accensi: accendere,to set on fire; sc. sunt.
45. et: = etiam.
47. non ab hominibus neque per hominem: not by men nor through the agency of a human being (i.e., one through whom God worked), but by direct divine revelation.
institutus: here, instructed.
48. divinitus: adv., divinely (i.e., directly by God).
gratis: abl. as adv., gratis, for nothing, i.e., as a direct gift of God and without training.
49. nil…frivoli et supervacui poematis (49): no trifling and unnecessary poem.
50. tantummodo: adv., only.
Some time later Gregory, when Pope, was able to send missionaries to Britain.
Accedensque ad pontificem Romanae et apostolicae sedis (nondum enim erat ipse pontifex factus), rogavit ut genti Anglorum in Britanniam aliquos verbi ministros, per quos ad Christum converteretur, mitteret; se ipsum paratum esse in hoc 30 opus, Domino cooperante, perficiendum, si tamen apostolico papae hoc ut fieret placeret. Quod dum perficere non posset, quia, etsi pontifex concedere illi quod petierat voluit, non tamen cives Romani ut tam longe ab urbe secederet potuere permittere, mox, ut ipse pontificatus officio functus est, perfecit opus 35 diu desideratum, alios quidem praedicatores mittens, sed ipse praedicationem ut fructificaret suis exhortationibus ac precibus adiuvans.
Caedmon’s Anglo-Saxon Compositions on the Scriptures
(Bede Historia Ecclesiastica 4.22)
Caedmon, a brother in the monastery of St. Hilda at Streaneshalch (now Whitby), was blessed by God with the ability to turn religious teachings into verse.
In huius monasterio abbatissae fuit frater quidam divina gratia specialiter insignis, quia carmina religioni et pietati apta 40 facere solebat, ita ut, quidquid ex divinis litteris per interpretes disceret, hoc ipse post pusillum verbis poeticis maxima suavitate et compunctione compositis, in sua, id est Anglorum, lingua proferret. Cuius carminibus multorum saepe animi ad contemptum saeculi et appetitum sunt vitae caelestis accensi. Et 45 quidem et alii post illum in gente Anglorum religiosa poemata facere temptabant; sed nullus eum aequiperare potuit. Namque ipse non ab hominibus neque per hominem institutus canendi artem didicit, sed divinitus adiutus gratis canendi donum accepit. Unde nil umquam frivoli et supervacui poematis facere 50 potuit, sed ea tantummodo quae ad religionem pertinent religiosam eius linguam decebant. Siquidem in habitu saeculari usque ad tempora provectioris aetatis constitutus, nil carminum aliquando didicerat. Unde nonnumquam in convivio, cum esset laetitiae causa decretum ut omnes per ordinem cantare deberent, 55 ille, ubi appropinquare sibi citharam cernebat, surgebat a media cena et egressus ad suam domum repedabat.
51. siquidem: conj., since, inasmuch as.
habitu: habitus,appearance, dress, clothes; with saeculari, secular dress = secular life.
52. provectioris: rather advanced.
constitutus: constituere,to place, position; sc. erat.
53. aliquando: adv., at any time.
nonnumquam: adv., sometimes.
convivio: convivium,dinner, banquet.
54. laetitiae: laetitia, entertainment.
per ordinem:in turn.
deberent: often used as an auxiliary vb. in med. Lat. (cp. habes, below, line 65); for cantare deberent class. Lat. might simply have cantarent.
55. citharam: cithara, at this time a variety of harp.
56. repedabat: repedare, to go back, withdraw, retire.
57. dum: here, when.
58. iumentorum: iumentum, pack animal, farm animal.
59. competenti: appropriate.
61. Caedmon: Caedmon, a seventh-century churchman and the first Old English Christian poet, adapted Anglo-Saxon verse to religious themes.
62. et: = etiam.
ideo: adv., therefore, for that reason.
65. habes: = debes; this common med. Lat. usage is equivalent to Eng. “you have (to)….”
66. creaturarum: creatura, creature, creation.
67. in: to.
70. quomodo: here exclamatory, not interrog., in what a manner!
71. exstitit: exsistere, to step forth, appear, emerge, exist, be.
72. culmine: culmen, top, summit.
