The Function of Poetry in the ‘De Planctu Naturae’ of Alain de Lille
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11727801 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Winthrop Wetherbee (Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1969 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Pages | 87-125 |
| Publication date | 1969-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Traditio (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0362-1529 • E-ISSN: 2166-5508 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0362152900010928 |
| OpenAlex | W2514858429 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 5 |
The allegories of Alain de Lille, though their historical importance is generally acknowledged, have been more admired, and at times deprecated, than closely examined, and there has been a remarkable divergence of opinion as to their intrinsic significance and literary quality. The De planctu naturae and Anticlaudianus present a remarkable blend of rhetoric, metaphysics, and dogma which led Barthélemy Hauréau to call Alain ‘le plus fecond et le plus brillant de tous les mystiques de ce temps,’ and Emile Mǎle to call him ‘le plus grand poète latin du moyen ǎge.’ So sensitive a critic as Huizinga, however, while recognizing the richness and subtlety of Alain's language, nonetheless relegated him to the second rank among the poets of his century. His very virtuosity seems finally to have exasperated C. S. Lewis who, despite certain concessions, dismissed Alain the poet as a ‘cold-hearted stylist,’ and it appeared now frivolous, now pedantic to the more sympathetic Raynaud de Lage
Art · Humanities · Literature · Metaphysics · Poetry · Rhetoric · Theology · Historical and Literary Analyses · Historical and Literary Studies · Medieval European Literature and History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2013 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |