The Medieval Church · 1225
The Canticle of the Creatures
Cantico delle Creature
Francis of Assisi · 1181/82–1226
What it is
Praise offered through Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, and finally Sister Bodily Death — composed while nearly blind and in constant pain.
Why it lasted
One of the earliest poems in Italian and the most beloved religious lyric in the language, written by a man who could no longer bear daylight.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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