Poetry dwells near the divine light's breath

 

The comparison between poetry and divine light that we proposed HERE finds its perfect explanation in Saint Paul, Letters to the Romans I,19: τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φανερόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὁ ⸂θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσεν, what can be known of God was manifested to them (in men), indeed God manifested to them.

Poetry unveils in the human being the need to be human, i.e.the need for Beauty, for feeling the Beauty in itself and with itself, and this feeling is supported by the divine light. As we are influenced by the idea of Saint Augustine of saeculum, we maintain that poetry belongs to the saeculum and therefore stops on the threshold of the divine light [ I] without crossing that threshold, but it senses the light beyond that threshold.

We are taken to that threshold by the human feeling of Beauty within us that leads us up to there: up to that door that it is not possible to cross in our being human, but nevertheless, the very dwelling on that threshold is illuminated by the very naming the names of the things which poetry asks the poet for being nominated [II], and makes that the poet looks for the possible ways and words to express them (i.e. to name something that cannot be named yet) [III].

Finally, we can end this short but dense note by assuming that poetry is what causes the divine light to breathe in/over the saeculum. Poetry senses the divine breath through the names and words of the poem. And in this sensing the divine breath, poetry brings us closer to the truth [IV], since no one can lie to the Beauty in itself, that every poet receives (through poetry) from its own divine light at the moment the poet feels the divine breath's hovering around when he names things. And in this approaching and naming things we name the truth because at that moment we are naked and we are mirroring ourselves in it, incapable of lying. And while we uncover the truth we are brought closer to eternity, since, as Saint Augustine says: tanto quisque ab aeternitate discedat, quanto a veritate discedit, how much one moves away from the truth, so much one moves away from eternity [V].

Is, therefore, poetry the voice of eternity in the civitas hominum?

We think so.

-------------------------

[I] On the theme of the threshold in poetry, see HERE
[II] This idea is from of Octavio Paz's poetry vision. HERE.
[III] On this issue, see again HERE
[IV] To understand the metaphor of breathing, think of the trees that by breathing purify the air and those who live under the trees are purified by getting closer to the status of Well-Being
[V] De Mendacio Liber Unus 7,10

Follow me on Substack