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Rosemary Hayes
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Subject: TMR 12.06.14 Livingston, The Middle English Metrical 
Paraphrase(Engberg)


Livingston, Michael, ed. <i>The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of
the Old Testament</i>. TEAMS Middle English Texts Series. Kalamazoo:
Medieval Institute Publications, 2011. Pp. 701. $40.00 ISBN: 978-1-
58044-150-6.

   Reviewed by Norma J. Engberg
        University of Nevada at Las Vegas
        [log in to unmask]


This newest volume in the TEAMS series is a medievalist's delight: 701
pages including Introduction, Text, End Notes, Variant Readings,
and Bibliography.  The anonymous Middle English (hereafter ME) poem,
thus edited by Michael Livingston, is dated to 1380, contemporary with
Chaucer and the Wycliffite movement.  A few decades later, the <i>York
Plays</i> borrowed phrasing from the <i>Paraphrase</i>, and used the
same, rather unusual, stanza pattern.  Livingston's ample 43 page
introduction surveys possible sources, and recounts the history of the
Bible and its early English translations, played out against a
background of cultural interchanges.  The <i>Paraphrase</i> does not
contain the entire Old Testament: it anthologizes materials from the
Octateuch (minus Leviticus); the Histories (I and II Samuel; and I and
II Kings), and the Hagiographies (Job, Tobias, Esther, Judith, and II
Maccabees).  Livingston suggests a reason why the poet omitted the
sixteen prophetic books, psalms and the five books of wisdom: they did
not lend themselves to reconstructive "historical" narrative (609).
The poet's targeted audience, identified in the poem's prologue, is
"simple" men, in other words, persons not knowing Latin.

This edition prints the ME aligned to the left margin, with vocabulary
supplements (generally single-word equivalents) in the right margin.
The poem is broken into stanzas rhyming ABABABABCDCD.  The first eight
lines are basically octosyllabic (iambic tetrameter), and the last
four are hexasyllabic (iambic trimeter), with elision, as needed, in
both.  The first eight lines use heavier alliteration-sometimes
linking as many as three words on the same line-than the last four.
One might be able to argue for a caesura although the text is not
printed in this way.  Thus, the poem exhibits a mix of the native OE
metrical practices (alliteration, caesura, and variable stress) and
borrowed ME metrical practices (rhyme and iambuses).  For the purposes
of this review, I have translated quotations from the poem into
Current English without attempting to imitate its metrical practices.

This labor-intensive <i>Paraphrase</i> is a free translation of Peter
Comestor's <i>Historia Scholastica</i> (hereafter HS), composed in the
last years of the 1160s, but its treatment of the Octateuch and the
histories was also influenced by Josephus' <i>Jewish Antiquities</i>
and by an Old French version of HS which ran out toward the end of II
Kings (6). HS was a teaching tool in the Victorine tradition.  In
1215, it became part of the standard theological curriculum of the
Middle Ages.  It emphasized literal over allegorical interpretation
and in some places became a shortcut substituted for the study of the
Bible itself (18-19).  Livingston lists the content of HS as:
"Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1-4
Kings, Tobias, Ezechiel, Daniel, Judith, Esther, and 1-2 Maccabees"
(17, n. 53).  Thus, the <i>Paraphrase</i> is a far-from-literal
translation of the Vulgate; books are rearranged and abridged; details
considered unimportant by the poet are omitted.  Since everyone knows
the stories associated with the Biblical books, the following
paragraphs concentrate on how the poet adapted his source materials to
his targeted audience and how he handled contemporary theological
arguments.

The poet claims he is presenting exempla--examples to be imitated or
avoided; they are kept brief, he explains in his prologue, so men may
easily learn to recite and understand them.  We might expect that each
exemplum would be accompanied by a moral.  In fact, the story of
Jephthah's vow and of his daughter's being the first out the door of
his house is unusual in this respect.  Here the poet does append a
four-line "moral," disagreeing with the message of the story and
presenting his generalization in aphorism format: "Such follies should
men be eager to avoid / and be advised before they vow so. / A foolish
vow is better to be broken / Than guiltless man or woman slain" (ll.
381-4).  Readers who consider Jephthah's behavior appalling will be
glad to hear the poet condemn his "foolish vow."

The poet's adaptations include: (1) summarizing events occurring in
series and (2) re-ordering the stories in a given book.  The poet's
use of summary is illustrated by a comparison of the
<i>Paraphrase</i>'s plagues-narrative, occupying six twelve-line
stanzas (ll. 1717-1788) with the Biblical plagues-narrative, occupying
approximately five chapters (Exodus 7:14-12:32). Material from the
last three chapters of Judges is put first so that the story of
Samson, tempted by women always with a bad result, is placed at the
end of Judges, juxtaposed to Ruth.  A contrast is intended between
Samson's behavior (as a Jew disloyal to the Jewish cause) and Ruth's
behavior (as a non-Jew loyal to the Jewish cause) and between
Delilah's behavior and Ruth's behavior (worst of women vs. best of
women) (576).

A third adaptation involves adding extra-canonical materials.  An
example of a non-canonical addition--from Midrash writings--is the
following childhood experience of Moses (555).  After he had been
weaned and come to live in the palace with the "king's daughter," he
was a favorite of her father who, on one occasion, while holding the
boy on his lap, placed his golden crown on the boy's head.  The child
took the crown from his head and "very eagerly defiled it with his
feet in order to break it" (ll.1559-60).  The king's clerks saw this
as a confirmation of their warning that the king would be undone by a
Hebrew and thus that the child should be put to death immediately.
However, one wise man intervened, suggesting that what the child did
was not done with ill-intent.  He proposed a test: hot coals were
brought and offered to the child as toys to play with.  Moses put them
in his mouth.  The coals burned his tongue causing a life-long speech
impediment, but his innocent mistake saved his life (87-9).

The poet uses the device of anachronism--the attribution of a custom
or event, characteristic of a later time in history, to an earlier
period where it does not belong--purposefully.  References to chivalry
and to the Roman Catholic Church are examples of the poet's imposing
the interests and concerns of his immediate audience onto events which
happened 1600 or more years earlier.  The word "chivalry" itself
occurs on lines 3605 and 11502.  The ranks include "king" (l.11908),
"prince" (l.11908), "duke" (lines 7429, 7431, 11908) and "knight(s)"
(lines 7375, 7379, 12061, 12711).  Activities pictured include a
"tournament" (l.3845) where men gather to "joust" (l.3846) and the
attack on Jabesh-Gilead complete with "siege hooks and engines"
(l.5213).  After his first victory in battle, Saul is praised in terms
similar to those used to describe Arthur as a new king: "King Saul
slew that day / a hundred with his hands, / and won worship forever /
to him and all his lands. / This was [his] first feat of chivalry..."
(ll.5301-5). Livingston in his Notes points out that "the poet's
'medievalizing' of the narrative through these details...underscores
the romance nature of his work: the resulting text is thus a generic
hybrid..." (581).

Terminology from Roman Catholic Church hierarchy is used because it
helps the targeted reader relate to the Israelite priesthood: during
the exodus, "Aaron was ordained to be bishop in order to receive the
sacrifice, and priests and deacons [were ordained] in their degree to
serve him in various services" (ll.2005-8).  After death of Aaron:
"They then chose his son Eleazar to be bishop" (ll.2349-50).  Joshua
conveyed God's plan for the crossing of the Jordan River into the
Promise Land: "Priests and deacons he ordered / to bear God's ark up
before them" (ll. 2777-8).  Contemporary church practices are also
reflected in this reference to the intercession of saints and to
auricular confession: "Of holy men then He will hear / that profer for
us their prayer. / Then is it good wisdom that we / send our prayers
by many saints / and speak, while we have time on earth, / to them we
know are wise,... " (ll. 13109-13114).  A shocking recent event--the
scene where the king's henchmen murdered Thomas Becket, Archbishop of
Canterbury--is recalled when, unlike the account in II Kings, Bishop
Zechariah is murdered by King Joash in the temple by the altar (ll.
13643-6).

Livingston catalogs the poet's eight mentions of Christ by name in his
Introduction (22).  In addition, there are "echoes" of New Testament
passages, associated with Jesus but not specifically identified with
him.  The first of these, quoted by Saul on the occasion of his first
resounding victory, echoes Lord's Prayer, "He desires that we forgive
gladly / all those who have to us have done trespass" (ll. 5331-2).
The other four are from Job.  Livingston explains that because
Comestor omits Job and because the OF translation of Comestor ran out
near the end of II Kings, the paraphrase poet's source(s) for his
version of Job cannot be readily identified.  Further, the poet is "at
his most distant from the Biblical text when he moves through this
book."  It is either "garbled" or "an inspired refashioning-a subtle,
theologically profound permutation" (609).  Among the changes which
the poet makes are the shortening of the "friends" speeches (each is
limited to two) and the omission of Elihu.  Early on, Job sees himself
as a Christ figure: "If God take more vengeance on me / to make me
tormented on a tree (cross), / my righteousness shall I never
forsake,..." (ll. 14681-3).  The third friend, Eliphaz, recounts the
parable of the rich man and the leper from Luke 16:19-31; then he
interprets it as if Job was the ungenerous rich man who is now being
punished.  However, Job turns the interpretation around, comparing
himself to the leper and Eliphaz to the rich man in the parable (ll.
14713-14754).  After the three friends leave, Job, now completely
alone, addresses God and summarizes Jesus' raising of Lazarus, sayng
"So may Thou raise me by thy word / from the sorrow I suffer day and
night" (14983-4).  Finally, Job compares the thief on the cross'
situation to his own, saying, "And Thou knowest I wrought never such
wrong / to murder neither man nor wife, / nor never man's goods I
stole...Why should I suffer this grief? / This is unmeasurable."
(14995-15000).  Such anachronistic "echoes" superimpose New Testament
concerns onto a narrative of events which happened 500 or more years
earlier.

What are of special interest in the poet's version of Tobit are two
phrase-tags which link the story of Tobit to that of Job.  We are not
used to seeing Tobit next to Job, so we do not think about the fact
that Tobit, blinded, suffers in much the same way as Job, covered with
skin diseases, suffered.  The first, and more frequent, phrase-tag
uses the key words "loud" (publicly) + "still" (privately).  It is
found in Job on lines 15146, 15080, and 15191.  The first occurrence
in Tobit, "[T]o love God loud and still / whatever message He will
send" (ll. 15227-8), is an admonition from the poet to his reader.
The second occurrence is the book narrator's voice describing Tobit;
"He loved ever God both loud and still / in spite of all the trials
that He to him sent," (ll. 15482-3).  The last two examples are from
the advice given to Tobias by the angel: "For all that wed in love and
fear / without fail they shall fare well: / with love both loud and
still / to live in God's law..." (ll. 15895-8); and "Love thou the
Lord that it [wife and wealth] has lent, / and love His Law both loud
and still" (ll. 16371-2).  The second phrase-tag uses the keywords
"take" + "trace" (path).  In Job's solitary prayer addressing God, he
says:  "And of my pains, Lord, have pity / and teach me therefore to
take thy trace (path)" (ll. 14945-6).  After his healing, Tobit
confesses to God: "I have not loved Thy Law, alas, / nor truly
attended to take thy trace (path)" (ll. 16239-40).  This phrase-tag,
as Livingston explains, may be derived from the antiphon, beginning
"Dirige, Domine Deus Meus" ("Direct my path, O Lord my God"), from
which the Dirge, "a sequence of verses drawn from Job [and] recited
during the Matins of the Office of the Dead," derives its name (612-
13).

A final example of how contemporary Church teachings handle awkward
story material links Job and II Maccabees.  Unlike the Biblical
version of Job, when God responds to Job's solitary prayer, He states:
"Thou wast not worthy to be in bliss...Know thyself for unclean / and
evil in all degree, /...And if thou will... / grant to God that thou
art guilty. / Then will He grant thee grace to rise / and mend thee of
thy leprosy" (ll. 15087-15100).  Job has forgotten about original sin,
and since he lives prior to the day of Jesus, he has not been
baptized.  Job prays, following God's directions exactly, and his
possessions and family are returned to him.  A similar issue arises in
chapter seven of II Maccabees, where the poet enlarges on the victims'
conversations with their torturers and the methods of torture in order
to attenuate the story of the martyrdom of the woman and her seven
sons.  This was a popular "saint's tale" in the Middle Ages in spite
of the theologians arguing over the deceased persons' status.  Their
fault was similar to Job's--they too bore the burden of original sin,
had lived before the time of Christ, and had not been baptized.  To
circumvent this unfortunate omission, the apologists said they had
been baptized in their own blood--the same explanation was given for
the children slain by King Herod (623-4).

Obviously, specialists in ME literature and culture will value this
volume, enjoying the hunt for rhetorical devices, unidentified
"echoes," and theological arguments.  Additionally, because of its
lengthy discussion (in its Introduction) of ME translations and
paraphrases and their Latin and French sources alongside its
discussion of early "Protestantism," this edition will also be of
interest to Church historians.  A project which this new edition of
the <i>Paraphrase</i> invites us to undertake is a study of voice--the
poet-person's voice, the book-narrators' voices, the character's
voices and their various audiences.  Indeed, this would be an
excellent text to use for a classroom demonstration of how Reader-
Response Theory might work.





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