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To our modern sensibilities, "doctrine" and "poetry" may seem antithetical, but the medieval Christian found nothing conflicting in them. In this provocative book, Bernard F. Huppé outlines the influence of Augustinian doctrine upon Old English poetry and shows that their association was so close as to be indissoluble.
Augustinian literary doctrine, religious in its orientation, held that the purpose of literature is the promotion of charity to the end that God may be enjoyed; that the true basis for eloquence is the truth in the meaning of words, not in the words themselves. This tightly defined frame allowed none of the individualistic fancies we now associate with poetry. Dr. Huppé has illustrated the continuing influence of this theory by references to Isidore of Seville; the obscure rhetorician, Vergil of Toulouse; Bede and his continental successors, Alcuin and Rabanus; and to John Scotus Erigena.
The conscious and unconscious influence of this doctrine - and of Christian thought in general- was felt not only in the interpretation of poetry but in its creation as well. Dr. Huppé's most dramatic example is the work of Caedmon, an unschooled but devout layman. Caedmon's famous "Hymn", the first Christian poem in English, and its reception by learned ecclesiastics vividly demonstrate the convergence of doctrine and poetry: Old English as well as Latin. Along with Caedmon's "Hymn" and the Caedmonian "Genesis", Dr. Huppé analyzes other Old English classics. In relating them to Latin poetic theory, he indicates a whole new direction for their study. His basic hypothesis may well be extended to relate Old English to Late Medieval verse - thus establishing the latter's rightful place in the mainstream of Christian poetry.
The author has added his own translations of the Latin and Old English poetry treated in the text, which facilitates the reading of this most rewarding book.
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Doctrine and Poetry Augustine’s Influence on Old English Poetry
BERNARD
F. H U P P E
Professor of English, Harpur College of the State University of New York
STATE
UNIVERSITY 1959
OF
NEW
YORK
© 1959, by the State University of New York. All rights reserved. For information, address University Publishers Inc., 59 East 54th Street, New York 22, N. Y., sole distributors of this book.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-7529 Manufactured in the United States of America by the Quinn ir Boden Company, Inc., Rahway, N. J.
In affection this book is dedicated to my sisters
Preface Saint Augustine formulates a Christian theory of lit erature in the De doctrina Christiana, a work which pro vides, according to H.-I. Marrou, the basic program for a Christian culture. This program found widespread ap proval in early medieval theory—so this book will argue— and had positive influence upon the early practice of poetry in the vernacular, specifically Old English. This study begins with an exposition of the Augustinian literary theory as it is formulated in the D e doctrina. The continuing influence of the theory will be shown by reference to the indispensable Isidore of Seville, as well as the obscure rhetorician, Vergil of Toulouse; by reference in particular to Bede and his continental suc cessors, Alcuin and Rabanus, but also to Scotus Erigena. The study of the practice of Christian poetry in the Old English vernacular will be preceded by a glance at Chris tian poetry in Latin for what light it sheds on the ver nacular practice. The influence of Augustinian theory on vernacular practice will be illustrated in detailed analysis of several brief poems and of one very long poem, Gen esis A. Finally, some concluding remarks will be made
Preface on the implications of the theory for a systematic study of the