Adam of Saint Victor

Adam of Saint Victor (Latin: Adamus Sancti Victoris; c. 1068 – 1146) was a prolific composer and poet of Latin hymns.

Quotes

• Verbi vere substantivi,
  Caro cum sit in declivi
     Temporis angustiâ,
  In æternis verbum annis
  Permanere, nos Johannis
     Docet theologia.
  • That substantive Word, united
    To the flesh, and therein plighted
       To a life of misery sore;
    Him to be the co-eternal,
    John's theology supernal
       Testifieth evermore.
  • Verbi vere substantivi, st. 1 (tr. John Mason Neale, 1867)

• Dum Magistri super pectus
  Fontem haurit intellectûs
     Et doctrinæ flumina,
  Fiunt, ipso situ loci,
  Verbo fides, auris voci,
     Mens Deo contermina.
  Unde mentis per excessus,
  Carnis, sensûs super gressus
     Errorumque nubila,
  Contra veri solis lumen
  Visum cordis et acumen
     Figit velut aquila.
  • As the loved disciple sinketh
    On his Master's breast, and drinketh
    Wisdom's fount and learning's stream,
      From a posture so endearing
    Word and faith, and speech and hearing,
      Mind and God, converging seem.
    By the flights of thought thence taken, —
    Flesh and carnal sense forsaken, —
      Far o'er error's cloudy night,
    Eagle-like, by observation,
    The true Sun's illumination,
      Keeps his keen-eyed heart in sight.
  • Verbi vere substantivi, sts. 2–3 (tr. Digby S. Wrangham, 1881)

External links

• John Mason Neale, Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences, 2nd ed. (London: Joseph Masters, 1867)
• Digby S. Wrangham, The Liturgical Poetry of Adam of St. Vincent (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., 1881) vol. 1, p. 194
• Canon Benham, St. John and His Work (London: J. M. Dent & Co.; Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1904) p. 96