The Penitential PsalmsHome Single Screen Split Screen |
Welcome to the Penitential Psalms Project:This webpage is a work in progress and currently in its beginning stages, so expect more to come. Ultimately it will contain the texts for versions and translations of all seven penitential psalms from poets and important biblical texts of the English Renaissance. Eventually there will also be some supplementary information on the authors and works included on the site.What are the Penitential Psalms?The Penitential Psalms are a group of seven psalms from the Old Testament: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. The best known of the group are most likely the 51st psalm, Miserere, and the 130th psalm, De Profundis, which have both been the texts for a number of musical settings throughout the ages. The Penitential Psalms have been popularly grouped together from the early middle ages, and possibly as early as the sixth century. During the Medieval period these psalms were used by the church as meditations before the sacrament of penance and were often included as a group in devotional books of the time. The Medieval groupings of these psalms were nearly all in Latin,the universal language of the church for that period. However, at the start of the age of both the Protestant Reformation and the English Renaissance around the turn of the sixteenth century, there were a number of translations of psalms into the vernacular, including verse translations by well known English poets such as Sir Thomas Wyatt and (collaboratively) Sir Phillip Sidney and his sister, Mary Sidney Herbert. This site presents a collection of such verse translations of the Penitential Psalms from the Renaissance period, as well as versions of these psalms from influential bible editions and translations from the same era.Why Online?The aims of this project are to provide some easily accesible versions of these psalm translations and to group them in an online environment that will allow easy comparison between the different texts. Many of these versions of the Penitential Psalms influenced and informed one another in important and interesting ways, making a comparison of the different verse and biblical translations richly rewarding for anyone interested in the psalms from the perspective of either literature or theology. Presenting the texts online makes such comparisons much easier, eliminating the need to track down multiple volumes and then perform a balancing act while consulting more than one book simultaneously. The internet format has the advantage of providing links that make it easy to move from one text to another, and additionally the split screen mode on this site allows for viewing any two texts simultaneously with ease. The online format also makes it possible to present multiple versions of a single text, meaning that several of the Renaissance texts are available in both original and modernized spelling versions.How to Use this Site:The links below the title at the top of this page offer two options for viewing the psalm texts: "single screen" and "split screen". Clicking on the "single screen" option will open a page that allows you to view one work at a time by clicking on the link to that work in the top menu. The "split screen" option is set up as a customizable virtual version of a facing page edition in a regular book. Clicking on this option opens a window with two side by side pages, and you may then select the works you want to see from the menu in each page. Texts that are available in both original and modernized spellings will open first in the modernized version. Click on the "Original Spelling Version" link under the title of the work to see the transcription of the early published spelling. Likewise, when you are viewing an original spelling version you can click on the "Modernized Spelling" link to be taken to the modern version.If you are trying to access the single or split screen pages and receive an error message saying your computer cannot read the iframes, then either try viewing the page with a different browser (both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox should work fine). You can also try making sure that scripts are enabled on your browser. If you are unable to access the frames version you can still click here to access the texts. You will not be able to view the split screen format in this mode. A Brief Note On the Texts:For many of the Renaissance texts I have provided a modernized spelling version with an alternate link to a text with the original spelling. The only changes made to the original spelling texts are the use of the modern "s" and the expansion of textual abbreviations with the added letters indicated in brackets []. An asterik, *, indicates a letter which is illegible or extremely difficult to make out in the original text. The modern spelling versions are my own editions based on the texts used for the original spelling versions unless otherwise noted.Most of the texts I am using will be based on original or early published versions on Early English Books Online (EEBO). The 1560 Geneva Bible is transcribed from the digital facsimile on the Digital Christian Library. The text for the Vulgate bible is taken from the Sacred Texts page, and the version of the the Sidney psalms I have up is taken from vol. II of The complete Poems of Sir Philip Sidney edited by Alexander Balloch Grosart, 1873, which is available for free viewing and download on Google Books. |