vesper
(ˈvɛspə(r))
Also 7 pl. vespres.
[Partly a. L. vesper masc. (hence OF. vespre, older F. vêpre, Pr. vespre, Sp. vespero, Pg. vespera, It. vespero, vespro), evening star, evening, cognate with Gr. ἕσπερος Hesperus. Partly ad. older F. vespres (mod.F. vêpres), vespers, evensong, ad. L. vesperas (nom. vesperæ), acc. pl. of vespera fem.; hence also Pr. vespras, Sp. visperas, Pg. vesperas. For the use of the plural form cf. matins, nones.]
I. In the singular form.
1. poet. (or rhet.). With capital. The evening star; Hesper, Hesperus.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 109 Whan that thi liht is faded And Vesper scheweth him alofte. 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 2 Ryght as the stern of day begouth to schyne, Quhen gone to bed war Vesper and Lucyne, I raise. 1577 Grange Golden Aphrod., etc. R iij b, Phebus..His course was done, & Vesper she with Luna playde their partes. 1593 G. Peele Hon. Order Garter B j, About the time when Vesper in the West Gan set the euening watch. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. v. lxx, Vesper fair Cynthia ushers, and her train, See, th' apish earth hath lighted many a starre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 343 Red Vesper kindles there the tapers of the night. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. i. 657 While glowing Vesper leads the starry train. 1820 Keats Ode to Psyche 27 Fairer than Phœbe's sapphire-region'd star, Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky. |
| transf. 1815 Shelley Adonais xlvi, Assume thy winged throne, thou Vesper of our throng! |
2. Evening, eventide; an evening. Also
personif. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 8 Thou hast seene these Signes, They are blacke Vespers Pageants. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 123 From which ninth houre the Iewes began their Vespera or Euening... In these Vespers, as also on the Euen of euery Feast and Sabbath, after the euening sacrifice, they which doe any worke..shall neuer see good signe of a blessing. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 425 ¶3 The one [companion] was Aurora..: The other was Vesper in a Robe of Azure beset with Drops of Gold. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. 76 In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perched for vespers nine. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 26 From highest noon till the red vesper sinks into the west. |
| fig. 1701 Norris Ideal World i. iii. 160 There cannot be any vespers in the great sun of truth. |
3. Vespers, evensong. (See 6.) Also
transf. † In early use with
a or
the.
| 1636 Massinger Bashf. Lover i. i, If you miss him when She goes to the vesper or the matins, hang me! 1657 Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe A iij b, I will tell you a storie, one I had at a Tavern vesper. 1737 Ozell's Rabelais i. xl. 315 A Mass, a Matine, a Vesper well sung is half said. 1815 Shelley Alastor 694 Mighty Earth From sea and mountain, city and wilderness, In vesper low or joyous orison, Lifts still its solemn voice. 1844 Mem. Babylonian Princess II. 309, I knew that many of those with whom I was acquainted attended mass and vesper at this chapel. |
4. ellipt. The vesper-bell.
| 1808 Scott Marm. ii. xxxiii, Even in the vesper's heavenly tone, They seem'd to hear a dying groan. 1817 Moore Lalla R., Paradise & P. 440 But, hark! the vesper calls to pray'r. 1874 O. W. Holmes Poetical Wks. (1892) I. 352 How blest to the toiler his hour of release When the vesper is heard With its whisper of peace! 1927 A. Clarke Son of Learning 18 Brother: I must ring the Vesper. |
II. In collective
pl. vespers.
† 5. a. In
Univ. use: The public disputations and accompanying ceremonies which immediately preceded the inception or commencement of a Bachelor of Arts;
esp. in later use at Oxford, the day on which these were held, the eve
of the Act.
Cf. vespery.
Obs.| 1574 M. Stokys in Peacock Stat. Cambr. (1841) App. A. p. xxii, The Bedyll shall bryng the Inceptours in Arte to the Place where the commensement shall be kepte, and so shall begynn the Vespers in Arte and in Civill. Ibid. p. xxiv, The Father in Arte in the Ve[s]pers shall sytt in the West ende off the Chyrche. 1657 Owen Vind. Treat. Schism i. Wks. 1855 XIII. 217 A learned gentleman, whom I had prevailed withal to answer in the Vespers of our Act, sent me his questions. 1681 Grew Musæum iv. ii. 361, I read two Publique Lectures at Oxford, on the Vespers of the Publique Act. 1715 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 93 Lectures in the Vespers. The Vespers on Saturday. |
† b. The eve
of a festival, or
of the Passion.
| 1629 Donne Serm. 73 What a dimme Vespers of a glorious festivall. 1660 Jer. Taylor Worthy Commun. i. §3. 49 The Sacrament of the Lords Supper..being instituted in the vespers of the passion. 1663 ― Serm. 1 Cor. xv. 23, 33 And as the Apostles in the vespers of Christs passion, so he in the Eves of his own dissolution was..heavie unto death. 1697 G. Burghope Disc. Relig. Assemb. 132 Our blessed Lord in the vespers of his death. |
6. Eccl. a. The sixth of the Canonical Hours of the breviary, said or celebrated towards evening;
= evensong 1; also, the time of this office.
Usually without article, but
occas. with
the, and sometimes with a
sing. verb.
| 1611 Coryat Crudities 14, I came into their Church at the time of prayers in the afternoone, the Nunnes being then at their Vespers. 1644 in Eng. Hist. Rev. Apr. (1913) 341 The parish Church in Ruell where the King and Queene were at Vespres. 1702 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 127 Afternoon we went to Vespers to ye Abbay of S{supt} Floraux, a Benedictine Order. c 1731 Diary Blue Nuns Ibid. VIII. 92 About three a clock in the afternoon whilst we were at vespers. 1756 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 19 On Ascension-eve, vespers are performed with great pomp and splendor. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 34, I stopped to attend vespers at the Cathedral of St. Denis. 1871 Miss Mulock Fair France iv. 142 Vespers is, I conclude, a litany rather than a mass. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 24 Then we went into the Capella del Coro to wait for the vespers. |
† b. Applied to the Evening Prayer or Evensong of the Church of England.
Obs. rare.
| 1660 Pepys Diary 2 Oct., At Will's I met with Mr. Spicer, and with him to the Abbey to see them at vespers. |
c. With distinguishing terms denoting special forms of this office.
Sicilian vespers: see
Sicilian a. 2 a.
| a 1700 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. IX. 368 At y⊇ first vespers of y⊇ Assomption of o{supr} Blessed Lady. 1762 Evening-Office of Church (ed. 2) 300 In the second Vespers, is a commemoration of S. Paul. Ibid. 363 After Benedicamus Domino, the Vespers of the Dead are said. 1908 Ch. Times 13 Mar. 347/2 Vespers for the Dead, in the form sanctioned by Bishop Creighton, was sung. |
d. poet. Evening prayers or devotions.
| 1814 Shelley in Dowden Life (1887) I. 496 Adieu; remember love at vespers before sleep, I do not omit my prayers. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xxvi, Her vespers done, Of all its wreathed pearls her hair she frees. |
7. transf. The evening song of a bird.
Cf. evensong 2. Chiefly
poet.| 1678 H. Vaughan Pious Th. 225, I heard last May..The pleasant Philomel her vespers sing. 1795–1814 Wordsw. Excurs. iv. 1169 If the solemn nightingale be mute, And the soft woodlark here did never chant Her vespers. 1813 Scott Rokeby v. ii, Hoarse into middle air arose The vespers of the roosting crows. 1854 Thoreau Walden iv. (1884) 135 The whippoorwills chanted their vespers for half an hour. |
III. 8. attrib. a. In the sense ‘of or belonging to, used at or for, vespers or evensong’, as
vesper-bell,
vesper-carol,
vesper-chime,
vesper-hymn,
vesper light,
vesper psalm,
vesper-song, etc.;
vesper-book (also
† vespers book), a vesperal;
vesper music (see
quot.);
vesper service, vespers, evensong.
In general use
freq. passing into next.
| 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxvi, The monastery, whose *vesper-bell she had heard on the preceding evening. 1844 Dickens Pictures from Italy (Collins) 244 To the ringing of vesper-bells, darkness sets in. 1864 Skeat Uhland's Poems 223 The sun sinks down, the vesper-bell bids men to rest and pray. |
| 1772 in Catholic Records Soc. Publ. I. 138, 4 Vols: of Mass Books,..*Vesperse Book. 1850 (title), Vesper-Book; containing the complete Order for Vespers for the entire Year, according to the Roman Breviary. 1865 Pall Mall G. No. 140. 3/1 The vesper-book used by Roman Catholics. |
| 1818 Keats Endym. iv. 834 Therefore for her these *vesper-carols are. |
| a 1835 Mrs. Hemans My own Portrait Poems (1875) 487 Even as a sound of *vesper-chimes Can wake departed things. |
| 1808 Skurray Bidcombe Hill 7 The blackbird from the ivied temple chants His *vesper-hymn. 1866 Engel Nat. Music viii. 281 The Roman Catholics..have their Vesper Hymns, and the singing of these appears to be customary in most countries where the Roman Catholic faith prevails. |
| 1892 Ch. Times 4 Nov. 1094/2 An oaken altar..with *vesper lights. |
| 1888 Jacobi Printers' Voc. 151 *Vesper music, plain chant or Gregorian music is thus designated. |
| 1823 Mrs. Hemans Vespers of Palermo iii. iii, Here..meet me, when the bell Doth sound for *vesper-prayer! |
| 1896 H. B. Swete Ch. Serv. 62 The *vesper Psalms were five in number, recited as at Mattins in regular course. |
| 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vi, The *vesper-service of the monks. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. v, The old cathedral bell began to ring for vesper service. 1904 Wordsw. & Littlehales Old Service Bks. 79 The Evensong or vesper service of Sunday and other days of the week. |
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. xxiii, To-morrow eve..My *vesper song [may be] thy wail, sweet maid! 1871 Longfellow Wayside Inn ii. Baron St. Castine 169 No day is so long But it comes at last to vesper-song. |
| 1813 Scott Trierm. i. i, Holy as hermit's *vesper strain. |
| 1866 Neale Sequences & Hymns 81 It shall blend its *vesper summons With the day's departing smile. |
| 1808 Scott Marm. v. vi, There must the Baron rest, Till past the hour of *vesper tide. |
| a 1849 J. C. Mangan Poems (1859) 49 From streaky gleam of morning's light Until the *vesper-toll. |
| 1845 R. S. Hawker Ball. Cornw., etc. (1869) 45 Teach me, Father John, to say *Vesper-verse and matin-lay. |
b. In the sense ‘of or belonging to, characteristic of, occurring in, the evening; vespertinal’.
| 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. 63 Soft fell the vesper-drops, condensed below, Or bent in air the rain-refracted bow. 1794 Sporting Mag. IV. 58 A vesper-blue curricle. 1810 Associate Minstrels 6 Fair shines the vesper-star. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 63 To preside over bread and butter at the vesper tea-table. 1839 De Quincey Recoll. Lakes Wks. 1862 II. 134 Yet in these eyes of vesper gentleness, there was a considerable obliquity of vision. 1887 J. Ashby-Sterry Lazy Minstrel (1892) 208 When rooms with the vesper tobacco are clouded. 1890 Sat. Rev. 23 Aug. 225/1 Rich in every imaginable tint of vesper beauty. 1928 Blunden Retreat 50 O vesper-born, Stiff-necked I stand like that hewn knotty tree, As if heaven were my halo. |
c. (Chiefly
U.S.) In the names of animals, birds, or insects, as
vesper-beauty,
-bird or
-sparrow (see
quots.);
vesper mouse, a mouse of the genus
Hesperomys or
Vesperimus or related genera; a white-footed mouse.
| 1832 J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 115 The Vesper Beauty (Epione vespertaria) appears the middle of July. 1859 S. F. Baird Mammals N. Amer. 455 A striking feature of the North American vesper mice, to anglicize Wagner's name, is their diminutive size compared with the South American. 1869 J. Burroughs in Galaxy Mag. Aug., They [i.e. grass-finches] sing much after sundown, hence the aptness of the name vesper-sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has bestowed upon them. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 364 Passerculus gramineus,..Grass Finch. Bay-winged Bunting. Vesper Bird. 1893 Scribner's Mag. June 764/1 Our little vesper sparrow is said to have had the same end in view when he made his soft sweet carol the vesper-song of the uplands. |
† d. In sense 5 a, as
vesper disputations.
Obs.| 1715 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 93 Vesper Disputations in Philosophy. Vesper Disputations in Law. |