[Previous: lines 254-276]
Joseph narrates. He and his new wife Mary have spent the first night of their marriage in separate rooms. Coming through to her in the morning he finds her caught up in a whirlwind of light, and is terrified. Now read on!
“Pertimui, et mira stupefactus imagine rerum------------
talia voce dabam: ‘Pater his ô me exue monstris
omnipotens: non haec, Superi, sine numine vestro:
vestra haec portenta agnosco, manifestaque signa. [280]
Aspirate animo placidi, dubiumque monete
quid sequar, aut quaenam vobis sententia constet.’
Tantum effatus eram: tandem pulcherrima virgo
ad sese redit, abrupto velut excita somno
suspirans, lacrymisque sinus humectat obortis. [285]
Accedo, atque rogo nova per connubia supplex,
atque illum aeternae per virginitatis amorem,
unum quem niveo colit intemerata pudore,
admittat socium curarum, et magna recludat
rerum arcana, nihil metuens, mihique omnia credat. [290]
‘Illa solo vultum atque oculos deiecta nitentes,
rore velut demissa caput rosa matutino,
cunctatur: demum incipiens sic ora resolvit:
“Dicam equidem, pater; haud patiar te nostra latere
gaudia: sed quae nunc, aut unde exordia sumam? [295]
Nam quis narranti rerum miracula credat
tantarum? per ego has lacrymas, quas excutit ingens
laetitia, obtestor, quae fabor, pectore condas;
ne priùs incipiant in vanum serpere vulgus,
quàm Deus ipse aliis vulgaverit omnia signis. [300]
Iam monitrix operum stellas aurora fugârat,
et sol pallentes lustrabat lampade terras:
ipsa revolvebam vatum monimenta priorum,
dicta animo recolens; sed prae tunc omnibus unum
forte mihi ante oculos (neque enim sine numine certo [305]
oblatum reor) immotum fixumve manebat,
quod cuncti pariter super omnia praedixere
affore, concubitu nullo cùm regia virgo,
impatiens exsorsque viri, (mirabile dictu)
cœlicolûm regem sub luminis ederet auras. [310]
Cuius in adventu laetentur cuncta per orbem
protinus, et toto surgat gens aurea mundo.
Illam felicem tacitè mecum ipsa vocabam,
quam Pater omnipotens tanto cumularet honore:
iamque Dei matrem venerabar mente futuram; [315]
infantique Deo, si forte his ille diebus,
his si forte oris nascatur, dona parabam.
Talia dum mecum, eventûs ignara, voluto,
ecce, mihi nova lux oculis oblata repentè:
suspicio: liquidas sine nube remetior auras. [320]
(mira loquar) video medium discedere cœlum,
pennatasque acies, populos felicis Olympi,
exultare polo, superûmque applaudere regi.
Non obstant clausi postes, non pariete tectum
marmoreo circumseptum: video ignea cœli [325]
sidera, sidereosque globos, superûm aurea tecta.
Tum mihi se puer ante oculos, allapsus Olympo,
ora Deo propior, radiantibus obtulit alis;
et placidus tendens candentia lilia dextra
me sic affari, laetasque expromere voces: [330]
“O una ante alias cœlo acceptissima matres,
magnus adest tibi praesenti regnator Olympi
numine; tu nuribus felix magis omnibus una.’
Hic mihi, vix paucis auditis talibus, ingens
miranti gelidos subitò tremor alligat artus. [335]
Tum sic ille animum divino pignore firmat:
‘Parce metu, virgo: placuisti ex omnibus una
cœlituum regi, faciat quam prole parentem;
et iam concipies puerum gravis: ille erit ingens;
progeniemque Patris summi secla omnia dicent. [340]
Et quoniam multis olim feret ipse salutem,
servabitque pios, patrio dic nomine IESUM,
sedibus infernis iam nunc lacrimabile nomen.
Supra homines, supra aspicies se tollere et ipsos
cœlicolas, fama insignem ,e praestantibus ausis. [345]
Nam Pater omnipotens atavorum in sceptra reponet
pristina regnantem latè, regumque sedebit
in solio; neque enim metas, neque tempora regni
accipiet: toto aeternum dominabitur orbe.’
Dixerat: ipsa autem paulatim abeunte timore [350]
subiicio: ‘Sed qua verò ratione, quod inquis,
confieri poterit? nam mens mihi denique fixa
atque immota manet, nunquam violare pudorem
virgineum; semperque virûm commercia fugi.’
His ego finieram paucis; his ille sequutus: [355]
‘Te superûm Pater afflabit cœlestibus auris
desuper; afflatu quo solo plena sine ullo
concubitu, exacto gravis edes tempore partum.
Atque ideo, quem fœta dabis, Deus ille feretur
aeterno Genitore satus, qui temperat orbem. [360]
Quae ne vana putes, scis, quae tibi sanguine iuncta est,
Elisabe sobolis ut degerit hactenus exsors,
ut sterili seclis iamdudum effœta senectus
spem cunctam abstulerit partûs, prolisque creandae:
plena viro pariet tamen illa; et tempore luna [365]
perfecto gravidae iam sextum circuit orbem.
Cuncta potest etenim, qui me tibi mittit ab alto
aethere, siderei rex idem atque auctor Olympi.’
‘Haec ait, et paribus se in cœlum proripit alis;
Quem, super aspiciens, tali sum voce sequuta: [370]
‘Quisquis es, ô cœli iuvenum pulcherrime praepes,
obsequor; ac votis, quod rex iubet, omnibus opto.’
Interea nubes, maculoso discolor auro,
demissa ad terram croceis me amplectitur alis:
diffulgent intus radiique, ignique coruscae [375]
scintillant veluti squamae vario ordine circùm,
squamaeque stellaeque auri fulgore micantes,
adverso quales imitatur sole colores,
cùm picturato cœlum distinxit amictu,
nubicolor liquidis effusis imbribus arcus. [380]
Hanc simul omnipotens Genitor perflavit ab alto;
continuò ruit, ecce, voluta liquentibus astris
aura potens, quaque illa venit, procul undique circùm
scintillae absiliunt radiis vibrantibus aureae.
Turbine corripior rapido, visque illa per omnes [385]
auraï vis omnipotens mihi diditur artus,
aethereusque vigor toto se corpore miscet;
visaque praedulci mihi corda liquescere amore.
Qualis secreto naturae fœdere tellus
concipit, et vario clam fœtu plena gravescit, [390]
matris ubi in gremium descendit plurimus aether,
auraque fœcundos afflavit verna tepores.
His actis, clarum sonuere per aethera cœtus
aligeri cantu vario, plausumque dedere.
Hinc tonitru ingenti tremuerunt ardua Olympi, [395]
crebraque per cœlum hîc illic rima ignea fulsit.’”
“Terrified, stunned by this marvellous thing,------------
I called out: ‘Father! spare me these portents
great one! Though, not sent without your will:
clearly these are your portents and clear signs. [280]
But inspire my soul in peace, instruct my doubt
as to your intentions and what I should do.’
So I spoke. Then that most beautiful maiden
returned to herself as if waking from sleep:
she sighed, and tears moistened her breast. [285]
Going to her, I begged her by our marriage
contract, by the love of her everlasting
virginity and her snow-white pudeur
to treat me as a friend in her cares, to open
her great secrets to me and confide in me. [290]
“She looked down, fixing her shining eyes on the,
floor, like a rose-bloom weighed down by the dew
of dawn. Finally she began to speak:
‘I will tell you, father; I could not conceal
my joy from you. But how can I begin? [295]
Who would believe the miracles of which
I speak? By these very tears, which spring from
joy, I ask you to bury inside your heart
what I say, lest it spread about the common folk
before God is ready to disclose his meanings. [300]
“‘Dawn the unveiler had put the stars to flight
and the sun shone down upon a pallid earth:
I kept revolving the teachings of the
prophets in my mind, and one thought above all
came before my eyes (surely placed there by [305]
a higher power) one fixed, unmoving thought:
the prophets all foretold one special thing:
a royal virgin, unstained by the marriage
bed, remaining virgin (amazing to say)
would bring into the world a king of heaven. [310]
and that, as soon as he came, there would be joy
across the globe, a new golden age for earth.
Silently I rejoiced she was truly blessed
whom the Great Father chose for such an honour:
worship of God’s future mother filled my mind; [315]
and God’s infant, if he should come in our day,
and be born in our land! I offered gifts.
I was thinking such things, not knowing what
would happen, when an unnerving light filled my eyes:
and looking up I saw the cloudless skies [320]
(astonishing!) divide down the middle
and a host of winged Olympian angels
exulting in praise of their supreme king.
Neither sealed doorposts nor rooftops coped with
stone obscured the sight: I saw fiery skies [325]
stars, and the globes of stars, golden homes on high.
My own eyes saw a child descend Olympus
with a god’s face and bright radiant wings;
offering me white lilies in his right hand
and delivering the happiest news: [330]
“Of all mothers you are the one heaven chose!
The great lord of Olympus has come to you
in numinousness, most fortunate of women.”
I had barely heard these astonishing words
when a sudden chill passed through my body. [335]
At this he gave me this sign of divine favour:
“Don’t fear, virgin: you have been chosen by
heaven’s king above all other parents
to be his child’s mother: he will be great;
whom future ages will worship as God’s son. [340]
And since he will bring salvation to so many,
you will call him by the ancient name JESUS,
a name already striking fear in nether realms.
Above all mortals he will rise, above even
angels, through his fame and his great deeds. [345]
His omnipotent Father will give him rule
over all the wide world, the throne of all kings
and power; and neither space nor time will
limit him: his rule will be eternal.”
He spoke: as my fearfulness diminished [350]
I asked: “But can this truly happen as
you say? For I have resolved to keep myself
inviolate, and never give up my modest
virginity; to shun the company of men.”
These were my few words; and he then replied: [355]
“The high Father will fill you with heavenly
afflatus; this breath alone will quicken you
—no man—to come to term and so give birth
and the baby you bring forth will be a god
from the eternal father who rules the cosmos. [360]
Lest you think this promise empty know your cousin,
Elisabeth, who has lived childless for years,
whose barrenness had brought her to old age
depleted of all hope of any offspring—
she is now pregnant; indeed the moon has [365]
passed through six cycles since her child’s conception.
All things are possible for He who sent me
down from the sky, Olympian King and Maker.”
So speaking he flew to heaven on his paired wings.
‘Watching as he went I called up to him: [370]
“Whoever you are, fairest of heaven’s youths,
I obey! My wish is for the king’s commands.”
Then a cloud, spotted with particolour gold,
sank to earth and covered me with saffron light:
diffulgent arcs of brightness coruscating [375]
scintillant sparks like the scales of a fish,
glittering starbursts bright with gold, mimicing
the bright colours of the sun after clear rain
when she throws a bright mantle of cloudy
rainbow colours across the liquid sky. [380]
On this the omnipotent Creator breathed;
a great wind—look!—fell down from the fluent stars
scattering gold sparks wherever it went
in scintillant vibrating beams of gold.
Suddenly I was swept up, the force of that [385]
all omnipotent wind possessing me
spreading its vigour through my whole body;
my heart seemed to melt with the sweetness of love.
It was like when earth’s secret caverns become
pregnant, through some occult gravid power, [390]
a wind penetrates into mother earth,
and vernal breezes blow their fecund warmth.
At this, the aethereal choirs rejoiced
their clear voices resounding across heaven.
The heights of Olympus shook with thunderclaps [395]
and shafts of lighting shimmered through the sky.’”
This, then, is Vida's version of the Annunciation. Here's the account from Luke on which Vida has based his verse:
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.This isn't, I have to say, Vida's finest hour as a poet: over-long, repetitive and rather creakingly pious. Or, at least, like that until we get to the last 20 lines of strikingly-written spiritual orgasm. This, again, is perfectly respectable, doctrinally and religiously speaking: the famous sculptural group portraying the ecstasy of Saint Teresa (in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome) is only one of many depictions of communion with God as a moment of overwhelming somatic bliss. Still, it's quite striking this, I'd say. Kitsch, but then again, orgasms are kitch, aren't it? (Or is that just me?) (
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. [Luke 1:26-38]
It is, we could say, the money shot: that divine wind, that golden glittering cloud, the moment God is incarnated as man. In terms of epic antecedence, this is (a little remotely) based on Aeneid 4. Dido, prompted by Venus, has fallen in love with Aeneas; but though he would like to stay with her in Carthage, the gods have other plans for him. He has to go off an found Rome. This is, we might say (viewing the text, as-it-were, backwards; through Vida's Vergilian lense) his sort-of virginity, the thing divine force commands him not to lose. It is not however the same as sexual chastity, because on a hunting trip he and Dido take shelter from a storm in a convenient cave and there have sex. Vida marks his consummation with a mighty wind, golden clouds in a whirlwind, thunder, lightning and angels singing across the sky; Vergil's merely mortal coitus has a great storm, thunder and lightning, and nymphs shrieking on the mountaintops:
Ruunt de montibus amnes.It doesn't go well for Dido; right from this moment Vergil calls her sex act criminal (coniugium vocat; hoc praetexit nomine culpam; ‘she calls it marriage and with this name veils her culpa, her sin or crime’). Vida insinuates a cave into his account of Mary being impregnated too, the wind finding its way into ‘earth's secret caverns’ in line 389.
Speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem
deveniunt: prima et Tellus et pronuba Iuno
dant signum; fulsere ignes et conscius aether
conubiis, summoque ulularunt vertice nymphae. [Aeneid 4:164-168]
Torrents rush down from the mountains. To this same cave come Dido and the Trojan leader. Primal earth and nuptial Juno gave the sign; fires flashed across the sky, the witness to their ‘wedding’, and Nymphs screamed on the mountain-top.
This whole passage is threaded with Vergilian allusions and quotations; although he doesn't mention the Dido thing, Gardner has an almost page-long list of notes picking many of these intertextual moments out, which I won't repeat here.
The image at the top of this post, as if you didn't already know, is da Vinci's Annunciation (c. 1472–1475), in the Uffizi, and thought to be Leonardo's earliest complete work.
[Next: lines 397-425]
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