English practice, therefore, had the Antiphons one day ahead. (The order in which they will appear here isn't that of the Manuscript, as the Antiphons are not in the order in which they are used Liturgically; today's Antiphon comprises lines 18-49 of the poem, which can be found complete here.)
So this is "O Clavis David". Here's the Antiphon, for comparison:
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
(O Key of David and sceptre of The House of Israel;
who opens, and no one can shut,
shuts, and no one can open:
come, and lead the captives from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.)
Eala, þu reccend ond þu riht cyning,
se þe locan healdeð, lif ontyneð,
eadga... upwegas, oþrum forwyrneð
wlitigan wilsiþes, gif his weorc ne deag.
Huru we for þearfe þas word sprecað,
ond m... ...giað þone þe mon gescop
þæt he ne ...ete... ...ceose weorðan
cearfulra þing, þe we in carcerne
sittað sorgende, sunnan wenað,
hwonne us liffrea leoht ontyne,
weorðe ussum mode to mundboran,
ond þæt tydre gewitt tire bewinde,
gedo usic þæs wyrðe, þe he to wuldre forlet,
þa we heanlice hweorfan sceoldan
to þis enge lond, eðle bescyrede.
Forþon secgan mæg, se ðe soð spriceð,
þæt he ahredde, þa forhwyrfed wæs,
frumcyn fira. Wæs seo fæmne geong,
mægð manes leas, þe he him to meder geceas;
þæt wæs geworden butan weres frigum,
þæt þurh bearnes gebyrd bryd eacen wearð.
Nænig efenlic þam, ær ne siþþan,
in worlde gewearð wifes gearnung;
þæt degol wæs, dryhtnes geryne.
Eal giofu gæstlic grundsceat geondspreot;
þær wisna fela wearð inlihted
lare longsume þurh lifes fruman
þe ær under hoðman biholen lægon,
witgena woðsong, þa se waldend cwom,
se þe reorda gehwæs ryne gemiclað
ðara þe geneahhe noman scyppendes
þurh horscne had hergan willað.
O thou Ruler and righteous King,
who guards the locks, who opens life
and the blessed way on high, and to others denies
the bright longed-for path, if their deeds have not earned it;
truly, we speak these words in need,
and entreat that he who made mankind…
[this next line is damaged]
. . . of sorrowful things, for we in prison
sit sorrowing, hoping for the sun,
for when The Lord of Life will open light to us,
become for us a source of strength in spirit,
and enfold our feeble knowledge in splendour,
and make us worthy, that he may admit us to glory,
who have had to come, wretchedly,
into this constraining world, cut off from our homeland.
Therefore may he who speaks the truth say
that he saved us, who had been led astray,
the race of men. It was a young girl,
a maiden free from sin, whom he chose as his mother;
that was accomplished without the love of a man,
that the girl gave birth to a baby, became pregnant.
Nothing equal to this, before or since,
has ever in the world been a woman’s reward;
that was a secret, the Lord’s mystery.
Spiritual grace spread across the ground of all the earth;
there many things were given light,
long-standing lore, through the Lord of life,
which before had lain hidden in shadow,
the resounding song of the prophets, when the Ruler came,
he who magnifies the secret of every speech
of those who earnestly desire to praise the name
of the Creator in eager manner.
This poem takes its main inspiration from the final line of the Antiphon: 'Those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death'. Its interest is in light and darkness, and in the language of secrecy and hidden things - especially geryne, 'mystery'. (Not to make the Advent Lyrics all about Tolkien - since tomorrow is 'O Earendel' - but I particularly noted the line þæt degol wæs, dryhtnes geryne, 'that was a secret, the Lord's mystery', because degol is the origin of the name Déagol, who was secretly murdered by Sméagol.)
