Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/285

 DC] EARLY LATIN CHRISTIAN POETRY 267 reverentially and with ordered thoughts, the hymn apostrophizes God the Creator and Ordainer. The fourth strophe delineates the religious attitude of the soul toward Him. Te cordis ima concinant^ Te vox canora concrepetj Te diligat castus amor^ Te mens adoret sobria. The tone of this adoring strophe is given by the words castus and sobna — let castus amor wait on thee, mens sobria adore thee. It is stately and contained, antique in mode of expression. The other hymn. In Ascensione Domini, has been improperly ascribed to Ambrose, yet is prior to the seventh century. It is more emotionally loving : — Jesut nostra redemption Amor et desiderium ; how different in tone from the Te diligat castus amor^ Te mens adoret sobria. And the last strophe shows the coming of rhyme and its eftect upon the tone : — Tu esto nostrum gaudium Qui es futuris praemium. Sit nostra in te gloria Per cuncta semper saeculaA In the full Middle Ages, as with Adam of St. Vic- tor, the accentual and rhymed iambic dimeter is found undergoing modifications which add to the emotional I This hymn is in Clement, Carmina e poetis Christianis, p. 60.