A Latin Hymn - to what Tune?
  • JacobFlahertyJacobFlaherty
    Posts: 329
    Hey all,

    Does anyone know which hymn tune this text belongs to: Dignare me, O Jesu! rogo Te? I know the English, Jesu, Grant Me, This I Pray, belongs to Orlando Gibbons Cantebury.

    Apparently, according to the website below, the original Latin text is: (it obviously doesn't follow Gibbons' 7777 meter)

    Dignare me, O Jesu! rogo Te,
    In cordis vulnere abscondere,
    Permitte me hic vivere,
    In Tuo latere quiescere.

    Si praeparet daemon insidias,
    Et mundus offerat divitias,
    In Tuo corde tutus sum,
    In Tuo latere securus sum.

    Fallacior si caro lubricis
    Mentem exagitet blanditiis,
    Nil metuo hic tutus sum,
    Est meum latus hoc refugium.

    Si oculos claudat fatalis sors,
    Et vitam terminet feralis mors,
    O Jesu! ne dimitte me,
    Da Tuo moriar in latere.

    http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=001682
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,177
    The meter is obviously (?) 10 10. 8 10. I'll do some snooping around.
  • donr
    Posts: 971
    Can some one explain to me how a tune meter works. I've always wondered and now that this post has come up I feel it might be an opportune time to ask.
    What does it all mean and how can I figure out what makes a tune as the one noted above 10 10. 8 10. I have no idea what that even means.
    Thanks in advance
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,965
    Wikipedia has a very brief explanation. Perhaps it is a good place to start. The link I posted goes somewhere else in the maze of dear old Wiki, so I removed it. Just go to Google and type in "understanding hymn meter" and you will get a very basic explanation.
    Thanked by 1donr
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,177
    The first, second, and fourth lines have 10 syllables each, and the third line has 8 syllables - hence the 10 10 8 10 (the period is put after the second 10 to suggest grouping the four lines into two couplets). The stress pattern is iambic, so actually there are 5 iambs in lines 1, 2, and 4, and there are 4 iambs in line 3.
    Thanked by 2donr M. Jackson Osborn
  • donr
    Posts: 971
    I guess your never too old to learn. Thanks guys this was extremely helpful.
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