Re: Ynkhorne Terms

Sally Caves scripsit:

> Here's part of a satiric letter that Thomas Wilson devised
> to poke fun at Ynkpot terms in an article called "Plainnesse:
> What It Is":
And here's the beginning of a poem in inkhorn Scots by the
late 15th-century poet William Dunbar:

        Haile! sterne superne.  Haile! in eterne,
        In Godis sicht to shine.
        Lucerne in derne for to discerne
        Be glory and grace divine.
        Hodiern, modern, sempitern,
        Angellical regime,
        Our tern inferne for to dispern,
        Helpe! rialest rosine.
        Ave! Maria, gracia plena,
        Haile! freshe floure feminine,
        Yerne us, guberne, virgin matern,
        Of reuth baith rute and rine.

In Modern English, more or less:

        Hail, star on high.  Hail, in eternity,
        In God's sight to shine.
        Lamp in darkness to discern
        By glory and grace divine.
        Of today, now existing, everlasting,
        Angelical regime,
        Our vicissitudes below to drive away,
        Help, most royal rose.
        [Latin:] Hail, Mary, full of grace,
        Hail, fresh flower of womanhood,
        Desire us, govern us, maternal virgin
        With pity both root and rind.
--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
       I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin