Hildegard of Bingen ( 1098-1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages.
She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history. She has been considered by scholars to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.
She was a prolific writer and extraordinarily talented woman, and a big part of my love for Early Music.
Latin:
O virtus Sapientiae,
quae circuiens circuisti
comprehendendo omnia
in una via, quae habet vitam,
tres alas habens,
quarum una in altum volat,
et altera de terra sudat,
et tertia undique volat.
Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet,
O Sapientia.
English:
O strength of Wisdom
who, circling, circled,
enclosing all
in one lifegiving path,
three wings you have:
one soars to the heights,
one distils its essence upon the earth,
and the third is everywhere.
Praise to you, as is fitting,
O Wisdom
Dutch:
O kracht van Wijsheid,
die alsmaar ronddraaiend,
allesomvattend,
in één beweging,
die leven in zich draagt,
die drie vleugels heeft
waarvan er één in de hoogte vliegt,
de andere als nevel uit de aarde opstijgt
en de derde overal rondzweeft.
Lof zij jou, zoals jou toekomt, o Wijsheid.