ABSTRACT

Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus." It was this verse which suggested to SeduHus the title of his poem, Paschale Carmen. His object was to celebrate the wondrous facts of the life of Christ, His miracles especially, not simply for the pleasure of describing them in verse, but also to draw from them the doctrinal and moral teaching to which they lent themselves. Of the five books, written in hexameters, the first, a kind of introduction, after an appeal to the pagans who found themselves being impelled to give up their sterile errors,l treats of some of the wonderful events in the Old Testament, without regard to abrupt transitions; the three following give an account of the wonders of Christ from His birth to His triumphant entry into Jerusalem; the fifth comments on the episodes of the Passion, making use of rhetorical description and allegory. Scdulius bases hirnself throughout on 8t Matthew and 8t Luke; from the beginning of book V, he alters the information given by the four evangelists. He avails himself, on occasion, of authorised commentaries, such as those of St Ambrose and St Augustine. He does not bind himself to a strictly literal rendering of the sacred text, and allows himself free paraphrases whenever he sees it is advantageous for the edification of the reader.