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Stanza the seventh: Hic acetum, fel, arundo, sputa, clavi, lancea; mite corpus perforatur; sanguis, unda profluit, terra pontus astra mundus quo lavantur flumine. Neale: He endured the nails, the spitting, Vinegar, and spear, and reed; From that holy Body broken Blood and water forth proceed: Earth, and stars, and sky, and ocean By that flood from stain are freed. Something of a tour de force to make poetry from a list of instruments of torture. acetum, -i, (n), sour wine, vinegar. fel, fellis (n), gall. (h)arundo, -inis, (f) a reed. Cf. Matthew 27:48, 'Et continuo currens unus ex eis, acceptam spongiam implevit aceto, et imposuit arundini, et dabat ei bibere.' - 'And immediately one of them, running, took a sponge and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink.' Cf. Mark 15:36, John 19:29. We are intended to see the fulfilment of Ps 68(69):22, 'Et dederunt in escam meam fel, Et in siti mea potaverunt me aceto' - They gave me gall for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. sputum, spittle; cf. Matthew 26:67 'Tunc expuerunt in faciem eius' 'then they spat in his face' and 27:30 'Et expuentes in eum, acceperunt arundinem, et percutiebant caput eius' 'and spitting on him, they took a reed, and beat his head' - this is the arundo to which Fortunatus refers. All this is perceived to fulfil Isaiah 50:6 'Faciem meam non averti ab increpantibus et conspuentibus in me' - 'I did not avert my face from the rebukers and from those who spat at me.' clavus, a nail; Jesus was nailed to the cross. Cf John 20:25, 'Nisi videro in manibus eius fixuram clavorum' 'Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails' lancea, a lance, spear. Cf John 19:34 'sed unus militum lancea latus eius aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua' - but one of the soldiers opened his side with a lance, and immediately there flowed out blood and water (the sanguis, unda, of the next line). 'the gentle body is pierced; blood and waves flow out'. 'by which river earth and ocean and stars and world are washed'. Note the cosmic significance of the event: the entire creation is washed clean by the sacrifice. There is no doubt an allusion to Ezekiel's river, flowing out of the temple and bringing life to all the world: et ecce aquae redundantes a latere dextro 'and behold waters flowing down from the right side' i.e. of the temple; but interpreted as from the right side of Christ. Cf 'The Dream of the Rood', 'thaet it aerest ongan swaetan on tha swithran healfe' 'that it first began to bleed on the right side.' It gets better, as we shall see. Oriens. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%