Doctorate of Philosophy, University of London, Some
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DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, 1971 SOME ASPECTS OF HADEWIJCH*S POETIC FORM TANIS MARGARET GUEST ProQuest Number: 10107282 All rights reserved INF0RMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10107282 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to investigate in detail certain aspects of Hadewijch's poetic form which have never been made the sub ject of an independent study. While taking into account what has been written on the subject - mostly as part of general studies - my conclusions are the result of in dependent judgment based on the poems themselves. The introductory chapter is concerned with the meaning of the central concept of the Strofische Gedichten, Minne, and its function in the poems. Various aspects of stanza-structure are then considered, including the variety of stanza-forms and the different types of rhyme; also the use of stress-verse and the musical effect produced by the combination of lines of different numbers of stresses and varying stress-patterns, and of similar and dissimilar sounds. In this connection I also consider the question of whether the songs were set to music. The use of rhetorical techniques to heighten interest or add emphasis is also discussed, paying special attention to different forms of repe tition - of words, phrases or ideas - and to the frequent use of contrast and paradox, as well as to less common features such as personification and irony. Considerable study is devoted to the imagery, summarizing and classifying the different types employed and the way in which they are used, and distinguishing between those drawn directly from the troubadour convention and those personal to Hadewijch. Finally, the overall structure of the poems is investigated and two poems analysed in detail. I have tried to demonstrate where relevant the extent to which Hadewijch adheres to troubadour convention or, alternatively, modifies it, and also the manner in which her choice of form, techniques and imagery is governed by her complex character, thus creating great poetry in a largely stereotyped genre. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express here my deep gratitude to my Supervisor, Professor Th. Weevers, for the immense trouble he has taken in reading this thesis during its preparation, and for his unfailingly helpful comments and advice. I should like also to express my thanks to the Central Research Fund of the University of London for the grant which made it possible for me to study the Hadewijch manuscripts in Brussels and Ghent. CONTENTS Eâge Chapter I : Approach to Hadewijch ................... 5 Chapter II : The Stanza ........................ 25 Chapter III ; R h y m e .......... 51 Chapter IV : Sound and M u s i c ............................ 80 Chapter V ; Repetition........................ .116 Chapter VI : Psychology and Style: Contrast, Paradox, and other Features ................ 1^5 Chapter VII : Imagery: Nature and Society................ 1?6 Chapter VIII : Imagery; der minnen lant; general remarks • . .215 Chapter IX : Aspects of Internal Form ................. .251 Chapter X : Two p o e m s ............ 280 Appendix ; Table of Distribution of Masculine and Feminine Rhymes ................. 311 Bibliography : .................... 318 CHAPTER I: APPROACH TO HADEWIJCH Before beginning the detailed study of those aspects of Hadewijch*s form which I have selected, it is necessary to explain my approach to the songs and their creator. Hadewijch can be treated primarily as a mystical poet of the thirteenth century, and considered within that frame work: and for any real understanding of the Strofische Gedichten a knowledge of the historical background and of her relationship with the troubadours, minnesinger, and mystical writers is essential. However, a great deal of work has been done on these historical lines which it would be pointless to duplicate; consequently I shall refer to these links and comparisons only where it is essential to my own aesthetic ap proach. Similarly, from the aesthetic as well as the historical stand point, it would be of interest to study the question of her relationship to the theory of poetic form as it had been systematised and expressed at the time; but examination of the various *Artes Poeticae* as assembled by Faral^ shows this to be in such a primitive state of development that its relevance to, and possible influence on, the work of so accomplished a poet as Hadewijch would seem to be less than that of the songs of the poets themselves. It is in any case questionable how far a great poet in his work will follow the dictates of manuals of poetry. My purpose is, then, to treat Hadewijch not specifically as a medieval poet, but simply as a poet; not divorced from her age, since no poet is that, but approached primarily from the viewpoint of the modem reader and the impact of the poems on such a one. Unless that reader be a medieval scholar, as few are, seven hundred years have laid veils over ideas and doctrines of the Strofische Gedichten and the circumstances from which they sprang; but the force of their emotions and the music of 1. E. Faral: Les Arts Poétiques du Xlle et Xllle siècle, 1924. their language - however difficult - still have the power to hold the reader; and in the twentieth century it is probably in these that their greatest attraction lies. With this in mind, I have sought to demonstrate some of the ways in which the emotions are expressed and the music pro duced, with a view not only to elucidating some of the artistry of the poems, but also illuminating to some extent the character of the poet - since the study of an artist's choice of forms must yield some information about the artist. I have confined this study to the Strofische Gedichten since, as well as being the best known of Hadewijch*s poetic work, they form a single body, reasonably unified in form and content, and thus a natural unit of study. A similar study of the Mengeldichten, and a comparison of the techniques of the two, would be both interesting and desirable; but in view of the differences of form and the problem of authenticity, I prefer at this time to restrict my inquiry to the better-known work. I have used principally the edition of E. Rombauts and N. de Paepe,^ and it is from this that most of my illustrations are taken. It seems to me to provide the best single text available of the Strofische 2 Gedichten; though it differs only slightly from J. van Mierlo's edition, it does have the advantage of being more readily available; more important, where the two texts differ in reading or punctuation, in the majority of cases I prefer the former. Van Mierlo's Notes and Introduction to his edition - indeed, all his published work on Hadewijch - have of course been invaluable to me. I have, naturally, consulted other texts, notably J. Snellen's com- 3 parative edition, but my concern has been mainly with the Strofische 1. E. Rombauts and N. de Paepe, Hadewijch, Strofische Gedichten, I96I. 2. J. van Mierlo, Hadewijch, Strophische Gedichten, 1942. 3* J. Snellen, Liederen van Hadewijch, 190?* Gedichten as a whole, and the dominant characteristics of their form, rather than with divergences of interpretation or reading; these, while important in individual cases, do not greatly affect the overall picture. Therefore, since I could not hope to cover adequately every aspect of every poem, I have preferred to work mainly from a single edition. Questions of interpretation and terminology lie for the most part outside my field; but there is one term the understanding of which is critical in any study of Hadewijch, from whatever viewpoint undertaken, and that is Minne. This is beyond doubt the key word of the Strofische Gedichten, on which all else depends, and the meaning which the individual finds in this word must inevitably affect his whole attitude and approach to the poems. Consequently, having been conditioned - as probably have most of the younger generation of students of Hadewijch - by van Mierlo*s reading of the term as signifying primarily 'God or Christ or the Divine 1 2 Love', I have read with fascination the monumental work of N. de Paepe, in which he opens up a whole new line of approach. After an exhaustive study, not only of the Strofische Gedichten but also of antecedent mystical and courtly writers, he concludes that Minne, as Hadewijch uses the term, is basically none of van Mierlo's interpretations, nor yet the 'amorphous 3 entity' of M. van der Zeyde, but: 'een beleving, de wijze waarop de ziel haar verhouding tot God beleeft, een dynamische relatiebeleving'.^ If he is right, this changes the whole outlook of the poems; the main emphasis is shifted from Minne, the Beloved, as object of the poems, to Minne, the emotion and experience of love; the trend is internal, to the workings of the poet's own heart and mind, rather than external, to the 1. Van Mierlo, Str. Ged. II, p. 121. 2. N. de Paepe, Hadewijch, Strofische Gedichten, 196?* 3* M. H. van der Zeyde, Hadewijch, een studie . ., 1934, p. 21 4. N. de Paepe, on.cit.