PAUL  THE  deacon's  POEMS  IN  HONOR  OF  ST.  BENEDICT.^

(  Contained  in  Book  /,  Ch,  26,  of  the  foregoing  History.^

"Where,  holy  Benedict,  shall  I  begin  the  long  tale  of  thy  tri-
umphs?
Countless  thy  virtues  to  tell ;  where  shall  thy  bard  begin?

Father  and  saint,  all  hail !     Thy  name  proclaimeth  thy  virtue,'
Shining  light  of  the  world  !  father  and  saint  all  hail !

Nursia,*  praise  him  well,  by  such  son  proudly  exalted.
Bringing  the  stars  to  the  world — Nursia  abundantly  praise  i

O  the  decorum  of  boyhood  !  ^    Transcending  his  years  by  his

virtues,
Passing  the  wisdom  of  age,^  O  the  decorum  of  youth !

*  The  second  book  of  the  Dialogues  of  Gregory  the  Great  eluci-
date the  meaning  of  these  distichs  of  which  some  would  otherwise
be  incomprehensible.
* Benedictus,  "blessed.*'  St.  Gregory  calls  him  "Blessed  by
grace  and  by  name**  (Dialogues,  Book  II,  Introduction).
*  The  birthplace  of  St.  Benedict  in  Umbria  (id.).
*  He  was  sent  to  Rome  to  study  literature  and  science,  but  while
yet  a  boy  was  filled  with  loathing  at  the  profligacy  of  his  fellow-
students  (id.).
*St.  Gregory  says  of  him  that  he  bore  the  heart  of  an  old  man
from  the  very  time  of  his  boyhood.  St.  Gregory  also  says,  "In-
deed, surpassing  his  age  in  his  morals,  he  gave  his  mind  to  no
pleasure"  (id.).
(393)


394  APPENDIX  in.
