[Transcriber's Notes:]
This text is derived from
http://archive.org/details/maycarolspoems00veregoog
Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly
braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page breaks occurred
in the original book.
Dedicated to Fr. Richard Trout who brings his love of Christ and
the Virgin Mary to life in his preaching at Corpus Christi Parish.
"Thanks for the homilies."
[End Transcriber's Notes:]
_By the same Author._
I.
THE SEARCH AFTER PEOSEEPINE, and
Other Poems. 12mo 7s. 6d.
J. H. and J. Parker, Oxford and London.
II.
POEMS (MISCELLANEOUS AND SACRED).
Fcap. 8vo 4s. 6d.
Burns and Lambert, London.
MAY CAROLS.
London:
Printed by Spottiswoode & Co
New-street Square.
MAY CAROLS.
BY
AUBREY DE VERE.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS.
1857.
_The right of translation is reserved._
TO
THE VERY REVEREND
HENRY EDWARD MANNING
THESE POEMS
ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
{v}
INTRODUCTION.
The wisdom of the Church, which consecrates the
fleeting seasons of Time to the interests of Eternity,
has dedicated the month of May (the birthday
festival, as it were, of Creation) to her who was
ever destined in the Divine Counsels to become the
Mother of her Creator. It belongs to her, of course,
as she is the representative of the Incarnation, and
its practical exponent to a world but too apt to
forget what it professes to hold. The following
Poems, written in her honour, are an attempt to
set forth, though but in mere outline, each of
them some one of the great Ideas or essential
Principles embodied in that all-embracing Mystery.
On a topic so comprehensive, converse statements,
at one time illustrating the highest excellence compatible
with mere creaturely existence, at another,
the infinite distance between the chief of creatures
and the Creator, may seem, at first sight, and
to some eyes, contradictory, although in reality,
mutually correlative. On an attentive perusal,
however, that harmony which exists among the
{vi}
many portions of a single mastering Truth, can
hardly fail to appear--and with it the scope and
aim of this Poem.
With the meditative, descriptive pieces have
been interspersed. They are an attempt towards
a Christian rendering of external nature. Nature,
like Art, needs to be spiritualised, unless it is to
remain a fortress in the hands of an adverse Power.
The visible world is a passive thing, which ever
takes its meaning from something above itself.
In Pagan times, it drew its interpretation from
Pantheism; and to Pantheism--nay, to that Idolatry
which is the popular application of
Pantheism--it has still a secret, though restrained
tendency, not betrayed by literature alone. A
World without Divinity, Matter without Soul, is
intolerable to the human mind. Yet, on the other
hand, there is much in fallen human nature which
shrinks from the sublime thought of a Creator,
and rests on that of a sheathed Divinity diffused
throughout the universe, its life, not its maker.
Mere personified elements, the Wood-God and
River-Nymph, captivate the fancy and do not
over-awe the soul. For a bias so seductive, no
cure is to be found save in authentic Christianity,
the only practical Theism. The whole truth, on
the long run, holds its own better than the half
truth; and minds repelled by the thought of a
God who stands afar off, and created the universe
but to abandon it to general laws, fling themselves
at the feet of a God made Man. In other words,
{vii}
the Incarnation is the _Complement_ of Creation.
In it is revealed the true nature of that link which
binds together the visible and invisible worlds.
When the "Word was made Flesh," a bridge
was thrown across that gulf which had else for
ever separated the Finite from the Infinite. The
same high Truth which brings home to us the
doctrine of a Creation, consecrates that Creation,
reconstituting it into an Eden meet for an unfallen
Adam and an unfallen Eve; nay, exalting it into
a heavenly Jerusalem, the dwelling-place of the
Lamb and of the Bride. It does this, in part,
through symbols and associations founded on the
all-cleansing Blood and the all-sanctifying Spirit
--symbols and associations the reverse of those in
which an Epicurean mythology took delight, and
which the very superficial alone can confound
with such. This is perhaps the aspect of Religion
least above the level of Poetry.
As to its form, the present work belongs to the
class of serial poems, a species of composition
happily revived in recent times, as by Wordsworth,
in his "Ecclesiastical Sketches," and "Sonnets
dedicated to Liberty," by Landor, and, with preeminent
success, by the author of "In Memoriam."
It was in common use among our earlier poets,
who derived it from Petrarch and the Italians.
Most often the interest of such poems was of a
personal sort, as in the serial sonnets of Shakespeare,
Spenser, Sidney, Drummond, Daniel, and
Drayton; as well as the "Aurora" of Lord
{viii}
Stirling, and the "Astrea" of Sir John Davies.
Occasionally, it was of a more abstract character.
In both cases, alike, advantage was derived
from a method of writing which unites an
indefinite degree of continuity with a somewhat
lawless variety, and which gains in brevity by
the omission of connecting bonds. In Herbert's
"Temple," Vaughan's "Silex Scintillans," and the
chief poems of Donne and Crashaw, the unity is
but that of kindred thoughts, and a common subject,
not of a complete design. Habington's
"Castara," a noble work too little known, combines a
personal with an abstract interest. In it many
poems on religious and philosophical subjects are
grouped for support round a single centre; that
centre being the sustained homage paid by the
poet to one not unworthy, apparently, of his
reverence and love.
{ix}{x}{xi}{xii}
CONTENTS
PAGE
Prologue xv
PART I.
Who feels not, when the Spring once more 3
Upon Thy face, O God, thy world 5
All but unutterable Name 6
Sancta Maria 7
Dei Genitrix 8
Virgo Virginum 9
Ascending from the convent-grates 11
Adolescentulae amaverunt te nimis 12
Mater Christi 13
Mater Christi 14
Mater Creatoris 15
Mater Salvatoris 16
Mater Dolorosa 17
Mater Dolorosa 18
Mater Admirabilis 19
Mater Amabilis 20
Mater Filii 21
Mater Divinae Gratiae 22
Mater Divinae Gratiae 23
When April's sudden sunset cold 24
As children when, with heavy tread 25
Mariae Cliens 26
Fest. Visitationis 28
Not yet, not yet! the Season sings 29
Fest. Nativitatis B.V.M. 30
The moon, ascending o'er a mass 32
A dream came to me while the night 33
Fest. Purificationis 34
Fest. Epiphaniae 35
The sunless day is sweeter yet 36
Legenda 37