The ‘Poetria Nova’ and its Sources in Early Rhetorical Doctrine [Reprint 2018 ed.] 9783110873221, 9789027917942

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D E PROPRIETATIBUS L I T T E R A R U M edenda curat C. H. VAN S C H O O N E V E L D Indiana University Series Maior, 10

THE POETRIA NOVA AND ITS SOURCES IN EARLY RHETORICAL DOCTRINE by

ERNEST GALLO

1971

MOUTON T H E H A G U E • PARIS

© Copyright 1971 in The Netherlands. Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 71-165139

Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague.

To my dear parents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I should like to thank Professor Lillian Hornstein for her assistance and encouragement; the University of Massachusetts for its research grant; and Nadine for her continuing patience.

TABLE O F CONTENTS

Parti Introduction Text and translation

13 14 Part II

Introduction I. Divisions of the Art of Rhetoric II. Arrangement Natural and artificial order Use of proverb and example in the artificial order . . .

133 136 137 137 139

III.A. Amplification and Abbreviation: Theory Amplification in classical theory Function of Amplification

150 150 159

III.B. The Means of Amplification and Abbreviation Amplification Interpretatio Circuitio Collatio Apostropha Prosopopeia Digressio Descriptio Oppositio Abbreviation

166 166 168 169 170 172 174 175 177 187 188

IV. Stylistic Ornament Introduction Ornatus gravis Ornatus levis

195 195 198 207

V. Conversion VI. Determination VII. Miscellaneous Advice Metrical considerations Humor Faults to Avoid How to Improve

209 213 216 217 217 219 219

VIII. Memory and Delivery

220

Summary of Conclusions

224

Appendix I: The Availability of Quintilian in the Middle Ages . .

225

Appendix II: Outline of the Poetria Nova

227

Appendix III: Glossary of Figures

232

A Selected Bibliography

237

PART I

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the first part of this book is to provide a translation, with accompanying text, of the Poetria Nova of Geoffrey of Vinsauf ; and of the second part, to examine Geoffrey's doctrine in the light of his sources. The Latin text of the poem here presented is based on the MS. 15150 Bibl. Nationale, edited by Edmond Faral, Les arts poétiques du Xlle et du XlIIe siècle (Paris, 1923), pp. 197-262. Faral gives variant readings from six manuscripts, including the four used by Polycarp Leyser for his edition of the Poetria Nova.1 Where I adopt a variant reading attested by one of these manuscripts, I will so indicate and will supply the reading. W. B. Sedgewick has indicated several translations of unusual words and has suggested emendations for various passages.2 I will of course indicate where I have adopted his emendations and where I have employed my own.

1

Historia Poetarum et Poematum Medii Aevi (Halle, 1721), pp. 855-986. I will employ Faral's sigla: P: Bibl. Nat., lat. 15150; G: Glasgow, Hunt. Mus. 511; ABCD: Wolfenbûttel, Gude 4428, 4564,4591,4594 respectively. To Faral's edition I will assign the siglum F. 2 "Notes and Emendations on Faral's Les arts poétiques du Xlle et du Xllle siècle", Speculum, II (1927), 331-43; and "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", Speculum, III (1928), 349-81.

POETRIA NOVA

Papa stupor mundi, si dixero Papa Nocenti, Acephalum nomen tribuam; sed, si caput addam, Hostis erit metri. Nomen tibi vult similari : Nec nomen metro, nec vult tua maxima virtus 5 Claudi mensura. Nihil est quo metiar illam : Transit mensuras hominum. Sed divide nomen, Divide sic nomen : "In" praefer, et adde "nocenti," Efficiturque comes metri. Sic et tua virtus Pluribus aequatur divisa, sed integra nulli. 10 Egregius sanguis te confert Bartholomaeo, Mite cor Andreae, pretiosa juventa Johanni, Firma fides Petro, perfecta scientia Paulo, Ista simul nulli. Superest de dotibus una, Quam nulli fas est attingere : gratia linguae. 15 Augustine, tace! Leo papa, quiesce! Johannes, Desine! Gregori, subsiste! Quid eloquar omnes? Esto quod in verbis aut hie aut ille sit ore Aureus et totus resplendeat: os tarnen ejus Impar est, orisque tui praejudicat aurum. 20 Trans homines totus : ubi corpus ista juventus Tarn grandis senii, vel cordis tanta senectus Insita tam juveni? Quam mira rebellio rerum: Ecce senex juvenis! Fidei sub tempore primae Cum Dominus Petro praeferret amore Johannem, 25 Papatu Petrum voluit praeferre Johanni. In te, Papa, modo nova res his accidit annis, Papa senex Petrus, et papa juventa Johannis. Suntque tui quales talem decuere : relucent Et circumlucent papam quasi sidera solem. 30 Tu solus mundo quasi sol, illi quasi stellae,

THE NEW ART OF POETRY

[Dedication to Pope Innocent III: lines 1-42.]

Pope, marvel of the world, if I were to call you "Pope Nocent" I would be giving you a headless name; but if I add the prefix, it would spoil the meter. Your name is meant to be similar to you: neither must the name be imprisoned by the meter, nor your great virtue restricted by any measure. There is nothing by which I can measure it (5), for it surpasses human computation. Rather, divide the name thus: set down "in," and add "nocent," and thus it will fit the meter. Thus also would your virtue, if broken into parts, be equivalent to that of many men; but taken as a whole, it is incomparable. Your noble blood joins you with Bartholemew (10); your mild heart with Andrew; your precious youth to John; your firm faith to Peter; your perfect knowledge to Paul; but those virtues of yours, taken all together, render you superior to all. One of your gifts stands out, which no one else is permitted to rival: your eloquence. Augustine, be still; Pope Leo, be silent, John (15), cease; Gregory, desist. Why should I name them all? Let this or that one be completely resplendent in golden-tongued eloquence: his is not equal to yours; the gold of your eloquence surpasses him. Wholly beyond men, where else is such bodily youth (20) engrafted on such noble old age, or where else does a heart so old dwell in one so young? What a wonderful paradox of nature: behold the old young man! In the time of the early faith, although the Lord preferred John to Peter, he decided to prefer Peter to the Papacy rather than John (25). But in you we see that something new has arisen in our day: a pope with the age of Peter and the youth of John. Your attributes are such as befit you: they shine on and around the pope as stars do the sun. You alone are a sun to the earth, but they are like the stars (30), and Rome like the heavens. Coming from England to Rome

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Roma quasi caelum. Me transtulit Anglia Romam Tanquam de terris ad caelum, transtulit ad vos De tenebris velut ad lucem. Lux publica mundi, Digneris lucere mihi; dulcissime rerum, 35 Dulce tuum partire tuo. Dare grandia solus Et potes, et debes, et vis, et scis : quia prudens, Scis; quia clemens, vis; quia magnus origine, debes; Et quia Papa, potes. Quia talis es et quia tantus, Hie mens subsedit, cum fecerit undique gyrum 40 Inque suis dandis te praetulit omnibus unum : Totum posse suum tibi destinai. Accipe, magne, Hoc opus exiguum, breve corpore, viribus amplum.

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Si quis habet fundare domum, non currit ad actum Impetuosa manus: intrinseca linea cordis Praemetitur opus, seriemque sub ordine certo Interior praescribit homo, totamque figurat Ante manus cordis quam corporis; et status ejus Est prius archetypus quam sensilis. Ipsa poesis Spectet in hoc speculo quae lex sit danda poetis. Non manus ad calamum praeceps, non lingua sit ardens Ad verbum : neutram manibus committe regendam Fortunae; sed mens discreta praeambula facti, Ut melius fortunet opus, suspendat earum Officium, tractetque diu de themate secum. Circinus interior mentis praecircinet omne Materiae spatium. Certus praelimitet ordo Unde praearripiat cursum stylus, at ubi Gades Figat. Opus totum prudens in pectoris arcem Contrahe, sitque prius in pectore quam sit in ore. Mentis in arcano cum rem digesserit ordo, Materiam verbis veniat vestire poesis. Quando tamen servire venit, se praeparet aptam Obsequio dominae: caveat sibi, ne caput hirtis Crinibus, aut corpus pannosa veste, vel ulla Ultima displiceant, alicunde nec inquinet illud Hanc poliens partem : pars si qua sedebit inepte, Tota trahet series ex illa parte pudorem : Fel modicum totum mei amaricat; unica menda Totalem faciem difformat. Cautius ergo

TRANSLATION

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was like going from earth to heaven; I came to you as from darkness to light. O light common to all the world, deign to shine upon me; sweetest of all, deign to share your sweets with your servant. To give great things you alone (35) can, and ought, and wish, and know how: because you are prudent, you know how; because you are clement, you wish to; because of your noble origin, you ought; and because you are Pope, you can. Because you are such and so great a man, the much-travelled soul settles here, having preferred to give its gifts to you alone, above all the others (40). All its ability is yours; accept, O great one, this poor work, short in body but great in strength. [I. The Divisions of the Art of Rhetoric (lines 43-86). I. A: The Invention of Matter and of Expression (lines 43-70).] If anyone is to lay the foundation of a house, his impetuous hand does not leap into action: the inner design of the heart (44) measures out the work beforehand, the inner man determines the stages ahead of time in a certain order; and the hand of the heart, rather than the bodily hand, forms the whole in advance, so that the work exists first as a mental model rather than as a tangible thing. In this mirror let poetry itself see what law must be given to poets. Let not your hand be too swift to grasp the pen, nor your tongue too eager (50) to utter the word. Allow neither to be ruled by the hands of fortune but, in order that the work have better fortune, let a discreet mind, walking before the deed, suspend the offices of both hand and tongue, and ponder the theme for a while. Let the inner compasses of the mind lay out the entire (55) range of the material. Let a certain order predetermine from what point the pen should start on its course, and where the outermost limits shall be fixed. Prudently ponder the entire work within the breast, and let it be in the breast before it is in the mouth. When, in the recesses of the mind, order has arranged the matter (60), let the art of poetry come to clothe the matter with words. However, when it comes to assist, let it make itself fit for the service of the mistress. Let it beware lest its head with shaggy hair, its body with tattered garments, or the least little detail displease. Do not let polishing one part of the work mar it elsewhere, for if part of the work sits poorly anywhere (66), the whole sequence will contract shame therefrom. A small taint spoils the whole apple. One blemish can ruin the entire face. Therefore consider the material cautiously, lest it fear disgrace (70).

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70 Consule materiae, ne possit probra vereri. Carminis ingressus, quasi verna facetus, honeste Introducat earn. Medium, quasi strenuus hospes, Hospitium sollemne paret. Finis, quasi praeco Cursus expleti, sub honore licentiet illam. 75 Omni parte sui modus omnis carmen honoret, Ne qua parte labet, ne quam patiatur eclipsim. Ne stylus ignoret quid spectet ad ordinis usum, Ecce sequens series praesumit ab ordine cursum. Cumque sequens series praesumat ab ordine cursum, 80 Est operae primae, quo limite debeat ordo Currere; — cura sequens, qua compensare statera Pondera, si juste pendet sententia; — sudor Tertius, ut corpus verborum non sit agreste, Sed civile; — labor finalis, ut intret in aures 85 Et cibet auditum vox castigata modeste, Vultus et gestus gemino condita sapore.

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105

Ordo bifurcat iter: tum limite nititur artis, Turn sequitur stratam naturae. Linea stratae Est ibi dux, ubi res et verba sequuntur eumdem Cursum nec sermo declinat ab ordine rerum. Limite currit opus, si praelocet aptior ordo Posteriora prius, vel detrahat ipsa priora Posterius; sed in hoc, nec posteriora priori, Ordine transposito, nec posteriore priora Dedecus incurrunt, immo sine lite licenter Alternas sedes capiunt et more faceto Sponte sibi cedunt: ars callida res ita vertit, Ut non pervertati transponit ut hoc tamen ipso Rem melius ponat. Civilior ordine recto Et longe prior est, quamvis praeposterus ordo. Ordinis est primus sterilis, ramusque secundus Fertilis et mira succrescit origine ramus In ramos, solus in plures, unus in octo. Circiter hanc artem fortasse videtur et aer Nubilis, et limes salebrosus, et ostia clausa, Et res nodosa. Quocirca sequentia verba Sunt hujus morbi medici: speculeris in illis; Invenietur ibi qua purges luce tenebras,

TRANSLATION

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[I.B: Disposition (lines 71-81).] Let the beginning of the poem, like a pleasant servant, introduce the matter. Let the middle, like a diligent host, prepare a dignified entertainment. Let the end, like a herald of the completed course, send it away with honor. Let each part in its own way adorn the poem (75), lest it fail anywhere or suffer any eclipse. Lest my pen neglect to reveal what order I will follow, the next series of remarks will deal with the question of order. The order having been determined, it is the first task to decide within what limits the order of development (80) ought to run. [I.C: The Choice of Pleasant Words and Expressions (lines 81-84).] The next task is to decide by what balance to adjust the weights of the discourse, so that the sentence will balance evenly; third, that your vocabulary be polished and not rude. [I.D: Delivery (lines 84-86).] Finally, take care that your voice, adorned with the double savor of feature and gesture, and modestly restrained, enter the ears of your listeners and nourish their hearing (86). [II: Arrangement (lines 87-202).] Order can take a double road: at times it advances through the by-paths1 of art; at times it follows the path of nature. We follow the straight path when words and events follow the same course, when the discourse does not depart from the natural order (90). The work runs in by-paths if a more apt order places what comes last first, or puts the first last. Neither transposition of order should cause impropriety, but rather each part should take the other's place fittingly, without strife (95), yielding to the other freely and pleasantly. Expert art inverts matters so as not to pervert them; it displaces material so as to place it better thereby. This order, though reversed, is more pleasant and by far better than the straightforward order (100). The latter is sterile, but the former fertile, from its marvellous source sending out more branches from the parent trunk, changing one branch into many, a single into several, one into eight. In regard to this art perhaps the air seems foggy, the path rough, the doors closed (105), the matter knotty. The following words shall be the cure for this disease: look upon them and you will find the light by 1

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry", p. 369.

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Quo pede transcurras salebras, qua clave recludas 110 Ostia, quo digito solvas nodosa. Patentem Ecce viam! Ratione viae rege mentis habenas. Ante fores operis thematis pars ordine prima Expectet: finis, praecursor idoneus, intret Primus et anticipet sedem, quasi dignior hospes 115 Et tanquam dominus. Finem natura locavit Ordine postremum, sed ei veneratio defert Artis et assumens humilem supportât in altum. Primus apex operis non solum fulget ab ipso Fine, sed ipsius duplex est gloria: finis 120 Thematis et medium. Trahit ars ab utroque facetum Principium, ludit quasi quaedam praestigiatrix Et facit ut fiat res postera prima, futura Praesens, transversa directa, remota propinqua; Rustica sic fiunt urbana, vetusta novella, 125 Publica privata, nigra candida, vilia cara. Si pars prima velit majus diffundere lumen, Thematis intacta serie, sententia sumpta Ad speciale nihil declinet, sed caput edat Altius ad quoddam generale; novoque lepore 130 Materiae formam nolit meminisse, sed ejus Abneget in gremio, quasi dedignata, sedere : Supra thema datum sistat, sed spectet ad illud Recta fronte; nihil dicat, sed cogitet inde. Hoc genus est triplex, surgens de triplice pianta. 135 Plantae sunt partes in themate prima, secunda, Ultima. De quarum trunco quasi surculus exit Sicque solet gigni tanquam de matre triformi: Sed manet in latebris et, quando vocatur, obaudit; Non solet ad nutus animi prodire : superbae 140 Est quasi naturae; nec sponte nec omnibus offert Se; venit invite, nisi forte venire coactus. Sic opus illustrant proverbia. Nec minus apte Prima fronte sedent exempla, sed exit utrimque Idem splendor et est distinctio par in utrisque : 145 Comparat exemplis proverbia sola venustas. Extulit ars species alias, sed praetulit istas : Plus gravitatis habent. Sunt ilia priora minoris Et tenerae magis aetatis; maturior aetas

TRANSLATION

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which to purge the darkness, the feet with which to traverse the rough path, the key to open the doors, the fingers to untie the knots. Behold, the way lies open! Guide the reins of the mind by my explanation of the way (111). The part which comes first in order awaits outside of the door of the work; but let the ending enter first, a fitting precursor, and let it preempt the seat, like a more worthy guest, or almost like the host himself. Nature has placed the ending (115) last, but the veneration of art defers to it and, lifting up the lowly, raises it on high. The high point of the work does not radiate only from the very end, but has a double glory: the end of the work and the middle. Art can draw a pleasant beginning out of either. It plays about almost like a magician (121), and brings it about that the last becomes first, the future the present, the oblique direct, the remote near; thus rustic matters become polished, old becomes new, public private, black white, and vile precious (125). If you should wish the opening to send forth a greater light, without disturbing the natural order of the theme, let the sentiment you begin with not sink to any particular statement but rather raise its head to a general pronouncement. With this new grace it is unwilling to think of the details at hand, but almost disdainfully refuses to remain in its bosom (131). Let it stand above the given subject; pondering thereon but saying nothing, let it gaze with brow uplifted. This method is triple, coming from a triple root; namely, the first, middle and final parts of a theme. From their trunks it arises like a shoot (136), and thus is engendered by a triform mother; but it remains in the dark and, when called, refuses to hearken.2 It is not wont to come forth at the pleasure of the mind; it is, so to speak, proud in nature: it does not offer itself willingly, or to everyone. It comes unwillingly, unless perhaps it is forced to come (141). Thus do proverbs illustrate a work. Not less aptly can examples appear at the head of a work; the same splendor comes alike from each, and the ornament in both is the same: beauty alone links proverbs and examples (145). Art has created other approaches but has preferred these two. They have more gravity. The others are younger and of a rather tender age; these are the more mature. In the art and application of these two approaches we can see that the road is more narrow, the use more apt, and the art more great (150). 2

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 357.

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Semper in hac specie. Via sic jacet artior, usus 150 Aptior, ars major: quod et arte videmus et usu. Sunt ita principii, studio rimante, reperti Tres rami: finis, medium, proverbia; quartus Exemplum. Sed et hie, sicut penultimus, in tres Crescit. Et his octo ramis stylus ipse superbii. 155 Ut videant testes oculi quae diximus auri, Accipe fabellam, cujus pars primula Minos, Altera mors pueri, finis confusio Scillae. Exorditur earn talinatura tenore : Dotibus exceptis Fortunae, copia quarum 160 Affluit exundans velut ex torrente, serenai Minois titulos alio natura nitore: Armat enim corpus speciali robore; pingit Membra nova quadam specie; simul excoquit aurum Mentis et argentum linguae; polit omnia piene, 165 Moribus infuso miro dulcore; venustas Quanta decet regem respondet in omnibus aeque. Ars a fine rei sic carminis elicit ortum: Seditio Scillae Scillam seduxit; eodem vulnere laesa fuit quo laesit; quaeque parentem 170 Prodidit, optatam rem perdidit; et, quia damnum Intulit, in simili damno stetit. Ultio digna Fraudis in auctorem simili pede fraude reversa. Possumus a medio talem praesumere formam : Androgei livor animum speculatus et annos 175 Hinc puerum videt, inde senem, quia mente senili Nil redolet puerile puer. Successibus ejus Incipit esse miser. Quia laus sua tendit in altum, Ex hoc deprimitur. Quia sic nitet, in sua fata Nititur, et proprios animum molitur in annos. 180 Ipsi principio sedet hoc generale propinquum: Quod magis optatur, magis effluii. Omnia lapsum Spondent et citius sunt prospera prompta ruinae. Insidias semper ponit sors aspera blande Anticipatque fugam melior fortuna repente. 185 Ad medium poterit istud commune referri: Pessima res livor, totus mortale venenum, 161

titulos alios ] titulos; alios F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 336).

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Thus, by careful investigation, three branches of the opening are discovered: by the end, by the middle, and by proverbs. The fourth is by example, which, like the opening by proverbs, grows into three branches. And style takes pride in these eight branches. In order that the eyes may witness what we have spoken to the ear (155), take the example of a story whose first part is about Minos, whose second is about the death of a boy, and whose conclusion is about the downfall of Scylla. The natural order would start in this manner: Gifts received from Fortune, the abundance of which runs forth like a torrent, illuminate (160) the glory3 of Minos; with other splendor [than that of Fortune],4 Nature arms his body with peculiar strength, gilds his limbs anew, and has compounded the gold of his mind with the silver of his tongue. Nature fully enhances all this by infusing a marvellous graciousness in his manner; his grace (165) befits his kingly nature equally in everything. Working from the end of the matter, art thus creates a beginning: The sedition of Scilla, Scilla deceived; she was stricken by the same wound she had inflicted. She who betrayed her parent has lost what she hoped for, and since she has brought ruin on others, stands in like ruin herself. It is fitting vengeance (171) for fraud to return to its author with similar footfall. From the middle we can work up our form thus: Even Envy of Androgeus admits that he is a boy in years but an old man in mind, for in his mature mind (175) the boy was not at all childish. He began to grow wretched at Androgeus' success. Because Androgeus' praises rang on high, he was depressed; because Androgeus shone thus, he strove against his own fate, and set his mind to work against his own years.6 This general statement would apply to our beginning (180): The more a thing is wished for, the more it evades us. All things are wed to ruin, to which the prosperous are all the more liable. A harsh lot always plans its treacheries with a smiling face; and better fortune is followed by its own unexpected flight. This general statement could apply to the middle (185): Hatred is most vile, a quite deadly poison, good only for evil, harmful only to the good. All its malign planning it conceives in secret, and whatever bitterness it has conceived, it pours forth openly. 8

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 371. 4 Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 336. 6 The meaning is that his plan to kill Androgeus resulted in his own death.

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Ad mala sola bonus, contra bona sola malignus. Consilium tacite praeconcipit omne malignum, Effunditque palam quicquid concepii amarum. 190 Finis in hac verbi forma proverbia format: Lex est aequa, dolum referire dolore, dolorem In caput unde fuit egressus habere regressum. Principio servit haec exemplaris imago : Tristis ab incauto furit aura sub aere laeto. 195 Nubilis exsudat aer sub sole sereno. Exemplum medii sub tali sume figura: In semen jactum, terrae nutricis alumnum Triste malignatur lolium; nascique volenti Obviat; et foribus praeclusis invidet ortum. 200 Sic sumpto simili poteris praeludere fini : Saepe saggitantem didicit referire sagitta Inque reum plagae conversa recurrere plaga. Principio varium dedit ars praescripta tenorem: Te vocat ulterior progressus. Dirige gressum 205 Ulterius cursumque viae, praeeunte figura. Curritur in bivio : via namque vel ampia vel arta, Vel fluvius vel rivus erit; vel tractius ibis, Vel cursim salies; vel rem brevitate notabis, Vel longo sermone trahes. Non absque labore 210 Sunt passus utriusque viae: si vis bene duci, Te certo committe duci; subscripta revolve: Ipsa stylum ducent et utrimque docenda docebunt. Formula materiae, quasi quaedam formula cerae, Primitus est tactus duri : si sedula cura 215 Igniat ingenium, subito mollescit ad ignem Ingenii sequiturque manum quocumque vocarit, Ductilis ad quicquid. Hominis manus interioris Ducit ut amplificet vel curtet. Si facis amplum, 220 Hoc primo procede gradu: sententia cum sit Unica, non uno veniat contenta paratu, Sed variet vestes et mutatoria sumat; 205 praeeunte ] premente F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337).

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The end can form proverbs in this manner (190): That law is just which repays deceit with sorrow, and which has sorrow return to the source from which it came. This example can serve for the beginning: Somber air suddenly6 rages under a clear sky; cloudy air seeps forth under a clear sun (195). Take up the middle in such a form as this: Against the sown seed, product of the nourishing earth, the gloomy cockle is malignant; it prevents the struggling birth; with closed doors, it begrudges its growth. You can likewise preface an ending thus (200): She learned that the arrow often returns upon the archer, and that wounds often fall back on the one guilty of inflicting them. [Ill: Amplification and Abbreviation (lines 203-741).] The art taught above develops the opening in various ways; now a further progress summons you. Direct your path and further course with this method leading the way (205). Your way is twofold: either wide or strait, a rivulet or a stream; you will either proceed more leisurely, or quickly jump over it; check off an item briefly, or treat it in a lengthy discourse. The passage through each way is not without labor; if you wish to be guided well (210), commit yourself to a sure guide. Ponder what is written below: it will lead your pen and will teach what must be taught concerning both methods. The principle of the matter is, like wax, hard to the touch at first. If, with sedulous care, your talent sets it afire, it will quickly grow soft under the warmth (215) of your genius and, totally manageable, will follow wherever the hand leads. The hand of the inner man will lead to Amplification or Abbreviation. [III.A: Methods of Amplification. 1: Refining (lines 219-25).] If you are amplifying, take this as your first step: although the statement may be (220) simple, do not let it come hampered by having only one garment, but let it vary its clothing and change its raiment. Repeat in different words what you have already said; set down again the same * Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 356.

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Sub verbis aliis praesumpta résumé; repone Pluribus in clausis unum; multiplice forma Dissimuletur idem; varius sit et tamen idem. Est gradus ulterior quando, quia transilit aures Dictio, vox curia, fit sermo vicarius ejus In serie vocum longa serieque morosa. Longius ut sit opus, ne ponas nomina rerum: Pone notas alias; nec piane detege, sed rem Innue per notulas; nec sermo perambulet in re, Sed rem circuiens longis ambagibus ambi Quod breviter dicturus eras, et tempora tardes, Dans ita crementum verbis ; formasque loquendi Elongat cautela breves, quando breve verbum Cedit, ut ipsius oratio longa sit heres. Cum triplici claustro sit res inclusa : vel ipso Nomine, vel verbo, vel utroque : nec explicet illam Nomen, vel verbum, vel utrumque; sed edita forma Aut verbi vice sit, aut nominis, aut utriusque.

Tertius est graduum collatio, facta biformi Lege : vel occulte, vel aperte. — Respice quaedam Juncta satis lepide; sed quaedam signa revelant. Nodum juncturae: collatio quae fit aperte 245 Se gerit in specie simili, quam signa revelant Expresse. Tria sunt haec signa: magis, minus, aeque. Quae fit in occulto, nullo venit indice signo ; Non venit in vulto proprio, sed dissimulato, Et quasi non sit ibi collatio, sed nova quaedam 250 Insita mirifice transsumptio, res ubi caute Sic sedet in serie quasi sit de themate nata: Sumpta tamen res est aliunde, sed esse videtur Inde; foris res est, nec ibi comparet; et intus Apparet, sed ibi non est; sic fluctuat intus 255 Et foris, hic et ibi, procul et prope : distat et astat. Hoc genus est plantae, quod si plantetur in horto Materiae, tractatus erit jocundior; hic est Rivus fontis, ubi currit fons purior; hic est Formula subtilis juncturae, res ubi junctae 225 sit ] sis F (my emendation).

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thing in many clauses; let the one thing be hidden under multiple forms; let it be different and yet the same (225). [III.A.2: Periphrasis (lines 226-40).] It is a further step when, because the brief utterance hastens through the hearing, another form of expression takes its place in a long, drawn-out7 discourse. That the work might be longer, do not set down the names of things; set down other marks. Do not reveal everything plainly, but hint at the subject by giving its characteristic attributes. Do not allow your discourse to proceed through the matter (231), but go around it; with wide digressions discourse at length on what you were about to say briefly, and slow your pace, thus bestowing expansion on your words. Let circumspection lengthen the forms of speech, when a brief expression (235) occurs, so that a long discourse might be its successor. When the matter is confined in a triple lock — the noun, the verb, or both — do not let noun, verb or both thus clarify the matter, but let a lofty expression take the place of the noun, or verb, or both (240).8 [IILA.3: Comparison (lines 241-63).] The third method is Comparison, which can be made in two ways: openly or covertly. For example, certain elements may be joined quite pleasantly, and yet certain signs may reveal the joints. Open Comparison, which signs expressly reveal, behaves in a similar way. There are three such signs: more, less, and equal (246). No such telltale signs occur in the covert Comparison, which does not show its own face but wears a mask, as if no Comparison were actually taking place there but rather a sort of new changeover, marvellously engrafted, which appears securely (250) in the discourse as if it arose from the theme itself. However, such matter does arise elsewhere and only seems to come from the theme. It is extraneous to the matter and not part of it; yet is appears within the matter, although it is not there to begin with. Thus it flows within and without, here and there, far and near; it wanders off and then stands close by (255). It is the sort of plant which, set in the garden of the matter, makes it appear more pleasant; it is the stream of the fountain, wherein a clearer fountain runs. This is the method of subtle Comparison, where the matters joined so run

'

Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337. In the manner of Pope forcing his Alexandrine to drag its slow length along, Geoffrey uses Amplification in the course of explaining that process.

8

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260 Sic coeunt et sic se contingunt, quasi non sint Contiguae, sed continuae quasi non manus artis Junxerit, immo manus naturae. Plus habet artis Hic modus, est in eo longe sollemnior usus. Latius ut curras, sit apostropha quarta morarum, 265 Qua rem detineas et ubi spatieris ad horam. Delecteris ea, sine qua satis esset abundans Coena, sed egregiae sic crescunt fercula mensae. Pompa dapum veniens numerosior et mora mensae Tardior est signum sollemne. Diutius aures 270 Pascimus ex variis et ditius, hic cibus auri Quando venit sapidus et odorifer et pretiosus. Serviat exemplum doctrinae : certior aure Arbiter est oculus; nec casus sufficit unus: Plenus erit numerus; de pleno collige piene 275 Quam rem, qua forma, quis casus apostrophet apte. Cui nimis in laetis mens surgit, apostropha, surge, Et sic castiges ipsum : Quid gaudio tanta Conçutiunt animum? Plausum sub fine modesto Stringas et fines ejus non amplius aequo 280 Extendas, sed, mens casus incauta futuri, Aemula sis Jani: retro speculeris et ante; Si bene successif, ne prima, sed ultima spectes. A casu describe diem, non solis ab ortu. Ut sis ad plenum secura, verere futura: 285 Cum totum vicisse putes, latet anguis in herba; Syrenes exemplar habe: docearis in illis, Sub meliore statu semper pejora cavere. Nulla fides rerum: sequitur post mella venenum Et claudit nox atra diem, nebulaeque serenum. 290 Cum soleant hominum feliciter omnia verti, Majori levitate soient adversa reverti. Si quem jactatrix praesumptio durius inflet, Hanc inflaturam verbis tam mollibus unge : Praecurrant gressus oculi; circumspice mentem; 295 Et vires metire tuas. Sifortis es, aude 261 sed ] sic F; sed ABCDG (see Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337). 281-82 et ante; / Si bene successif, ne ] et ante, / Si bene successif. Ne F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337). 286 Syrenes exemplar ] Exemplar Syrenes PF; Syrenes exemplar ABDG (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337).

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together and touch one another as if they were not (260) merely contiguous but continuous; as n the hand of nature and not of the artist had joined them. This method requires more art and is a much more noble practice. [III.A.4: Apostrophe (lines 264-460).] That you may range more widely, let Apostrophe be the fourth means of delay by which you can hold back the matter and expatiate for a while (265). You will enjoy those courses without which the food would be sufficiently abundant, but whose presence swells the dishes of an outstanding feast. The greater number of dishes in the banquet and the tardy delay of the feast make for dignity. This food for the ear (270), when it arrives savory, fragrant and costly, lets us feast our ears for a longer time on its greater riches and variety. Let an example illustrate this teaching: the eye is a surer judge than the ear. Moreover, one case alone will not suffice; the number of examples will be full; from the fullness of these examples discern fully the matter, the form, and the occasion that can fitly serve for Apostrophe (275). O Apostrophe, stand before him whose mind stands overmuch on things joyful, and berate him thus: Why do such joys excite your soul? Constrain your applause within modest limits, and do not extend its boundaries more than is fitting, but let your mind, so heedless of the future (280), imitate Janus: look before and after. If things have fallen well, regard the end, not just the beginning. Judge the day by its setting, not just its rising. Fear the future, if you would be fully secure. When you think you have conquered all, there lurks the snake in the grass (285); take example of the Sirens; be taught by them always to fear that the good conceals the worse. Trust not in things; after the honey comes poison; and black night puts an end to day, as clouds the clear sky. Just when all our affairs are turning out happily (290), with all the more speed do adverse times return.

If flagrant presumption puffs up anyone quite inflexibly, anoint that swelling presumption with these softening words: Let your eyes precede your steps; be circumspect, and judge your strength: if you are strong, dare (295) great deeds: if weak, lay a lighter burden on your shoulders; if in between, love the mean. Avoid those tasks, the assumption of which involves presumption. In everything virtue is alike to follow the mean.

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Grandia; sifragilis, humeris impone minora; Si mediocris, ama mediocria. Sumere noli Quod, quando sumis, praesumis. In omnibus una Est virtus: servare modum. Memor imprime menti: 300 Cum fueris major cunctis, te crede minorem Et de te mentire tibi; nec sic in abyssum Dejicias aìios, nec te super aethera ponas. Vincat opus verbum: minuit jactantia famam.

Rebus in adversis si laxet frena timori, 305 Hac ope verborum timido succurre potenti : Ne tlmeas; si forte times, assume timentis, Non animum timidi. Quando subii ostia mentis, Sit timor hospes ibi, non incola. Disce timere: Si timeas, sine teste time, mentisque timorem 310 Ignoret facies; quia, si timor intimus ora Carpit et emacerai, animus jocundior hostem Nutrii et impinguai, et gaudio suggerii itti Exsugens tua membra dolor. Consultius ergo, Si timor incurvet animum, simulatio vultum 315 Erigat, et clypeo vultus succurre timori; Ut, si mens timeat, facies velit ipsa timeri. Immo magis sperare velis pudeatque timentem Vulgär i pallere metu. Si posse sit, artum Dilates animum. Si corpus debile, mens sit 320 Fortis et exiguas vires supplere memento Spe grandi. Facti levitas cuicumque rebelli Fit gravis; et gravitas animo cuicumque volenti Fit levis: ergo velis, et erit leve nulla vereri.

Tempore successus, jocundi tempore fati, 325 Haec potes ore loqui, luctus praesaga futuri : Anglia, regnorum regina, superstite rege Ricardo, cujus laus est diffusio tanti Nominis et mundi cui monarchia relieta Est soli, secura fides sub regmine tanto. 330 Rex tuus est speculum, quo te speculata superbis; Sidus, de cujus rutilas splendore; columna, Per quam fulta viges; fulmen, quod mittis in hostes; Laus, qua paene deum pertingis culmina. Sed quid 305 ope ] opere FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337).

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Remember this: although you be greater than all, think of yourself as less (300), and lie to yourself about yourself. Thus you will neither throw others into the abyss nor place yourself above the heavens. Let the deed exceed the word: boasting diminishes fame. If, in times of adversity, a coward9 gives rein to fear, come to his assistance with the powerful aid of these words (305): Fear not; and if by chance you fear, adopt the spirit of a man who is afraid, not that of an utter coward. When fear arrives at the gates of the mind, let him be a guest, not a permanent resident. Learn how to fear: if you are afraid, do not show it. Let your face be unaware of the fear in your mind; for, if fear (310) inwardly consumes and wastes your features, a heartier spirit will nourish and fatten the enemy. The grief that wastes your members brings joy to him. Therefore, if fear cumbers your soul, more prudently allow simulation to animate your features; aid your fear by shielding it with your expression (315), so that if your mind fears, let your visage be fearsome. Nay, you should hope the more; and shame on the coward who grows pale with vulgar fear! If possible, expand your straitened spirit. If your body is weak, let your mind be strong. To supplement your small strength, remember (320) to be hopeful. Lightness in action becomes a source of heaviness to any enemy; heaviness of soul, to whoever wishes it, becomes light. Hence wish it, and it will be easy to fear nothing. In times of success, when the fates are smiling, deliver this lament presaging the future (325): O England, queen of nations as long as King Richard is alive, and whose praise consists in the spreading of so great a name, and to whom alone the rule of the world has been entrusted, you sit secure under such a leader. Your king is a mirror: you are proud at being seen in him (330); he is the constellation from whose spendor you shine; the support through whose strength you flourish; the thunderbolt which you hurl at the enemy; the praise by which you almost attain the heights of the gods. But why enumerate? Nature was unable to make

9

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 380.

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Singula? Non ilio potuit fecisse priorem 335 Nec voluti Natura parerti. — Sed viribus absit Prorsus habere fidem: mors est quae fortia frangit. Ominibus ne crede tuis; si tempore parvo Illuxer e tibi, mox sunt clausura serenum Nubila fata diem, ducentque crepuscula noctem. 340 Jam cito rumpetur speculum, speculatio cujus Gloria tanta tibi; sidus patietur eclipsim, A quo fulges; nutabit rupia columna, Unde trahis vires; cessabit fulminis ictus, Unde tremunt hostes; et eris de principe serva. 345 Omina laeta vale tibi sunt dictura: quiescis, Sudabis; rides, flebis; ditescis, egebis; Flores, marcebis; es, vix eris. — Attamen istud Unde scies? Quid ages? Volucrum rimaberis aure Murmura? Vel motus oculo? Vel Apolline fata? 350 Tolle mathematicos ! Est augur surdus, aruspex Caecus et ariolus amens. Praesentia scire Fas homini, solique Deo praescire futura. Non habet hic patriam; vetus ille repatriet error Et pater erroris gentilis nutriat illum 355 Quem genuit, quia sana fides a lumine tollit Ecclesiae tripodes Phoebi soliumque Sibillae. Hoc unum praescire potes quia nulla potestas Esse morosa potest, quia res fortuna secundas Imperai esse breves. Si vis exempla, priores 360 Respice fortunas. Emarcuit illa priorum Florida prosperitas: Minos subvertit Athenas, Ylion Atrides, magnae Cartaginis arces Scipio, sed Romam multi. Fuit alea fati Tempore versa brevi. Brevis est distantia laeti 365 Ominis et maesti; nox est vicina diei. Haec aliena docent, sed te tua fata docebunt. Temporibus luctus his verbis exprime luctum: Neustria, sub clypeo regis defensa Ricardi, Indefensa modo, planctu testare dolorem; 370 Exudent oculi lacrimas; exterminet ora Pallor; connodet digitos tortura; cruentet Interiora dolor; et verberet aethera clamor. Tota peris in morte sua: mors non fuit ejus,

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his superior and unwilling to make his equal. But let not strength be (335) completely confident; it is death which overthrows the strong. Do not believe your omens; if for a short time they shone upon you, a cloudy fate is soon to close the calm day (339): twilight will bring on the night. For soon will the mirror, the beholding of which was such glory to you, be broken; the constellation, from which you shine, will suffer eclipse; the broken column, from which you drew your strength, will totter; the thunderbolt, of which enemies are afraid, will cease; and from being a prince you will become a servant. Happy omens are about to bid you farewell. You are quiet (345), but you will labor; you laugh, but you will weep; you grow rich, but you will want; you flourish, but you will wither; you exist, but you will scarcely be. But whence will you learn this? What will you do? Will you question the cries of birds with your ear? or their flight with your eye? or the Fates through Apollo? Away with the soothsayers! The augur is deaf, the haruspex (350) blind and the prophet insane. It is for man to know the present, but for God alone to foretell the future. Here error has no fatherland; let that old error return to its homeland, and the infidel father of lies nourish that (354) which he engendered, for the sound faith of the church has removed from the light Phoebus' tripod and the seat of the sybil. This alone can you foretell, that no power can be long-lasting, for fortune decrees that posperity shall be brief. If you want examples, look at prior fortunes. The flowering prosperity of those who have gone before us has withered: Minos has subdued Athens (361); the sons of Atreus, Troy; Scipio, the great arches of Carthage; and many have conquered Rome. In a short time the die of fate was changed. The distance separating good and bad fortune is small; night follows hard upon day (365). Foreign examples now teach you these things; but in the future, your own fate will teach you. In times of sorrow, express the sorrow in these words: Neustria, defended by the shield of King Richard, but now defenceless, show your grief in lamentation (369). Let your eyes shed tears, your pallor disfigure your features, anguish wring your hands, sorrow harrow your bowels, wailing shake the air. Your perish utterly in his death; the death was yours, not his, cause of his death affects not one, but many.

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Sed tua. Non una, sed publica mortis origo. 375 O Veneris lacrimosa dies! 0 sidus amarum! Ilia dies tua nox fuit et Venus ilia venenum. Illa dedit vulnus; sed pessimus ille dierum, Primus ab undecimo, qui, vitae vitricus, ipsam Clausit. Uterque dies homicida tyrannide mira. 380 Trajecit clausus exclusum, tectus apertum, Providus incautum, miles munitus inermem Et proprium regem. Quid miles, perfide miles, Perifidiae miles, pudor orbis et unica sordes Militiae, miles manuum factura suarum, 385 Ausus es hoc in eum? Scelus hoc, scelus istud es ausus? O dolor! 0 plus quam dolor! 0 mors! O truculenta Mors! Esses utinam, mors, mortua! Quid meministi Ausa nefas tantum? Placuit tibi tollere solem Et tenebris damnare diem: scis quem rapuisti? 390 Ipse fuit jubar in oculis et dulcor in aure

395

400

405

410

Et stupor in mente. Scis, impia, quem rapuisti? Ipse fuit dominus armorum, gloria regum, Deliciae mundi. Nihil addere noverai ultra, Ipse fuit quicquid potuit Natura. Sed istud Causa fuit quare rapuisti: res pretiosas Eripis et viles quasi dedignata relinquis. Et de te, Natura, queror; quia nonne fuisti, Dum mundus puer esset adhuc, dum nata jaceres In cunis, in eo studiosa? Nec ante senectam Destitit hoc Studium. Cur sudor tantus in orbem Attulit hoc mirum, si tam brevis abstulit hora Sudorem tantum. Placuit tibi tendere mundo Et revocare manum, dare sic et tollere donum. Cur irritasti mundum? Vel redde sepultum Vel forma similem. Sed non tibi suppetit unde: Quicquid erat tecum vel mirum vel pretiosum, Huic erat impensum; thesauri deliciarum Hie sunt exhausti. Ditissima facta fuisti Ex hac factura: fieri pauperrima sentis Ex hac jactura; sifelix ante fuisti, Tanto plus misera quanto felicior ante. Si fas est, accuso Deum. Deus, optima rerum, Cur hie degeneras? Cur obruis hostis amicum?

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O doleful day of Venus! O bitter time (375)! That day was your night, and that Venus venemous. That day gave the wound; but the worst was the twelfth day after, which, stepfather of his life, closed his life. 10 Both days were most tyrannous muderers. A man within shot one without; a protected man shot one in the open (380); the cautious, the reckless; an armed soldier, an unarmed man, and his own king. Why, soldier, perfidious soldier, soldier of perfidy, shame of the world and only blot on the army; soldier, the creation of his hands, did you dare to do this to him? This, this crime did you dare (385)? O sorrow! O more than sorrow! O death! O cruel death! O death, would that you were dead! Why do you dare recall so great a crime? It pleased you to take away the sun and condemn the day to darkness. D o you know whom you have snatched away? He was radiance to the eyes, sweetness to the ear (390), amazement to the mind. D o you know, O impious, whom you have snatched away? He was the lord of arms, the glory of kings, the darling of the world. Nature did not know how to add any more: he was her best effort. But that was the very reason why you snatched him away: you take away precious things, and the base you leave behind as scorned (396). And I complain of you, O Nature; for were you not there when the spotless child arrived here, when you laid the newborn in a cradle and were solicitous over him? Nor should that care have ceased before his old age. Why so much effort to produce this marvel for the world, if one brief hour can undo (400) such labor? It pleased you to hold out your hand to the world and to withdraw it, to thus give and take away your gift. Why did you so provoke the world? Return either the buried man, or one similar to him. But you do not have the means to do so (405): whatever marvellous or precious things you had were lavishly present in him; here was the treasury of delights exhausted. In his creation 11 you were made rich; now you feel how poor you have become in his falling. If you were happy before (410), so much the more are you wretched now. If it is permitted, I accuse God. God, best of all things, why do you here become worse? Why, like an enemy, do you overthrow your friend? If you

10

In point of fact, Richard I was born on Sunday, September 8, 1157; was wounded on Thursday, March 25,1199; and died twelve days later, Tuesday, April 6,1199. For comment on Chaucer's parody of this passage {NPT. B. 4537-44), see below, p. 174. 11 Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 368.

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Si recolis, pro rege facit Jope tua, quam tot 415 Milibus oppositus solus defendit, et Achon, Quam virtute sua tibi reddidit, et crucis hostes, Quos omnes vivus sic terruit, ut timeatur Mortuus. Ipse fuit sub quo tua tuta fuerunt: Si, Deus, es, sicut decet esse,fidelis et expers 420 Nequitiae, justus et rectus, cur minuisti Ergo dies ejus? Potuisses parcere mundo: Mundus egebat eo. Sed eum magis eligis esse Tecum quam secum; mavis succurrere caelo Quam mundo. Domine, si fas est dicere, dicam 425 Pace tua: posses fecisse decentius istud Et properasse minus, dum saltern frena dedisset Hostibus (et facti dilatio nulla fuisset: Res erat in foribus): tunc posset honestius ire Et remanere tibi. Sed in hac re scire dedisti 430 Quam brevis est risus, quam longa est lacrima mundi.

Contra ridiculos si vis insurgere piene, Surge sub hac specie: lauda, sed ridiculose; Argue, sed lepide gere te, sed in onnibus apte; Sermo tuus dentes habeat, mordaciter illos 435 Tange, sed irrisor gestus plus mordeat ore. Ecce, quod in tenebris latuit, sub luce patebit. Strenua res agitur: pueri tolluntur in altum Et fiunt domini. Moveat dominatio risum: Jam sedet egregie donatus honore magistri 440 Aptus adhuc ferulae. Laicis authenticat illum Pileus in capite, species in vestibus, aurum In digitis, sedes in summo, plebs numerosa In studio. Ridere potes de ridiculoso: Quoddam ridiculum est: Tarn se quam judice vulgo 445 Doctus homo est. Sed idem sentis quod sentio: Quaedam Simia doctorum est. Clam dixi, ne quis aperte Audiat. Ipse tarnen se jactitat osque revolvens Mira quidem spondei. Omnes accurrite: jam mons Parturiet, sed erit tandem mus filius ejus. 418 tua tuta G ] tuta tua FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337). 427 facti BCDG ] facta FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337). 435 irrisor ABG ] irrisos FP. 437-49 These lines constitute the example (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337).

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remember, your Jope, which he defended alone against so many thousands, should count on the King's behalf;12 and Acre (415), which he returned to you by his strength; and the enemies of the cross, whom he terrified so much while he was alive that he is still feared in death. Under him, all your possessions were safe. If, God, you are faithful and void of malice, as is fitting and just and right, why then did you shorten (420) his days? You could have spared the world, for the world had need of him. But you chose that he should remain with you rather than with the world. You prefer to help heaven rather than earth. Lord, if it be proper to say it, I will say it with your leave: you could have done this at a more fitting time (425) and with less haste if only you had restrained the enemy (indeed, the delay would not have been long: his fate was already knocking at the door); then with more propriety could he have gone to remain with you. But in this matter you have given us to know how brief is the laughter of this world, how long its tears (430). If you wish to bestir yourself against ridiculous men, begin in this manner: praise, but with ridicule; dicourse, but bear yourself facetiously — although always appropriately. Let your discourse have teeth; speak of the ridiculous bitingly, but let your mocking attitude bite more than your words (435). Behold, what is hidden in darkness will be brought into the light: A disturbing state of affairs is occurring: mere boys have been elevated and made masters. Let such mastership raise laughter: he now sits marvellously endowed with the honor of a master, until now fit only for the rod. To the layman he is authenticated (440) by the cap on his head, the richness in his garments, the money in his fingers, his lofty seat, and the many common fellows in his class. You can laugh at the ridiculous, for it is something absurd. He is a learned man in his own as well as in the vulgar opinion. But you feel the same as I: he is a sort of (445) ape of doctors. I have said it secretly, lest any hear it openly. He, however, vaunts himself, and, opening his mouth, indeed promises marvels. Hasten, all: now the mountain labors, but in the end a mouse is its child.

11

Ibid., p. 373.

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450 Praeveniens illuni salvere jubeto magistrum. Nec minus interdum transverso lumine ride; Vel quodam rostro manuum quasi punge; vel oris Rictum distorque; vel nares contraile: tales Ad formas non ore decet, sed naribus uti. 455 Sic igitur variat vultum: vel more magistri Corripit errorem pravum; vel ad omnia dura In lacrimis planctuque jacet; vel surgit in iram Propter grande scelus; vel fertur ridiculose Contra ridiculos. Ex talibus edita causis 460 Et decus et numerum lucratur apostropha verbis.

465

470

475

480

485

480

Quinta coadjutrix, ultra protendere cursum, Prosopopeia, veni. Cui nulla potentia fandi, Da licite fari donetque licentia linguam. Sic Phetonteos tellus experta vapores Est conquesta Jovi; sparsis sic Roma capillis Caesaris instrepuit lacrimosa voce sopori. Si placet exempli novitas, hanc accipe formam; Vocis in hac forma sanctae Crucis ecce querela: Crux ego rapta queror, vi rapta manuque canina Et tactu polluta canum. Sum rapta pudenter A veteri, nec adhuc extorta, nec ense redempta. Die, homo, nonne tibi crevi? tibi fructificavi? Nonne tuli dulcem tibifructum, nonne salutem? Die, homo, die mihi; die, homo perdite, quem reparavi, Siene rapi merui, sine vindice? sicne perire? Me tibi posse rapi non vis effecerat hostis, Immo tuum vitium. Quia tot tua crimina vidi, Rapta rapi volui: puduit minus in peregrinis Quam castris sordere meis. An sordidus esses, Si mundus latuit te, qui videt omnia, vidit. Esse tuum piene Deus intus et in cute novit Meque tibi rapuit. Juris poscente rigore Infligenda foret gravis ultio, mors sine fine. Sed veni, miserator ait, miseris misereri, Non de judicio contendere. Parcere veni, Non punire. Cave! Respice! Revertere tandem, Si mundus latuit te ] Si mundum latuit, te FP (my emendation).

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Forestall him; be willing to hail him as master (450). In the meantime, mock him none the less with gestures that belie your words. Mortify him by making the beak, 13 or wear a distorted smile, or wrinkle your nose. In pursuing this approach we ought not to use the mouth but to turn up the nose (454). Thus does Apostrophe vary its appearance. It rebukes depraved error, after the manner of a teacher; or it lies in tears and lamentations for any difficult lot; or it rises up in anger because of a great crime; or it bears itself ridiculously against the ridiculous. Drawn from such causes, Apostrophe acquires verbal ornament and harmony (460). [III.A.5: Prosopopeia (lines 461-531).] Come, O Prosopopeia, the fifth aid in expanding the discourse. Let license properly grant the power of speech to that which has it not. Thus the earth, experiencing the fires of Phaethon, complained to Jove; thus Rome, with unbound hair (465), tearfully lamented the insensitivity of Caesar. If you want a modern example, take this one; behold the lament of the holy cross: I, the ravished cross, lament, being snatched away by the force of rabid14 hands and polluted by the touch of dogs. I was shamefully16 taken away (470) long ago; to this time I have not been wrested back by force nor redeemed by the sword. Say, O man, did I not grow for you? bear fruit for you? Did I not bear sweet fruit for you, did I not bear salvation? Say, O man, say unto me, O lost man, whom I have purchased, did I deserve to be thus snatched away, with none to avenge me, and thus to perish (475)? Not the strength of the enemy but your own vice enabled me to be captured. Because I had seen all your crimes, I desired to be stolen away: it is less shameful to be reviled in a foreign land than in my own home. He who sees all, sees whether you are to be despised, although the world were to cover you. Since God knows your being through and through, He snatched me from you. If the full rigor of the law were demanded, a grave vengeance would have been inflicted: death without end. But I have come (says the Merciful One) to have pity on the pitiable, not to prosecute the judgment. I came to show mercy (485), not to punish. Beware! Look back! Return finally, lest you perish, O Shulamite! If you turn back, I will turn to you, quickly returning to the heart which has returned. Arise

18 14 16

Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337. Properly, 'abusive' ; but I have tried to retain the wordplay (469-70 : canina:canum). Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337.

40

490

495

500

505

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Ne pereas, Sunamitis! Ego, si verteris, ad te Vertar et instanter ad corda reversa revertar. Surge cito, propera, te citat et excitat hora. Quid dormis? Vigila! Si te crux sancta redemit, Ense crucem redimas; et fias inde redemptor Unde redemptus eras. Quis sanus ad utile torpet? In cruce sudavit Dominus: servusne quiescit? Tolle tuam ! Tulit ipse suam. Gustavit acetum: Fac et idem ! Num major erit reverentia servi Quam Domini? Si vis suus esse secutor, oportet Tormentis tormenta sequi. Non itur ad astra Deliciis; ideo mortem, quam solvere debes Naturae, persolve Deo: moriaris in ilio; Quandoquidem mortem non est vitare necesse, Transeat in formam virtutis: sim "tibi causa Mortis, adhuc etiam mortis. Si vinceris, ex hoc Vincis. Sed vinci plus est quam vincere: Victor Sola spe, victus fruitur mercede coronae. Rumpe moras igitur; impone silentia carni; Delicias suspende tuas; et currat ad arma Prompta manus, plangatque moras alata voluntas.

Ancillatur item decor alter prosopopeiae, U t si j a m t r i t u m dicat mensale : Solebam 510 Esse decus mensae dum primula ftoruit aetas, Dum faciem gessi sine crimine. Sed, quia longi Temporis et fracti sum vultus, nolo venire. Mensa, recedo, vale. G e m i n o sic f u n g i t u r ore,

Cum loquitur rigide, tum prosopopeia jocose. 515 Si vetus exemplum non sufficit, ecce novellum. In specula montis innata Superbia castris Est Gallis ita visa loqui : Quid, Gallio, garris? Unde minae tantae? Quae tanta superbia linguae? Pone superciliuml Gestus dedisce minaces! 520 Unde tuo lateri clypei? vel tela? vel enses? Femineum vulgus, gestus depone viriles, Gestis ut gestus respondeat. Exue parmam Et galeae conum. Decuit te volvere pensa Et vacuare colum: cur ergo, vel unde superbis? 517 Gallis ABCD ] gravis FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337). 525 Faral incorrectly numbers this 520.

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quickly, make haste, the hour calls and summons you. 1 " Why do you sleep? awake! If the holy cross redeemed you (490), may you redeem it by the sword; thence you will be the redeemer where once you were the redeemed. What reasonable man hesitates to perform a useful act? Our Lord toiled on the cross; shall the servant remain inactive? He took up His cross: take up your own. He tasted vinegar: do likewise. Shall the servant receive more reverence (495) than does the master? If you wish to be His follower, you ought to follow Him torment for torment. The way to the stars does not lie through delight. Thus pay your debt to God, which is your debt to nature: you will die in Him. Seeing that it is impossible to avoid death (500), may it become a source of virtue. May I be to you a martial cause, up to now even a mortal cause. 17 If you conquer, you conquer in this. 18 But it is greater to be conquered than to conquer: the winner enjoys only hope, the defeated enjoys the reward of a crown. Therefore, no more delay: silence the flesh (505), give up your pleasures. Let the ready hand take up arms, let the winged will beat at the cage of delay.

Another grace of Prosopopeia is useful in a case such as this, if a now worn-out tablecloth should say: While my early youth flourished, I used to grace the meal (510): my appearance was then without reproach. But since I have an aged and torn appearance, I shall not come. Feast, I retire: farewell.

Thus does Prosopopeia discharge its office with twofold utterance: at times grave, at times humorous. If an old example does not suffice, here is a new one (515). On the summit of a mountain,19 inborn pride seems to speak thus to the French camp: Gaul, why do you chatter? Whence so many threats? Why such great pride of speech? Put down your pride! Forget your menacing pose! Why your broad shields, your spears, your swords (520)? Effeminate crew, lay aside your virile posture, that your bearing may correspond to your deeds. Put away your shields and helmets. It was fitting for you to wind the threads and unwind the distaff: why and whence do you show pride? Place a lock on your tongue; fear

16

The Shulamite is the bride in the Song of Songs: allegorically, the soul of man. For the form Shunamite, as in Geoffrey's text, see I Kings 1.3. Notice also the verbal echoes in Geoffrey of the Biblical poem ("Surge, propera..."). 17 That is, the cause of deadly sin, since they had failed to rescue the cross. 18 An echo of "In hoc signo vinces". 18 Faral, p. 30, suggests that the reference is to the Château Gaillard.

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TEXT

525 Pone seram linguae; timeas turgescere verbis: Maxillis dabo frena tuis et vinculo collo Injiciam, reddamque brevi te tempore servam. Occupor in nihilo, dum te quasi Marte potentem Convenio; surgant alii quantumlibet hostes: 530 Non mihi sunt aequi, sed eis sum causa doloris, Cordis ad exemplar regis formata Ricardi. Si velit ulterius tractatus linea tendi, Materiae fines exi paulumque recede Et diverte stylum; sed nec divertere longe 535 Unde gravet revocare g r a d u m : modus iste modesto Indiget ingenio, ne sit via longior aequo. Est etiam quaedam digressio quando propinqua Transeo, quod procul est praemittens ordine verso. Progressurus enim medium quandoque relinquo 540 Et saltu quodam quasi transvolo ; deinde reverter U n d e prius digressus eram. Res ne sit operta N u b e minus pura, rem tali pingo figura: Unius astringit duo pectora nodus amoris; Corpora disjungit nova causa. Sed ante recessum 545 Oscula praefigit os ori; cingit utrumque Mutuus et stringit amplexus; fans oculorum In faciem lacrimas derivai; et ultima verba Singultus medius intersecai. Estque doloris Calcar amor viresque dolor testatur amoris. 550 Veri cedit hiems. Nebulas diffibulat aer Et caelum blanditur humo. Lascivit in illam Humidus et calidus; et quod sit masculus aer Femina sentii humus. Flos, filius ejus, in auras Exit et arridet matri; coma primula comit 555 Arboreos apices; praemortua semina surgunt In vitam; ventura seges praevivit in herba. Hoc tempus titillai aves. Haec temporis hora, Quos nondum divisit amor, divisit amantes. Septima succedit praegnans descriptio verbis, 560 U t dilatet opus. Sed, cum sit lata, sit ipsa Laeta: pari f o r m a speciosa sit et spatiosa. In celebri f o r m a faciat res nubere verbis. Si cibus esse velit et plena refectio mentis,

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to be swollen with words (525). I will rein your jaws and chain your necks, and speedily enslave you. It is meaningless for me to address you as if you were powerful in war. Let any number of other enemies arise: they are not my equals, but rather I am to them a cause of sorrow (530), being made after the pattern of the heart of King Richard. [III.A.6: Digression (lines 532-58).] If the line of discourse needs to be stretched further, step outside of the bounds of the matter, recede a bit, and devote your pen to other things; but do not digress so widely that it will become burdensome to regain your place. This manner of Amplification requires a restrained talent, lest the course of the Digression be longer than is proper (536). It is one form of Digression to pass over proximate matter and, changing the order, put first what lies further off. For, being about to proceed, at times I leave behind the middle and pass over it, so to speak, by a certain leap; later I return (540) whence I first digressed. Lest the matter be hidden under an unclear cloud, I will depict the matter in this way: The knot of love binds two breasts, but a recent occasion separated their bodies. Before the separation, mouth plants kiss on mouth; they grasp each other in mutual embrace; the fountain of the eyes (546) draws off tears onto the face; sobs interrupt their parting words. Love is a spur of sorrow, and sorrow the evidence of the strength of love. Winter gives way to spring. The air removes the clouds (550) and the heavens smile upon the earth. The air, warm and wet, wantons with the ground: the feminine ground feels the masculine force of the air. The flower, its offspring, bursts into the air and smiles on its mother. New foliage adorns the tops of the trees. Previously dead seeds spring (555) into life; the coming harvest preexists in the shoots. This season gladdens the birds. This time of year divided the lovers, whom love had not yet divided. [III.A.7: Description (lines 559-672).] The seventh method of lengthening the work is by inserting a description pregnant with words. But although it be wide let it be (560) winsome: let it be equally spacious and specious. Let the matter marry the words in a distinguished manner. If nourishment and a full meal for the mind be required, let not the discourse be too short in its brevity or trite in its

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Ne sit curta nimis brevitas vel trita vetustas. 565 Sint variata novis exempla secuta figuris, Rebus ut in variis oculus spatietur et auris. Femineum piene si vis formare decorem, Praeformet capiti Naturae circinus orbem; Crinibus irrutilet color auri; lilia vernent 570 In specula frontis; vaccinia nigra coaequet Forma supercilii; geminos intersecet arcus Lactea forma viae; castiget regula nasi Ductum, ne citra sistat vel transeat aequum; Excubiae frontis, radient utrimque gemelli 575 Luce smaragdina vel sideris instar ocelli; Aemula sit fades Aurorae, nec rubicundae Nec nitidae, sed utroque simul neutroque colore. Splendeat os forma spatii brevis et quasi cycli Dimidii; tanquam praegnantia labra tumore 580 Surgant, sed modico rutilent, ignita, sed igne Mansueto; denies niveos compaginet ordo, Omnes unius staturae; thuris et oris Sit pariter conditus odor; mentumque polito Marmore plus poliat Natura potentior arte. 585 Succubo sit capitis pretiosa colore columna Lactea, quae speculum vultus supportet in altum. Ex cristallino procédât gutture quidam Splendor, qui possit oculos referire videntis Et cor furari. Quadam se lege coaptent 590 Ne jaceant quasi descendant, ne stent quasi surgant, Sed recti sedeant humeri; placeantque lacerti, Tarn forma gracili quam longa deliciosi. Confluât in tenues dígitos substantia mollis Et macro, forma teres et lactea, linea longa 595 Et directa: decor manuum se jactet in illis. Pectus, imago nivis, quasi quasdam collatérales Gemmas virgíneas producat utrimque papillas. Sit locus astrictus zonae, brevitate pugilli Circumscriptibilis. Taceo de partibus infra: 600 Aptius hie loquitur animus quam lingua. Sed ipsa Tibia se gracilem protendat; pes brevitatis Eximiae brevitate sua lasciviat. Et sic A summo capitis descendat splendor ad ipsam

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antiquity. Let varied examples be followed 20 by new figures (565), so that eye and ear can wander at large among varieties. If you wish to describe womanly beauty: Let Nature's compass draw the outline of the head; let the color of gold gleam in the hair; let lilies grow (569) on the lofty forehead. Let the eyebrows equal black whortleberries in appearance; let a milky way intersect the twin eyebrows; let restraint rule the shape of the nose, lest it fall short of, or exceed, the proper bounds. Let the sentinels of the forehead gleam from both sides, twin little eyes with emerald lights, like a constellation. Let the face be like the dawn, neither rosy nor white, but of both and neither color at the same time. Let the diminutive mouth shine forth like a half circle; let the swelling lips be moderately full, and red, fired with a mild flame (580). Let order join together the snowwhite, even teeth. Let the savory odor of the mouth be like frankincense; let Nature, more powerful than art, polish the chin smoother than marble. Let the milky supporting column of the head, of exquisite color, raise the mirror of the face on high (586); from the crystalline throat let there proceed a certain spendor which can strike the eyes of the beholder and steal the heart. By a certain law let the shoulders be similar, neither sloping nor rising (590) but resting in a straight line. Let the upper arms, as long as they are slender, be enchanting. Let the fingers be soft and slim in substance, smooth and milkwhite in appearance, long and straight in shape: in them let the beauty of the hand shine forth (595). Let the snowy bosom present both breasts like virginal gems set side by side. Let the waist be slim, a mere handful. I will not mention the parts beneath: here the imagination speaks better than the tongue. But (600) let the leg show itself graceful; let the remarkably dainty foot wanton with its own daintiness. And thus let beauty descend from the top of the head to the very feet, and let all be adorned alike to the smallest detail.

20

Sedgewick," Notes and Emendations", p. 337.

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TEXT

Radicem, totumque simul poliatur ad unguem. 605 Formae jam pictae si vis appingere cultum, Nexilis a tergo coma compia recomplicet aurum; Irradiet frontis candori circulus auri; Se nudet facies proprio vestita colore; Lactea stelliferum praecingat colla monile; 610 Instita candescat bysso, chlamis ardeat auro; Zona tegat medium, radiantibus undique gemmis; Brachia luxurient armillis; circinet aurum Subtiles digitos et gemma superbior auro Diffundat radios; certent in veste serena 615 Ars cum materia. Nihil addere cultibus Ulis Aut manus aut animus possit. Sed divite cultu Pluris erit facies. Quis in hac face nesciat ignes? Quis non inveniat flammam? Si Jupiter illis Temporibus vidisset eam, nec in Amphitrione 620 Luderet Alcmenam; nec sumeret ora Dianae, Ut te fraudaret, Calixto, flore; nec Yo Nube, nec Antiopam satyro, nec Agenore natam Tauro, Messione nec te pastore, vel igne Ansepho genitam, vel te Deionis in angue, 625 Vel Ledam cygno, vel Danem fallerei auro. Hanc unam colerei omnesque videret in una.

Sed, cum sit formae descriptio res quasi trita Et vetus, exemplum sit in his, ubi rarior usus: Excipiente thoro reges regnique potentes, 630 Mensae delicias orditur lactis imago, Culta Ceres; Bachusque senex juvenescit in auro: Solus ibi vel nectareo perfusus odore Degenerare sinit et lascivire saporem. Regia pompa dapum veniens immilitat auro 635 Inque vicem seseque dapes mirantur et aurum. Praecipuum mensae speculum speculare clientes: Certat cum Paride vultus, cum Parthonopeo Aetas, cum Creso census, cum Caesare sanguis; Cetera si spectes in corpore, cum nive byssus,

605 jam A ] tam FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337); 608 proprio vestita colore C ] proprium vestita colorem FP; 619ff. are from Ovid, Met. VI, 102ff. (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337).

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If you wish to add the apparel to the form already depicted (605): Let the golden hair be bound at the back. Let a circlet of gold enhance the whiteness of the forehead ; let the face appear adorned in its natural color. Let a star-bearing necklace encircle the milk-white neck. Let the border of the tunic gleam with linen, and the wool cloak burn with gold (610). The girdle conceals the waist, with gems shining all around. Let the arms be rich with bracelets, and gold encircle the slimfingers; and let a jewel finer than gold send forth its beams. In these fair garments (614), art strives with matter. Neither hand nor mind can add to this array. But the face will be of more value than this rich clothing. Who does not know the fire of this brand? Who does not find a flame there? If Jupiter had seen it in days gone by, he would not have wantoned with Alcmena in the guise of Amphitrion, nor assumed the features of Diana (620) in order to deflower you, Callisto ; nor would he have deceived Io by a cloud, nor Antiopa by a satyr, nor the daughter of Asopus by a flame, nor you, Deiois, by a snake, nor Leda by a swan, Dana by a shower of gold (625). This woman alone would he cherish, and see all the others in her. But, since the description of the human form is more or less trite and shopworn, take this example, less often employed: When the couch receives kings and masters of the kingdom, cultivated grain, milk-white in appearance, begins the delights of the table (630). Old Bacchus regains his strength in golden cups: only there, or poured forth with odor of nectar, can the savory wine wax wild and wanton. The coming regal procession of the feast vies with the gold. The guests marvel at the feast and the gold by turns (635). They gaze on the chief mirror of the banquet: his face vies with Paris, his age with Parthenopeus, his property with Croesus, his blood with Caesar. If you consider his raiment, the flax vies with snow, the purple cloth with flame, the gems with stars. See (640) how everything grows more savory when seasoned by the taste of the guests.

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640 Cum flammis ostrum, cum sidere gemma. Videres Singula plus sapere, condita sapore clientum. Delicias alias, oculus quas gestii et auris, Gesticulator habet. Gestus non omnibus unus, Cuique suus: plus mellis habet variata voluptas. 645 Tinnula sistra volant oculos pascentia regum, Alternantque manus, sistroque volatile sistrum Surgit in occur sum. Vadunt redeuntque; resurgunt Et recidunt; simulantque minas, pugnaeque jocosae Instar agunt; sese fugiunt seseque sequuntur. 650 Hinc in utraque manu gemina ludente tabella Ludit in ore sonus; pes non vacat, immo frequenter It, redit et lepide passu migratur eodem; Vox comes et passus: pariter ferit aera cantus, Et sese tabulae strepitusque saporat in aure. 655 Tertius admotus agilis se gyrat in orbem

660

665

670

675

Aut volat in longum, vel membra supina resumit In saltum facilem, molles aut arcuat artus In talos refuga cervice, vel ensis acumen Erigit et certus dubios intervolat enses. Singula mireris; sed, adhuc jocundius istis, Nunc sonus exultât manuum, nunc arte jocosa Colludunt digiti, nunc brachia curvai in arcum Infurcata manus lateri celerique meatu Furantur motus humeri. Gestumque videres Instrumenta sequi, quorum sua cuique voluptas: Tibia feminea, tuba mascula, tympana rauca, Cymbala praeclara, concors symphonia, dulcis Fistula, somniferae citharae, vidulaeque jocosae. Omnia certatim plaudunt, et tempora tardant Deliciae qualesque decent convivio regum. Sic célébrés r e g u m mensas et gaudia mensae, Sic breve p r o p o s i t u m longo p r o d u c i m u s ore. Restât a d h u c aliud q u o d linguam reddit o p i m a m : Quaelibet induitur duplicem sententia f o r m a m : Altera p r o p o s i t a m rem p o n i t et altera tollit O p p o s i t a m . Duplex m o d u s in r e m c o n s o n a t u n a m Sicque fluunt v o c u m rivi d u o : rivus uterque Confluii; e x u n d a n t voces ex duplice rivo.

655 admotus ] ad motus FP (my emendation); 657 facilem ABCD ] fragilem FP.

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The acrobatic dancers21 present other delights which eye and ear eagerly desire. They do not perform the same feats, but each one his own; varied pleasure has more sweetness. Tinkling tambourines22 whisk about, feeding the eyes of kings (645). They change hands, rattle rising to meet rattle. They leave and return, rise and fall, simulate threatening postures and form the appearance of a mock battle, fly from and pursue one another. Then holding twin tambourines, one in each hand (650), he strikes sounds from their drums. His foot is not idle but often goes, returns, and with pleasant step flits back again. Song accompanies the dance; at the same time song strikes the air and the jingle of tambourines sounds sweet in the ear. The third agile tumbler to come forward twists himself into a circle (655), or takes a long leap, or regathers his backbent limbs into an easy leap ; or he arcs his supple limbs, hiding his neck between his ankles ; or he sets up a sword, and the unwavering man leaps among the waving swords. You may marvel at each of these, but, more pleasing than anything so far (660), the sound of hands now arises, now fingers play together with happy art, now the hand curves the bent arms to the sides in a bow, and the motions of the shoulders swiftly steal away. You see instruments follow these motions, each with its own special delight (665) : the feminine flute, the masculine trumpet, the booming drums, magnificent cymbals, the harmonious symphony, the sweet Pan-pipes, the drowsy lutes and jolly viols.23 The guests applaud everything earnestly, and delights, such as befit the feasts of kings, prolong the hours. Thus will you celebrate the feasts of kings and the delights of the table (671); thus do we draw out a brief statement by a long disquisition. [III.A. 8: Opposition'(lines 673-94).] There remains another method of enriching discourse; any statement whatever can assume a double form: one sets down the proposition and the other denies (675) its opposite. This double method accords in having a single meaning; thus does the double brook of expression flow. Each flows into the other; and from this double river, expression will overflow.

21

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 368. Ibid., p. 371. 2S Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 371. 22

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Hoc sit in exemplum : Sapiens est ilia juventa; 680 Ista juventutis est et non forma senilis: Pone juventutem vultus vel tolle senectam. Pone senectutem mentis vel tolle juventam: Ista senectutis est mens et non juvenilis. Ut potè si tali decurrat limite lingua: 685 Ista senectutis non est gena, sed juvenilis; Ista juventutis non est mens, immo senilis. Vel sumens adjuncta rei, sic longius ibis : Non facies illa rugosa, nec arida pellis; Nec cor concussum senio, nec pulmo fatiscens, 690 Nec lumbi rigidi, nec spina recurva; juventa Corporis est aetas, animi longaeva senecta. Sic surgit permulta seges de semine pauco : Flumina magna trahunt ortus de fonte pusillo, De tenui virga grandis protenditur arbor. 695 Si brevis esse velis, prius ista priora recide, Quae pompam faciunt; modicumque prematur in orbem Summula materiae, quam tali comprime lege: Plurima perstringat paucis expressa locutrix Emphasis; — ore brevi dispendia lata coartet 700 Articulus punctim caesus; — compendia quaedam Ablativus habet cum sit sine remige solus; — Respuat audiri bis idem ; — prudentia docti In dictis non dicta notet; — conjunctio ne sit Nodus clausarum, sed eas sinat ire solutas ; 705 — Vel manus artificis multas ita conflet in unam, Mentis ut intuitu multae videantur in una. Hac brevitate potes longum succingere thema, Hac cymba transire fretum. Narratio facti Eligit hanc formam verbi, quae facta modeste 710 Non superinfundat nubem, sed nube remota Inducat solem. Concurrant ergo, sed apte, Emphasis, articulus, casus sine remige liber, Unius in reliquo nota callida, vincula dempta Clausarum, sensus multarum clausus in una, 702 docti ] dicti FP (Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 358); 711 Inducat BCD ] Inducet FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 337).

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Take this example: That youth is wise: his is the appearance of youth and not of old age (680).

Affirm the youth of the face or deny its old age; affirm the age of the mind or deny its youth : That mind is old, not young.

For example, if the tongue runs on such a path it might write: That face is not of age but of youth (685); that is not the mind of youth, but of old age.

Or speaking about the adjuncts of the thing, thus expand your matter: That face is not rough nor the skin dry; nor the heart stricken with weakness, not the lungs exhausted; not the loins stiff, nor the back bent double. Young (690) is the age of the body, mature is the old age of the mind.

Thus does a great crop spring from scanty seed; great rivers have their origin in a tiny stream; the great tree springs up from a slender shoot. [III.B: Methods of Abbreviation (lines 695-741).] If you wish to be brief, refrain from the above methods (695), which make for effusion; let a summary of the material be compressed into a modest range, which you can condense thus: Let Emphasis reduce many expressions to a few; let Comma constrain scattered material in a brief discourse; the Ablative Absolute has a certain conciseness (701); do not say the same thing twice; the discretion of the wise man observes what is said through what is left unsaid. Do not let conjunctions tie the clauses together, but let them proceed unbound. Or let the hand of the craftsman gather many clauses into one (705), so that through the perception of the mind, many can be seen in one. With such brevity you can bind together a long theme; in this boat you can cross the strait. The narration of fact chooses this form of expression, which restrainedly does not scatter clouds about but removes clouds (710) to bring in the sun. Hence let run together, but aptly, Emphasis, Comma, Ablative Absolute, a cunning hint at one [unspoken] statement to be found in the rest; removal of the conjunctions among clauses; the sense of many clauses fused into one (714); no repetition of the same expression. Use either all these, or at least what the matter requires.

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715 Ejusdem verbi repetitio nulla. Vel ista Omnia, vel saltern quod res desiderai ipsa. Ecce rei speculum: res tota relucet in ilio: Rebus in augendis longe distante marito, Uxor moecha parit puerum. Post multa reverso 720 De nive conception fingit. Fraus mutua. Caute Sustinet. Asportai, vendit matrique reportons Ridiculum simile liquefactum sole refingit. Si breviore velit brevitas subsistere meta, Dormiat in primis omnis sententia. Verbi 725 Non meminisse velis; sed tantum nomina rerum Scribe stylo cordis, virtus ubi tota reclinat Thematis. Hoc facto quasi fungere lege fabrili : Ferrum materiae, decoctum pectoris igne, Transfer ad incudem studii. Permolliat illud 730 Malleus ingenii, cujus luctatio crebra Formet ab informi massa peridonea verba. Verba, coadjunctis aliis quae verba sequuntur, Post confient folles rationis, nomina verbis Verbaque nominibus, quae totum thema loquantur. 735 Sic breve splendet opus : nihil exprimit aut magis aequo Aut minus. Iste novae brevitatis acutior usus. Hujus ad exemplum brevis haec subscriptio servit: De nive conceptum quem mater adultera fingit Sponsus eum vendens liquefactum sole refingit. 740 Vir, quia quem peperit genitum nive femina fingit, Vendit et a simili liquefactum sole refingit. Sit brevis aut longus, se semper sermo coloret Intus et exterius, sed discernendo colorem Ordine discreto. Verbi prius inspice mentem 745 Et demum faciem, cujus ne crede colori : Se nisi conformet color intimus exteriori, Sordet ibi ratio : faciem depingere verbi Est pictura luti, res est falsaria, ficta Forma, dealbatus paries et hypocrita verbum 750 Se simulans aliquid, cum sit nihil. Haec sua forma Dissimulât deforme suum: se jactitat extra, Sed nihil intus habet; haec est pictura remota 752 remota AD ] remoto FP.

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Here is a mirror of the subject: the entire matter shines out from it: The husband being long absent to increase his holdings, his adulterous wife gives birth to a boy. When he returns long after, she pretends it was conceived of snow. Mutual deception. He cautiously (720) restrains himself. He carries it away, sells it; he pays back her deception, telling her similar nonsense, that the sun has melted the boy.

If you want brevity to be shorter yet, first of all eliminate all sententiousness. Do not call to mind the full verbal expression; rather, with the stylus of the heart, write down the names of those things which express the essence (726) of the theme. This done, work along the artificer's lines: heat the iron of your subject in the fire of your breast, then place the iron on the anvil of effort. Let the hammer of genius soften it, and let frequent blows (730) strike the most essential words from the unformed mass. Then let the bellows of reason melt the words together, after having added all auxiliary words, so that basic names and essential words are joined together (734). Thus will a brief work shine forth; it expresses nothing more or less than is fitting. This latter kind of brevity is more pointed. The following brief passage will serve as an example: The child which the adulterous mother feigned was conceived of snow the father sold, similarly pretending that the sun had melted it (739). Because his wife pretended the son she bore was engendered of snow, the husband sold it and similarly pretended it had been melted by the sun. [IV: Stylistic O r n a m e n t : the ornatus gravis and ornatus levis (lines 742-

1592).] IV.A: Novelty of expression (lines 742-69).] Whether short or long, let the discourse always be decorated within and without; but choose among ornaments with discretion. First examine the soul of the word and then its face, whose outward show alone you should not trust (745). Unless the inner ornament conforms to the outer requirement, the relationship between the two is worthless.24 Painting only the face of an expression results in a vile picture, a falsified thing, a faked form, a whitewashed wall, a verbal hypocrite which pretends to be something when it is nothing. Its form (750) covers up its deformity; it vaunts itself outwardly but has no inner substance. This is the kind of picture which pleases at a distance, but displeases close up. Therefore 24

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 376.

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Quae placet, admota quae displicet. Ergo memento Ne sis praeproperus; sed in his quae dixeris esto 755 Argus et argutis oculis circumspice verba In re proposita. Sententia si sit honesta, Ejus ei servetur honos : ignobile verbum Non inhonestet earn, sed, ut omnia lege regantur, Dives honoretur sententia divite verbo, 760 Ne rubeat matrona potens in paupere panno. Ut res ergo sibi pretiosum sumat amictum, Si vetus est verbum, sis physicus et veteranum Redde novum. Noli semper concedere verbo In proprio residere loco : residentia talis 765 Dedecus est ipsi verbo; loca propria vitet Et perigrinetur alibi sedemque placentem Fundet in alterius fundo : sit ibi novus hospes, Et placeat novitate sua. Si conficis istud Antidotum, verbi facies juvenescere vultum. 770 Instruit iste modus transsumere verba decenter. Si sit homo de quo fit sermo, transferor ad rem Expressae similem; quae sit sua propria vestis In simili casu cum videro, mutuor illam Et mihi de veste veteri transformo novellam. 775 Ecce vides. Verbo propriato dicitur aurum Fulvum, lac nitidum, rosa praerubicunda, mei ipsum Dulcifluum, flammae rutilae, corpus nivis album. Die igitur: Denies nivei, Labbra flammea, Gustus Mellitus, Vultus roseus, Frons lactea, Crinis 780 Aureus. Aptantur bene : Denies Nix; Labra Flammae; Gustus Mel; Vultus Rosa; Frons Lac; Crinis et Aurum. Et, quia lucet ibi junctura simillima rerum, Si de quo loqueris sit non homo, lora retorque Mentis ad id quod homo. Verbum, quod ponit ibidem 785 Articulus similis proprie, transsume decenter. Ut, si forte velis haec dicere: Tempora veris Exornare solum, primos exsurgere flores, Ad placitum fieri tempus, cessare procellas, Esse fretum planum, motus sine turbine, valles 790 Depressas, monies erectos, discute tecum Tale quid in nobis, quod propria verba loquantur. Ornatum faciens, pingis\ primordia nactus,

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remember not to be over hasty, but be like Argus in choosing your words: with an acute eye look over the words (755) of the subject set out before you. If the sentiment be sincere, its sincerity will protect it. Do not let unworthy words do it dishonor, but, that all may be guided by rule, let a noble sentiment be graced by a noble expression, lest a well-born matron blush to be dressed in shabby garments (760). In order that the matter may adopt costly garments, if the words are old, be a physician and rejuvenate them. Do not always allow a word to reside in its usual place; such residence (764) does not suit it; let it avoid its proper place and wander elsewhere, to find a pleasing seat in another's ground: let it be a new sojourner there and please by its novelty. If you prepare this remedy you will rejuvenate the face of the word. [IV.B. Ornatus Gravis (lines 770-1098) IV.B.i: Translatio (lines 770-949) IV.B.i.l: Metaphor (lines 770-923).] This method teaches the correct use of metaphor. If it is a man about whom I speak, I will speak in terms of something similar to this subject. When I see what is its proper garment in a similar case, I will draw upon it and make a new garment from the old. An example: the word properly applied to gold is (775) red-yellow, to milk, white; to the rose, deep red\ to honey, sweet-flowing-, to flames, red-, to the body, snow-white. Therefore say, teeth like snow, lips of flame, taste honey-sweet, rosy face, milk-white forehead, golden hair. They fit each other well: teeth, snow; lips, flame (780); taste, honey; face, rose; forehead, milk; hair, gold. And, since a very similar connection shines forth in these cases, if your subject is not a man, twist the reins of the mind back to human attributes. Make apt metaphorical use of a word which is used literally to express a similar relationship (785). Assume you wish to say this: Springtime adorns the land; the firstflowersshoot up; the time grows pleasant; storms cease; the sea is calm; there is motion without uproar; valleys lie low; mountains tower erect. Ask yourself (790) what words describing human attributes might properly be applied: adorning, you paint ; the beginning of birth, you are born;

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815

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Nasceris; alloquio placidus, blandiris; ab omni Re cessans, dormisi immotus, stas pede fixo. Pressus ad ima,jaces; erectus in aera, surgis. Ergo sapit verbum si dicas : Tempora veris Fingere flore solum, nasci primordio florum, Blandiri tempus placidum, dormire procellas Cessantes, freta stare quasi non mora, jacere Depressas valles, erectos surgere monies. Quando tuum proprium transsumis, plus sapit istud Quod venit ex proprio. Talis transsumptio verbi Est tibi pro speculo : quia te specularis in ilio Et proprias cognoscis oves in rure alieno. Talia multa vide, sicut si forte velimus Nequitias hiemis tali proponere forma: Semper hiems inhiat duris praedura tyrannis, Imperio cujus contristant area nimbi, Excaecat caligo diem, parit aura procellas, Nix claudit stratas, transfigit bruma medullas, Grondo flagellai humum, glacies incarcerai undas. Vel, si dicamus de tempore navibus apto : Non objurgat aquas aquilo, nec inebriai auster Aera; sed solis radius, quasi scopa lutosi Aeris, emundat caelum, vultuque sereno Tempus adulatur pelago, clandestina flatus Murmura stare freturn faciunt et currere vela. Aut si fabriles ritus hoc ore loquamur: Ad folles vigilant flammae, sepelitur in igne Massa rudis, coctam transmittit ab igne recenti Forceps incudi, dat verbera crebra magister Malleus et duris praecorripit ictibus illam Sicque quod optat agit: vel cassidis elicit orbem, Utile consilium capiti, vel procreai ensem, Legitimum socium lateri, vel corporis hospes Loricae procedit opus; connascitur illis Ocrea subterior, clypeo quam tibia sumat, Et stimulus scitator equi, quem talus adoptet, Et species aliae ferri quas armat acumen. Exhaurit ferrum fades tam dissona rerum, Tarn variae species armorum. Malleus ictum Supprimit; incudes respirant calle peracto;

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pleasant speech, you allure; ceasing all activity, you sleep-, motionless, you stand fixed; lying low, you recline; shooting into the air, you arise (795). Hence the words will have savor if you say: Springtime paints the ground with flowers; birds are born; the quiet season allures; the calming storms sleep; the ocean stands still as if immobile; the low valleys lie; the erect mountains rise up (800). It is more pleasing to apply human characteristics in such a way. Such a metaphorical use of words serves you like a mirror, for you can see yourself in it, and recognize your own sheep in a strange countryside (804). If perchance we wish to describe the harmfulness of winter in this manner, consider these many examples: Winter always longs for very harsh things,25 a harsh tyranny by whose power clouds sadden the air, mist blinds the day, the air gives birth to storms, snow closes the streets, winter pierces the marrow (810), hail beats the earth, ice imprisons the waves. Or if we speak of weather suited for sailing: The north wind does not chide the waters, nor does the south wind make drunk the air; but the rays of the sun, like a broom for the murky air, purifies the sky, and the weather with serene countenance (815) fawns on the sea. The hidden murmur of the breeze makes the sea be still and the sails to run. Or we can speak of a blacksmith's labor in this way: The flames keep watch at the bellows; the crude mass is buried in the flame; the forceps transfers the heated mass from the vigorous fire (820) to the anvil; master28 hammer gives frequent blows, and by hard blows reproves the metal so that it does what he wants it to do. Either he draws forth the round form of a helmet, a useful protection for the head; or he produces a sword (824), fit companion for the side; or a suit of armor, host of the body, comes forth. Born together with them is the lower greave, which the leg adopts as a defence; and spurs to prod the steed, which the heel adopts; and other types of weapons, armed by points. As many different forms use up 27 the iron (830) as there are varied kinds of arms. The hammer suppressed its blows; the anvils catch their breath, their journey over; the work lasts to the end and finishes the task. 28

26

Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", pp. 337-38. That is, in the sense of a teacher who chastises a student. Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 373. 28 Ibid., p. 367.

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Ad metam subsistit opus finitque diaetam. 835 Egregie sic verba locas; sic verba locata Pervia mentis erunt oculo. Sed verba locare Res onerosa quidem studio. Modus iste loquendi Est gravis estque levis: gravis est inventio verbi, Mens levis inventi. Sic se contraria miscent, 840 Sed pacem spondent hostesque morantur amici. Est ibi temperies quaedam. Ne sit leve verbum, Vile vel illepidum: trahit a gravitate leporem Et pretium. Gravitas ne turgida sit vel opaca; Praestat ei levitas lucem reprimitque tumorem : 845 Altera castiget reliquam. Sic ergo loquaris, Sic grave junge levi, ne res haec detrahat illi, Sed sibi conveniant et sede fruantur eadem Pacificetque suam concors discordia litem. Ut magis urbane sedeat transsumptio verbi, 850 Non veniat solo comitanti nomine fixo : Mobile nomen ei dones, et tale sit illud, Quod piene succurrat ei nubemque serenet, Si qua sit in verbo; si non, illuminet illud Plenius et plenum lumen transfundat in ipsum. 855 Ecce sub hac forma si tale quid exprimo: Jura Mollescunt, vel : Jura rigent, nondum bene lucet, Sed tanquam sub nube latet transsumptio verbi ; Et quia sic positum sedet in caligine verbum, Mobile nomen ei det lumen et adjuvet illud. 860 Die igitur melius: Dispensatoria jura Mollescunt, dìstricta rigent. Jam mobile nomen Verbum promovit: districtio namque rigorem Exprimit et rigida, pia dispensatio jura Temperat et mollit. Sed quid si splendeat ex se 865 Verbum transsumptum? Nihilominus adjuvet ipsum Mobile, de cujus splendore suus geminetur. Esto satis lepide dicam, si dixero : Tellus Plus aequo rorem caeli potavit et imber Dispensavit eum temere. Tamen aptius istud 870 Et melius dices, si dixeris: Ebria tellus Plus aequo potavit aquas et prodigus imber Dispensavit eas temere, quia se comitantur Seque ligant instar hederae, quasi non patiantur

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Thus will you place words excellently; words so placed (835) will be comprehensible to the eye of the mind. To place words with diligence is a troublesome thing. This manner of speaking is easy and hard; it is hard to find the expression, but once found, the expression should be easy to understand. Thus contraries mix; but they pledge peace, and enemies become friends (840). Herein is a certain commingling. Let not the expression be easy, mean or unpleasant: it draws its grace and value from its gravity. But lest this gravity be turgid or opaque, let simplicity illuminate it and repress any bombast. Let the one quality restrain the other. Thus speak (845), joining gravity and simplicity. Do not let the one detract from the other but, mutually suited, let them enjoy the same seat. Let their concordant discord compose the strife. That the metaphorical application of the verb may be more polished, let not the verb come with one noun as its only companion (850); give it an adjective which will fully assist the verb and clear away the clouds from it, if there be any. If not, let it throw light abundantly on and through the verb. Thus, it is not sufficiently clear if I say The Laws are pliable or The laws are rigid, for the metaphorical use of the verb is as it were hidden under a cloud.29 And since the verb so placed remains in darkness, the adjective helps and illuminates it. Rather say, The dispensing laws (860) are pliable; the strict laws are unbending. The adjective clarifies the verb: strictness extorts rigor and rigidity, and kind dispensation tempers and softens the law. But what if a metaphorically employed verb shines of itself? Nonetheless, aid it (865) with an adjective from whose splendor its own will double. It is sufficiently graceful to say, The earth drank moisture more than was proper, and the rainstorm gave it out at random. However, you would speak much better and more aptly if you were to say, The drunken earth (870) drank more water than proper and the prodigal rain dispensed it at random; for, like vines of ivy, verb and adjective join together and bind each other as if to allow of no separation, but vow a pact

29 Geoffrey does not mean that the sentence is unclear, but rather that it is not here immediately obvious that to be pliable is being used metaphorically.

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A se divelli, sed jurant foedus in unum 875 Et sunt unanimes socii. Discredo talis Affricuit limam dempta rubigine verbis. Vincet adhuc istum melior pictura colorem, Quando movet litem cum verbo nomen, et ipsa Oderunt sese facietenus, attamen intus 880 Est amor et concors sententia. Quod docet istud : Dapsilis effundit, sed opes fundendo refundit; Nunquam fessa manus, nisi quando quiescit. Et istud : Ante Deifaciem devota silentia clamant. Consule res alias et idem mireris in illis : 885 Litibus alternis quando bellantur amantes, Crescit in hoc bello linguarum pax animorum ; Hoc odio conditur amor. Sic est et in istis : Se voces introrsus amant licet exteriores Sint inimicitiae. Lis est in vocibus ipsis ; 890 Sed litem totam sedat sententia vocum.

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Est aliud lumen quo vox transsumpta relucet, Quando sumpta semel transfertur et appropriatur Sicut in hac serie : Vetus ilia peritia Romae Legibus armavit linguas et corpora ferro, Ut simul aptaret linguas et corpora bello. Vel sit in exemplum, quia plus sapit hoc breve verbum : Armat eos in corde fides, in corpore ferrum. Vult ita transsumi verbum, vult mobile nomen, Vult fixum. Sed fit varie transsumptio verbi Vel praecedentis vel item ratione sequentis, Vel casus utriusque simul. Ratione fit ipsa Praecedentis, ut his : Sub verno tempore pausant Nubes, mansuescit aer, silet aura, loquentes Inter se joculantur aves, dormit mare, ludunt Rivi, pubescunt rami, pinguntur agelli, Et lascivit humus. Ratione sequentis, ut ecce: Papa, potens verbo, si linguam solvat, ab ore Seminai, unde cibai oculos et inebriai aures Et totum satiat animum. Ratione duorum, Talibus: Os papae cum dulcia verba propinai, Aures, dum loquitur, vigiles ex ore loquentis Verba bibunt animosque fricant audita quiete. Mobile transfertur pariter ratione triformi :

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of unity and remain harmonious companions. Such discernment (875) imparts polish to a word from which the dross has been removed. Yet a better word-picture surpasses this ornament when the noun conflicts with the verb: they are outwardly at odds, but inwardly there is love and accordance of meaning. An example: By pouring forth his wealth, the bountiful man got it back again (881). The hand is never tired unless it is at rest. And again: Devout silence cries out before the face of God. The same process occurs elsewhere: when lovers join battle in alternate reproaches (885), peace between souls grows from this strife between tongues: love is hidden in this hate. Thus also here: the meanings agree inwardly, so it is permitted for them to seem to be outward enemies. There is discord in their meanings, but the significance of the words puts all strife at rest (890). Metaphor can shine with another light, when the same word has a metaphorical as well as a literal application, as in this sequence: The old experience of Rome armed tongues with laws and bodies with weapons, so that tongues and bodies were at the same time fit for combat (895). This short expression is more pleasant: Faith arms them in heart, weapons in body. Thus should the verb be used metaphorically: it needs the adjective and the noun. But the verb can be used metaphorically in several ways: by corresponding with what precedes or what follows it (900), or with both at once. Here the figurative meaning is in accord with the subject: At springtime the clouds are still; the air grows mild; the winds grow silent; speaking to one another, the birds grow merry; the sea sleeps; the brooks play; the shoots ripen; the fields are painted (905); and the ground frolics. An example of its accord with the complement: Pope, powerful in eloquence, if you loosen your tongue you sow seed from your mouth whence you feast the eyes, inebriate the ears, and satisfy the entire spirit. The relation with subject and complement is as follows: When the mouth of the Pope offers sweet words (910), as he speaks watchful ears drink words from the mouth of the speaker, which when heard quietly stimulate the spirits. Similarly, an adjective can be used metaphorically in three ways. By reason of the noun to which it is joined, as here:

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Vel ratione sui fixi, cui jungitur ipsum 915 Improprie, velut hie: Sermonem discute quis sit, Crudus an excoctus, succosus an aridus, hirtus An comptus, rudis an excultus, inops an opimus; Vel ratione rei subjunctae, sicut in ista Subjuncta serie : Quid aget rex noster inermis 920 Consiliis, cinctus odiis, et nudus amicis? Aut utriusque simul dum dicitur : Ore disertus, Floridus eloquio, Veteranus marcidus aevo, Pauper re tenuis. — Sequitus transsumptio fixi. Fixum transsumptum si sit commune, colorem 925 Dat verbis talem : Populifragor impulit urbem Aut hujus formae : Tuba fulminis, Impetus aurae, Jurgia ventorum, Strepitus maris, Ira procellae. Si proprium fuerit, vel ad hoc transfertur ut ipso Laudes vel laedas tanquam cognomine : laudes 930 Talibus Ille Paris, vel laedas taliter Ille Thersites', vel ad hoc ut sit similatio quaedam, Scilicet hac forma: Navem regit ille magister Et Tiphis noster; vel redam rusticus ille Ductor et Autemodon noster; vel transfero nomen 935 Ex alia causa, ne sit similatio vera, Immo per antifrasim, tanquam derisio, quando Corpore deformem Paridem, vel corde ferocem Aeneam, vel vi fragilem cognomino Pirrum Aut sermone rudem Ciceronem, vel petulantem 940 Ypolitum. Renovat talis mutatio verbum. Sic transfert unam simplex mutatio vocem. Est quando plures, ut in isto scemate verbi : Pastores praedantur oves; duo nomina transfers Pastores et oves; nomen pastoris ad ipsos

933 Tiphis noster; vel redam rusticus ] Tiphis noster, vel redam; rusticus FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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Consider whether your discourse (915) is raw or well-done; juicy or arid; shaggy or combed; rude or cultivated; poor or rich. Or by reason of the complement, as in the sequence given here: What will our king do, not armed with advice, girded with hatred, and stripped of friends (920)? Or from both at once, as when we say: One skilled30 in speech; one flowery in eloquence; an old man withered by age; a poor man weak in possessions. Now we discuss the metaphorical use of the noun. [IV.B.i.2: Onomatopoeia (lines 924-27).] If it is a common noun, its metaphorical use decorates the words thus: The uproar31 of the people stirs up the city (925). Or thus: The trumpet of lightning; the rush of wind; the quarrel of the winds; the din of the sea; the anger of the storm. [IV.B.i.3: Antonomasia (lines 928-40).] If it is a proper noun, it is applied metaphorically to the subject for purposes of praise or blame, like a cognomen: praise, such as That Paris, or blame, such as That (930) Thersites. Or it is applied metaphorically because of a certain point of similarity: That ship's pilot is our Tiphis;32 that rustic cart-driver is our Automedon.33 Or I metaphorically apply a name for another reason: not that there be a true similarity (935), but through antífrasis, as if in derision, such as when I give the name of Paris to someone deformed of body, or that of Aeneas to one arrogant of spirit, or that of Pyrrhus to one weak in strength, or that of Cicero to one rough in speech, or that of Hippolytus to one lascivious. Such a change renews the word (940). [IV.B.i.4: Allegory (lines 941-49.)] Thus a simple change makes a metaphor of a single word. 34 At times 80

Disertus from dissere, to speak: hence the participle is here used metaphorically. Literally, 'breaking to pieces'. 82 Pilot of the Argo. 38 Achilles' charioteer. 84 It will be noted that up to this point Geoffrey has discussed not metaphor in general, but the metaphorical use of a single word in the sentence. 81

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945 Praelatos et nomen ovis transsumis ad ipsos Subjectos. Transfertur adhuc oratio tota Et pars nulla sui, quod talis sermo figurât: Litus arat, laterem lavat, auram verberat. Istae Sunt species per quas transsumptio verba colorât. 950 Taxatis transsume modis. Tamen esto modestus, Ne sis inflatus nec turgidus. Haec duo mista Sunt et honos et onus : onus est transsumere vocem Ut decet, est et honos cum sit transsumpta decenter. Quando venit tali sententia culta paratu, 955 Ille sonus vocum laetam dulcescit ad aurem, Et fricat interius nova delectatio mentem. Transfero, Permuto, Pronomino, Nomino, verba Haec formant ex se verbalia suntque colorum Nomina, quos omnes recipit transsumptio sola. 960 Procures istas epulas istosque liquores : Hoc epulum satiat, hie potus inebriat aures. Texuit ars alios pretio leviore paratus; Sed tamen est in eis gravitas et idoneus usus. Sunt hinc inde decern, sex hinc et quatuor inde, 965 Flores verborum. Denarius iste colorum Verba colorât ea gravitate, quod est alieno, Non proprio, vox sumpta modo. Genus omnibus unum: Scilicet improprius vocum status et peregrina Sumptio verborum. Ne forsitan haesitet inde 970 Mens incerta, fidem faciunt exempla secuta. Prodeat in medium talis sententia: Languens Affectât medicum, lugens solamen, egenus Subsidium. Melius florent hoc scemate verba: Languor eget medico, solamine luctus, egestas

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there can be several such changes, as in this verbal schema: The shepherds plunder the sheep. Here you transfer two nouns, shepherd and sheep: shepherd to the prelates and sheep to (945) their subjects. Further, an entire statement can be metaphorical and not merely a part of it, as we can see here: He plows the sand, scrubs the color from bricks, beats the air.3S These are the ways in which metaphor can adorn words. [IV.B.ii: Transitional passage (lines 950-70).] Make your metaphors in the above-mentioned ways; however, be restrained (950) and neither bombastic nor turgid. Two things are mixed here: onus and honor — the onus of transferring a word properly, and honor for having succeeded. When a sentence appears decorated with such ornament, it is sweet to the delighted ear (955) and a new enjoyment inwardly stimulates the mind. Metaphor, Allegory, Antonomasia, Onomatopoeia: these are the names of the figures which come under the heading of transsumptio,36 Acquire that food and that drink (960): this food satisfies, this drink inebriates the ears. Art has composed other ornaments of lighter worth. Yet gravity and propriety is in them. Under transsumptio there are ten flowers of speech, the four above and the six treated below. These ten ornaments (965) adorn words with that gravity which consists of understanding a word under an alien meaning, one not properly its own. This is the common genus — that is, the changed meaning of the words and their wandering application. Lest the doubtful mind be uncertain here, the following examples will confirm your confidence (970). [IV.B.iii: The Remaining Tropes (lines 971-1065) IV.B.iii.l: Metonymy (lines 971-1017).] Bring forth such a statement as this: The feeble man desires the doctor; the sorrowful man desires solace; the destitute man wants support. Words flower better in this scheme: Feebleness needs the doctor; sorrow needs solace; destitution wants support 86 86

All these are metaphors for "He works in vain".

Literally, 'taking one thing for another'; Geoffrey is not using transsumptio in its technical rhetorical sense, as in Quintilian VIII. 6.37.

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975 Subsidio. Verbis haec est innata voluptas Ponere sic formam pro re, sic vertere languens In languor, lugens in luctus, egens in egestas. Quid dat formido? Pallere. Quid ira? Rubere. Quidve superba lues? Turgere. Resumimus ergo : 980 Formido pallet; rubet ira; superbia turget. Dulcescitque magis meliusque saporat in aure Quando quod effectus sibi vendicat applico causae. Praeloti capitis discriminet ordine crines Pectinis officium. Forpex a crine recidat 985 Omne supervacuum renovetque novacula vultum: Sic instrumento docet ars dare more faceto Quod tarnen est utentis eo ; sic surgit ab arte Evitare vias tritas et honestius ire. Lucet item sermo sic sumptus : Corpora ferro, 990 Argento loculos, digitos spoliavimus auro. Non quia zeuma suo depingit verba colore, Sed quia dicturus rem totam supprimo formam: Exprimo materiam. Rudior modus exprimit ambo; Subticet ars unum, servitque duobus in uno. 995 Hie modus inductus secum tria commoda ducit: Curtat enim vocum dispendia, remque colorat, Et metro promittit opem: dispendia curtat Dictio: vox brevior quam sermo; Remque colorat Vocis in hac forma sumpta prudentior usus; 1000 Et metro promittit opem, si postulat illam Obliquus, cujus vitat consortia versus. Quod liquet ex isto : Digitus lascivit in auro. Aurum vox brevior, productior annulus auri; Ipsam rem loquitur vox haec, subtilius ilia; 1005 Casibus hinc cedunt, sunt inde rebellia metra. Rem vice contenti quae continet accipe, ponens Verbum, vel fixum, vel mobile quodlibet, apte. Insere sic fixum: Potatrix Anglia; Textrix Flandria; Jactatrix Normannia. Mobile nomen 1010 Sic appone: Fora clamosa; Silentia claustra; Luctisonus career; Domus exhilarata; Quieta Nox; Operosa dies. Sumptis sic utere verbis : In morbis sanat medica virtute Salernum Aegros. In causis Bononia legibus armat

TRANSLATION

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In expressions there is a natural delight (975) in thus placing the abstract for the concrete. Hence change the feeble man into feebleness, the sorrowful man into sorrow, the destitute man into destitution. What does terror make you do? grow pale. Anger? grow red. The rude plague? to be swollen. Thus we change the expression: Fear grows pale; anger grows red; the rude plague swells (980). It is sweeter and savors better in the ear when I apply to the cause what is proper to the effect. The use of the comb arranged the washed hair; the scissors remove excess hair, and the razor freshens the face (985). Thus does art teach us to apply to the instrument, in an elegant manner, what actually applies only to its use. Thus art gives rise to a method of avoiding the trite and proceeding more graciously. Likewise does this sort of discourse shine forth: We have despoiled the bodies of iron, the caskets of silver, the fingers of gold (990). — not because Zeugma paints the words with its adornment, but because I, about to make the statement, entirely suppress the form and express the matter. The cruder approach expresses both; art weaves them together and accommodates both at once. This manner, if used, affords three useful points (995): it cuts down on superfluous words, it decorates the matter, and it affords help to the meter; it accomplishes the first, because a phrase is shorter than a discourse; the second, because the use of this kind of expression is more artful; and the third, because it helps to avoid the coming together of oblique cases (1001). All of these are evident in this example: The finger took delight in gold. Gold is shorter than a ring of gold. The former says the same as the latter expression, but more subtly. In the former case the verse fits the cases; in the latter, they are rebellious (1005). Use the container for the contained, aptly employing either a noun or an adjective. Apply the noun thus: Tippling England; weaving Flanders; boastful Normandy. Thus use the adjective: The noisy forum; the silent cloister (1010); the doleful prison; the happy house; the quiet night; the busy day. Use such expressions as these:

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1015 Nudos. Parisius dispensât in artibus illos Panes unde cibat robustos. Aurelianis Educai in cunis auctorum lacte tenellos.

1020

1025

1030

1035

1040

Currat yperbolicus, sed non discurrat inepte Sermo : refrenet eum ratio placeatque modestus Finis, ut excessum nec mens nec abhorreat auris. Sicut in hac forma vocis : Transverberai hostes Telorum quasi grondo pluens; Silvas imitatur Hastarum confracta strues; Fluit unda cruoris Aequoris exemplo vexantque cadavera valles. Mirifice laudes minuit modus iste vel auget; Et placet excessus, quem laudai et auris et usus. Dicturus : Studui tribus annis, verba colores Pulchrius. Iste color color est rudis et veteranus : Hoc rude sic formes; istud vetus haec tua lima Innovet: In studio me tertia repperit aestas, Tertius involvit autumnus, tertia curis Intricavit hiems, tria tempora verna peregi. Suppresso toto subtilius exprimo dictum Quando modis dictis a partibus innuo totum. Pars anni madeat: Annus madet; areat: aret; Fervescat: fervei; tepeat: tepet. Erogo toti Quod pars ejus habet. Forma rationis eadem Tu varia pro parte tui censebere, Gion, Turbidus et liquidus, angustus et amplus, amarus Et sapidus. Rursum simili censenda tenore Sicca dies et aquosa tamen pro parte. Colorum Cum sit uterque placens, placeas utroque colore.

Est etiam verbi civilis abusio, quando Verbum nec proprium nec certum sumitur, immo 1045 Finitimum proprio. Puta si proponitur istud: Sunt parvae vires Itaci, sed mens tamen ejus Magni consilii. Sic vertat abusio verbum : Sunt vires in Ulyxe breves, in pectore cujus Longum consilium. Quia sunt confinia quaedam 1030 repperit ABCDG ] comperit FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338); 1039 angustus ] augustus FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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In the area of disease, Salerno cures the sick with healing power; in legal cases, Bologna arms the defenceless with laws; in the arts, Paris dispenses the (1015) bread with which she feeds the strong. Orleans educates infants in the cradle with the milk of authors. [YI.B.iii.2: Hyperbole (lines 1018-26).] Let Hyperbole have rein, but do not let the discourse run wild; let reason rein it in and let its restrained conclusion be pleasing, so that neither ear nor mind will shudder at any excess (1020). Thus in this form of expression: The heaped pile of broken spears resembled a forest; an ocean of blood flowed like the sea; the corpses disturb the valleys. This manner can marvellously increase or lessen praise (1025); and that excess is pleasing which both ear and custom approve. [IV.B.iii.3: Synecdoche (lines 1027-42).] If you wish to say, I have studied for three years, decorate these words more beautifully, for their present form is crude and trite. Let your polishing renew this unpolished and trite expression: In study the third summer found me (1030); the third autumn plunged me; the third winter entangled me in cares; in study I passed through three springs. I more subtly express what I have to say when, by using this manner of speaking, I suppress the whole and merely hint at it from its parts. If a particular season of the year grows wet, say that the year is wet: and so for dry (1035), hot or warm. I arrogate to the whole what belongs to the part. In the same way, O Gion, 37 will you be judged, according to the various parts of your stream, to be turbid and clear, narrow and wide, bitter (1039) and sweet. In the same way, a day can be deemed wet or dry because a part of it was so. You will please by using either of these colors, since both are pleasing. [IV.B.iii.4: Catachresis (lines 1043-55).] It is also a pleasant abuse 38 to use a word not in its proper meaning but in one very close to it. Imagine that you want to say (1045), The strength of Itacus [/.e. Ulysses] is small, but his mind has great wisdom. Thus would Catachresis change the words about: Ulysses' strength is short, but the wisdom of his heart is long. 37

Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338, suggests that this refers to the river Gehon, Gen. II. 13. 38 Abusio is also the Latin term for Catachresis.

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1050 Istarum vocum longum, magnum; breve,parvum. Praescriptis formis quaedam pictura coloris Et quiddam gravitatis inest, quae nascitur inde Quod res in medium facie non prodit aperta, Nec sua vox deservit eit, sed vox aliena, 1055 Et sic se quasi nube tegit, sub nube serena.

1060

1065

1070

1075

Surgit item quaedam gravitas ex ordine solo, Quando, quae sociat constructio, separat ordo, Ut sit in hac forma perversio : Rege sub ipso; Tempus ad illud; Ea de causa; Rebus in Ulis; Aut hujus generis trajectio: Dura creavit Pestiferam fortuna famem; Letalis egenam Gente fames spoliavit humum. Sic ordine distant Quae constructa tarnen prope stant. Structura propinqua Declarat levius sensum; sed plus sedet auri Plusque saporis habet moderata remotio vocum. Si niti gravitate velis, his utere velis. Hune portum teneas, hic fixa sit anchora mentis. Sic tarnen esto gravis ne res sub nube tegatur, Sed faciant voces ad quod de jure tenentur. Quae clausum reserent animum sunt verba reperta Ut quaedam claves animi : qui vult aperire Rem clausam, nolit verbis inducere nubem; Si tarnen induxit, facta est injuria verbis : Fecit enim de clave seram. Sis claviger ergo, Remque tuis verbis aperi. Si namque per aures Intrat in aspectus animi sine luce loquela, In fluvio fundat, in sicco plantat, in aura Verberat, in sterili sulcum deducit arena. Si qua feras igitur peregrina vel abdita verba,

1075 remque tuis ABCDG ] rem citius FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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For there is a certain close connection between these words: long, great; short, small (1050).

A certain decoration of style and a certain kind of gravity are present in the above forms, which arise when the subject does not appear publicly with its face unveiled, nor does its own but rather an alien expression serve it; and thus, as it were, it covers itself with a cloud — but a clear cloud (1055). [IV.B.iii.5: Hyperbaton (lines 1056-65).] A certain gravity arises simply from the order of the words when it separates what normal syntax would put together. Such change of order could appear in this form: Rege sub ipso; tempus ad illud; ea de cause; rebus in illis.39 Or the change in order can be of this kind :40 Dura creavit (1060) Pestiferam fortuna famem; letalis egenam Gente fames spoliavit humum.41 This order separates what would stand together in normal syntax. Normal order may set forth a lighter meaning; but a moderate distance between related words suits the ear better and has more savor (1065). [IV.B.iv: Conclusion of the Section on Ornatus Gravis (lines 1066-98).] If you want to strive for gravity, use these sails, hold to this port, here drop the anchor of your mind. Be serious in such a way that the matter be not hidden under a cloud, but let your expressions relate to that with which they are rightfully concerned. Understandable words unlock the closed comprehension (1070), like so many keys of the mind. Whoever wants to uncover hidden matter does not hide his words in a cloud: this would be to abuse the words, to make a lock out of a key. Be therefore the keybearer: unlock the matter by means of your words. For if your discourse, unilluminated, passes through the ears to the perception of the mind (1076), it lays its foundations in water, it falls on dry ground, echoes in the air, furrows a sterile waste. If you bring thither outlandish or mysterious words (1079), you betray your lack of ability and do not attend to the laws of discourse. Let error in discourse fly this taint by 89

That is, Under that king; at that time; for that reason; in those matters. The 'natural' order would of course be sub ipso rege; ad illud tempus; de ea causa; in i'lis rebus. 40 That is, involving more than just the single inversion demonstrated by the previous examples. 41 Hard fortune made pestilential famine; deadly hunger despoiled the starved land of its people.

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1080 Quid possis ex hoc ostendis jusque loquendi Non attendis. Ab hac macula se retrahat error Oris et obscuris oppone repagula verbis. Utere Consilio; licet omnia noveris, unus Major in hoc aliis : in verbis sis tamen unus 1085 Ex aliis; nec sis elati, sed socialis Eloquii. Veterum clamat doctrina: loquaris Ut plures, sapias ut pauci. Nec tamen ex hoc Vilescis : sermone potes simul esse facetus Et facilis. Proprias igitur ne respice vires, 1090 Immo suas, cum quo loqueris. Da pondera verbis Aequa suis humeris, et pro re verba loquaris. Cum doceas artes, sit sermo domesticus arti: Quaelibet ars gaudet propriis. Sed sint sua verba Limitibus contenta suis : cum veneris extra 1095 In commune forum, placeat communibus uti. In re communi communis, in appropriatis Sit sermo proprius. Sic rerum cuique geratur Mos suus. In verbis est iste probatior usus. Si sermo velit esse levis pulchrique coloris, 1100 Tolle modos omnes gravitatis et utere planis, Quorum planities turpis ne terreat aures. Unde colorentur quos sumas ecce colores : Res mala! Res pejor aliis! Res pessima rerum ! O malum ! miserum malum ! miserabile malum ! 1105 Cur tetigit te gustus Adae? Cur unius omnes Culpam flemus Adae? Fuit haec gustatio mali Publica causa mali. Pater, in nos tam ferus hostis, Se perhibet non esse patrem, de divite pauper, De felice miser, de tanta luce retrusus 1110 Ad tenebras. Ubi nunc paradisus et illa voluptas Cujus erat dominus? Tibi dico, potissima rerum, Unde tibi tantum scelus? Erras mente favendo Uxoris facto, vetitum gustando, loquela Facta tuendo. Favens igitur, gustansque tuensque, 1115 Nonne ruis merito? Die ergo: cur tetigisti Pomum tam nocuum? — Mihi conjux obtulit. — At Gustasti? — Suasit mihi rem non esse nocivam. — Quare fautor eras? — Timui fecisse molestam.

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locking out obscure words. Take counsel: it is proper that you know everything, being greater than all the others in knowledge; in discourse, however, be a man among men. Be not lofty but social (1085) in speech. The teaching of the ancients proclaims, Speak like the many, have wisdom like the few. Nor will you thereby be lowering yourself: in speech you can be at once pleasant and simple. Consider not your own ability but that of your listener. Give a weight to your words (1090) equal to his shoulders, and let your discourse be immediately related to the matter. When you are teaching the arts, let the lecture be the servant of the art: each art delights in its own specialized language, which should be confined to technical discussion.42 When you come forth into the common forum, use more common expressions (1095). In common speech use common meanings; in peculiar situations use peculiar expressions. Thus the custom of each case is obeyed. This kind of practice in expression is more acceptable. [IV.C: Ornatus Levis (lines 1099-1592) IV.C.l: Figures of Diction (lines 1099-1234).] If the discourse is meant to be lightly and beautifully adorned, eschew all kinds of gravity and use plain words (1100), so that their homespun plainness will not intimidate the ears. Here are the colors with which you may adorn your adopted theme: [Epanaphora:] O thing of evil! Thing worse than any other! Thing worst of all! [Antistrophe:] O apple; wretched apple; miserable apple (1099)! [Interlacement :] Why were you touched by the taste of Adam? Why must all weep over the sin of one, Adam? [Transplacement:] This tasting of the apple was a public cause of evil.43 The father of the human race, so fierce an enemy to us, shows himself not to be a father. [Antithesis:] He was poor where once rich, wretched where happy, removed to darkness from so great a light. [Apostrophe:] Where now is Paradise and that delight (1110) of which you were lord? Most powerful of all, whence did so great a crime befall you? You err by approving of the deed of your wife, by tasting what was forbidden, by speaking in defense of the deed. [Interrogation:] By approving, tasting, defending, did you not justly fall? [Reasoning by Question and Answer:] Say, therefore, why did you touch (1115) so harmful an apple? My wife brought it me. But why did you taste it? She persuaded me it was not harmful. Why did you defend the deed? I feared I

42

Literally: Let its [i.e. the art's] words be contained within its limits. Geoffrey very likely intended this sentence to represent traductio (Transplacement), but the wordplay on malum (apple) and malum (evil) is not classifiable as traductio. 43

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— Post factum, cur segnis eras deflere reatum 1120 Ad veniam flectendo Deum? Die, mortis in hac re Quae ratio? — Solus fuit error pro rat ione. Liber is est, vitiis qui non inservit. At ille Cum servus fuerit, an liberiate fruemur? Si tanta virtute potens non restitit hosti, 1125 Unde resistemus fragiles? Incepit ab hoste Lapsus, et arte sua lapsi sumus, et sine lapsu Vivere corrupti non possumus. Utile lapsis Hoc genus auxilii: lacrimae, jejunia, psalmi. Cui potior Deus est quam mundus, non nocet illi 1130 Spiritus immundus. Qui spem non ponit in hoste, Unde timere potest hostem? Gravis ad nocumento Si solus solet esse suis, lex non sinit aequa Ut simus de plebe sua. Ne forte procellae Nos mergant gravitate sua, servemus honesta 1135 Et mala vitemus; quia virtus optima rerum, Pessima res Vitium, nihil aeque perniciosum. Hoc erat expertus, cujus fuit ille misertus Qui dignans nasci venit de morte renasci, Unus qui potuit quod profuit omnibus esse. 1140 Hic in carne sine carie, nec criminis hämo Captus, homo simplex et supplex lusit iniquum Serpentem, quae nos e lusit; et, hostia factus, Hostem confecit et eum moriendo remordit. Serpens invidiae nostraeque propaginis hostis, 1145 Cur cruce damnasti Christum? Meruitne? Sed expers Omnis erat maculae. Corpus fantasma putasti? Sed veram carnem sumpsit de virgine. Purum Credebas hominem? Sed de virtute probavit Esse Deum. Quare merito damnare. Memento: 1150 Servus qui damnat dominum, damnatur ab ilio. Sic in eo juste damnatio desiit a quo Coeperat. Hostis enim primus damnaverat Evam, Eva secunda virum, vir tertius omne quod ejus Stirpis erat, stirps quarta Deum, Deus ultimus hostem, 1155 Cui mors ipse fuit; fuit et sic profuit orbi; Profuit et patuit; patuit, quia cuncta redemit. 1122 1144

inservit BC ] est servus FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338). hostis ABCDG ] auctor FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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had done wrong. After it was done, why were you slow to bewail your guilt, prevailing upon God to show mercy? Say, why incur death in this matter? Error was my only reason (1121). [Maxim:] He is free who does not serve vices. But once he is their servant, shall he enjoy liberty? [Reasoning by Contraries:] If a powerful man of such virtue44 did not resist the enemy (1124), how shall we weak men resist? [Colon:] The enemy first instigated the Fall, and by his craft we have all fallen, and we corrupt men are not able to live without falling. [Comma:] This is the kind of help useful to fallen man: tears, fasting, psalms. [Period in a Contrast:] The unclean spirit will not harm him who values God more than he does the world. How can he fear an enemy who does not place his trust in the enemy? [Period in a Conclusion:] If only the man burdened by evil (1131) is wont to be of Satan's party, a just law does not allow that we be among his followers. [Isocolon:] Lest perhaps the storms overwhelm us with their force, let us serve the good and avoid the evil. [Homoeoptoton:] For virtue is the best of things (1135), vice the worst, which nothing equals in harmfulness. [Homoeoteleuton:] This he knew by experience, and on this he took pity, who, deigning to be born, came to be reborn from death: one who would be a benefit for all (1139). Whose flesh was without lack, who was not caught by the hooks of sin, a man simple and humble — he cheated the iniquitous serpent which had deluded us; and, being made a host46 killed the hostile one, and tormented him by dying. [Hypophora:] Serpent of envy, and enemy of human kind, why did you condemn Christ to the cross? Did he deserve it? But there was no spot on him. Did you think his body unreal (1146)? But he took real flesh from the Virgin. Did you think he was merely a man? but in his power he proved himself to be a god. Therefore you are deservingly condemned. Remember, the servant who condemns the lord by him will be condemned (1150). [Climax:] Thus did damnation justly end in him from whom it began. For the first enemy brought about the damnation of Eve; Eve next of the man; third, the man of all his race; fourth, the race condemned God to suffer death; last, God condemned the enemy, whose death He was. He was, and thus he benefitted the world (1155); benefitted it and suffered; suffered, because he redeemed all. [Definition:] If

44 45

That is, Adam before the Fall. That is, the Eucharist.

76

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1165

1170

1175

1180

1185

TEXT

Se de posse suo contenderei, absque labore Omnia salvasset. Est ejus namque potestas Omnipotens virtus et cui datur omnia posse Nu tu vel verbo vel solo velie. Videtis Quod potuit: sequitur cur noluit; ecce tenorem Causae. Sifieret hosti violentia, posset, Immo pateret, in hoc id agens injurius esse. Unde — sed ut notum pertranseo — regula juris Dixerat, ut, sicut hominem fallaciter hostis Mortificavit, ea forma subtiliter hostem Mortificarci homo, captum deitatis ab hämo. Hac ratione Deus in vera carne morari Nobiscum venit, a carnis labe notari Non potuit, tandemque suo nos sanguine lavit; Qui vitae mortisque potens hanc rupit et illam: Rupit enim vitam moriens, mortemque resurgens, Nec praesumpta suos, sed vita resumpta redemit. Proditor humanae naturae, proditor inquam, Vis ubi nunc tua? Vis ubi? Mors tua vinculo rupit. Rupit vi mira tua vinculo mors sua. Quam mors Felix! Quam felix mors! Illa, redemptio nostra. Haec sua mors animae sanavit vulnera, lavit Sordes, amovit culpas. O quam pia Christi Gratia! Quam grata pietas! Tibi,fons pietatis, Ex hoc me totum voveo. Da, tolle; flagella, Par ce; juve, prohibe; facias utrumlibet: ecce Servus ego, Domine; sicut libet, utere servo; Quicquid agas, grates ago. Jesu tam bone, quem te Dicam? Sive pium te dicam, seu pietatem

Ipsam, seu fontem pietatis, seu magis addam, Major es. Hie tantus voluit tantillulus esse. In forma servi veniens evincere venit Quas emisset oves, ne vi raperentur ab hoste, 1190 Non de judicio, nisi forte revinceret hostem, Sicut erat praevictus homo. Sed debuit esse Talis homo purus, aut angelus, aut Deus. Esse Purus non potuit, quia purum vincerei hostis 1181-82 Da, tolle; flagella, / Parce; juve, prohibe; ] Da, tolle, flagella, / Parce, juve, prohibe, F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338); 1189 Quas emisset oves, ne vi ] Quas emisit oves, quae vi FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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he exerted his powers fully, he could have saved all without effort; for almighty is his power, to which it is given to do all things by a nod or a word or simply by an act of will. [Transition:] You see (1160) what he could have done. Now, Now, why did he not do it? This is the tenor of the case. [Correction:] If violence were done to the enemy, it is possible — nay, it is obvious — that he who did it would be unjust. [Paralipsis:] Thus — but I pass it over as something well known — the rules of the law say that, just as the enemy deceitfully (1165) brought death to man, in the same way would man slyly inflict death on the enemy, caught in the hook of God. [Disjunction:]46 For this reason, God came in true flesh, among us to dwell; for fleshly blemish could none ever condemn him; at length in his blood he washed us (1170). [Conjunction:] The bonds of death he broke, and of life, who had power over both. [Adjunction:] For he broke the bonds of life by dying; and by rising again, the bonds of death; not by adopting human life, but by losing it, did he his own redeem. [Reduplication:] Betrayer of human kind, betrayer, I say, where now is your power? Your power, where? Your death has broken our bonds (1175). His death has broken your bonds with marvellous force. How happy is that death! That death, how happy! It is our redemption. [Synonymy:] His death has cured the wounds of the soul; has washed off the filth, removed the guilt. [Reciprocal change:] Oh how benevolent the kindness of Christ! How kind his benevolence! [Surrender:] For this reason I devote myself entirely to you, fountain of benevolence. Give, take away; strike (1181), spare: order, prohibit; do as you will: behold your servant, Lord. Use your servant as it pleases you. Whatever you do I will give thanks. [Indecision:] Jesus, so good, what shall I say of you? If I call you holy, or holiness (1185) itself, or the fountain of holiness, or if I were to add more, you are still greater. This so much means so little. Coming in the guise of a servant, he came to reclaim the sheep, which he set free, lest they be snatched by force by the enemy. He did not come concerning judgment, unless indeed he reconquer the enemy (1190), just as man had been previously conquered. [Elimination:] But he had to be mere man, or an angel, or God. Mere man he could not have been, for the impure enemy would have conquered one purely a man; and he might have been guilty of small faults (1194). You could not

" Since I have retained the peculiarities of word-order on which the next few figures depend, the translation is somewhat awkward.

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Impurus possetque leves incurrere lapsus. 1195 Angele non poteras: quia, cum natura ruisset Propria, non stares in nostra. Sed tarnen esto. Esto quod alteruter firma virtute stetisset Nosque redemisset. Constai minus esse creari Quam redimi. Reparatus homo minus ergo creanti 1200 Plusque teneretur redimenti; sicque fuisset Pluris opus factore suo. Fuit ergo necesse Ut Deus esset homo, cujus sapientia piena Sensus humanos regeret deitatis habena, Cui soli mundus deberet utrumque creari 1205 Et redimi, cultumque Deo persolveret uni. Sicut opus fuerat, sie res processit in actum. Personis aliis simplex natura remansit: Filius univit se nostrae, clausus in aula Virginis; inclusit uterus quem claudere mundus 1210 Non potuit; coepit in tempore quod fuit ante Tempora. Verus homo, verus Deus, omnia nostra Pertulit, excepta culpa. Ludibrio passus Conticuit; caesus plagis per vineula mortis Transiit; in dira cruce corpus mite pependit; 1215 Spiritus emissus, novus hospes, ad infera venit, Post triduum Victor propria virtute revixit. Abductas ita pastor oves ad ovile reduxit. Res haec quanta fuit ! Et qua ... sed transeo nomen, Cum nequeat sumi tanto conforme stupori. 1220 Ergo cum redimi non possent ni Deus esset Factus homo, nec, homo factus, nisi vincere mortem Disposuit, mors vieta suos a morte redemit.

Verborum flores hoc thema redegit in unum, In quibus et levitas et propria sumptio vocum. 1225 Nil perit ex numero nec omittitur ordo colorum. Si tamen improprie quandoque vocabula sumpsi, Cum levibus mixtim decuit gravitatibus uti, Ut, quamvis sapiat propriae dulcedine formae, Plus saperet levitas gravium condita sapore. 1220-22 Ergo cum redimi non possent ni Deus esset / Factus homo, nec, homo factus, nisi vincere mortem / Disposuit, mors vieta suos a morte redemit ] Ergo cum redimi non possent ni Deus esset, / Factus homo, nec homo factus nisi vincere mortem / Disposuit: mors vieta suos a morte redemit F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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have been an angel, for although its own [angelic] nature would suffer, you would not partake of human nature. But, at length, be thou that which both stood firm in virtue and redeemed us.47 It is less to be created than to be redeemed. Redeemed man would therefore be obligated less to God the Creator than to God the Redeemer; thus there was (1200) the more need of his Maker.48 Hence it was necessary that God become man, whose full wisdom would rule his human senses with a divine rein, to whom alone the world would owe both its creation and redemption, and would hence give worship to the one God (1205). [Asyndeton:] The matter was performed as it had to be. A single nature remained in the other Persons [of the Trinity]; the Son joined himself to our nature, enclosed in the womb of the Virgin. The womb enclosed that which the universe could not enclose; that began in time which was before (1210) all time. True man and true God, he took up everything human except guilt. Suffering scorn, he was silent; killed by wounds, he passed through the bonds of death. His mild body hung on the terrible cross. He sent forth his spirit, a new guest, and came into hell (1215). After three days, the victor revived by his own power; the shepherd brought back his stolen sheep to the sheepfold. [Aposiopesis:] What a great thing was this! And whither ... but I will not say it, for it cannot be treated in a manner befitting its magnificence. [Conclusion:] Hence, since men could not be redeemed unless God was (1220) made man, and since we would not have been redeemed unless, having become man, he determined to conquer death, his conquered death redeemed his own from death. This discourse has collected together the flowers of speech which are light and which do not use words metaphorically. None has been omitted, nor is their order changed (1225). If, however, I have occasionally used a word metaphorically, it is proper to mix grave expressions with the light; no matter how much savor expressions may have if used literally, such lightness has more savor when flavored with gravity. Thus does the

47

That which stood firm in virtue, and hence not mere man; and redeemed us, and hence of necessity must have partaken of human nature and not have been simply angelic. 48 Scil. to undertake the salvation of man.

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1230 Sic igitur cordis digitus discerpat in agro Rhetoricae flores ejus. Sed floreat illis Sparsim sermo tuus, variis, non creber eisdem. Floribus ex variis melior redolentia surgit; Quod sapit, insipidum vitiosa frequentia reddit. 1235 Sunt autem flores, quibus est sententia vocum Florida, quos omnes claudo brevitate sub ista. Quando coloratur sententia, sic operatur: Distribuit variis distincta negotia rebus Aut in personas varias. Cum culpat honeste 1240 Et licite dominos vel amicos, nemine verbis Offenso. Cum plus notat in re quam sit in ore Et rem diminuii verbo, sed more modesto. Resque secuturas etiam describit et illas Quae possent ex re dicta contingere : quadam 1245 Cum gravitate tamen dilucidat omnia plane. Aut rem disjungens a re ratione secuta Ambas absolvit. Yel singula rursus in unum Conveniunt et quae sunt undique sparsa resumit. In replicando frequens, iterum variando colorem, 1250 Dicere res plures videor; sed semper in una Demoror, ut poliam rem plenius et quasi crebra Expoliam lima, quod fit sub duplice forma : Dicendo varie vel eamdem rem, vel eadem De re. Tripliciter varie dicemus eamdem 1255 Rem; septemque modis varie dicetur eadem De re : quos omnes lege plenius in Cicerone. Aut ad idem punctum descendo, frequenter ibidem Commoror; aut aliter, quando res comparo, secum Contendunt positae rationes. Saepius ex re 1260 Dissimili similem traho. Vel cum nomine certi Auctoris rem, quam dixit, vel quam prius egit, Exemplum pono. Dictos vel omitto colores Et color accedit alius, collatio facta Formae cum simili forma sub imagine recta.

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finger of the heart pluck from its field (1230) the flowers of rhetoric. But let your discourse blossom with them sparsely, variedly, not thickly. A better scent arises from mixed flowers; and a harmful crowding renders the taste insipid (1234). [IV.C.2: Figures of Thought (lines 1235-1592) IV.C.2.a: Definitions (1235-80).] However, there are other flowers which can decorate the meaning of expressions, and all of them I will briefly treat here. The meaning can be adorned as follows. [Distribution:] The statement can distribute different functions to different things or among different people. [Frankness of Speech:] It fittingly and properly blames masters or friends: its words offend nobody. [Understatement:] It sees more than it says (1241), and its expression understates the matter, but in a restrained fashion. [Vivid Description:] It also describes things that will follow upon and result from the matter discussed, however using a certain gravity to make everything clear (1245). [Division:] Or it distinguishes the alternatives of a question, and by adding reasons, it disposes of both these alternatives. [Accumulation :] Or it gathers individual matters together into one place, thus collecting what was scattered throughout the discourse. [Refining:] In frequent repetition, when I vary my colors again and again (1249), I seem to be saying many things; but I always dwell upon one, so that I can fully polish it and fix it up with frequent revisions. This happens in two ways: by saying the same thing in various ways, or by descanting upon the same subject. 49 There are three ways of repeating the same thing60 and seven ways of variously descanting upon the same (1255) subject, 51 all of which you can read at greater length in Cicero. [Dwelling on the Point:] Or, lighting upon the same point, I frequently dwell upon the same place; [Antithesis:] Or, again, when I compare matters, the proposed matters do battle. [Comparison:] Often I draw a similitude out of dissimilar things. [Exemplification:] Or I set down an example together with the name of the author who wrote it or of the person who previously performed the exemplary deed. [Simile:] Or I omit the above colors and use another: a comparison between two figures, made under an appropriate simile

" I have found it convenient to adopt some phrases here from Harry Caplan's translation of the Rhetorica ad Herennium (London, 1954), p. 369. This work will hereafter be referred to as Ad Her. 60 Viz. words, delivery and treatment: Ad Her. IV. 54. 51 Ad Her. IV. 56.

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1265 Sive color vicinus ei, cum corporis ipsam, In quantum satis est, effingo vel exprimo formam. Deinde quasi quasdam notulas, certissima signa, Pono, quibus quae sit hominis natura patenter Describo : color iste magis meliusque colorai. 1270 En alium florem, personae quando loquenti Sermo coaptatur redoletque loquela loquentem. Denique res ipsas alia novitate colorans, Cui prohibet natura loqui modo dando loquelam Personam conformo novam; modo suspicioni 1275 Plus do quam vocis signis; modo comprimo totam Rem brevibus verbis et eis quibus indiget ipsa, Non aliis; modo res ita se demonstrat aperte, Ut quasi sit praesens oculis ; quod fiet ad unguem Istis quinque modis : demonstro quid ante, quid in re, 1280 Quid post et quae rem circumstent, quaeve sequantur. In serie dicta lege quae sint schemata rerum, Quot numero (bis namque decern si subtrahis unum), Quam seriem teneant. Quia non variabitur ordo Quem tenui, positis exemplis rem patefeci. 1285 Est papae leges sacras dictare, minorum Praescriptam juris formam servare. Sed errant Quamplures, quorum te, papa, redarguii error. Parcis, non punis, enormia lucra sequentes; Illicitum vendunt et emunt, sine vindice culpae. 1290 Papa potens, cujus non est breve posse, memento Vindictae. Mansuete pater, quandoque mucrones Exime. Si dormit vindicta, vagabitur errans, Ut lupus insultans aut ut vulpecula dammae Insidians. Operabitur hinc, meditabitur inde 1295 Nequitias, occultus in hoc, manifestus in ilio, Plenus utrimque malo. Duo sunt mala: fraus simoniae, Frigus avaritiae. Perplectitur illud et istud, Non detestatur. Sed inani voce laboro: Quicquid in hunc dicam, laterem lavo; si probo, non est 1300 Hoc ejus meritum: si reprobo, non movet ejus Crimen eum. Lege quicquid habet de felle; legetur Praesens blanditor, absens detractor; amicus 1301 legetur : ] legetus F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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(1264). [Portrayal:] Or a color similar to the above, when I adequately describe or portray the appearance of a person. [Character Delineation:] Then I put down definite signs, as it were certain characteristics, by which I clearly describe a person's nature: this color is a better adornment (1269). [Dialogue:] Behold another flower, when the discourse is adapted to the speaker, and when his speech is characteristic of him. [Personification:] Finally, decorating the subject anew, at times I give the power of speech to things not having it by nature; thus I fashion a new person. [Emphasis:] By means of innuendo, I imply more than I say. [Conciseness:] At times I condense the whole (1275) matter in brief expressions, using only those which the matter demands, and no others. [Ocular Demonstration:] At times the matter is revealed as plainly as if it were before one's eyes. This will be done to a nicety if you use these five methods: demonstrate what came before, during, and after the action; what the circumstances are; and what may result (1280). [IV.C.2.b: Examples of the Figures of Thought (lines 1281-1532).] In the above list you can learn what the rhetorical figures are. They are as many in number — two times ten minus one — as make up the series.62 I have clarified these figures by giving examples in the same order in which I explained them: [Distribution:] It is the office of the Pope to dictate sacred laws, and of his subordinates (1285) to follow the form of the law which he prescribes. [Frankness of Speech:] But many err, and their error confutes you, O Pope. You forgive and do not punish the seekers of great riches. They buy and sell illicitly, and there is no one to punish their guilt. [Understatement:] Powerful Pope, whose power is not short, be mindful (1290) of punishment. Mild father, at some time take out your sword. [Vivid Description:] If punishment sleeps, the erring will wander about like a leaping wolf or a little fox lying in ambush for the doe. [Division:] The former performs evil, the latter plans it; it is hidden in the latter, open in the former (1295): each one is full of evil. There are two evils: the fraud of simony, the fever of avarice. Both are embraced, not detested. But I labor with a useless voice; whatever I say against this man 6 3 1 labor in vain. If I approve, it is not (1299) what he deserves; if I reprove, his crime will not move

62 That is, Geoffrey has covered the full list of nineteen figures given in the Ad Herennium. IV. 47-69. 63 Not the Pope, of course, but an imaginary defendant before the bar.

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Apparens, hostis tectus; possessor avarus, Exactor durus; praedo gravis, ambitiosus Institor; illicitus emptor, celer ad Simoniae Tarn generale malum. Scelerum, pater optime, vindex Ad scelus hoc appone manum. Prudentia Papae Vult et habet sepelire nefas. Non est alienum Hoc opus a papa prudente nec ista voluntas. Papa bonus trades ita tecum saepius: O quam Mira Dei virtus! Quam magna potential Quantus Sum ! Quantillus eram ! Subito de stipite parvo In cedrum magnam crevi. Deus ille deorum Magnificavit opus proprium: sub flore juventae Me voluit caput esse senum. Mirabile donum! Dat juveni claves regni caelestis et orbis Imperium. Nondum decurso tempore multo Cor gessi sciolum; fuit os rude, posse pusillum. Jam cor et os et posse meum sic extulit et sic Praetulit ex aliis, ut sim stupor unicus orbis. Istud opus non est humanum, gratia Summi Me fecit summum; mihi nec laus inde, sed illi Grates, de cujus dono suscepimus omnes. Unde magis teneor et strictius obligor illi Ponere quod poni disponit, tollere tolli

Quod statuii, velie quod vult, odisse quod odit. Et cupio, quia sic astringor; et omnia ponam Quae poni, tollam quae tolli jussit, in uno Sollicitus: velie quod vult, odisse quod odit. 1330 Quisnam tam cerebri vacuus, tarn pectoris expers, Tarn sine se, quin laudet opus, quin judicet illud Prudentis venae? Prudens ita papa laborem Totum fundat in hoc, et ob hoc, quia tanta potestas Illi cessit ad hoc, maculas ut tolleret orbis, 1335 Ut mundum faceret mundum, quem limite dextro Ducerei in caelum; quia sic Deus extulit ilium 1320 Praetulit ex aliis A ] Praetulit hoc aliis FP. 1333-36 Totum fundat in hoc, et ob hoc, quia tanta potestas / Illi cessit ad hoc, maculas ut tolleret orbis, / Ut mundum faceret mundum, quem limite dextro / Ducerei in caelum; quia sic Deus extulit illum ] Totum fundat in hoc, et ob hoc quia tanta potestas / Illi cessit. Ad hoc, maculas ut tolleret orbis, / Ut mundum faceret mundum, quem limite dextro / Ducerei in caelum, quia sic Deus extulit illum F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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him. [Accumulation:] Read off from the parchment a list of all his characteristics. He will be read of as a flatterer when present, a detractor when absent; outwardly a friend, inwardly an enemy; an avaricious possessor, a harsh exactor; a grievous robber, an ambitious huckster; an illicit buyer, swift to adopt the so general evil of simony. [Refining by repetition (1) through Dialogue:] Best father, punisher of crimes (1306), raise your hand against this crime. The prudence of the Pope both wishes and is able to bury sin. Neither this duty nor that will is alien to the prudent Pope. Good Pope, ponder thus within yourself more often: O how marvelous (1310) the power of God? How great the power! How much I am! I was so little. I suddenly grew from a little stalk into a great cedar. The God of Gods has magnified his own work; in the flower of my youth he wished me to be the leader of old men. Marvellous gift (1315)! He gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the rule of the world, to a young man. Only a short time ago I had an ignorant 54 heart. My speech was rude, my power puny. Now my heart and speech and power he has so advanced and preferred above the others that I am the only marvel of the world (1320). That work is not human; the grace of the highest has made me the highest; praise therefor is not owing to me but rather thanks to him from whose gift we have received all. Thus I am the more constrained and the more strictly obliged to establish what He has willed be established, to take away what He has decreed should be taken away, to want what He wants, to hate what He hates (1326). And I desire to do so, since I am thus obliged. And I will bring about what he orders to be brought about, and remove what he orders removed, solicitous about one thing: to want what he wants and to hate what he hates. [Refining by repetition (2) through Arousal:] Who now is so empty in his head, so destitute of feeling (1330), so mad 65 as not to praise that work, as not to judge him of a prudent nature? [Refining by descanting on the theme:] Thus the prudent pope bases his entire work on and because of this: that he has given so much power to him to this end, that he might remove stains from the world and cleanse the world, which he should lead into heaven by a suitable path. For God has thus raised him (1336) to this work, and it is his concern that he do it. If therefore he is

61

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 380. 86 Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 380.

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Hoc ad opus, refert illius, ut hoc operetur. Ergo remissug in hoc, fans est et origo duobus Damnis: nam pariter suus est et publicus hostis. An melius mundo somno torpente nocere Quam vigili cura prodesse? Memento notare: Instar papa bonipastoris ab ore lupino Servai ovile suum; vel, quomodo physica curat Corpora, sic animas et vulnera sanai earum Physicus et pastor. Noster Deus omnia sanans Propter oves animam posuit: sic vi rationis Constat et exempli tollenda nefaria mundi. Ergo nefas sepeli, pie papa, subambula Petri, Cumque Simone suo detur simonia ruinae. Propria quemque juvat sordes: te praegravat unum Publico pernicies. Haec unica subruit omnes. Sit quod eos nullum mortale remordeat; illud Dum tamen obsit eis, animae mors pendei ab uno Sicut et a multis: ut navis non minus una Quam varia rima causam praestante subortis Absorbetur aquis, sed idem facit utraque pestis. Vix tamen esse potest, ut homo sine crimine vivai: Ethicus unde Cato: Nemo sine crimine vivit. Ille malignantis naturae spiritus, hostis Publicus, occultis hominem circumvolat alis Anxius, ut revocet quem perdidit. Abstulit illum Ille pugil noster, mira virtute leonis, Astu serpentis et simplicitate columbae. Ille quis? Ille quidem naturae duplicis: expers Totius maculae, subrufus imagine, visu

Dulcis et angelicum speculum, speciosa figura Prae formis hominum, specialis imago prioris, Ille secundus Adam, qui nobis ostia vitae Glave sua mortis patefecit. Ad illa vocati 1370 Gaudio quid facimus? Torpemus imagine pigri. Scisne moram pigri? Si mane vocetur, obaudit. Si citetur adhuc iterata voce, sonora Nare vigil stertit. Tandem clamore coactus, Ore tamen lentus, linguam movet — Ei mihi, quid vis? 1349 1374

Simone suo ] suo Simone FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338). Ei mihi ] Et : Mihi FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 338).

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remiss in this, he is the source and origin of two evils: for he is equally his own and the people's enemy. For is it better to harm the world by a torpid sleep (1340) than to benefit it by vigilant care? Mark well: the pope, like a good shepherd, guards the sheepfold from the mouth of the wolf; or as physic cures the body, so does the physician and shepherd cure the souls and wounds of the sheep. Our God, curing all things (1345), laid down his life for his sheep. The force of reason and example make it clear that the wicked deeds of the world must be taken away. Therefore, destroy wickedness, pious Pope, following Peter, and let simony be overthrown together with its Simon (1349).56 [Antithesis:] Their own baseness pleases each one: you alone bear the burden of a general evil, one which corrupts all. Granted that nothing earthly troubles them; yet let this trouble them: death of the soul comes from one sin as well as from many, as a ship is engulfed by water which rises through one chink no less surely than by many. Either downfall has the same result (1356). [Exemplification :] Indeed, it can hardly be that a man live without fault; whence moral Cato says, "No one lives without fault." That malignant spirit, the public enemy, with hidden wings flies about man (1360), solicitous to regain what he has lost. [Simile:] Our gladiator has taken man away from him, with the wonderful strength of a lion, the cunning of a serpent, and the simplicity of a dove. [Portrayal:] Who is he? He indeed of the double nature: void (1364) of all spot, red in appearance, sweet of face and of angelic likeness, beautiful beyond the forms of men; special image of the first Adam, himself the second Adam, who by the key of his death opened for us the gates of life. [Character Delineation:] Called to those joys, what do we do? We grow sluggish like a lazy man (1370). Do you know how a lazy man delays? If he is called in the morning, he refuses to listen. If he is continually summoned by repeated cries, the vigilant one snores sonorously. At length, forced by the uproar, although slow to speak, he moves his tongue: "Woe is me! What do you want?" he says. "Get up! Come along!"

66

It was Simon Peter who overthrew Simon Magus: Acts VIII. 18ff.

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1375 Inquit. — Surge! veni! — Nox est,permitte quiescam — Immo dies est: surge! — Deus meus! Ecce ego surgo. Vade: sequar. — Nec eum sequitur, quem decipit; et turn: Non venies? — Dudum venissem, sed mihi vestes Quaero nec invenio. — Nihil est. Te, Birria, novi. 1380 Surge cito! — Domine, sum praesto. — Non est tamen, immo Vel caput hue, illue vertit, vel brachia scalpit, Membra vel in longum distendit. Sic sibi quasdam Undelibet morulas quaerit. Semper venit ore, Non pede; sic veniens nunquam venit, ipse; coactus 1385 Forte movens gressum trahit a testudine motum. Hujus imago sumus, ad gaudia vera vocati. Deliciis variis capti vel pectoris aures Obstruimus, vel, si patet auris, ad illa venire Semper differimus: si tandem forte venimus 1390 Nolentes tracti, motu testudinis imus. Immemores nostri Dominum postponimus hosti. H eu miseri! Cur non volumus meminisse diei Vindicte, qua nos manus ejus ab ungue redemit Hostili? meminisse quidem quae, qualia, quanta 1395 Pertulit in poenis, in verbis ridiculosis? Pontificis servus Domini responso maligne Arguii et feriens: — Respondes taliter, inquit, Pontifici? — Subjecit ad haec mansuetus: — Amice, Si male quid dixi, die in quo, Si bene, cur me 1400 Caedis? Item, Pilate, tibi pro posse rebellis, Intonuit Judaea fremens: — Crucifige ! — resumens Et clamans iterum: — Crucifige ! — Subintulit alter, Ictibus incussis, haec ridiculosa: — Propheta Christe, quis est qui te percussit? — Et addidit istis 1405 Improperans alius: — Alios salvabit et in se Deficit! In Domino speravit: liberei illum, Si vult. — Sic voluit tractari ridiculose Qui virgis caesus, Ugno suspensus, aceto Potatus, ferro transfixus, arundine quassus, 1410 Cuspide spinarum septus caput, omnia passus Tristia, tam varias mortes conclusit in una. Spreta, flagella, minae, probra, clavi, lancea, spinae Felici fine nostrae sunt meta ruinae. 1393

Vindicte BCD ] Consilli FP;

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"It's night. Let me rest!" (1375) "But it's day. Get up." "My God! Look, I'm getting up. Go on; I'll come after you." But he doesn't come: he has deceived him. Then: "Aren't you coming?" "I'd have come before but I've been looking for my clothes and can't find them." "That's no excuse; I know you, Birria. Get up, quick." "Lord, I'm ready!' But he isn't (1380); rather he moves his head from side to side, or scratches his arms, or stretches. Thus he looks for any possible little delays. He always comes verbally, not physically. And so coming he comes not; perhaps, if forced, he makes his way, slow as a turtle (1385). This is the sort we are, summoned to true joys. We are held captive by various delights; or we block up the ears of the heart; or if we do hear, we keep putting off going to these joys. If finally we are unwillingly dragged, we move at a turtle's pace (1390). Forgetful of ourselves, we esteem the Lord less than we do the enemy. Alas, we wretches! Why are we unwilling to remember the day of judgment, insofar as he rescued us from the enemy's claws? Why are we unwilling to remember what, how and how much he endured in torment, in mockery (1395)? The servant of the high priest malignly reproved the answer of our Lord and struck him, saying "Do you answer the high priest in this way?" The mild Lord submitted this answer: "Friend, if I have said evil, wherein did it lie? If well, why do you strike me?" Likewise, Pilate, did Judea, rebellious against you for power, cry out, roaring: "Crucify him!" and taking up (1401) the cry shouted again, "Crucify him!" Another struck him with blows and added these facetious words: "Prophecy, O Christ, who is it who has struck you?" And to this (1404), another added reproachfully, "He saved others and cannot help himself. Let the Lord in whom he hoped free him, if he wants to." Thus he was willing to be treated with scorn who, struck by blows, hanged on the cross, given vinegar to drink, pierced by a lance, beaten by rods, crowned with thorns, having suffered all (1410) pains, thus gathered various deaths into one. Scorn, whip, threats, disgrace, nails, lance, thorns — these, by their happy outcome, reversed our downfall. O man, by these delights, by this art of the cross, he redeemed you; strongly weak,

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His, homo, delictis, hac te crucis arte redemit, 1415 Fortiter infirmus dum mortem morte redemit. Dum mortem pateretur, ait Natura: — Necesse Est patiar: Dominus patitur. Compiangile mecum, Omne genus rerum, caelum sua lumina claudens, Aer caligans, mare clamans, terra tremiscens, Omnia cum lacrimis elemento. Nec accidit istud 1425 Ex serie rerum solita, sed vim quia mortis Passus erat Dominus Naturae. Vim simul istam Passa fuit Natura tuo compulsa dolore. Sola Deum risii morientem natio prava Cujus in opprobrium sunt posteriora. Propago 1430 Perfida! Gens durae cervicis! Disce cor illud Sic induratum mollire. Memento ruinae Terribilis duri Pharaonis. Disce beari. Singula de Christo scrutare; videbis aperte. Nonne pati Christus sic debuti? Indice scripto, 1435 A Ugno Dominus regnavit ibique triumphum Vieti, et ejecit hostem, mundumque redemit. Sic homini pugnavit homo, sed homo Deus ipse Tunc certans, nunc sceptra tenens, judexque futurus. Quod Deus et nullus alius, quod filius ipse, 1440 Non persona patris vel sacri fiaminis, esse Debuti ipsa salus hominis, sic collige paucis. Civibus angelicis caelo nascente creatis, Lucifer, egregiae lucis, de luce creantis Plus aliis sumpsit, ideo praesumpsit. Et inde 1445 Turgidus in lucem summam praesumere coepit. Vidit enim gigni lumen de lumine, verbum De patre; vidit item sacrum procedere flamen Ex utroque; trium naturam vidit eamdem, Personas varias tres illas vidit. Et uni 1450 Invidit soli Verbo, volutique creatus Patris adequari genito: — Dispono sedere Ad partes aquilonis, ait, similisque videri Summo. — Sic voluti fieri scelus incola caeli. Sed brevis hospes erat, quia caelum ferre scelestum 1455 Non potuti. Sed ibi mox Lucifer, ut fuit ortus, Occidit, et versum fuit illi mane repente In sero, bonitas in pejus, apex in abyssum,

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he redeemed death by death (1415). [Personification:] While he was suffering death, Nature said, "It is necessary that I also suffer, for the Lord has suffered. All kinds of things, lament with me: heavens, lock up your light: air, grow dark; sea, cry out; earth, tremble. All elements, weep together." Thus shaken (1420) with laments, Nature entirely shattered herself. All kinds of things sent forth signs: the heavens veiled their light; the air grew dark; the seas cried out; the earth shook; all elements wept. Nor did this happen (1424) in the ordinary course of nature, but because the Lord of nature had suffered the power of death. Nature also felt its power at the same time, impelled by your sorrow. [Emphasis:] Only that nation whose posterity live in shame laughed at the dying God. Perfidious offspring (1429)! stiff-necked people! learn how to soften your so hardened hearts. Remember the terrible fate of the hard-hearted pharao. Learn how to become blessed. Examine everything about Christ and you will understand fully. Did not Christ have to suffer thus? The sign being written,67 the Lord reigned from the cross and there won truimph (1435), ejected the enemy and redeemed the world. [Brevity:] Thus man fought for man; but the man was God himself, then fighting, now ruling, in the future a judge. [Ocular Demonstration (1) before the act:] Thus learn briefly that neither the person of the Father nor of the Sacred Wind (1440) would have properly been the salvation of man. When the angelic host was created in the newborn heaven, Lucifer, of exceeding light, assumed more of the Creator's light than did the others; and in this he presumed. Thereby inflated, he began to encroach upon the supreme light (1445). For he saw the light engendered of light, the Word from the Father. Then he saw the Sacred Wind proceed from both; he saw that all three had the same nature but were distinct in person. And he envied the one and only Word; he, the creature, wished (1450) to be made equal to the Son of the Father. He said, "I will place my seat in the north and will seem equal to the Highest." Thus did the inhabitant of heaven will sin to be born. But he was a guest there for a short time only, for heaven could not tolerate anyone vile. Quickly Lucifer, as he rose (1455), there fell; suddenly for him was dawn changed into evening,88 good into evil, height into deeps, spirit

"

That is, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews". Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 380.

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Sanctum in daemonium; fueratque biformis in hora: Clarus et obscurus, bonus et malus, alius et imus, 1460 Angelus et daemon. Qui passus ad ima ruinam Omnibus ordinibus decimam detraxit et aeque Unicuique suam. Post curstis quinque dierum Sexta die formavit Adam, formavit et Evam, Concives, Paradise, tuos. Quibus auctor eorum: 1465 — Omne genus ligni gustate; bonique, malique Notitiae lignum ne tangite. — Subdidit autem Causam, ne gustu morerentur morte. Quid iste? Vidit eos, et ad hoc formatos ut repararent Angelicum numerum qui corruit et fruerentur 1470 Deliciis illis quas perdidit angelus. Inde,

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Quid faceret versans, serpentis imagine sumpta, Rectus et erectus veniens clam venit ad Evam, Affari non ausus Adam: — Cur, inquit, ab esu Praefati ligni prohiberis? — Subdidit ilia: — Hoc ideo ne forte per hoc moriamur. — Ad illud Forte minus fort em credent em vidit; et inde Fortior his illam vicit: — Non sic, ait, immo Vescere, sicque sciens potes esse bonique malique, Sicut dii. — Tumefecit earn spes irrita tanti Polliciti; vetitum gustavit; idemque maritus, Ne turbaret earn, quamvis sit conscius, egit. Ille fuit primus error. Sed culpa secunda Deterior, non velle suum deflere reatum, Nec precibus pulsare Deum. Sed et ille retorsit Crimen in uxoris munus. Quid et uxor? et ilia In fraudem serpentis. Et haec defensio culpae Fons majoris erat offensae. Sic cecidere De solio, Paradise, tuo, damnatus uterque; Sic genus humanum periit. Nec profuit illi Vel jus naturae, vel jus legale, vel ulla Virtus, quin animas glutiret Tartarus omnes. Tanta, tot excursis annorum milibus, ira Infremuit, nec adhuc tam dira procella quievit. Filius ergo Dei secum: — Quia Lucifer in me

1465 — Omne genus ligni gustate; bonique, malique ] — Omne genus ligni gustate, bonique, malique: F (my emendation); 1466 ne ABCDG ] non FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339).

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into demon. In a short space of time he partook of two natures: light and dark; good and evil; high and low; angel and demon. Having suffered a fall to the depths (1460), he drew down great ruin upon all orders and equally distributed his own downfall to each. After five days had passed, on the sixth day God made Adam and Eve, your co-inhabitants, O Paradise. To them their Creator said (1464): "Taste all kinds of fruit; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not touch." He proposed this condition lest by tasting they should die the death. [Ocular Demonstration (2) the act itself:] What did that other one do? He saw them, and he saw that they were created to supply the number of angels who fell, and to enjoy those delights which the Angel had lost. Thereupon (1470), pondering what to do, he took up the appearance of a serpent, upright and haughty, and came secretly to Eve, for he dared not speak with Adam. "Why," he asked, "are you prevented from eating of the tree God spoke of?" She answered, "For this reason, lest perhaps we die because of it." That "perhaps" (1475) made him realize her faith was less strong; hence, the stronger from these reasons, he conquered her. "Not so," he said; "but eat and you will, like gods, have knowledge of good and evil." The vain hope of so great a promise puffed her up; she tasted what was forbidden. Likewise did her husband (1480), lest he disquiet her, although he knew what was involved. This was the first mistake. [Ocular Demonstration (3) after the act:] His second error was worse: not being willing to weep for his sin, nor to beseech God with prayers. But he put the blame on his wife, saying that she gave him the apple. And what did the wife do? she (1485) blamed the deceit of the serpent. And this defense of the guilt was the cause of greater offense. Thus did they fall from your throne, O Paradise, each one damned. Thus did the human race perish. Nor could any natural or legal right, nor any (1490) virtue of theirs, help them so that Tartarus would not swallow the souls of all mankind. So great an anger has roared throughout the course of thousands of years, nor has so dire a storm yet been stilled. [Ocular Demonstration (4) the circumstances of the act:] Then the Son of God pondered: Because Lucifer presumed against me, he was damned and

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1495 Praesumpsit, ruit et periit. Fuit ilia ruina Jstius radix. Sic sum quasi causa remota Hujus pestis: ero vicinae causa salutis. Si certare velim propria vi, corruet hostis Ex facili. Sed, sic si vicero, viribus utar, 1500 Et non judicio. Quare, cum vicerit hostis Calliditas hominem, ductu rationis oportet Ut si homo qui vincat eum, lapsusque resurgat Qui cecidit, seseque potens avellat ab ejus Unguibus, et liber incedat vertice recto 1505 Qui servile jugum subiit, vivatque beatus

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Qui misere periit. Sed oportet ut ille Deus sit: Non aliter virtus hominis prosternerei hostem Ni Deus indueret carnem. Quia sic erat una Cum virtute Dei virtus humana, necesse Est igitur, sicut hominem prostravit, ab ipso Sternatur; sicut a Ugno vicit, et inde Vincatur; laqueo quem fecit, eo capiatur. Filius haec. Ejus fuit ergo paraclitus auctor Conceptus, propriaque manu contexuit illi Humanos habitus, qui clam descendit in aulam Virginis et foribus clausis egressus ab aula Virginea, porta clausa. Res undique mira: Ingressus mirus, egressus mirus, et omnis Vitae progressus mirus. Nihil hostis in ilio Reperii esse suum. Sed rem tamen est alienam Aggressus: damnans ilium, damnatus ab ilio, Morte crucis damnavit eum. Tulit in cruce nostras, Non proprias maculas. Ibi crimina nostra luebat, Et quae non rapuit, tunc exsolvebat. At ipsa Mors non evasit, dum sic invaderei illum:

Quae dum sorberet hominem, deitatis ab hamo Intercepta fuit; et sic absorpta putavit Vincere, sed vinci stupuit, quia spiritus ejus Tartara jure suo spoliavit et ejus amicis 1530 Convertii tenebras luctus in gaudio lucis. Quos regio mortis tenuit, sic sola redemit Gratia. Propter quem coepit, sic destitit ira. 1523 proprias BCD ] ejus FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339). 1530 Convertit ] Converiit FP (my emendation).

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perished. That fall was (1495) the root of this one. Thus I am, as it were, the remote cause of this calamity; I will become the proximate cause of salvation. If I wished to fight with my own power, the enemy would give way easily. But if I win thus it would be by force, not judgment. Hence, since it was the shrewdness of the enemy (1500) which overcame man, by the guiding of reason it is proper that it be a man who conquers him, that the ruined man who had fallen rise again, and, powerful, pluck himself from his claws and walk upright like a free man (1504), who had formerly submitted to a servile yoke; and that he who perished miserably should live blessed. But it is proper that he be God: not otherwise could the strength of man prostrate the enemy, unless God put on flesh. [Ocular Demonstration (5) the consequences of the act:] Since human virtue was thus made one with divine virtue, it was therefore necessary that, since Satan overcame man, he be overthrown by man (1510); that as he conquered by a tree, he should thereby be conquered; that he be captured by the same snare which he had made. The Son spoke these words. The Paraclete was the agent of his conception; with his own hand he wove human clothing for Him, who secretly entered the womb (1515) of the Virgin through closed gates and emerged therefrom in like manner. A thing marvellous on all counts: the entrance marvellous, the issue marvellous, and the entire course of life marvellous. The enemy found nothing of his own in Him. But Christ undertook a matter not his own (1520). Condemning him, condemned by him, by his death on the cross he condemned him. On the cross he assumed our faults, not his own. There he washed away our sins, and what he did not take away, he atoned for. But death himself did not excape, when Christ thus invaded him (1525); while it was swallowing man, it was caught by the hook of the Deity; it thought to win what it had swallowed, and was amazed to find itself conquered. For his spirit despoiled Tartarus of its own right, and for his friends he transformed the darkness of sorrow into the joys of light (1530). Thus grace alone redeemed those whom the region of death held. Anger ceased for the same reason that it began.

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Scemata si piene rerum scruteris, in illis Omnibus ostendit sententia rem manifeste. Sola duo tolles ubi rem non ponit aperte. Hoc ita proposito : Non est mea parva potestas, Non exilis honor, plus innuo quam loquor, et res Est ipso verbo major. Pro parte meorum Sive mea si fortasse loquor, modus iste loquendi Est sapor: et tali sermone modestius utor. Sic cooperta venit sententia; non aperitur Res piene : plus est in re quam sermo scit esse. Ex tot et ex opibus tantis a patre relictis Dilapidator opum nec habet quo tegmine volet Pauperiem, sed nec testam qua postulet ignem. Sic de re minima dico nimis, immoderate Arguo quod non est moderatum; nec modus in re Nec modus in verbo. Si res moderatior ore, Sermo tamen nimius in re minus innuit esse. Ille vir egregius: vox haec sonat optimus. At vir Pessimus oblique nos respicit, hic sonat. Haec vox Transvertit visum, vel peccai visus in istis Ambiguis. Res est cooperta, sed usus apertus. Inspectis virgis pueri rubor ora reliquit Et facies exsanguis erat : talis color ipsum Significai timuisse. Rubor perfuderat ora Virginis: haec facies notat hanc puduisse. Vagando Crinibus incessit comptis: modus iste reportat Luxuriasse. Datae da signa sequentia formae ;

1542 re ABCDG ] se FP; seit esse G ] sit in re FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339); 1544 nec ABCDG ] non FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339); 1546-48 dico nimis, immoderate / Agruo quod non est moderatum; nec modus in re / Nec modus in verbo. ] dico nimis; immoderate / Arguo quod non est moderatum. Nec modus in re, / Nec modus in verbo. F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339); 1550 At ] Aut FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339). 1553 sed usus ACD ] et risus FP.

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[IV.C.2.c: Special Problems: Understatement and Emphasis (lines 153392).] If you carefully examine these figures, you will find that their meaning expresses the subject clearly, with the exception of two figures which do not express the subject openly (1535).59 Thus, in this statement: My power is not meager, my honor not small. Here I imply more than I say: the fact is greater than its expression. If perhaps I speak on behalf of my client, or on my own behalf, this manner of speaking is a delicacy. The use of such discourse is more modest (1540). Thus the meaning appears veiled and the matter is not fully open. There is more in the matter than the discourse indicates. 60 From such and so many riches left by his father, the squanderer of goods has nothing left with which to clothe his poverty, not a pot by which he may ask for fire (1545). Thus I speak in excessive terms about the smallest matter: I immoderately denounce that which is not moderate. No moderation in the thing, no moderation in the words. If the thing be more moderate than the speech, the discourse, however it may exaggerate the matter, hints that it is understating it. He is an extraordinary man. This statement implies that he is a very good man, but (1550) the hint that he is a very bad man indirectly peers out at us, for this also is implied. This expression changes appearances around: appearance misleads us in such ambiguities. The fact is left obscure; but the practice is clear. 61 When he looked at the rods, the color left the boy's cheeks and his face was pale. Such a figure of rhetoric (1555) indicates that he was afraid. A blush suffused the face of the maiden. This appearance denotes modesty. 69

According to Geoffrey's method of division, the ornatus levis characteristically uses words in their proper signification and avoids all kinds of metaphorical indirection; hence such figures are 'clear' and 'light'. But two figures in this classification clearly do use indirection: Understatement and Emphasis; hence Geoffrey treats them separately Further, Emphasis has so many subdivisions that Geoffrey is virtually forced to give it separate attention: it would have taxed even his ingenuity to fully exemplify Emphasis in the long tour de force just completed. 40 Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 376. 61 That is, the ambiguous statement leaves the state of affairs unclear; but it has been made clear how and when to use Emphasis through Ambiguity.

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1560 Praefer res ipsas, sed eas non praefer ut ipsas, Immo notas rerum solas : pallore timorem, Comptura Venerem, subitoque rubore pudorem, Remque notis certis ostende, sequente priorem: Hie color, hie sexus, haec aetas, ista figura. 1565 Nuper in alterius thalamo ... sed dicere nolo. Taliter abscindo vocem, nec dico quod iste, Immo quod istius aetatis, sive figurae. Magnus es et genibus flexis tibi supplicai orbis. Cum possis, noli saevire: memento Neronis. 1570 Sic re collata nihil amplius addo. Vel ecce Exemplum vario clausum sermone sub isto : Magnus Alexander cum bella moveret Athenis, Nulla reformandae placuerunt foedera pads, In pignus nisi forte datis sapientibus urbis. 1575 Unus prudentum respondit ad istud et istis: — Forte lupus bellum pastori movit. Utrimque Tractatum de pace fuit; sed formula pads Nulla lupo placuit nisi pignus et obses amoris Traditus esset ei custos gregis. Hoc ita facto, 1580 Ante fuit timidus, sed post securior hostis. — Substitit hoc dicto. Rem noluit assimilari Exemplo. Prudenter enim partem dedit auri, Partem servavit animo. Modus iste periti, Dimidio verbo totam vim claudere verbi. 1585 Talibus egregium sententia nacta colorem Non detecta venit, sed se per signa revelat. Lucet ab obliquo, non vult procedere recte In lucem. Species sunt quinque, sed est color idem. Verborum flores et rerum confer in unum, 1590 Area sermonis ut floreat his speciebus Florum. Surget enim quidam concursus odorum Et redolet piene permixtus uterque colorum. Quid deceat nosti dicisque decentia dici, Forte tamen casu ductus, non arte. Nec in re 1595 Sentis quid primo visu speculeris et in quo Praefundes studium, quis sit locus unde studendi 1572 Alexander cum ] Alexander, cum F (my emendation); 1851 noluit BCP ] voluit F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339).

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She went wandering with hair adorned.

This manner of speech indicates that she was wanton. Give the consequent signs of the situation at hand: set them forth not for their own sakes (1560), but only as characteristics of the subject: pallor for fear; adorned hair for lust; a sudden blush for modesty. Show the matter by certain resultant characteristics: this color, sex or age, through that appearance. Recently, in somebody else's bedroom ... but I won't say (1565).

Thus I cut off the discourse. Nor do I speak of the person himself, but rather make reference to "a man of that age,82 or of that appearance". You are great, and the world beseeches you on bended knees. Since you have power, be not savage: remember Nero.

Having made this comparison, I add no more. Or look at (1570) the example contained in this varied discourse: When the great Alexander waged war on the Athenians, no peace treaty pleased him unless the wise men of the city were to be given as a pledge. To that proposition one of the prudent men replied in these words (1575): "Perchance a wolf is warring on a shepherd. Each side negotiated for peace, but no terms pleased the wolf unless the keeper of the sheep handed over to him pledges and sureties of friendship. After this was done the enemy was quite assured, whereas before he had been uncertain" (1580). Having said this, he was silent.

He did not wish to apply the parable explicitly to the circumstances; but wisely he addressed part of his discourse to the ear, and part he reserved for the intelligence.63 This manner of skillful expression can enclose the whole strength of a discourse in half a statement. A statement thus born does not arrive at beautiful colors openly but reveals itself through signs (1586). It shines indirectly, nor does it wish to proceed directly into the light. There are five species under this same figure. Gather together the flowers of words and things, so that the ground of your discourse may be fertile in these species (1590) of flowers. A certain blending of scents will arise, and each of the intermingled colors will fill the air with fragrance. [V: Theory of Conversion (lines 1593-1765). Although you know what is appropriate and you say what is proper, perhaps in doing so you are led by chance, not art. Nor in this matter do you perceive what your first consideration should be and on what (1595) •* Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339. " Here I adopt Sedgewick's suggested translation almost verbatim: "Notes and Emendations", p. 339.

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Anticipes cursum, quae gignat origo decorem Yerborum; sed mens hac parte vagatur et ilia, Et vaga sunt dubiae mentis vestigia, tanquam Caeci palpantis qua vel quae sit via, cujus Est oculus baculus et dux fortuna. Quid ergo? Arte domes animum, qui ne quasi scurra vagetur, Sume locum certum. Tria tantum sunt loca : primus, Dictio flexibilis per tempora; proximus illi, Dictio per solos casus inflexa; supremus, Dictio persistens immota. Modusque fit iste. Ecce locum primum : puta verbum. Transeat illud In nomen fixum, vel quod descendat ab ilio, Aut ab eo quod ei sensu componderat aequo, Yel satis expressa simuletur imagine vocis. De verbo nomen, tanquam de stipite ramus, Exit, et ex ejus retinet radice saporem. Sed, quia nomen idem facit et non sufficit ad rem, Appositis verbis aliis et acumine mentis, Ex hac scintilla totus reparabitur ignis. Hoc igitur Studium fundens rem sic age. Nomen Quemlibet in casum varies et cuilibet aptes Talem juncturae seriem quae serviat apte Proposito. Sed ad hoc sudabis pectore toto ; Mentis in incude studiose cude, recude, Denique quod deceat excude. Sed ordo sit iste. Ante modos omnes in pectore collige. Post haec Elige quid melius, sub quo sententia casu Auribus instillet jocundius. Hic operetur Judex discretus, discrete videat. Istud Ut bene discernât, opus est simul artis et usus. Luceat exemplo res ista. Sit hoc breve thema: Ex hac re doleo. Sic utere lege statuta: Ex hoc fonte mihi manat dolor. Hinc mihi surgit Radix vel semen vel fans vel origo doloris. Res haec materiam praestat causamque doloris. Seminai aut gignit aut ingerii ipsa dolorem. Vulneribus duris in me, dolor anxie, saevis. Mens quasi decumbit male sospes et aegra dolore. qui ne quasi ] qui quasi FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339).

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you should expend your zeal, from what vantage point you can anticipate the flow of discourse, and whence arises the propriety of words; but your mind stumbles here and there, and the footsteps of the doubtful mind wander, like those of a blind man feeling out what road this is, or whither it runs: his (1600) eyes are his staff, and sheer luck his guide. What then must you do? By art rule your soul, so that it may not wander like a jester: adopt a definite point of vantage. There are only three such points: first, words conjugated according to tense; next, words changing only in case; finally (1605), indeclinable words. This will be the method. In the first place, consider the verb. Let it become a noun — either one derived from it, or one of similar meaning; or let it be imitated by an adequately expressed word (1610). The noun comes from the verb like a branch from a shoot, and it retains the savor of its origin. But since a verb gives rise to only one noun, which is not sufficient to express the matter, bring forward other verbs and with mental acumen rekindle the whole flame from this spark (1615). Handle the matter thus, pouring forth this kind of ingenuity: vary the case of each noun thus derived, and supply to each such a series of additions as will aptly serve the theme. Bend all your energy to this task; in the forge of the mind hammer zealously, rehammer (1620), and finally forge whatever is fitting. Work in this order. First, gather all possible modes of expression into your breast. Then choose the best, whose use will help the sentiment to enter the ears more pleasantly. Here let a discreet judge work, let him examine discreetly (1625). That he may discern the matter well, there is need of both art and experience. This example will throw light on the matter. Let this be the brief expression of the theme: Because of this matter, I sorrow. Thus use the law explained above: Sorrow flows to me from this fountain. Hence arises to me the root (or seed, or source, or origin) of sorrow (1630). This shows the substance and cause of my sorrow. It produces (or engenders or causes) my sorrow. O anxious sorrow, you injure me with grievous wounds. My ill-fortuned mind lies ill, sick with sorrow.

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1635 A verbo doleo sic nomen sume dolorisi Quemlibet in casum sic mutes ; cuilibet addas Structuram vocum similem quae competat ipsi Materiae. Vel item non sumes nomen ab ilio, Sed magis a simili verbo signant dolorem, 1640 Qualia sunt Suspiro, Queror, Gemo, Lacrimor. Inde Nomina sunt Lacrimae, Gemitus, Suspiria, Questus. Sic igitur sensum verborum nomina dicunt: Ex animo veniunt suspiria, questus ab ore; In faciem manant lacrimae, gemitusque resumo 1645 Continuos. Sed die festivius istud: Ab imo Pectoris erumpunt suspiria, questibus aer Exclamat, lacrimas derivai fons oculorum Et gemitus rumpunt animum. Sic nomina verbis Artifici quodam nectat sententia nodo. 1650 In proprie sumptis satis est jocunda venustas, Sed bene transsumptis magis est cognata voluptas. Dictio per solos casus inflexa fruatur Duplice Consilio. Quiddam desiderai ipsum Mobile, sed secus est in fixo. Consulis isti 1655 Ex alia, sed in hac forma praeconsule primo. Regula quae supra docuit convertere verbum, Mobile sub simili forma convertit: eisdem Passibus hic curras et ibi, quia servat eamdem Cursus uterque viam. Quod themate lucet in isto : 1660 Candidus est vuìtus. Sic istud mobile mutes Et positam legem serves : Illuminai ora Condor; Candoris radio vel luce coruscat; Nubet candori facies; Solis gerii instar Candorem maxilla suum; Mundoque diescit 1665 Ex solo candore genae. Sedet hic modus apte Usus yperbolicus miro de more vel auget, Vel minuit laudes vel culpas criminis. Et sunt Crimina vel laudes ipsius idonea sedes. Sic candor sumas a Candidus, ut variatis 1670 Casibus occurrat melior modus. Aut nihil inde Sume, sed a niveus, quod ei similatur; et inde Eliciens fixum, puta nix, hunc accipe cursum : Non distant forma nix et gena; Candor in ore Tanta luce nitet quasi sit nivis aemulus; Ora

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From the verb I sorrow thus take the noun sorrow (1635). Thus change the noun into any case whatever: to this noun add a similar array of expressions such as suit the subject. Or, likewise, do not take your noun from that particular verb, but rather from a similar verb signifying sorrow, such as I sigh, lament, groan, weep (1640). The corresponding nouns are tears, groans, sighs, laments. Thus do nouns express the meanings of verbs: Sighs come from the soul; laments from the mouth; tears flow onto the face; I take up continual sighs. But more happily, 64 say (1645): Sighs break forth from the depths of the breast; the air resounds with laments; the fountains of the draws off tears; and groans shatter the spirit. Thus by a certain artistic knot let the similarity of meaning join nouns to verbs. In words used in their original form there is a good deal of enjoyable charm (1650); but if they are well converted, the related pleasure is greater. Let a word inflected in all its cases enjoy a double plan. The first is concerned with the adjective; the second, with the noun. You will examine the latter in the light of the former. 66 But first consider this: the rule which above taught us how to convert the verb, in like manner converts the adjective. Proceed the same way in this case as in that, for each course serves the same way. Let us clarify matters by this statement: His face is resplendent. Thus change the adjective (1660) and fulfill the posited law: Splendor illuminates his features; his face dazzles with a ray of splendor (or with the light of splendor); his face is wed to splendor; his face bears a splendor like the sun's; he lights the world by the sole splendor of his cheek. This approach is suitable (1665). The use of Hyperbole marvellously increases or diminishes praise, or the blame of reproach. Blame or praise are appropriate occasions for Hyperbole. Thus take splendor from resplendent, so that a better approach may arise from varying the cases. Alternately, do not derive any word (1670) from resplendent, but use snowy, since it is similar to it. Thence derive a noun — namely, snow — and follow this course: •*

More happily, because in the second example the cases are varied. By the time we come to the treatment of the noun (lines 1685-1713), Geoffrey will have explained, several times over, the method of its conversion —• not only in his discussion of the adjective, as this sentence indicates, but also in the just concluded discussion of the verb. 86

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1675 Accedunt candore nivi; Proprioque nitore Est fades imitata nivem; Certusque triumphi Cum nive decertat vultus. Pertranseo quintum, Qui sumendus erit, cum poscet apostropha, casum. Mobile sic mutes in fixum, quod sit ab ilio 1680 Sive suo simili natum, vocesque coaddat Prudens inventor seriemque venustet earum, Ut series vocum fixo confixa prioris Materiae teneat mentem varietque colorem Et sonet illud idem, quamvis non sit sonus idem. 1685 Hunc fixo praefige modum. Si sit bene fixum, Non eget artificis studio. Si non stet honeste In casu dicto, fiat detorsio casus In casum seriemque stude contexere vocum, Ut rude thema novae formae sibi sumat amictum. 1690 Thematis haec rudis est facies: Ego rem sceleratam Consilio feci. Faciem sic innovo verbi : Consilium stimulus faciendi vel scelerati Actor erat facti. Vel sic: Suggestio pravi Consilii sceleri causam se praebuit aut se 1695 Causam praemisit. Vel in hoc genus incide verbi: Consilio consensit opus, vel Paruit illi Flagitiosa manus. Vel taliter elice verbum : Consilium scelerata manus produxit in actum. Si quis item quasi rem nudam tibi proferat istud: 1700 Hoc factum dicunt omnes, sic decoque verbum: Hoc factum vox est populi, vel Publica fama Est testis facti, vel Facto nulla reclamai Lingua, sed id clamai vox plebis, et omnis, et una. Prosequar an plures? Ad quid? Sententia nullum

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vocesque ] vocisque FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339).

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Snow and his cheek are not different in appearance; brightness shines with as much light in his face as if it were comparable to snow; his face is close to snow in whiteness; in its whiteness (1675) his face has imitated snow; certain of triumph, his face vies with snow. I pass over the fifth case, which ought to have been included, because it demands Apostrophe. 66 Thus change an adjective into a noun either derived from it or from one similar to it in meaning, and let the wise author put together the expressions (1680) into a graceful series. Thus a series of expressions linked together by a noun will hold fast to the original meaning of the matter. Such a series will vary the colors and yet mean the same, although they do not sound the same. Apply this method to the noun. If it is quite indeclinable (1685), it does not need the zeal of the craftsman. If it does not stand honorably in the case in which it is written, let one case be changed into another, and ponder how you can twist together a series of expressions, so that an unpolished theme may clothe itself under a new form. The appearance of this theme is unpolished: I did a wicked thing (1690) through advice. Thus I renew the appearance of the words: Advice was the prompter of my deed (or was the agent of the infamous deed); the suggestion of depraved advice showed itself a cause of crime (or set itself a cause of crime (or set itself forth as the cause of the crime); through advice he consented to the deed (or a wicked hand obeyed him); a wicked hand acted out the advice.67 Likewise, suppose this naked matter came before you: Everybody says this was done. Thus fabricate an expression (1700): This deed is in accord with the voice of the people; public proclamation is a witness of the deed; no tongue cries out against this deed, but the voice of the people proclaims it, one and all. 68

The introduction of the vocative would have necessitated apostrophising snow. I confess I do not see why Geoffrey hesitated: he had solved a similar problem in connection with dolor (line 1633). Here I have omitted some unimportant transitional expressions in order to make this series of examples similar in form to those preceding. The omitted expressions are here supplied in italics: Advice was the prompter of my deed (or was the agent of the infamous deed); or thus-. The suggestion or depraved advice showed itself a cause of crime (or set itself forth as the cause of the crime). Or break through to this kind or expression: Through advice he consented to the deed (or a wicked hand obeyed him). Or speak thus: A wicked hand acted out the advice.

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1705 Respuit: una quidem casus aptatur ad omnes. Posse stude reperire viam: patitur reperiri, Si reperire potes. Si cui via non sit aperta, Non per eam, sed stet per eum, cui deficit artis Consilium, nec habet socium quem consulat usum. 1710 Rem tria perficiunt: ars, cujus lege regaris; Usus, quem serves; meliores, quos imiteris. Ars certos, usus promptos, imitatio reddit Artifices aptos, tria concurrentia summos. Vocum quae flecti nequeunt immobile vulgus, 1715 In sermone licet tolerabile, tollitur apte: Saepius et melius plebs illa recedei ab aula, Sub quadam forma servanda. Forma sit ista: Inspice quid talis vox innuat; exprime tandem Nomine vel verbo rem quam notat, ut nova forma 1720 Prodeat et melior quam prima. Sit hoc breve thema: Time veniet. Tutte est nota temporis. Exprime tempus Illud per nomen, talem servando tenorem : Ille dies transmittet eum. Si thema sit istud: Huc veniet, verbis addet modus iste decorem: 1725 Hic locus admittet venientem, vel venienti Hospes erit sive diuturnus, sive diurnus. Dicere seu mavis ornatius, accipe rursus Istud. Dicturus Semel aut bis sive frequenter Delinquo, dicas Est unica, sive secunda, 1730 Sive frequens animi contagio; vel Scelus ipsum Incipit, aut in me redit, aut crebrescit in usum. Lege pari pones, ubi ponitur iste vel ille, Alter et alteruter: si subdisjunctio fiat, Pones alteruter ; si res disjunxeris, alter. 1735 Sed neque sic dices Si venerit ille, recedei Iste, sed Accessus operabitur ille recessum Istius. Ille fuit ruditatis, et hic modus artis. Est genus istud idem: Currit plebs undique circa Urbem — Plebs urbis celeri pede circinat orbem.

1735 dices ] duces FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339).

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Shall I pursue any more examples? To what end? A statement should reject none of these devices; indeed, one statement can be expressed through all the grammatical cases (1705). Try to gain the ability to discover the way: it will allow itself to be discovered if you are able to discover it. If the way is not clear to anyone, the fault lies not with it but with him who lacks the advice of art, and who does not have a companion whose practice he may consult. Three things make for perfection: art, by whose law you may be ruled (1710); practice, which you may exercise; and superior craftsmen, whom you may imitate. Art renders craftsmen sure, practice ready, imitation apt; and the three together make them the best. Indeclinable expressions, which have no declension, although tolerable in discourse, are more aptly removed (1715): it more frequently is better for that group to retire from the hall and to be preserved under a different form. Let this be the form: find out what the indeclinable word means; then express that meaning through a noun or a verb, so that a new form may appear, better than the one before. Say that this is your concise theme (1720): Then he came. Then refers to time. Express the notion of time by a noun, in this manner: That day dispatched him. If the statement is Hither he will come, This form adds decoration to the expression: This place will admit the one who comes; (or) this place will be a host to the one who comes to stay either for a long time or for one day (1726). If you prefer to speak more ornately, take this example. If you are to say I have done wrong once (or twice, or often), say: That was the only (or second, or oft-repeated) blot on my soul; (or) that crime (1730) arose (or returned to me, or grew up into habit). By a similar law, use alter and alteruter instead of iste or ille; if you are forming a partly disjunctive proposition, use alteruter-, if a disjunctive proposition, use alter:68 But do not say, "If one comes, the other will go" (1735); rather say: 98

Geoffrey refers to the coordinate use of alter: the construction means 'the one ... the other', sometimes with a strong sense of opposition supplying the sense of alternatives in a disjunctive proposition. Alteruter, which is not used coordinately, means

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1740 Juste punitur pro crimine — Congrua causa Est crimen poenae. Ne quos exempla fatigent, Plurima sub paucis et cetera claudo sub istis. Si vim scire velis majorum, sume minorem: Sic se major habet sicut minor. Inspice pauca: 1745 Quae lex est paucis, et pluribus. Astruit auctor In Topicis, ubi pauca magis speculatio, major Est via. Ne longis igitur sermonibus errem, Non eat exemplum per singula, sed potiore Consilio sint multa brevi conclusa sigillo. 1750 Oblatrator ades, das thema, resistere temptas. Rem petis instanter; spatium peto, postulo mentis Consilium. Nimis es praeceps exactor: ad horam Non possum, tolera: poterit mora quod nequit hora. Non venit ex facili res ista nec absque labore : 1755 Sed mens quando studet, tanquam pugil, anxia pugnat. Pugnat enim secum. Petit ut sibi consulat, et non Consulit ipsa sibi. Repetit patiturque repulsam Ipsa secunda sibi : ferventius instat et ipsa Perstat adhuc contra se, curis anxia torquet 1760 Se, tandem quod vult extorquet vi violenta A se. Sicque simul victrix et vieta triumphat De se. Sed laeto si vis gaudere triumpho, Quod minus est supple, quod plus abrade, quod hirtum Come, quod obscurum declara, quod vitiosum 1765 Emenda. Curis istis sunt omnia sana. Adjice praemissis : quia dictio quae sonat una Est quasi mater hyle, quasi res rudis et sine forma, Des illi sociam : dabit haec adjectio formam. Quae magis ut niteat, pingat transsumptio clausam, 1770 Quando duo tali coeunt compagine Pratum Ridet vel Studium floret. Vel collige voces Complexas et eas multas et in aggere tali : Venit in opprobrium mensae mensole lutosum, Panis furfureus, cibus asper, potus amarus, 1750-53 I believe Farai (p. 250) is wrong to treat these lines as an example. First, I think it would be impossible to determine what they are meant to exemplify. Second, lines 1748-49 do not necessarily promise a further example but, on the contrary, eschew further illustration. Lines 1750-53 are a dramatic dialogue — or, actually, a monologue, for the author is arguing against his own inner impatience, as the following lines show.

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His entrance will bring about the other's exit. The former expression is clumsy, the latter artistic. And likewise here: The people ran everywhere about the city. The people swiftly went about the circuit of the city. He is justly punished for his crime. His crime is a fitting cause for punishment.69 Lest examples become tiresome, I will treat several remaining matters in a few words. If you wish to know the power of the greater, adopt the lesser; for the greater is implied, as it were, in the lesser. Observe a few instances (1744): what is law for the few applies also to the many. The author of the Topics has added this reflection: where consideration is slight, the road is longer. Therefore, lest I wander through a long discourse, I will not give individual examples. Rather, with greater wisdom let much be enclosed by a brief indication. You come, O railer, to give a theme and to oppose me (1750). You demand instant results; I ask for time, I require mental deliberation. You are an excessively swift exactor. Right now I cannot: wait. Delay will furnish what the moment cannot. The matter does not come easily or effortlessly; but when the mind is eager, like a champion, it struggles over-anxiously (1755). For it fights with itself. It desires to take counsel of itself, and it does not. It tries again, and suffers repulse, being its own worst enemy. More determinedly it presses on, and yet it still stands firm against itself; it torments itself, afflicted by cares; with violent force it finally wrests what it seeks (1760) from itself. Thus at once conqueror and conquered, it triumphs over itself. If you wish to enjoy a happy triumph, fill up what is less, shave off what is more, comb what is shaggy, clarify what is obscure, emend what is defective. All things are made whole through these attentions (1765). [VI: The Theory of Determinations (lines 1766-1846).] Add this consideration to what has gone before: since an expression which stands alone is, like prime matter, unfinished and formless, give it a companion which will provide the form. Let Metaphor decorate the sentence to make it more resplendent (1769), as when two are combined in such a link as this: The fields laugh; (or) zeal flourishes. 'either of two', without any sense of alternate opposites, and hence is applicable to partially disjunctive statements. It is unclear why Geoffrey discusses this matter here, for alter and alteruter are just as declinable as iste and ille. " The second form of each pair is preferred since it eliminates the indeclinable adverb.

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1775 Vemula pannosus. Vel mobile sic geminemus: Mensa fuit pauper et parvula, mappa vetusta Et contrita, cibus incoctus et horridus, ipse Potus acetosus et turbidus, assecla mensae Vilis et illepidus. Totum fuit absque decore. 1780 Aut ita se fixum determinet: Es Cato mente, Tullius ore, Paris facie, Pirrusque vigore. Aut ita transsumes : Rosa vultus, lilia frontis, Dentis ebur, flammae labrorum, balsamus oris Aut sic, impropie sed honeste: Tiphis amoris, 1785 Dalila Samsonis, vel Martia pone Catonis. Mobile sub simili casu determinet ipsum Et sub dissimili fixo determino fixum. Mobile sic etiam determinai aut genitivus, Scilicet his verbis, ut si dicatur avarus 1790 Plenus opum, vacuus virtutum, avidissima rerum, Prodigus alterius parcus rerumque suarum; Sive dativus, ut hic, si prosequar ore Neronem: Mens sua tot vitiis damnabilis est, alienis Facta maligna, suis pejor, sibi pessima, nulli 1795 Utilis et cunctis damnosa. Vel ecce sequentes Casus : Hic inter mensas illotus in omni Eloquio, semperque gula fervente paratus Ad nimium, nec vina probans nisi sumpta redundent In vomitum, foedare solet convivio, spirans 1800 Coenum, despumans vinum fundensque venenum. Hic sonus extremus est oris Sidoniani. Sed melius duplicem sociat sibi mobile casum, Quod patet hic: Mensole placet novitate decorum Et candore, cibus pretio conditus et arte, 1805 Potus tam vino sapidus quam nectare, verna Moribus insignis et veste. Facetia dandi Et vultus dantis duplex est gloria mensae. Lege quidem simili rectos ita congero verbis: Jam mihi contrahitur pellis, quatitur cor, anhelat

1793

damnabilis est, alienis ] damnabilis est alienis, F (my emendation).

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Or embrace many expressions and gather them into a collection such as this: The dirty table-cloth, the bread made of bran, the harsh food, bitter drink, and tattered servant, were objects of reproach. Or double the adjective thus (1775): The meal was meager and small; the table-napkin old and ragged; the food raw and wretched; the drink bitter and cloudy; the waiter vile and ungracious. Everything was without comeliness (1779). Or thus is the noun determined: You are a Cato in mind, a Tully in speech, a Paris in looks, a Pyrrhus in vigor. Or use metaphor: The rose of the face; the lily of the forehead; the ivory of the teeth; the flames of the lips; the balsam of the mouth. Or thus, figuratively but aptly: A Tiphis of love; a Dalila of Samson; a Marcia of Cato (1785). An adjective in the same case can determine a noun; or a noun can be determined by another noun in a different case. The genitive of the noun can determine the adjective, as in this description of a miser: Full of riches, empty of virtue, most covetous of possessions (1790); stingy with his own, prodigal with others' goods. Or the dative, as in this speech against Nero: His spirit damnable through its many vices, he is malign to others, worse to his own, helpful to none and harmful to all. Or in the following (1795) grammatical cases: Unclean in every dinner conversation, always prepared for excess by his greedy throat, trying no wine without vomiting it up again, he is wont to disgrace the banquet, exhaling filth, vomiting forth 70 wine, pouring out poison (1800). This last verse is from Sidonius. But it is better for an adjective to link itself to two nouns, as we can see in this example: The table-cloth pleases by the newness and splendor of its appointments; the food prepared with expense and art; the drink as redolent of nectar as of wine; the servant (1805) distinguished by his manners and clothing. The graciousness of the giving and the features of the giver are the double glory of the feast.

70

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 373.

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1810 Pulmo, riget lumbus, curvatur spina, tremescit Corpus et ad limen stat mors. Aut applico rectum Sub tali forma verbo : Sap it ut Cato, dicit Ut Cicero, viget ut Pirrus, nitet ut Paris, audet Ut Capaneus, amat ut Theseus, modulatur ut Orpheus. 1815 Aut ita subjiciès obliquos nominis: Ira Aestuat, aspectu terret, lingua tonat, ense Insurgit, gestu furit. Aut sic collige clausas : Cordis contriti pietas divina miseria Debita dimittit, peccata remittit, amorem 1820 Ipsius immittit et verae gaudio vitae Promittit, sed earn nisi perstet in ejus amore Amittit. Vel sic aptes adverbia verbis: Histrio mane vorat, cupide bibit, immoderate Dissipai, immunde vivit. Vel die ita mixtum : 1825 Colligit hic talos rapide, speculatur acute, Argute volvit, instanter mittit, amice Compellat, patiens exspectat: in his bene jactis Ad placitum mentis tacitus sedei, ad mala ridet, In neutris animo turbatur: in his et in illis 1830 Philosophatur. Hic est modus et mos Sidonianus; Et modus egregius clausarum tantus acervus. In duplici casu decet inculcatio versum, Et sunt ii casus laudes et crimina rerum : Laudando cumulat haec inculcatio plausum 1835 Et culpando frequens est malleus ad feriendum. Sydonii calamus magis hunc sibi deputat usum, Pluribus inductis clausis producere versum. Distat ab hoc calamo Senecae contrarius usus : Liber is est vitiis qui non inservit, abundans 1840 Cui satis est quod habet, pauper qui plus cupit. Hic mos Est Senecae, versum celeri concludere fine. Dignus uterque tamen titulo, sed utrum sequar? Istum Aut ilium? No vitas quia plus juvat et modus idem Nos satiat, nec ero velut hic, nec ero velut ille: 1845 Nec tantum vel ero longus, vel ero brevis, immo Et brevis et longus, de neutro factus uterque. Si bene dicta notes et rebus verba coaptes, 1814 Capaneus ] Campaneus P (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339).

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Similarly, join nouns in the nominative to verbs: Now my skin shrivels, my heart beats violently, my lungs gasp, my loins grow stiff, my spine bends double, my body trembles (1810): death stands at the threshold. Or I apply the nominative to the verb in this way: He is wise like Cato, talks like Cicero, thrives like Pyrrhus, shines like Paris, is daring like Capaneus, loves like Theseus, plays like Orpheus. Or thus add the oblique cases of the nouns (1815): He grows heated with anger, he is terrible in countenance, he thunders with his tongue, rises up with his sword, rages with gesticulations. Or tie clauses together in this way: Divine Pity, having mercy on the contrite heart, forgives its debts, remits sins, grants it its own love, promises the joys of true life (1820); but unless the heart persists in its love, Pity sends it away. Or thus fit adverbs to verbs: The entertainer eats greedily in the morning, drinks voraciously, dissipates immoderately, lives filthily. Or combine all the above: He quickly picks up the dice, examines them sharply (1825), craftily shakes them, vehemently throws them, addresses them in a coaxing way, and waits patiently. If the throw pleases him he sits silent; if it is bad, he laughs. In neither case is his spirit disturbed; in both, he is philosophical. This is the manner and style of Sidonius (1830). And this manner of piling up clauses is excellent. Such a congregation of expressions suits the verse in these two cases: for praise and blame. In praise it heaps up applause, and in blame it provides a means of striking frequent blows (1835). The pen of Sidonius most frequently adopts this style, producing verses by piling up many clauses. The opposite style of Seneca is quite different: He is free of vices who is not their slave; he is rich who is satisfied with what he has, poor if he wants more (1840). This is the Senecan manner: to bring each verse quickly to an end. Both are worthy of honor: but which shall I follow, the one or the other? Since the novelty pleases us, and restraint likewise satisfies us, I will copy neither. I will be neither long nor brief, but (1845) long and brief, combining the styles of both.

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Sic proprie dices. Si mentio namque sit orta Forte rei, sexus, aetatis, conditionis, 1850 Eventus, si forte loci vel temporis: haec est Debita proprietas, quam vult res, sexus, aetas, Conditio, eventus, tempus, locus. Ista venustas Est electa, quia bene cum determino totum Termino sub tali forma. Res condita tota 1855 Est condita. Notam teneas servesque tenorem: Haec nota tam prosae quam metro servit. Et una Ars ad utrumque facit, quamvis in dispari forma.

1860

1865

1870

1875

1880

Legibus arctetur metrum, sed prosa vagatur Liberiore via, quia prosae publica strata Admittit passim redas et plaustra; sed arta Semita versiculi non vult tam grossa, sed ipsas Voces in forma gracili, ne corpus agreste Verbi mole sua perturbet et inquinet illum Yultque venire metrum tanquam domicellula, compio Crine, nitente gena, subtili corpore, forma Egregia. Seriem tantae dulcedinis auri Nescit habere parem jocunda decentia metri. Prosaicus versus res grossior: omnia verba Indistanter amat, nisi quae postrema reservat, Qualia sunt quorum penultima tendat in altum: Cetera non decuit fìnem servare supremum. In simili forma retractat Agellius istud Et subjicit causam: ne vocum debilis esset Et non sufficiens numerus concludere versum. Si sit, ut esse solet, finalis dictio clausae Alterius formae, tamen ista decentior, ut quam Causa probat melior, et testis Agellius auctor. Cetera non variai ratio, sed, carminé metri Legibus astricto vel ab ejus lege soluto, Ars eadem semper, quamvis quod pendet ab arte Non sit semper idem. Sic verba domentur utrimque: Arida non veniant, sed eis sententia succum Imprimat, et succo veniant et sanguine piena, Nec quicquam puerile sonent; sint pondéré grandi,

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[VII: Miscellaneous Advice (lines 1847-1973) VILA: Choice of Words (lines 1847-71) VII.A.i: According to Persons and Actions Described (lines 1847-57).] If you are careful about your expression and fit the words to the subject, you will discourse well. If perchance you mention the subject, its sex, age, condition, outcome, time, and place, such are (1850) the usual properties which are required. Such a form of beauty is chosen because if I wish to fully define the matter, I must do so with the predication of these properties. If the subject is well set up, the whole work is polished. Keep an eye to the details and serve the tenor of the work; such detail suits prose as well as verse. And one art serves both, although in a different form. [VII.A.ii: According to the Requirements of Meter (lines 1858-87).] Metrical composition is confined by laws, but prose wanders on a freer road. For the public road of prose admits carts and wagons at random; the narrow (1860) path of a verselet does not want such gross things, but rather expressions of a slender form, lest it be tarnished by the bulk of an unwieldy word. The meter must come like a little lady of the house, hair bound, cheeks shining, body slender, form (1865) beautiful. No sequence can be of such sweetness to the ear as the delightful comeliness of meter. Prosaic discourse is grosser: it loves all words indiscriminately,71 except those it reserves for closing the clauses, such as those whose penult is accented (1870). It is not fitting for other words to serve the end of a clause. Aulus Gellius has treated of this in a similar strain,72 adding the reason that the rhythm of the words must not be weak and insufficient to conclude the verse. Even though, as often happens, the concluding words of a clause (1875) are of a form other than that demanded by cursus, yet a metrical conclusion is the more pleasant, as a better argument proves — namely, the testimony of the author Gellius. Otherwise the plan does not vary: the art is ever the same, whether it be in verse bound by the laws of meter, or discourse free from those restrictions. However, what depends on the art (1880) is not always the same.73 In both prose and verse, let the words be tamed. Let them not be dry, but let the sentence squeeze juice out of them. Let them be full of juice and blood, lest they seem puerile in any way. Let them have great weight, but not too 71

Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 378. 72 Nodes Atticae, I, 7, 20 (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 339). 73 This may mean that the laws of rhythm operate in prose as well as in verse, but not

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1885 Sed non praegrandi: sic sint oneri quod honori. Nec veniant facie turpi, sed et intus et extra Sit color et pingat manus artis utrumque colorem. Attamen est quandoque color vitare colores, Exceptis quos sermo capit vulgaris et usus 1890 Offert communis. Res comica namque recusat Arte laboratos sermones : sola requirit Plana; quod explanat paucis res ista jocosa: Tres sumus expensae sociipuerque caremus. Hoc pro lege damus, ut prandio nostra paremus 1895 Tempore quisque suo. Famulantibus ante duobus, Tertius ecce dies et me vocat hora coquinae. Ignem facturus flatu pro follibus utor. Poscit opem defectus aquae: manus arripit urnam; Fons petitur. Lapis objicitur: pes labitur, urna 1900 Frangitur. Ecce duplex damni proventus: et urnae Et defectus aquae. Quid agam? Dum consulo mentem, Intro forum. Sedet unus ibi circumdatus urnis. Assumptas dum verto manu, dum pernoto visu, Ille, videns inopem, furtum timet et mihi verbis 1905 Turpibus insultat. Confusus deinde revertor: Invenio socium; rem narro. — Revertar ad illum, Inquio, tuque sequens proclames funera patris. — Dissimulo repetoque locum: manus haec capiti urnam, Haec aliam. Socius proclamans: — Quid facis, inquit, 1910 Quid facis hic? Miserande, pater qui languii ecce Mortuus est; et adhuc, insane moraris? — Ad istud Mortuus est, manibus concussis content urnas Nostra manus. Fugio. Qui me confudit, agrestem Confundo, talique modo probra dieta refello. 1915 Hac ratione levis Signatur sermo jocosus: Ex animi levitate jocus procedit. Et est res Immatura jocus et amica virentibus annis; Et leve quid jocus est, cui se jocundior aetas Applicai ex facili. Res tertia sit levis. Ergo 1920 Omnia sint levia. Sibi consonat undique to tum Si levis est animus, et res levis, et leve verbum. Seria si tractes, sermo sit serius et mens 1907 proclames ABCDG ] proclama FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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great: let them bear honor as well as onus (1885). Nor let them come with a disgraceful appearance, but colored without and within — each color rendered by the hand of art. [VII.B: Humor (lines 1888-1924).] However, it is sometimes a color to avoid colors, except those used by ordinary speech and offered by common practice. For comic material rejects (1890) discourse reworked by art, and requires only plain speech, as the following humorous material will make clear: We three are friends to lavish spending, and we do not have a servant. We have arranged that we each take turns preparing dinner. It has been my friends' turn (1895); now the third day has arrived, and the hour for preparing dinner summons me. To make the fire I use my breath instead of a bellows. The lack of water needs to be remedied: I pick up a jug and seek out the fountain. A stone lies in the way, my foot stumbles, and the jar (1899) is broken. Now we have double trouble: we need a jug as well as water. What shall I do? As I ponder, I enter the market place. There is a man sitting in the midst of jars. As I pick them up, turn them over and examine them, he, seeing my poverty, fears theft and insults me with vile words. Embarrassed, I go back (1905). I find my pal and tell him what happened. "I will go back to him," I say; "follow after me, and tell me that our father has died." I play the part and again seek out the place. I take one jug in each hand. My friend cries out, saying (1909), "What are you doing? what are you doing here? Unhappy man, our sick father has died, and you like a fool have fiddled around until now?" At the words "he has died," I clap my hands and break the jars. I run away. I have confounded the boor who confounded me, so that I have paid back his wicked abuse (1914). Humorous discourse is called light because jokes proceed from lightness of soul. A jest is an immature thing, the friend of green years. It is something light, to which a merrier age easily applies itself. Let the third light element be the subject matter: thus let all be light. Everything is in mutual agreement (1920) if the spirit, the matter and the expression are equally light.

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Seria, maturus animus maturaque verba, Praescriptisque modis et res et verba colora. 1925 In primis igitur mundes a sordibus ipsum Carmen et explantes vitium. Quae, qualia, quot sint Quae vitient seriem sermonis, collige paucis. Ecce deae aethereae advenere : perhorret hiatus Vocis in hac serie. Legem vocalibus istam 1930 Ars dedit, ut non sit creber concursus earum. Concursum tolerat, crebrum vetat, et, quia creber, Ille sonus vocum deformat et auget hiatum. Tu, Tite, tuta te virtute tuente tueris: Littera sic eadem pudor est repetita pudenter 1935 Et nimis assidue; decor est repetita decenter. Cum non sit ratio rationis de ratione, Hiric non est ratio praebere fidem ratione. Sic verbum vilescit idem tam saepe resumptum Tamque supervacue. Moderata resumptio vocum 1940 Est color: omne quod est nimium res absque colore. Exitus est vocum similis quandoque decori ; Dedecet illarum sic juncta frequentia vocum : Infantes, states, lacrimantes, vociferantes. Quatuor haec generai vitium. Contagio quinta 1945 Quando venit suspensa nimis constructio longa. Adjiciunt sextam, quando trajectio verbi Inconcinna venit, ut: Luci misimus Eli. Ecce dedi pecten, quo si sint pexa relucent Carmina tam prosae quam metra. Sed an bene pectas 1950 Hoc speculo poteris piene discernere formam. Cum faciem verbi speculeris, an inquinet illam Forte latens aliquis naevus, non sola sit auris Nec solus judex animus : diffiniat istud Judicium triplex et mentis et auris et usus.

1934-35 pudenter / Et nimis [ACDGP] assidue; ] pudenter / Et minus assidue F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340). 1947 misimus ABCD ] lusimus FP; Eli BCD ] Elyn FP (my emendations); 1952 naevus AG ] vermis FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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[Vn.C: Faults to Avoid (lines 1925-47).] If you treat serious matters, let your discourse and mind be serious, your words and spirit mature. Color both words and things in the prescribed way (1924). Therefore, you must first cleanse the poem of the ugly, and cast out defects. Learn in a few words what, what kind, and how many are the matters which spoil a discourse: Behold, the goddesses of the air have come! The frequent grouping of vowels in this sentence is dreadful. Art has decreed that vowels must not crowd together (1930). It allows their coming together but not their crowding, for that spoils the sounds of the words and increases the Hiatus. Tu, Tite, tuta te virtute tuente tueris.'4 It is shameful that the same letter is thus shamefully75 and unremittingly repeated. Elegance lies in the proper repetition of a letter (1935). When, the reasonableness of a reason does not come from reason, it is unreasonable to put faith in reason. It is vile thus to use the same word so often and so needlessly. Moderate repetition of words is a color; everything in excess is without color (1940). Similar endings of words is at times a decoration, but it is unfitting if too many words are so joined: Unspeaking, standing, weeping, screaming. Thus do four defects arise. The fifth pollution occurs in the use of excessively long periods (1945). The sixth consists of an awkward displacement of words: Luci, misimus, Eli." [VII.D: Methods of Correcting the Work (lines 1948-73).] Behold, I have provided a comb which, if used, can make both prose and verse resplendent. Whether you have combed well, you will fully discern in this mirror (1950). When you scrutinize the appearance of a word, let neither the mind nor the ear be the sole judge to decide whether perhaps some hidden blemish corrupts the word. Let the triple judgment of mind, ear and usage determine that question. It is my practice to "You, Titus, guard yourself by the defense of your secure virtue." Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340. ' 9 That is, "I have sent them, Lucius Aelius": the verb splits the proper name in half. This is a fragment of the example in Ad Her. IV. 18: In priore libro has res ad te scriptas, 76

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1955 Est modus iste mihi sudanti verba polire: Castigo mentem, ne stando moretur in uno : Sordet enim more stantis aquae; sed transferor ardens Hue, illuc, et rem nunc isto pingo colore, Nunc alio; nec volvo semel, sed saepe revolvo. 1960 Mens agilis demum, cum fecerit undique girum, Eligit e multis unum. Respiret in ilio Utque putat sine labe loco ; sed fallitur augur Casibus in multis. Dum sunt in mente sepulta Multa sedent animo, quae non tamen approbat auris. 1965 Esto quod, ut mulcet animum, sic mulceat aurem Et duo complaudant in idem. Non sufficit istud, Non dum credo, nisi replicem. Speculatio prima Nec bene, nec piene discernit: quando revolvo Rem, magis evolvo. Si sit foetentis odoris, 1970 Mota magis, res pejus olet; si plena saporis, Plus repetita sapit. Sit judex ergo triformis Propositi verbi: mens prima, secunda sit auris, Tertius et summus qui terminet usus. Omnia quae repetit ratio vel digerit ordo 1975 Vel polit ornatus si vis meminisse, memento Hujus consilii, quamvis brevis, officiosi: Cellula quae meminit est cellula deliciarum, Deliciasque sitit, non taedia. Visne piacere Illi? Non oneres illam : vult ilia benigne 1980 Tractari, non male premi. Quia lubrica res est, Ad rerum turbas non sufficit. Hanc ita nutri, Quando famem reficis, dapibus non sis ita plenus Ut nihil apponi queas amplius; esto refectus Plus semipieno, pieno minus; ingere ventri 1985 Non quantum poscit, sed quantum prosit; alenda, Non oneranda quidem natura, sed inter utrumque Et citra plenum subsistere sanior usus. Sic etiam potas, potum ratione refrenas : Potisses et non potes, sumatur honori 1990 Non oneri potus, bibe parcus, non temulentus; Pulcrius accusai sitiens quam vina recusat Ebrius. Est simili gustanda scientia lege, 1985 poscit ABD ] possit FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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laboriously polish my words (1955); I castigate my mind, lest it remain standing in one place. The stagnation of standing water is unpleasant. Eagerly I dash hither and thither, decorating my material now with one, now with another color. I change about not once but many times (1959). The agile mind at length chooses one resting place out of the many it has gone over. It catches its breath in that place — that is, it ponders — without failing. But the augur [of critical judgment] fails in many cases: for many things, as long as they are hidden in the mind, please the judgment; but the ear does not approve of them. Let whatever pleases the soul also please the ear (1965): let both of them approve. I do not believe that any expression is adequate unless I go over it. First judgments discern neither well nor adequately. When I revolve the matter, I evolve more. If it be fetid, it will smell the worse the more it is moved. If it is full of savor (1970), the more will it savor. Therefore let the judge of a proposed word be triple: first the mind, then the ear; third and above all, usage, which decides the whole matter. [VIII: Memory (lines 1974-2035).] If you wish to remember all that reason returns to, order arranges, or decoration polishes, be mindful (1975) of this advice, serviceable though brief. The part of the brain which remembers is the cell of delight; it covets pleasant not tedious things. Do you want to please it? don't burden it. Treat it kindly, don't oppress it scurvily. Since it is inconstant (1980) it is not up to handling a mass of affairs. Nourish it thus: when you repair its hunger, be not so filled with food that you can add nothing more; feel repletion when more than half full but less than full. Put into the stomach (1984) not as much as it demands but as much as is profitable. Indeed, nature is to be nourished, not burdened; but the healthier practice lies between the two, and on this side of repletion. Drink this way as well: refrain drink with reason. Drink a little77 and not much. Let the drink be taken as a grace, not a burden. Drink sparingly, not drunkenly (1990). More fittingly does the thirsty man denounce drink than the man filled to satiety refuse it. Under a similar law is knowledge to be tasted, for it is the food and drink of the soul. Let it nourish the soul in such a way as to appear pleasant and not onerous. You thirst to know the whole; but Luci, misimus, Aeli (In the previous book, Lucius Aelius, I dedicated to you an account of these events). This would be the normal order: In priore libro, Luci Aeli, has res scriptas ad te misimus (Ad Her., p. 274, note a). " Sedgewick, "The Style and Vocabulary of the Latin Arts of Poetry of the 12th and 13th Centuries", p. 375.

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Quae cibus et potus animae: sic nutriat illam, U t se praestet ei jocundam, non onerosam. 1995 Scire sitis hanc rem totam: sit secta minutis Particulis, pluresque simul ne sume, sed unam Fer semel et partem minimam multoque minorem Quam valeant humerique velint; erit ergo voluptas Et nullum pondus in pondere. Sit comes usus: 2000 Dum res ipsa recens est et nova, verte frquenter, Et replica; post hoc subsiste, morare parumper, Respira. Morula quadam mediate vocetur Altera, quae, cum sit simili ratione retenta, Praescriptae cellae demum compaginet ambas, 2005 Et bene consolidet, et eas conglutinet usus. Tertia sit nodo simili conjuncta duabus, Quarta tribus. Sed in his peccas, nisi semper agendis Taliter insistas, ut citra taedia sistas. Haec ratio vires sensus extendit ad omnes, 2010 Obtusos acuit, duros emollit, acutos Et molles ad plus extollit. Quod magis istis, H o c minus est illis: ideo lex aequa coaptet Pondus utrisque suum speculumque sit omnibus unum. Adde modos alios, quibus utor et expedit uti. 2015 Visa, vel audita, vel praememorata, vel ante Acta, mihi meminisse volens, ita confero mecum: Sic vidi, sic audivi, sic mente revolvi, Sic egi, vel tunc, vel ibi: loca, tempora, formae Aut aliquae similes notulae mihi sunt via certa 2020 Quae me ducit ad haec. Et in his intelligo signis. Illud et illud erat, et imaginor illud et illud. Tradit imaginibus peregrinis Tullius artem, Qua meminisse decet; sed se docet et sibi soli Subtilis subtile suum quasi solus adoret; 2025 Sed subtile meum placeat mihi, non placet illi. Cui placet, et prodest, quia delectatio sola Vim memorativam validam facit: unde nec illis, Sed neque crede notis aliis si sint tibi durae, Si minus acceptae. Sed, si vis tutius ire, 2030 Finge tibi notulas, quascumque dat optio mentis, Dum te delectent, dum tu docearis in illis. 2011

istis A C D ] illis F P (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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cut it into small (1995) parts, and do not take up many at once, but only one at a time. And take the smallest part, much smaller than the shoulders wish and are able to support. Thus there will be pleasure and no weight in the weight. Let practice be your companion: as long as the matter is recent and new, frequently empty (2000) and refill. After this, stop, delay a little while, take a breath. After a little delay has intervened, let another part be called for. After that has been similarly absorbed by the abovementioned brain-cell, let repetition join both parts, and well knit and bind them together (2005). Let the third part be joined to the first two by a similar knot, and the fourth part to those three. But you will err unless you always apply yourself to what you are doing in such a way as to stop on this side of tedium. This method enlarges everyone's strength of sense (2009), sharpening the dull, softening the hard,78 and further improving the sharp and the soft.79 What is too much for one is too little for another; thus let an equitable law fit the burden to the person, and let the mirror through which this matter is comprehended be the same for everyone. To this you can add other methods which I use and have found convenient. Wishing to remember things previously seen, heard, known or (2015) done, I thus confer with myself: thus I saw, thus I heard, thus I pondered, thus I acted, either in such a place or at such a time. Place, time, appearances, or other similar signs are a sure path to lead me to remembrance. Through these signs do I comprehend (2020). I associate such and such a sign with such and such an event.80 Tully teaches the art of memory by means of wandering images. But it is only himself he teaches; by the subtle man alone is his own subtle doctrine esteemed. My subtlety may please me, but it will not please him (2025). It aids whomever it pleases, for only delight can strengthen the power of memory. Hence, put faith neither in his mnemonics nor that of others, if you find it difficult or less easy to learn. But if you wish to proceed by a safer way, conjure up mnemonics for yourself, whichever the mind chooses (2030). As long as they delight you, so long will you be taught by them. There are some who wish to know but not to labor or undergo the difficulty of study. That is the way of the cat who wants the

79

This phrase is probably based on the wax-and-seal conception of memory. That is, those faculties of memory which are already acute or receptive. 80 Literally: Such and such was, and I imagine such and such. Since Geoffrey is clearly referring to memory through association, I have translated freely. 79

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Sunt aliqui, qui scire volunt, sed non operari, Nec studium poenamque pati : modus iste catinus : Vult piscem, sed non piscari. Non loquor illis, 2035 Sed si quos tam scire juvat, quam poena sciendi.

2040

2045

2050

2055

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2070

In recitante sonent tres linguae: prima sit oris, Altera rhetorici vultus, et tertia gestus. Sunt in voce suae leges, et eas ita serves : Clausula dicta suas pausas, et dictio servet Accentus. Voces quas sensus dividit, illas Divide; quas jungit, conjunge. Domes ita vocem, Ut non discordet a re, nec limite tendat Vox alio, quam res intendat; eant simula ambae; Vox quaedam sit imago rei; res sicut habet se, Sic vocem recitator habe. Videamus in uno. Ira, genus flammae materque furoris, ab ipso Folle trahens ortum, cor et interiora venenat; Pungit folle, cremat fiamma, turbatque furore, Exit in hac ipsa forma vox fellea, vultus Accensus, gestus turbatus; et interiorem Exterior sequitur motus, pariterque moventur Alter et alter homo. Personam si geris ejus, Quid recitator ages? Veros imitare furores. Non tamen esto furens : partim movearis ut ille, Non penitus; motusque tuus sit in omnibus idem, Non tantus; sed rem, sicut decet, innue. Gestum Praesentare potes agrestis et esse facetus. Vox vocem, vultus vultum gestusque figuret Gestum per notulas. Haec est moderata venustas, Hie modus in lingua recitante venustus et auri Hie cibus est sapidus : sic ergo feratur ad aures, Ut cibet auditum, vox castigata modeste, Vultus et gestus moderami ne. Sic simul ergo Omnia concurrant, inventio commoda, sermo Continuus, series urbana, retentio firma. Non plus laudis habent, si res recitentur inepte, Quam sine praemissis recitatio facta venuste.

2052 Alter et alter P ] Unus et alter F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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fish, but not the trouble of fishing. I do not speak to such, but only to those whom the difficulty of knowing delights as much as knowledge (2035). [IX: Delivery (lines 2036-70).] From the reciter let three tongues sound forth: the first is the mouth, the second the face, and the third the gestures of the speaker. The voice has its own laws. Follow them thus: mind the stops, and be expressive. Pause where the sense pauses; join what the sense joins. Thus guide the voice (2041) so that it is not discordant with the matter; do not allow the voice to take any other direction than the matter requires. Let them both proceed together: the voice is as it were the image of the thing. As the subject exhibits itself, so the speaker exhibits his voice. Let us take an example (2045). Anger, the begetter of flaming rage and the mother of fury, is kindled by the bellows and poisons the heart and bowels. It stirs one with bellows, burns in flame, excites with fury. In like manner arise a voice full of gall, a face (2049) enraged, and turbulent gestures. Outer motion follows the inner, and the outer and inner man are equally moved. If you play this part, what shall you, the speaker, do? Imitate genuine fury. However, do not become actually furious: be thus moved only in part, not deeply. Let your emotion be controlled (2055), not excessive; rather hint at the emotion, as is fitting. You can present savage gestures and yet remain in good humor. Your voice can represent the characteristic voice of the emotion, your expression its expression, your gestures its gestures. This pleasure is regulated (2059), this manner is pleasant on the tongue of the speaker, and this food for the ear is tasty. Let the temperately controlled voice, and the voice and gesture seasoned with double savor, be borne to the ears to feed the hearing. Force issues from the tongue, for death and life inhere in the hands of the tongue as long as it enjoys the double (2065) guide of face and gesture. Thus let suitable invention, flowing speech, refined discourse and firm retention come together. Matters recited ineptly are no more praiseworthy than a recitation delivered pleasantly but without forethought (2070).

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Jam mare transcurri, Gades in littore fixi. Et mihi te portum statuo, qui, maxima rerum, Non Deus es nec homo : quasi neuter es inter utrumque, Quem Deus elegit socium. Socialiter egit Tecum, partitus tibi mundum; noluit unus Omnia, sed voluit tibi terras et sibi caelum. Quid potuit melius? Quid majus? Cui meliori Vel cui majori? Dico minus, immo vel aeque Magno, vel simili? Pater ergo, vicarie Christi, Me totum committo tibi, sapientia cujus Ut fons scaturiens, rationis acumen ut ignis Scintillas jaciens, velox facundia tanquam Torrens praerapide currens, et gratia mira est. Omne quod humanum transcendens dicere vellem Piene, sed res est longe facundior ore. Imperialis apex, cui servit poplite flexo Roma caput mundi, qui plenus nectare dulci Musarum redóles conditus aromate morum, Pace tua loquar, et paucis. Cum plurima possis, Posse modum servare velis. Memor imprime menti : Quando nocere potes, noli : satis est nocuisse Posse nocere. Nihil facias quod postmodo velles Non fieri, sed mens sit cauta praeambula facti. Nonne vides, si vera notes in principe nostro, Et Crucis est factus et Christi miles et ensis Totius Ecclesiae? Devotio talis amorem, Non odium, laudem, non culpam, proemia poscit, Non poenam. Toleres igitur, qui cetera vincis, Te vinci, vertique velis regemque revertí. Flos et apex cleri, solita dulcedine stillant Praedulces excorde favi. Pro principe nostro Supplico. Sum minimus: es maximus; attamen esto Flexilis, et sit ei melius ratione petentis. Quod papae scripsi munus specia libelli Accipe, flos regni. Primo potiaris honore Hujus secreti; nec id unum sume, sed una Do tibi me totum, Wilhelme, vir auree: totus Sum tuus ad votum, cujus cor in omnibus amplum

2084 transcendens ABCDG ] transcendes FP (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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[Epilogue: lines 2071-2121.] Now I have crossed the sea, I have settled on the shores of Thule.81 For my harbor I choose you, who, greatest of all things, are neither God nor man, neither one nor the other, whom God has chosen as comrade; comradely did he treat you, having divided the universe with you. Not willing that one man (2075) should rule all, he willed the earth to you and heaven to himself. What better could he do? what greater? And for whom greater or better could he have done it? Hence, Father, Vicar of Christ, I commit myself entirely to you, whose wisdom (2080) is like an abundant fountain, the sharpness of whose intellect is like fire shooting forth sparks, whose swift eloquence is like a fast-running torrent, and whose grace is marvellous. I would like to transcend merely human terms in order to describe all this fully; but the fact is more eloquent than the expression (2085). Head of the Empire, whom Rome, the head of the world, serves with bended knee; who, full of sweet nectar and seasoned with the spice of virtue, are redolent of the Muses, I will speak briefly, with your permission. Although you can do the greatest things, desire to observe moderation. Heedfully imprint this on your mind (2900): when you are able to injure, do not. To have the ability to injure is the equivalent of the deed. May you do nothing which you would later wish not to have done, but let your mind be cautious and walk before the deed. If you perceive rightly of our prince,82 do you not see that he has become a soldier of Christ and of the cross, and a sword (2095) of the entire Church? Such devotion demands love, not hate; praise, not blame; rewards, not punishments. Therefore, may you allow yourself to be conquered, who have conquered others; may you be willing to change your position and restore the king (2099). Flower and apex of the clergy, may exceedingly sweet honeycombs drip from your heart with their wonted sweetness. I supplicate on behalf of our prince. I am the least, you are the greatest; nevertheless, be pliant, and let the arguments of the petitioner work to the advantage of the prince. Accept, O flower of the realm, the particular gift of a little book which I have written for the Pope. May you first receive the mark of esteem (2105) of this confidant. But receive it not alone: at the same time, I give you myself entirely. William, man of gold, I am totally devoted to you, whose 81

Cadiz, in the original: the pillars of Hercules marking the outermost limits of the world. 88 John Lackland.

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Non capitur minimis, sed semper anhelat in altum. 2110 Nobilitas dandi, quam non novere moderni, Est innata tibi, qui solus, gemma datorum, Das ita, ne qua manus sit dando latior, aut mens Laetior aut morula brevior. Tu solus es ille Cui Deus infudit quicquid decet, utpote pectus 2115 Magni consilli, quo pectore pectora regum Se fulcire solent tractando negotia regni. Solus es in dando, prudens in jure, fidelis In cunctis, semperque tuos Deus auxiliator Auget successus, et semper in ardua crescis. 2120 Sed, licet omnis apex tibi crescat honoris, honore Crescere non poteris, quantum de jure mereris.

2120 crescat honoris, honore ] crescat honoris honore, F (Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340).

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heart, great in everything, is not occupied with the trivial but always pants after the highest. The excellence of giving, unknown to people nowadays (2110), is innate in you, who alone, gem among patrons, give in such a way that no hand is more lavish in giving, no spirit happier, and no delay shorter. You alone are he in whom God infused whatever was fitting; namely, a heart of great wisdom, by means of which heart the hearts of kings (2115) are wont to support themselves in conducting affairs of the realm. You are alone in giving, wise in the law, faithful in all. God the Helper always increases your successes, and always you grow into sublimity (2119). Although every height of honor were to befall you, you cannot grow in esteem as much as you rightfully merit.

P A R T II

THE POETRIA NOVA AND ITS SOURCES IN EARLY RHETORICAL DOCTRINE

The second part of this study will attempt to elucidate Geoffrey of Vinsauf's teachings in the light of his sources, and to define the position of his work in relation to the development of certain key points in poetical doctrine from antiquity to the Renaissance. Geoffrey's main sources are the Rhetorica ad Herennium (first century B.C.), of uncertain authorship, but attributed by the Middle Ages to Cicero i1 Cicero's De Inventione;2 and Horace's Ars Poetical In instances where these works do not seem to have provided suggestions for the doctrine of the Poetria Nova, parallel passages may often be found in Quintilian's Institutio Oratorio;4 similar suggestions, however, can sometimes be found in the rhetores minores5 as well. In the process of its application to the composition of poetry, classical rhetoric undergoes some remarkable changes. These changes arise not from a misunderstanding of the classical art of rhetoric, but from the exigencies of its reapplication and its reworking as an art of poetry. Careful examination of classical rhetorical doctrine will reveal its intimate association with medieval poetic doctrine, even where the latter seems most widely dissimilar. If we are to appreciate the significance of Geoffrey's statements, we must read them in the light of his classical predecessors, determine where he differs from them, and discover why he does so. The only source study available is that included in Edmond Faral, Les 1 Ad C. Herennium Libri IV de Ratione Dicendi, trans. Harry Caplan (London, 1954). This work will hereafter be cited as Ad Her. Translations from works not available in English may be assumed to be mine. 2 Trans. H. M. Hubbell (London. 1949). This work will hereafter be cited as De Inv. 3 Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica, trans. H.R. Fairclough (London, 1947), pp. 442-89. The Ars Poetica will hereafter be cited as AP. 4 Trans. H.E. Butler. 4 vols. (London, 1921). This work will hereafter be cited as Q. For the availability of Quintilian in the Middle Ages, see below, Appendix I. 6 For the texts, see Rhetores Latini Minores, ed. Karl Felix von Halm (Leipzig, 1863).

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arts poétiques du Xlle et du XlIIe siècle (Paris, 1923), pp. 52-103.® Faral discusses the influence of classical rhetoric on a number of medieval rhetoricians, and as a result his comments on Geoffrey are necessarily limited in scope. His method is to group similar comments made by the medieval authors, and then to cite parallel passages in classical sources. These general references are often not specifically relevant to Geoffrey's teaching, and cover only a small part of those passages which Geoffrey employed. Neither Faral nor any other author discusses Geoffrey's puzzling doctrine of Conversion. J.W.H. Atkins, Enlish Literary Criticism: The Medieval Phase (Cambridge, 1943), relies heavily on Faral in treating Geoffrey, adds little that is new, and is not free of inaccuracy. Charles S. Baldwin, Medieval Rhetoric and Poetic to 1400 (Gloucester, Mass., 1928) provides an extremely useful general survey of this complex field, but he devotes only a few pages to Geoffrey. Surprisingly few scholarly articles have been devoted to Geoffrey of Vinsauf. One of the best known is J.M. Manly, "Chaucer and the Rhetoricians", PBA (1926). Manly's thesis that Chaucer gradually discarded the use of formal rhetorical devices except in certain special situations, has been disputed by Charles Muscatine, Chaucer and the French Tradition (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, 1957). Faral, "Sidoine Apollinaire et la Technique littéraire du moyen âge", Miscellanea Giovanni Mercati (Vatican, 1946), II, suggests Sidonius as the source for Geoffrey's doctrines of descriptive technique and for the doctrine of Determination (the use of parallel modifiers). Paul Salmon, "The Wild Man in 'Iwein' and Medieval Descriptive Technique", MLR, LVI (October 1961), 520-29, makes some important modifications in Faral's and Manly's statements concerning the top-to-toe description. Salmon points out that the order of presentation is not so rigid as Manly suggests, and mentions that the examples of top-to-toe descriptions in The Song of Songs considerably antedate those in Sidonius. Helge Kôkeritz, "Rhetorical Word-Play in Chaucer", PMLA (1954), 937-52, suggests that there is a good deal of confusion in classical and medieval classification of tropes, a fact, one might add, of great significance in explaining Geoffrey's handling of classical rhetoric. The question, then, has not been adequately treated. If we are to continue to discuss the influence of rhetoric on medieval literature, we will have to examine in detail the principles of rhetoric set forth in one of the most popular manuals on the subject, the Poetria Nova of Geoffrey •

This work will hereafter be cited as F.

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of Vinsauf.7 In explaining Geoffrey's theories in the Poetria Nova, I will make use of parallel passages in the Documentum de Arte Versificandi (F, pp. 265-320), a prose treatise whose ascription to Geoffrey is very probably correct.8 The only certain knowledge that we have concerning Geoffrey of Vinsauf is that he lived in London before going to Rome (PN 31-33) and that he was in Rome during the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-216), to whom the Poetria Nova is dedicated (PN 1-42). Other details of Geoffrey's life must remain a matter of unverifiable hypotheses, usually based on very uncertain manuscript attributions.9 Faral (pp. 28-33) dates the composition of the poem between 1208 and 1214 on the grounds that the Poetria Nova makes reference to the following historical incidents: the death of Richard I in 1199 (PN 324-430); the loss of Jerusalem in 1187 (PN 469-71); allusions to a crusade (PN 469-507), which refer either to the Fourth Crusade in 1201-04, the only one falling within the rule of Innocent III, or to the preparations for the Fifth Crusade which were initiated by Innocent, who, however, died two years before the Crusade began; and the strife between John Lackland and Innocent III from 1207-14 (PN 2086-103). Geoffrey is mentioned as a rhetorician by Gervase of Melcheley in his Ars Versificaría before 1216;10 by Nicholas Trivet in his Armales (before 1328) J11 and by Eberhard the German in his Laborintus (before 1280).12 Eberhard and John of Garland both draw heavily on Geoffrey, especially on the doctrine of Amplification. It has been argued that Chaucer may have known Geoffrey only as the author of the lament for the death of King Richard, since that portion of the Poetria Nova had a wide circulation as a separate work.13 However, '

Faral, pp. 27-28, cites forty-one MSS and adds that the list is far from complete. For arguments favoring Geoffrey's authorship of the Documentum, see F, pp. 22-24. The Documentum will be hereafter cited as Doc. 9 See Faral, pp. 15-18, and Josiah Cox Russell, A Dictionary of Writers of Thirteenth Century England (London, 1936), s.v. Geoffrey de Vinesauf. 10 See Faral, p. xiii. 11 Nicolai Triveti Dominicani Annales Sex Regum Angliae (Oxford, 1719), I, 135; (London, 1845), p. 175. 12 Laborintus (lines 665-66; F, p. 360) almost certainly refers to Geoffrey's Poetria Nova in referring to the "Ars nova scribendi". The reference, which is flanked by mention of Peter Riga, Sedulius, Arator, Prudentius, Alanus de Insulis, Matthew of Vendóme, Alexander de Villa Dei, and Evrard de Bethune, seems all the more significant in that it does not mention the author by name. The reason is, presumably, that he is too well known to need to be named; among these others, his work "shines with peculiar honor" (speciali fulget honore: line 665). 13 Fnr evidence supporting and opposing this view, see below, p. 174. 8

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THE POETRIA NOVA AND ITS SOURCES

Chaucer clearly refers to Geoffrey of Vinsauf as a teacher of rhetoric; he ironically complains to his 'maister' that he does not have his 'lore' and hence cannot adequately employ the Apostrophe recommended by Geoffrey as a means of Amplification (B2 3347-51).

I. THE DIVISIONS OF THE ART OF RHETORIC (PN 43-86).14 The opening section of the Poetria Nova may be thus outlined: A. The invention of matter and of expression (lines 43-70). B. Disposition (lines 71-81): 1) The function of the beginning, middle, and end of the work. 2) The determination of the line of development. C. The choice of pleasant words and expressions (lines 81-84). D. Delivery (lines 84-86). This arrangement follows fairly closely the classical divisions of the art of rhetoric: The speaker, then, should possess the faculties of Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery. Invention is the devising of matter, true or plausible, that would make the case convincing.16 Arrangement is the ordering and distribution of the matter, making clear the place to which each thing is to be assigned. Style is the adaptation of suitable words and sentences to the matter devised. Memory is the firm retention in the mind of the matter, words, and arrangement. Delivery is the graceful regulation of voice, countenance, and gesture. (Ad Her. 1.3) These divisions of rhetoric are discussed in the following lines of the Poetria Nova: Invention (43-76); Arrangement (87-202); Style (203-1846); Memory (1974-2035); Delivery (2036-70). The opening lines of the introduction to the Poetria Nova stress the necessity for planning: If anyone is to lay the foundation of a house, his impetuous had does not leap into action: the inner design of the heart measures out the work beforehand; u Lines 1-42 of PN comprise the dedication of the work to Pope Innocent III, and contain no rhetorical precepts. 16 Invention is facilitated by the commonplaces (loci communes, topoi), general topics whose consideration is useful in formulating arguments for a variety of specific cases. For example, in order to persuade someone to adopt a certain course of action, we must prove that it is both safe and honorable to do so. The distinction between the invention of matter and of expression (PN 43-70) is expressed in De Inv. 1.9: "Invention is the discovery of valid or seemingly valid arguments to render one's cause plausible .... Expression is the fitting of the proper language to the invented matter."

DIVISIONS OF THE ART OF RHETORIC

137

the inner man determines the stages ahead of time in a certain order; and the hand of the heart, rather than the bodily hand, forms the whole in advance, so that the work exists first as a mental model rather than as a tangible thing. (PN 43-48) This image occurs in Quintilian (VIII. pref., 1) in t h e same context as in t h e Poetria Nova — t h a t is, in reference t o t h e a r r a n g e m e n t of t h e p a r t s of a work. 1 6

II. ARRANGEMENT (PN 87-202) H a v i n g determined w h a t o u r subject m a t t e r is t o be, we m u s t next decide o n t h e o r d e r of presentation. W e m a y e m p l o y t h e n a t u r a l o r d e r by starting a t t h e beginning, o r we m a y — a n d this is preferable — use t h e artificial o r d e r by starting a t t h e middle o r a t t h e e n d (PN 87-125). This distinction rests o n a tradition of l o n g standing in classical a n d early medieval r h e t o r i c : Our Arrangement will be based on the principles of rhetoric when we observe the instructions that I have set forth in Book I — to use the Introduction, State16

In reference to the commonly held belief that PN 43-48 is the source of Troilus and Criseyde, 1.1065-69, James J. Murphy, "A New Look at Chaucer and the Rhetoricians", RES, XV (1964), 14-15, points out that the image can be found in Luke XIV.28-30, and in Boethius, De Cons. Phil., IV, prosa 6. However, there can be no doubt that Geoffrey is Chaucer's source: For every wight that hath an hous to founde Ne renneth naught the work for to bygynne With rakel hond, but he wol bide a stound, And send his hertes line out fro withinne Aldirfirst his purpos for to wynne. (TC 1.1065-69) Si quis habet fundare domum, non currit ad actum Impetuosa manus: intrinseca linea cordis Praemetitur opus, seriemque sub ordine certo Interior praescribit homo, totamque figurat Ante manus cordis quam corporis . . . (PN 43-47) Compare: habet fundare domum: hath an hous to founde; non currit: ne renneth naught; impetuosa manus: with rakel hond; intrinseca linea cordis: his hertes line. Luke does not speak of planning the physical structure of a house, but of the necessity of determining beforehand whether the resources for building are adequate. Boethius IV. prosa 6, 44-49 reads as follows: "For as a workman conceiving the form of anything in his mind taketh his work in hand, and executeth by order of time that which he had simply and in a moment foreseen, so God by His Providence disposeth whatsoever is to be done with simplicity and stability..." (trans. "I.T.", revised by H.F, Stewart [London, 1953], p. 341).

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THE POETRIA NOVA AND ITS SOURCES

ment of Facts, Division, Proof, Refutation, and Conclusion, and in speaking to follow the order enjoined above. 17 It is likewise on the principles of the art that we shall be basing our Arrangement, not only of the whole case throughout the discourse, but also of the individual arguments, according to Proposition, Reason, Proof of the Reason, Embellishment, and Resume, as I have explained in Book II ,... 18 But there is also another Arrangement, which, when we must depart from the order imposed by the rules of the art, is accommodated to circumstance in accordance with the speaker's judgement; for example, if we should begin our speech with the Statement of Facts, or with some very strong argument, or the reading of some documents; or if straightway after the Introduction we should use the Proof and then the Statement of Facts; or if we should make some other change of this kind in the order. (Ad Her. III.16-17) 19

The "artificial order' is recommended by Horace: Of order, this, if I mistake not, will be the excellence and charm that the author of the long-promised poem shall say at the moment what at that moment should be said, reserving and omitting much for the present, loving this point and scorning that. (AP 42-45; see F, p. 56) Ever he hastens to the issue, and hurries his hearer into the story's midst, as if already known, and what he fears he cannot make attractive with his touch he abandons .... (AP 148-50)

Commentators on Horace such as Pseudo-Acron, Tiberius Donatus, and Conrad of Hirschau illustrated these lines by reference to passages in the Aeneid which employ the artificial order (F, pp. 56-7).20 17

Some rhetoricians allow a Digression after the Refutation; but Cicero disapproves of this practice (De Inv. 1.97). 18 This statement is significant for two reasons. The type of argument here outlined is the epicheireme, which, as we shall see later, contributed to Geoffrey's conception of that form of the artificial order which begins with a proverb or example. This passage from the Ad Herennium may also have suggested to Geoffrey the concept that a digression is actually the employment of the artificial order (in the sense of reversing in our presentation the natural sequence of events) WITHIN a given part of the work: see PN 532-58, and Doc. II.2.17-21. 1 " See also De Inv. 1.20-21, and the distinction between the Direct and Subtle Approach in Ad Her. 1.6-11. The Subtle Approach is associated with departure from normal order in Ad Her. III. 17: see also page 187, note b. The artes dictaminis similarly allow rearrangement of parts of the letter: see L. von Rockinger, Quellen und Erörterung zur bayerischen und deutschen Geschichte, IX (1863-64), 22-23. For the distinction between the two orders in the narration, see Fortunatianus, Ars Rhetorica, III (Halm, p. 120; cited in F, p. 55, note 2); Sulpitius Victor, Institutiones Oratoriae, 14 (Halm, p. 320; cited in F, p. 56, note 1); and Martianus Capeila, De Rhetorica, 30 (Halm, p. 472; cited in F, p. 56). What Geoffrey calls the natural order, Fortunatianus (loc. cit.) terms the artificial. It is easy to see why: the conventional order of the oration is established by the rules of art; but under certain circumstances it is 'natural' to violate the artificial sequence. 20 The points concerning Arrangement made thus far can be found in F, pp. 55-57; the questions now to be discussed are not treated in Faral or elsewhere.

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If it is the teaching of classical rhetoric that one need not start at the beginning, and if the doctrine of 'starting in the middle' is derived from Horace, whence did Geoffrey derive the concept of starting at the end? The answer may ultimately lie in Quintilian's discussion of the artificial arrangement of the oration: For the most effective, and what is justly styled most economical arrangement of a case as a whole, is that which cannot be determined except when we have the specific facts before us. It consists of the power to determine when the exordium is necessary and when it should be omitted ... when we should begin at the very beginning, when, like Homer, start at the middle or the end .... (VII.10.11-12) Homer starts the Iliad in medias res by beginning with the wrath of Achilles, and starts the Odyssey at the end by referring to Ulysses' struggles to return home. This passage in Quintilian, it should be noted, specifically relates rhetorical to poetic practice, a relation which remains only implicit in Horace. We should note here that the natural opening need not immediately begin with the narration: for example, one may start a story concerning Minos by praising his qualities: "but that is a manner of treating, not of narrating" (Doc. 1.4; cf. PN 159-66). According to the Poetria Nova (126-202), the artificial opening can also be effected by beginning with a proverb or an example. 21 Consequently, the artificial opening may be effected in a total of eight ways, according to whether we begin 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

by by by by by

the the the the the

middle; middle, with a proverb; middle, with an example; end; end, with a proverb;

21 The advice to use a proverb in the opening is also found in Matthew of Vend6me's Ars Versificatoria, 1.16 (F. p. 113), a work written some forty years before the Poetria Nova. The same advice is found in John of Garland's Poetria (Giovanni Man, "Poetria magistri Johannis anglici de arte prosayca metrica et rithmica", Romanische Forschungen, XIII [1902], 905-06) and in Eberhard the German's Laborintus (lines 293-98; F, p. 347). Both of these latter works probably derive the notion from Geoffrey and Matthew, respectively. John of Garland's schema of the 'octo modis incohandis materiam' is essentially the same as Geoffrey's; the Laborintus (lines 269-98) clearly follows the Ars Versificatoria, 1.3-16 (F, pp. 111-14). Elsewhere, the Laborintus frequently follows Geoffrey: we may compare, for example, the distinctive 'casus sine remige' for 'ablative absolute' (Laborintus, line 339, and PN, 701); 'nomen fixum' and 'mobile' for 'noun' and 'adjective' (Laborintus, line 365, and PN 850-51).

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THE POETRIA NOVA AND ITS SOURCES

6) by the end, with an example; 7) by the beginning, with a proverb; 8) by the beginning, with an example. Geoffrey'sproverbium may be a proverb in the modern sense: e.g., "The more a thing is wished for, the more it evades us" (PN 181); but basically the proverbium in Geoffrey is any sententious, general statement:22 "Hatred is most vile, a quite deadly poison" (PN 186); "That law is just which repays deceit with sorrow" (PN 191). It must be understood that Geoffrey's exemplum is not a short narrative meant to illustrate a point. Many of his exempla are quite proverb-like: "Somber air suddenly rages under a clear sky; cloudy air seeps forth under a clear sun" (PN 194-95). His final instance of exemplum is really a proverb placed in a specific context: "She [the treacherous Scilla] learned that the arrow often returns upon the archer, and that wounds often fall back on the one guilty of inflicting them" (PN 201-02). Therefore, although we will not ignore the exemplum in the following discussion, we will be justified in concentrating on the proverbium as a means of opening a discourse. Now, nowhere do the classical rhetoricians advise opening the speech with a general proverb.23 Whence, then, did Geoffrey derive his teaching on this point? The answer lies in three forms of classical discourse which were developed in the artes predicandi and the artes dictaminis. The proverb often opens those forms of quasi-syllogistic proof known as the enthymeme and the epicheireme, and likewise introduces a related form of discourse known as the chria. We will begin with the enthymeme. "The orator's demonstration is an enthymeme, and this is, in general, the most effective of the modes of persuasion."24 The enthymeme, whose conclusions are probable rather than absolutely certain, is conceived by Aristotle as an abbreviated syllogism: 22

Geoffrey refers to the proverb as commune (PN 185) and generate (PN 180). Indeed, they stigmatize the exordium commune as faulty since it can be applied to any number of different cases (Ad Her. 1.11; De Jnv. 1.26; see Charles S. Baldwin, Medieval Rhetoric and Poetic to 1400 [Gloucester, Mass., 1928], p. 221). In saying that "Exordium sententiarum et gravitatis plurimum debet habere" ("The exordium ought to be sententious to a marked degree and of a high seriousness": De Inv. 1.25), Cicero is sanctioning not the use of proverbs but simply the use of a sententious, serious tone, as Victorinus is careful to point out: "His reference is not to sententiae of general application, such as 'Servility makes for friends, and truth makes for hatred'; on the contrary, his advice is that in the exordium, general statements be avoided. Here we must take sententia in the sense of varied and serious inventions" (Explanationum in Rhetoricam M. T. Ciceronis Libri Duo; Halm, p. 200). 24 Aristotle, Rhetoric, trans. W. Rhys Roberts (New York, 1954), 1355a.6-9. This 23

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141

The enthymeme must consist of few propositions, fewer often than those which make up the normal syllogism. For if any of these propositions is a familiar fact, there is no need even to mention it; the hearer adds it himself. Thus, to show that Dorieus has been victor in a contest for which the prize is a crown, it is enough to say "For he has been a victor in the Olympic games," without adding "And in the Olympic games the prize is a crown," a fact which everybody knows. (Rhet. 1357a. 16-23)

One form of enthymeme consists of a proverb followed by a supporting reason or reasons: "'There is no man in all things prosperous' and 'There is no man among us all is free' are maxims; but the latter, taken with what follows it, is an enthymeme — 'For all are slaves of money of or chance'" (Rhet. 1394b. 1-7). The syllogism, in expanded form, would read as follows: All those who are slaves are not free. All men are slaves to money or chance. Therefore all men are not free.

The best kind of proverb is that in which the reason is not expressed but implied: " ' O mortal man, nurse not immortal wrath.' To say 'It is not right to nurse immortal wrath' is a maxim; the added words 'O mortal man' give the reason'" CRto.l394b.21-24). In an enthymeme, the proverb frequently constitutes the major premise, as in the first example above, or the conclusion, as in the second example {Rhet. 1394a. 26-28; Q.VIII. 5.4). Aristotle indicates that exempla are to be used to support the enthymeme, but his position is that they should come after the proof, not before it (Rhet. 1394a. 10-19). The Ad Herennium adapts the enthymeme, making it less strictly logical and more suitable for rhetorical delivery (Ad Her., p. 106, note b). Its five parts are the Proposition, the Reason, the Proof of the Reason, the Embellishment, and the Resume (Ad Her. II. 28).25 The epicheireme is an enthymeme expanded into an explicitly syllogistic form in which both the major and the minor premises are proven by supporting reasons. The epicheireme thus consists of five parts: work will be cited hereafter as Rhet. Although Geoffrey did not know the Rhetoric, I will refer to it in order to clarify the classical position on various subjects. For the same reason I will make reference to works of Cicero other than the De Inv., although there is no clear evidence that Geoffrey knew them. Aristotle's Rhetoric was translated (from the Arabic) in 1256 by Hermannus Alemannus, and a superior Latin translation was made before 1273 by William of Brabant. See Marvin T. Herrick, "The Early History of Aristotle's Rhetoric in England", PQ, V (1926), 242-57. 25 The Embellishment is used in order to adorn and enrich the argument after the proof has been established (Ad Her. loc. cit.). The other terms are self-explanatory.

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Major:

Things that are done by design are managed better than those which are governed without design. Reason: The house that is managed in accordance with a reasoned plan, is in every respect better equipped and furnished than once which is governed in a haphazard way with total lack of design. Minor: Of all things, none is better governed than the universe. Reason: For the risings and settings of the constellations keep a fixed order. Conclusion: Therefore the universe is administered by design.26 In addition to the enthymeme and the epicheireme, there is another form of discourse which takes the proverb as its starting point. One basic form of school-exercise was the development, according to certain lines, of a particular kind of moral reflection known as the chria: Of moral essays [chriae] there are various forms: some are akin to aphorisms and commence with a simple statement "he said" or "he used to say": others give the answer to a question and begin "on being asked" or "in answer to this he replied," while a third and not dissimilar type begins, "when someone has said or done something." Some hold that a moral essay may take some action as its text; take for example the statement "Crates, on seeing an ill-educated boy, beat his paedagogus".... (Q.I.9.4-5) The first two of these forms is simply a proverb whose expression is attributed to a particular individual (cf. Priscian's argument a laude, below). The last two are, in effect, exempla. The chria is to be developed as follows: "Indeed, after having expressed the theme simply, we can subjoin the Reason, and then express the theme in another form, with or without the Reasons; next we can present the Contrary ... then a Comparison and an Example ... and finally the Conclusion ..." (AdHer.IV.56). The following example will clarify the precept: [The Theme:] The wise man will, on the republic's behalf, shun no peril, {The Reason:] because it may often happen that if a man has been loath to perish for his country it will be necessary for him to perish with her .... [The Theme restated:] I say, then, that they who flee from the peril to be undergone on behalf of the republic act foolishly [The Reason:] for they cannot avoid the disadvantages, and are found guilty of ingratitude .... 26

Summarized from De Inv. 1.58-59. Notice that the major is proverb-like, and that the reason supporting the major is an example. The older view of the more compact form of the enthymeme had not disappeared in Cicero's time. Cicero points out that some hold that the enthymeme should be tripartite, the supporting reasons being considered as integral parts of the premises. Further, in some enthymemes the major premise, the minor, or both, may be so obvious as to need no supporting proof. Indeed, sometimes the conclusion itself may be so evident that it can be left unexpressed (De Inv. 1.70-75).

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ARRANGEMENT

[Argument from the Contrary:] For it is extremely unjust to give back to nature, when she compels, the life you have received from nature, and not to give to your country, when she calls for it, the life you have preserved thanks to your country .... [Argument by Comparison:] He who in a voyage prefers his own to his vessel's security, deserves contempt. No less blameworthy is he who in a crisis of the republic consults his own in preference to the common safety .... [Argument from Example:] It is this that, in my opinion, Decius well understood, who is said to have devoted himself to death, and, in order to save his legions, to have plunged into the midst of the enemy .... [Conclusion:] But if reason has shown and illustration confirmed that it is fitting to confront danger in defence of the republic, they are to be esteemed wise who do not shrink from any peril when the security of the fatherland is at stake. {Ad Her. IV. 57)27 Although Priscian distinguishes between the sententia and the chria, he says that both are to be developed in the same way. He gives examples developing the following: "Isocrates has said that the root of learning is bitter, but the fruit sweet" (a chria, since the sententia is attributed to a particular person); and "It is not fitting for the ruler of many to sleep the night long" (a sententia).2* The methods of development for both forms are the same as those given for the chria in the Ad Herennium, except that Priscian adds the argument "a laude brevi eius qui dixit" — that is, brief praise for the one who uttered the sententia — a topic that converts a sententia into a chria. He also adds the argument a judicio, which is simply the addition of a second chria supporting the theme; e.g., "Hesiod has said, 'When we labor, the gods grant us every good'"; "Sallust also agrees with this, saying 'Many mortals devoted to their belly and devoted to sleep pass away their lives like pilgrims'" (Keil, III, 432-33).29 The enthymeme was employed by the artes dictaminis. C. H. Haskins has shown that the structure of the letter follows that of the classical oration and, occasionally, that of the formal syllogism as well. The structural parallels may be diagrammed as follows: Oration Exordium Narratio Peroratio 27 2S 29

Letter

Syllogism

Salutation Exordium Narratio Petitio Conclusion

Major Minor Conclusion

Cf. the chria in PN1330-49, on the theme that the Pope ought to stamp out simony. Praeexercitamina, 8-14, in H. Keil, Grammatici Latini, III, 432-33. For the argument a judicio, see Q.V.I 1.36.

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THE POETRIA NOVA AND ITS SOURCES

In the letter, the exordium often takes the form of a proverb or of a quotation from scripture. 30 Guido Faba says that the letter-writer may begin with a proverb, 3 1 and Conrad von Mure inserts a brief discussion of the proverb and the chria into his discussion of the exordium of the letter. 32 However, theoretical discussions of the use of the proverb, enthymeme or chria are not frequently to be found in treatises o n dictamen. It is in the practical examples they offer that we may find the various forms of logical structure. For example, there is a rather amusing instance of the epistolary use of an enthymeme (whose major premise is a proverb) in the anonymous Rationes Dictandi (ca. 1135): 33 [Major:] People rarely or never prefer giving to receiving. [Reason:] H u m a n nature is such as to immediately seek for and ask after the many things which it needs .... ['Conclusion:] Hence it is human nature that your parents send you little and, unless impelled by your filial humility, will send even less. Therefore I, my son, cannot provide all that you request. (Rockinger, I, 24) There are further examples, diversely developed, in H u g o of Bologna, Rationes Dictandi (after 1119): [Enthymeme ab exemplo:] [Proverb:] Everyone is obliged by the law of nature and paternal duty to love his offspring [Reason ab exemplo:] and to follow the example of animals which, as though endowed with reason, at the proper time feed and rear their offspring. [Conclusion:] Thus it is fitting for you to bind me, your son, with the ties of love, and thus extend to me your paternal assistance. (Rockinger, I, 73) [.Enthymeme a similitudine:] [Major with Reason a similitudine:] Just as sons ought to be subservient to their fathers, fathers are obliged to love their charges.

30

C.H. Haskins, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge, Mass., 1928), pp. 143-44. See also his article, "The Life of Medieval Students as Illustrated by their Letters", American Historical Review, III (1898), 204. 81 Doctrina ad inveniendas, incipiendas et formandas materias, Rockinger, I, 185; see Baldwin, p. 221. 32 "The proverb is an utterance containing a sententia drawn from nature [in which case the proverb is tantamount to an exemplum a natural .... The proverb is also a statement attributed to an author, conducive to virtue and morality [in which case it is a chria]" (fie arte prosandi, Rockinger, I, 467). 88 Rockinger, I, 9-28 — but there wrongly attributed to Albericus Cassinensis. See C.H. Haskins, "The Early Artes Dictandi in Italy", Studies in Medieval Culture (Oxford, 1929), pp. 170-92.

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145

[Conclusion:] Hence, distinguished pastor, do not be reluctant to govern and rule me. (Summarized from Rockinger, I, 75)34 [Enthymeme a contrario:] [Proverb a contrario:] Just as those who persevere in their fault should be punished by law, so should pardon be given those who return to their senses. IReason:] For just as the first course of action excites indignation, so does the latter, in its love, call forth concord. [Conclusion:] Hence, dearest child, you should repentantly weep for your trespasses .... (Rockinger, I, 75) This last example is related to reasoning a contrario, Aristotle's first line of proof for the enthymeme; e.g., "Temperance is beneficial, for licentiousness is hurtful" (Rhet. 1397a. 10). This argument is discussed in the Ad Herennium (IV. 25) as Reasoning by Contraries (contrarium), but the Ad Herennium actually developes it as Reasoning by Incompatibles; e.g., "If he could not trust a friend, how could he trust an enemy?" Reasoning a contrario is one of the basic classical forms of the enthymeme, and is discussed in Quintilian (V.10.2 and V.14.2). These rhetorical-logical forms of reasoning were also adopted by the artes predicandi. One may introduce the theme of a sermon by the use either of the narrative or the argumentative mode. The latter has four subdivisions: induction, example (either a pari or a fortiori), syllogism, and enthymeme {inductive, exemplariter, syllogistice, or enthymematice).3B The so-called inductive method 36 can be used to develop the theme "For those who love God, all things work together for the good." [Major:] Whatever exists in the world is either gainful or harmful. [Argument ab expeditione:] But in the man who loves God, gainful things instill a fear of this life, and harmful circumstances instill a yearning and love for heavenly life. [Conclusion:] Therefore, for those who love God, all things work together for the good. (Charland, p. 143) 84

This latter example may be compared with the argument a similitudine in the chria {Ad Her. IV. 57; Priscian 11.10 and 111.14, in Keil, pp. 432-33), and with the enthymeme developed by comparison a pari, in -RAe/.1397b.19-27. ss Th.-M. Charland, Artes Praedicandi (Ottawa, 1936), p. 143. The artes predicandi further illustrate and clarify the use of diverse forms of logical reasoning. They began to appear ca. 1230 — too late to serve as a source for Geoffrey. Charland's book is based on the work of Thomas Waleys (1336-50) and Robert de Basevorn (1322). " Robert's example is not, despite its name, based on induction, which is Aristotle's tenth mode of proof.

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This particular example is based on Aristotle's ninth line of proof for the enthymeme, which he illustrates as follows: All men do wrong from one of three motives, A, B, or C; in my case A and B are out of the question, and even the accusers do not allege C. (Rhet. 1398a. 29-30) This is the same as the figure Elimination (expeditio) in Ad Herennium IV. 40-41. 37 The next argumentative method is the exemplum a natura: I Major:] It is evident in nature that the father provides as far as possible for the good son .... [Minor:] But God is our father and is omnipotent; the man who loves God is a good son. [iConclusion:] Thence it follows that for those who love God, all things work together for the good. (Charland, p. 143)38 This is the argument a fortiori, Aristotle's fourth method of developing the proof of an enthymeme 1397b. 12-27). The third argumentative mode of introducing the theme is the syllogism; 39 however, we must at times prove the major or minor by adding a reason, and then in effect we have an epicheireme (Charland, p. 144). The fourth mode is the employment of an enthymeme: For those who hate God, all things work together toward ill. Therefore, for those who love God, all things work together for the good. (Charland. p. 144) Here we recognize the argument a contrario. " In the Aristotelian form of this proof, all of the possibilities are eliminated, and hence only one alternative remains: the defendant is innocent. This is the form followed in the Ad Her. (loc. cit.). Elimination, however, is taken Cicero to mean that if A and B are eliminated, then C is true (De Inv. 1.45). Quintilian recognizes both forms of Elimination, "whereby we show sometimes that the whole is false, sometimes that only that which remains after the process of elimination is true" (V.10.66). 38 The example may also be taken from art (e.g. the doctor does all he can to cure the patient) or from history (e.g., the love between Damon and Pythias conquered the tyrant Dionysius: Charland, loc. cit.). 89 Take this example on the theme "The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send will teach you in my name": Major: To instruct the sons of noblemen, especially if those sons be prone to vice, requires a very good teacher. Minor: But we are the sons of God. Conclusion: Therefore we need the best teacher — namely, the Holy Spirit. Theme : Whence it is said, "The Holy Spirit etc." (Paraphrased from Charland, p. 142) In this so-called narrative mode, the theme is not proven, but is merely illustrated and amplified, by the syllogism.

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Now, Geoffrey clearly conceives of the proverb as functioning like a major premise: If the artificial opening is derived from a proverb, continue by using the words "this is acknowledged, or attested; this teaches or proves"; or use similar statements with the same procedure. For a proverb is a general sententia, and that which is expressed by the general sententia "is taught, is proven, is manifested" through a particular statement which is added thereto. (Arc. II. 1.5) The proverb, in other words, is to be followed by a specific instance which helps to support it. Such a construction is tantamount to the major premise accompanied by a supporting reason ab exemplo — a combination which is, in effect, an enthymeme, or the first two parts of an epicheireme, and which is not unrelated to the argument ab exemplo in the chria. Geoffrey supplies this example: It is the nature of Fortune not to allow prosperity to abide; rather those things which are sweeter to the soul are destined to take the swifter flight. As proof of this sententia we have Minos, the King of Crete, the peace of whose fortune fell into strife, his brightness into darkness, his happiness into sorrow.

(Doc. II.1.6)40

Geoffrey's treatment of Arrangement does not carry the enthymeme beyond this point — no minor premise is given, nor is any conclusion stated or implied. For this fuller development we must turn, curiously enough, to Geoffrey's dicussion of Amplification. The connection between Amplification and the enthymeme is established in the De Inventione, where Cicero discusses the abbreviated forms of the epicheireme in which major, minor, supporting resons, or conclusion, or several of these, are omitted. Cicero gives his reasons for disliking these shortened forms: "But if the bare statement of the argument were the only object, and it were of no consequence how the thought is developed and expanded, we should certainly not think that there is such a difference between the greatest orators and the ordinary ones. Variety in the treatment of the speech will be the great necessity. For in everything monotony is the mother of boredom" (De Inv. 1.75-76).41 Amplification, then, can be effected by using the expanded form of the epicheireme. But the epicheireme itself is related to the artificial opening. In this state of affairs lies the answer to the rather puzzling fact that 40

See also the other examples in Doc. II. 1.7-8; and compare the speech on fortune in / W 281-91. 41 Cf. "Idemptitas mater est satietatis" (Doc. II. 3.8); see Sedgewick, "Notes and Emendations", p. 340.

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Geoffrey's ninth method of amplification draws some of its terminology from his discussion of Arrangement. Geoffrey expands the single word lego ('I read') by dividing it into its 'beginning, middle and end', according to the following scheme: In the word itself: 1) The beginning: the person who performs the act (ego). 2) The middle: the matter of the word (lectio). Outside of the word: 3) The end: a) The time in which the action occurs. b) The place in which the action occurs. (Summarized from Doc. II. 2.45-47) Thus is "I read" expanded into "I read at a certain time or in a certain place." This sentence is then amplified by beginning its restatement at the beginning, the middle, or the end, and by using proverbs or examples. Of the nine resultant possible combinations (eight artificial and one natural), I will cite two examples: Development with a proverb, from the beginning (ego): Proverb: Whose soul pursues the peak of the highest advancement, let him entirely yearn for the fruit of repeated readings. [.Argument from example:] Let the proof and witness of this matter be the fact that the most diligent in reading is the most eager for advancement. {Doc. II. 2.54) Development with a proverb, from the middle (lectio): Proverb: Frequent perusal of books is the right method to reach the profit of learning, [Argument a judicio:] which the Ethica of Cato well intimates. [Argument ab exemplo:] Yet with a more personal testimony I can state this. The benefit of learning and frequent reading has brought forth flowers in me; and when the air favors it, the flowers will be followed by fruit. (Doc. II. 2.55) The Documentum then goes on to discuss the expansion of the word doceo. This discussion explicitly relates parts of the syllogism to divisions of the oration: Thus from one verb a series of expressions is to be elicited. We must find any proverb, one part of which employs the meaning of the word in question, and another part of which employs the meaning of another word. From the former

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part will be formed the narratio, and from the latter, the conclusio. And thus three members of the expression can be formed: the first contains the proverb, the second the narratio, the third the conclusio. And if this is not sufficiently long, we can extend the middle member — that is, the narratio — and prove it either in the speech or by adducing reasons, and thus extend the expression in infinitum. {Doc. II. 2.61) Take this example; the 'two verbs' are know and teach: Proverb [Major]: He who knows, ought to teach. Narratio [Minor]: I know. Conclusio [Conclusion]: For this reason, I teach. (Summarized from Doc. II. 2.62) This syllogism may be expanded into an epicheireme: Proverb [Major: He who knows, ought to teach.] Exornation of the Major: He into whose soul the fountains of learning have flowed, should not deny drink to the thirsty; rather let his fountains be brought forth and let him share out their waters in the public square.43 Narratio [Minor]: I know. Exornation of the Minor : I have drunk, so to speak, the streams of knowledge, with which I have watered the dryness of the ardantly thristing soul which I thereby refreshed. The Reason: Nor is it marvelous if knowledge has communicated her secrets to me, for I have deserved her friendship through my long service, and won it through frequent assaults and by a certain violence. The Proof of the Reason: I remained for twenty years living among her familiars, where study totally consumed me in nightly and daily labors; labor always found me eager, and rejecting sloth. I sought after the discipline of the important arts, in those place apt for and assigned to each branch of learning. I struggled in Paris to acquire the trivium; I studied the quadrivium in Toledo; in Salerno I investigated medicine; and finally in Bologna I was taught the laws and the decretals. My soul came to those founts to extinguish its thirst, for, though the waters may flow sweeter elsewhere, they are sweetest at the source. The Conclusion: (For this reason, I teach.) Therefore, what I have I distribute, and the waters I have everywhere gathered I, a diligent servant, set before the thirsting spirit. In conclusion, the distinction between the natural and artificial order is derived from traditional rhetorical doctrine concerning Arrangement; the advice to begin at the middle comes from Horace; the advice to begin at 42

For Embellishment (exornatio) as part of the epicheireme, see Ad Her. IV. 29, and fi.V.14.6.

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the end comes from Quintilian. Geoffrey's contribution to rhetorical theory is the use of proverb and example to introduce a literary work, a use which actually implies the creation of an enthymeme or epicheireme. The use of these logical forms of dicourse was widespread in the artes dictaminis and the artes predicandi, but it was Geoffrey who significantly developed the theory for the application of these forms to literature.

III.A. AMPLIFICATION A N D ABBREVIATION: THEORY ( P N 203-741)

In order to understand the theory of Amplification in the Poetria Nova, we must examine its development in classical texts.43 The Ad Herennium and De Inventione discuss Amplification primarily in its function in the epideictic speech, and in the so-called Conclusion of an oration. The purpose of epideictic oratory is to praise a person or hold him up to censure. Deliberative oratory is concerned with discussion of matters of policy, the determination of the proper course to pursue, and the means of persuading others to follow this course. The third and last species of oration is the judicial, which is concerned with legal disputes. In the earlier classical period, the judicial speech was held to be the most important and consequently received the most theoretical attention (Ad Her., pp. 4-5, note d). The fact that rhetorical treatises put such emphasis on the judicial cause may have had some influence on the medieval altercatio and the Renaissance dialogue. However, the theory of the epideictic oration, because of its emphasis on the techniques of description, is of greater importance for literary theory. Descriptive techniques were stressed by the rhetorical movement known as the second sophistic, and the writing of eulogies according to set formulas was given as a school exercise.44 Amplification functions in the epideictic oration as a means of enhancing someone's good qualities, or of stressing his vices: 43

For the theory of Amplification up to Aristotle, see Walter Plöbst, Die Auxesis (Munich, 1911). 44 As in Hermogenes' Progymnasmata (second century A.D.), translated and adapted by Priscian, Praeexercitamina (sixth century). See Ernst Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, trans. W.R. Trask (New York, 1953), p. 69; first published as Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter (Bern, 1948). Hermogenes is translated in Baldwin, pp. 23-38; Priscian is available in Keil, pp. 430-40.

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Again, if you cannot find enough to say of a man himself, you may pit him against others .... The comparison should be with famous men; that will strengthen your case; it is a noble thing to surpass men who are themselves great. It is only natural that methods of "heightening the effect" should be attached particularly to speeches of praise .... (Rhet. 1368a.20-28) The enthymeme, Aristotle goes on to say, is most suited to forensic speeches, and the example to deliberative speeches; but the device proper to the epideictic speech is Amplification. Its application to censure is quite simple: "No special treatment of censure and vituperation is needed. Knowing the above facts, we know their contraries; and it is out of these that speeches of censure are made" (Rhet. 1368a. 35). One can simply invert, for purposes of censure, the commonplaces used for praise. Furthermore, if one wishes to enhance a quality, one uses Amplification; if one's purpose is to belittle a quality, one uses Diminution: We are also to assume, when we wish either to praise a man or blame him, that qualities closely allied to those which he actually has are identical with them; for instance, that the cautious man is cold-blooded and treacherous, and that the stupid man is an honest fellow or the thick-skinned man a good-tempered one. We can always idealize any given man by drawing on the virtues akin to his actual qualities; thus we may say that the passionate and excitable man is "outspoken"; or that the arrogant man is "superb" or "impressive." (Rhet. 1367a. 32-38) The Ad Herennium suggests prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance (the Aristotelian virtues) as topics for praise and blame alike: "Virtues of this kind are to be enlarged upon [amplificandae] if we are recommending them, but depreciated [adtenuandae] if we are urging that they be disregarded, so that the points which I have made above will be belittled" (Ad Her. III. 6).45 Amplification should follow the proof, for which it is by no means a substitute; consequently, in the judicial oration Amplification should be used in the Conclusion: "The facts having been proved, the natural thing to do next is to magnify or minimize their importance. The facts must be admitted before you can dicsuss how important they are ..." (Rhet. 1419b. 20-23). Again, it is a fault to amplify what one should prove; for example, if a man should charge another with homicide, and before he has presented conclusive arguments, should amplify the crime, avowing that there is nothing more

45

F o r other applicable commonplaces, see Ad //er.UI.10.

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shameful than homicide. The question is, in fact, not whether the deed is or is not shameful, but whether it was committed. (Ad 77er.II.46) 46

Amplification, therefore, is most appropriate to the Conclusion of a speech, for after we have proven our point, we must use Amplification to stir the audience emotionally so that its members will act as we wish (-R/iei.l419b.l0-14). Thus we read in the Ad Herennium: "Conclusions, among the Greeks called epilogoi, are tripartite, consisting of the Summing Up, Amplification, and Appeal to Pity. We can in four places use a Conclusion: in the Direct Opening, after the Statement of facts, after the strongest argument, and in the Conclusion of the speech" (Ad Her. II. 47). The use of a Conclusion, then, is not confined to the actual peroration of the speech. This point will become important when we consider the process by which Amplification comes to broaden its area of application in post-classical rhetorical theory. One of the basic functions of Amplification in the Conclusion is to arouse indignation: "The peroration is the end and conclusion of the whole speech; it has three parts, the summing-up, the indignatio or exciting of indignation or ill-will against the opponent, and the conquestio or the arousing of pity and sympathy" (Delnv. 1.98). Indignatio here corresponds to Amplification in the passage just cited from the Ad Herennium. When delivering an Amplification, we should use the hortatory tone, which "by amplifying some fault, incites the hearer to indignation" (Ad Her. III. 24). Amplification, in the judicial as well as in the epideictic oration, is effected by the use of commonplaces (Ad Her. 11.47); for example, the topics used in the judicial oration to arouse indignation are the same as those used in the epideictic oration to censure a person (De Inv. 1.100). However, there are a number of commonplaces for arousing indignation which are peculiar to the judicial oration. These are discussed as means of Amplification. Most of them have no relation with the medieval means of Amplification, except that the ninth, as we shall see, is akin to Comparison, and the tenth to Description.47 46

Cf. Sidney: "... for the force of a similitude not being to prooue anything to a contrary Disputer but onely to explane to a willing hearer, when that is done, the rest is a most tedious pratling, rather ouer-swaying the memory from the purpose whereto they were applyed then any whit informing the iudgment, already eyther satisfied, or by similitudes not to be satisfied" (Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie, ed. J. Churton Collins [Oxford, 1907], p. 58, lines 17-23). It will be evident that Sidney's source is not necessarily Ramus, contrary to Rosemund Tuve, Elizabethan and Metaphysical Imagery (Chicago, 1947), p. 184. " These are the commonplaces, summarized from Ad Her. II.48-49:1) the matter is of great concern; 2) the unlawful acts concern all men, or our superiors, or peers, or

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Briefly, then, we have seen Amplification associated with the use of commonplaces to praise or blame a particular person, and to arouse indignation. There is obviously a close connection between these two functions. A symmetrical relationship becomes apparent if we add that Amplification is referred to in the Ad Herennium (HI. 24) as a means of instilling pity for the accused. We can draw the following table of correspondences : Amplification in epideicticspeeches I) Achieved by use of commonplaces : Topics for description of a person.

II) Purpose is to a) Praise b) Blame III) Occurs throughout the speech.

Amplification in judicial speeches I) Achieved by use of commonplaces: a) Topics for description of a person b) Topics specifically directed toward amplifying the seriousness of the crime. II) Purpose is to arouse a) Indignation b) Pity III) Occurs in a "Conclusion" (which can occur at various points in the speech). 48

inferiors; 3) if all culprits were granted indulgence in this matter, the results would be perilous; 4) if we indulge this man, others will break the law; 5) an incorrect verdict will be irremediable; 6) the act was done with premeditation, a fact which should preclude mercy; 7) the crime is a peculiarly outrageous one; 8) the crime is unique in its baseness; 9) the wickedness of the crime is more evident when compared with that of other crimes [cf. Ad Her. YV.12 ; De /nv.1.104; g. VI.2.21]; 10) we can perceive the wickedness of the crime if we imagine that we behold all its circumstances taking place before our eyes [cf. description Ad Her.W.Si, and demonstration Ad Her. IV.68]. Cf. this list with De Inv. 1.101-05. 48 None of the passages cited so far discusses both of these cases together, but such a passage appears in Cicero's Orator: "Though the latter [Amplification] should be spread equally throughout the whole of the speech, yet it will be especially noteworthy in the 'commonplaces' .... There are, for instance, two topics which if well-handled by the orator arouse admiration for his eloquence. One, which the Greeks call ethikon or 'expressive of character,' is related to men's nature and character, their habits and all the intercourse of life; the other, which they call pathetikon or 'relating to the emotions,' arouses and excites the emotions: in this part alone oratory remains supreme. The former is courteous and agreeable, adapted to win goodwill; the latter is violent, hot and impassioned, and by this cases are wrested from our opponents .... Why should I mention appeals to pity? More of these are to be found in my orations .... Nor is the appeal for sympathy the only way of arousing the emotions of the jury ... but the juror must be made to be angry or appeased, to feel ill will or to be well disposed ..." (128-31).

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Now, the passages we have been dealing with assign to Amplification an important but restricted role. How, then, does it come about that medieval and Renaissance rhetoric consider Amplification to be the major concern of that liberal art? Secondly, it will be observed that the treatments of Amplification cited above consider the commonplaces to be the means of amplifying. How did it happen that medieval and Renaissance systems of rhetoric consider the figures to be the proper means of Amplification? The answer to the first question is relatively simple.49 We have already observed that the Amplification of a Conclusion need not be confined to the actual peroration of the speech: "There is no limit to the power of an oration to exalt a subject or render it contemptible. This must be done in the midst of arguments, whenever an opening is offered to amplify or disparage [vel amplificandi vel minuendi]; and there is almost unlimited opportunity for it in the peroration." 50 That is to say, Amplification and Dimunition are to be used at every opportunity: "Enlargement not only has a special place here in the peroration, but also in the actual course of the speech opportunities occur, when something has been proved or refuted, for turning aside to amplify."51 Indeed, Amplification is the very essence of rhetoric: "The topic of size is common to all oratory; all of us have to argue that things are bigger or smaller than they seem, whether we are making political speeches, speeches of eulogy or attack, or prosecuting or defending in the law-courts" (Rhet. 139lb. 30-34). The answer to the next question is more complex. We have seen Amplification connected with commonplaces, not with figures. Quintilian seems to make the distinction explicit: "I know that some may perhaps regard hyperbole as a species of amplification, since hyperbole can be employed to create an effect in either direction [that is, in Aplification or Diminution]. But as the name is also applied to one of the tropes, I must " It is true, as Baldwin says (p. 17), that Amplification is an important part of the second sophistic. But during the medieval period, the only readily available theoretical document produced by the second sophistic was Priscian's Praeexercitamina. This work mentions Amplification only briefly, in connection with the fabula (Praeexercitamina I; Keil, pp. 430-31). Priscian discusses Comparison, Description, and Prosopopeia, but not the five other means of Amplification found in Geoffrey (Praeexercitamina VII-X; Keil, pp. 435-39). 60 Cicero, Orator, 127. 61 Cicero, De Partitione Oratorio, 52, in Cicero, De Oratore, trans. H. Rackham (London, 1942), II. Even if Geoffrey did not know the Orator or the De Part. Orat., the Ad Herennium, as noted above, advises the use of Amplification in the Direct Opening, after the Statement of Facts, after the strongest argument, and in the Conclusion (11.47).

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postpone its consideration for the present" (VIII. 4.29). It is surprising, then, to find that medieval and Renaissance rhetoric widened the scope of Amplification first by conceiving of it as a system of figures, and then by enlarging the number of applicable figures until Amplification virtually becomes synonymous with 'figurative language'.52 Geoffrey (in the Poetria Nova, ca. 1210, and the Documentum); Eberhard the German (in the Laborintus, 1210-1280); and John of Garland (in the Poetria, after 1229) give the following methods of achieving Amplification: Synonymy, Circumlocution, Apostrophe, Prosopopeia, Description, and Digression. The Poetria Nova and the Laborintns add Comparison and Contraries (oppositio). Renaissance authors went even further by enlarging the number of figures to be used in amplifying. Hoskins devotes a full third of the Directions for Speech and Style53 to listing such figures for Amplification as Comparison, Division, Accumulation, Intimation, Progression, Hyperbole, Correction, Irony, Paralipsis, Interrogation, Exclamation, Oxymoron, Contention, Isocolon, Asyndeton, and Sententia. For Amplification, Wilson84 recommends Repetition, Climax, Circumstances, Prosopopeia, Proverbs, Correction, Comparison, and Contraries. Erasmus' De Copia (1511)55 assigns thirty-two figures to Amplification; and Henry Peacham, The Garden of Eloquence (1593),58 lists sixty-nine. Clearly, we have come a long way from classical theory. Yet in that theory there can be found a basis for this later heterodox practice. For example, let us consider the classical theory of Amplification as a means of praising character. In covering his subject, the eulogist has recourse to a standard list of commonplaces: the hero's name, nature, manner of life, fortune, habit, feeling, interests, purposes, achievements, 6a

At this point it would be well to mention that the classification of figures never became definitive. The distinction between figures of diction and figures of thought is first made by the Ad Herennium: "It is a figure of diction if the adornment is comprised in the fine polish of the language itself. A figure of thought derives a certain distinction from the idea, not from the words" (IV. 18). The Ad Herennium treats the tropes as a subdivision of the figures of diction: "They [the tropes] all have this in common, that the language departs from the ordinary meaning of the words and is, with a certain grace, applied in another sense" (IV. 42). Obviously various elements in these classifications overlap, and at no point in the history of rhetoric do we find any unanimity of classification. Quintilian, while mentioning that there is no sense in disputing over mere terminology, tried to bring some order into the confusion (IX.l.lOff.). The Renaissance tried to help matters by introducing various subdivisions: see Sr. Miriam Joseph Rauh, Shakespeare's Use of the Arts of Language (New York, 1947), pp. 31-36. 58 Ed. H.H. Hudson (Princeton, 1935), pp. 21-35. 54 Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique (1560), ed. G.H. Mair (Oxford, 1909), pp. 114-29. 66 On Copia of Words and Ideas, trans. Donald King and H. David Rix (Milwaukee, 1963), 1-104. 66 Ed. William G. Crane (Gainesville, 1954), pp. 119-99.

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and speech (De /«v.1.34-36; see the much longer list in Ad Her.HI.10). This ecphrasis, or descriptive set-piece, could easily be identified with the figure demonstratio: "Through this kind of narrative, Ocular Demonstration [demonstratio] is very useful in amplifying a matter and basing on it an appeal to pity, for it sets forth the whole incident and virtually brings it before our eyes" (Ad Her. IV. 69; cf. Q. VIII. 3.61 and IX. 2.40-44). This figure is clearly akin to Vivid Description (descriptio: Ad Her. IV. 51), which was linked to Amplification since descriptio was discussed (though not by name) as a topic of Amplification in the Conclusion, where it is used to stir the jury against the accused: "By the tenth commonplace we shall examine sharply, incriminatingly and precisely, everything that took place in the actual execution of the deed and all the circumstances that usually attend such an act, so that by the enumeration of the attendant circumstances the crime may seem to be taking place and the action to unfold before our eyes" (Ad Her. 11.49; cf. Delnv. 1.109). Clearly, neither descriptio nor demonstratio is far removed from Simile (imago), which shares with Amplification the function of praising and blaming: "Simile is the comparison of one figure with another, implying a certain resemblance between them. This is used either for praise or censure. For praise, as follows: "He entered the combat in body like the strongest bull, in impetuosity like the fiercest lion.' For censure, so as to excite hatred, as follows: "That wretch who daily glides through the middle of the Forum like a crested serpent, with curved fangs, poisonous glance and fierce panting ..." (AdHer.IV.62). Nothing in either theory or practice would prevent Simile from being regarded as a mode or subdivision of Amplification. By making appropriate changes in the commonplaces, one can write a description of a city (topographia): Quintilian leaves it an open question whether or not topographia should be distinguished from Ocular Demonstration (IX. 2.40). Thus we see that it was possible for a single method of Amplification to become identified with four separate figures; hence Geoffrey, Eberhard, and John of Garland consider Description and Comparison to be methods of Amplification. As we have seen, Quintilian differentiates between the figures and the methods of Amplification. However, he juxtaposes his treatment of Amplification with his discussion of style and figures of speech (VIII. 4. 1-29), an arrangement which must have spurred his successors to do what he himself was reluctant to do — that is, to think of Amplification in terms of figures.

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Quintilian had an enormous influence on the Renaissance theory of Amplification; hence I give a tabular outline of his treatment, together with an indication of those figures later associated with his system, and the names of those Renaissance authors who adopt these figures as a means of Amplification. Methods of Achieving Amplification (summarized from Q. VIII. 4.1-29) Minor Methods: 1) Choose a more serious word; e.g., call a dishonest man a robber. 2) Compare words and make a choice: "Not a thief, but a murderer." Major Methods: 1) Augmentation: a) By degrees: "It is a sin to bind a Roman citizen, a crime to scourge him, little short of the most unnatural murder to put him to death; what then shall I call his crucifixion?" b) Go beyond the superlative: "Than whom there was none more beautiful, saving Laurentian Turnus." c) Admit that you cannot augment: "You beat your mother. What more need I say? You beat your mother." d) By degrees, but mentioning each step so quickly that you rush to a conclusion: "Antony vomited before an assembly of the Roman people, while performing a public duty, while Master of the Horse." 2) Comparison, leading up to an a fortiori judgment. Compare not only the whole with the whole, but part with part: "Scipio, a private citizen, killed Tiberius Gracchus, who only mildly disturbed the Roman state; shall we, consuls, allow Catiline to live, who tried to devastate the entire world?" 3) Reasoning: mention some fact which will lead the audience to infer the point which the orator wishes to stress. a) Attendant circumstances; e.g., The old men admired Helen; hence her beauty must have been great. b) Consequences; e.g., Antony was violently sick, and therefore must have been exceedingly drunk. c) Antecedents; e.g., Aeolus' preparations very clearly indicate the violence of the storm he is about to unleash. 4) Accumulation of words similar in meaning and concerned with the same topic.

Hyperbole Correctio

Incrementum

Asyndeton

Contentio Contrarium Collatio

Syllogismus Enumeratio Significatio

Frequentatio Synonymy Commoratio Expolitio

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Definitions of the above figures, and a list of the Renaissance authors by whom they were considered as means of Amplification: Hyperbole (an exaggeration made for effect): Hoskins, p. 29; Sherry, p. 71 ; 6 ' Peacham, p. 31; Erasmus, p. 35. Correctio (a retraction of a word used in order to replace it with a more suitable word): Hoskins, pp. 29-30; Wilson, p. 121; Peacham, p. 172; Erasmus, p. 60. Incrementum (rising to a climax): Peacham, pp. 133-34 and p. 169; Erasmus, p. 58; Farnaby, p. 14.68 Asyndeton (omission of conjunctions): Hoskins, p. 38; Farnaby, p. 14; Erasmus, p. 36. Contentio (antithesis): Hoskins, p. 37; Peacham, pp. 160-61; Erasmus, p. 79; Farnaby, p. 4. Contrarium (reasoning from opposites: "If he cannot trust his friends, how can he trust his enemies?"): Wilson, pp. 116 and 129; Hoskins, pp. 21-22; Sherry, p. 76; Erasmus, p. 83; Peacham, pp. 163-64. Collatio (comparison): Wilson, p. 123; Hoskins, pp. 17-21; Erasmus, p. 73 and pp. 77-78; Sherry, pp. 74-75; Peacham, pp. 156-58; Farnaby, pp. 4 and 14. Syllogismus (reasoning by syllogism): Sherry, p. 76; Farnaby, p. 14; Peacham, pp. 179-80. Enumerado (breaking the whole into parts): Hoskins, p. 22; Peacham, p. 125. Significatio (innuendo): Hoskins, p. 25; Peacham, pp. 178-79. Frequentatio (gathering arguments together): Wilson, p. 128; Peacham, pp. 151-52; Erasmus, pp. 66-67. Synonymy (heaping up synonyms): Hoskins, p. 28; Peacham, pp. 149-50; Erasmus, p. 19. Commoratio (dwelling on the point): Peacham, pp. 152-53. Expolitio (repeating the same thing in different ways): Peacham, pp. 193-96; Erasmus, p. 83. The relationship between the figures and Amplification can be seen more clearly in Quintilian's discussion than in prior statements on the subject — such as those which, we have seen, link Amplification to the epideictic speech and to the Conclusion in the judicial oration. Quintilian's treatment of Amplification clearly made it possible for later theoreticians to identify the means of Amplification with the figures of diction and of thought. However, it must be remembered that even Quintilian did not explicitly consider the means of Amplification to be the figures and tropes. " Richard Sherry, A Treatise of Schemes and Tropes (1550), facs. ed., introd. Herbert E. Hildebrandt (Gainesville, Fla., 1961). 68 Thomas Farnaby, Index Rhetoricus (London, [1640?]); STC 10703a. Ann Arbor Microfilm 17345.

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It remained for later writers to make the identification, thereby revising the structural arrangement of rhetorical theory. An interesting result of this rearrangement appears in Erasmus' De Copia. Among the various figures used to achieve copia (fullness of expression, Amplification), Erasmus lists Synonymy, Enallage, Antonomasia, Periphrasis, Metaphor, Metonymy — and Amplification! This last element is treated exactly as it is in Quintilian (VIII. 4.1-29; cf. De Copia, pp. 58-60). The 'minor methods' of Amplification are treated in De Copia, Book I, p. 35, as methods of achieving copia of words; Quintilian's 'major methods' are consigned to Book II, as the means of achieving copia of things or ideas, and are there included among a multitude of other amplifying figures. Amplificatio, which is NOT a figure in Quintilian, is therefore treated by Erasmus as simply one of the many figures through which one may effect Amplification. Up to now we have considered the methods by which Amplification is achieved. We must now turn to an important question: did the classical period, the middle ages, and the Renaissance hold different views of nature and purpose of Amplification? From the statements of Rosemund Tuve, 59 J. W. H. Atkins,80 E. Faral (p. 61), and C.S. Baldwin (pp. 17, 188-89), we can draw the following composite position, one which, despite its currency, is quite untenable: 1) In classical theory, Amplification refers only to the enhancement of the emotional effect of the statement. 2) The medieval rhetoricians conceive of Amplification merely as a means of lengthening discourse, and this approach represents a perversion of classical theory. 3) The Renaissance returned to the pure classical theory. These views seem to have been accepted without protest — have been accepted, indeed, as self-evident. The issue is one of importance, for Amplification is the central doctrine of post-classical, if not classical, rhetoric. Now, I believe that each of the three positions is demonstrably incorrect. It can be shown that antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance held that Amplification was a means of both extending the length of discourse and increasing its emotional appeal. Indeed, these two purposes are complementary. 69 60

Elizabethan and Metaphysical Imagery (Chicago, 1947), pp. 89ff. English Literary Criticism: The Renascence, 2nd ed. (London, 1951), pp. 40-43.

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Faral (p. 61) tells us that the classical period employed Amplification to enhance the force of an idea. In support of this statement, he cites the treatment of Quintilian (IV. 4.1-29, summarized above, pp 157-158). He goes on to say that although some early post-classical authors 61 retain the original doctrine, the writers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries understood Amplification to be simply a means of dilating discourse. It is quite true that, from one point of view, the Middle Ages consider Amplification as a means of expanding the theme. Geoffrey of Vinsauf discusses Amplification and Abbreviation in these terms: "Your way is twofold: either wide or strait, a rivulet or a stream; you will either proceed more leisurely, or quickly jump over it; check off an item briefly or treat it in a lengthy discourse" (PN 206-09). However, the earliest classical reference to this subject clearly shows that Gorgias and Tisias, the first rhetoricians to formulate the doctrine of Amplification and Abbreviation, have the same conception of it as does Geoffrey: But shall I "to dumb forgetfulness consign" Tisias and Gorgias, who are not ignorant that probability is superior to truth, and who by force of argument make the little appear great and the great little, disguise the new in old fashions and the old in new fashions, and have discovered forms for everything, either short or going on to infinity. I remember Prodicus laughing when I told him of this; he said that he had himself discovered the true rule of art, which was to be neither long nor short, but of a convenient length. (Plato, Phaedrus 267) Curtius suggests that this concept of Amplification and Abbreviation may have been transmitted to the Middle Ages through the second sophistic (p. 492). He finds it unlikely that the Middle Ages oculd have derived the idea from early classical theory, since it appears there only in the Phaedrus. The references are almost as rare as Curtius thought, but they are to be found in two passages: "The whole of this class [i.e. oratio cornersa] consists in the modification of words: which in respect of single words is handled in such a manner that a phrase is either expanded out of a word or contracted into a word ..." (Cicero, Partitiones Oratoriae 23). The reference to amplificatio and diminutio seems clear, although the words themselves are not used. The second passage is from Quintilian: "The first essential is to realize clearly what we wish to enhance or attenuate, to express with vigor or calm, in luxuriant or austere language, at length or with conciseness, with gentleness or asperity, magnificence or 91

Faral cites Alcuin as an example, perhaps referring to the passage where Alcuin tells us that the prosecutor in a law case uses overstatement to amplify his position, while the defending attorney uses understatement to diminish the seriousness of the charges (The Rhetoric of Alcuin and Charlemagne, ed. and trans. Wilbur Samuel Howell [Princeton, 1941], p. 92).

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subtlety, gravity or wit" (VIII. 3.40). This passage strikingly presents the earlier conception of dilation side by side with the more traditional classical theory — sufficient proof that, although the Gorgian approach may have become less popular among classical theoreticians, it never entirely disappeared. Furthermore, we may ask whether concepts of Amplification as dilation and as enhancement or emotional force are mutually exclusive. Indeed, in the hands of a competent artist, does not the one approach imply the other? Quintilian has this to say on the subject: So, too, we may move our hearers to tears by the picture of a captured town. For the mere statement that the town was stormed, while no doubt it embraces all that such a calamity involves, has all the curtness of a dispatch, and fails to penetrate to the emotions of the hearer. But if we expand all that the one word "stormed" includes, we shall see the ñames pouring from house and temple, and hear the crash of falling roofs and one confused clamor blent of many cries: we shall behold some in doubt whither to fly, others clinging to their nearest and dearest in one last embrace .... For though, as I have already said, the sack of a city includes all these things, it is less effective to tell the whole news at once than to recount it detail by detail. (Q. VIII. 3.67-69) 62

In the light of this statement, I hesitate to agree with the word 'first' in the following: "The theory of dilation was probably first developed in the homiletics of the Christian church, the preachers of which found themselves confronted with the task of expounding Holy Scriptures to the laity. To expatiate upon a line of the sacred text, extracting all the meanings both implicit and explicit, and by so dwelling upon the line to infix it in the memories of all who heard — such could well have been the need that occasioned the development of this theory."83 This is a most valuable suggestion: the need for Amplification in the sermon may have had some influence on the poetriae. But as Quintilian clearly demonstrates, Amplification is essential to all emotive writing — that is, to all literary work. It is difficult to agree with Professor Rosemund Tuve's view that the Renaissance did not intend Amplification to function as dilation: Enlarge has a special meaning. For most of these figures come generally under the heading of "amplification," a word which means something very different from our modern "expanding" or "dilating upon." "a This passage is cited in C. Julius Victor, Ars Rhetorica XIXI, Halm, pp. 436-37. 83 George John Engelhardt, "Mediaeval Vestiges in the Rhetoric of Erasmus", PMLA, LXIII (June 1948), 740. As he notes, the tradition of having EIGHT methods of dilation is common to both the poetriae and the artes predicandi (Engelhardt, p. 741; F., p. 62).

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I must here make this distinction clear, for it affects a great many images I shall quote, and no lingering tendency to identify amplification with "trimming up," or stretching out, must remain in our heads. Figures under amplification are not used to expatiate; they are used to magnify, to make more impressive, more worthy of attention. (Tuve, Elizabethan and Metaphysical Imagery, pp. 89-90) If this is indeed the case, we may well wonder why Renaissance writers continue to recommend medieval methods of Amplification; we may especially wonder why Peacham recommends such wordy devices as Digression (p. 154) and Circumlocution (p. 148). Miss Tuve's answer is that such devices were not prized for their wordiness but were employed for certain other effects: "Peacham's warnings against excess, in the especially copious figures, are exact and practical" (Tuve, p. 120). But surely, to warn against excess is not quite the same as to reject all dilation. Geoffrey is in favor of dilation (a fact to which his modern critics readily assent), but warns us against overdoing it (a fact which none of his critics has bothered to notice): "If the line of discourse needs to be stretched further, step outside of the bounds of the matter, recede a bit, and devote your pen to other things; BUT DO NOT DIGRESS SO WIDELY THAT IT WILL BECOME BURDENSOME TO REGAIN YOUR PLACE.

Amplification]

THIS METHOD [scil.

of

REQUIRES A RESTRAINED TALENT, LEST THE COURSE OF THE

is PROPER ... The seventh method of lengthening the work is by inserting a description pregnant with words: BUT DIGRESSION BE LONGER THAN

ALTHOUGH IT BE WIDE LET IT BE WINSOME; LET IT BE EQUALLY SPACIOUS A N D

(PN 532 ff.: my emphasis). Miss Tuve seems to attach a great deal of weight — and rightly so — to her next argument:

SPECIOUS"

Something may also be learned from examining overt commendations of variety to see whether facile inventiveness in turning out images is deemed sufficient. One may find specific advice applicable to imagery in Hoskins' division devoted to Varying. The first shock one receives comes from the nature of the figures included; the second, from the kind of achievement Hoskins expects from them .... But the chief evidence against a poetically lax definition of "varying for delight" is Hoskins' inclusion under this heading of four major tropes, including metaphor and synecdoche. (Tuve, Elizabethan and Metaphysical Imagery, pp. 120-21) If I interpret it correctly, the argument holds that Hoskins could not have conceived of "varying" as merely expatiation, since under the former he includes figures which do not involve mere dilation or repetition — i.e., Metaphor and Synecdoche — as distinguished, let us say, from the more expansive tropes such as Digression and Circumlocution. True enough:

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but the same line of reasoning should be applied to the medieval authors, who recommend such non-repetitive figures as Comparison and Description for use in Amplification. The medieval authors paved the way for the Renaissance theoreticians, who avidly — and perhaps indiscriminately — increased the stock of figures considered suitable for Amplification. I would like to make it clear that I do not deny that the Renaissance thought of Amplification as a device for enhancing; I would simply like to show that it was also defined as a method of expatiating, the expatiation itself being an enhancement.64 As we have seen, the term AMPLIFICATION is an ambiguous one. It would clarify the issue if we could find a Renaissance author who uses the term in a context which cannot be misunderstood. We do not have far to seek: Erasmus, in his highly influentialDeCopia (1512), devotes three pages to Amplification, discussing it in strictly Quintilian terms (pp. 58-60). He lists Amplification as the nona ratio dilatandi — the ninth method of expansion,66 Some of the other methods in Erasmus' treatise are referred to as rationes locupletandi — methods of enriching, of enhancing. It is clear that Erasmus used locupletandi and dilatandi as equivalent terms. I take this to be linguistic support for my contention that a synthesis of these two theories of Amplification was known to the Renaissance.66 J. W. H. Atkins says that for the Renaissance, Amplification was "no indigesta turba of illustrations and tedious repetitions as in medieval times"; he refers us to the De Copia, Bk. I, Ch. 1,67 But if we turn a few pages of that work, we find that Erasmus has not necessarily rejected fullness of expression. Further, he is perfectly aware that his doctrine contains elements not found in the classics: he says that he felt it necessary 64

Let me make clear that Miss Tuve nowhere attacks medieval Amplification as mere expansion; but the tradition in which she is working does so — witness Baldwin and Atkins. 65 The Latin text of the De Copia which I use is the Amsterdam edition of 1645. Some of Erasmus' other methods of amplifying arepartitio, ratio, descriptio, egressio, circumstantiae, accumulatio, exempla, and imago. Elements from medieval theory will be recognized. Engelhardt traces virtually all of Erasmus' devices for Amplification to the medieval poetriae and artes predicandi, although some of his derivations must necessarily remain hypothetical ("Medieval Vestiges in the Rhetoric of Erasmus", pp. 742-43). 66 Should the reader wonder why I do not simply appeal to the literature of the time for examples of dilation, the answer can be found in Miss Tuve (p. 120, n. 5): "Infelicitous attempts at copie were doubtless rife; they usually are." Any wordy passage can be explained away as the result of wrong-headed interpretation of the theory of Amplification. 67 English Literary Criticism: The Renascence, 2nd ed. (London, 1951) p. 43.

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to write the De Copia because the ancients did not choose to reveal all they knew about eloquence (p. 12). Erasmus rejects not copia but its abuse: "Accordingly, our precepts will be directed to this, that you may be able in the fewest possible words so to comprehend the essence of a matter that nothing is lacking; that you may be able to amplify by copia [copia dilates] in such a way that there is nonetheless no redundancy ..." (p. 15). He agrees with both Peacham and Geoffrey: let there be no redundancy, but by all means let there be copia. The following passage from Erasmus clearly reflects the concept of Amplification and Abbreviation as dilation and contraction: Authors ... at times will condense a matter so that nothing else could be omitted; or again they will so enrich and expand the same matter so that nothing can be added.... We will provide examples of both the one and the other practice from the same author, Virgil. What expression could be briefer than this? ... and the fields, where Troy was. [Aen.III. 11] In very few words, as Macrobius says, he has digested and absorbed a civilization, leaving not a wrack behind. Here is the same concept expressed as fully as possible: The final day has come, the unavoidable fate of Dardania. We were Trojans; Ilium once was; and great was the Teucrian glory. Cruel Jove gave all to the Argives; the Danaians ruled the burned city. O fatherland, O home of the [Aen.II.324-27] gods: Troy, and the battle-famed walls of the Dardani .... What fountain, what torrent, what sea ever abounded in waves as this does in words? 68 What — to add one more rhetorical question — could be a clearer example of dilation? The second passage from Virgil employs Synonymy: Troy, Dardania, Ilium, fatherland, home of the gods, walls of the Dardani, the burned city; Trojans, Teucrians, Dardani; Argives, Danaians. 6 9 One final passage from Erasmus: "Nor does it matter to me that some writers have been criticized for unduly and mistakenly striving for copia. For Quintilian notes too effusive and redundant copia in Stesichorus; but *9 De Copia, Bk. I, Ch. 3. I have used my translation of the passage since that of King and Rix (p. 13) somewhat obscures the Synonymy. " Concerning Amplification, compare the following comment on Homeric and Virgilian digressions, made by Antonio Minturno, De Poeta (1559): "For if they had set forth briefly in historical manner what occurred, and had adorned the work with no episodes, they would have deprived the poetry of its beauty. But those incidents which seemed more notable and more worthy of being commemorated, and especially whatever was included within an entire and single action — these things they undertook to relate. Then they introduced many varied matters to enrich the work" (quoted in Kenneth O. Myrick, Sir Philip Sidney as a Literary Carftsman [Cambridge, Mass., 1935], p. 156). That is to say, dilation is enhancement; cf. Q.VII.3.67-69.

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he mentions it in such a way as to confess that the fault should not be entirely avoided" (De Copia, Bk. I, Ch. I, Ch. 4, p. 12).70 There is another point of similarity between medieval rhetoric and that of Erasmus. By the judicious use of synonyms, Erasmus is able to find one hundred and fifty ways of saying "Your letter has delighted me very much" (De Copia, p. 12). Miss Tuve is careful to point out that Erasmus does not intend that all of these expressions be used at once: he merely offers us a method by which we can express one concept in many ways, so that we may be free to choose the most apt, the most gracious form of expression (Tuve, Elizabethan and Metaphysical Imagery, p. 119). The implication is that such a theory of Amplification goes well beyond the concept of Amplification as mere dilation. The observation is true enough, but it applies to medieval theory as well. Geoffrey teaches a method of expanding even the briefest of expressions, such as "I am reading" or "I am writing." The expanded form of the expression can then be varied through a series of conversions into diverse forms: "Do not remain with your first conversion, for whether it is a suitable expression or not, you must still proceed: for obvious reasons, if it is not suitable; and if it is suitable, even then you must not stop there, but go on to another appropriate form, so that of two appropriate expressions, you may choose the better" (Doc. II. 3.123). Similarly, in the Ars Versificatoria of Matthew of Vendome (before 1175), we read: "Further, if two or more verses in the preceding representations have the same meaning, they are to be understood to have been expressed not redundantly but to provide a choice, that is, so that we can avoid error and choose a remedy" (1.72).71 George Engelhardt has pointed out the debt Erasmus owes to the medieval poetriae and artes predicandi (pp. 739-44), in which Erasmus found the source for all but two of his methods for achieving copia. Mr. Engelhardt points out that Erasmus refers to Geoffrey of Vinsauf, placing him in rather distinguished company: "You know Tully, you know Quintilian, you know Horace, you know Geoffrey; certainly you are not unaware how copiously, how brilliantly they have expounded the principles of this art [scil. of rhetoric]; whoever follows these principles has completely fulfilled the poetic office."72 The influence of medieval rhetoric "But he [Stesichorus] is redundant and diffuse, a fault which, while deserving of censure, is nevertheless a defect springing from the very fullness of his genius" (Q. X. 1.62). 71 The passage is obscure: as Faral remarks (p. 135, note 2), there may be a lacuna after intelligatur: "Amplius, si in praefatis descriptionibus duo versus vel plures sint ejusdem significationis, non nugatorie sed elective esse dictum intelligatur, sed ad fugam vitii et ad electionem remedii." 72 Opus Epistolarum 1.117; the original is quoted in Engelhardt, p. 741.

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on Erasmus (and, one may add, on other Renaissance rhetoricians) is undeniable; yet the Renaissance was not always willing to acknowledge the debt: However adroitly Erasmus might recur in exemplifying his theory o f dilation to the practice of ancient authors, the theory that he was expounding with the superior knowledge of a humanist had been elaborated during those long, sterile, mediaeval centuries, the concepts of which, as the erudite Bude saw them refashioned in the De Duplici Copia, he could only dismiss in derogatory Greek as leptologemata. (Engelhardt, p. 740)

Bude was not the last scholar to be thus impatient of the medieval contribution. 73 As Engelhardt indicates (Joe. cit.), although the theory of Erasmus is thoroughly medieval, he finds no difficulty in locating classical examples to illustrate that theory. Erasmus could do so because medieval theory took the classical documents as its starting point. The conclusions reached in this section may be summarized as follows : 1) The conception of Amplification as expansion is not peculiar to the Middle Ages, but is also found in the classical period, where it is not confined to the sophistic rhetoricians, and in the Renaissance period. 2) Expansion and enhancement are complementary, not mutually exclusive, functions of Amplification. 3) The Middle Ages did differ from the classical period in putting more emphasis on the figures, rather than on the commonplaces, as a means of Amplification. In this respect, the Renaissance went even further the Middle Ages. III.B. THE MEANS O F AMPLIFICATION A N D ABBREVIATION (PN 219-741)

1. Amplification (PN 219-694j This section will attempt to show what classical basis there was for Geoffrey's adopting the figures as a means of Amplification, and will discuss his doctrine of Abbreviation. 73

There was another Renaissance author who did not disdain to use Geoffrey's work as a source. The Poetria Nova contributed heavily to the section on rhetoric in Brunetto Latini's Tesoro. Baldwin (p. 180) notes that the doctrine of the eightfold artificial order is identical in Geoffrey and Brunetto Latini ; and in fact, the latter borrowed a good deal more. For Brunetto Latini's text, see Li Livres dou Trésor, ed. P. Chabaille, in Documents inédits sur l'histoire de France (Paris, 1863), pp. 481-93. N o mention is made of Geoffrey in Francesco Maggini, La Rettorica italiana di Brunetto Latini (Florence, 1912 and 1915).

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The figures chosen by Geoffrey for use in Amplification are the following: interpretatio, circuitio, collatio, apostrophe, prosopopeia, digressio, descriptio, oppositio. The convention of having eight modes of Amplification is common to the poetriae and the artes predicandi;74 however, these divisions of the art of rhetoric did not employ precisely the same means. Engelhardt suggests that the modes of expansion in Geoffrey ultimately derive from the school exercises popular in late antiquity. Of these, the most important was Priscian's Praeexercitamina, which did much to transform rhetorical theory into a form applicable to literature (see Curtius, p. 442): Geoffrey's eight modes of expansion seem by their nature to suggest that the theory which they now subserve evolved in some measure from the praeexercitamina of the ancient schools, transmitted by Priscian to the Middle Ages. Prosopopeia and descriptio, which had themselves been the subjects of paeexercitamina, thus emerge as the fifth and seventh modes of dilation. The third and eighth modes, "collatio" and "oppositum," recall those steps in the elaboration of a praeexercitamen which Priscian named "a comparatione" and "a contrario." The first mode, "interpretatio," exhibits vestiges of a praeexercitamen recorded in the Ad Herennium as the figure of thought "expolitio." Moreover, such a praeexercitamen as the fabula was susceptible of a twofold treatment analogous to dilation and its contrary, abbreviation; in describing this twofold treatment, Priscian uses the very terms that Geoffrey later applied to dilation and abbreviation: "latius," "breviter," "producere," and the distinctive "morando." (Engelhardt, p. 741) To this one may add that the development of the chria and of the sententia in Priscian, Praeexercitamina 8-14 (Keil, pp. 431-33) is not totally unlike the figure 'expolitio'; Priscian treats comparison not only as a means of developing the chria and sententia, but as a topic in its own right, and as being closely related to description, which is Geoffrey's seventh method of dilation (Praeexercitamina VIII; Keil, p. 437). However, Geoffrey could not have relied entirely on Priscian, who mentions Amplification only in reference to the fabula, and who does not specifically consider Description, Comparison, and so forth, as means of dilation. The nature and contents of any other praeexercitamina which Geoffrey may have known, must remain problematical. In the following pages I will try to show that in the classical sources known to Geoffrey there is some basis for his having chosen for Amplification those particular figures which he adopted. 74 Engelhardt, p. 740; H. Caplan, "Classical Rhetoric and the Mediaeval Theory of Preaching", Classical Philology, XXVIII (January 1933), 88.

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(a) Interpretatio, expolitio (PN 219-25; In its description of the first method of Amplification, the Poetria Nova is somewhat vague and does not explicitly name any figures: Although the statement may be simple, do not let it come hampered by having only one garment, but let it vary its clothing and change its raiment. Repeat in different words what you have already said; set down again the same thing in many clauses; let the one thing be hidden under multiple forms; let it be different and yet the same. (PN 219-25) The Documentum specifically identifies this process as interpretatio'. "Interpretatio is a color when we express the same meaning through diverse clauses: 'This face attracts their minds, in this net he catches the girls, this bait of Venus allures them'" {Doc. II. 2.29). The Ad Herennium describes Synonymy (interpretatio) as the process of replacing a word or phrase with one of equivalent meaning: "You have overturned the republic from its roots; you have demolished the state from its foundations" {Ad Her. IV. 38). Such repetition is linked to the process of Amplification through Quintilian: Accumulation of words and sentences identical in meaning may also be regarded under the head of amplification. For although the climax is not in this case reached in a series of steps, it is none the less attained by the piling up of words. Take the following example: "What was that sword of yours doing, Tubero, the sword you drew on the field of Pharsalus? Against whose body did you aim its point? What meant those arms you bore? Whither were your thoughts, your eyes, your hand, your fiery courage directed on that day? What passion, what desires were yours?" (Q. VIII. 4.26-27)76 Quintilian is saying that although this method of accumulation does not enhance the force of a statement by using a climactic chain of propositions (gradatio), it yet amplifies by heaping up words. Through its close similarity to Reduplication, Synonymy can also be linked to Amplification: "Reduplication is the repetition of one or more words for the purpose of Amplification or Appeal to Pity ..." {AdHer. IV. 38). 75

A process analogous to expolitio is recommended by the artes predicandi. To develop the theme "Now is the time for us to arise from sleep", we divide the key-words into appropriate subheadings (partitio): "Now is the time for us wayfarers to arise from the appearance of sleep, for sleep oppresses the senses; now is the time for us merchants to arise from the affection of sleep, for sleep dulls the mind; now is the time for us workers to arise from the workings of sleep, for sleep abolishes activity." (Charland, pp. 188-89).

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Further relationships between Synonymy and Amplification will become evident when we consider that Synonymy is not really distinguishable from that form of Refining {expolitio) which consists of ringing verbal changes on the same theme. 76 Geoffrey no doubt had both Synonymy and Refining in mind; certainly his description in the Poetria Nova (219-25) applies equally well to both. (b) Circuitio (PN 226-40) The Ad Herennium briefly describes Periphrasis as "a manner of speech used to express a simple idea by means of a circumlocution" (IV. 43). Nothing in this statement would connect Periphrasis with Amplification. However, Quintilian provides a valuable suggestion: When we use a number of words to describe something for which one, or at any rate only a few words of description would suffice, it is called periphrasis, that is, a circuitous mode of speech. It is sometimes necessary, being of special service when it conceals something which would be indecent, if expressed in so many words: compare the phrase "To meet the demands of nature" from Sallust. But at times it is employed solely for decorative effect, a practice most frequent among the poets ... For whatever might have been expressed with greater brevity, but is expanded for the purposes of ornament, is a periphrasis, to which we give the name circumlocution (Q. VIII.6.59-61) The last sentence suggests that Periphrasis amplifies in the sense that it adorns a bare statement (cf. Q. IX. 2.40-44). Thus we find in Bede, De Schematis et Tropis: "Periphrasis is a circumlocution which either sumptuously sets down and protracts a brief statement or, through indirect speech, avoids saying something unpleasant" (Halm, p. 614). Bede's statement is perfectly consonant with Quintilian's, 7 ' but it will be observed that Bede's reference to Amplification is more explicit. The Poetria Nova indicates that we may employ a Periphrasis of the noun, of the verb, or of both (237-40).78 Periphrasis of the noun can be used for purposes of praise or blame (Doc. II. 2.14) — quite an unclassical 76 Ad Her. IV. 54; see F, p. 64. The other forms of expolitio include Dialogue (sermocinatio: see PN1270-71 and 1310-29) and the development of the chria (see PN1330-49). " Bede may have found the statement not in Quintilian but in Donatus: "Periphrasis is a circumlocution made either for the sake of ornamenting something which is beautiful or avoiding something which is base" (Ars Grammatica III. 6; Keil, p. 401). 78 Compare the Documentum: "And it is to be marked that we can paraphrase three elements: the meaning of the verb, of the noun, or of the whole statement" (Doc.II. 2.12). Periphrasis of the whole statement results from Periphrasis of the noun and verb: see Doc.II.2.16. As an example of Periphrasis of the noun, Geoffrey quotes Boethius (De Cons. Phil.111.9):

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position, but comprehensible because of the similarity between Periphrasis and Description. 79 Geoffrey suggests such analysis of the sentence into noun and verb in order to provide 'places' for Periphrasis. A similar practice was known to the artes predicandi, which suggested as a means of expansion a thorough commentary on individual parts of speech in a scriptural text. 80 (c) Collatio (PN 241-63; The third method of Amplification is subdivided into open and covert Comparison (PN 241-63). In the former, we indicate explicitly that A is greater than, less than, or equal to B. The covert comparison is to be preferred, for it has the power of closely engrafting the object compared upon the rest of the discourse: "This is the method of subtle comparison, where the matters joined so run together and touch one another as if they were not merely contiguous but continuous; as if the hand of nature and not of the artist had joined them" (PN 258-62).81 The classical doctrine of Comparison is rather complex: "Comparison is a manner of speech that carries over an element of likeness from one thing to a different thing. This is used to embellish or prove or clarify or vivify. Furthermore, corresponding to these four aims, it has four forms of presentation: Contrast, Negation, Detailed Parallel, Abridged Comparison" (Ad Her. TV. 59).82 Classical authors frequently relate Compari'O Thou, that dost the world in lasting order guide, Father of heaven and earth, Who makest time swiftly slide, And, standing still Thyself, yet fram'st all moving laws' ... ... which is nothing else than to say, 'O God!' (.Doc.II.2.13) See J.M. Manly, "Chaucer and the Rhetoricians", PBA (1926), p. 13; reprinted in Chaucer Criticism: the Canterbury Tales, ed. R. Schoeck and J. Taylor (Notre Dame, 1960), p. 281. Manly there points out the similarity with this bit of tongue-in-cheek from Chaucer: For th'orisonte hath reft the sonne his lyght, — This is as much to seye as it was nyght! — (Frank.T. F. 1017-18) For the function of Description in praise and blame, see below, pp. 181-182. See Harry Caplan, "Classical Rhetoric and the Mediaeval Theory of Preaching", Classical Philology, XXVIII (January 1933), 73-96; see especially the third and fourth methods of expanding, p. 88, and the eighteenth method, p. 90. 81 Would it be justifiable to conclude from this passage that Geoffrey was aware of the drawbacks of ornamentation applied from without, and lacking organic connection with the movement of the narrative? If so, some of Baldwin's strictures on Geoffrey's theory of poetry lose their force (Baldwin, pp. 188-89). 82 Comparison by contrast is related to Amplification (Ad Her. IV. 59). Notice the distinction: Comparison by Contrast merely embellishes a point; Comparison by Negation proves a point.

80

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171

son to the exemplum and to simile. Thus the Ad Herennium tells us that simile is a comparison used either for praise or censure, and that the purpose of exemplification is the same as the purpose of Comparison (IV. 59 and 62). Comparison is a method of proof which should be used in the chria; the same is true of the example (Ad Her. IV. 57). Proof through comparison is effected by applying the categories of the greater, the less, and the equal: "A conjecture as to a fact is confirmed by argument from something greater in the following sentence: 'If a man commit sacrilege, he will also commit theft'; from something less, in a sentence such as 'He who lies easily and openly will commit perjury'; and from something equal in a sentence such as 'He who has taken a bribe to give a false verdict will take a bribe to give false witness'" (Q.V.10.87; see also Q. V.10.88ff.). 83 Examples can similarly be used to argue from the greater to the less, or from the less to the greater: "Cities have been overthrown by the violation of the marriage bond. What punishment then will meet the case of adultery?" (Q. V. 11.9). 84 The greater, the less and the equal can also be used to enhance the emotional force of a statement. 85 Quintilian recognizes that embellishment and proof are related insofar as each uses the method of comparison, but he insists that comparison should be used in a different manner depending on which of these is our purpose. Thus, if we wish to embellish, we should compare not merely the whole with whole but the part with part. This practice is related to the Detailed Comparison in the Ad Herennium (IV. 60), in which various characteristics of A are compared, point by point, with parallel characteristics in B. 83

Cf. Priscian, Praeexercitamina VIII; Keil, p. 437. See also De /nv.1.49. One method of Amplification in the arles predicandi was exponendo metaphoras. To develop the theme "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root" (Is.XI.l), the preacher would expatiate on the properties of stalk, root and flower, and apply them to Mary and Christ (Charland, p. 204). The act of application is clearly a Comparison. The points of comparison are drawn from the ten logical categories of Aristotle (Charland, p. 205). Arguments in the sermon are drawn from comparisons of the greater and the less: see the fourth, fifth and sixth methods of Amplification in Caplan, "Classical Rhetoric and the Mediaeval Theory of Preaching", pp. 88-89. 86 "For what I have now to demonstrate is that when amplification is our purpose we compare not merely whole with whole, but part with part, as in the following passage: 'Did that illustrious citizen, the pontifex maximus, Publius Scipio, acting merely in his private capacity, kill Tiberius Gracchus when he introduced but slight changes for the worse that did not seriously impair the constitution of the state, and shall we as consuls suffer Catiline to live, whose aim was to lay waste the whole world with fire and sword?'" {Q.VIII. 4.13) 84

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In connection with Geoffrey's doctrine of the Open Comparison (PN 241-46), Quintilian and Geoffrey, but not the Ad Herennium, consider the Detailed Comparison as employing the categories of the greater, the less, and the equal. Furthermore, the Ad Herennium gives no grounds for Geoffrey's preference for the Covert Comparison. In Quintilian, however, we find special praise for the comparison which rapidly combines and unites its various terms (Quintilian's second 'major method' of Amplification): It is also possible to heighten our style less obviously, but perhaps yet more effectively, by introducing a continuous and unbroken series in which each word is stronger than the last, as Cicero does when he describes how Antony vomited "before an assembly of the Roman people, while performing a public duty, while Master of the Horse." Each phrase is more forcible than that which went before. Vomiting is an ugly thing in itself, even when there is no assembly to witness it; it is ugly when there is such an assembly, even though it be not an assembly of the people; ugly even though it be an assembly of the people and not the Roman people; ugly even though he were engaged on no business at the time, even if his business were not public business, even if he were not Master of the Horse. Another might have broken up the series and lingered over each step in the ascending scale, but Cicero hastens to his climax and reaches the height not by laborious effort, but by the impetus of his speed. (Q. VIII. 4.6-9)

(d) Apostrophe

(PN 264-460j

After discussing Prosopopeia in the Documentum, Geoffrey discusses Apostrophe: "Apostrophe can similarly draw out the matter. However, Apostrophe is used when we address ourselves or some other person; that is, when we direct our speech to ourselves or to any other being, animate or inanimate" (Doc. II. 2.24). Faral (p. 71) states that Geoffrey has confused Apostrophe with exclamatio, for in Apostrophe the advocate turns away from the judge to directly address his opponent, whereas exclamatio is that figure which "expresses grief or indignation by means of an address to some man or city or place or object" (Ad Her. IV. 22).86 Faral is however incorrect in considering Geoffrey's definition to be unclassical, for Quintilian considers exclamatio to be a part of Apostrophe: "Apostrophe also, which consists in the diversion of our address from the judge, is wonderfully stirring, whether we attack our adversary as in the passage, 'What was that swerd of yours doing, Tubero, in the field of Pharsalus?' or to turn to make some invocation such as, 'For I appeal to you, hills 84

It may be noted that H. Caplan translates exclamatio in this passage as Apostrophe; he has the authority of Quintilian (IX. 2.38) for so doing.

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and groves of Alba,' or to entreaty that will bring odium on our opponents, as in the cry, 'O Porcian and Sempronian laws'" (Q.IX.2.38). Why did Geoffrey consider Apostrophe to be a means of Amplification? The Ad Herennium advises us that "If we use Apostrophe in its proper place, sparingly, and when the importance of the subject seems to demand it [cum rei magnitudo postulare videbitur], we shall instil in the hearer as much indignation as we desire" (IV. 22). As Faral points out (p. 71), the Latin clause cited above may have been taken to refer to Amplification. We may add to this argument that the common function of Apostrophe and Amplification is the arousal of indignation. Further, the link between Amplification and Apostrophe was facilitated by the fact that Quintilian uses the same passage as examples of both: "What was that sword of yours doing, Tubero, in the field of Pharsalus?" is cited in Q. IX. 2.38 as an example of Apostrophe, and in VIII. 4.26 as a means of Amplification through Accumulation (which is tantamount to Synonymy). Finally, Apostrophe is closely allied to Subjectio, which is explicitly named as a means of Amplification: "Hypophora [subjectio] occurs when we enquire of our adversaries, or ask ourselves, what the adversaries can say in their favor, or what can be said against us .... 'Your enemy, whom you consider to be guilty, you doubtless summoned to trial? No, for you slew him while he was yet unconvicted. Did you respect the laws which forbid this act? On the contrary, you decided that they did not even exist in the books' .... Thus it becomes very easy to amplify the baseness of an act" {Ad Her. IV. 33-34).87 The Documentum adds four subdivisions to Apostrophe: exclamatio, subjectio, conduplicatio, and dubitatio (II. 2.24-29). The first two we have discussed above. Conduplicatio is explicitly linked with Amplification in the Ad Herennium: "Reduplication [conduplicatio] is the repetition of one or more words for the purpose of Amplification or Appeal to Pity ..." (IV. 38). Quintilian also says that "words ... may be doubled with a view to Amplification, as in 'I have slain, I have slain, not Spurius Maelius' (where the first I have slain states what has been done, while the second emphasises it), or to excite pity, as in 'Ah! Corydon! Corydon!'" (IX. 3. 28). Geoffrey agrees that Reduplication, like Apostrophe, is a peculiarly emotional utterance: "Reduplication is a color when the same word is 87

Compare the example of subjectio in the Documentum, which considers it to be a subhead of Apostrophe: "O father, what are you doing? It is God whom you contemn; and how shall you, made of earth and ashes, evade the Lord? Will you flee? but He resides everywhere. Will you deceive Him? But He knows what was, what is and what will be ..." (II.2.27).

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repeated, which can come about from various causes — sorrow, love, or anger" (Doc. II. 2.26). "Indecision [dubitatio] occurs when the speaker seems to ask which of two or more words he had better use ..." (AdHer.IV.40). Geoffrey very probably associates Indecision with Apostrophe because the example given in the Ad Herennium can actually serve for both figures: "You have dared to say that, you of all men the — by what name worthy of your character shall I call you?' (loc. cit.).ss (e) Prosopopeia (PN 461-531; The Poetria Nova (462-63) defines Prosopopeia as the figure which bestows the power of speech on something which lacks that power. The connection with Amplification is explicitly made in the Ad Herennium: "Personification [conformatio, the equivalent of Prosopopeia] consists in representing an absent person as present, or in making a mute thing or one lacking form articulate, and attributing to it a definite form and a language or a certain behavior appropriate to its character .... It is most useful in the divisions under Amplification and Appeal to Pity"(IV. 66). Further, we have seen that expolitio is connected with Amplification. Now Dialogue (sermocinatio) one of the subdivisions of Refining (expolitio), is virtually the same as Personification: "Dialogue ... consists in putting in the mouth of some person language in keeping with his character ..." (Ad Her. IV. 55). The examples of Personification in the Ad Herennium (IV. 66) are restricted to representations of inanimate objects endowed with the power 88

Apostrophe in literature often takes the form of the conquestio or complaint. It is thus used in the following poems in F. J.E. Raby, The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse (Oxford, 1959): "The Lament of David," (p. 172); "Lament for Flora" (p. 177); "Lament of Dido" (p. 355); "Planctus Christi" (pp. 383-85); "The Virgin's Complaint to the Cross" (pp. 385-88); Alcuin's "Quae te dextra mihi rapuit, luscinia, ruscis" (p. 106); and "Plangamus cuculum" (p. 107). These last two poems derive from Catullus' "Lugete O Veneres Cupidinesque." Geoffrey uses Apostrophe to make a conquestio on the death of Richard I, directing his complaint to the slayer, to Death, to Nature and to God (PN 368-430). This complaint, as is well known, is mocked by Chaucer (NPT. B. 4537-44). Karl Young, "Chaucer and Geoffrey of Vinsauf", MP (February 1944), pp. 172-82, records the view that since the lament for Richard was a popular poem and is separately reproduced in a number of manuscripts (notably in Trivet's Annals), Chaucer may not necessarily have known the Poetria Nova in its entirety. This is the view of James J. Murphy, "A New Look at Chaucer and the Rhetoricians", RES, XV (1964), 1-20. However, Karl Young adduces some reason for supposing that Chaucer employed PN 324-66 in NPT. B. 4390-99 (Young, pp. 178-79); and it has long been recognized that Chaucer uses PN 43-48 in TC 1.1065-69.

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of speech. Faral therefore suggests that these examples may have influenced medieval rhetoricians, who endow Personification with this function only (F, p. 73).89 The Middle Ages made frequent use of Prosopopeia, like Apostrophe, in the conquestio. There are the improperia or complaints of Christ, which form part of the Holy Week liturgy and are employed in medieval lyrics.90 As examples of Prosopopeia Geoffrey presents the complaint of the cross in a Jerusalem under Saracen rule (PN 469-507) and mentions the complaint of the earth under the fires of Phaethon in Ovid, Met. II. 272-300 (PN 464-66). He adds a humorous example of a conquestio delivered by a worn-out tablecloth (PN 509-12). There is ample classical precedent for this treatment of Prosopopeia. The two examples of that figure in the Ad Herennium (IV. 66) are both complaints, one of the city of Rome against internal dissent, the other of Lucius Brutus against degenerate posterity. See also the two examples in Quintilian IX. 2.32. The use of Prosopopeia in the Appeal to Pity favors its expression as conquestio.91 (f) Digressio (PN 532-58) The Poetria Nova discusses two kinds of Digression, one of which is thus described: "If the line of discourse needs to be stretched further, step outside of the bounds of the matter, recede a bit, and devote your pen to other things; but do not digress so widely that it will become burdensome to retain your place. This manner of Amplification requires a restrained talent, lest the course of the Digression be longer than is proper" (PN 532-58), Clearly Geoffrey does not think of Digression as an undisciplined wandering off the point. In the Documentum (II. 2.21) Geoffrey makes it clear that by this kind of Digression he is referring simply to the introduction of appropriate comparisons or similitudes.92 As Faral says 89

Faral (loc. cit.) also refers to the similar concept of Prosopopeia in Priscian, Praeexercitamina 9 (Keil, pp. 437-38) and in Isidore, De Rhetorica 13 and 45 (Halm, pp. 514 and 522). To these we may add the example in Quintilian, IX.2.32. 90 Rosemund Tuve, A Reading of George Herbert (Chicago, 1952), pp. 37-42. 91 See, for example, Bion, Idyl I (Lament for Adonis), and Moschus, Idyl III (Lament for Bion). On this rhetorical tradition, see M. Schlauch, "The "Dream of the Rood' as Prosopopeia", Essays and Studies in Honor of Carleton Brown (New York, 1940), 23-34. 92 Of the examples of this first kind of Digression, given in the Documentum (loc. cit.), the first refers to Ovid's advice in the Remedium Amoris (lines 141ff.) on the theme that he who would forget love should turn to the beauties of the country. The beauties are then amplified by enumeration. This 'Digression', then, is simply a Description. The second example (still concerning the first form of Digression) is from Horace: "As the

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(p. 74), Digression actually amounts to Comparison and Description, 93 and is therefore connected with Amplification through comparatio, already discussed, and descriptio, imago, which will be discussed below. Quintilian directly links Digression with Amplification: "Other similar occasions for digression on points not involved by the question at issue arise when we amplify or abridge a topic ..." (Q.TV.3.15). Like Geoffrey, Quintilian adds that if the orator "breaks away in the middle of his speech, he should not be long in returning to the point from which he departed" (Q. IV. 3.17). Further, Digression is connected with both Amplification and Comparison in De Inventione: There is a kind of Narrative "in which a digression is made beyond the strict limits of the case for the purpose of attacking somebody, OF MAKING A COMPARISON, or of amusing the audience in a way not incongruous with the business at hand, OR FOR AMPLIFICATION" (1.27).94 In the opinion of Hermagoras, the Digression may appear between the Refutation and the Peroration: "... it might contain PRAISE OF ONESELF OR ABUSE OF THE OPPONENT, or lead to some other case which may supply confirmation or refutation not by argument but by adding emphasis by means of some amplification" (Delnv. I.97).95 The second kind of Digression effects a change in the natural sequence of events: "It is one form of digression to pass over proximate matter and, changing the order, put first what lies further off. For, being about to proceed, at times I leave behind the middle and pass over it, so to speak, by a certain leap; later I return whence I first digressed" (PN 532-36). This is similar to introducing the 'artificial order' within the continuing night seems long for one whose mistress proves false, and the day long for those who work for hire; as the year lags for wards held in check by their mother's strict guardianship: so slow and thankless flow for me the hours which defer my hope ..." (£p.I.l.

20 ff.). M

Cf. the following: "We may digress to praise men and places, or to describe places, or to tell of real or even of fabulous deeds" (Cassiodorus, De Artibus ac Disciplinis Liberalium Liiterarum, PL 70.1158). The source is Quintilian, who directly connects Digression with Description: "They [i.e. digressions] may, however, as I have said, be of various kinds and may deal with different themes in any portion of the speech. For instance we may extol persons or places, describe regions, record historical or even legendary occurrences" (g.IV.3.11-12). The description of countries is topographia; eulogies of men involve descriptive techniques ( e f f i c t i o and notatio) drawn from epideictic oratory. *4 My emphasis. Note that in classical theory the Digression may occur in the narratio (the Statement of Facts). As may be suspected from its very name, the narratio provided an important bridge between rhetorical and literary theory. " My emphasis. Praise and blame are, of course, a basic function of Amplification. Cicero, after reporting Hermagoras' view, then goes on to say that in his own opinion no digression should be employed.

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narrative: we may compare the passage in Quintilian which states that we may deviate from the natural order of events in making the narratio (Q.IV.2.83); and compare Horace as well: "Of order, this, if I mistake not, will be the excellence and charm, that the author of the long poem shall say at the moment what at that moment should be said, reserving and omitting much for the present, loving this point and scorning that" (AP 42-45). As an example of this second kind of Digression, Geoffrey gives the following: "For example, If I must say 'Actaeon, tired with hunting, came to breathe himself near a delightful fountain,' after I say that he was tired, and before I mention his coming to the fountain, I must digress to the fountain, describe its pleasance, and after say that he went thither to breathe himself" (Doc. II. 2.18). The Digression here is simply a Description, and surely would constitute no great breach of structure. Later in the Documentum, Geoffrey discusses Digression as a means of treating an old subject with originality. He advises that we not follow our source step for step, but that we treat last what it treats first, and discuss first what it treats last (Doc. II. 3.134). In support of his position, Geoffrey cites Horace: "In ground open to all you will win private rights if you do not linger along the easy and open pathway, if you do not seek to render word for word as a slavish translator" (AP 131-34). Geoffrey adds that we should not digress so far as to be unable to find the way back (Doc. II. 3.135) and that our digressions should be pertinent to the matter at hand (Doc.II.3.156). In support he again cites Horace: "Works with noble beginnings and grand promises often have one or two purple patches so stitched on as to glitter far and wide, when Diana's grove and altar, and 'The winding stream a-speeding 'mid fair fields,' or the river Rhine, or the rainbow is being described" (AP 14-18). Geoffrey's interest is that the descriptions be appropriately functional and not mere decoration applied from without. 96 (g) Descriptio (PN 559-672; Classical and medieval theory both specifically connect Description and Amplification, and both conceive of Description as a means of conferring praise and blame. The theory of Description does not confine itself to the "" In the light of the many classical parallels to Geoffrey's statements, I find it difficult to agree that the medieval concept of Digression has no counterpart in earlier rhetoric (J. W.H. Atkins, English Literary Criticism: The Medieval Phase [Cambridge, 1943], p. 106).

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portrayal of persons. For example, in amplifying the heinousness of a criminal action, we may use this topic: "By the tenth commonplace [scil. of Amplification] we shall examine sharply, incriminatingly, and precisely, everything that took place in the actual execution of the deed and all the circumstances that usually attend such an act, so that by the enumeration of the attendant circumstances the crime may seem to be taking place and the action to unfold before our eyes" (Ad Her. II. 49; identical with the tenth topic in De Inv. 1.104). This commonplace is similar to the figure descriptio, used to describe actions: "Vivid Description is the name for the figure which contains a clear, lucid, and impressive exposition of the consequences of an act .... With this kind of figure either indignation or pity can be aroused ..." (Ad Her. IV. 51). Compare also the figure demonstratio: It is Ocular Demonstration when an event is so described in words that the business seems to be enacted and the subject to pass vividly before our eyes. This we can effect by including what has preceded, followed, and accompanied the event itself, or by keeping steadily to its consequences or the attendant circumstances .... Through this kind of narrative, Ocular Demonstration is very useful in amplifying a matter and basing on it an appeal to pity, for it sets forth the whole incident and virtually brings it before our eyes. (Ad Her.IV. 68-69; cf. Q.VIII.3.61-71) 97 Matthew of Vend6me gives these nine commonplaces for the description of an action: the substance of the deed, its cause, the circumstances before, during and after the act, the ability of performing the action, its quality, time, and place (Ars Versificaria 1.94; cf. De Inv. 1.37-43). The Poetria Nova, as an example of demonstratio, gives the story of the Fall and Redemption, including occurrences before, during and after the Fall, its circumstances, the action of the deed itself, and its results (PN 14341532). 98 " Cf. Henry of Hesse's methods for dividing a text for treatment: "One who wishes to distinguish some text should assign to each person his own action and emotion. Example : with reference to Jesus five things are notices: 1.1 shall enter the village ('entered'); 2. The preaching listened to ('heard his word'); 3. The kindly reply ('and Jesus answered'); 4. The chiding of Martha ('thou art troubled'); 5. The praise of a single good ('but one thing is needful'): Harry Caplan, " 'Henry of Hesse' on the Art of Preaching", PMLA (1933), p. 355. 88 Compare with the teaching on decorum in Poetria Nova (1847-57): our expressions should be appropriate in regard to sex, age, condition, outcome, time, place. Some of these are attributes of the person, and some of the action. Hunterian MS. 511 has some verses on the death of Thomas a Becket, which use the commonplaces very explicitly: "Who died? An archbishop. Why? For his flock. How? By the sword. / When? On Christmas. Where? At the Altar of God." The lines are given in E. Faral, "Le MS. 511 du Hunterian Museum de Glasgow", Studi Medievali, IX (1936), p. 25.

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The topics for the description of an event were treated as a subhead of confirmation; that is, they supply commonplaces to assist in arguing whether or not a deed was performed; and, if it was performed, to determine its nature and quality. The commonplaces used are, according to Cicero, place, opportunity, time, occasion, manner, facilities; we may also discuss the adjuncts of an action, amplify its baseness by comparing it to a similar action, discuss its results (including what happened immediately after the event, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future), and the consequences (De Inv. 1.37-43). Persons may be described in their physical or moral attributes: "Portrayal [effictio] consists in representing and depicting in words clearly enough for recognition the bodily form of some person .... Character Delineation [notatio] consists in describing a person's character by the definite signs which, like distinctive marks, are attributes of that character ..." (AdHer.IV.63)." Both of these forms of Description employ certain commonplaces: in De Inventione (1.34-36) they are given as name, nature, manner of life, fortune, habit, feeling, interest, purpose, achievements, accidents, speech.100 The Ad Herennium collects the commonplaces under three general headings : T o External Circumstances belong such as can happen by chance, or by fortune, favorable or adverse: descent, education, wealth, kinds o f power, titles to fame, citizenship, friendships, and the like, and their contraries. Physical Attributes are merits or defects bestowed u p o n the body by nature: agility, strength, beauty, health, and their contraries. Qualities of Character rest u p o n our judgment and thought: wisdom, justice, courage, temperance, a n d their contraries. (Ad Her. III. 10-11)

The most complete collection of commonplaces, which I summarize here, is found in Priscian: A) Men: 1) Intrinsic: race, city, family, marvels attending birth; manner of life; education; the nature of body and soul, to be treated "per divisionem"; office held; deeds. M

Description is commended as a means of development in the artes predicandi\ to develop Ps. LXXXVIII. 21 ("I have found David, my servant"), one would add descriptions, based on the authority of sacred authors, of David's position, his family, etc. (Charland, p. 197). 100 See PN 1847-57. Matthew of Vendome gives a list very similar to that in De Inventione: see the Ars Versificatoria 1.77-92. Matthew treats the first category (name) etymologically; e.g., "Caesar takes his name from his action: destroying everything [omnia caedens]" (1.78). Matthew refers to the commonplaces as 'arguments' (1.76), in which function they were used in classical rhetoric.

180

B)

C)

D)

E)

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2) Extrinsic: kindred, friends, wealth, family, fortune, longevity (a long or short life may equally be praised); the nature of their omens attending death; who slew them (e.g., Apollo slew Archilles); what happened after death (e.g., the games held in honor of Patroclos); their children; oracles which spoke concerning the final resting place. Comparisons are to be employed.101 Animals: The gods to which they are sacred, as the dove to Venus; how they feed; their temperament; body; usefulness; life-span. Things: Who invented them (e.g., Diana and Apollo established hunting); who uses them (e.g., heroes engage in hunting); the qualities demanded (e.g., hunting requires daring, strength, alertness). Trees : Site; gods to which they are sacred; how nourished; requiring much or little care (either can furnish grounds for praise); height; beauty; fruit; usefulness. Cities: Type; gods who protect them and instruct them [for a Christian poet, this topic would involve the saint whose relics were to be found within the city: see Curtius, p. 157]; how it was erected; what professions thrive there; what deeds the inhabitants have performed. (Priscian VII. 20-24; Keil, pp. 435-37; see also F, p. 82)

Medieval poetriae similarly do not confine themselves to the description of persons. Geoffrey describes a feast (PN 629-70); Matthew of Vendome gives us a description of the seasons of the year (Ars Versificatoria II. 107-08). He warns us that descriptions of place are to be used functionally, as when Cicero describes the lush Sicilian countryside to indicate that such voluptuous surroundings add force to the argument that Verres was there guilty of adultery (Ars Versificatoria 11.110). Horace is also of the first importance in the application of the rhetorical commonplaces to poetry. In citing the topics of condition, age, rank, occupation, race and country, Matthew of Vendome (Ars Versificatoria 1.41-42) quotes Horace (AP 114-19) as his authority. Geoffrey notes the necessity for observing decorum in describing diverse human types (Doc. 101

The tripartite division of characteristics ante ipsum (family, country); in ipso (education, upbringing); and post ipsum (fame after death) is found in Is. ¿if.II.4.5: see Curtius, p. 157. Cf. Matthew of Vend6me, Ars Versificatoria 1.100. This division seems to have been based on the divisions of an action ante rem, in re and post rem.

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1.3.138); the characteristics of the old are not the same as those of the young; well-known characters must be described according to their basic trait: "Let Medea be fierce and unyielding, Ino tearful, Ixion forsworn, Io a wanderer, Orestes sorrowful" (AP123-24). This predominant characteristic is of particular importance: "Character Delineations of this kind which describe the qualities proper to each man's nature carry very great charm, for they set before our eyes a person's whole character, of the boastful man, as I undertook to illustrate, or the envious or pompous man, or the miser, the climber, the voluptuary, the thief, the public informer — in short, by such delineation any one's ruling passion can be brought into the open" (Ad Her.IV. 65). Compare Horace, cited in this connection by Matthew of Vendome (1.44): "If haply, when you write, you bring back to the stage the honoring of Achilles, let him be impatient, passionate, ruthless, fierce; let him claim that laws are not for him, let him ever make appeal to the sword" (AP 120-22).102 Description of persons, being an important part of epideictic oratory, has as its function the praise or blame of an individual. "Since epideictic includes Praise and Censure, the topics on which praise is founded will, by their contraries, serve us as the bases for censure" (AdHer.WlAO). The same conception dominated medieval practice, and receives theoretical expression in Matthew of Vendome, Ars Versificatoria (1.59). Matthew's portraits of Davus (1.53) and of Beroe (1.58) are vituperative, the former stressing moral, and the latter physical, deformities. In contrast to the repulsive Beroe stands the beautiful Helena (1.56); to the vicious Davus, the virtuous Marcia (1.55). As further example, Faral mentions the contrast between youth and old age in the Jeu de la Feuillee of Adam le Bossu, and comments that Villon's Regrets de la belle heaumiere follows this tradition.103 We may add the descriptions, in the Castle of Perseverance, of Mankind flushed with youth and pride (lines 746-54) and crippled by old age (lines 2857-69). There are also the descriptions of the virtues

102

For the use of the predominant trait in Chaucer, see R. Baldwin, "Unity of the Canterbury Tales", Anglistica, ed. Thorsten Dahl et al. (Copenhagen, 1955), V; reprinted in Chaucer Criticism: The Canterbury Tales, ed. R. Schoeck and J. Taylor (Notre Dame, 1960), pp. 14-51. It is important to understand that allegory also employs the predominant trait in its descriptions, so that Lust, for example, is not represented necessarily as an abstraction, but as the typically lustful man; see William Roy MacKenzie, English Morality Plays from the Point of View of Allegory (London, 1914), pp. 3-8. 108 F, pp. 76-77, q.v. for further examples; see also Curtius, p. 182.

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and their opposing vices, as in Prudentius' Psychomachia; the contrasting descriptions of heaven and hell, as in Hugh of St. Victor's De Anima, IV; and the juxtaposition of the ugly and beautiful ladies in Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 941-69).104 One of the most striking facts about the medieval effictio (i.e., description of physical appearance) is its adherence to a top-to-toe sequence: "Thus let beauty descend from the top of the head to the very root" (PN 614-15). Faral (p. 81) points out that Bernardus Silvestris says that Nature, as God's executrix, creates man by starting at the head and ending at the feet.105 It is a very ancient concept that physical altitude is an index of value. The center of the earth is the basest part of the universe, toward which dead matter sinks; fire, a nobler element than earth, aspires toward the sphere of celestial fire. It is a sign of man's superiority to the animals that he walks erect and directs his gaze upward (Ovid, Met. 1.85-88: the passage was a favorite among Christian authors). The grades of offices in the state are parallel to the members of the human body, from the highest to the lowest.106 In the process of digestion, the natural spirits are formed in the liver and control the vegetative life; in the lungs, they become the vital spirits which nourish the sensitive soul; in the heart further refinement produces the animal spirits which supply the brain, man's noblest organ. Similarly, the degrees of dignity among the senses is reflected in the fact that the eyes are higher than the ears, the ears than the nose, the nose than the tongue. Although no medieval rhetorician refers to the fact, it is common knowledge that the various signs of the zodiac have been held to control parts 104 Here rhetorical tradition coincides with a very deep-seated mythic pattern. The ugly Morgain le Fay and the beautiful wife of Bercilak are, in their origins at least, the same woman. In the Irish form of the myth, the woman is Ireland, flourishing in summer, stark in winter. The High King must prove his fitness by answering ritual questions; if he does so successfully, the land will flourish. See Sigmund Eisner, A Tale of Wonder: A Source Study of the Wife of Bath's Tale (Wexford, Ireland, 1957). Morgain le Fay, like her prototype Diana, has a benevolent and a malevolent aspect: see R.S. Loomis, "A Survey of Scholarship on the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance since 1903", in Lucy Allen Paton, Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance (New York, 1960), pp. 280-304. (Miss Paton's book first appeared in Boston, 1903.) 106 De Universitate Mundi, ed. J. Barach and S. Wrobel (Innsbruck, 1876), p. 6. A reference to Nature is recommended as part of the panegyric description by PseudoDionysius Halicarnassus (third century), cited in Curtius, p. 180. 10 " The parallels are as follows: Prince: head; priesthood: soul; senate: heart; judges and governors: eyes, ear and tongue; officials and soldiers: hands; attendants of prince: sides; financial officers: stomach; husbandman: feet. See John of Salisbury, The Stateman's Book, tr. John Dickinson (New York, 1927), pp. 64-66. For a survey of the state-body parallel, see Dickinson, pp. xx-xxi.

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of the body. Starting with the first sign, Aries, which controls the head, we observe that successive signs of the annual cycle are related to parts of the body in a top-to-toe order: Aries (head); Taurus (neck); Gemini (arms); Cancer (breast); Leo (heart); Virgo (stomach); Libra (reins); Scorpio (genitals); Saggitarius (thighs); Capricorn (knees); Aquarius (legs) ; Pisces (feet). This arrangement is the structural basis for the topto-toe description of a beautiful woman in "The Amorous Zodiac", attributed to Chapman.107 Faral (pp. 80-81) cites Maximian's Elegy I as the oldest verse example of the top-to-toe description,108 and as the earliest prose example, the description of Theodoric by Sidonius Apollinaris,109 an author whom Geoffrey praises as a master of description (Doc. II. 2.10). However, Paul Salmon points out that the Song of Songs contains top-to-toe descriptions of the bride (IV.1-5) and of the bridegroom (V.10-16).110 I may add that such paired descriptions are of a genre known as the wasf, whose purpose was to praise the spouses. A relatively modern example of the wasf, written by an Indian peasant, describes the beloved in the usual order: Her forehead some fair moon; her brows a bow; Love's pointed darts, her piercing eyebeams glow: Her breath adds fragrance to the morning air ; Her well-turned neck as polished ivory fair: Her teeth pomegranate seeds, — her smiles soft lightnings are. Her feet, light leaves of lotus on the lake . . . . m

The practice, then, has been widespread and of long duration.112 It is necessary to modify Manly's statement that the order of details is 107

The Poems of George Chapman, ed. Phyllis Bartlett (New York, 1941), pp. 87-92. The poem is translated from "Le Zodiac amoureux" by Gilles Durant. 108 Maximian's works are dated from 524 to 650, according to The Elegies of Maximian, ed. Richard Webster (Princeton, 1900), p. 13. 108 Poems and Letters, ed. and trans. W.B. Anderson (Cambridge, Mass., 1936), I, 334-37. See E. Faral, "Sidoine Apollinaire et la technique littéraire du moyen âge", Miscellanea Giovanni Mercati (Vatican, 1946), II, 567-80. no "The Wild Man in 'Iwein' and Medieval Descriptive Technique", MLR, LVI (October 1961), 524-25. 111 In The Oriental Caravan, ed. Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah (London, 1933), pp. 187-88: quoted in Hugh Schonfeld, The Song of Songs (New York, 1959), p. 44. 112 A list of poems following this order is to be found in Edgar de Bruyne, Etudes d'esthétique médiévale (Bruges, 1943), II, 188-90. One should mention the witty example in John Donne, "Love's Progress", in which he compares the advantages and disadvantages of surveying his mistress' body from the head down and from the feet up. He concludes in favor of the latter. See The Poems of John Donne, ed. Herbert Grierson (Oxford, 1912), 1,116-19. Compare the top-to-toe description in "Redit aestas cunctis grata" (Raby, The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse), pp. 339-40.

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strictly specified.113 First of all, the only theoretical statement in a poetria concerning the top-to-toe order (PN 613-14, quoted above, p. 313) does not specify any details of that order. Further, in poetic practice the order is not strictly invariable; the examples given here will reveal frequent anomalies: "Blow Northerne Wynd": hair; forehead; face; eye; brow; visage; arms; shoulders; fingers; waist; expression; thighs; legs; feet.114 "The Lover's Mocking Reply": head; forehead; eyes; visage; breasts; nose; nostrils; lips; teeth; shoulder; belly; feet; back (Kaiser, p. 481). "Fons erat iriguus": hair, hand; ear; neck; hair; breast.115 "Dardanus et Tyndaris": a) Description of Helen: hair; eyebrows; forehead; space between the eyebrows; eyes; mouth; face. b) Description of Ganymede: hair; forehead; eyebrows; eye; nose; mouth; chin; ears (Gaselee, p. 139). "Siste, puella": hair; forehead; eyes; cheeks; face; mouth; throat (Gaselee, pp. 72-73). "Maio mense dum per pratum": eyes; teeth; breasts; forehead; throat; hands; feet; legs (Raby, pp. 333-35). "Sidus clarum": hair; forehead; throat; face; teeth; lips; breasts; stomach; stature; legs (Raby, pp. 335-38). We see that the invocation to Nature is not invariably present, and that the features are not often presented in a strictly top-to-bottom order. The reader will also have noticed that a reference to the face as a whole is often introduced somewhere in the list.116 J.M.Manly tells us that the description of the Duchess Blanche in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess "is nothing more than a free paraphrase of lines 563-597 on the Nova Poetria, composed by Geoffrey de Yinsauf as a model for the description of a beautiful woman. The features described 118

"Chaucer and the Rhetoricians", PBA, XII (1926), 95-113; reprinted in R. Schoeck and J. Taylor, Chaucer Criticism: The Canterbury Tales (Notre Dame, 1960), pp. 268-90; see p. 278. 114 In Rolf Kaiser, Medieval English (W. Berlin, 1958), p. 467. 116 In The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse, ed. Stephen Gaselee (Oxford, 1928), 1928), p. 133. My list is incomplete since Gaselee's sense of decorum led him to mutilate the text. In this poem it is not the features themselves but the clothing and ornaments that are the major interest. Notice that after Geoffrey describes the lady in the Poetria Nova (568-602), he starts over again and describes her clothing, adopting the same top-to-bottom order (PN 605-16). 119 Salmon makes the same point concerning the mention of the vis in Iwein, lines 288-307 (p. 521). He also mentions other irregularities in description (pp. 522-23).

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in the two passages are the same, they are taken in the same order, and the same praise is given to each."117 Let us make a comparison. PN 568-602 1 Reference to Nature 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

head hair forehead eyebrows nose eyes face mouth lips teeth mouth chin neck throat shoulders upper arms fingers hands breast waist hidden parts legs foot

BD 817-1033 countenance 7 3 7 1 visage hue face tongue 14 15 16 body arms 19 nails 20 hips back 22

It will be seen that Manly's statement that the features are the same, and are presented in the same order, is rather an overstatement. Let us now turn to the specific details of the medieval canon for womanly beauty: If y o u wish t o describe w o m a n l y beauty, let Nature's c o m p a s s draw the outline of the head; let the color of gold gleam in the hair; let lilies grow o n the lofty "Chaucer and the Rhetoricians", in R. Schoeck and J.Taylor, p. 278. B.S. Harrison, "Medieval Rhetoric in the Book of the Duchess", PMLA, XLIX (1934), 428-42, suggests that Chaucer's description is taken not from Geoffrey but from Machaut's Jugement dou Roy de Behaingne.

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forehead. Let the eyebrows equal black whortleberries in appearance; let a milky way intersect the twin eyebrows ; let restraint rule the shape of the nose, lest it fall short of, or exceed, the proper bounds. Let the sentinels of the forehead gleam from both sides, twin little eyes, with emerald lights, like a constellation. Let the face be like the dawn, neither rosy nor white, but of both and neither color at the same time. Let the diminutive mouth shine forth like a half-circle; let the swelling lips be moderately full, and red, fired with a mild flame. Let order join together the snow-white, even teeth. Let the savory odor of the mouth be like frankincense. Let Nature, more powerful than art, polish the chin smoother than marble. Let the milky supporting column of the head, of exquisite color, raise the mirror of the face on high. From the crystalline throat let there proceed a certain splendor which can strike the eyes of the beholder and steal the heart. By a certain law let the shoulders be similar, neither sloping nor rising, but resting in a straight line. Let the upper arms, as they are slender, be enchanting. Let the fingers be soft and slim in substance, smooth and milk-white in appearance, long and straight in shape: in them let the beauty of the hand shine forth. Let the snowy bosom present both breasts like virginal gems set side by side. Let the waist be slim, a mere handful. I will not mention the parts beneath: here the mind speaks better than the tongue. But let the legs show themselves graceful ; let the foot wanton with its own fine daintiness. (PN 567-602)118 Notice the reference to the face as a whole; and note that the description of the arms, which logically comes before the description of the breast, necessitates disrupting the strict head-to-toe order. The reference to Nature, as we have seen, is a commonplace. But why is the outline of the head represented as traced by Nature's compass? The answer may lie in the strictly circular shape of the face in Byzantine art, the point of the nose being at the center. This canon for drawing the face was adopted by medieval painters.119 There are certain parallels of detail between the Poetria Nova (567-602) and the Song of Songs : in the latter we read that the beloved is a pillar of frankincense (III. 6); the neck is a tower of ivory (VII.4); although the hair is black, the head is described as the finest gold(V.l 1); the beloved is white and red in complexion (V.10). Reference is made to the bridegroom's species — that is, his general form (V.15): we may compare the 118

It is interesting to notice that "Anglice flos" (MS. Hunterian 511) contains a eulogy in honor of a high personage, probably the Bishop of Ely, which employs basically the same description as the Poetria Nova, modified to fit the sex of the new model. Faral ascribes the poem to Geoffrey ('Le Manuscrit 511", pp. 38-40). 119 Erwin Panofsky, Meaning in the Visual Arts (New York, 1957), pp. 74-90. Panofsky makes particular reference to the medieval theorist Villard de Honnecourt. Edgar de Bruyne, Etudes d'esthétique médiévale, II, 180, finds a connection between rhetorical doctrine and the artists' tripartite division of the face (from hair to eyebrows, eyebrows to nose, nose to chin). Since there is no reference to such a division in the poetriae, I cannot see the connection.

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120

reference to the face as a whole in medieval descriptions. The red and white complexion is, of course, standard in medieval and post-medieval canons of beauty. 121 D . S. Brewer finds the basic source for medieval standards of beauty in Elegy I of Maximian, 1 2 2 who, in common with Geoffrey, praises golden hair (which remains in the Renaissance canon of beauty), milk-white skin, bright eyes, and swelling lips. Brewer also notes these elements as part of the ideal: the lady should be tall, her breasts small, the arms either plump or thin, the eyebrows black but not joined. 123 (h) Oppositio (PN 673-94J The final method of Amplification, oppositio, is the most puzzling. It consists of making an affirmative statement and then denying its opposite; e.g., "That mind is old, not young" (PN 683). 124 Such expressions are often criticized as examples of excess verbiage (perissologia); "Let Ruben live, and not die" (Deut.XXXIII.6) is thus stigmatized by Isidore of Seville (Et. 1.34.7; PL 92.108: see Curtius, p. 46). "They went where they could, and where they could not, they did not go" is given by Matthew of Vendome as an example of unjustifiable repetition (Ars Versificatoria lao

These points are drawn from the descriptions of both bride and bridegroom in the Song of Songs. Notice in iW487 the reference to the Shulamite (Song of Songs VI.12); and and in PN 1365 the description of Christ as red in appearance (Song of Songs V. 10). For the points made above concerning the species and the complexion, see Salmon, p. 527. 1,1 The colors red and white in the Song of Songs were interpreted symbolically: Thou art my loveliness, my life, my light, Beautie alone to me: Thy bloudy death and undeserv'd, makes thee Pure red and white. George Herbert, "Dulnesse", in Works, ed. F.E.Hutchinson (Oxford, 1941), p. 115, lines 9-12. White refers to Christ's innocence, red to his martyrdom: see Rosemund Tuve, A Reading of George Herbert (Chicago, 1952), pp. 149-51. For the symbolism of lily and rose, see the notes in The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. F.N. Robinson. 2nd ed. (Boston, 1957), p. 758. 122 "The Ideal of Feminine Beauty in Medieval Literature, Especially 'Harley Lyrics', Chaucer, and Some Elizabethans", MLR, L (1955), 257-69. 123 A milky way separates the eyebrows not only in PN 571-72, but also in Matthew of Vendome, 1.56, lines 13-14. This description of Helen in Matthew follows the topto-toe order. Helen's long hair (Matthew of Vendome, 1.56, lines 7-8) is a sign of wantonness: see PN 1557-59, and Paul Beichner, "Characterization in The Miller's Tale", in Chaucer Criticism: The Canterbury Tales, pp. 119-21. 124 See the example in Doc.II. 3.57, drawn from Sidonius, Epistle IV.13; see also Eberhard, Laborintus, lines 335-36, evidently drawn from Geoffrey.

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IV. 10); some repetitions, however, are to be commended {ibid., IV. 11). Puttenham was later to say thatperissologia was a vice, but a tolerable one (p. 257). Erasmus cites, with approval, this example of copia from Aen. I 546-47: "Does he survive and breathe the upper air, / Nor yet lie dead in the cruel shadows?" (De Copia, p. 13). There may be some connection between oppositio and Reasoning by Contraries (contrarium); e.g., "Now how should you expect one who has ever been hostile to his own interests to be friendly to another's?" (Ad Her. IV.25). Compare the examples of contrarium in Geoffrey: "For is it better to harm the world by a torpid sleep than to benefit it by vigilant care?" (PN 1340-41); "If a powerful man of such virtue did not resist the enemy, how shall we weak men resist?" (PN 1124-25).125 2. Abbreviation (PN 695-741) It must be emphasised that Abbreviation is essentially related to Amplification. The means to be used are the same, in the classical view: the identical topics used to amplify a client's virtues can be used to minimize those of the opponent: "No special treatment of censure and vituperation is needed. Knowing the above facts, we know their contraries; and it is out of these that speeches of censure are made" (,R/?ef.l368a.35-38). Attenuation is effected by the same method [scil. as Amplification], since there are as many degrees of descent as ascent. I shall therefore content myself with quoting but one example, namely, the words used by Cicero to describe the speech of Rullus: "A few, however, who stood nearest him suspected that he had intended to say something about the agrarian law." This passage may be regarded as providing an example of attenuation or of augmentation, according as we consider its literal meaning or fix our attention on the obscurity attributed to Rullus. (Q. VIII. 4.28)

Classical theory gave most of its attention to Amplification and left Attenuation virtually undiscussed, on the grounds that he who knows 125

It will be remembered that contrarium is a basic element of the enthymeme (Q.V. 10.2; iWiei.1397a.6-19). The connection between oppositio and contrarium is, admittedly, slight; I was therefore gratified to find that a relationship between the two figures had been suggested by Engelhardt, p. 741. It is conceivable that oppositio arose as a rhyme-finding device: "The eighth way [of finding suitable rhymes] is called contram positio, it is when the writer cannot find the riming word; let him use then the phrase of the contrary meaning with the negative sign; as, if from this speech: munera tua sunt mala, some one might wish to make a speech harmonizing in rime, let him in the prescribed mode say: tua dona, non sunt bona" (Meold Tibino, in G. Mari, Trattati medievali di ritmica latina [Milan, 1899], p. 484; trans. John M. Berdan, "The Influence of the Medieval Latin Rhetorics on the English Writers of the Early Renaissance", Romanic Review, VII [1916], 298).

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how to amplify thereby knows how to minimize. It is not surprising, then' that when medieval theorists came to discuss Abbreviation, they did not consider it a form of minimizing or belittling, but rather a method of shortening the length of a passage. Even so, their concept of Abbreviation is one also known to the classical period. Classical authors recommend brevity in the narratio as a means of rendering that part of the oration easy to follow (Ad Her. 1.14-15; Q.TV. 2.32). Horace commends brevity in that kind of poetry whose purpose it is to teach: "Whenever you instruct, be brief, so that what is quickly said the mind may readily grasp and faithfully hold: every word in excess flows away from the full mind" (AP 335-37). Curtius' study, "Brevity as an Ideal of Style", 126 is excellent, yet it contains several points with which I must disagree. First of all, Curtius states that brevitas, commended by antiquity for specific purposes and under specific circumstances, has been naively transformed by the Middle Ages into a virtue per se : He [Matthew of Vendome] is a modernus and considers that the ancients had loaded down their poetic narratives with a superfluity of similes, rhetorical figures, and digressions. "Hoc autem modernis non licet" [This, however, is not permitted to the moderns] .... These moderni of 1175, then, either consciously break with the theory of imitatio or restrict it very considerably. They are intellectual kindred of the French moderns of 1715, who undertook to improve Homer ... and that meant to shorten him. (Curtius, p. 490) This conclusion is unwarranted. Like Geoffrey, Matthew of Vendome is concerned with teaching his students how to treat old themes with originality. There are those, he says, who follow their sources word for word, as if they were writing a commentary instead of a poem (Ars Versificatoria IV. 1). In criticizing this practice, Matthew is following the advice of Horace on achieving originality: "In ground open to all you will win private rights if you do not linger along the easy and open pathway, if you do not seek to render word for word as a slavish translator" ( A P 131-34).127 In his subsequent remarks, Matthew makes some points also to be found in Geoffrey: Indeed there are certain expressions which, as though condemned, ought to be omitted from the course of the work, for if they are treated, that entire portion of the work will be deprived of value [c/. PN 66-67] rather than draw therefrom any spark of beauty, and this with the authority of Homer. Whence Horace 128

In European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, pp. 487-94. ' Matthew does not quote Horace, but echoes him in referring to the 'fidus interpres' (Ars Versificatoria IV. 1; AP 134). 12

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says of Homer, "What he fears he cannot make attractive with his touch, he abandons" [AP 149-50]. Hence what is not fully expressed [scil. in the source] must be filled in, what is awkward must be improved, and what is superfluous must be entirely done away with.128 Further, material which anyone may wish to work upon either is virgin ground or has first been treated by another poet. If it has already been treated, you must proceed according to the general tenor of the poetic story, with this consideration, that you must omit certain appurtenances which do not pertain to the principal subject — that is, comparisons and poetic licenses and figurative constructions .... (Ars Versificatoria IV. 3-4)129 Surely these restrictions are reasonable, and surely they must make us hesitate to consider Amplification as mere padding. As we can see, Matthew of Vendome nowhere commends brevity as a virtue in itself, just as Geoffrey nowhere recommends expansion of the text as an end in itself. Geoffrey introduces his discussion of Amplification and Abbreviation as follows: "Your way is twofold: either wide or strait, a rivulet or a stream; you will either proceed more leisurely, or quickly jump over it: check off an item briefly, or treat it in a lengthy discourse. The passage through each way is not without labor ..." (PN 206-10). Curtius takes exception to this approach: For Latin poetic theory ca. 1200, then, the situation is as follows: The art of the poet has first and foremost to prove itself in the rhetorical treatment of this material; for this he can choose between two procedures — either he ingeniously draws out his subject, or he dispatches it as briefly as possible. The absurdity of these excessively generalized precepts seems not to have entered the minds of the theoreticians. But, understandably enough, they devote more space to amplificatio than to abbreviation there was more to say about the former. (Curtius, p. 490) If Geoffrey was indeed referring to the ability to expand or contract the same narration, he had ample precedent in classical antiquity. Admittedly, the double treatment — both expanded and compressed — of the same subject was popular as a school exercise (Curtius, p. 493); but I submit that a school exercise is not the beginning and end of literary art. Geoffrey makes it quite clear that he is writing for novices who need practice in these devices (PN 214-17). The question to ask is, to what purpose were these skills to be applied? The answer is that the writer will 128

Compare the Documentum (II. 3.132-37), where Geoffrey recommends, as a means of achieving originality, glossing over those parts fully treated in the source, and expanding those areas which have been neglected. 120 Compare Geoffrey's concern that comparisons be intimately united with the substance of the work (PN 247-63).

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encounter passages in his source which, for the sake of originality, he must expand, and those which, for the same reason, he must abbreviate: "The first way [of being original] is not to delay where others have delayed,130 but to skip over what they expand, and expand what they skip over. We ought to understand this act of delaying 131 in connection with digression and description; for, in common subject matter, if others have used description and digression to expand the matter, let us not use description and digression there, but quickly pass over the material at that point ..." (Doc.II.3.133). We admire Wolfram's variations on the Grail legend; we praise Boccacio's decision to amplify the briefly developed love story of Troilus and Criseida, and we more than praise the skill with which Chaucer amplifies and abbreviates certain elements in II Filostrato. Why do we take umbrage at the theoretical statement underlying these procedures? Amplification and Abbreviation are simply means of treating with originality the material found in 'bookes olde'. Brevity does not necessarily imply condensing the material to the smallest possible scope; it can simply involve giving the material just as much space as it ought to have: For frequently conciseness of detail is not inconsistent with length in the whole. Take for instance such a statement as the following: "I came to the harbor, I saw a ship, I asked the cost of a passage, the price was agreed, I went on board, the anchor was weighed, we loosed our cable and set out. Nothing could be terser than these assertions, but it would have been quite sufficient to say "I sailed from the harbor." And whenever the conclusion gives a sufficiently clear idea of the premisses, we must be content with having given a hint which will enable our audience to understand what we have left unsaid. Consequently when it is possible to say "I have a young son," it is quite superfluous to say, "Being desirous of children I took a wife, a son was born whom I acknowledged and reared and brought up to manhood" .... Personally, when I use the word brevity, I mean not saying less, but not saying more than the occasion demands. ( g . IV. 2.41-43)

Geoffrey discusses Intimation as a means of Abbreviation in similar terms: "We can artistically place one for many when we leave something unexpressed; for example, instead of saying 'He went there and returned,' say 'He returned'" (Doc.II.2.41; cf. PN 702-03). Geoffrey's view of brevity echoes that of Quintilian: "Thus will a brief work shine forth; it expresses nothing more or less than is fitting" (PN 735-36). The first method of achieving Abbreviation is Emphasis: "Emphasis 130

Mora, morare are used to refer to Amplification in PN 264 and 268. In parentheses, Faral inserts a non: i.e., "we ought not to understand" etc. This reading makes no sense in context. 181

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[signification is the figure which leaves more to be suspected than has been actually asserted" {Ad Her. IV. 67). Quintilian shows that this figure is capable of great subtlety: "Might I not have lived From wedlock free, a life without a stain, Happy as beasts are happy?" (Aen. IV. 550] For although Dido complains of marriage, yet her passionate outburst shows that she regards life without wedlock as no life for man, but for the beasts of the field. (Q. IX. 2.64) What basis did Geoffrey have for treating Emphasis as a means of Abbreviation? Emphasis seems to be a means of Amplification — that is, of emphasizing a meaning by not explicitly stating it: "Again, what would eloquence do if deprived of the artifices of amplification and its opposite? of which the first requires the gift of signifying more than we say, that is emphasis, together with the exaggeration and overstatement of the truth" (Q. IX. 2.3; see also Q. VIII. 4.25-26). However, Quintilian clearly connects Emphasis with Brachyology, "the brevity which says nothing more than what is absolutely necessary" and which "expresses a great deal in a very few words ..." (Q. VIII.3.82; see also Q VIII.3.83). The Poetria Nova says little of Emphasis. The Documentum, however, goes into some detail, explaining that Emphasis may be effected by two methods: One way [occurs] when we call the thing itself by the name of its property; the other when we, about to speak of the thing, speak instead of its property. An example of the second: when we intend to say of Scipio that he himself destroyed Carthage through his prudence, we rather say that the prudence itself accomplished this act; thus: "The prudence of Scipio destroyed Carthage." Similarly, "May your clemency aid my need" [is a shorter form for] "Through your clemency, aid me in my need" .... The former mode of Emphasis names the thing itself by means of its property, thus: "Medea is wickedness itself." This sentence can be explained thus: "Medea is so wicked that in her nothing is to be found save wickedness." Thus, through this manner of Emphasis, an extended discourse can be shortened. (Doc. II. 2.32-34) Geoffrey's first example is unfortunate, since, as Faral mentions (p. 278, note a), the Ad Herennium gives a similar sentence as an exemple of circuitio132 — and circuitio, it will be remembered, is considered by Geoffrey as a means of Amplification. i»a « "The foresight of Scipio crushed the power of Carthage.' For here, if the speaker had not designed to embellish the style, he might have said 'Scipio' and 'Carthage'" {Ad Her. IV. 43).

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Geoffrey is aware that he has identified two diverse figures. The Documentum discusses the substitution of the property for the thing itself (Metonymy) as a means of achieving ornatus difficilis. As an example, the sentence concerning Scipio is given, and the discussion concludes with this statement: "This difficult mode of expression is a rhetorical decoration called circuitio, but as a figure it is Emphasis (Doc. II. 3.28-30). Geoffrey has, rather confusingly, identified with one another no fewer than three figures (circuitio, Emphasis, Metonymy). The reason he did so can be found in Quintilian: "Again, a term which is common to a number of things may be applied in a proper or special sense to some one of them. Thus we use urbs in the special sense of Rome, venales [saleable] in the special sense of newly-purchased slaves, and Corinthia in the special sense of bronzes ..." (Q.VIII. 2.8) First, Quintilian is actually describing a form of Metonymy (the property for the thing). Secondly, this passage explains Geoffrey's first form of Emphasis, in which the property is used to name the object ('Corinthian artifacts' for 'bronzes').133 Thirdly, such a use of urbs, venales and Corinthia is also a form of circuitio. The relationship between these figures and Geoffrey's Emphasis is established further on in this passage: Propriety is also made to include the appropriate use of words in a metaphor, while at times the salient characteristic of an individual comes to be attached to him as a proper name: thus Fabius was called "Cunctator," on account of the most remarkable of his many military virtues. 134 Some, perhaps, may think that words which mean more than they actually say deserve mention in connection with clearness, since they assist the understanding. I, however, prefer to place emphasis among the ornaments of oratory, since it does not make a thing intelligible, but merely more intelligible. (Q. VIII. 2. II) 136

I believe that these passages explain Geoffrey's rather confusing treatment of Emphasis. But let us not forget his original intention. "Scipionis prudentia Cartaginem delevit" is simply SHORTER than "Per prudentiam 133

Geoffrey's first form of Emphasis substitutes the property for the object: "May your clemency aid my need"; in the second, the property is added to the name of the object: "Medea is wickedness itself." 184 Compare "Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator" and "Medea is wickedness itself." In both, the property does not replace the name, but is added to it. 135 It is possible that the following passage in the Ad Herennium reinforced the identification of Emphasis and the description of the object through its property: "Just look out, you, who look out for yourself so profitably" (Ad Her. IV. 57); "Quiet, you, whose father used to wipe his nose with his forearm" (Ad Her. IV. 67). The former is an example of Emphasis through Ambiguity (qui plurimum cernis can also mean "You who know exceedingly well how to enter upon bequests: see Ad Her., p. 401, note f). The latter is an example of Emphasis through Logical Consequence. But in both cases, the object is described through its property.

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suam Scipio Cartaginem delevit." Also in the other examples Geoffrey gives, the shorter sentence is the one that employs Emphasis. Geoffrey's second and third methods of Abbreviation — namely, Articulus and Ablative Absolute — are also to be understood simply as means of shortening the number of words in the sentence. Articulus punctim caesus (PN 700) is the same as Comma: "It [i.e., Colon] is called a Comma or Phrase [articulus] when single words are set apart by pauses in staccato speech [caesa oratione], as follows: 'By your vigor, voice, looks, you have terrified your adversaries'" (AdHer.IV.26). Similarly, the use of the Ablative Absolute eliminates some words from the sentence: "Instead of Cum (vel dum) ipse hoc fecerit, veni, let us say, Hoc ipso faciente, veni" (Doc. II. 2.38). The fourth method of abbreviating is simply to use no repetitions; we may compare the Ad Herennium: "Furthermore, we must guard against saying a thing more than once, and certainly against repeating immediately what we have said already ..." (AdHer.IV.26). The fifth method is Intimation: "The discretion of the wise man observes what is said through what is left unsaid" (PN 702-03). This is not unlike Emphasis through Aposiopesis: "The emphasis is produced through Aposiopesis if we begin to say something and then stop short, and what we have already said leaves enough to arouse suspicion" (Ad Her. IV. 67). However, Geoffrey refers not to the omission but to the suppression of a word; consequently, Quintilian is more pertinent here than the Ad Herennium: "A second kind of emphasis consists either in the complete suppression of a word or in the deliberate omission to utter i t . . . " (Q. VIII. 3.85). Intimation, then, is actually one form of Emphasis. The connection between this technique and brevity is made in the Ad Herennium: "We shall be able to make the Statement of Facts [narratio] brief if we ... present the outcome in such a way that the facts that have preceded can also be known, although we have not spoken of them. For example, if I should say that I have returned from the province, it would also be understood that I had gone to the province" (Ad Her. 1.14). The next method, Asyndeton, is also specifically connected with brevity: "Asyndeton is a presentation in separate parts, conjunctions being suppressed, as follows: 'Indulge your father, obey your relatives, gratify your friends, submit to the laws' .... This figure has animation and great force, and is suited to concision" (Ad Her. IV. 41). The example in this passage is also classifiable as Articulus, a fact which provides a connection between Articulus and Abbreviation.

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The seventh method given by the Poetria Nova is the fusion of several propositions into one. The Documentum considers this to be a generic method, to be effected by the use of the Ablative Absolute, the participle in various cases (not Iste sedet et loquitur but Iste sedens loquitur), and Intimation (Doc. II. 2.37-41). Geoffrey gives an example of the various methods in an abbreviated version of the story of the Snow-child :136 The husband being long absent [Ablative Absolute] to increase his holdings, his adulterous wife gives birth to a boy. When he returns long after, she pretends it was conceived of snow. Mutual deception. He cautiously restrains himself [Intimation]. He carries it away, sells it [Comma and Asyndeton] ; he pays back her deception, telling her similar nonsense, that the sun has melted the boy [Fusion of Statements]. (PN 718-22) Yet another method of abbreviating, by means of which Geoffrey reduces this story to two hexameters, 137 is more fully explained in the Documentum than in the Poetria Nova: Having set down the material which we want to abbreviate, limit all the expressions and choose the essential nouns which express the gist of the matter. Let us take as an example the story of the Snow-child. [The story is then given in an expanded version.] The nouns essential to the story are woman, boy, man, sun, snow. Hence we form the following: "A man, since his woman pretended she conceived the boy of snow, sold him, and countered with the pretence that the boy had been melted by the sun." {Doc. II. 2.43) This process is conceivably based on the treatment of Conciseness in the Ad Herennium : "Conciseness [brevitas] is the expressing of an idea by the very minimum of essential words, as follows : 'On his way he took Lemnus, then left a garrison at Thasus, after that destroyed the Bithynian city, Cius; next, returning to the Hellespont, he forthwith occupies Abydus'" (Ad Her. IV. 68).

ORNATUS

IV. STYLISTIC ORNAMENT: GRAVIS AND ORNATUS LEVIS (PN 742-1592)

Geoffrey divides his discussion of the figures as follows : 138 See Stith-Thompson, Motif Index of Folk Literature (Bloomington, Indiana, 1955), J 1532.1. The Snow-child was a favorite subject for the double treatment of Amplification and Abbreviation. For lists of the poems on the Snow-child, see Haureau, Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris, 1880), XXIX, part 2, 242; and Edélestand du Meril, Poesies inédits du moyen âge (Paris, 1854), p. 419. 137 The first version (translated above) occupies five lines; two examples, of two lines each, are given of the second version (PN 738-41).

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A) Ornatus gravis (PN 770-1098: corresponding to the ten tropes in Ad Her. IV. 42-46). B) Ornatus levis (PN 1099-1592): a) Figures of diction (corresponding to the exornationes verborum in the Ad Her. IV. 19-41, except that PN excludes the ten tropes from this group). b) Figures of thought (corresponding to the exornationes sententiarum in Ad Her. IV. 47-69). Compare the organization of the corresponding sections in the Ad Herennium: A) Figures of Diction (IV. 19-46). a) Special subhead: the ten tropes (IV. 42-46).138 B) Figures of Thought (IV. 47-69). "It is a figure of diction if the adornment is comprised of the fine polish of the language itself. A figure of thought derives a certain distinction from the idea, not from the words" (AdHer.TV.IS). Faral (p. 89) too hastily assumes that this distinction is also the basis for the partitio of the figures in Geoffrey's work; he cites the Documentum in support of his view:139 There is one way of using easy ornament, another of using difficult ornament. But I must add that neither has any value if the ornation is merely exterior. The decorated externals of words, unless ennobled by sound and commendable meanings [sentential, are like a bad picture which pleases one who stands far off, not the one who regards it more closely .... Hence we must consider first the meaning, rather than the joining of words. For words are dead unless they are adorned with a sound meaning, which in a certain sense is their soul [cf. PN 742-60], After you have decided upon the meaning, then proceed to the choice of expression, applying diligence that the discourse may be ornamented. (Doc. II. 3.2)140 Now, nothing in this passage indicates that the meaning (sententia) ought to be 'difficult': in fact it is made quite clear that the sententia is one thing, and the ornation — whether hard or easy — is another. Further, Geoffrey can hardly adopt the definitions of the Ad Herennium here, for he does not adopt its divisions: the Ad Herennium would classify Geoffrey's 1»« "These ten figures are tropi (tropoi, tropes), a term our author does not use; cf. Quintilian VIII. 6.1: 'a trope is an artistic change of a word or phrase from its proper signification to another.' Tropes were at first, as here, not separated from figures of thought and diction (schemata). Cicero, Brutus 18.69, tells us that the division was of Greek origin. Even in the time of Quintilian (see IX. 1.1-9) the line of demarcation was not always clear" (Ad Her., p. 332, note b). "» Faral (p. 89) cites Doc. III. 2, recte II. 3.2. 140 Cf. the distinction between the invention of concepts and the invention of expression (PN 43-75).

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ornatus gravis as comprising those figures which do NOT have any special distinction in the idea they express. Geoffrey considers the ornatus gravis to be distinguished thus: "These ten ornaments adorn words with that gravity which consists of understanding a word under an alien meaning, one not properly its own. This is the common genus — that is, the changed meaning of the words and their wandering application" (PN 965-69). Here Geoffrey is following the comment of the Ad Herennium: "There remain also ten Figures of Diction [i.e. the tropes], which I have intentionally not scattered at random, but have separated from those above, because they all belong in one class. They indeed all have this in common, that the language departs from ordinary meaning of the words and is, with a certain grace, applied in another sense" (Ad Her. IV. 42). Geoffrey uses the word gravis to mean 'difficult, serious, dignified, weighty'; and levis to mean 'easy, pleasant, light, delightful but not ponderous'. 141 Gravitas is to be achieved by using the tropes, whose distinguishing characteristic is their metaphorical application. They should never be obscure but should illuminate the subject; they should be a key, not a lock (PN 1074). The ornatus levis, on the other hand, is for the most part non-metaphorical. Such colors of rhetoric are 'plain' and direct (PN 1099-100).142 Geoffrey introduces his discussion of stylistic ornaments with these reflections: Whether short or long, let the discourse always be decorated within and without; but choose among ornaments with discretion. First examine the soul of the word and then its face, whose outward show alone you should not trust. Unless the inner ornament conforms to the outer requirement, the relationship between the two is worthless. Painting only the face of an expression results in a vile picture, a falsified thing, a faked form, a whitewashed wall, a verbal hypocrite which pretends to be something when it is nothing. Its form covers up its deformity; it vaunts itself outwardly but has no inner substance. This is the kind of picture which pleases at a distance, but displeases close up. (PN 742-53) We have already observed Geoffrey's concern that comparisons be intimately suited to the tenor of the work (PN 245-63); he now broadens this observation to insist that all ornament be functional and not merely decorative. He has in mind the well-known passage from Horace: "A 141

I prefer ornatus gravis and levis to facilis and difficilis (adopted by Faral) since the former pair of terms have a wider range of meaning. 112 In his discussion of diminutio and Emphasis, Geoffrey later modifies his statement that all of the colors are 'plain' (.PN 1553-88).

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poem is like a picture: one strikes your fancy more, the nearer you stand; another, the farther away. This courts the shade, that will wish to be seen in the light, and dreads not the critic insight of the judge. This pleases but once; that, though ten times called for, will always please" (AP 361-65).143 Geoffrey then makes some interesting reflections on the nature of the trope: In order that the matter may adopt costly garments, if the words are old, be a physician and rejuvenate them. D o not always allow a word to reside in its usual place; such residence does not suit it. Let it avoid its proper place and wander elsewhere, to find a pleasing seat in another's ground: let it be a n e w sojourner there and please by its novelty. If y o u prepare this remedy y o u will rejuvenate the face of the word. ( P N 761-69)

The conception of the trope as a means of renovating old words, and Geoffrey's use of spatial terms in describing that renovation, are probably derived from Horace: "Moreover, with a nice taste and care in weaving words together, you will express yourself most happily if a skillful setting makes a familiar word new" (AP 46-48). Geoffrey's remarks immediately precede his discussion of Metaphor, that is, translatio, the 'carrying over' of a word from one meaning to another. Significant in this connection are these remarks on Metaphor made by Quintilian, who uses the same spatial image: "A noun or verb is transferred from the place to which it properly belongs to another where there is either no literal term or the transferred is better than the literal" (