Voyage of St Brendan

tr. O’Donoghue, 1893

5. The Paradise of Birds

The Paradise of Birds

WHEN they had sailed to the southern side of this island they found a rivulet flowing into the sea, and there they brought the boat to land. The saint ordered them to leave the boat, and tow it up against the stream, which was only wide enough for its passage; and thus they towed it for a mile up to the source of the rivulet, the saint sitting on board the while.

After some consideration, St. Brendan said to them: “Behold, my brothers, God has provided for us a suitable place wherein to abide during the Paschal time; and if we had no other provisions, this fountain would, I believe, serve for food as well as drink;” for the fountain was, in truth, a very wonderful one. Over it hung a large tree of marvellous width, but no great height, covered over with snow-white birds, so that they hid its boughs and leaves entirely. When the man of God saw this, he was considering with himself why this immense number of birds were thus brought together in one assemblage; and the question grew so irksome to him that he with tears besought the Lord, on his bended knees, thus: “O God, who knowest what is unknown, and revealest what is hidden, Thou seest the anxious distress of my heart; therefore I beseech Thee that Thou wouldst vouchsafe, in Thy great mercy, to reveal Thy secret in what I see here before me; not for any desert of my own worthiness, but solely in regard to Thy clemency, do I presume to ask this favour.”

Thereupon one of the birds flew off the tree, and in his flight his wings had a tinkling sound like little bells, over to the boat where the man of God was seated; and, perching on the prow, it spread out its wings in token of gladness, and looked complacently towards St. Brendan. Then the man of God, understanding from this that his prayer was granted, addressed the bird: “If you are a messenger from God, tell me whence have those birds come, and why this concourse of them here?” The bird at once made answer: “We are partakers in the great ruin of the ancient enemy, having fallen, not by sin of our will or consent, but soon after our creation our ruin resulted from the fall of Lucifer and his followers. The Almighty God, however, who is righteous and true, has doomed us to this place, where we suffer no pain, and where we can partially see the Divine presence, but must remain apart from the spirits who stood faithful. We wander about the world, in the air, and earth, and sky, like the other spirits on their missions; but on festival days we take the shapes you see, abide here, and sing the praises of our Creator. You and your brethren have been now one year on your voyage, and six more years’ journeying awaits you; where you celebrated your Easter this year, there will you celebrate it every year, until you find what you have set your hearts upon, the “Land of Promise of the Saints.” When it had spoken thus, the bird arose from the prow of the vessel, and flew back to the other birds.

On the approach of the hour of vespers, all the birds, in unison, clapping their wings, began to sing: “A hymn, O Lord, becometh Thee in Sion, and a vow shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem” (Ps. lxiv.); and they alternately chanted the same psalm for an hour; and the melody of their warbling and the accompanying clapping of their wings, sounded like unto a delightful harmony of great sweetness.

Then St. Brendan said to the brethren: “Take bodily refreshment now, for the Lord has sated your souls with the joys of His divine resurrection.” When supper was ended, and the divine office discharged, the man of God and his companions retired to rest until the third watch of the night, when he aroused them all from sleep, chanting the verse: “Thou, O Lord, wilt open my lips;” whereupon all the birds, with voice and wing, warbled in response: “Praise the Lord, all His angels, praise Him all His virtues.” Thus they sang for an hour every night; and when morning dawned, they chanted: “May the splendour of the Lord God be upon us,” in the same melody and measure as their matin praises of God. Again, at tierce, they sang the verse: “Sing to our God, sing; sing to our King, sing wisely;” at sext: “The Lord hath caused the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us;” and at none they sang: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity.” Thus day and night those birds gave praise to God. St. Brendan, seeing all this, made thanksgiving to the Lord for all His wonderful works; and the brethren were thus regaled with such spiritual viands until the octave of the Easter festival.

At the close of the festival days, St. Brendan said: “Let us now partake of the water of this fountain; hitherto we had need of it only to wash our hands or feet.” Soon after this the man with whom they had been three days before Easter, who had supplied them with provisions for the Paschal season, came to them with his boat full of food and drink; and having laid it all before the holy father, he said: “My brothers, you have here abundance to last until Pentecost; but do not drink of that fountain, for its waters have a peculiar virtue, so that anyone drinking thereof, though it seems to have the taste and quality of ordinary water, is seized with sleep, and cannot awaken for twenty-four hours.” After this, having received the blessing of St. Brendan, he returned to his own place.

St. Brendan remained where he was with his brethren until Pentecost, the singing of the birds being a delight ever new to them. On the feast of Pentecost, when St. Brendan and the priests had celebrated Mass, their venerable procurator, or provider, brought sufficient food for the festival; and when they had sat down together at their repast, he said to them: “My brothers, you have yet a long journey before you; take, therefore, from this fountain vessels full of its water, and dry bread that may keep for another year, and I will supply as much as your boat can carry.” He then departed with a blessing from all; and St. Brendan, eight days afterwards, got the boat laden with the provisions brought by this man, and all the vessels filled with water from the fountain.

When they had brought everything down to the shore, the bird before mentioned flew towards them, and alighted on the prow of the boat; and the saint, understanding that it would make something known to him, stood still where he was. Then the bird, in human voice, addressed him: “With us you have celebrated the Paschal time this year; you will celebrate it with us also next year, and where you have been in the past year on the festival of the Lord’s Supper, there will you also be on the same festival next year. In like manner, you will celebrate the festival of the Lord’s Pasch, as you did before on the back of the great fish Jasconius; and after eight months you will find the island of St. Ailbe, where you will celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ.” Having spoken thus, the bird returned to its place on the tree.

The Warbling of the Birds

At this the abbot stood amazed,
And wondering, on their beauty gazed,
And prayed to Heaven, that it might show,
Both whence they came, and where they go,
And who they were—when instantly
One of those birds from off the tree
Flew toward him, lightly hovering;
While at each stroke of that bright wing
Burst forth such harp-like melody,
That tranced in joy and bliss was he.
Then mildly to the bird he said:
“If thou by hand of God wast made
To serve Him, swiftly to me tell
What isle is this? and what befel
Thee and thy feathered company,
That far from all society
Of men ye won—for ye are fair
As disembodied spirits are.”
Then sang the bird: “Erst we were high
In power and glory in the sky,
For angels were we, but we fell
When pride drove Sathanas to hell:
For we his vassals were, and driven
Thus for his surquedie¹ from Heaven—
Now exiled for a space to stay
Upon this island, till the day
That shall restore us to the skies,
For we are birds of Paradise.
But ye have much,” said he, ‘to do
And bear ere Paradise ye view,
And six years’ toils must suffer still,
Rocked by the winds and waves at will;
And aye each year your Pasch shall keep
Upon some monster of the deep.”
When thus he said, away he flew
Back to his tree; and when the dew,
And slanting shade, and sun’s soft shining,
Showed that the day was fast declining,
These snowy birds, with dulcet throats
Poured in sweet unison their notes;—
And sang so softly, clearly, sweetly;
With voice and heart, aye so completely
Joined in God’s praise that ye might ne’er
The solace of that compare
With aught that human song could do
Tho’ man might learn a lesson too.
Then said the abbot: “Brethren, see,
These birds a lesson teach to ye;
Tho’ fallen from their high state, and driven
Unto this isle, yet praise they Heaven,
And thank the Lord, who unto us
Hath been by far more bounteous;
And hence should we prepare more praise.”
With joyful hearts their chant they raise,
They quit the ship, and range along
The shore; and now the complin song
They chant with pleasant melody.
Then free from all anxiety,
Commend themselves to Jesus’ care,
And soon they slumber sweetly there.

Anglo-Norman Trouvere.

Notes

i.e. Rebellion.