To close this somewhat rambling account of the Latin hymn and sequence
in the later medieval centuries, which is necessarily discursive even as
the civilization itself was everywhere expanding, the characteristics of
this poetry should be reviewed in comparison with those of earlier Latin
hymns.
An increasing variety of subject matter is first to be noted, to
accompany the diversification of worship brought about by new feasts and
the appearance of new religious agencies. Hymns for the festivals of
saints provide the best illustrations of this tendency which has been
amply treated above.
A marked trend toward the compilation of local liturgical collections
and the differentiation of service books accompanies the unification of
rites in various European lands. This tendency was observed in earlier
centuries, particularly in Spain where the Mozarabic hymnal prevailed.
St. Gall had provided a monastic center of influence in German-speaking
lands in its day. Now, the great diocesan and monastic centers, on a
much larger scale, are furnished with a full complement of ritual books
and guides to hymnody. In England, the Sarum collection achieved great
prominence, acquiring national rather than diocesan proportions.
Within the hymnic poetry itself changes are seen both in form and
spirit. A full development of metrical forms takes place, some of which
had appeared much earlier in isolated examples and were now widely
accepted; others were characteristic of late medieval literary art. The
meters and rhythm of sequence poetry were popularly favored. Subjective
qualities and attitudes which had been infrequent in the earlier hymns
devoted to biblical themes and theological expression are much more
obvious in later hymns. The personal petition and the direct address to
deity and the saints are frequent. It has been suggested above in
considering hymns upon the theme of the Cross, that a comparison of
hymns from the earlier and later groups is instructive. But any of the
great themes may be selected for this purpose, for example, the
Pentecostal theme, with a group of hymns in which the earlier ones are
simple narratives following the biblical account of the descent of the
Holy Spirit; the later ones are exemplified by _Veni, sancte spiritus_,
“Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come,” already cited, in which the Spirit is
addressed and invoked for personal blessings and the sevenfold gifts.
With the waning of the medieval centuries came a characteristic
decadence in the poetical quality of Latin hymns and in their spiritual
vitality. This was true of the sequence and most obvious, perhaps, in
those which were devoted to the praise of the saints. Reference to this
phenomenon will be made in a later chapter in connection with the
possible reason for the loss of religious significance which must be
admitted although deplored by students of the subject.
Finally, one observes that certain hymns of these later centuries rival,
if not surpass, the representative hymns of the first half of the Middle
Ages. Four of the five sequences retained in the present-day Roman
Missal were all selected from this group, namely: _Lauda Sion
Salvatorem_, _Veni sancte spiritus_, _Dies irae_, and _Stabat mater
dolorosa_. Other illustrative hymns and sequences mentioned above prove
to be almost as familiar.
On the contrary, decadent hymns have tended to disappear. Unworthy of
their theme and purpose, a multitude of examples may be unearthed from
their present burial places in the _Analecta Hymnica_ or other
collections by the curious investigator. So far as actual usage is
concerned they have been gradually discarded and forgotten in the
process of time. Similarly those of greater merit have possessed a
survival value sufficient to insure recognition in every succeeding
century.
CHAPTER SIX
Late Middle Ages: Processional Hymns