Virgo Virginum

Virgo virginum præclara,
Mihi jam non sis amara,
Fac me parvum rapere.

Fac, ut portem pulchrum fortem,
Qui nascendo vicit mortem,
Volens vitam tradere.

Fac me tecum satiari,
Nato tuo inebriari,
Stans inter tripudia.

Unknown author, 13th-Century

Virgin of all virgins highest,
Prayer to thee thou ne’er denyest,
Let me bear thy sweet Child too.

Let me show forth how immense is
The effect on all my senses
Of an union so divine.

trans Denis Florence MacCarthy (1817–82)