Wait, Tom--this is Jim Nohrnberg, not me! > Anne, I cannot remark that in this one you have outdone yourself, and this > only the first week of Advent. tpr > > [log in to unmask] wrote: > >> ---------------------------- Original Message >> ---------------------------- >> Subject: FORWARD FOR ME/US TO SPENSERLIST IF YOU WILL/CAN >> From: "James C. Nohrnberg" <[log in to unmask]> >> Date: Tue, December 2, 2003 3:33 pm >> To: [log in to unmask] >> Cc: [log in to unmask] >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Re David and Contemplation of Jerusalem, see above all 2 >> Samuel 7 and 1 Kings 5:3-5, 7:51, 8:12-26. Also see >> Analogy, pp. 180ff.: >> >> ... the mountain at the end of the House of Holiness >> canto, from which Redcrosse is able to see the New >> Jersualem, is compared to Sinai and Olivet (I.x.53-54). >> God spoke from Sinai, and Christ taught from Olivet, but >> the allusion probably goes deeper. Moses in the mountain >> was shown the pattern for the tabernacle, and hence a >> prototype for the New Jerusalem. Christ wept over the old >> Jerusalem, visible from Gesthemane on Olivet, just before >> his passion [= Redcrosse's fight with the dragon]. With >> respect to the structure of the narrative, the mountain >> also corresponds to Pisgah, from which Moses viewed the >> promised land that Joshua went over to possess. There is >> also an allusion to the Mount of Transfiguration, for >> Redcrosse's desire to go no further recalls Peter's >> feeling on Mount Tabor that "it is good being here" (Matt. >> 17:4). [{re 'allusion'} As noted by John E. Hankins, >> Source and Meaning in Spenser's Allegory (Oxford, 1971), >> p. 116. For the Pisgah vision in a saint's life, cf. >> Gregory, Vita S. Benedicti, in Dialogues, II.37 (PL, LXVI, >> 202B): At the death of St. Benedict, two monks at >> separate places saw the same vision of a magnificent road >> glittering with innumerable lights: from Benedict's >> monastery it stretched eastward in a straight line and it >> reached up to heaven. The monks are told by an >> interpreter that this is the road taken by Benedict, "the >> Lord's beloved." Spenser's Contemplation is thus not only >> Johannine, but also Benedictine.] The Geneva Bible >> explains that "After Moses and Elisas['] departure Peter >> fearing he shuld lose that ioyful sight, speaketh as a man >> distract & wold haue lodged them in earthely houses which >> were receyued in glorie." Peter wished to build three >> temples here; on Spenser's mountain there is a chapel and >> a hermitage. The link between Olivet and Tabor also >> becomes more apparent when we know that Christian >> tradition (owing to Acts 1:12) regards Olivet as the scene >> of the Ascension; pilgrims in the sixteenth century were >> shown on Olivet the scene of the Transifiguration. >> [Encyclopedia Biblica, ed. Cheyne and Black (New York, >> 1903), sub "Olivet," where the name of Tabor, Jebel >> et-Tor, is compared to the of Olivet, Jebel et-Tur. Karl >> Baedeker, Palestine and Syria, 4th edn. (Leipzig, 1906), >> p. 77f.: "The scene of the Ascension was located on the >> Mt. of Olives as early as 315"; Baedeker adds a >> description of the buildings there.] {The publisher's >> rejected the following addition to this note:} In >> Augustine, Confessions, VII.21, a Bunyanesque highroad to >> the "land of peace" -- seen from a mount, from afar -- is >> safe from the lion and dragon lurking in the intervening >> forest. Except for the path, the space is impassible. >> {["For it is one thing, from the mountain's wooded summit >> to see the land of peace (Deut. 32:49), and not to find >> the way thither--in vain to attempt impassable ways, >> opposed and waylaid by fugitives and deserters, under >> their captain the lion (1 Peter 5:8) and the dragon (Rev. >> 12:3); and another to keep to the way that leads thither, >> guarded by the host of the heavenly general, where they >> rob not who have deserted the heavenly army, which they >> shun as torture."]} {[As the diagram on pg. 201 of the >> Analogy shows, David is in relation to Solomon and the >> Jerusalem Temple as Moses is to Joshua and the Promised >> Land (See Aug., De Civ. Dei XI.18 on vicissitudinous human >> history being arranged antithetically between good and >> evil alterations.) In the typology of Book I, Arthur's >> victory is that of the Davidic Messiah, and the >> messianich-apocalyptic key of David is that to the >> conquest of Jerusalem. But David cannot build the temple >> because he is man of blood, the reason Despair gives to >> Redcrosse for his inability to enjoy the fruits of >> salvation. David's sin, like Moses's, keeps him from this >> fulfillment, just as Lancelot's sin keeps him from the >> grail, as achieved by his son and successor Galahad: see >> Analogy, p. 185]} >> >> So Analogy on p. 217: >> >> In the cycle of Israel, the episode of Despair has the >> place ot the Israelites' inabililty to enter the promised >> land under Moses, and their willingness to return to >> Egypt. In entering the House of Holiness, Redcrosse is a >> Solomon, a prototype of edification. The temple could not >> have been built by David, a man of war who "shed muche >> blood" and "made great battels" (I Chron. 22:8, Geneva >> Bible). Redrosse's "great battels" won by "strife, and >> bloudshed" (I.ix.43) similarly debar him in the preceding >> Despair canto. There is also the despair of the oracles >> of doom leading up to Babylon, where the psalmist wept. >> The prototype for Redcrossee's regneration at the House >> of Holiness would then be the return of the remnant to >> rebuild Jersualem, as an echo from Nehemiah's description >> might indicate (I.x.5, "It was warely watched night and >> day:; cf. Neh. 4:9). [As noted in Hankins, SO\ource and >> Meaning, p. 116. See Augustine, Ennar. in Ps. CI, Sermo >> II.4 (PL, XXXVII, 1307), for the Church as a "Zion," of >> which the "shadow" was "that Zion signified watch tower >> [Speculatio]," from which the watchers look into the >> future (as Contemplation foresees Redcrosse' entry into >> the New Jerusalem).] Perhaps the uncertain establishment >> of the new [Reformation] churches is signified. In the >> calendar of the Church, the House of Holiness corresponds >> to Lent, and Redcrosse is arrayed in sackcloth and ashes >> here [before the "Passion" of the dragon-fight]. >> >> The Analogy also gives references to show that >> Contemplation is Johnanine, pp. 156ff.: >> >> Redcrosse's recuperation ... is mediated by the >> mountaintop visionary named Contemplation, who in the >> geography of the poem corresponds to Ariosto's St. John. >> "Great grace that old man to him giuen had; For God he >> often saw from heavns hight, / All were his earthly eyen >> both blunt and bad, / And through great age had lost their >> kindly sight, / Yet wondrous quick and persnat was his >> spright, / As Eagles eye, that can behold the Sunne" [cf. >> Rev. 1:16, 10:1, 19:17]: (I.x.47). The allusion to the >> abosrption of Moses in the glory-cloud on Sinai (Exod. >> 24:15-18, 34:29-35), and a more or less conventional >> phrasing, do not rule out a particular reference to the >> authro fot he FOurth Gospel and Rebelation. John is is >> tradtionally believed to have written Revelation late in >> life; he is shown Jerusalem from a high mountain (Rev. >> 21:10); as the beloved apostle he may have received >> special grace (his name means "God is gracious"); he may >> have been granted an exceptionally long life; and the >> traditional symbol of his Gospel is the eagle. These >> associations meet in Rupert of Deutz's introduction to his >> commentary on John's Gospel, where he is discussing the >> purity required to those who would study "the venerable >> writings in the school of Christ:: 'Thus only may they be >> able in some measure to follow that eagle who delights in >> purity of heart;thus only may they dare with undazzled >> sharpness of mind to contemplate longer than other >> creatures the splendor of the everlasting sun, the vision >> of God himself. Of him who by the path of purity attains >> true wisdom, the Lord speaks through Isaiah, "He will >> dwell on the heights; his eyrie will be the fastnesses of >> the rocks; bread has been given him, and his waters are >> unfailing. His eyes will see the king in his comeliness; >> the will behold a land of far frontiers." Indeed, what >> pertains even more clearly to the present matter has been >> said here as to blessed Job, with different words but with >> the same meaning: "At the command of the Lord the eagle >> soars upward and makes its nest on high places; it stays >> on the rocks and dwells among the steep crags and >> inaccessible fastnesses. Thence it spies out the prey; >> its eyes behold it afar off." All these things John, the >> sublime observer of that Word and His eternal beginnings, >> has so eloquently pursued, soaring upward as the eagle, >> gazing with eyes wide open at the rays of the Godhead. On >> the heights he made his nest, that is, the fortress of the >> everlasting gospel." [In Evnag. S. Joan Comm. libri XIC, >> "Prologus Ruperti," PL, CLXIX, 203-206, trans. George >> McCracken and Allen Cabaniss in Early Medieval Theology, >> Library of Christian Classics, vol. 9 (Philadelphia, >> 1957), p. 259.] These remarks on the Gospel of John are >> typical, and they stem from St. Augustine's Harmony of the >> Four Gospels. Augustine contrasts the writers of the >> other Gospels, which are more earthbound, with John, who >> "soars like an eagle above the clouds of human infirmity, >> and gazes on the light of the unchangeable truth with >> those keenest and steadiest eyes of the heart." [More >> quotes are given, including Aquinas' use, from Aug., >> Harmony I.iv-vi, and Geneva Bible on John as "the key >> which openeth the dore to the vnderstanding of the >> others"--the other three gospels] ... We conclude that >> Contemplation is Johanine, because John exemplifies >> heavenly contemplation: '...he is born to loftier >> heights, in which he leaves the other three [evangelists] >> far behind him; so that, while in them you see men have >> their conversation in a certain manner with the Christ on >> earth, in him you perceive one who has passed beyond the >> cloud in which the whole earth is wrapped, and who has >> reached the liquid heaven from which, with clearest and >> steadiest mental eye, he is able look upon God the Word, >> who was in the beginning with God, and by whom all thing >> were made.' [Aquinas, Prol. to John. In The Golden >> Legend, St. John tells a questioner that the human spriti >> reqquires responte from the contempaltion of heavenl >> things, just as the sun-gazing eagle must upon occasion >> return to earth.] >> >> On Mon, 1 Dec 2003 13:20:21 -0500 >> [log in to unmask] wrote: >> >Thanks, Tom (and thanks to Genevieve and Carol, too. Yes, >> >the commentaries >> >might be very interesting to check in this regard. I like >> >to think that >> >Redcrosse will make it eventually to the City he can >> >descry from the hill >> >he's on, but not now. It's the "Mont de Contemplation" in >> >La Boderie's >> >"Galliade" that has me intrigued precisely because of the >> >name. The man >> >also wrote a sonnet sequence on the duc d'Alencon, an >> >unlikely subject for >> >a sonnet sequence, although so far I haven't read it to >> >see if young >> >Francois-Hercule is given pearly teeth and golden-wired >> >hair or told to >> >seize the day (or at least the Netherlands). Anne. >> > >> >> (For Anne Prescott) >> >> Do you mean Mounts specifically designated >> >>Contemplation, or just any old >> >> mounts of visionary destiny? If the latter, then I >> >>suppose Nebo/Pisgah >> >> would be the main antetype, though Moses, of course, was >> >>looking at what >> >> he >> >> specifically would NEVER get to because he had sinned. >> >>Just because one >> >> can >> >> see it from a sublime place doesn't mean one can reach >> >>it. An admonitory >> >> thought perhaps. Whether Nebo was taken up specifically >> >>as a type of >> >> contemplation in commentaries might be worth looking >> >>into. It's hard to >> >> imagine it wasn't, but I don't have particular texts to >> >>hand. >> >> >> >> Tom >> >> >> > >> >> [log in to unmask] >> James Nohrnberg >> Dept. of English >> Univ. of Virginia >> Charlottesville, VA 22903 >> >> & [log in to unmask] >