the Poetry Workshop web place

The problem of Christian Poetry
Reading 1: Book III and IX of the Republic
(http://www.constitution.org/pla/republic.txt)

In The Republic, Plato claims the activities of poets are not to be tolerated in the state as their mimesis or imitation does not possess the form, but only the appearance of reality. Ethically they mislead, in terms of knowledge they lie and their example as imitators is not to be followed. This injunction definitely had its effect on theologians influenced by Neo-Platonism. As Eugene Vance says, reviewing Michael Roberts’ Poetry and the Cult of the Martyrs, “Never in Augustine do we find descriptions of physical nature, cities, buildings or people. He reviles painting, sculpture and poetry, and he is wary even of musical performance.” Yet his contemporary Prudentius can be considered both a devout Catholic and a great Christian poet; not in the sense that Augustine was a great writer but in the deliberate cultivation of poetry. The issue lies in the orientation of the poet. Prudentius practices his art in the same way that Ausonius and Paulinus of Nola did a hundred years before. He listens to sounds. He observes nature. He assembles a “true similitude” of metaphor and imagery. He seems almost to be answering Augustine. The poet in the City of God praises God, not some pure abstract truth. Yet the poet can praise God through his creation. A poem in this sense is not an icon; it does not set out to translate holiness.

Yet what makes a poem Christian that does not seem to praise God? To grapple with this problem read The Hymn at Cock Crow by Prudentius [1] (you can use the Latin if you can get it, or download the free eBook: Cathemerinon by Prudentius - the translation isn’t good) and then The Journey of the Magi by T.S.Eliot.

Project One

List
1.What can be heard.
2 What can be seen.
3 What can be touched, tasted or smelled.
Then choose three such images from Prudentius and three from Eliot; one from each category if you have enough.
Then write down three sounds you can hear outside of the room or place where you are sitting, then three from inside.
Then write down three things that are unique (i e not common objects) to the place where you are, then the last time you saw anything like them anywhere else.
Perhaps there is a scent or a sensation too.
Write a poem combining the twelve images. Use them only as points of departure. Bring your actual situation to bear on the poem. Use short concrete words and imagine someone were filming the poem and you are writing the script. You can’t film anything abstract. Is it a dramatic description? Is it serious enough? Whom are you writing for?

You can use any form; even a list or a simple description. One final point, if Plato’s guards found your poem on you would they escort you to the city’s gates? Is it serious enough? A poem has to be a unique communication, recognised at once. By the way, your poem must have the title, “Advent”. Post or email your response to Bl0ndel@bluewin.ch

[1] The Liber Peristephanon of Prudentius. Recentiores: Later Latin Texts and Contexts. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. Pp. x + 222. ISBN 0-472-10449-7. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 94.04.17

(c) Copyright Duncan McGibbon