"Symphonia"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains how divine motherhood, the virginity of Mary and her comparison to Eve evolve into the associations of growth, greenness and flowering as attributed to Mary, representing her reversal of Eve's disobedience and corruption in the poem "Symphonia" by Hildegard of Binge, The author points out that Hildegard uses the ideas of a tree, the building of a city and a mountain to portray the connection between God the divine and man the mortal being. The paper relates that Hildegard introduces many images and themes to represent her poetry through movements and ideas; the complexity of each poem forces careful analysis for the comprehension of the discrete messages she is trying to communicate.

From the Paper:

"Moral life as perceived through divine grace vs. human struggle is depicted in the building of a city. Man is left with the job of transforming his soul into something which is just and spiritually pure, a process that takes time and faith in God. Morality can only be achieved if one lets God into his life to help him develop a moral nature. To do this, there needs to be a reconstruction of the self or as Hildegard refers to it, the "building of a city," the remaking of one's beliefs and actions. One is to take the knowledge of right and wrong and apply it by not solely recognizing what one "ought" to do, but actually do it. The grace of God fills man in his struggle to reach this state so his actions reflect his ideals."

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: