(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

ETA: No, it's only the First Tuesday in Advent. Thank goodness.



Cryptic Mediaeval Imagery FTW!

1. Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When halfspent was the night.

2. Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind;
To show God's love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When halfspent was the night.

3. O Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel with glorious splendour
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From Sin and death now save us,
And share our every load.


1. Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen,
aus einer Wurzel zart.
Wie uns die Alten sungen,
von Jesse war die Art.
Und hat ein Blüm'lein 'bracht;
mitten im kalten Winter,
wohl zu der halben Nacht.

2. Das Röslein, das ich meine,
davon Jesaia sagt:
Maria ist's, die Reine,
die uns das Blüm'lein bracht'.
Aus Gottes ew'gem Rat,
hat sie ein Kind geboren,
wohl zu der halben Nacht.

3. Das Blümelein, so kleine,
das duftet uns so süß;
mit seinem hellen Scheine
vertreibt's die Finsternis.
Wahr'r Mensch und wahrer Gott!
Hilft uns aus allem Leide,
rettet von Sünd' und Tod.

To quote the New English Hymnal (on another hymn) "The 'Mystic Rose' in st. 2 refers to the BVM" (Well, yes, who else would it be?)

Comments

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

That's my favorite Christmas song! So I'm very pleased that we're singing it in choir this semester. :D

[tree_and_leaf]

Excellent!

It's a wonderful carol. Though I like the Howells version best of all.

[sweet-adelheid.livejournal.com]

I *adore* "Es ist ein Ros'".

[tree_and_leaf]

At the moment my favourite Advent or Christmas carol is changing constantly, but that's certainly up there...

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I love your advent calendar ideas.

[tree_and_leaf]

I'm glad (but there's so much good stuff out there, it's not awfully difficult to choose something nice)!

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

"To quote the New English Hymnal (on another hymn) "The 'Mystic Rose' in st. 2 refers to the BVM" (Well, yes, who else would it be?)"

Forgive my boldness, but I think the NEH is mistaken on this one--or rather, it may be right about the original German (my reading knowledge is extremely rusty), but the English translation has "Protestantized" the whole thing so that there's only one "Rose"/"flower" throughout, and it's Jesus. How interesting! In the English stanza 2:
"The Rose I have in mind / With Mary we behold it..."

[tree_and_leaf]

No, I was being incoherent; I was referring to the note in the NEH on 'Crown Him With Many Crowns' ("Fruit of the mystic rose/ as of that rose the stem")

The rose is actually both Mary and Christ - the flower is Christ, but the "tender stem" of the rose is Mary (this is clearer in the German, but I think it's still implicit in the English.

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

Now everything makes sense!

[tree_and_leaf]

Unfortunately - while this never used to be so - I cannot hear the phrase 'tender stem' without thinking of broccoli. Advertising has much to answer for.