Open sample · Syriac Fathers
Hymns on the Nativity, Hymn 1
Ephrem the Syrian. The opening of a cycle of twenty-eight hymns for the feast of the Nativity and the season of Epiphany.
Editorial introduction
The Nativity hymns are among the most artistically accomplished of Ephrem's madrāshē — the technical Syriac term for the lyric stanzaic compositions that constitute the majority of his preserved poetic corpus. The first of the cycle, presented here, is also one of the most carefully wrought: a meditation on the paradox of the Incarnation organised around a series of intricate inversions, in which the Lord of all becomes the child of his own creation, the one who clothes all things is clothed in flesh, the one who feeds the hungry suckles at the breast of Mary.
Ephrem's poetic theology resists smooth translation into English, and we have not pretended to a smooth translation. The Syriac uses repetition, internal rhyme, and structural parallelism in ways that English can imitate only partially; we have tried to preserve the structural parallelism, accepting that internal rhyme is largely lost. We have also resisted, where possible, the temptation to clarify what Ephrem leaves dense. Ephrem's images are layered, often deliberately so, and the strain of holding multiple meanings simultaneously is integral to his theology.
The earlier English translation by Kathleen McVey (Paulist Press, 1989) remains an important resource, and we have learned from it. Where we differ, the differences are noted in the apparatus of the full edition; this open sample contains only the text with a brief note on metre.
A note on the metre
Hymn 1 is composed in the metre called mēmrā d-Mār Aprem, an isosyllabic seven-syllable line organised into stanzas of variable length. The qālā — the melodic indication preserved in the manuscript headings — is given as d-yaldeh khabbib, "his birth is beloved", a melody that has not survived but whose syllabic shape can be inferred from the metrical structure of the hymns assigned to it. The stanzas of Hymn 1 are of irregular length, ranging from four to twelve lines; the refrain (omitted in some manuscripts) is "Blessed is He who came to us in the love of His Father".
Hymn 1 (stanzas 1–8)
This is the day that gladdened the prophets, who saw it and longed for it. They desired this day above all the days of their lives, and they did not see it; the angels rejoiced because of it on this same day; and on this same day the rich and the poor were brought near.
For the King has come down to a poor mother, to be born of a poor virgin. He has dwelt in a poor manger, and in the swaddling clothes of the poor he has been wrapped. The whole inhabited world has been illumined by him, the Lord of all the worlds, who consented to be poor for our sake.
Mary the daughter of David carried him whom David called Lord. The branch carried the root, the leaf the tree, the offspring the begetter, and the earth the heaven. The handmaid carried her Master, the daughter carried her Father, the creature carried her Creator. Heaven is too small to contain him; the womb of a virgin became his dwelling.
The high one became low and was nourished by milk; he who clothes all in raiment was himself wrapped in swaddling bands. He who satisfies the heavens was made hungry; he by whom living waters flow asked of the Samaritan woman to drink. He bore our weariness on his journey; in his hunger and thirst he carried our infirmities.
The infant who is suckling at the breast was already greater than the worlds. He is hidden in the manger, yet he is greater than the heavens. He is wrapped in linen, yet he himself is the garment of the saints. The cave received him, who was uncontained by his own creation. He who measures the seas in his palm was washed in a small basin.
The angels were jealous on his behalf, for the magi came from afar and brought him gifts. The angels did not know how to bring gifts; they sang. The shepherds did not know how to sing; they marvelled. Heaven praised, earth marvelled, and Sheol shook in its place. The hosts of light praised, the orders of fire wondered, the prophets rejoiced in their resting-places.
Blessed is the babe, by whom Adam was renewed. Eve received her ancient honour through the daughter of her line. The serpent who deceived her was crushed by her offspring. The fire of Eden's flame, which had stood against the children of Adam, was extinguished by the wood of this new tree, whose fruit is mercy.
Today the manger has become an altar; today the wood of swaddling is the wood of the cross in figure. Mary, who carried him to bring forth, will follow him to the cross to bear his sorrow. The hands that wrapped him in linen, the hands of his mother, the same hands will receive his body wrapped in the shroud. Joseph the just, who did not understand, who waited and pondered — he is the figure of all who wait, who do not yet know what they have received.