It seems appropriate to insert in this History an elegiac hymn in praise of virginity which I composed many years ago in honour of this same queen and bride of Christ – all the more a queen because a bride of Christ. In this I am following the example of Holy Scripture, in which the narrative is frequently interspersed with songs which are known to have been composed in verse.1
All-guiding Trinity, guide my design.
Battles were Virgil’s theme; let peace be mine,
Chanting in lieu of Helen’s wantonness
Divine compassion, to redeem and bless.
Entering a virgin’s womb, God’s gate to earth.
Fair maid, who gav’st the whole world’s Parent birth,
God gave thee grace. And by that grace empowered
How many virgin blossoms since have flowered!
In fiery torment stood chaste Agatha
Joyful to death; so stood Eulalia.
Kindled with love, Thecla with virgin breast
Laughed at wild beasts; so was Euphemia blest.
More strong than steel, Agnes disdained its thrust;
Nor did Cecilia’s strength betray her trust.
Our age at length in triumphs such as these
Partakes through ETHELDREDA’S victories.
Queenly by birth, an earthly crown she wore
Right nobly; but a heavenly pleased her more.
Scorning the marriage bed, a virgin wife
Twelve years she reigned, then sought a cloistered life.
Unspotted to her heavenly spouse she came,
Virgin in soul, her virgin robe and frame,
When sixteen winters they had lain entombed,
Xrist willing it, still fresh and unconsumed.
Yea, from their touch Eve’s Tempter flees dismayed,
Zealous for evil, vanquished by a maid.
Ah bride of Christ, bright fame on earth is thine.
More bright in Heaven thy bridal torches shine.
Exultant hymns proclaim in glad accord:
No power henceforth may part thee from thy Lord.
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The following version reproduces the alphabetic acrostic with which Bede adorns his tale, including his spelling of Christ with initial X (the Greek letter chi) as in the familiar abbreviation Xmas. It does not attempt to imitate his elaborate device of repetitive half-lines, which makes the hymn remarkable rather for ingenuity than poetic excellence. ↩