Bede's Death Song

"Bede's Death Song" is the editorial name given to a five-line Old English poem, supposedly the final words of the Venerable Bede. It exists in multiple copies, in both Northumbrian and West Saxon dialects.

Bede's tomb in Durham Cathedral

Attribution to Bede

Bede died on Thursday, 26 May 735 (Ascension Day) on the floor of his cell, singing Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit and was buried at Jarrow.[1] Cuthbert, a disciple of Bede's, wrote a letter to a Cuthwin (of whom nothing else is known), describing Bede's last days and his death. According to Cuthbert, Bede fell ill, "with frequent attacks of breathlessness but almost without pain", before Easter. On the Tuesday, two days before Bede died, his breathing became worse and his feet swelled. He continued to dictate to a scribe, however, and despite spending the night awake in prayer he dictated again the following day. At three o'clock, according to Cuthbert, he asked for a box of his to be brought, and distributed among the priests of the monastery "a few treasures" of his: "some pepper, and napkins, and some incense". That night he dictated a final sentence to the scribe, a boy named Wilberht, and died soon afterwards.[2][lower-alpha 1] Cuthbert's letter also relates a five-line poem in the vernacular that Bede composed on his deathbed, known as "Bede's Death Song". It is the most-widely copied Old English poem, and appears in 45 manuscripts, but its attribution to Bede is not absolutely certain—not all manuscripts name Bede as the author, and the ones that do are of later origin than those that do not.[4][5][6]

Text

Recorded in both Northumbrian and West Saxon, as edited in the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records series (with ‖ representing a medial caesura) the poem reads:[7][8]

Northumbrian version

Fore thaem neidfaerae ‖ naenig uuiurthit
thoncsnotturra, ‖ than him tharf sie
to ymbhycggannae ‖ aer his hiniongae
huaet his gastae ‖ godaes aeththa yflaes
aefter deothdaege ‖ doemid uueorthae.

West Saxon version

For þam nedfere ‖ næni wyrþeþ
þances snotera, ‖ þonne him þearf sy
to gehicgenne ‖ ær his heonengange
hwæt his gaste ‖ godes oþþe yfeles
æfter deaþe heonon ‖ demed weorþe.

Modern English translation

In a literal translation by Leo Shirley-Price, the text reads as:[9]

Before setting forth on that inevitable journey, none is wiser than the man who considers—before his soul departs hence—what good or evil he has done, and what judgement his soul will receive after its passing.

In a verse translation by Brice Stratford, it reads:[10]

Fore the enforced-walk ‖ none comes to be
wise to malice ‖ more than him that must
with mindfulness think back, ‖ before his going hence,
/ on what his breath’s ‖ bad, good, right or evil,
after death-day’s ending, ‖ on judgement comes to be.

Notes and references
  1. The account of Cuthbert does not make entirely clear whether Bede died before midnight or after. However, by the reckoning of Bede's time, passage from the old day to the new occurred at sunset, not midnight, and Cuthbert is clear that he died after sunset. Thus, while his box was brought at three o'clock Wednesday afternoon the 25th, by the time of the final dictation it was already Thursday the 26th."[3]
  1. Fr. Paolo O. Pirlo, SHMI (1997). "St. Venerable Bede". My First Book of Saints. Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate - Quality Catholic Publications. p. 104. ISBN 971-91595-4-5.
  2. Colgrave & Mynors 1969, pp. 580–587
  3. Blair 1990, p. 307
  4. Scragg, Donald. "Bede's Death Song", in Lapidge, Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 59.
  5. Colgrave & Mynors 1969, pp. 580–581n
  6. "St. Gallen Stiftsbibliothek Cod. Sang. 254. Jerome, Commentary on the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Includes the most authentic version of the Old English "Death Song" by the Venerable Bede". Europeana Regia. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  7. Bede's death Song: West Saxon Version
  8. Bede's Death Song: Northumbrian Version
  9. Shirley-Price, Leo. "Bede's Death Song", A History of the English Church and People. Penguin Books, 1955
  10. Stratford, Brice. "Bede's death Song," Anglo-Saxual Healing January 1, 2016
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