Pange Lingua Gloriosi

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Does anyone have a literal translation of Pange Lingua Gloriosi? I have found many transliterations but only one literal translation. I would like to compare to see which one conveys the meaning of the chant better.
 
Psalm45:9:
Does anyone have a literal translation of Pange Lingua Gloriosi? I have found many transliterations but only one literal translation. I would like to compare to see which one conveys the meaning of the chant better.
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I saw one at daily Mass today. It was in the current Novus Ordo missalette. At our daily Mass (Novus Ordo) I never use those things. But for some reason today i picked one up, and thumbed through to Holy week. I wanted to see how Maunday Thursday was celebrated in the new Rite. It gave the instructions for the procession ie- Cross, thurifer, and Candles. Then it says the “Sing my Tounge” should be sung during the procession,and followed with the words in English.

Does anyone know when this changed? I remember just A few years back the Missalette had the Pange Lingua in it.
 
QUICUMQUE VULT:
I saw one at daily Mass today. It was in the current Novus Ordo missalette. At our daily Mass (Novus Ordo) I never use those things. But for some reason today i picked one up, and thumbed through to Holy week. I wanted to see how Maunday Thursday was celebrated in the new Rite. It gave the instructions for the procession ie- Cross, thurifer, and Candles. Then it says the “Sing my Tounge” should be sung during the procession,and followed with the words in English.

Does anyone know when this changed? I remember just A few years back the Missalette had the Pange Lingua in it.
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Yes, we have Pange Lingua in our Missal too for Maundy Thursday, that is why I was wondering. I enjoy that chant, but in our missal it is a transliteration, I have only found one literal translation online and it was done on another forum site. However, I have not found another literal translation on a official catholic webpage, only transliterations.
 
Psalm45:9:
Does anyone have a literal translation of Pange Lingua Gloriosi? I have found many transliterations but only one literal translation. I would like to compare to see which one conveys the meaning of the chant better.
Click to expand...
Forgive me, but you do not mean “transliteration” as this is not necessary when Latin and English use the same alphabet. You mean “I have found many singing translations.” Actually, the most common one of these is quite faithful to the original text by Thomas Aquinas, which is rather rare and remarkable.
 
Latin does not translate well into English, and some parts of Latin do not translate correctly into English at all. Finding the most accurate translation that captures the meaning of the text the best is like trying to find which black and white photograph catches the scene of a garden full of flowers the best. Some do better than others, but they (none of them) just don’t quite “get it”.
 
Latin does not translate well into English, and some parts of Latin do not translate correctly into English at all. Finding the most accurate translation that captures the meaning of the text the best is like trying to find which black and white photograph catches the scene of a garden full of flowers the best. Some do better than others, but they (none of them) just don’t quite “get it”.
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Actually, Latin translates very well into English, which is why there has been such an issue made out of the translations of the Roman Missal into English. The translations in people’s missals decades ago were usually far more accurate than those made by ICEL in the 1970 missal.

The problem with the Pange Lingua is that like all poetry and hymns, it is a metrical composition, and that it is very difficult to get a side-by-side, line-by-line translation that STILL FITS THE SAME MELODY. In every part of the Ordinary of the Mass, we have access to excellent English translations of the Latin texts, if we are willing to use them. However, we usually are not trying to get the same musical setting to the Gloria and Credo in English that we have in Latin. But in the case of the Pange Lingua, we are trying to do just that by forcing English words to fit into the same melody that was written for the original Latin words. The result is that the translations do not always match up, especially line-by-line.:nope:
 
Here is the Latin of the concluding verse of Pange Lingua, as with almost all Latin hymns a doxology (in case anyone here does not know the hymn is by none other than Thomas Aquinas):

Genitori genitoque
Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit, et benedictio.
Procedenti ab utroque,
Compar sit laudatio.

Here is a line-by-line, word-for-word translation:

To the progenitor and the begotten,
Praise and jubilation,
Salvation, honor, power also
Be, and blessing.
To the One proceeding from both,
Equal be the praising.

Here is a verse English translation that I don’t think has been mentioned yet:

Glory let us give and blessing
To the Father and the Son.
Honor, thanks, and praise addressing,
While eternal ages run;
Ever too his love confessing
Who from both with both is One.

And that is the easiest verse.

Sometimes we have to ask whether the poetic value of a Latin hymn contributes in a material way to its spiritual worth to the point where a translation diminishes it. In the case of the Pange Lingua, in spite of its distinguished author, in my judgment it does not have primary poetic value and is well served by a good translation, But if you go back to the hymns of Saint Ambrose and many others of the ancient Church, this is not true, and a translation is always a severe compromise. Is it a greater compromise than the laity not understanding the hymns without a translation? I do not feel competent to say.

What irks me is the wholesale sellout in the monastic community of the preservation of this tradition, so that only a handful of places in the world today actually sing “Conditor Alme Siderum” in Latin where it properly occurs in the Office.
 
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jbuck919:
What irks me is the wholesale sellout in the monastic community of the preservation of this tradition, so that only a handful of places in the world today actually sing “Conditor Alme Siderum” in Latin where it properly occurs in the Office.
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We’ve sung it as an Advent hymn in Latin. We also sang it for a medieval Christmas concert in collaberation with our local university’s Collegium Musicum. Great piece.
 
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Chatter163:
Actually, Latin translates very well into English, which is why there has been such an issue made out of the translations of the Roman Missal into English.
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It would be difficult to make a poetic English translation that was not too long that was totally in line with the Latin. Literal translations are easy- if you know the language of course.
 
I’m not looking for a literal poetic translation that fits the melody. I’m looking for an actual literal translation of the latin texts. When trying to make an English translation that is friendly to the tounge and fits the melody, the meat of the theology within the text diminishes. I have found through my difficult task of looking up each word in a Latin dictionary and comparing current singing translations to see if my definition conveys the right message of the line, that I am starting to see the theological richness of this chant more.
 
Man, I sure would like to hear the choir sing that in Latin again!
 
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JimG:
Man, I sure would like to hear the choir sing that in Latin again!
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I’m fortunate that we do sing it in Latin on Maundy Thursday, however I have only seen singing translations of this song.
 
OK, here’s my stab at it:

Pange lingua gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi,
Rex effudit gentium.

Sing [as in compose a song], o tongue the mystery of the glorious body, and of the precious blood, which the King of the nations, the fruit of a noble womb, shed for the sake of the world.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
Ex intacta Virgine
Et in mundo conversatus,
Sparso verbi semine,
Sui moras incolatus
Miro clausit ordine.

Given to us, born to us of an inviolate Virgin, and turned into the world, with the seed of [his] word having been scattered, and having lingered as a fellow of those who were his, brought an end to the wondrous proceeding.

In supremae nocte cenae
Recumbens cum fratribus,
Observata lege plene
Cibis in legalibus,
Cibum turbae duodenae
Se dat suis manibus

On the supreme night of the supper, reclining with [his] brothers, having oberved the full law in the legalities of food, he himself gave from his hands food to the group of twelve.

Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum,
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.

The Word [made] flesh, by [his] word, transformed true bread into [his] flesh, and made the undiluted blood of Christ. And if sense is insufficient, faith alone will suffice for the strengthening of a pure heart.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Therefore, we venerate such a Sacrament prostrate, and the ancient teaching gives way to a new rite. Faith assures the completion at the failing of the senses.

Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et iubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.

To the progenitor and the begotten, praise and jubilations, salvation, honor, and power also be [to them], and blessing. To the one proceeding from both, equal praises be.
 
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jbuck919:
OK, here’s my stab at it:

Pange lingua gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi,
Rex effudit gentium.

Sing [as in compose a song], o tongue the mystery of the glorious body, and of the precious blood, which the King of the nations, the fruit of a noble womb, shed for the sake of the world.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
Ex intacta Virgine
Et in mundo conversatus,
Sparso verbi semine,
Sui moras incolatus
Miro clausit ordine.

Given to us, born to us of an inviolate Virgin, and turned into the world, with the seed of [his] word having been scattered, and having lingered as a fellow of those who were his, brought an end to the wondrous proceeding.

In supremae nocte cenae
Recumbens cum fratribus,
Observata lege plene
Cibis in legalibus,
Cibum turbae duodenae
Se dat suis manibus

On the supreme night of the supper, reclining with [his] brothers, having oberved the full law in the legalities of food, he himself gave from his hands food to the group of twelve.

Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum,
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.

The Word [made] flesh, by [his] word, transformed true bread into [his] flesh, and made the undiluted blood of Christ. And if sense is insufficient, faith alone will suffice for the strengthening of a pure heart.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Therefore, we venerate such a Sacrament prostrate, and the ancient teaching gives way to a new rite. Faith assures the completion at the failing of the senses.

Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et iubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.

To the progenitor and the begotten, praise and jubilations, salvation, honor, and power also be [to them], and blessing. To the one proceeding from both, equal praises be.
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Thank you! That’s pretty close to the translation that I made!
 
I used google translate for this:

O’er the glorious
Body Mystery
Precious blood
Save the world
Noble womb
King Shed.

2 Given to us is born
From the pure Virgin
And in our world,
Stay’d
His stay
Miracle.

3 On the night of dinner
Seated with his,
Fulfills the law
Legal foods,
Food to His Apostles
Himself with his own hands

4 Word made flesh, the bread
Word made:
Blood of Christ,
And if senses fail
To comprehend,
Faith alone will suffice.
  • Great Sacrament
    Venerate bowing down
    And the old
    New ritual:
    Faith make
    Failure of the senses.
6, the everlasting Father,
And endless
The safety, honor, strength
And blessing;
From both
Equal praise.
Amen.
 
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