| Gabriel, fram Heven-King |
Gabriel, sent from the King of Heaven |
Gabriel from Heaven's King |
| Sent to the Maide sweete, |
to the sweet Maiden, |
Sent to the maiden sweetest, |
| Broute hir blisful tiding |
brought her happy news |
Brought to her blissful tidings, |
| And fair he gan hir greete: |
and greeted her courteously: |
And fairly her he greeted. |
| "Heil be thu, ful of grace aright! |
Hail be thou, [who art] indeed full of grace! |
"Hail be thou, full of grace aright, |
| For Godes Son, this Heven-Light, |
For God's Son, this Light of Heaven, |
For God's own son, this Heaven's light, |
| For mannes love |
for love of man |
So man be won |
| Wil man bicome |
will become man |
Will man become |
| And take |
and take |
And take then |
| Fles of thee, Maide bright, |
human form from thee, fair Maiden, |
Flesh of thee, maiden bright. |
| Manken free for to make |
to free mankind |
Mankind thus free he'll make then |
| Of sen and devles might." |
of sin and the devil's power.' |
Of sin and devil's might." |
|
|
|
| Mildelich him gan andswere |
The gentle Maiden |
Sweetly him she answered there, |
| The milde Maide thanne: |
then gently answered him: |
The mildest maiden lady, |
| "Wichewise sold ich bere |
In what manner should I bear |
"How am I a child to bear |
| A child withute manne?" |
a child without a husband?' |
Without a man to aid me?" |
| Th'angel hir seid: "Ne dred tee nout; |
The angel said to her: 'Fear nothing: |
The angel told her, "Dread thee not, |
| Thurw th'Oligast sal been iwrout |
through the Holy Ghost shall |
For through the Holy Ghost it's wrought. |
| This ilche thing |
this very thing be done |
The news I bring, |
| Warof tiding |
of which |
The same I sing, |
| Ich bringe; |
I bring news; |
Declaring: |
| Al manken wurth ibout |
all mankind will be redeemed |
All mankind will be bought, |
| Thurw thine sweet childinge |
by means of thy sweet child-bearing |
And through thy sweet childbearing |
| And ut of pine ibrout." |
and brought out of torment.' |
Will out of pain be brought." |
|
|
|
| Wan the Maiden understood |
When the Maiden understood |
When the maiden understood |
| And th'angels wordes herde, |
and heard the angel's words, |
His words as he had wanted, |
| Mildelich, with milde mood, |
she answered the angel gently, |
Mildly with a heart so good |
| To th'angel hie andswerde: |
with gentle spirit: |
To the angel she responded: |
| "Ure Lords thewe maid iwis |
I am indeed the bond-maid of our Lord, |
"Our Lord's own handmaid I shall show |
| Ich am, that heer aboven is; |
who is above. |
I truly am on Earth below. |
| Anentis me |
Concerning me |
Concerning me, |
| Fulfurthed be |
may thy saying |
May surely be |
| Thi sawe |
be fulfilled, |
Your saying, |
| That ich, sith his wil is, |
that I, since it is his will, |
That since He willed it so, |
| A maid, withute lawe, |
may as a maiden, contrary to natural law, |
All Nature's law betraying, |
| Of moder have the blis." |
have the joy of motherhood.' |
A mother's bliss I'll know." |
|
|
|
| Th'angel went awei mid than |
With that, the angel went away, |
Then the angel turned to go |
| Al ut of hire sighte; |
out of her sight; |
And left the maiden's bower; |
| Hire womb arise gan |
her womb began to swell |
And her womb began to grow |
| Thurw th'Oligates mighte. |
through the power of the Holy Ghost. |
With all the Spirit's power. |
| In hir wes Crist bilok anon, |
In her Christ was straightway enclosed, |
In her the Christ Child was contained: |
| Sooth God, sooth man in fles and bon, |
true God and true man in flesh and bone, |
True God, true man, in blood and pain, |
| And of hir fles |
and of her flesh |
And of her bone |
| Ibore wes |
was born |
To sin atone |
| At time, |
in due time, |
Emerging, |
| Warhturw us kam good won; |
whereby good hope came to us: |
With mankind to remain. |
| He bout us ut of pine, |
he redeemed us from pain [of hell] |
Our sin and anguish purging, |
| And let him for us slon. |
and allowed himself to be slain for us. |
He let himself be slain. |
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|
| Maiden-Moder makeles, |
Matchless Maiden-Mother, |
Maiden mother, with not mate, |
| Of milce ful ibunde, |
[who art] full of compassion, |
With mercy open-handed, |
| Bid for us him that tee ches, |
pray for us to him that chose thee, |
Pray for us to God so great, |
| At wam thu grace funde, |
in whose sight you found grace, |
Who favor to thee granted, |
| That he forgive us sen and wrake, |
that he forgive us [our] sin and hostility |
That He forgive our injury, |
| And clene of evri gelt us make, |
and absolve us from all guilt, |
And clean of guilt He make us be; |
| And heven-blis, |
and, when our time comes |
And Heaven's bliss |
| Wan ur time is |
to die, |
When our time is |
| To sterve, |
give us the bliss of heaven, |
For dying, |
| Us give, for thine sake, |
for thy sake, |
Allow us then to see. |
| Him so here for to serve |
so serving him here [below] |
To serve with earnest trying |
| That he us to him take. |
that he take us to himself. |
Allow us all for thee. |
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|
| Anonymous |
E.J. Dobson, in Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, eds. The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993. Print. |
Carol Anne Perry Lagemann |