Poetry and Philosophy in the Twelfth Century: The Renaissance of Rhetoric

Author(s): Richard McKeon

Source: Modern Philology , May, 1946, Vol. 43, No. 4 (May, 1946), pp. 217-234
Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/435028

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 MODERN PHILOLOGY

Volume XLIII MAY 1946 Number 4

POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY

THE RENAISSANCE OF RHETORIC'

RICHARD McKEON

HE problems, the visions, and

othersome-
philosophies, the purest poetry is
times even the language of devoid of recognizable doctrine and often
philos-
ophy have served the purposes even of of
sense, and the investigations and
poets; and philosophers have borrowed conclusions of philosophy require distinc-
poetic modes of expression and have tions and demonstrations for which the

speculated on the nature and effects of greatest genius would have had difficulty
poetry, on the criteria of poetic values,in finding poetic expression, if, indeed,
and on the fate deserved by poets. The there were any reason to undertake so
variations of both poetry and philosophyunpromising an enterprise. It is a mistake
have been so great, however, that no to reduce this difference, as has been
simple relation between them could con-done,2 to a distinction between the ardu-
tinue long or in wide acceptance. At timesous methods of philosophic inquiry which
and according to the precepts of someare ill suited to poetic formulation and the
philosophies, poetry approximates closelysublime conclusions which the philosopher
to the subjects and problems of philos- only touches by reason but which the poet
ophy, and the relation of poetry and grasps by passionate imagination. Despite
philosophy oscillates between identity andthe temptation to claim the scientific
antithesis. The poet, who is often a method for literary criticism, philosophy
philosopher, is then conceived as giving and poetry are not to be classified after
final expression to the fullest experience the fashion of purely natural phenomena
and the loftiest ideas that men have had or things, precisely because they contain
about the actions and destiny of man and and are affected by the ideas used in de-
the nature and order of all things, while fining and classifying them.
the philosopher, who is sometimes a poet, The period of the Middle Ages, which
constructs an intellectual system in which incloses within its limits examples of so
the vain fictions of poets are among many the diverse things, affords an illustra-
chief sources of error and immorality.tionAt of these two attitudes toward the re-
other times and following the principles lationships
of of poetry and philosophy,
2 Cf. G. Santayana, Three philosophical poets:
1 Read at the meeting of the Modern Language Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe (Cambridge, 1910), pp.
Association in Chicago, December 27, 1945. 10-11.

[MODERN PHILOLOGY, May, 1946] 217

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 218 RICHARD MCKEON

sharply separated in doctrine and yet their basic or most characteristic philo-
closely related in time. During the twelfth sophic doctrines, while Dante, the great
century, philosophy reached a mature and philosophic poet of the period, is not a
characteristic form, Platonizing in manner philosopher by the crucial test that,
and humanistic in tradition. Many of the despite the philosophic doctrines that
major philosophers of the century ex- crowd his poem, scholars have been un-
pressed their philosophy in excellent able to agree concerning what his philos-
poetry; and they continued in philosophyophy is.
and poetry the paradox of Plato, who also Bonaventura, seeking frankly to com-
used poetic devices and quotations from bine Plato and Aristotle after the fashion
the poets to explore philosophic ideas andsuggested by Plotinus and Augustine, as-
yet expelled poets from his second-best assigns to Plato the realm of wisdom and
well as his perfect state, retaining only the eternal and to Aristotle the realm of
carefully selected poetic forms for use inscience and the changing, while Aquinas,
the education of the young. The poets andseeking to distinguish philosophy from
rhetoricians of the later Renaissance of theology, criticizes the Platonic method in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ex-
philosophy and refutes the doctrine of
emplified the same paradox when they Ideas with Aristotle, and yet retains
borrowed philosophic problems from phi- Platonic devices in theology and even
preserves the doctrine of Ideas with Plato
losophers, not merely to seek more felici-
tous expression for solutions arrived by
at finding a place for Ideas in the mind of
philosophically, but to attain to a fuller
God. Yet for both, as for Aristotle, poetry
realization of truth than they thought is distinct from philosophy, not an in-
ferior effort rivaling the purposes of
possible by the technicalities and futilities
of philosophic distinctions. During the philosophy and endangering its ends.
last half of the twelfth century and the Dante, in like fashion, exhibits traces of
first half of the thirteenth, the transla- the two doctrines. His poetic use of the
tions of Aristotle and the Arabic philoso- philosophic tendencies of his times ob-
phers changed the form and matter of scures philosophic differences and seems
philosophy. to reconcile the Aristotelianism of Aquinas
The tradition of the twelfth century with the Averroism of Siger of Brabant.
was broken abruptly, and that break was His use of philosophy is so distinct from
accentuated by the fact that few of the the expression of a philosophy that it is
philosophers who first struggled to assimi- difficult, if not impossible, to place his
late the growing materials of the new doctrines among the schools of his time;
translations, were studied by their suc- and yet when he states the method by
cessors in the latter part of the thirteenth which his poem should be interpreted, he
century or were recorded in later his- reverts to the devices of the twelfth cen-
tories of philosophy. Great philosophers of tury and requires, as had been customary,
the second half of the thirteenth century, that his poem be placed under the proper
as, for example, St. Thomas Aquinas and part of philosophy, identifying that part
St. Bonaventura, continue to write excel- as Ethics.3
lent verse; but in their philosophies the a For the discussion of Dante's philosophy cf.
ends and instruments of poetry are sharp- B. Nardi, Saggi di filosofia Dantesca (Milan, 1930)
and Note critiche di filosofia Dantesca (Florence, 1938);
ly distinguished from those of theory, P. Mandonnet, Dante le theologien: introduction 4
and their poetry is not a device to express l'intelligence de la vie, des ceuvres et de l'art de Dante

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 219

enigmatic and parabolic intent or omitted

An examination of the relation of poetry
and philosophy during the twelfthbecause
cen- it went unobserved. Moreover,
tury has therefore more than merely Socratic
his- dialogues were written by Megar-
eansonand Elean-Eretrians, Cynics and
torical interest, since light is thrown
Cyrenaics, and the Socratic method was
the problems of criticism and of philos-
invoked by hedonists, skeptics, dialec-
ophy by the theory and practice of poetry
ticians,
in any period. The nature of poetry and cynics, idealists, and mystics,
the criteria for its evaluation as well aswhose
the writings have been lost and whose
fragmentary history has been a puzzle to
techniques of expression and interpreta-
scholars
tion in literal statement and analogy, in and philosophers. There is almost
proof and persuasion, are treated ina detail
consensus among the philosophers of the
by the Platonizing philosophers of twelfth
the century that Plato was the great-
twelfth century, and, in the manner est ofofphilosophers, and he is frequently
Platonisms, the dialectical shifts inreferred
doc- to, much as Aristotle was in the
trines complete a circle in which thirteenth
the and fourteenth centuries, as
The Philosopher.4 Since little was known
reasons used by philosophers in criticism
of poetry suggest poetic reasons for 4John
the of Salisbury calls Bernard of Chartres
"perfectissimus inter Platonicos seculi nostri" (Meta-
criticism of philosophy by theologians.
logicon iv. 35, ed. C. C. I. Webb [Oxford, 1929]), p. 205;
The Platonic tradition had attracted the Patrologia Latina [cited henceforth as "PL"], 199,
938C). Herman of Dalmatia dedicated his transla-
Greek and Latin Church Fathers, but ittion of Ptolemy's Planisphere to Thierry of Chartres,
had also set them the puzzling task of ex-
who was "the first and sovereign anchor of second
philosophy [i.e., the quadrivium] in our times, the im-
plaining how skepticism and idealism, nomobile support of studies tossed by every kind of
less than logic-chopping and mysticism,storm, . . . . in whom relives the soul of Plato de-
had all been derived from the teachings of scended from Heaven for the happiness of mortals,
the true father of Latin studies" (A. Clerval, Les
Plato. Modern scholarship has given us Ecoles de Chartres au moyen-dge [Chartres, 1895], p.
190). Abailard calls Plato the greatest of philosophers:
fuller materials concerning the paradox of "Maximus omnium philsophorum Plato" (Introductio
Socrates, but Augustine explored the fullad theologiam iii; PL, 178, 1087D); "ille maximus
range of its implications. The conversa-philosophorum Plato" (Theologia chri8tiana i;
PL, 178, 1144A); "summum philosophorum Platonem
tions of Socrates have been the source of(Th. chr. i; PL, 178, 1155A); "summus philosophus"
(Th. chr. i; PL, 178, 1160D); "Pluribus quoque sanc-
many and highly diversified inspirations.torum testimoniis didicimus Platonicam sectam
We have records of them in the plain com-catholicae fidel concordare. Unde non sine causa
maximus Plato philosophorum prae caeteris com-
mon sense of Xenophon as well as in the
mendatur ab omnibus, non solum a peritis
philosophic subtleties of Plato; and we
saecularium artium, verum etiam a sanctis" (Th.
have constructed a Socratic problem, chr. I; PL, 178, 1159C); Augustine's praise of
Plato is quoted with approval (Th. chr. ii; PL,
sometimes by seeking in internal evidence178, 1176B-1177C); "maximus omnium philoso-
and external information touchstones to phorum Plato" (Th. chr. v; PL, 178, 1317B); "Novi-
mus etiam ipsum Aristotelem et in allis locis adversus
differentiate the Socratic from the Pla- eumdem magistrum suum et primum totius philoso-
tonic strand in Plato's dialogues, some- phiae ducem, ex fomite fortassis invidiae aut ex
avaritia nominis, ex manifestatione scientiae in-
times by using the Platonic philosophy tosurrexisse, quibusdam et sophisticis argumenta-
tionibus adversus ejus sententias inhiantem dimi-
suggest a missing level of communication casse, ut in eo quod de motu animae Macrobius
in the account of Xenophon, hinted withmeminit" (Dialectica Pars i, lib. 2; Ouvrages inddits
d'Abilard, ed. V. Cousin [Paris, 1836], pp. 205-6).
Alighieri (Paris, 1935); E. Gilson, Dante et la phi- Adelard of Bath refers to him in terms of esteem and
losophie (Paris, 1939). For Aquinas and Bonaven- familiarity: "a principe philosophorum" (De eodem
tura on the relation of poetry and philosophy, cf. et diverso, ed H. Willner, in Beitrdge zur Geschichte der
below, nn. 30, 31, and 32; for Dante's critical method, Philosophie des Mittelalters (henceforth cited as
cf. Epistola X, to Can Grande della Scala and n. 35, "BGPM"), IV, No. 2, 4); "familiaris meus Plato" and
below. "meus Plato" (ibid., p. 13); "philosophus" (ibid.,

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 220 RICHARD McKEON

with great
of Aristotle's philosophy, philosop
except a few
books of his Organon, the philosophers
skill. The materials f
tury accepted
most of the philosophic from o
controversies A
ment
the first half of the thatmay
century Plato's phi
be fou
nearly of
in the opposed elements all
of philosop
Platonism
Christianity.
learned also at second hand but Some of
develop
basis of their plea for
p. 15); and his nephew, who is his interlocutor in the
dialogue, Natural questions, detects in him a com- humanistic culture, wh
plete acceptance of Platonic principles: "Cum enim homogeneity of Chri
et in philosophicis contemplationibus et in physicis
causarum effectibus ethicisque etiam consultibus nism in Neo-Platonic
Platoni te penitus consentire perceperim ... ." Augustine had foun
(Quaestiones naturales 24, ed. M. Miiller, BGPM,
which had been blended with Christian
XXXI, No. 2, 31); "auctor huius divinae rationis
Plato simil cum suis celebretur et ametur" (BGPM, doctrine through the influence of the
XXXI, No. 2, 34); and he is referred to throughout
the Natural questions as The Philosopher (cf. BGPM, pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, and
XXXI, No. 2, 6, 9, 30, 31, and passim). John of turned their speculations wholly to the re-
Salisbury, despite his admiration for Aristotle and
turn to God from the consideration of the
Cicero, ranks Plato above all other philosophers:
"Totius etenim philosophiae princeps Plato (si world. Others learned from Cicero that
both academic
tamen Aristotilici adquiescunt) ... 0" (Policraticus
6; in C. C. J. Webb ed. [Oxford, 1909], I, 40; PL,
i, skepticism and stoic moral-
199, 401C): "Totius denique ueteris philosophiae ity stem from Plato, and they found in
princeps Plato . . . ." (Polic. ii. 26; Webb, I, 141;
PL, 199, 460A); ".... et in tantam eminentiam
Cicero's rhetoric a philosophic method
philosophiae et uigore ingenii et studii exercitio et and hints of a philosophic doctrine which
omni morum uenustate eloquii quoque suauitate
et copia subuectus est ut quasi in trono sapientiae
harmonize with the logic and the logical
residens praecepta quadam auctoritate uisus sit realism taught by Porphyry and Boethius.
tam antecessoribus quam successoribus philosophis
Still others found the beginnings of sci-
imperare . . . . Porro tantae multitudinis dissiden-
tiam Plato qua praeminebat auctoritate cohibuit ence and cosmology in Chalcidius' trans-
et in se attentionem omnium diutius prouocauit
lation of a portion of the Timaeus and his
et tenuit" (Polic. vii. 5; Webb, II, 105; PL, 199,
644A-B); "Sol e celo uisus est cecidisse qua die commentary on it, and in Apuleius and
philosophorum princeps Plato rebus excessit humanis, Macrobius.
et quasi lucernam mundi extinctam defleuerunt
qui ad thronum sapientiae, cui ille diu praesederat, The discussion of poetry during the
sua arbitrabantur studia referenda. Sed cum ei
twelfth century exemplifies the doctrinal
Aristotiles discipulus, uir excellentis ingenii et
Platoni impar eloquio sed multos facile superans, diversity possible in the development of
in docendi offlcium successisset ... ." (Polic. vii. 6; the tradition of Platonism. Four distinct,
Webb, II, 111-12; PL, 199, 647C; "Licet autem
nominum et uerborum turbator habeatur, non modo
strength, Hippolytus in chastity (De planctu naturae;
subtilitate, qua cunctis celebris est, sed et mira suaui- PL, 210, 468C); "Plato ingenii splendore rutilabat
tate dicendi eualuit, adeo quidem ut Platoni merito sidereo. Illic stellata cauda Tulliani pavonis rutilabat.
proximus fuisse uideatur" (Webb, II, 113; PL, 199, Illic Aristoteles sententias aenigmaticarum locutio-
648B). William of Conches repeats the preference of num latibulis involvebat" (De planc. nat.; PL, 210,
Augustine: "Si gentilis adducenda est opinio, malo 479D); he is referred to, as he frequently is in the
Platonis quam alterius inducatur; plus namque cum twelfth century, as The Philosopher (Contra haereticos
nostra fide concordat" (quoted from the Dragmaticon i. 5; PL, 210, 311C). Finally, Alan of Lille set for
philosophiae by C. Prantl, Geschichte tier Logik im himself the task of translating or expanding Plato:
Abendlande [reprint; Leipzig, 1927], II, 129, n. 96).
"His animadversis mens sese accingat ad illa,
Alan of Lille sets above Aristotle's logical inquiries
Plato's more divine investigations of the nature of Quae minime fiunt, sed sunt, velut ipsa Platonis
Verba canunt; .... "
things, of the heavens, and of God:
"Illic arma parat logico, logicaeque palaestram (A deo semper incipiendum et in eumdem desinendum;
Pingit Aristoteles; sed eo divinius ipsa PL, 210, 576B). Cf. C. Baeumker, "Der Platonismus
Somniat arcana rerum, coelique profunda im Mittelalter," Studien und Characteristiken zur
Mente Plato, sensumque Dei perquirere tentat" Geschichte der Philosophie in8besondere des Mittel-
(Anticlaudianu8 i; PL, 210, 491B); Plato is in phi- alters, BGPM, XXV, Nos. 1-2, 139-79; and R. Kli-
losophy what Croesus is in wealth, Cyrus in power, bansky, The continuity of the Platonic tradition during
Narcissus in beauty, Turnus in courage, Hercules in the Middle Ages (London, 1939).

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 221

and even contradictory, positions con-

derives from Plato by way of Augustine.
cerning the relation of poetry and Abailard develops arguments borrowed
philos-
ophy were developed in excellentfrom Augustine to defend the study of
literary
and poetic form, and each reiterated secular letters both for their utility and
Plato's love of poetry and his suspicion offor themselves, since the liberal arts and
its effects. All four positions reflect thephilosophy are essential to Christian doc-
Platonic statement of the problems in trine and the interpretation of Scripture.
terms of the opposition of opinion and He also argues on Augustinian grounds
belief, on the one hand, to dialectic andthat poetic figments are wholly forbidden
philosophy, on the other. Poetry as a form to Christians, not only because they ex-
of opinion and belief is opposed to philos-pound errors and a mouth that lieth de-
ophy and is full of dangers to the truthstroyeth the soul according to the Book of
which those other poets, the lawgiver andWisdom (1:11) but also because the soul
the dialectician, attain by means of knowl- is enticed by cogitation on inane fables to
edge; and yet it is possible for poetry todesire the disgraceful things feigned in
state right opinion and true belief, and,poetry and is abducted by them from the
indeed, poetry and the interpretation ofstudy of Sacred Scripture. Abailard is at
poetry may attain to truth by divine in-pains, therefore, to interpret the numer-
spiration. Moreover, a further complexityous strictures against pagan letters, par-
had been introduced into Christian Pla- ticularly those of St. Jerome, to show that
tonism by the redefinition of belief they
or are directed exclusively against
faith: for belief (irtlrr), according to and do not apply to the liberal
poetry
Plato, is that variety of knowledge which
arts or philosophy.6 He defends the liberal
artsasstrenuously on the ground that no
grasps visible things, and it is inferior,
empirical certitude, to the knowledge
knowledge, but only its improper use, can
gained by understanding and reason,
in the Carmina Burana. One reason for his hesitation
whereas medieval philosophers followed
in attributing poems from that collection to Abailard
the Pauline definition of belief (fides)
was as
his judgment of Abailard, revealed in his extant
poetry
the argument of things unseen, and belief as "the composer of a letter to Astrolabius,
the author of cut-and-dried planctus on Old Testa-
or faith, defined as the knowledge of in-
ment subjects, the writer of ninety hymns and se-
visible things, assumed a place superior to that breathe but the lifeless excogitations of
quences
a theological wit." F. J. E. Raby, on the other hand,
reason in their classification of knowl- places Abailard high among the great hymn writers of
edge. The problem of the relation of the Middle Ages and is impressed particularly by the
novelty and skilful development of his verse forms
poetry to philosophy or the liberal arts be-(A history of Christian-Latin poetry from the beginnings
came, as a consequence, an extension or to the close of the Middle Ages [Oxford, 1927], pp.
319-26); he praises the planctu8 for their "rich variety
development of the problem of the rela-of rhythmical schemes and their sureness of execu-
tion of philosophy to religion or theology. tion"; and he finds even the poem to Astrolabe not
wanting in facility, although the execution of verses
The position of Peter Abailard, re- is not above reproach (A history of secular Latin
nowned both as dialectician and as poet,5poetry in the Middle Ages [Oxford, 1934], II, 5-7).
Helen Waddell judges the meters exquisite and the
5 Judgments concerning the poetic value of medi- treatment poignant (The wandering scholars [7th ed.;
eval poetry have undergone marked alterations duringLondon, 1934], p. 196); and F. A. Wright and T. A.
Sinclair characterize Abailard as "a scholar, a philoso-
the last few decades. The prejudice against "didactic
poetry" has not disappeared, but the present-day pher, a theologian, an orator, and above all a poet"
taste for speculative and metaphysical verse is re- (A history of later Latin literature [London, 1931], p.
296). For a general survey and estimate of Abailard's
flected in the estimation of earlier poets. P. S. Allen
poetry cf. M. Manitius, Ge8chichte der lateini8chen
(Medieval Latin lyrics [Chicago, 1931], pp. 243-44)
Literatur des Mittelalter8 (Munich, 1931), III, 109-10.
traces the history of the shift of his views in twenty-
two years concerning Abailard's authorship of poems 6 Introductio ad theologiam ii. 2; PL, 178, 1040-46.

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222 RICHARD MCKEON

be evil, and no art universitate should isthereforecomposed in prose alternat-

be for
bidden except on grounds ing with poetry of ofgreatutility. But
beauty," takes the
he can find no use former forof"poetic
these alternatives. He finds oc-
figments an
inane fables." He refutes those who main- casion to discuss the nature and value of
tain that the study of the poets is essen-poetry when, in his allegorical interpreta-
tial to the arts of the trivium, since Scrip- tion of Virgil's Aeneid,9 he expounds the
ture supplies better material for grammar, 8 Bernardi Silvestris De mundi universitate libri

duo sive megacosmus et microcosmus, ed. C. S. Ba

rhetoric, and dialectic; and he points outand J. Wrobel (Innsbruck, 1876). The critical esti-
that even Cicero, when he wished to setmate of Bernard's poetic abilities has varied between
very widely separated extremes. He is compared to
forth the art of discourse fully in his Dante in the account of his work in the Histoire
rhetoric, did not use poetic examples, butlitteraire de la France (XII, 272), and Haurdau
summarizes that judgment without stating dissent
his own, in which he said the art shone (Histoire de la philosophie scolastique [Paris, 1872], I,
forth more fully. Will Christian bishops 417): "Il y a dans cet ouvrage, selon les auteurs de
l'Histoire littgraire, des traits de genie. I1 y a cer-
and doctors, Abailard asks, welcome to tainement de l'invention, et ce n'est pas trop louer
the city of God poets, whom Plato ex-certains passages du Microcosme que de les comparer
a d'autres passages de la Divine comrdie. Bernard
cluded from the city of the world? Yet n'avait pas seulement l'imagination ing3nieuse et
misguided priests spend day and night onfacile; il l'avait encore puissante: c'est vraiment un
pobite." Gilson refers to the same authorities as
solemn feast-days with troubadours andprelude to his own more moderate praise (La Phi-
jongleurs-joculatores, saltatores, incanta-losophie au moyen dge [2d ed.; Paris, 1944], p. 273:
"Certains passages de cette oeuvre ne sont pas sans
tores, and cantatores-and reward thembeautf, mais ii est vraiment excessif de rappeler &
with recompenses stolen from ecclesiasti-leur occasion, ainsi qu'on l'a fait, le grand nom de
Dante et le souvenir de la Divine comrdie." Charles
cal benefices. Such actors (histriones) are Huit considers him the true philosopher-poet ("Le
a diabolical troup, and the devil himself Platonisme au XIIe siOcle," Annales de philosophie
chratienne, XXI [new ser., 1889-90], 169-70): "C'est
has introduced theatrical obscenities
un vdritable porte philosophe, chez lequel l'Mclat
(scenicas turpitudines) into the church of
de l'imagination l'emporte sur la solidit6 du raisonne-
God.7 ment, et qui a m~rit6 de Charles Lenormant ce bien
sincere eloge: 'J' tais attir6 par un attrait irr6sistible
The position of the cosmological vers
poets les 6crits de Bernard: j'y trouvais un parfum
litteraire, un sentiment de la belle antiquit6, une
and philosophers, in the second place, de-
intuition de la philosophie platonique (et pourtant
rives from Plato by way of the Timaeus
Bernard n'avait & sa disposition que la traduction
duand
and the interpretations of Chalcidius Timde) qui ne pouvaient, il est vrai, arriter un
grand mouvement comme celui de la scolastique,
by way of the mythical god and philoso-
mais qui du moins maintenaient la chaine des tra-
ditions du goft.' Ses vers sont remplis de peintures
pher, Hermes Trismegistus, Macrobius,
riches et brillantes, attestant le progros qu'avait
and Apuleius. Poetry, in the allegorizing
fait entre tous les arts l'art d'6crire pendant ce demi-
siicle privilgi&." Like Victor Cousin, Helen Waddell
cosmological philosophy, may be joined
compares Bernard to Giordano Bruno (p. 115), and
with philosophy in the case of a poet
herlike
praise of his De mundi universitate is enthusiastic
(ibid., p. 118): "His book has two sources, the Timaeus
Virgil and in the case of lesser poets be use-
of Plato and the comment of Chalcidius; but the
ful in education although unsuited to mys-driest of the Platonic dialogues is only the fuel for his
tical or allegorical interpretation, or itfire.
mayThe poet in him never sleeps; the sheer mecha-
nism, the skeleton of philosophy, stuff like the theory
be the statement of erroneous doctrines onfour elements becomes a succession of visions.
of the
.. . The
questions concerning which the truth can very baldness of his argument .... is
the dream of the Faerie Queene, of The Tempest, of
be found only in the study of nature and And of the Providence, his prose is the
Hyperion.
God. prose of Shelley's Defense of Poetry." According to
Raby (A history of Christian-Latin poetry, p. 297):
Bernard Sylvester, whose De mundi
"Bernard's verse, like his prose is stiff and obscure,
7 Th. chr. ii; PL, 178, 1209-12; cf. Abailard's although he had read Horace, Virgil, and Ovid; ...."
citation of Augustine's statements in approval of the 9 Commentum Bernardi Silvestris super sex libros
expulsion of poets by Plato (Th. chr. ii; PL, 178, Eneidos Virgilii, ed. G. Riedel (Gryphiswaldae,
1182-83). 1924), pp. 30-38.

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 223

and by exhortation
pious hero's journey, at the beginning of to prudence by ex-
the sixth book, to the temple of Apollo
amples of right action. As philosopher he
treats
(interpreted as the philosophic or of the nature of human life accord-
theo-
retic arts) near the vast cavern ing
of to
thea parabolic mode of demonstration
Sybil (interpreted as the profundity
proper toofpoetry.
philosophy) by way of a grove In
called
so far as he is a philosopher, he writes of
Trivia (which suggests that the study
the natureofof human life. His mode of writing
is this: he describes under concealment [sub
eloquence is preliminary to the theoretic
integumento]
arts). Science is divided according to what the human spirit does and
Bernard into four parts: wisdom, elo- suffers, situated temporally in the human
body. And in writing thus he uses the natural
quence, poetry, and mechanics. These are
order, and thus he observes both orders of
arranged in graded sequence: poetry is
narration, as a poet the artificial, as a philoso-
clearer and higher than mechanics, and pher the natural [i.e., the narrative begins
eloquence has a like superiority over literally in medias res and its temporal be-
poetry, and wisdom or philosophy over ginnings are supplied later in the tale related
eloquence. The study of eloquence, how- to Dido, but the six ages of man traced in the
ever, is pursued by instruction in authors, allegorical meaning follow their natural se-
and the poets are therefore introductory quence through the first six books]. Conceal-
to philosophy. But although the amusing ment, moreover, is a genus of demonstration
stories of authors and poets prepare for which enfolds the understanding of truth under
the arts of eloquence, and therefore for a fabled narration, and therefore it is also
called envelopment ?[involucrum]. Further-
philosophy, they are not worthy to be in-
more, man derives utility from this work
terpreted mystically.10 For this reason the
according to his recognition of himself, inas-
priestess of Apollo and Trivia arouses much as it is of great utility to man, as
Aeneas from the contemplation of the Macrobius says, if he knows himself. Whence
fables painted on the doors of the temple "From the heavens descends notisheliton,"
to invite him into the temple itself. that is, know thyself."'
This judgment of poetry, however, is
Poetry, though distinct from philosophy,
developed in a commentary on a poet, for
may, nonetheless, coincide with it in a
Virgil in this form of the Platonic paradox
great poem; and together poetry and
is not merely a poet but a philosopher,
philosophy may deal in almost wholly
and, as Macrobius pointed out, he taught
pagan terms with a Christian theme, as
philosophic truth without neglecting po- the creation of the universe and man is
etic fiction." The purposes of poets, which treated in Bernard's De mundi universi-
Bernard repeats from Horace, are utility
tate, to the confusion of later scholars
and delight. Satirists aim at utility; writ-
12 Commentum Bernardi Silvestris, p. 3; the cita-
ers of comedy, at delight; epic writers, tion is from Juvenal xi. 27, quoted from Macrobius
at both. Virgil, as poet, pleases with Commentaria in Somnium Scipionis i. 9. 1-2; cf.
also Macrobius Saturnalia i. 6. 6. The line from
adornment of words and with the situa- Juvenal is quoted also by John of Salisbury, De
tions and deeds narrated; and he serves septem septenis 6; PL, 199, 956B. For other references
to the allegorical interpretation of poets and par-
likewise a double utility, as model forticularly to the poetic mode of demonstration by
imitation in learning the art of writingintegumentum or involucrum, cf. Alan of Lille, De
planctu naturae, PL, 210, 454C; John of Salisbury,
10 Ibid., p. 37; cf. Bernard's citation of Plato's Polic. viii. 24, Webb, II, 415, PL, 199, 816D-817A;
Timaeus in support of the doctrine that poetry is and Honorius of Autun, Selectorum Psalmorum ex-
imitation (ibid., pp. 74-75). positio, PL, 172, 269C: "Ideo autem mysteria hujus
11 Ibid., pp. 1-3. The citation from Horace is of libri sunt per involucra et aenigmata texta, ne viles-
Ars poetica 333-34. cerent omnibus aperta."

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 224 RICHARD MCKEON

naturae, the poet

who like to distinguish converses with
literally Nature
betwe
pagan and Christian philosophy.
concerning such imperfections of man as
Alan of Lille, who
sodomyalso wrote
and stirs excellen
his interlocutor to a
poetry on cosmological
truly Platonicthemes,
outburst againsttook
poets by t
second alternative of about
asking the cosmologists
their accounts of like igno-
miniouswith
argued in his poetry, deeds byno the gods.
lessThefidelit
dreamy
to the Platonic paradox,
fancies of the poetsthat poetry
deserve no credence,
according
committed to falsity. to Nature,
Cicero andand philosophy's
Virgil a
treated in sequence in the
saner treatment filesAlexandria
away and erases by
verses of the Anticlaudianus, and what
means of higher understanding the was p
suffers by comparison learned in the with the of
child's cradle rheto
poetic
cian: "Tully redeems teaching.his
Amongverbal povert
the distortions of the
by the splendor of colors
poets, [i.e., love
those concerning figures]
are most of an
gives lightning flashes all in error."4of
When embellishme
Alan persists in his
to his words. The muse
interest of
in things Virgil
poetic colo
and asks concern-
[i.e., glosses over] ingmany
the nature offalsehoods,
Cupid, which various an
weaves cloaks for falsehood under the authors have depicted under the conceal-
guise of truth."13 In the De planctu ing envelopment of enigmas (sub integu-
t1 Antic. i. 4; PL, 210, 491C. The judgments passed mentali involucro aenigmatum) without
on Alan's verse are as various as those suffered
by other poets of the century. Haur6au traces his
leaving us any vestiges of certitude, Na-
transition from logical to poetical exposition of ture reproaches his inattention to her high
philosophic subjects and concludes (I, 522): "C'est,
en effet, le philosophe des mystiques et des po8tes."
discourse and promises in her prose argu-
Charles Huit counts him in the number of the most ment to demonstrate the indemonstrable
brilliant poets of the century (p. 178): "Si Jean de
Salisbury est au premier rang parmi les 6rudits du
and to extricate the inextricable, as she
XII" siocle, Alain de Lille compte au nombre de puts it, by describing in certain descrip-
ses plus brillants po8tes. Ses 6crits attestent les
progros 6tonnants r6alis6s dos cette 6poque par la
tion or defining in legitimate definition.
culture litt6raire et le soin jaloux avec lequel, dans "The artful exposition of her doctrine, the
les classes lettr6es, on 6tudiait pour les imiter les
chefs-d'oeuvre survivants de l'antiquit6 latine, %
theory of the art of love" stated in a
commencer par les vers de Virgile, d'Ovide, de "chastened loftiness of style" is an artful
S6nique et de Claudien. La po6sie didactique et
all6gorique, en si grand honneur au moyen age, n'a lyric on the nature of love."1
rien produit de sup6rieur a l'Anticlaudianus, oi1 The position of the humanists and the
Dante a puis6 l'id6e premiore de maint 6pisode
c6libre de la Divine Comedie." Gilson finds little
poetry in the Anticlaudianus, but some grandeurnaturae' is excellent authority that this mysterious
scholar of the Middle Ages, whose very identity is
in the De planctu naturae (La Philosophie au moyen
unascertained,
dge, p. 315). Raby finds his philosophical poems less was of those who beget kings in litera-
charming than his shorter rhythmus (A history of ture, though he himself were none." It would be
secular Latin poetry, p. 15). Allen quotes the same difficult to gainsay Moffat's judgment on the basis
rhythmus (Omni8 mundi creatura) that was praised of his prosy, though for the most part accurate,
by Raby, as evidence that "lyric song," which he translation, but even Homer is not a poet in all
seems to identify with "poetry in the modern sense, translations. The differences of scholarly judgment
romantic poetry at least," is unknown among the indicate the need of a reanalysis of the intellectual
products of the twelfth-century humanistic schools poetry of the Middle Ages on other standards than
(Medieval Latin lyrics, p. 233). D. M. Moffat, who those suggested by the romantic lyric.
translated the De planctu naturae, has a particularly 14 De planctu naturae; PL, 210, 451A-452A.
low opinion of the poetic quality of that work. After
15 De planctu naturae, sexta quaestio; PL, 210,
acknowledging the indebtedness of Chaucer and Jean 454C-456B. It should be observed that, since the
de Meun to Alan, Moffat disposes of his poet in
purpose of the poem is demonstrative, it will naturally
summary judgment (The complaint of nature by
seem unpoetic to critics who dislike "allegorical"
Alain de Lille, Preface [New York, 1908], p. 1): proof and the use of the "common-places." Accord-
"The statement of Langlois that 'more than five
ing to Raby (A history of secular Latin poetry in the
thousand verses of the Roman de la Rose are
Middle Ages, II. 20), "the 'descriptio Cupidinis'
translated, imitated, or inspired by the De planctu is a school-exercise."

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 225

moderate skeptics, in the third place,

moralde-
defense of poetry, probably from a
rives from Plato by way of Cicero and of the De re publica which is no
portion
the Roman rhetoricians and poets.longer
The extant:
condemnation which Abailard brought
He alone who does not fear to be the object
against poetry itself is reserved inoftheir
contempt makes the poets and the various
criticism for the errors of poets, and the
writers of the arts and of history contemptible.
For and
praise of poetry is reflected in its uses they both have the use of virtue and
interpretations by philosophers. More- afford the material of philosophy; they note
the
over, in this analysis, poetry is not sepa- vices, to be sure, but do not teach them,
and they are attractive either because of
rated, as it is according to Abailard,
utility or because of pleasure. They make
Bernard, and Alan, from the liberal arts,
their way thus through moral dangers only
but it may be a part of one of the liberalto establish a place for virtue.18
arts and a useful tool of theology.
John of Salisbury, whose urbane versesThis journey through moral dangers to
treat problems suggested by the history ofthe pleasures of philosophy is to be found
philosophy and the errors of philosophers, signified allegorically in the adventures of
Ulysses; and John also repeats, in brief
wrote that he did not blush to acknowl-
summary,
edge himself an academic skeptic, for he Bernard Sylvester's allegorical
interpretation of the first six books of the
was content to doubt concerning things of
Aeneid.19 According to John, Virgil inti-
which a wise man cannot be certain.1" But
this Ciceronian skepticism left him threemates his philosophic conclusions under
sources of certain knowledge: the senses,the cloak of his feigned invention (sub
reason, and faith. He is anxious to safe-involucro fictitii commenti), and John
guard a modicum of culture from the ig- quotes with approval the opinion of
norance of the illiterate masses, and he those expert in the interpretation of au-
has no doubt that reading in the his- thors that Virgil makes use of a twofold
torians, orators, and mathematicians is instruction, since he has enfolded the
essential to a liberal education. He can secrets of philosophic virtue in the vanity
therefore repeat from Cicero both the of poetic figment.20
condemnation of poets (since they areThe art of poetry, according to John of
lauded in spite of the darkness they Salisbury, is to imitate nature, and poetic
spread, the fears they engender, and the shares this function with grammar, the
passions they inflame) and also the praise mother and nurse of the study of poetry.
of poetry (since it is essential to education To be sure, grammar and rhetoric are not
and philosophy)." John quotes Cicero's primarily natural; they are conventional,
16 Polic., Prologus; Webb, I, 17; PL, 199, 388B-C; but nature has some control over them,
cf. Metal. ii. 20; Webb, p. 106; PL, 199, 882B. Since since they imitate nature. He dismisses
John is given to literal statement rather than to
allegory, his poetry has fared better at the hands disdainfully the arguments of those who
of modern critics. Raby admires his Entheticus de hold that poetic is a separate art and
dogmate philosophorum as a medley of satire, phi-
losophy, and moral counsel, and he exempts it from concludes that it must either be a part of
his favorite condemnation of intellectual poetry as grammar or have no place among the
school-exercises. Cf. A history of secular Latin poetry,
II, 91: "The seriousness and the soundness of his liberal arts.21 Poetic is essential to philos-
outlook are abundantly clear; his poem is no mere
is Webb, II, 127; PL, 199, 6560.
tour de force or school-exercise. It has preserved its
freshness because it bears the impress of his keen 19Polic. viii. 24; Webb, II, 415-18; PL, 199,
816C-818B.
and judicial intelligence, of his grave irony and his
deep seriousness." 20 Webb, II, 415, 417; PL, 199, 816D-817A, 818A.
17 Polic. vii. 9; Webb, II, 126; PL, 199, 655C-656A. 21 Metal. i. 17; Webb, pp. 42-43; PL, 199, 847A-D.

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 226 RICHARD McKEON

ophy, although, as he draws

Seneca in the Historia
pointedpontificalis,out,
in
careful
is not sufficient to makebalance toaGilbert's
man greatgood;
an- bu
one who aspires to tagonist, St. Bernard, is concrete
philosophy mani-
must lay
festationreading,
hold of four things: of the possible contribution
learning, of
meditation, and poetry
the andpractice of good
philosophy to theology:
works.22 John states the
He used, relation
as the of
matter required, the aid poeti
of
to the liberal arts and thefor
all disciplines, interrelations
he knew that in these o
the liberal arts in terms of an elaborate severally the whole rests upon mutual sup-
figure of speech derived from weaving, inports. He had connected the disciplines, and
which grammar and poetic furnish thehe made them serve theology, and he re-
stricted the rules of all within the limits of the
background of the tapestry or brocatel.
proper genera. For they are each adapted to
Grammar and poetic, indeed, pour them-
their proper genera, and they are immediately
selves out entirely and occupy the whole sur-
vitiated when they have been transferred to
face of what is expounded. Logic, bearing its
another genus. He made clear the properties
colors [i.e., figures] of proof to this ground,
and figures of words even in theology by the
as it is wont to be called, sets off its reasons in
examples not only of philosophers and orators,
a blaze of gold; and rhetoric emulates the
but also of poets.24
brightness of silver with its places of persua-
Within the interrelation of the arts,
sions and brilliance of style. Mathematics is
borne on the wheels of its quadrivium and,poetry has his proper place as part of one
of the liberal arts and as support to
following on the tracks of the others, weaves
its own colors and charms in manifold ways. philosophy and theology.
Physics, having explored the counsels of na- One final variant of the interpretation
ture, brings from its storehouse numerousof poetry derives from Plato by way of
charms of colors. Moreover, that which rises
mystical theology. Some of the great
above the other parts of philosophy-I mean mystics of the twelfth century cultivated
ethics, without which not even the name of the liberal arts as one stage in the return
philosopher subsists-surpasses all the others
of the soul from experience of things by
in the grace of ornament that it brings.
way of knowledge of itself to God; and in
Examine Virgil or Lucan, and you will find
in them, whatever philosophy you profess,their doctrine poetry is subordinate to the
adornment for it.23 liberal arts and not wholly essential to
them, while other great mystics were
John of Salisbury is one of our chief
suspicious alike of all secular arts-the
sources of information concerning the
liberal arts as well as poetry-and they
methods of literary instruction and inter-
expressed their adumbration of the truth
pretation practiced by Bernard of Char-
missed by the liberal arts in poetry com-
tres-"the most perfect Platonist of our
parable in imagery to the poetic state-
times," as John calls him-in which thements of suspicion of poetry.
identity of poetry and grammar and the Hugh of St. Victor, whose careful dif-
fundamental contribution of grammar to ferentiation of the arts in the Didascalion
philosophy are both apparent. John was presupposes the same kind of organic co-
convinced, moreover, that the liberal arts
hesion among them that John of Salisbury
were all organically interrelated, both praised, finds only a secondary place for
with each other and with philosophy; andpoetry.25 There are two kinds of writings,
the portrait of Gilbert de la Porrie which 24 Historia pontificalis 12, ed. R. L. Poole (Oxford,
1927), p. 28.
22 Metal. i. 22-23; Webb, pp. 51-53; PL, 199,
852B-853C.
25 Didascalion: de studio legendi iii. 4, ed. C. H.
Buttimer (Washington, 1939), pp. 54-55; PL, 176,
23 Metal. i. 24; Webb, pp. 54-55; PL, 199, 854B-C. 768D-769C.

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 227

one properly called "arts," such those which sing nuptials, as Terence;
as gram-
mar, dialectic, and rhetoric, which satires,
furnish those which are concerned with
subject matter to philosophy, the other
reprehensible things, as Persius; lyrics,
only appendages to the arts, which thoselook
which give voice to odes, that is,
toward philosophy but have some subject
praises of gods and hymns to kings, as
matter outside philosophy. The latter Horace. in-
clude all the songs of the poets, such as
Hildebert of Lavardin, finally, one of
tragedies, comedies, satires, heroic and poets of the twelfth century,
the great
lyrical poems, and iambics and certain abandons philosophy as well as poetry as
didascalic poems, likewise fables progressive
and his- stages in the return to Scrip-
tories and even the writings of men ture. In one of his sermons he generalizes
usual-
ly called philosophers now, who were what he has said about the Virgin to all
wont
to extend a brief matter in longinterpretation
involu- of Scripture:
tions of words and to obscure an easy For we have, for the most part, passed
meaning with confused words or even to by the fictions of poets, who are compared to
bring together divers things at once as if croaking frogs. We have sailed over the pallid
to make a single picture from many colors arguments of sophists, who are said to be
and forms. The distance between the arts hateful to God. We have bid farewell to the

and the appendages to the arts, Hugh pompous opinions of philosophers, who have
tried, while they were still among us, to raise
characteristically measures by a quota-
their eyes above the heavens, among whom
tion from Virgil's Eclogues, for it is as the more learned-I mean the academics-
great as that between the willow and the have confessed that truth is hidden in a bot-
olive or the reed and the rose. Sometimes
tomless well. We have given up magniloquent
the appendages to the arts touch on bits
speech to follow veriloquent speech. For we
torn here and there in disorder from the sought wisdom, but behold it was not in the
land of pleasantly speaking or living. We
arts; or when they engage in simple narra-
tion, they may prepare for philosophy. heard of it in Ephrata, that is, in a mirror or
One may, however, become perfect in in a watchtower, that is, hidden in an image,
reading without the appendages to thebut behold we found it in the fields of the wood,
that is, in the manifestation of the New
arts, whereas no perfection whatever can
Testament and the obscurity of the Old
be conferred by the appendages withoutTestament.27
the arts.
Honorius of Autun treats the liberal 27 Sermo LX: in festo Assumptionis Beatae Mariae,
et de laudibus, sermo secundus; PL, 171, 633A-B,
arts in a work entitled On the exile and the For the reference to the Sophists cf. Ecclus. 37:23:

homeland of the soul, for the exile of man "Qui sophistice loquitur, odibilis est." For the refer-
ence to "the land of pleasantly speaking or living"
is ignorance and the homeland, wisdom, (suaviter loquentium seu viventium) cf. Job 28:13:
"Nescit homo pretium eius [i.e., sapientiae], nec
to which he returns by a route which leads invenitur in terra suaviter viventium." Cf. Jerome
through the liberal arts as through cities.Comm. in Job (PL, 26, 701A): "Et ideo suaviter dicti
sunt vivere illi, qui nullo jugo disciplinae tenentur,
The first of these cities is grammar, in et effrenes ac praecipites in labem prorumpunt viti-
which there are certain subordinate villae,orum." Hildebert has apparently connected the refer-
the books of the poets, which are dividedence to the disciplines in the sense of the liberal arts
and particularly the arts of speech. The Septuagint
into four kinds: tragedies, comedies, does not contain an equivalent term but has merely
obba Ep ebpeT0j drI &A0pro:s, and Jerome in his
satires, and lyrics.2" Tragedies are poemslation trans,
from the Greek (Lib. Iob. Altera versio ex
which treat of wars, as Lucan; comedies,Graecis exemplaribus sive ex Originis Hexaplari edi-
tione; PL, 29, 94B) renders the passage "nec invenietur
26 De animae exsilio et patria (alias, De artibus) 2; in hominibus." The interpretation of Ps. 132 (131):6,
PL, 172, 1243C-D. "Lo, we heard of it in Ephrata: we found it in the

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 228 RICHARD MCKEON

The language is close not unlike to that thosewhich S

whic
Bernard and William of St. Thierry
to condemn the vain em fi
ployed to condemn Thethe error intellectual
of philosoph au
dacity of Abailard, ing and theirthe eyes reasons to, are
or
into, things above th
fields of the wood," which had taken a traditional
submitting faith to t
form in the twelfth century, composed of elements
which go back to Jerome and Augustine, is an ex- reason. Abailard had c
cellent example of the allegorical and etymological because of the discrep
interpretations. "Ephrata" is a name applied to the
region of Bethlehem and to the town of Bethlehem poetry and their fait
itself (cf. Gen. 35:16 and 19, 48:7; Ruth 4:11; Mic. that reason and philos
5:2). Jerome was the source, for medieval writers,
of both the literal explanation and some of the alle- trary to faith. St. Bernard criticized
gorical meanings. "Ephratha, regio Bethleem civi- Abailard's dialectic because of the dis-
tatis David, in qua natus est Christus. Est autem in
tribu Juda (licet plerique male aestiment in tribu crepancies between his philosophy and his
Benjamin), juxta viam ubi sepulta est Rachel quinto faith, but in so doing he reproaches Abai-
milliario ab Jerusalem, in eo loco qui a Septuaginta
vocatur Hippodromus" (De situ et nominibus locorum lard for trying to see all things face to face
Hebraicorum; PL, 23, 939). Cf. Commentaria in and for making no use in his philosophy of
Jeremiam prophetam vi. 21, PL, 23, 877A-B (this
passage is repeated by Rhabanus Maurus, PL, 111, the device, familiar to poets, of seeing
1035); Commentaria in Abdiam, PL, 25, 1116C; truth in a mirror and enigma. Bernard's
Commentaria in Micheam v, PL, 25, 1198B. Among
the meanings attached to the word by Jerome are criticism of philosophy and poetry thus
uberrima, ubertas, furorem videt. "Ephratha vero et accomplishes a complete reversal of liter-
Bethlehem unius urbis vocabulum est, sub interpre-
tatione consimili: siquidem in frugiferam et in domumr ary criticism and philosophy; for it em-
panis vertitur propter eum panem qui de coelo de- ploys in defense of faith both the poetic
scendisse se dicit" (Liber Hebraicarum quaestionum
devices
in Genesim; PL, 23, 1042B). He interprets it uberrima of allegorical interpretation, which
(Epistola cviii; PL, 22, 885), ubertas sive pulverulenta permit Bernard to criticize even the "pro-
(Liber de nominibus Hebraicis, PL, 23, 822), frugifera
8ire equidem (furorem?) vides (PL, 23, 872). Augustine,
fane novelties of words and senses" which
however, seems to have been the source of the
tradition in the Latin Middle Ages in which it is
113, 162D, 533A-B); and Rupertus Tutiensis, De
interpreted speculum (Enarratio in Psalmum CXXXI;
Trinitate et operibus ejus, xlii, in Genesim lib. ix
PL, 37, 1720). Prosper of Aquitaine makes the
(PL, 167, 548B). Paschasius Radbertus emphasizes
two parts of the verse signify the mirror of the
the interpretation furorem videns, which he reconciles
prophets and the lofty but erroneous achievement
with frugifera (Expositio in Matthaeum ii. 2; PL,
of the Gentiles: "Ephrata nomen Hebraeum inter-
pretatur Latine speculum, in quo propheticae
120, 131C-134B). Petrus Comestor has a plausible
explanation to bring the three meanings together:
signifcationis imago precessit. Per speculum enim
prophetiae, annuntiata haec sedes vel habitatio "Ephrata, id est furorerm vidit, id est experimento
iram Dei cognovit. Vel interpretatur speculum,
Dei, de qua dicitur, Ecce audivimus earn in Ephrata,
quia plaga ejus omnibus est posita in exemplum;
id est, in eloquiis prophetarum. Invenimus earn in
sed tunc primo propter incredibilem ubertatem sibi
campis 8ilvae, hoc est, in altitudine gentium, in
[cibi?] reditam cepit vocari Bethlehem, quod est
quibus fuerunt vepres idololatriae, concretiones
errorum, et silvestres incultarum mentium feritates"
domus panis" (Historia 8cholastica, historia libri Ruth;
PL, 198, 1293C).
(Expositio in P8almum CXXXI; PL, 51, 379A-B).
Much the same interpretation is put on the verse 28 Hildebert describes philosophers in general with
by Cassiodorus: "Ephrata lingua Latina signiflcare
the characterization, "qui dum adhuc essent apud
memoratur speculum. Campi vero silvae indicant
nos, conati sunt attollere oculos super coelos";
corda gentilium, quae ex peccatis quasi silvestribus St. Bernard turns the same conception into an attack
ac dumosis, mundante Domino, campestri puritate on Abailard in his letter to Innocent II: "Qui dum
patuerunt. Campi siquidem a capacitate et spatio omnium quae sunt in coelo sursum, et quae in terra
diffuso dicti sunt. Facti sunt enim ex hispidis nitidi, deorsum, nihil, praeter solum Nescio, nescire digna-
ex agrestibus mansueti, ex sterilibus fructuosi, ex tur; ponit in coelum os suum, et scrutatur alta Dei,
cubilibus daemonum templa Dominantis. Et ideo rediensque ad nos refert verba ineffabilia, quae non
in campis silvae, id est, in gentibus dicit esse com- licet homini loqui: et dum paratus est de omnibus
pertum, quod in imagine prophetiae Judaeis fuerat reddere rationem, etiam quae supra rationem, et
repronmissum" (Ezpositio in Psalterium; PL, 70, contra rationem praesumit, et contra fidem" (Contra
949A-B). Cf. Christianus Druthmarus, Ezpositio quaedam capitula errorum Abaelardi, Epistola CXC
in Matthaeum (PL, 106, 1280D); Walafridus Strabus, seu Tractatus ad Innocentium II Pontificem 1; PL,
Glossa ordinaria, Genesis 35:16 and Ruth 1:2 (PL, 182, 1055A).

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 229

Abailard introduced into his theological All four of these conceptions of poetry,
works, and also the philosophic argu- despite the oppositions among them,
ments concerning self-knowledge and echo the judgment of Plato by which
love, which echo the words of Socrates poets are condemned because philosophers
and prepare the matter, in prose and are engaged on a more truly poetic enter-
verse, of immortal poetry.29 prise. In the thirteenth century, poetry is
no longer so close to philosophy or so
29 Cf. Epistola CXCII ad Magistrum Guidonem
de Castello; PL, 182, 358C-D): "Magister Petrus in
dangerous a rival to it. Even after the
libris suis profanas vocum novitates inducit et sen- translation of Aristotle's works, the influ-
suum: disputans de fide contra fldem, verbis ence
legis of Platonism continued strong, par-
legem impugnat. Nihil videt per speculum et in
aenigmate; sed facie ad faciem omnia intuetur, ticularly in the form in which the arts and
ambulans in magnis et mirabilis super se. Melius illi
erat, si juxta titulum libri sui, se ipsum cognosceret,
philosophy serve as subordinate and pre-
nec agrederetur mensuram suam sed saperet ad paratory stages to theology. Thus, for
sobrietatem." Tae last reproach refers to the title
of Abailard's moral treatise, Scito teipsum. Abailard,
St. Bonaventura, poetry seems to have
on the other hand, accuses St. Bernard of intro- become one of the mechanical arts. There
ducing novelties, without authority and contrary to
custom, into ecclesiastical matters, such as prayers,
are four lights by which the mind is il-
ritual, and the singing of hymns (cf. Epistola X ad luminated: the exterior light of the me-
Bernardum Claraevallensem abbatem [PL, 178,
339]): "Si haec vestra novitas aut singularitas
chanical arts, the inferior light of sensitive
ab antiquitate recedat aliorum, quam rationi pluri- knowledge, the interior light of philo-
mum et tenori regulae creditis concordare: nec
curatis quantacunque admiratione super hoc alii
sophic knowledge, and the superior light
moveantur, ac murmurent, dummodo vestrae, quam of grace and the Sacred Scriptures. The
putatis, rationi pareatis. Quorum ut pauca com- mechanical arts are concerned with the
memorem, pace vestra, hymnos solitos respuistis,
et quosdam apud nos inauditos, et fere omnibus production of artificial things, which are
Ecclesiis incognitos, ac minus sufficientes, intro-
duxistis. Unde et per totum annum in vigiliis tam
classified, following the distinction made
feriarum quam festivitatum uno hymno et eodem by Horace in the Ars poetica, as the useful
contenti estis, cum Ecclesia pro diversitate feriarum
vel festivitatum diversis utatur hymnis, sicut et
and the delightful. Only one of the seven
psalmis, vel caeteris, quae his pertinere noscuntur: mechanical arts, the theater, is concerned
quod et manifesta ratio exigit. Unde et qui vos die
Natalis, seu Paschae, vel Pentecostes, et caeteris
with the delightful,30 and under the
solemnitatibus hymnum semper eumdem decantare theater Bonaventura includes all arts of
audiunt, scilicet, Aeterne rerum conditor, summo
play, whether of songs, instruments, fig-
stupore attoniti suspenduntur; nec tam admira-
tione quam derisione moventur." Despite his differ- ments, or gesticulations of the body.
ences from Bernard's interpretation of its signifi-
cance for philosophy, Abailard recognized the sub-
Grammar, logic, and rhetoric fall under
ordination of eloquence and philosophy to the the rational arts of philosophic knowledge,
wisdom of Christ (cf. Hymnus LXV, Ad laudes et ad
vesperas [PL, 178, 1805]):
concerned, respectively, with apprehen-
"Stulta seculi, mundi inflma sive, judicative, and motive reason, and
Christus eligens sapientia rhetoric therefore finds its function in
Quaeque conterit et sublimia.
moving to love or hate by means of ornate
Nil urbanitas his rhetoricae,
words. The treatment of the mechanical
Nil verbositas Ivalet] logicae,
Sed simplicitas fldei sacrae. arts consists of three parts, which take ac-
Eloquentia cessit Tulii, count of the art of the artificer, the qual-
'Tace' dictum est Aristoteli;
Leges proferunt mundo rustici. ity of his effect, and the utility of his
Perpes gloria." product or fruit; and Bonaventura con-
cludes from such considerations that the
For the discussion of the conceptions of love de-
veloped by Abailard and St. Bernard and their pos- illumination of the mechanical art is on
sible influences on the "courtly love" of poetic tra-
dition, cf. E. Gilson, La Thgologie mystique de Saint so De reductione artium ad theologiam 1-2 (S. Bona-
Bernard (Paris, 1934), pp. 183-89 and 193-215. venturae opera omnia, V [Quaracchi, 1891], 319-20).

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 230 RICHARD MCKEON

the way to the moral

illumination oftoSacr
criticisms of the poets, adapted
Scripture and that nothing
Christian theology inun-
and expressed with it is
pertinent to truediminished
wisdom.31 poetic force, suggest
The to the
influ
of Aristotle, on critic and
the the scholar several
other hand, lines of in-
had le
the thirteenth century to the
quiry in which the historical estab
relations be-
ment of a philosophy independent of tween poetry and philosophy may serve
theology in method and subject matter, to elucidate some of the qualities and
and that philosophy likewise is not in op- problems of poetry.
position to poetry. Thomas Aquinas, thus, The approximation and rivalry of
treats poetic not as the science of a prod- poetry and philosophy-one of the great
uct or process of production but as a commonplaces of Platonism which was,
subdivision of logic. Logic or rational sci- in its next recurrence during the Renais-
ence consists of eight parts, six of whichsance of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
correspond to the matter treated in the turies, to yield the victory to the poets-
six books of Aristotle's Organon, to which throws some light, in the first place, on the
rhetoric and poetic are added. Besides the subject matters appropriate to poetry and
parts of logic which treat of the certitudes philosophy. The twelfth century was a
of science and which are called Judicative, period in which poets and philosophers
there are three parts which treat of the were engaged on the same themes, and
processes of discovery, often short of certi- the poetic expression of philosophy as well
tude, and which are called Inventive. as the philosophic criticisms of poetry re-
Poetic is one of these. Dialectic treats of flect the basic theological problem of the
the process of discovery when it leadsrelation
to of reason and faith. This problem
conviction or opinion (fides vel opinio); recurs in the great development of the
rhetoric treats of it when it leads only toliberal
a arts worked by philosophers like
kind of suspicion without total exclusion Bernard of Chartres, Thierry of Chartres,
of the contrary possibility; poetic treats Abailard, Hugh of St. Victor, and John of
of it when estimation leads to one of the Salisbury. But the liberal arts also fur-
two parts of a contradiction only because nished subject matter for poetry as vari-
of the manner of representation, as a man ous as the Fons philosophiae of Godefroy
may be led to hold a certain food inof St. Victor (in which the seven liberal
abomination because it is represented to arts are derived as streams from a single
him under the likeness of something source, theology) and the numerous poems
abominable. The specific function of the of Alan of Lille: the De planctu naturae, in
poet is to induce to virtue by fitting rep-which the arts of the trivium are con-
resentation.32 sidered in relation to the schools of Venus;
What philosophers say about poetry the Anticlaudianus, in which the liberal
might have little bearing on the nature of arts construct a chariot for Prudence; and
poetry or of philosophy, if the groundsthe mystic rhythmus, On the Incarnation of
and consequences of their judgments were Christ, in which the seven liberal arts are
not clearly apparent in both. The repeti- applied to the Word of God. The methods
tions in the twelfth century of Plato's of the liberal arts underlie the great cos-
31 De reductione, 11-15 (Opera omnia, V, 322-23).
mological speculations in which philoso-
phers like Thierry of Chartres, Adelard of
32 In libros Posteriorum Analyticorum expositio i.
Lectio 1 (Opera omnia, I [Rome, 1882], 138-40). Bath, and William of Conches followed

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 231

reflected in the concrete emotions of his

pagan inspirations related only occasion-
ally to the account of Genesis. The sameand which lead, in turn, to his
lyrics
cosmological materials serve as subject
moral condemnation of poetry. Bernard
matter for the poems of Bernard Sylvester
Sylves- justified his allegorical inter-
ter and Alan of Lille, while enthusiasm
pretation of Virgil on the ground that it
would
concerning the creation of the world assist man to know himself; and
and
of man is tempered by the recurrent
for him self-knowledge is attained through
the and
theme De contemptu mundi in poets analogies of literature, in which the
philosophers like Bernard of Morlas,career
John of a hero signifies the ages of man,
of Salisbury, Hildebert of Lavardin, andAlan
of nature, in which man is microcosm
of Lille, and St. Bernard. The same andlib-
the universe megacosm. "Know thy-
eral arts are employed in the moral specu- self" is the recurrent injunction of the
lations to which twelfth-century philoso- mystics, of St. Bernard, William of St.
phers returned, after the model of Soc- and Richard of St. Victor, for
Thierry,
rates: the studies of passions and motives whom perfect self-knowledge was never
which Abailard develops in his ethical attained by the philosophers, since man
treatise Scito teipsum recur as poignant is the image of God, whom philosophers
poetic subjects in his hymns and planctus; ignored. All these themes and issues are
and Hildebert of Lavardin can turn from reflected finally in the philosophic analy-
the collection of excerpts from moralsis and poetic development of the concept
philosophers, which constitute his Moralis of love, which is pervasively Platonic and
persistently poetic, for it is the object of
philosophia de honesto et utili, to the vigor-
philosophical disputation and the source
ous verses in his Libellus de quatuor virtu-
tibus vitae honestae. of poetry from the dialectical analyses
The Platonic influence in the twelfth and love songs of Abailard to the mystical
developments of St. Bernard and William
century, manifested in cosmological specu-
lations inspired by the Timaeus and of in St. Thierry and of Victorine and
Socratic inquiries into morals and meth- Cistercian poets.
od, runs through diversities which may be The continuity of the subject matter
recapitulated in the interpretation ofofthe poetry and philosophy suggests a sec-
Socratic dictum, "Know thyself." The ond inquiry into the methods and forms,
concreteness of imaginative invocation which makes possible the transition from
and the richness of emotional antithesis the interpretation of nature, art, and
developed in the interpretation of that philosophy to the constructions of poetry
dictum illustrate the use of philosophic and the demonstrations of philosophy.
issues by which they are made poetry, The common method is rhetoric, which as-
while the theoretic scope and opposition sumes many forms and uses in the twelfth
of the positions to which it was attachedcentury. Abailard borrowed a method for
make it subject to numerous moral, cos- philosophy from the procedures of canon
mological, and mystic implications. Peterlaw and laid the foundations of theological
Abailard entitled his treatise on morals,inquiry by assembling opposed authori-
Know thyself; and for him self-knowledge ties whose contradictions could be re-
solved by rhetorical devices, such as con-
is found in the specific analysis of actions,
intentions, and sins, which constitute sideration
the of the circumstances under
abstract arguments of his ethics andwhich
are the antithetical statements had

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 232 RICHARD MCKEON

been made; he was (the convinced,

trivium) and physics (thefurther-
quadriv-
more, that the intention
ium).35 of all divin
Scripture is to teach The method ofand move
resolving differences in in th
canon law, ofspeech.33
manner of a rhetorical posing theological and Matthe
of Vend6me, in one philosophical
of the problems, and of interpret-
earliest of th
medieval treatises ing on
poetry,the art
finally, does of radical-
not differ poetry
includes an analysisly from of the poetry
method expounded inin a thecon
versation between earlyPhilosophy andforher
treatises on the art of preaching;
four companions:Guibert
Tragedy,of Nogent devotes himself toCom
Satire,
edy, and Elegy. justifying
Elegy teaches
the differentiation of thePhilos
his-
ophy that the charmtorical, allegorical,
of poetry tropological, and ana-
consist
in three things: thegogic modes of interpretation,3"
content of the while though
Alan of
(venustas interioris Lille devotes himself to the the
sententiae), con- for
sideration of the nature
of the words (superficialis and subject
ornatus ver
matter of sermons,
borum), and the quality the quality of preach- color
or rhetorical
ers, and the kinds
of the expression (modus of audiences; and
dicendi orhe dif-
dicend
color) ;34 and the ferentiates
discussion preaching from of poetic
thecom- "con
tent of thought" position
consists
by the fact that in examining
the preacher has
the verbal means noof treating
need for scurrilous or puerileas wordssubject
or
melodies of
matter of poetry such rhythms and consonancesof
distinctions of cha
acter and emotionmeters, such as might be
as might suited to the-
enter in the
moral aspect into atrical
the or mimic predication.3" In the art
philosophic discus
sions of virtue. Conrad of matter
of preaching, subject Hirschau,
is found and in
one of the earliest histories
examined in the nature and of literatur
origin of the
the Dialogus super 35 auctores, says that th
Conradi Hirsaugiensis Dialogus super auctores
treatment of ancient writers should con-
sire Didascalon, ed. G. Schepss (Wtirzburg, 1889),
sist of seven parts: author, title of work,pp. 27-28, 74-84. Dante follows a similar conception
of criticism in the sixfold division which he makes of
quality of the poem, intention of thehis introduction to the Paradiso in his letter to
Can Grande della Scala (Epistola x. 7): "Sex igitur
writer, order, number of books, and ex-sunt, quae in principio cujusque doctrinalis Operis
planation, specifying that explanation isinquirenda sunt, videlicet Subjectum, Agens, Forma,
Finis, libri Titulus, et Genus philosophiae." The kind
fourfold, with respect to letter, meaning, of philosophy under which the Divine comedy falls
allegory, and morality. The explanation is ethics; cf. ibid. 16: "Genus vero philosophiae,
of modern writers, however, requires only sub quo hic in Toto et Parte proceditur, est morale
Negotium, sive Ethica, qui non ad speculandum,
four parts: the matter of the work, thesed ad opus inceptum est Totum. Nam, etsi in aliquo
intention of the writer, the final cause or loco vel passu pertractatur ad modum speculativi
negotii, hoc non est gratia speculativi negotii, sed
fruit derived from reading the work, andgratia operis; quia, ut ait Philosophus in secundo
Metaphysicorum, 'ad aliquid et tunc speculantur
the part of philosophy under which whatpractici aliquando.' "
is written falls; and the parts of philos-
36 Liber quo ordine sermo fieri debeat; PL, 156,
ophy are logic, physics, and ethics, the 22-32, and esp. 25-26.
liberal arts being distributed under logic 37 Summa de arte praedicatoria 1 and 39; PL, 210,
111-12, and 184. Chap. 39 states the threefold di-
3O Cf. Sic et non, Prologus; PL, 178, 1339-49; and vision of the treatise which reduces the fivefold
Commentaria super S. Pauli Epistolam ad Romanos,
scheme announced in the Praefatio along lines remi-
Prologus; PL, 178, 784. niscent of Aristotle and Cicero: "Dicto, quorum debe-
at esse praedicatio, et quales esse oporteant praedica-
84 Ars versificatoria 11. 4-11; ill. 1-2, ed. E. Faral,
tores, restat ostendere, quibus proponenda sit
Les Arts pogtiques du XIIe et du XIIIe 8sicle (Paris,
1924), pp. 152-54, 167-68. praedicatio."

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 POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY 233

virtues and vices, in the contempt of employs them as a means of

ings, seldom
discerning
world and of self, and in the kinds of men and appreciating poetic values.
Themoved;
and the means by which they are poetry of the Middle Ages, like all
great
and the fourfold method of reading poetry, can be appreciated by other
is ap-
plied by the writers of the twelfth critical standards than those according to
cen-
tury to the interpretation of which nature, it was conceived. Yet the poetic
which is an image of God, as well as of
qualities on which the different interpre-
poetry and Scripture. Rhetoric istations the con-fix seem to be the same, despite
necting link not only among such thediver-
differences of meaning attached to
gent matters but also between Platonism them. Modern readers find a literal trait
and the increasing knowledge of ofcharacter
the or emotion or a concrete epi-
Aristotelian logic. The Aristotelian sode logic
among unnoticed allegorical, moral,
and the Platonic dialectic are at cross- and anagogic significances, and they savor
purposes, but the Aristotelian and vague Pla- didactic allusions without feeling
tonic conceptions of rhetoric are homo- a temptation to determine what part of
philosophy the poem falls under. What
geneous; for, according to Aristotle, rheto-
ric is characterized by its figurative they
lan-find in medieval poetry is the in-
guage, while logic requires univocal genious
terms and colored language, the con-
and dialectic distinguishes among defini-crete confrontation of emotion and inten-
tions, and, according to Plato, rhetoric,tion which is the outer surface of the
unless it is identified with dialectic, isSocratic
im- self-knowledge, the passionate
perfect dialectic based on insufficient moral aspiration, the partially under-
knowledge of subject matter andstood ex- didactic intention, and the gran-
pressed in language uncorrelated diose with mystic definition of the relation of
fact. In the mystic theology, in which man and God. The transformations of
matters of faith are beyond the scope valueof and the continuities which make
reason and all things and all wordspossiblehave the discovery of values in related
allegorical and mystical significances, or identical
the qualities by different modes
method which joins poetry to philosophy of analysis and criticism serve to isolate
and Plato to Aristotle passes beyond someall of the basic problems of esthetics.
such matters to serve as surrogate for They all are problems which are under-
scored for us by the poetry and philosophy
techniques of inquiry or literal statement.
Questions of matter and form, how- of the twelfth century; for, although
ever, suggest the third and basic question poetry is unrelated to philosophy in either
of poetic value. The philosophers of method
the or matter today, it has again re-
twelfth century speculate about andturned write to themes similar to those of
a kind of poetry whose subject matter-- medieval poetry and to echoes of philo-
apart from love lyrics, drinking songs, sophical and theological discussion which
and a few satires-has seemed by later recall that man is in a grave predicament,
standards unpoetic. Their poetry often that the church or its apostle is a hippo-
employs allegorical devices of exposition potamus, and that God is mysterious. A
and, whatever the style, is designed to be language which echoes folklore and re-
read according to an allegorical interpre- ligion has been constructed for poetry;
tation, whereas the modern reader, even subject matter is found in the motives and
when he can recognize allegorical mean- confusion of man set forth in simple un-

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 234 RICHARD MCKEON

resolved oppositions; moral

set of problems; poets inproblems
the twentieth a
made poetic by obscuring century convey a sense suggestions
of treating philo-
resolution; and poetry sophic problems may be didacti
more adequately than
if its lessons are philosophers vague, or
are able to, metaphysi
but their phi-
if it is without commitment losophy has become little more tothan a a
playphil
ophy, or religious with ifthe religion
colors of language furnishe
which me-
restraint to sentiment in the construction dieval poets employed to express a philos-
of figures. Philosophers and poets in theophy.
twelfth century were engaged on a single UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

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