Isaiah; this reads: 'Operatus est salutem in medio terræ.' The confusion may have arisen through the fact of Amos' being first prophet in some versions, and this being the first prophecy in others. There are similar passages in Ps. 97. 3 and Isa. 52. 10, but I see no reason for connecting either of them with Amos. 25-30. St. Bernard (Migne, Patr. Lat. 183. 66), under the heading Quare "virginem desponsatam "?' writes: 'Oportebat autem a principe mundi aliquamdiu celari divini consilii sacramentum: non quod Deus, si palam opus suum facere vellet, impediri posse ab illo metueret, sed quia ipse, qui non solum potenter, sed etiam sapienter quæcunque voluit fecit. . . . Placuit ei tamen eo potius et modo et ordine hominem sibi reconciliare, quo noverat cecidisse: ut sicut diabolus prius seduxit feminam, et postmodum virum per feminam vicit, ita prius a femina virgine seduceretur, et post a viro Christo aperte debellaretur.' This is the second reason St. Bernard gives, the first being the common one that it was necessary to save Mary from being stoned as an adulteress. In the York Harrowing of Hell we have the same idea. In 11. 249-252 Christ, addressing Satan, says: Mi godhede here I hidde For it shoulde not be kidde Also Cursor Mundi 11. 10783 ff. And thar is resuns written sere A child be born of a maiden, Cf. Ch. II, 524–527. St. Augustine, Sermo CXCIII De Annuntiatione (Migne, Patr. Lat. 39. 2103) says that Christ took upon him the form of man to deceive the devil. 33 ff. Abraham appears as first prophet in the Old French Mistère d'Adam (ed. Palustre, p. 110). He repeats the same verse from Gen. 22. 18 as here. Sepet's theory that all the Old Testament plays are merely outgrowths from the Prophet play is well illustrated by the Abraham plays in England. In the Chester Sacrifice of Isaac, for example, we find not merely the promise of many descendants to Abraham, but also this very prophecy. God says to Abraham, Ch. 4, 174-176: Kingis of thie seed men shall see, Later, 11. 205-208, the Expositor explains: And one seede, mankinde to forby, and so also was he. It is from 40 ff. This prayer is Isaac's, not Abraham's. Gen. 27. 28, where Isaac is blessing Jacob by mistake; it is in no way a prophecy, but merely an individual blessing upon Jacob. Isaac says: 'Det tibi Deus de rore cæli et de pinguedine terræ abundantiam frumenti et vini.' This blessing appears in T. 5, 8 ff., and there is no indication that it is considered as a prophecy there. Indeed the adaptation of this blessing seems to be quite original with the author of Y. 57-58. Isaiah 7. 14. According to the text it is still Abraham who gives all these following prophecies. It is difficult to account for such carelessness and inaccuracy of reference. Possibly the author, in copying some Prophet play, failed to notice the assignment of parts, generally written in the margin so as not to interfere with the text, and wrote steadily along, paraphrasing or translating the text. Such an error was made by Halliwell in his edition of the Coventry Plays; see C. II, 67, Variants. 61 ff. This prophecy, the most definite of all, is found in almost every account of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew down. It is the only prophecy in this prologue which is in the Augustinian sermon. It is found in Isa. 7. 14. In the Mist. d. l. Nat., p. 43, Sartan relates these prophecies to Cesar. He says: Dont nous trouvons en Ysaie Véez-cy, la Vierge concevra 65-70. Isaiah 9. 7. 75-80. Isaiah 11. 1-2, 'Egredietur virga de Jesse et flos de radice eius ascendet. Et requiescat super eum spiritus Domini.' This prophecy supplanted the Ecce Virgo in the St. Martial liturgical play. It is part of the Christmas liturgy, and its addition to the other is quite natural. In the Coventry Play of the Prophets we find this prophecy following the Ecce Virgo, as follows: A blyssyd braunche shal sprynge of me, A floure shall blome of me, Jesse rote, 85-91. Not Joel, but Hosea 14. 6. The quotation should be, 'Ero quasi ros, Israel germinabit sicut lilium.' The prophecy of Joel in most of the plays is from Joel 2. 28, 'Effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem.' Cf. the Coventry Play of the Prophets, and the Chester Balaam and Balak. 113-118. It is rather remarkable that this very direct prophecy from Gen. 49. 10 should not appear elsewhere in the Prophet plays. 123-124. This prophecy from Mark 1. 2 is quoted there from Malachi 3. 1, although attributed by Mark to Isaiah. The similar passage from Luke 1. 76, Tu puer propheta Altissimi vocaberis; præibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias suas,' is quoted in the Augustinian sermon, and is the prophecy of Zacharias. 129-132. Matt. 3. 11. A similar prophecy is given to John the Baptist in the sermon, where the author quotes Mark 1. 7, and Luke 3. 16: 'Ecce venit post me de cujus pedibus non sum ego dignus solvere corrigiam calceamenti ejus.' 132-192. A remarkably close paraphrase of Luke 1. 26-28. The author acknowledges his source in l. 134, and seems to have made use of no other. For the Scriptural text, see notes on Ch. I, 1 ff. 144. Miss Smith, editor of the York Cycle, notes that after the prologue the rest of the piece seems to be irregular in the arrangement of the 6- and 8-syllable lines. Kölbing, in Englische Studien 21. 162-176, suggests many rather absurd emendations to make them all 8-syllable lines. See Variants. 177-184. Cf. Ch. I, 27-40, note; C. I, 249–257; T. I, 125-142. 193-204. This is the first break from the account in Luke 1. Lines 193-196 are apparently original, and 197-204 a sort of improvisation on Luke 1. 40. 205-216. Paraphrase of Luke 1. 42-43. 217-224. Another rather inartistic and useless insertion. It is probably introduced to make a break in Elizabeth's speech, for in 1. 225 she proceeds as in Luke. 225-240. Luke 1. 45-47. Notice that only the first two verses of the Magnificat are translated, and then comes the stage-direction: 'Tunc cantant Magnificat.' The verb in the plural would show that they sang it antiphonally as in C. III, and in the liturgical play on the Visitation (see Introd. p. xiii). YORK JOSEPH (II). 1 ff. Taylor (Mod. Phil. July 1907, p. 6) suggests that this and similar passages in the Mysteries were definitely influenced by the popular Middle English 'Complaints' of old men. He does not present, and I have been unable to discover, any direct influence, but it is doubtless true that they belong to the same type of literature; the full bibliography that he gives is interesting for comparative study. A typical specimen of the 'Old Man's Complaint' is in Anglia 3. 279 ff. 25-34. This account of the choice of Joseph as husband to the Virgin is in the Protev. 8, 9; Pseudo-Matt. 8; and De Nat. Mar. 7, 8. Only in the latter, however, is the flowering of the rods mentioned. In the others a dove descends. The De Nat. Mar. interprets the flowering of the rod as a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah: A rod shall go forth out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall arise from his root.' Isa. 11. 1. Cf. Cursor Mundi 10. 774: 'With leaf and flower they found it green.' In Giotto's fresco in Padua of the Marriage of the Virgin, there are both the flowering rod and the descent of the dove. In Raphael's Lo Sposalizio, at the Brera in Milan, the dove does not appear. Cf. T. I, 227–268, also C. 10. 32. In C. 10 the rod blossoms, and the 'Holy Ghost sits on the bough.' 49-50. In the Apocryphal Gospels (Protev. 15, 16; PseudoMatt. 12), Mary's pregnancy is discovered by the priest, and Mary and Joseph are brought to trial for transgressing the law of Israel. They are acquitted, however, when after drinking the 'water of cursing' there are no ill effects. This material is used in a very coarse play in the Coventry Cycle on the trial of Joseph and Mary, C. 14. For water of cursing,' see Numbers 5. 17. 57 ff. Concerning Joseph's determination not to run away, see note to C. II, 59 ff. 61-62. Germanus (Migne, Patr. Lat. 72. 325): Mary, "Is it not written in the prophets that a virgin shall conceive |