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The Scriptural Texture of Henry Vaughans Silex Scintillans

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The Scriptural Texture of Henry Vaughans Silex Scintillans THE SCRIPTURAL TEXTURE OF HENRY VAUGHANS SILEX SCINTILLANS: THE POETICS. POLITICS AND THEOLOGY OF INTERTEXTUALITY Holiy Faith Nelson B.A.. Simon Fraser University. 1992 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FTJLFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Deputment of ENGLISH O HoIly Faith Nelson 2000 SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Apd 2000 Al1 rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 ofCanada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wdlingtm OMwaON KiAW Onawa W K1AON4 Canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive Licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, dismbute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts f?om it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheniise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT This study examines the poetic. political and theological implications of the scriptural texture of Henry Vaughan's Silex ScNrtillrns. It argues that Vaughan embeds his Iyrical word in the Word to fahion aesthetic, spiritual and social relations within a poetic frrime. It begins by situciting Vaughan's intertextual compositional habit both in the hurnrinist practice of "writing in quotation*' and in the politics of biblicism in early- modem Engiand. It then addresses Vaughan's creative re-visioning of his biblical borrowings to constitute the authotïal seIf as prodigal son, spirit-filled apostle. suffering prophet and holy priest-poet and to associate his poetry with the alchernical Word. The study subsequently traces material. structural and conceptual intertextuality in Silex Sci)irifirnsto discover the way in which biblical language, forms and concepts are refracted through Vaughan's conceptual order and life context. It hopes ulti mate1 y to demonstrate that Sila Sci~irillmisfashions and is fashioned by. interprets and is i nterpreted by. Scripture. DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my mother Marion Henderson. my late father Rev. James Campbell Henderson, my husband Russeil Nelson, my son Caleb Nelson, my sisters Juliet Henderson and Sharon Alker. my brother Chris Henderson, my brother-in-Iaw Alan Alker. and my mentor and friend Sheila Roberts. Were it not for the compassion, wisdom and patience of these individuals, 1 could neither have undertaken nor compieted this study. ". Oh that 1 had wings like a dove! for then would 1 fly away. and be at rest." -Psalm 55:6 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall mn, and not be weary; and they shalI walk. and not faint." -1saiah 40:3 1 "The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." -The Song of Solomon 28. ". corne ye. and let us walk in the light of the LORD." -1saia.h 25 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page ......................................................................................................................... i .. Approvd Pa,ae ................................................................................................................. I I Dedication ....................................................................................................................... iv Quotations ....................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ vi Introduction: ........................................................................................................................ 1 1. Citational Practices in Early-Modern Ensland ........................................................ 1 II . Literriture Review ..................................................................................................... 7 [II . Theore tical Approach ............................................................................................. 18 Chapter 1 : The Authority and Politics of Scripture in EarIy-Modern England ............... -26 1. The Political Instribility of Biblicism ..................................................................... 30 II . Spelling the Word .................................................................................................. 37 Chapter 2: Prefatory Matters: The Scriptural Aesthetics of Silex Scintillans ................... 40 1. The Prefhtory Genre: Self-Authorization in Classical and Biblical Models .......... 42 iI . Vaughan's ParadoxicaI Strategies of Self-Authorization.,. ...... ... .................... 46 A . Authorial Seif-Abnegation .... .. ..................................................................... 46 B . Authonal Self-Assertion ................................................................................. 51 1 . 1650 Prefatory Matter: "Authoris (de se) Ernblema".............................. ..1 2 . 1655 Prefatory Matter: "To the Reader" .................................................... 55 vii III . Authorizing the Text: Silex Scintillans as Hagiography ........................................ 66 IV . The Alchernical Text and the Translated Reader ................................................... 78 . Chapter 3: The Politics of Paraphrase ................................................................................ 84 Chapter 4: "Glorious Assimilations": The Poetics and Politics of Material Intertextuality....................................................................................................... 126 I . The Disposition of Biblical Fragments in Sila Sc-intillczns................................. 132 A . Non-Transformative Imitation: Epigraphic Quotation ................................... 134 1 . Bi bl ical Headnote ...................................................................................... 134 2 . Bi bl ical Coda............................................................................................ 149 B . Embedded Quotation or Near-Quotation ..................................................... 159 C . Transformative Imitation: Eclectic Altusion .................................................. 165 II . The Disposition of Heterogeneous Pre-texts in Silex Scin tillans........................ -170 Chapter 5: The Poetics and Politics of Structural Intertextuality .................................. 187 1. Structuralist Readings of Silex Scintillms ............................................................. 189 II . Structural Intertextuality: Biblicril Narrative and Silex Scintillcrris ........................ 193 LI1 . Narrriti ve Breakdown in Silex Scintillaris ........................................................... 204 IV . Silex Scintillczns and Psalmodie Structure ............................................................ 229 Chapter 6: The Biblical Theology of Silex Scintillrrts ..................................................... 236 I . Falling into Sin: The World of Innocence Lost ................................................... 238 II . Redemption: A Participatory Theology............................................................... 256 in . Revelation, Resurrection and Restoration: "Swan-like singing home" ............... 276 Works Cited ..................................................................................................................... 300 Introduction "A good stealer is ipso fc~toa good inventor." -Marianne Moore. Moore Archive ( 1250/ 1.1 18) "inter-text. Using and repeating my own and others earfier texts. Puliing the old poems thru the new, making the old lines a thread thni the eye of the words 1 am sewing. Sound and sense. The eeriness." -Erin More, "The Acts." Fw-io~ts(85) 1. Citational Practices in Early Modern England Silex Scirrtillmzs has often been read as a product of bibliogenesis. a belief most clearly forrnulated by Frank Kennode who first defined Henry Vaughan as a "bookish poet" of "predominateiy literary inspiration" (The Private Itrzcigen 206.225).' In his unpublished dissertation, Thomas Calhoun characterized Vaughan's aesthetic style as a kind of parody: "We see the man reading in a wide variety of books, finding words and phrases. .As craftsman, Vaughan's major effort was to link, or assimilate, his 'bright encomiums' on a continuous 'line"' (Poetics 2 10). In his monograph on Silex Scirztillrns. ' Whilc 1 agrcc with ~crmode*sasscssrncnt of Vaughan as a "bookish poct." 1 rcjcct his conclusion thrit Vaughan was is poct "wha, for a fcw ycars. achicvcd a rcmarkablc mental condition in which much thought. rcading. and conversation coalesced to form a unique corpus of homogcncous poelic matcrial, availablc whcncvcr somc cxtcrnal stimulus callcd it into creativc action for thc dcvcloprnent of any suitable thcmc in poctry" (The Private in1uget-y 225). Vaughan's poetry is not homogcncous.
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