with all its wings Of cravings that affect celestial things. 120 Do you only confirm the endeavor, Bearing it with an intellectual impulse: For He, the Parent, will appear near to you, Stretching out His hands. For some ray running ahead Will illuminate the paths, And will reveal to you the intelligible Plain, the source of beauty. Come, my soul, drinking From the perennial fountain of good things, 130 Supplicating the Parent, Ascend, and do not delay, Having left the things of earth to the earth: And soon, joined with the Father, A goddess in God you shall dance.
HYMN TWO
Again light, again dawn, Again the day shines forth After the night-wandering darkness. Again, my soul, entreat for me God with morning hymns, Who gave light to the day, Who gave stars to the night, The chorus surrounding the world. The ether, mounting on the peak Of fire, covered the back 10 Of the many-waved matter, So that the glorious moon Might cut the lowest orbit. But above the eighth vortex Of the star-bearing whirls, A stream void of stars, Driving the subjacent Folds opposite to the gods, Dances around the great Mind, 20 Which covered the heights of the world With hoary wings of the King. Blessed silence is before The indivisible division Of intelligences and intelligibles. One fountain, one root, A threefold form has shone. For where is the depth of the Father, There also is the glorious Son, A product of the heart, 30 Wisdom the world-artificer, And the unifying light Of the Holy Breath has shone. One fountain, one root Has raised a wealth of good things, And a supersubstantial sprout Boiling with fertile impulses, And the enviable lights Of the blessed beings shine forth. Whence already the worldly 40 Chorus of immortal kings, And the generating glory, And the first-born form, Sang with intellectual hymns Near the benevolent parents. The ageless host of angels, Looking on the one hand toward the mind, Plucks the source of beauty, And looking on the other toward the orbits, Governs the depths of the world, 50 Drawing the supernal ornament Even to the lowest matter: Where the crowd of demons
Nature, subsiding, brings forth The tumultuous and the crafty. Whence the hero, whence now The breath, scattered about the earth, Has quickened the parts of the soil With manifold forms. But all things hang by thy counsel; B 60 Thou art the root Of things present, of things past, Of things future, of things that are. Thou art father, thou art mother. Thou art male, thou art female; Thou art voice, thou art silence; The fecund nature of nature. Thou art King, the aeon of the aeon, C As much as it is permitted to testify with voice: Long hail, root of the world, 70 Long hail, center of things, Unit of divine numbers, Essence of kings lacking [definition]. 319 Long hail, long hail, Since joys are with God. To my ears, propitious, Open the festivity of hymns; Open the light of Wisdom, Thou bestower of illustrious felicity, Thou bestower of splendid honor D 80 Of a tranquil life; Driving forth poverty, And the earthly plague of riches. Ward off diseases from the limbs, And the foul impulse of passions: And the consuming cares of the mind Drive far from my life; Lest the wings of the mind, Weighted down, fall to the earth, But raising free wings, 90 In the sacred mysteries of thy Son At least I may dance.
HYMN THREE
Come, my soul, Applying yourself to sacred hymns, Put to rest the corporeal Stings; sharpen The swift motions of the mind. To the King of gods We weave a crown, 10 An unbloody sacrifice, Libations of words. I sing of thee in the sea, I sing of thee above the islands, I sing of thee in the continents, And in the cities, And over the steep mountains, And over the renowned B Plains, where I will stand 20 Together with the twofold wings of my feet, O blessed one, I praise thee, Begetter of the world. Night brings me to thee, The singer, O King: To thee the daylight, To thee the morning, To thee the evening Songs I shall bring. Witnesses are the glimmers 30 Of the shimmering stars, And the course of the moon, And the great witness, the Sun, Moderator of the pure Stars, Holy arbiter Of pious souls.
To thy atria, To thy bosoms, Lifting up wings 40 Against the vast physical world [And] the swift [wings], Rejoicing that I might come To thy vestibule. Now to the temples Of the venerable sacred rites I come, a suppliant. Now to the summit Of the renowned mountains 50 I come, a suppliant: Now to the great desert Valley of Libya I come: the southern edge, Which neither an impious Breath defiles, Nor does it mark The footprint of men Who care for city life. 60 Where the soul [is] to thee Pure of passions, Released from desires, Ceasing from labors, Ceasing from wailings, 321 From anger, from contentions, (Which are nourished in the heart) Shaking them off, With pure tongue, And with holy mind 70 May it offer the due Hymn. Let there be peace In the ether and on earth:
A Let the sea stand still, Let the air stand still. Cease, ye blastings Of various winds; Cease, ye gusts Of whirling surges, Ye streamings of rivers, Ye rocky springs. Let the regions of the world Keep silence, While holy songs Are being hallowed. Let the winding serpent Withdraw under the earth, Let there withdraw under the earth 90 The winged dragon, The demon of matter, The cloud of the soul, Delighting in idols, Who against prayers calls forth Dogs as advocates. Thou, O Father, thou, O blessed one, Remove far away From my soul The ravenous dogs, From my prayers, 100 From my life, From my deeds: And may the offering Of our mind Be a care To thy most honorable Ministers, The wise ferrymen Of holy hymns. I am now borne To the starting-post Of sacred poems. Now the oracle 110 Resounds in the mind: O blessed one, be propitious to me; O Father, be propitious to me: If perchance beyond propriety, If perchance beyond measure I have touched upon thy things. Whose eye is wise, Whose eye is keen, And by thy lightnings Smitten, 120 Will not be blinded? For to gaze With intent eyes Upon thy faces Is not permitted even to gods: But the mind falling From thy watchtower Embraces the things nearest, Attempting to track The untrackable God, And to gaze upon the light Gleaming in the immense 130 Depth. But having descended from the inaccessible, Upon the primal-appearing Form it fixes The keenness of its eye: Whence, plucking For thy praises Flowers of light, The blowing Of the wandering winds Settles, Restoring thy gifts to thee. For what is not thine, O King? B
SYNESIUS, BISHOP OF PTOLEMAIS
Of all fathers 140 Father, thyself thy father, Before father, without father, Son of thyself: A unity prior to unity, Seed of beings, Center of all, Ever-existing mind, Root of the world. Of things created from the beginning 150 Light shining on all sides, Wise truth, Fountain of wisdom, Mind covered By its own lightnings, Eye of thyself, Powerful in thy thunderbolts, Parent of the ages, Life of the ages, Surpassing gods, 160 Surpassing minds, Turned to various parts, Mind, parent of minds, Providing origin to the gods, Maker of spirits, And nourisher of souls. Fountain of fountains, Beginning of beginnings, Root of roots: Thou art unity of unities, 170 Number of numbers, Unity and number, Intelligence, and intelligent, And that which can be understood, And before that which can be understood. 180 One and all things, But one of all, And one before all, Seed of all, Root and highest branch, Nature among the intelligences, Female and male. But the mystical mind Says this and that, 190 Leading dances Around the ineffable depth. Thou art that which begets, Thou art that which is begotten, Thou, who illuminatest, Thou, who art illuminated: Thou, who appearest, Thou, who art hidden By thine own lightnings, One, and all things, 200 One in thyself, And through all things. For thou wast poured forth, Begotten in an ineffable way, That thou mightest bear a Son, Famed wisdom, Maker of all things. But thou remainest poured forth, Though acting as a midwife To indivisible sections. 210 I sing thee, unity: I sing thee, Trinity. Thou art unity, while being trinity: Thou art trinity, while being unity. But the section which is perceived by the intellect Holds that which is divided As still undivided.A
HYMNS
Poured forth into the Son By wise counsel. But the counsel itself Is that birth from the midst Of an ineffable nature, Which is before all natures. It is forbidden to speak Of a second from Thee; It is forbidden to speak Of a third from the first. Sacred birth, Ineffable offspring. Thou art the bound of the natures Of the Parent, And of the born. I venerate the intellectual Secret order. Things take a kind of middle ground, Not poured in from without. Ineffable offspring Of an ineffable Father, Birth because of Thee, Through birth, however, Thou hast appeared in the light, B Together with the Father, brought forth By the counsel of the Father: But Thou art the counsel Always beside Thy Father. Not even vast Time knows of Thy Ineffable births, And of the age of old, Which no succession of time Has woven, Has known the birth. Appearing together with the Father, Always born, He who was to be born. Who among ineffable things Has whetted his audacity, as though By the purpose Of blind men, for a prize? Of those who speak variously Are the impious audacities. But Thou, the giver of light, Of the intelligible light: Obstlique and from fraud Thou leadest away the holy Minds of men, Lest they sink Into the darkness of matter. Thee, Father of worlds, Father of ages, Fashioner of gods, It is holy to praise. Thee, indeed, the intellectual Powers sing, O King; Thee the rulers of the world, Glowing eyes, Sidereal minds, Celebrate, O blessed One, Around which the glorious Body is moved, The whole choir of the blessed Sings of Thee, Those who are around the world, Those who are in the world, Those who are in the zones, And those who are outside the zones, C Ruling the parts of the world, The wise Ministers, who to the glorious Helmsmen (stand): Whom the angelic Series pours forth. And the illustrious Race of heroes, The works of mortals, Passing through Hidden paths, Mortal works. And the soul, not inclined And prone To the dark-shining Terrestrial globes. Thee, O blessed nature, And the offspring of nature Laud, O blessed One, Which, by the nourishing Breezes of the King, Are drawn down From Thy channels, And roll forth. For Thou, the ruler Of the immense world, Art the nature of natures; Thou nurturest nature, The origin of mortals, The immortal Image, So that even the lowest Part in the world May share in life Alternately. For it was not lawful To set the dregs of the world In the highest summit; But that which was ordained altogether Into the choir of beings, Shall no longer perish; But one thing from another, And through one another, All things enjoy. From those things which pass away, The eternal cycle, Warmed again By Thy breaths, D Establishes choirs for Thee Through all things. Mother nature, With her own colors, With her own various works, Is adorned. And from living creatures Endowed with diverse voices, She sends to Thee A single harmonious Concert. To Thee all things bring Ageless praises: Day and night, Lightnings, snows, Heaven, ether, And the roots of the earth, Water, air, All bodies, All spirits, Seeds, fruits, Plants, and grasses, Roots, herbs, Cattle, and winged creatures, And the herds of swimming Fishes. Look also upon the soul
A Languent, B weak, C In your Libya, D Intent upon A your venerable B sacred rites C and holy prayers: D Which the bodily cloud surrounds. A But your eye, O Father, B can disperse C that bodily D cloud. Now my A spirit, fecundated B by your hymns, C sharpens the mind D with fiery impulses. A But you, O King, B illuminate C the upward-tending lights, D that they may look upon heavenly things. A Grant, Father, B that having escaped the body, C it may no longer be plunged D into the harm of the earth. But as long as I remain in the bonds of bodily life, O blessed one, may calm fortune nourish me; and may no hostile breeze blow, consuming my life with the sad cares of my soul, so that I may always be free for divine matters, and not wallow in such things, from which I have already escaped through your munificence. I weave this crown for you from the meadows of the holy ones; these praises I bring to you, O Prince of pure worlds, and to your wise Son, together with his Wisdom, whom you poured forth from an ineffable bosom. Yet he remains in you, though begotten from you, that he may govern all things with a wise Spirit; that he may govern the depth of the ages, that he may govern the wings of the sturdy world, down even to the lowest abyss of beings, of the earthly portion, shining forth upon the souls of the pious. And he solves the labors and cares of miserable mortals, the Author of good things, the Driver-away of sorrows. For what wonder is it if the World-maker wards off evils from his own works? For this I come, O King of the vast world, about to pay the debt due to you from Thrace, A where for three years B I dwelt in the vicinity, C near the royal D halls of the earth: and I bore labors, I bore tortures, very tearful, carrying my mother-country upon my shoulders. The earth was watered A by the sweat B of limbs C struggling D from day to day: the bed was watered by the rivers of weeping eyes from night to night. And whatever temples, O King, were built so that they might serve your holy rites, all I visited; lying prostrate, a suppliant, watering the ground with the dews of my eyelids, that my journey might not be in vain. Suppliant, I prayed to the gods, as many ministers as hold the fertile soil of Thrace, and those who preside over the fields of Chalcedon on the opposite shore, whom you have crowned, O King, with angelic splendors, your sacred ministers. These blessed ones helped my prayers: they helped my many labors. Life was not then pleasing to me because of my troubled fatherland, which you, O King, who are not subject to old age, the Ruler of the world, aroused from sorrow. When my soul was failing, when my limbs were already collapsing, you propped up the strength of my joints, inspiring strength into my miserable soul; and you found a sweet end to my labors, according to my desire, O King, providing rest from long labors to my affairs. All these things, O blessed one, preserve for the Africans for a long series of time, on account of the memory of your benefit, and on account of the soul that has suffered grave things. But to your suppliant give a harmless life: free me from labors, free me from diseases,
A free me from chains. I carry your seed, a noble spark of mind, hidden in the depth of matter. For you have placed the soul in the world, and through the soul you have sown the intellect in the body, O King. Have pity, blessed One, on your daughter, who has descended from you to serve the earth, and from a handmaid has become a slave; matter has ensnared me with its magical arts. Yet there are still within me certain slight powers, hidden in the pupil of my eye; not yet has it extinguished all my strength. But a great storm is poured out from above, making blind that which directs its gaze toward God. Have pity, Father, on your suppliant daughter, whom the desire for wanton matter often chokes as she endeavors to ascend to heaven by intellectual B movements. But do you, O King, shine forth with upward-leading rays. Kindle a fire and a conflagration, feeding that small seed in the crown of my head. Place me, Father, in the path of your life-bringing light, where nature cannot cast its hand, whence no longer the earth, nor the fated threads of necessity can call me back: let the base origin leave and flee from your servant. Let fire intervene between me, Father, and the earthly tumult. Grant it, Begetter, grant it to your servant, to spread his intellectual wings already. Let the suppliant soul now bear the sign of the Father, which may indeed terrify the hostile C demons—who, seeking the higher regions from the hiding places of the earth, breathe impious impulses into mortals—but [which is] a sign to your holy servants, who are the key-bearers of the ethereal ascents in the sublimity of the glorious world: so that they may open the gates of light to me. And while I still creep upon the earth as a wanderer, let me not be of the earth; but here also grant me the witness of ethereal fruits, truthful voices, and whatever nourishes divine hope in souls. I am already penitent for my earthly life. Begone to an evil place, ye wretchedness of impious mortals, and the wealth of cities; begone to a miserable end, D flattering night, ungrateful graces, by which you ensnare the soul.
egone to an evil place, ye wretchedness of impious mortals, and the wealth of cities; begone to a miserable end, flattering night, ungrateful graces, by which you ensnare the soul. A The earth holds the servant, who, most wretched, drinks in the forgetfulness of her own goods, until she falls into an envious portion. For matter has twin flattering portions. But he who, with hands outstretched at the table, has touched sweet feasts, shall greatly lament for the bitter portion, when contrary weights drag him down. For this is the law of earthly necessity; from two craters it pours life into mortals. But the pure and unmixed good, God, or the things of God—having been made drunk by the sweet crater, I have reached the shores of evils, I have fallen into the trap, I have felt the Epimethean loss. Yet I abhor inconstant laws, and hurrying to the fields of the Father, exempt from cares, I stretch forth fleeing feet, fleeing from the twin gifts of matter. B Look upon me, O arbiter of intellectual life; look upon your suppliant soul on earth, attempting intellectual ascents. But do you shine, O King, upon the lights that reach for heaven, providing light wings: and truly cut the bonds, having loosened the chains of the twin affections, by which deceptive nature presses souls down to the earth. Grant me, that, having escaped from the harm of the body, I may take a swift leap to your halls, to your bosom: whence the soul's fountain flows. I am a celestial drop poured out upon the earth. Restore me to the fountain from whence I was poured out, wandering abroad. Grant that I may be mingled with the ancestral light: grant that, being guarded under you, O Father, together with the company of heaven, I may offer holy, celestial hymns. Grant, I say, O Father, that I may be mingled with the light, and not henceforth be plunged into the filth of the earth: C but while I remain in the bonds of corporeal life, may calm fortune, O blessed one, nourish me.
HYMN FOURTH
D You indeed, at your rising, and you, at your waxing, and you, while standing, and you, at your waning, in the sacred day and the ambrosial night, I sing, O Creator, Curator of souls, Curator of limbs, Bestower of wisdom, Expeller of diseases, Bestower for souls of a peaceful life, which earthly cares do not press, mothers of pains, mothers of miseries, of which may my life remain pure, so that, celebrating the hidden origin of all things, I may remember, nor be drawn away from God by rebellious sins. I sing of you, O blessed one, King of the world: let the earth indeed be silent. To your hymns, to your prayers, let whatever the world contains favor with their tongues (for they are your works, O Father). Let the whistling of the winds cease, the whispering of the trees, and the song of the birds. Let the silent ether, let the silent air hear the songs; and let the flow of the waters, now lacking noise, stay its course on earth. But those who interfere with holy hymns, rejoicing in hiding-places and haunting monuments, let the demons now flee my holy prayers: but let as many good and blessed attendants of the celestial Creator as hold the inmost and extreme regions of the world, hear the hymns of the Father with a kindly mind, and with a kindly mind offer my prayers (to him), O Unity of unities, O Father of fathers, beginning of beginnings, fountain of fountains, root of roots, good of goods, star of stars,A World of worlds, idea of ideas, abyssal beauty, hidden seed, Father of ages, Father of the ineffable intellectual worlds. Whence the ambrosial spirit, distilling, drifts upon the mass of the body, and already quickens a second world. I sing to thee, O blessed one, both with voice and with silence; for the intellect perceives thy voice and thy silence in equal measure. B I sing also of the first-born and first-manifested offspring. O most glorious Son of the ineffable Father, I sing thee with the great Father, and I sing the generative counsel, the mediating principle, the Holy Spirit, which the Father brought forth for thy sake; the center of the Begetter and also the center of the Son. It is itself mother, itself sister, itself daughter, which has brought forth the hidden root. For that the Father might be poured out upon the Son, this very diffusion found the shoot. And it stood in the midst, God from God. And through the glorious outpouring of the immortal Father, the Son found his budding forth. Thou art Unity when thou art Trinity; for Unity remains, and Trinity remains. But the intellectual division possesses even that which is divided as undivided. C Prospering, the Son remains in the Father, and again outside he governs the things that are the Father’s, bringing down to the worlds the happiness of life, whence he himself has it. O Word, whom I sing with the great Father, the ineffable Mind brings thee forth from the Father, and thou, conceived, art the Word of the Father. First-born from the first root, and thou thyself the root of all things which were created after thy glorious birth. O ineffable Unity, thou sowest the seed of all things, the seed of all. For thou art in all things. Through thee, nature—highest, middle, and lowest—enjoys the good gifts of the fertile life of God the Father. D For thee the sphere revolves in an ageless, tireless course. Under thy order, the seven orbs of the stars revolve with rapid turnings within the cavity of the great abyss, moving in contrary motion. And the many stars, with thy counsel, O most glorious Son, adorn the one world. For thou, running through the orbs of the heavens, continuest the course of the ages indissolubly. Under thy holy laws, O blessed one, the flocks of shining stars graze in the ethereal bosom of infinite depth. Thou dispensest works and grantest life to those in heaven, those in the air, those on the earth, and those under the earth. Thou art the governor of the mind and the dispenser to the inhabitants of heaven and to mortals, as many as have drawn the showers of the intellectual lot. Thou art the giver of the soul to those whose life hangs from the soul and to tireless nature. The blind offspring of the soul hangs from thy chain. And whatever things lack spirit pluck from thy bosom the power by which they are sustained, transmitted by thy virtue from the ineffable paternal bosom of the hidden unity. Whence the stream of life, flowing forth, is carried even to the earth through thy virtue, through the incomprehensible intellectual worlds, whence the visible world receives the descending fountain of good things as its intellectual form. This world was to have a second sun.
of the light that shone later, Father of the light, illuminating the eyes, dispenser of the matter that is generated and perishes. Son, who art the sensible form of the intellectual [Sun], bestower of the goods that are born in the world: through Thy counsel, O most noble Son, Father who canst not be known; Father ineffable, who canst not be known by the mind, nor be expressed by reason: Thou art the Mind of mind, the Soul of souls, the Nature of natures. Bending the knee to Thee, behold, I, Thy servant, fall to the earth, a suppliant deprived of sight. But Thou, the bestower of light, of intellectual light, have mercy, O blessed One, on a suppliant soul. Drive away the diseases, drive away the cares that devour souls. Drive away the shameless hellish dog, the demon of the earth, from my soul, from my prayers, from my life, from my deeds. Far from the body, far from the spirit, far from all our affairs let the demon remain. Let him depart, let him flee. B The demon, who is the strength of the affections of matter, blocking the way to celestial things, hindering those who seek God. But give me a companion, a consort, O King, the holy angel of holy power, the angel of prayers received by divine instinct; the friend who ministers good things: the guardian of the soul, the guardian of life, the guardian of prayers, the guardian of deeds, who may keep the body free from diseases, who may keep the spirit free from stain, and bring to the mind the oblivion of desires: that even in the life which it spends on earth, the wing of the soul may be nourished by Thy praises: that even the life after fate, after the bonds C that possess the weight of earth, I may live as pure from matter as it is possible to be, at Thy palace, at Thy bosom, whence the fountain of souls flows. But Thou, reach out Thy hand, Thou call, Thou, O blessed One, lead the suppliant soul out of matter.
HYMN FIVE
Let us sing of the Son of the Bride, of the Bride who was not wedded with human mortal marriage. The ineffable counsel of the Father: the late birth of Christ, the venerable birth of the Virgin brought forth the form of man, He who came among mortals as a conductor of the fountain of light. This ineffable offshoot knows the root of the ages. Thou art the first light, one ray shining with the Father, which, having broken through the shadows of matter, shinest in holy souls. Thou art the creator of the world, the stabilizer of the shining orbs and stars, and of the centers of the earth: Thou art the savior of men. For Thee the sun rides, the fountain of the perennial day: for Thee the bull-faced moon dispels the shadows of the night. For Thee the fruits are born, for Thee the flocks are fed. Sending forth a life-giving brightness from Thy ineffable fountain, D
You nourish the wings of the worlds; From Your bosom shone forth 30 both light, and intellect, and soul. Have mercy on Your daughter, Enclosed within mortal limbs And the earthly measure of fate. Save the uninjured strength of my limbs From the vice of diseases. Grant persuasion to my words, Grant glory to my deeds, That the ancient fame of Cyrene and Sparta may shine forth: 40 Anima, pressed by no troubles, May draw a peaceful life, Nourishing, straining its twin eyes Toward Your light, So that, cleansed from matter (hyle), I may hasten the forgotten path of my return, Fleeing the labors of the earth, To be mingled with the fountain of the soul. Grant such an unpolluted life To Your poet; 50 When, composing songs for You, Celebrating Your root, The most exalted glory of the Father, And the Spirit who shares the same throne, The medium between root and sprout, And singing the power of the Father, I may refresh, in Your praises, The noble offspring of the soul. Hail, O fountain of the Son! Hail, O form of the Father! 60 Hail, O seat of the Son! Hail, O image of the Father! Hail, O power of the Son! Hail, O beauty of the Father! Hail, O purest Spirit, Center of the Son and of the Father! Send Him to me with the Father, Irrigating the wings of my soul, That He may fulfill divine gifts.
HYMN SIXTH
With the holy fountain, self-fecund, Beyond ineffable unities, I shall crown the glorious Son of the immortal God, The Only-begotten Son born of the only Father, With the fragrant flowers of songs, Whom the ineffable birth of the Father's counsel Revealed as Son from the hidden bosom; Whom the Father revealed as hidden fruit, And having shown forth, shone as the mind fixed in the center. 10 Yet they remain in the fountain, though poured forth, Wisdom of the Father's mind, splendor of beauty; To You, having been born, the Father nodded for You to beget, You are the hidden seed of the Father. For the Generator gave You as the beginning to the worlds, To bring down forms from the intellectual to the body. You rotate the wise sphere of heaven, And You always pasture the flocks of the stars. You are King of the angelic orders, And You hold command over the phalanxes of demons; 20 You also rule over mortal nature, Dividing the indivisible spirit around the earth, And You join back again what was given to the fountain, Freeing mortals from the necessity of death. Be present, propitious, to the crowns of Your praises, Granting serenity to the poet of life; Bring to a standstill the wandering tide of the Euripus, Calming the savage storms of matter (hyle); Ward off diseases of the soul and of the limbs. Put to sleep the destructive impulse of the passions; 50 Ward off the troubles of wealth and poverty, Give most glorious fame to my deeds. Open good report among the nations; Adorn me with the honor of persuasive speech, That my mind, undisturbed, may pluck leisure.Nor shall I groan with earthly cares, But from your high-flowing streams, With the springs of wisdom, I shall bedew my mind.
HYMN SEVEN
I the first found the mode To strike the strings of the lyre, Newly adapted to numbers, For your sake, O blessed, immortal One, O glorious Son of the Virgin, O Jesus, man of Solyma. But be propitious, O King, And receive the music From holy songs.
Let us sing of the immortal God, The great Son of God, Of the Father Creator of the ages, The Son, Maker of the world; Who mingles Himself with the nature of all, The immense Wisdom; God to those in heaven, Dead to those in the underworld. When you were poured forth upon the earth From a mortal womb, The wise art of the Magi Was struck with helpless wonder At the star's rising: Who is the infant being born? Who is the God being enclosed? God, or dead man, or king? Come, bring gifts, Libations of myrrh, Offerings of gold, And fragrant vapors of incense. You are God, receive the incense; To the King I bring gold; Myrrh shall befit the tomb. And you cleansed the earth, And the sea's waves, And the paths of demons, The liquid tracts of air, And the nethermost recesses, A helper to the dead, God sent into Hades. But be propitious, O King, And receive the music From holy songs.
HYMN EIGHT
According to the Dorian measure Of the ivory-bound lyre’s strings I shall raise a clear voice For your sake, O blessed, immortal One, O glorious Son of the Virgin. And do you preserve my life, Free from all evils, O King, Making it inaccessible to troubles Both by night and by day. Illumine my mind with a ray From the intellectual fountain; Grant strength to my sound limbs, And glory to my deeds, In my youth; And bring a joyous span To my extreme old age, Increasing my highly honored Prudence together with good health. Preserve my brother, Whom lately, O immortal One, As he was already passing With his foot into the earth’s gate, You called back to the heights, And my cares and laments, My tears, and the burning flame Of my soul, you have quenched. And you restored the dead to life, For the sake of me, your suppliant, O Father.
and B preserve A the sister and B pair of children, and protect the whole tranquil house under your hand. And, O King, preserve for me my wife, the sharer of my marriage bed, from diseases and hurtful things, noble, like-minded, ignorant of secret illicit unions: and may she cherish the holy law of marriage, C undefiled, pure, and inaccessible to unlawful desires. But do you deliver my soul, loosed from the bonds of earthly life, from evils and sad calamity; and with D the ranks of the pious, grant that I may offer hymns to the praise of your Father and of your power, O blessed one; A again I shall sing hymns, again I shall sing songs to you; perhaps I shall again tune an unblemished lyre.
HYMN NINTH
Most to be desired and most glorious, O blessed son of the Solymitan Virgin, I sing of you, who drove the treacherous snare of the earthly serpent from the vast gardens of the Father: you descended as far as the earth, a visitor among mortals, and B you descended under the abyss, where death held a countless multitude of souls; then old primeval Hades shuddered at you, and the voracious dog withdrew from the threshold. But you, when you had loosed the holy companies of souls from their chains, were bringing praises to the Father in a most pure procession. O King, as you returned, the C immense aerial crowd of demons shuddered, but the immortal company of the most pure stars stood in fear. The Aether, however, laughing, the father of wise harmony, tempered the music from a seven-stringed lyre into a triumphal song. The Morning Star, the herald of the day, smiled, and the golden Evening Star, the star of Cytherea. The moon herself, filling her horned light from the flow of fire, D went before as the shepherd of the nocturnal gods; but the Titan spread his broadly shining hair under your ineffable footstep. He recognized the Son of God, the Mind that is the best craftsman, the origin of his own fire. But you, plying your wings, climbed over the back of the azure heaven, and you took your stand in the most pure intellectual spheres: where the fountain of good things is, the heaven is held in silence.