Moten = might; till = to.

Latin: In [the] light.

“The Light of the World” by William Holman Hunt

The hymn closes with a plea for salvation. This light of God’s presence evokes the description of the New Heavens and Earth in the Book of Revelation:

They need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light

Parent and girl

If we read this as “mother and daughter,” the deliberate paradox is made clear. Like many women, Mary was both of these – but in her case, one might say she was both in regard to the same person: God.

Latin: By Eve, the sinner; Of you, O Mother

In the mediæval Catholic understanding, Eve belongs to the Marian typology; she is a kind of failed forerunner. Mary becomes what Eve should have been, yet far greater.

The use of genitrix, rather than mater, for “mother” connotes that Mary, like Eve, is mother of the gentes (“peoples”), the whole human race.

Levedy = Lady.

Latin: Rose without thorns

Here, all creation is compared to a plant of which Mary is the flower. As in the Catholic understanding Mary takes second place only to God Himself, this is a perfect metaphor.

She is “without thorns” because she was without original sin, even from the time of her Immaculate Conception (which is not, by the way, to be confused with the Virgin Birth.

Latin: As the Star of the Sea

This was an old name for the Pole Star, long used for navigation. It thus represents not only Mary’s shining glory, but her role as guide and symbol of hope for Christians.

He cares about nothing, feels nothing, has no preferences.

It has been suggested that this resembles anhedonia, a typical symptom of depression; and certainly, the narrator intends to convey that he’s in a depressed, even a mentally unstable, state.

The identity of this “phisicien” who can heal the narrator is something of an historical mystery.

Some suggest that it might be a woman to whom Chaucer addressed courtly love; the symptom of sleeplessness is very typical of literature on the subject.
She might even be the titular duchess, Blanche of Lancaster, whose death would have ended any hope of recovery from this depressed state.
Finally, the physician could be Sleep itself, which would restore the narrator to good health, at the least.

This line attempts to differentiate the situation of the Métis) (a “mixed” Aboriginal and French Canadian people) from that of other Aboriginal groups who anciently had a relationship with particular lands. Because this group arose and settled their particular area at a later date, and under different circumstances, their relationship with the land is more like that of long-established European settlers (which of course they are in part). Hence, the special provision for a fiduciary relationship doesn’t apply.