Rumpe celos (217)

Summary

[fol. 77v]

¶ Rumpe celos et descende capud Iesu martirum,

Signis sacris et ostende comitis martyrium.

Arma, scutum, comprehende contra uires hostium.

Heu dolorum nos multorum torquet infor[tu]nium.

Simon cesus cadit lesus Anglie presidium,

Comes fidus regni sidus, decus et flos militum.

Est iactura nimis dura regno et ecclesie.

Simon fortis casum mortis causa rei pupplice

Sumit; cadit dum inuadit prelium perfidie.

Iuris sator exstirpator fuit iniusticie,

Effugator et dampnator <fraudis> et iniurie,

Pacis dator et seruator plebis et ecclesie.

Quis anglorum nunc regnorum tuetur prudencia?

Militaris expers paris pre[ter]mitur prestancia.

Plebi cleri forma ueri cedit sapiencia.

Tu qui pro salute mundi crucis pressus pertica

Da post casum putibundi fati sit in gloria.

Simon celi letabundi per eterna secula. Amen.

Rumpe celos (217)

Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, MS Kk.4.20, fol. 77v

¶ Rend the heavens and come down, Jesus chief of martyrs, and show forth the earl's martyrdom with sacred signs. Take up weapons and a shield against hostile forces.

[4] Alas, misfortune torments us with many sufferings. Cut down, Simon falls injured, the protector of England, the faithful earl, the kingdom's guiding light, the glory and flower of knighthood.

[7] The damage to kingdom and church is exceedingly severe. Simon the strong takes on the penalty of death in the cause of the public good; he falls when he attacks the army of faithlessness.

[10] Cultivator of the law, he was an eradicator of injustice, a banisher and condemner of falsity and wrong, a giver of peace and a preserver of the common people and the church.

[13] Who now watches over the good sense of the English realms? Deprived of such a knight, leadership is abandoned. The sound wisdom of the true clergy withdraws from the common people.

[16] O thou, who for the salvation of the world was subdued by the rod of the cross, grant that Simon, after succumbing to a humiliating fate, should be in the glory of a joyful heaven for all eternity. Amen.