Collection Of Hymns Research Articles

Hymnic Placemaking: Samson Occom’s Collection and Brothertown Orientations

This article traces a long trajectory of hymnic placemaking within the Brothertown Indian Nation from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Since their tribe’s inception, Brothertown people have repurposed the forms and rituals of Christian hymnody in order to maintain connections to ancestral homelands, navigate and interpret unfamiliar terrain, and construct and shape tribal spaces. Samson Occom’s (Mohegan/Brothertown) A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs; Intended for the Edification of Sincere Christians, of all Denominations (1774) cultivated this distinctive mode of placemaking within the Native community that formed at Brothertown, New York. Opening up several key moments in the hymnal’s nearly two-hundred-and-fifty-year history, this article reads the Collection’s figures of place in relation to the embodied engagements it has prompted over time, from the daily travel it motivated across the eighteenth-century town to the hollow square formation Brothertown Indians used in 2018 when performing hymns at Yale. By foregrounding the bodily orientations toward place that are promoted by sung hymn-texts and develop alongside their sustained use, the article demonstrates how sonic expressions continue to supply materials for Indigenous placemaking among Brothertown singers today. This hymn-singing tradition, tied to specific homelands and yet remarkably portable, illuminates the situatedness of Indigenous poetic practice under the conditions of settler colonialism.

A Comparative Analysis on Translation Strategies in the Bahasa Indonesia and Toba Bataknese Christian Hymns

This paper aims to examine and compare the translation strategies employed in the translation of originally written in English hymns into Indonesian and Toba Batak languages, and to identify commonalities and disparities in translation approaches, by using Peter Low’s (2005; 2013; 2017) strategy of song translation, i.e the translation, adaptation, and replacement. The data consists of a collection of hymns in English and their respective translations in Indonesian and Toba Bataknese. The results of data analyis discovered that adaptation was the most frequently used strategy in both Indonesian and Toba Batak translations. In addition, replacement strategy applied in the two target languages was also notable. The findings further indicate a consistent translation choice of the term "Saviour" as "Jesus" in both Indonesian and Toba Batak translations, suggesting that the cultural context of the target language influences the strategy chosen by translators.

MIKELIS ŠAPALAS (1827–1884) – SURINKIMININKŲ HIMNODIJOS KŪRĖJAS

Mikelis Šapalas (1827-1884), a teacher in Lankupiai and a Prussian-Lithuanian literary figure, edited a small collection of hymns called Naujos nobaʒnos Giesmes (New Devotional Hymns), which was published 1860 in Memel (Klaipėda) at the Vaikinis printing house. The aim of this article is to expand on the repertoire of Šapalas’ hymn book, and to consider the reasons for the choice of hymns, the extent to which the repertoire was influenced by the activities of the missions organised by the Protestants, and the social issues of the time. The article also seeks to show the importance of the collection to later hymnody works.

"Great Vespers" by B. М. Ledkovsky in the singing tradition of the Orthodox Church in America

The article deals with a collection of hymns by the famous church composer and regent B. M. Ledkovsky, a representative of the Russian musical diaspora, whose creative path during the last almost twenty-five years of his life was connected with the United States of America. The verbal basis of the collection was made up of the liturgical texts of the Great Vespers service translated from Church Slavonic into English. Without making a detailed excursion into the historical past of America and without having the intention to create a picture of the formation and establishment of Orthodoxy on American soil (this topic, multi-level and multi-valued, is worthy, in our opinion, of more than one special study), the author touches only on individual events and facts of this history. Referring to the modern church-singing practice, which is accepted today in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) only partially, and focusing mainly on some features of the services of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), the author considers "Great Vespers" as a collection that generally corresponds to one of the rites of the Russian Orthodox Church, along with the All – Night Vigil written by B. M. Ledkovsky. The English-language verbal basis used in “Great Vespers” is seen as specific to the liturgical work of B. M. Ledkovsky, who always belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church – both in Russia and abroad after the revolution, but at the same time very consonant with the liturgical practice of the OCA, which gradually switched to the national, English language. Published in 1976 St. Vladimir's Seminary Press (SVS Press), one of the leading theological educational institutions of the Orthodox Church in America, where B. M. Ledkovsky worked as a teacher of church music for a number of years, "Great Vespers", composed by the composer on the order of the Seminary, was published after his death. The final revision and preparation of the collection for publication was made by D. Drillock, a student and junior colleague of B. M. Ledkovsky, E. and J. Erikson, R. Evich. They also, as indicated in the publication, carried out an English-language adaptation of the liturgical texts. It is characteristic that the musical component of most of the Great Vespers chants is the material of Obikhod Ledkovsky (All-Night Vigil), published in 1959 in Jordanville in the printing house of St. Job of Pochaevsky Holy Trinity Monastery. Individual hymns of this collection (litanies, Sunday troparia, and others) were later included in the editions of St. Vladimir Seminary in 1980 and 1982 in English ("Holy Week"; "Divine Liturgy", “The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts”). The proposed article examines the composition of the collection, with its features, based on the material of several hymns, shows the confirming statements of the composer and the approaches to harmonization that are fundamentally important for him, which he uses here and in other works. Some attention is also paid to the analysis of musical and linguistic parameters of harmonizations, the issues of vocalization of the chanted liturgical text.

Odes of Solomon, the LXX Odes and worship

The LXX Odes or the so-called Biblical odes are often overlooked in LXX studies. It is easy to confuse the LXX Odes with the pseudepigraphal Odes of Solomon. Both are collections of hymns that illuminates the early Christian reception of hymns and prayers. A distinction needs to be drawn between these collections. The LXX Odes consists of 14 songs and prayers which were transmitted by the Greek (Eastern) Church. It was from its inception used in liturgy. This article offers some remarks for orientation in the LXX Odes, but also explores whether the Odes can shed some light on early Christian worship and how it applies to our modern setting. It is the aim of this article to investigate the value of the Biblical Odes, particularly Ode 2, the Song of Moses, for our understanding of worship.

John William Colenso’s Collection of Psalms and Hymns for St Peter’s Cathedral, Pietermaritzburg: Context, Analysis and Christological Implications

In 1866, Bishop John William Colenso published a collection of hymns which he compiled for use at St Peter’s Cathedral in Pietermaritzburg. He had recently returned to Natal from England after defending himself in the legal debates which surrounded his status as Bishop of Natal. His controversial commentaries on Romans and the Pentateuch had been the catalyst of his denouncement by his metropolitan bishop, Robert Gray. While Colenso had been in England, Gray had visited the Diocese of Natal. While there, he introduced the recently published Hymns Ancient and Modern to parish churches. Colenso was a strong critic of Hymns Ancient and Modern, mainly on account of its ritualist tendencies, and he was annoyed to find that Gray had introduced the book in his absence. In response, he created a collection of hymns, a number of which he edited in order to conform to his evolving Christology. The collection sparked something of a media frenzy both in Natal and Britain, so much so that it was still being discussed four years after Colenso’s death. This article provides the historical context of the collection and its subsequent revisions; an analysis of its contents, paying special attention to hymns that were modified in some way; and a critique of the letters and reviews the collection received in the press. The article suggests that Colenso’s notoriety ensured that the collection received far more attention than it warranted. In essence, it served as a proxy battle ground for deeper concerns about the impact of biblical criticism on Christology.

Perfect Love Restored: The Language of Renewal in the Hymns of Charles Wesley

Abstract This distinctive theological perspective of Charles Wesley (compared with that of his brother, John) is found in his many collections of hymns. In these hymns, words such as ‘renewal‘, ‘restoration,’ and ‘recovery’ are pivotal in describing the effect that God’s work in Christ has on the life of humanity. This language is reinforced by the multiple images (most of them biblical) that Charles Wesley employs in his poetry. The result is an emphasis on salvation as the restoration of God’s perfect kingdom of love, peace, compassion, and justice.

Vāk sūktaṃ as the root of the āgamic traditions

Among the philosophical hymns of the Ṛgveda Vāk Sūkta is a very popular one. On the other hand, for the Āgamic traditions Vāk Sūktaṃ plays a major role in shaping their very root theories. Starting from the Bhairava Āgama to the comparatively later creations such as Devī Atharvaśirṣa, the significance of the Vāk Sūkta can be seen everywhere. This paper focuses on the means of how this one collection of hymns inspired to give rise to a vast tradition including a vast range of an independent philosophical corpus.

Славословия Синрана бодхисаттвам Нагарджуне и Васубандху

Hymns of Pure Land Masters (Jōdo kōsō wasan) or Hymns on seven Masters (Shichi kōsō wasan) were written by Shinran (1173–1262), founder of “True Faith Pure Land” school (Jōdo Shinshū), in 1248 at the age of 75 years. In 1473 the school’s eighth hierarch Rennyo (1415–1499) published the text in woodcut. The collection of hymns consists of 119 stanzas, devoted to seven eminent monks: Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu of India, T’an-luan, Tao-ch’o and Shan-tao of China, and Genshin and Genkū of Japan. Shinran’s hymns in Japanese were included in the canon of school’s sacred texts and were recited during morning and evening services. In this publication translation in Russian of hymns in Japa­nese devoted to Indian monks Nagarjuna (ten stanzas) and Vasubandhu (ten stanzas) are presented. Shinran called Nagarjuna the original teacher (honshi) and also bodhisattva (bosatsu), as well as Vasubandhu. Shinran describes in poetic form necessary biographic data as well as school’s doctrinal provisions developed by these Indian patriarchs.

Extensive long-term verbal memory training is associated with brain plasticity

The human brain has a remarkable capacity to store a lifetime of information through visual or auditory routes. It excels and exceeds any artificial memory system in mixing and integrating multiple pieces of information encoded. In this study, a group of verbal memory experts was evaluated by multiple structural brain analysis methods to record the changes in the brain structure. The participants were professional Hindu pandits (priests/scholars) trained in reciting Vedas and other forms of Hindu scriptures. These professional Vedic priests are experts in memorization and recitation of oral texts with precise diction. Vedas are a collection of hymns. It is estimated that there are more than 20,000 mantras and shlokas in the four Vedas. The analysis included the measurement of the grey and white matter density, gyrification, and cortical thickness in a group of Vedic pandits and comparing these measures with a matched control group. The results revealed an increased grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in the midbrain, pons, thalamus, parahippocampus, and orbitofrontal regions in pandits. The whole-brain corelation analysis using length of post-training teaching duration showed significant correlation with the left angular gyrus. We also found increased gyrification in the insula, supplementary motor area, medial frontal areas, and increased cortical thickness (CT) in the right temporal pole and caudate regions of the brain. These findings, collectively, provide unique information regarding the association between crucial memory regions in the brain and long-term practice of oral recitation of scriptures from memory with the proper diction that also involved controlled breathing.

L’Hymnaire manichéen chinois Xiabuzan 下部讚 à l’usage des Auditeurs: Un manuscrit trouvé à Dunhuang, traduit, commenté et annoté by Lucie Rault

Reviewed by: L’Hymnaire manichéen chinois Xiabuzan 下部讚 à l’usage des Auditeurs: Un manuscrit trouvé à Dunhuang, traduit, commenté et annoté by Lucie Rault Gunner Mikkelsen Lucie Rault L’Hymnaire manichéen chinois Xiabuzan 下部讚 à l’usage des Auditeurs: Un manuscrit trouvé à Dunhuang, traduit, commenté et annoté Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2019 Pp. xvi + 483. €149.00 / $179.00. This book presents the first French translation of the complete collection of twenty-five Manichaean hymns and prayers in Chinese commonly known as the “Hymn-scroll.” The scroll dates to the Tang dynasty and was among the numerous manuscripts recovered by Marc Aurel Stein from the Mogao “library cave” at Dunhuang in the early years of the twentieth century and is today kept in the British Library (S. 2659). Apparently, Paul Pelliot intended to produce a French translation back in the 1920s, but, as explained by Tsui Chi (Cui Ji) in the foreword to his English translation of the Hymn-scroll (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 11 [1943]), he was “so occupied with other work” that he had to pass the task on to Ernst Waldschmidt and Wolfgang Lentz, who then translated some of the hymns into German (published in 1926 and 1933). The title of the Hymn-scroll is short and simple: Xiabuzan yijuan 下部讚一卷, which literally translates as “Lower Section Hymns, One Scroll.” The translation is included in Tsui Chi’s “The Lower (Second?) Section of the Manichaean Hymns” and also in Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer’s German translation of the full collection, “Die untere Abteilung der Manichäischen Hymnen, ein Buch” (Chinese Manichaica [Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1987]). Rault adheres to a more recently proposed alternative interpretation: hymns for (the use of) the Hearers, i.e., the lower section or category of the Manichaean community. Support for this may be found in another well-preserved Chinese Manichaean text from Dunhuang, the Sermon on the Light-Nous (kept in the National Library of China) or, as it is often called (in lack of a title), the “Traité manichéen”—this with reference to the French translation by Édouard Chavannes and Pelliot published in 1911. It has not been mentioned previously, and Rault does not refer to either, but the Chinese Sermon on the Light-Nous contains a sentence in which the word bu 部 appears to be used for categories of believers: “The gods and the good spirits, [End Page 660] the limited and the unlimited, all the kings, the multitude of magnates, and the four categories of men and women, infinite and countless, having heard this holy text, were all overjoyed” (諸天善神, 有㝵无㝵, 及諸國王、群臣、士女四部之眾, 无量无數, 聞是經已, 皆大歡喜; cols. 317–18 of the scroll). The four categories of men and women are those of male and female Elect and male and female Hearers. The latter two categories form together the xiabu “lower category.” A four-fold division of believers is also found in the Buddhist monastic order: monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen. Rault argues that the translator of the Xiabuzan, Daoming “Light of the Way,” is a “bouddhiste de formation.” That may well be true. The texts teem with Buddhist terminology and perhaps more so than one would expect in a collection of hymns for liturgical use of Manichaean communities in China. Rault admirably translates most Buddhist loanwords directly, not interpretatively, or gives Chinese transcriptions of the Sanskrit terms, or the Sanskrit only. The lack of consistency is a problem though. Why render foxing 佛性 (buddha-nature) as “Nature du Buddha” (col. 10) and “nature bouddhique originelle” (col. 39) when faxing 法性 (dharma-nature) is translated “être transcendant” (cols. 56–59)? And why give Chinese transliterations of some Sanskrit terms (e.g., luosha 羅剎, yecha 夜叉, niepan 涅槃), translations in other cases (e.g., Mowang 魔王 “le roi Démon”), or Sanskrit directly (e.g., kalpa, cols. 33, 40; nirvāna, col. 224; karma, cols. 225, 233)? Rault states in the introduction that “Tout comme la poésie, la religion abonde en symboles abstraits. Une traduction littérale pourrait être dénuée de sens et même inexacte” (30). But the problem is that this means that the translation in places becomes inaccurate or inconsistent, or it becomes more elaborate as, for instance, in col. 137 where the two-character name Huiming 惠明 is “translated...

Exploring the language layer of thedānastutigenre

AbstractThe linguistic variedness of the ancient Vedic texts is a well-known fact. This can be observed within theṚgvedaitself, the most ancient collection of hymns, and if one compares the language of theṚgvedawith that of the Atharvaveda. Glimpses of Vedic dialects can be detected in several passages and words, although the poetic language displays a high degree of convention and normalisation. Among the hymns of the Rigveda few specific features can be attributed to the different families of bards, even though one can surmise that they belonged to different regions of the Vedic world. It is also likely that some families or so-called “branches” were linguistically mixed. The hymns resort to different genres of discourse.Thedānastuti, lit. ‘praise of the gift’, marks a distinct part of the poetic competence. The passages in question, which are often limited to a single stanza, although others are more developed, making up a substantial part of the poem, are devoted to praise of the generosity of the patron, who is expected to reward the poet appropriately for his work. A comprehensive survey of these parts of the hymns of the Rigveda was made in the dissertation of Manilal Patel (1929), a student of Karl F. Geldner. This meritorious book describes mostly cultural, historical and ritual features. On the other hand, the familiar, and in cases crude or mischievous, tone of these pieces has been noted by several commentators of the Rigveda. It would be too simple, however, to consider that these parts faithfully reflect everyday speech.The paper aims to explore the linguistic traits of thedānastutis which contrast with the standard layer of the Ṛgvedic language at all levels: phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary. On the level of stylistics and poetics, it will be shown that the phraseology of thedānastutis relies on sophisticated devices derived from the standard phraseology which was used otherwise for the praise of the gods and goddesses in the core of the hymns.

Successful Learning Through Massive Open Online Courses

Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides, says the Rigveda, one of the ancient Indian collection of hymns called Vedas. Interestingly, the meaning of Veda in Sanskrit is knowledge. Current ly, with the introduction of massive open online courses (MOOCs), we are able to advance our knowledge by attending courses available from reputed universities around the world. Since 2012, in MOOCs offered through reputed providers, such as edX ( http://www.edx.org ), Stanford Online ( http://online.stanford.edu ), Coursera ( http://www.coursera.org ), Udacity ( http://www.udacity.com ), iversity ( http://www.iversity.org ), and FutureLearn ( http://www.futurelearn.com ), thousands of enthusiastic students around the world have participated with great interest and anticipation.

Dwelling together: Psalm 133 and the Songs of Ascents

Psalm 133 is the penultimate psalm of a collection within the Psalter entitled the “Songs of Ascents.” Its idyllic picture of community comes at the close of a collection of hymns and prayers in which the reader is invited to praise, lament, contemplate the past, and gather together for worship. In considering the issue of polarization in the church and in society, this psalm collection offers one model for dwelling together in a world in which fracturing is the easier path, arguing that in order to dwell together, we must first do the difficult work of journeying together.

Living Well-Springs: The Hymns, Songs, and Poems of N. F. S. Grundtvig by Edward Broadbridge

Reviewed by: Living Well-Springs: The Hymns, Songs, and Poems of N. F. S. Grundtvig by Edward Broadbridge Paul Westermeyer Living Well-Springs: The Hymns, Songs, and Poems of N. F. S. Grundtvig. By Edward Broadbridge. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 2015. 420 pp. Edward Broadbridge, a teacher of English and Religious Studies at Aarhus University and the University of Michigan, served as the translator and editor of this book. He received help from John Nicholson who collaborated with him on the translation of every hymn, song, and poem in it. Nicholson, with an MA from Oxford and postgraduate studies at Sheffield and Southampton, worked in adult [End Page 236] education and "probation and prison after-care" (15). Both men are from England, married Danish wives, and moved to Denmark. In the Preface (19–29) Broadbridge describes the importance of Grundtvig's hymns and songs in Danish churches and schools. For example, Danish emigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—287,000 people, one tenth of the Danish population (21)—carried his hymns with them as "spiritual luggage" (19). He sees Grundtvig as a major poet beyond Denmark whose reputation remains "confined to a relatively small circle," calls the hymns chosen for this book classic ones of Grundtvig, and gives a history of translations. In the section called "Translation as an Art," he begins with Anne Schjoldager's "six competencies required of the translator: linguistic, cultural, textual, subject-specific, research, and transfer" (22). He describes "the present translation" (25–26); "Grundtvig, England, and the English Language" (26–27); and makes final comments about Grundtvig as "surprisingly" by "his own admission, unmusical," though he said, "I often wish among my confirmands that I too could sing a hymn" (28). Uffe Jonas is a Danish singer, writer, and lecturer whose MA and PhD, from the University of Copenhagen, are on Kierkegaard and Nordic languages and literature. He provides a biographical study of Grundtvig (31–65). The remainder of the book (67–331) gives translations of 162 of Grundtvig's hymns (# 1–76), songs (# 77–103), and poems (# 104–162), followed by notes, a bibliography, and indexes (pp. 333–420). Broadbridge's aim was "to produce precise, poetical translations that reflect Grundtvig's intentions with the original Danish" (25). Although he followed the Danish "rhythms and rhymes" (25), he did not set out to provide a collection of hymns for singing assemblies as hymnal editors seek to do. The hymns are organized as they appear in The Danish Hymnbook (2002), the songs are divided as in The People's High School Song Book (2006), and the poems are ordered according to the editor's choice. Mythology, nature, history, poetry, Denmark, and England are all important to understanding Grundtvig. In his biographical sketch—titled "Earth and Heaven Be United, Grundtvig as poet [End Page 237] and hymn-writer"—Jonas discusses all of these topics along with Grundtvig's "Christian breakthrough," his understanding of history as poetry, the constructive jurists and the creative poets in the nation-state, his positive view of women, and his place as one of the three great Danes of hymn writing in Denmark along with Thomas Kingo (1634–1703) and Hans Adolf Brorson (1694–1764). Word and sacraments are included in these discussions. Whether they are sufficiently emphasized will have to be judged by Grundtvig scholars. This book will be of interest to hymn writers, editors, historians, and anybody who cares about hymnody, especially Danish hymnody and Grundtvig. Those less concerned about hymnody, but who study Denmark, Grundtvig, and the church in Denmark may also find this book to be of interest. Paul Westermeyer Luther Seminary Saint Paul, Minnesota Copyright © 2018 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

The Influence of the Moravian Collection of Hymns on William Blake's Later Mythology

Building on Keri Davies's and Marsha Keith Schuchard's tracing of the phrase "four zoas" back to John Gambold's Moravian hymnal, A Collection of Hymns of the Children of God (London, 1754), Wayne C. Ripley argues that the hymnal was a major source for William Blake's later mythology. The influence of the hymnal can help to date Blake's heavy layers of revisions to the manuscript of Vala or The Four Zoas, both internally and relative to Milton and Jerusalem, clarifying in new ways the development of his complex mythological system. Blake's demonstrable engagement with the hymnal also opens a new chapter in his relationship to Moravianism and, by extension of at least his mother's known membership in the church, to his family.

Make a Black Life, and Bid It Sing: Sacred Song in The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea

Scholarship on the American-born Afro-British author John Jea (c. 1773–after 1817) has focused on his c. 1816 autobiography. Scholars have examined Jea's life a sailor, his literacy, his opposition to slavery, and his indifference to dependent or marginalized people, whether free or enslaved. This essay argues that Jea's 1816 Collection of Hymns should be read as a companion to his memoir. When the two books are read together, scholars gain a clearer insight into his opposition to slavery and his empathy with seemingly lowly people, including black Christians in evangelical churches.

Cheryl C. Boots. Singing for Equality: Hymns in the American Antislavery and Indian Rights Movements, 1640–1855.

Seldom utilized effectively by today's interpreters, hymns and metrical psalms are fundamental sources for the history of American religious culture. These ritual texts and their paired tunes were ubiquitous in colonial and antebellum America, legitimating cultural institutions and practices while also holding the potential to inspire change. In this ambitious study, Cheryl C. Boots explores hymns as agents of change before the Civil War and their role in the struggle to achieve racial equality for African Americans and Native Americans. Boots begins her survey with John Eliot's efforts to share Puritan psalmody with his indigenous “praying towns” in seventeenth-century Massachusetts and ends with hymn texts in the abolition fiction of Harriet Beecher Stowe and William Wells Brown. Along the way she offers short treatments of hymns in the work of Samson Occom, Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Banneker, Richard Allen, Jarena Lee, William Apess and Mary Apess, Lydia Sigourney, Lydia Maria Child, John Ridge, Elias Boudinot and Harriet Gold Boudinot, Catherine Beecher, David Walker, Maria W. Stewart, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Maria Weston Chapman, and William Lloyd Garrison. She contrasts hymn use by these egalitarian writers with references to singing in white establishmentarian works like Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty and Goodness of God (1682), Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), and James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826). She also examines four important egalitarian hymnals, Occom's A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs: Intended for the Edification of Sincere Christians of All Denominations (1774), Allen's The African Methodist Pocket Hymn Book (1816), the American Anti-Slavery Society's Freedom's Lyre (1840), and Brown's The Anti-Slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs for Anti-Slavery Meetings (1848).

ELEGIAC MEMORIAL AND THE MARTYR AS MEDIUM IN PRUDENTIUS'PERISTEPHANON

In thePeristephanon, a collection of hymns in praise of the Christian martyrs, the Spanish poet Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (a.d. 347/8–c. 405) refers back to a time more than a hundred years before he was writing, when Christianity was not the predominant influence in the Roman world but the religion of a beleaguered minority. In the course of Prudentius' lifetime, the trials that were suffered by that minority under emperors such as Decius and Diocletian became an important point of reference for increasing numbers of Roman converts seeking to identify with Christianity and its sectarian past. At the time, however, those trials were recorded in only meagre written accounts. Prudentius, whose successful administrative career might have culminated in elevation to a senior position in the imperialscrinia, displays particular interest in the extent of the official archival material in thePeristephanon. In a number of passages in this work, he comments on the fragility of historical documents, which are easily destroyed by acts of malice or the effects of time. The following discussion will examine the ways in which he reflects on the permanence, or otherwise, of his own written texts. Analysis of his imitation of elegiac verse inscriptions will demonstrate how he draws attention to the inadequacy of even the most monumental types of human writing. But I will argue that, by identifying his poems with the martyrs' perishable bodies, Prudentius claims that they too can be a medium for a divine presence not confined to any perishable physical form.

The Fisher King of West Egg

The Fisher King of West Egg