Alain de Lille, The Plaint of Nature, Translation and Commentary PDF
Preview Alain de Lille, The Plaint of Nature, Translation and Commentary
I PLAINT O F NATURE ALAN OF LILLE, /ZJL*-lr'4^4r-^— r U ~ w ' I > j > - j ’-~ MEDIAEVAL SOURCES IN TRANSLATION 26 ALAN OF LILLE THE PLAINT OF NATURE Translation and Commentary by James J. Sheridan PONTIFICAL INSTITUTE OF MEDIAEVAL STUDIES TORONTO, 1980 Acknowledgment This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Alain de Lille, d. 1202. The plaint of nature (Mediaeval sources in translation; 26 ISSN 0316-0874) Translation of De planctu naturae. Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-88844-275-0 ISBN 978-0-88844-275-8 I. Sheridan, James J., 1914-1987. II. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. III. Title. IV. Series. PA8240.A5A68 1980 871'.03 C79-094861-3 © 1980 Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies 59 Queen’s Park Crescent East Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C4 www.pims.ca Printed in Canada Contents Forward vii Abbreviations viii Introduction Life 1 Works 11 De planctu naturae 31 Background 54 Literary Antecedents 62 A lan of Lille, Th e Pla in t of N atu re I Metre 1 67 II Prose 1 73 III Metre 2 106 IV Prose 2 108 V Metre 3 113 VI Prose 3 116 VII Metre 4 128 VIII Prose 4 130 IX Metre 5 149 X Prose 5 154 XI Metre 6 167 Jill Prose 6 169 XIII Metre 7 181 XIV Prose 7 185 XV Metre 8 194 XVI Prose 8 196 XVII Metre 9 209 XVIII Prose 9 212 Bibliography 223 Index of Persons 245 Subject Index 249 Index of Biblical Citations 255 Foreword With the possible exception of Martianus Capella, the Latin of the De planctu Naturae is the most difficult I have ever en countered. Throughout most of the work there are two layers of meaning and in a number of places there are three. In addition, puns are an ever recurring feature; most of these cannot be ex pressed in English. The result is that parts of it defy an accurate and idiomatic translation. This work was completed with the aid of a Canada Council Senior Fellowship. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to many friends who were generous with their time and talent. Professor N. M. Hâring has produced the first text of the De planctu that makes any transla tion possible. We were in constant contact while he worked on the text and I on the translation. I benefited greatly from our discussions. Professors Laurence K. Shook and Brian Stock were ever ready with scholarly and valuable help. Sister Irene MacDonald read the entire work in manuscript and made numerous corrections and valuable suggestions. I would like to record my gratitude to Dr. James V. McNulty and his wife, Linda, and to my nephew Patrick Sheridan, and his wife, Helen. These contributed more than they realise to the completion of the work. James J. Sheridan St. Michael’s College Toronto Abbreviations Archives Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge Beitrage Beitrage zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Théologie des Mittelalters CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica PL Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina All references to the De planctu Naturae are to the edition by N. M. Hàring in Studi Medievali, terza serie, 19.2 (1978) 797-879.
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