Sedulius’ Carmen Paschale

This book offers the first verse translation of Sedulius’ 5th-century biblical epic, the Carmen paschale, a versification of the Gospels in the style of Vergil’s Aeneid, one that was well known and much admired throughout Europe for the better part of a millennium.

This fascinating poem from the 5th century, a key text on the monastic curriculum during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, offers an important witness to the translation and reception of the Bible in popular form, and is translated here in a fresh and comprehensible verse translation. This book draws readers into the poetry of the Carmen paschale and Late Antiquity by offering a translation of the poem in blank verse and by contextualizing important features of the text through ample notes and an introduction. The book also contains translations of the two prose letters frequently attached to the poem, where the author says something of his motives, as well as Sedulius’ two hymns and several other short poems associated with the Carmen paschale.

McBrine’s translation brings to life Sedulius’ Carmen paschale, making it accessible and relatable for students and scholars working on the literature and poetry of Late Antiquity and early Christianity, as well as those working on Latin epic, early Medieval religion, literature and education, and the history and reception of the Bible.