CEC 9/10 – Medieval Literature
“A brief and true definition of virtue is rightly ordered love.” – St. Augustine
Room 302
Tuesday and Thursday 11:06am-12:21pm
Instructor:
Contact:
Website:
Password:
Zachary Good
[email protected]
http://www.sacredheartacademygr.org/medieval-literature
Good 1516
I. Course Description – Medieval Literature is designed to serve as both a challenging and
intellectually rigorous high school English course. This specific class will focus on both literature
from the medieval period and the writings of later authors with particular insights into the history
and culture of Christendom. Primary texts will be supplemented with work in grammar, writing,
and recitation. In order to fully complete and comprehend all primary text reading assignments
and auxiliary materials, students will be expected to devote up to an hour to coursework on each
day on which we do not meet. By engaging in close reading, careful reflection, and guided
conversation, students will explore the ideas that distinguish the Christian West from the
preceding Greco-Roman world and how the best of pagan art and philosophy is synthesized with
the Christian faith.
II. Required Materials
1. Required Texts:
a. Helena, Evelyn Waugh (Loyola Classics)
b. Confessions, St. Augustine
c. Beowulf (trans. Seamus Heaney)
d. The Song of Roland (trans. Dorothy Sayers)
e. The Ballad of the White Horse, G.K. Chesterton (Seton Homeschool Edition)
f. Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson (Signet Classics)
g. Inferno, Dante (trans. Anthony Esolen)
2. Other Materials
a. Three-ring binder dedicated to this course
b. Plenty of loose-leaf, college-ruled paper
c. Pens, both blue/black and red
III. Course Binders - All items should be dated and presented in chronological order within
the appropriate section. Please ask me after class if you do not know where to place any given
item in your binder, and remember that binders are collected and graded at the end of each
quarter. It is in your best interest to keep your binder orderly year-round.
Each of the follow capital letters represents a labeled divider within the three-ring binder.
The Arabic numerals below each capital letter represent the order in which that content should
be presented. All material should appear in chronological order within its designated section.
Organizing Your Binder
A. Syllabus
B. Warm-ups: A master list of daily quotations, poems, and any other class warm-ups
C. Literature (grouped by unit/text):
1. Notes (Written in outline format)
2. Maps, charts, other handouts
3. Homework
4. Quizzes and tests
D. Grammar
1. Notes (Written in outline format)
2. Homework
3. Quizzes
E. Writing
1. To-Dos and No-Nos
2. Thesis Papers
i. Planning
ii. Drafts
iii. Peer reviews
iv. Final Copies
3. Reading Responses
i. Master list of prompts
ii. Reading responses
IV. Course Requirements
A. Class attendance and participation: All students are expected to attend class unless
legitimately excused. If a student must miss a class, he or she has two school days to
complete all work assigned on the day which the student missed in addition to all other
class work. Both perfect attendance and daily participation are critical to success in this
course. All students will contribute daily to class discussion. Students are expected to
contribute to the best of their ability in Socratic dialogues as well as when they are called
on to do so. While there is no formal grade for participation, students who refuse to
contribute or are repeatedly ill-prepared will not only miss the opportunity to engage
their colleagues, but will need to spend time discussing the lesson outside of class with Mr.
Good.
Lecture notes, no matter how thorough, are an inadequate substitute for either
attendance or active conversation. All students will be seated in their assigned seats when
class begins. Students are expected to begin copying their daily assignment and the warm-
up before class begins. Mr. Good will begin classroom procedures at the appropriate
time. There is no bell.
B. Course readings:
1. Required texts: See above.
2. Additional readings: These handouts will be distributed in class prior to the day of
discussion. Handouts are excellent opportunities for students to practice active
engagement with literature via annotation and margin notes.
i. Virgil, Eclogue IV and an excerpt from The Gospel of John (Distributed at
Orientation)
ii. Boethius, Books III, IV, and V from The Consolation of Philosophy
iii. Poetry Packet #1 – Medieval lyric poetry and carols
iv. Cantos excerpted from Dante’s Purgatory and Paradise
v. Poetry Packet #2 – Hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas
C. Recitations: Students should be prepared to recite from memory the following poems
on their corresponding due dates. Recitation means not only a command of the words
employed by the poet, but also an understanding of their meaning and tone reflected in
the recitation itself. These assignments are only given two kinds of grades: “Full credit” or
“no credit”. Students who deliver unsatisfactory recitations must work until they have
accomplished each of these tasks in turn, delivering any recitations after the first outside
of the normal class period.
1. Recitation #1 – Four Short Lyrics
i. “Adam Lay Bound”
ii. “O Western Wind”
iii. Ben Jonson’s “Song to Celia”
iv. Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta Going to Wars”
2. Recitation #2 – From Henry V, Act IV, Henry’s “St. Crispin’s Day Speech”
3. Recitation #3 – Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shallot”
4. Recitation #4 – Assigned portion of G.K. Chesterton’s “Lepanto”
5. Recitation #5 – Chosen excerpt from The Song of Roland
6. Recitation #6
i. Girls: Final lines of Paradiso XXXIII
ii. Boys: First lines of Inferno I
D. Reading Responses: These short (1-2 page) responses to classroom discussion and
assigned reading will provide opportunities for students to think through ideas and
employ their best writing practices in the manner of a sketch or rough draft.
E. Binder Checks: There are two binder checks per semester, four total in the course of
the class. These checks count as a test grade, though their point value is a fraction of a
unit test.
F. Thesis Papers: Once during each semester, students are asked to write a complete
piece of literary analysis. This means a complete execution of the writing process from
planning to publishing. Each step of this process, with the exception of the final draft, is
graded as “full credit” or “no credit.” Complete credit is awarded for successful
completion of each phase, any of which may be attempted more than once.
G. Tests and Quizzes: Assessments are a regular part of this course. Short reading quizzes
will occur regularly, even daily, and scheduled tests will summarize each unit of study.
The ability to complete an assessment within a given time frame is a necessary and
valuable skill. While individual accommodations may be made, students should
understand that the allotted time for an assessment is as much a part of the assessment as
the number, nature, and rigor of the questions.
V. Grading Procedures: Grades will be calculated according to the following weights. At the
high school level, semester grades are a composite of two quarters (40% each) and the semester
exam (20%). Credits for successful completion are assigned by semester.
A. Homework (15%): Homework will be assigned nightly and checked at the beginning of
every day. All students are to have their daily assignments out and ready to be checked at
the beginning of class. Students will not receive credit for incomplete or sloppily executed
assignments. Homework is graded as “full credit” or “no credit”.
B. Quizzes and Recitations (20%): Reading quizzes occur regularly, if not daily. These
short quizzes assess whether or not a student has closely read the assigned reading and
therefore are based on objective knowledge rather than in-depth analysis. Three
recitations are assigned per semester.
C. Tests and Binders (40%): Every student is expected to have a separate binder for
each class they are taking. Procedures for organizing these binders are noted above and
will be discussed on the first day of class. There will be a binder check at the end of every
marking period. Binders will be collected without notice, though the student will be
warned that the check is approaching well in advance.
D. Writing (25%): This aspect of a student’s grade is based on both reading responses and
thesis papers. Reading responses are assigned throughout the semester on topics draw
from our reading and discussion. These short assignments are graded on a scale of one to
ten and provide an opportunity for students to practice timed writing, proper use and
analysis of evidence, grammar, and mechanics. One thesis paper is assigned each
semester.
VI. Expectation of Virtue: The curriculum at Sacred Heart Academy – especially at the high
school level - is exciting, engaging, and ambitious, designed to prepare students for the rigorous
environment of post-secondary education and to impart to students a love of literature and
communication. This classroom will be an environment in which all those who wish to succeed
will be given the resources and the instruction that will enable them to do so.
Students are encouraged to study together and to discuss the art and ideas covered by this
course. It is expected that students will give and receive help, advice, and consultation from each
other. However, this permissible cooperation should never involve one student having possession
of a copy of all or part of work done by someone else in any form.
During quizzes, tests, and examinations, students are expected to conduct themselves
honorably. Talking or discussion is not permitted during any assessment, nor may you
collaborate in any way. Any violation of these expectations will result in both academic and
disciplinary consequences.
VII. Tentative Course Schedule (Subject to change) – Nota Bene: In the event of a snow
day or other delay or cancellation, please proceed with the homework as scheduled.
Class Meeting
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Sept 1st
Sept 3rd
Sept 8th
Sept 10th
Sept 15th
Sept 17th
Sept 22nd
Sept 24th
Sept 29th
Oct 1st
Oct 6th
Oct 8th
Oct 13th
Oct 15th
Oct 20th
Oct 22nd
Oct 27th
Oct 29th
Nov 3rd
Nov 5th
Nov 10th
Nov 12th
Nov 17th
Nov 19th
Nov 24th
Nov 26th
Dec 1st
Dec 3rd
Week 15 Dec 8th
Dec 10th
Week 16 Dec 15th
Dec 17th
Dec 19th-
Assignment (Completed for Class)
Virgil, Eclogue IV and
Gospel of John Ch. 1 (handout)
Helena, Ch. 1
Helena, Ch. 2 and 3
Helena, Ch. 4 and 5
Helena, Ch. 6 and 7
Helena, Ch. 8
Helena, Ch. 9 and 10
Helena, Ch. 11 and 12
Test on Helena
Confessions, Book I
Confessions, Book II and III
Confessions, Book IV
Confessions, Book V
Confessions, Book VI
Confessions, Book VII
Confessions, Book VIII
Confessions, Book IX
Confessions, Book X.1-26
Confessions, Book X.27-43
Consolation of Philosophy, Book III
Consolation of Philosophy, Book III
Consolation of Philosophy, Book IV
Consolation of Philosophy, Book IV
Consolation of Philosophy, Book V
Test on Confessions
No Class – Thanksgiving Break
Medieval Lyric Poetry Handout
Beowulf, lines 1-687
Beowulf, lines 688-1250
Beowulf, lines 1251-2176
Beowulf, lines 2177-3182
Finish discussion of Beowulf
No Class - Christmas Break
Additional Due Dates
Recitation #1 Due
Recitation #2 Due
Thesis Paper #1 – Rough Draft
Due
Recitation #3 Due
Thesis Paper #1 – Final Draft Due
Jan 3rd
Week 17 Jan 5th
Jan 7th
Week 18 Jan 12th
Jan 14th
Week 1 Jan 19th
Jan 20th
Week 2 Jan 26th
Jan 28th
Week 3 Feb 2nd
Feb 4th
Week 4 Feb 9th
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
Feb 11th
Feb 16th
Feb 18th
Feb 23rd
Feb 25th
Mar 1st
Mar 3rd
Mar 8th
Mar 10th
Mar 15th
Mar 17th
Mar 22nd
Mar 24th
Mar 29th
Mar 31st
Apr 2nd10th
Apr 12th
Apr 14th
Apr 19th
Apr 21st
Apr 26th
Apr 28th
May 3rd
May 5th
May 10th
May 12th
May 17th
May 19th
May 24th
May 26th
Review for Exams
Semester 1 Exam
The Song of Roland, 1-67
The Song of Roland, 68-135
The Song of Roland, 136-200
The Song of Roland, 201-291
Ballad of the White Horse, pp. 1-31
Ballad of the White Horse, pp. 32-61
Ballad of the White Horse, pp. 62-88
Ballad of the White Horse, pp. 89120
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King
Test on Idylls
Inferno, Canto 1-3
Inferno, Canto 4-6
Inferno, Canto 7-9
Inferno, Canto 10-12
No Class – Spring Break
Inferno, Canto 13-15
Inferno, Canto 16-18
Inferno, Canto 19-21
Inferno, Canto 22-24
Inferno, Canto 25-27
Inferno, Canto 28-30
Inferno, Canto 31-34
Test on Inferno
Pearl, 1-25
Pearl, 26-50
Pearl, 51-75
Pearl, 76-101, reread 1
Review for Exams
Semester 2 Exam
Recitation #4 Due
Recitation #5 Due
Thesis Paper #2 – Rough Draft
Due
Recitation #6 Due
Thesis Paper #2 – Final Draft Due
Appendix A: Poetry for Recitation
Western Wind
Song: to Celia [“Drink to me only…”]
By Ben Jonson
O Western wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, if my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again.
Adam Lay Bound
Adam lay ybounden, bounden in a bond,
Four thousand winter thoughte he not too long;
And al was for an apple, and apple that he took,
As clerkes finden writen, writen in hire book.
Ne hadde the apple taken been, the apple taken been,
Ne hadde nevere Oure Lady ybeen hevene Queen.
Blessed be the time that apple taken was:
Therfore we mown singen Deo Gratias.
To Lucasta, Going to the Wars
By Richard Lovelace
Tell me not (Sweet) I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee (Dear) so much,
Lov’d I not Honour more.
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee.
From Henry V, Act IV scene iii, lines 18-67
WESTMORELAND
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING HENRY V
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
The Lady of Shalott
By Alfred Lord Tennyson
Part I
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
The yellow-leaved waterlily
The green-sheathed daffodilly
Tremble in the water chilly
Round about Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens shiver.
The sunbeam showers break and quiver
In the stream that runneth ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
Underneath the bearded barley,
The reaper, reaping late and early,
Hears her ever chanting cheerly,
Like an angel, singing clearly,
O'er the stream of Camelot.
Piling the sheaves in furrows airy,
Beneath the moon, the reaper weary
Listening whispers, ' 'Tis the fairy,
Lady of Shalott.'
The little isle is all inrail'd
With a rose-fence, and overtrail'd
With roses: by the marge unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken sail'd,
Skimming down to Camelot.
A pearl garland winds her head:
She leaneth on a velvet bed,
Full royally apparelled,
The Lady of Shalott.
Part II
No time hath she to sport and play:
A charmed web she weaves alway.
A curse is on her, if she stay
Her weaving, either night or day,
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be;
Therefore she weaveth steadily,
Therefore no other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
She lives with little joy or fear.
Over the water, running near,
The sheepbell tinkles in her ear.
Before her hangs a mirror clear,
Reflecting tower'd Camelot.
And as the mazy web she whirls,
She sees the surly village churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls
Pass onward from Shalott.
Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
Goes by to tower'd Camelot:
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, came from Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead
Came two young lovers lately wed;
'I am half sick of shadows,' said
The Lady of Shalott.
Part III
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flam'd upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down from Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down from Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over green Shalott.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down from Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
'Tirra lirra, tirra lirra:'
Sang Sir Lancelot.
She left the web, she left the loom
She made three paces thro' the room
She saw the water-flower bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
'The curse is come upon me,' cried
The Lady of Shalott.
Part IV
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Outside the isle a shallow boat
Beneath a willow lay afloat,
Below the carven stern she wrote,
The Lady of Shalott.
A cloudwhite crown of pearl she dight,
All raimented in snowy white
That loosely flew (her zone in sight
Clasp'd with one blinding diamond bright)
Her wide eyes fix'd on Camelot,
Though the squally east-wind keenly
Blew, with folded arms serenely
By the water stood the queenly
Lady of Shalott.
With a steady stony glance—
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Beholding all his own mischance,
Mute, with a glassy countenance—
She look'd down to Camelot.
It was the closing of the day:
She loos'd the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
As when to sailors while they roam,
By creeks and outfalls far from home,
Rising and dropping with the foam,
From dying swans wild warblings come,
Blown shoreward; so to Camelot
Still as the boathead wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her chanting her deathsong,
The Lady of Shalott.
A longdrawn carol, mournful, holy,
She chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her eyes were darken'd wholly,
And her smooth face sharpen'd slowly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot:
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
Under tower and balcony,
By garden wall and gallery,
A pale, pale corpse she floated by,
Deadcold, between the houses high,
Dead into tower'd Camelot.
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
To the planked wharfage came:
Below the stern they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
They cross'd themselves, their stars they blest,
Knight, minstrel, abbot, squire, and guest.
There lay a parchment on her breast,
That puzzled more than all the rest,
The wellfed wits at Camelot.
'The web was woven curiously,
The charm is broken utterly,
Draw near and fear not,—this is I,
The Lady of Shalott.'
Lepanto
By G.K. Chesterton
White founts falling in the courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross,
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.
Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain—hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.
Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri’s knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunset and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees,
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.
They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be;
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,—
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, “Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done,
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces—four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not ‘Kismet’; it is he that knows not Fate ;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey in the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.”
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still—hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.
St. Michael’s on his mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.
King Philip’s in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that, is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial, and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John’s hunting, and his hounds have bayed—
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.
The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man’s house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galleys of St. Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that sweat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings’ horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign—
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate’s sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.
Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!
Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade....
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)
From Paradiso, Canto XXXIII, lines
Appendix B: Handouts
Eclogue IV
By Virgil
Muses of Sicily, essay we now
A somewhat loftier task! Not all men love
Coppice or lowly tamarisk: sing we woods,
Woods worthy of a Consul let them be.
Now the last age by Cumae's Sibyl sung
Has come and gone, and the majestic roll
Of circling centuries begins anew:
Justice returns, returns old Saturn's reign,
With a new breed of men sent down from heaven.
Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom
The iron shall cease, the golden race arise,
Befriend him, chaste Lucina; 'tis thine own
Apollo reigns. And in thy consulate,
This glorious age, O Pollio, shall begin,
And the months enter on their mighty march.
Under thy guidance, whatso tracks remain
Of our old wickedness, once done away,
Shall free the earth from never-ceasing fear.
He shall receive the life of gods, and see
Heroes with gods commingling, and himself
Be seen of them, and with his father's worth
Reign o'er a world at peace. For thee, O boy,
First shall the earth, untilled, pour freely forth
Her childish gifts, the gadding ivy-spray
With foxglove and Egyptian bean-flower mixed,
And laughing-eyed acanthus. Of themselves,
Untended, will the she-goats then bring home
Their udders swollen with milk, while flocks afield
Shall of the monstrous lion have no fear.
Thy very cradle shall pour forth for thee
Caressing flowers. The serpent too shall die,
Die shall the treacherous poison-plant, and far
And wide Assyrian spices spring. But soon
As thou hast skill to read of heroes' fame,
And of thy father's deeds, and inly learn
What virtue is, the plain by slow degrees
With waving corn-crops shall to golden grow,
From the wild briar shall hang the blushing grape,
And stubborn oaks sweat honey-dew. Nathless
Yet shall there lurk within of ancient wrong
Some traces, bidding tempt the deep with ships,
Gird towns with walls, with furrows cleave the earth.
Therewith a second Tiphys shall there be,
Her hero-freight a second Argo bear;
New wars too shall arise, and once again
Some great Achilles to some Troy be sent.
Then, when the mellowing years have made thee man,
No more shall mariner sail, nor pine-tree bark
Ply traffic on the sea, but every land
Shall all things bear alike: the glebe no more
Shall feel the harrow's grip, nor vine the hook;
The sturdy ploughman shall loose yoke from steer,
Nor wool with varying colours learn to lie;
But in the meadows shall the ram himself,
Now with soft flush of purple, now with tint
Of yellow saffron, teach his fleece to shine.
While clothed in natural scarlet graze the lambs.
"Such still, such ages weave ye, as ye run,"
Sang to their spindles the consenting Fates
By Destiny's unalterable decree.
Assume thy greatness, for the time draws nigh,
Dear child of gods, great progeny of Jove!
See how it totters- the world's orbed might,
Earth, and wide ocean, and the vault profound,
All, see, enraptured of the coming time!
Ah! might such length of days to me be given,
And breath suffice me to rehearse thy deeds,
Nor Thracian Orpheus should out-sing me then,
Nor Linus, though his mother this, and that
His sire should aid- Orpheus Calliope,
And Linus fair Apollo. Nay, though Pan,
With Arcady for judge, my claim contest,
With Arcady for judge great Pan himself
Should own him foiled, and from the field retire.
Begin to greet thy mother with a smile,
O baby-boy! ten months of weariness
For thee she bore: O baby-boy, begin!
For him, on whom his parents have not smiled,
Gods deem not worthy of their board or bed.
The Prologue of the Gospel according to John
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 1
1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be 4 through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
5 the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 A man named John was sent from God. 7 He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might
believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which
enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
11 He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his
name, 13 who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of
God.
14 And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
15 John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after
me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace in
place of grace, 17 because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.