Translated from the Scots Gaelic*

When my mother teaches poetry, she starts her students with list poems. The preeminent example of the list poem (and one which she uses as an example) is the section of Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno on his cat.** You probably know this poem, even if you don't know that you know it.

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him...

Sound familiar? I thought so. I think it's a part of most everyone's AP English education.

I was thinking about this to myself, and realized that it was particularly interesting to read many of the medieval prayers and charms that we studied in "Religion and Society in the Medieval West" as early list poems. Indeed, many of the earliest list poems are of a religious nature. Por ejemplo:

Bless the Lord, all rain and dew;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, all you winds;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, fire and heat;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever. (Daniel 3:64-66, RSV)

Or, of course, as it is translated for liturgical use (pain and suffering),

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord.
All you winds, bless the Lord.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord.

And then there's the Catholic take on it all:

Speculum iustitiae, ora pro nobis.
Sedes sapientiae, ora pro nobis.
Causa nostrae laetitiae, ora pro nobis.
...
Turris Davidica, ora pro nobis.***
Turris eburnea, ora pro nobis.
Domus aurea, ora pro nombis.

(Mirror of Justice, pray for us. Seat of Wisdom... Cause of our Joy...Tower of David...Tower of Ivory...House of Gold, pray for us.)

So, the whole purpose of this prefatory background information is as follows: I wanted to quote to quote the following from the Carmina Gadelica, a blessing for a bride on her wedding day. I hope that some fellow Celticist reads it to me on my hypothetical wedding day.**** (I'm part Scottish! It would make sense!)

The Invocation of the Graces

I bathe thy palms
in showers of wine,
in the lustral fire,
in the seven elements,
in the juice of rasps,
in the milk of honey,
And I place the nine pure choice graces
In thy fair fond face,
The grace of form,
The grace of voice,
The grace of fortune,
The grace of goodness,
The grace of wisdom,
The grace of charity,
The grace of choice maidenliness,
The grace of whole-souled loveliness,
The grace of goodly speech.
Dark is yonder town,
Dark are those therein,
Thou art the brown swan,
Going in among them.
Their hearts are under thy control,
Their tongues are beneath thy soul,
Nor will they ever utter a word
To give thee offence.

A shade art thou in the heat,
A shelter art thou in the cold,
Eyes art thou to the blind,
A staff art thou to the pilgrim,
An island art thou at sea,
A fortress art thou on land,
A well art thou in the desert,
Health art thou to the ailing.
Thine is the skill of the fairy women,
Thine is the faith of Mary the mild,
Thine is the tact of the women of Greece,
Thine is the beauty of Emir the fair,
Thine is the tenderness of Darthula delightful,
Thine is the courage of Maebh the strong,
Thine is the charm of Binne-bheul.
Thou art the joy of all joyous things,
Thou art the light of the beam of the sun,
Thou art the door of hospitality,
Thou art the surpassing star of guidance,
Thou art the step of the deer on the hill,
Thou art the step of the steed on the plain,
Thou art the grace of the swan swimming,
Thou art the loveliness of all lovely desires.
The lovely likeness of the Lord
Is in thy pure face,
The loveliest likeness that
Was upon the earth.

The best hour of the day be thine,
The best day of the week be thine,
The best week of the year be thine,
The best year in the Son of God's domain be thine.

Peter has come and Paul has come,
James has come and John has come,
Muriel and the Virgin Mary have come,
Uiriel the all-beneficent has come,
Ariel the beauteousness of the young has come,
Gabriel the seer of the Virgin has come,
Raphael the prince of the valiant has come,
And Michael the chief of the hosts has come,
And Jesus Christ the mild has come,
And the spirit of true guidance has come,
And the king of kings has come on the helm,
To bestow on thee their affection and their love,
To bestow on thee their affection and their love.


We have editions of the "Carmina Gadelica" in the Celtic lit section of the Reg (did you know there was a Celtic lit section of the Reg? I did, but then, of course I did). Take a look if you're intrigued.

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* The alternative title for this post was "Blockquote Abuse".
** "For I am the seed of the Welch Woman and speak the truth from my heart." Yes, Roedd Christopher Smart Cymro.
*** Can you tell that I just added the last section because "Turris Davidica" is my favorite Marian title? (After "Star of the Sea," which isn't in the Litany) Is it just unforgivably nerdy to have a favorite Marian title?
**** The corollary to this statement is probably, "I would most likely marry any man who recited the more romantic parts of this poem to me."