"Though one set of facts is statted,
They by each one are related
In a manner all his own:
This the prophet by four creatures,
Each of different form and features,
Pictures for us, one by one."
In the second poem the following stanzas are the best:
Formam viri dant Matthaeo,
Quia scripsit sic de Deo,
Sicut descendit ab eo,
Quem plasmavit, homine.
Lucas bos est in figura
Ut praemonstrat in Scriptura,
Hostiarum tangens jura
Legis sub velamine.
Matthew as the man is treated,
Since 'tis he, who hath related,
How from man, by God created,
God did, as a man, descend.
Luke the ox's semmblance weareth,
Since his Gospel first declareth,
As he thence the Law's veil teareth,
Sacrifice' aim and end.
Marcus, lleo per desertum
Clamans, rugit in apertum:
Iter fiat Deo certum,
Mundum cor a crimine.
Sed Johannes, ala bina
Charitatis, aquilina
Forma, fetur in divinaa
Puriori lumine.
Mark, the lion, his voice upraises,
Crying out in desert places:
"Cleanse your hearts from all sin's traces,
For our God a way prepare!"
John, the eagle's feature having,
Earth on love's twain pinions leaving,
Soars aloft, God's truth perceiving
In light's purer atmosphere.
Ecce forma bestialis
Quam Scriptura prophetalis
Notat, sed materialis
Haec est impositio.A.D. 1-100.