Medieval literature, though inferior in quality to that of
Greece and Rome, nevertheless includes many notable productions. In the twelfth
and the thirteenth centuries Latin hymns reached their perfection. The sublime Dies
Irae ("Day of Wrath") presents a picture of the final judgment of
the wicked. The pathetic Stabat Mater, which describes the sorrows of
Mary at the foot of the Cross, has been often translated and set to music.
These two works were written by a companion and biographer of St. Francis of
Assisi. St. Bernard's Jesu Dulcis Memoria ("Jesus, the Very Thought
of Thee") forms part of a beautiful hymn nearly two hundred lines in
length. Part of another hymn, composed by a monk of Cluny, has been rendered
into English as "Jerusalem the Golden." Latin hymns made use of
rhyme, then something of a novelty, and thus helped to popularize this poetic
device.
LATIN STUDENTS' SONGS
Very unlike the hymns in character were the Latin songs
composed by students who went from one university to another in search of
knowledge and adventure. Far from home, careless and pleasure-seeking, light of
purse and light of heart the wandering scholars of the Middle Ages frequented
taverns, as well as lecture rooms, and knew the wine-bowl even better than
books. Their songs of love, of dancing, drinking, and gaming, reflect the
jovial side of medieval life.
