SOURCE: Carr, Gerald F. “The Prologue to Wace's Vie de Saint Nicholas: A Structural Analysis.” Philological Quarterly XLVII, no. 1 (January 1968): 1-7.

[In the following essay, Carr demonstrates the numerological basis for the structure of Wace's Vie de Saint Nicholas.]

The latent structural qualities of medieval poetry were first brought forcefully to the attention of scholars by Ernst Robert Curtius.¹ Although by no means the first critic to recognize the architectonic features of medieval poetry, Curtius in his essay on “Zahlensymbolik” (Exkurs XV) gave renewed impetus to the investigation of the interrelationships of number, literary form and symbolism. Certainly interest in the quality of numbers has not been lacking, but it is only in relatively recent years that serious scholarly attention has been devoted to the phenomenon of number as it manifests itself in medieval literature.² Literary scholars have had an understandable aversion to the confused and confounded attempts of investigators to superimpose preconceived numerical plans upon literary works, or to derive symbolical meanings from “significant” numbers, once they have been ascertained in a literary document. Nonetheless, since Curtius first provided wide dissemination to the concept of poetry structured according to “architektonische Proportionsgesetze,” a great deal of sound scholarship has been devoted to a reevaluation of medieval literature from this point of view. Significant advances have been made, especially in the realm of older German literature, and in Old Saxon.³ With the revival of interest in the function of numbers in medieval literature have come renewed investigations into the origins of the tradition of “numbers-play.”⁴

Considering the Old French Saint's Life in particular, Curtius again looms as a dominant figure in the reevaluation of poetic style along structural lines. In examining the structure of La Vie de Saint Alexis, he discerned the author's conscious feeling for symmetry.⁵ He does not, however, progress far beyond the poet's employment of customary devices of medieval Latin rhetoric, more specifically of the triadic division into “exhortatio-narratio-conclusio.” Nor does he ascertain undue significance in the use of repetition and antithesis, again stock features of Latin rhetoric. His great contribution is once again to be found in the impetus to further scholarly investigation into these aspects of the poem.⁶

In considering the significance of the numerical structuring of La Vie de Saint Alexis to the Old French Saints' Lives in general, it must be noted that the Alexis poem is chronologically quite early, and that the following centuries evince a general depreciation of the genre: lack of originality, overplay of the marvellous elements and long windedness become the hallmarks of the hagiographic poems. This is not meant to imply that there are no later poems possessed of genuine literary and artistic value. Certainly a poet who has distinguished himself as a skilled artist in other genres can be expected to demonstrate his sense of artistic balance in hagiographic verse. Further, it is unlikely that such an accomplished poet would become completely subservient to the demands of translation and of audience interest, factors which contributed heavily to the depreciation of the Saints' Lives. Such a poet is Wace (c. 1110-1183), whose artistic credentials need no elaboration.

In addition to his two best known works, Le Roman de Brut and Le Roman de Rou, Wace has written at least three Saints' Lives: La Vie de Saint Nicholas, La Vie de Sainte Marguerite, and La Conception Nostre Dame. A cursory reading of these hagiographic poems reveals the long-windedness which had become a pronounced feature of the genre. Nevertheless, the immediacy of the narrative, the heightening of dramatic interest and the deft employment of stylistic devices indicate the skilled poet at work. The poetic technique of Wace—easy, fluent, marked by artful use of repetition and antithesis—is readily discernible. It is quite plausible to assume that such a distinguished and original writer would be aware of the numbers philosophy which permeated medieval society and would indeed avail himself of the stock devices of numerological composition.

A close scrutiny of La Vie de Saint Nicholas⁷ and La Conception Nostre Dame⁸ indicates that Wace did indeed have the same predilection for numbers as did the author of the Alexis poem and many other medieval poets.⁹ It is interesting to note that Wace has used the same device of “framing” the narrative of the Nicholas poem as did the author of Alexis. To be sure, this is again nothing more than the standard rhetorical division, and a casual reading of the poem further reveals the poet's extensive use of repetition and antithesis. A most striking feature of the poem is the use of standard stylistic devices as unifying elements. This aspect of the conscious artistry of Wace is best observed in capsule form in the “prologue” to the Nicholas poem. A concentrated analysis uncovers a definite structural pattern, indicating that the poet had likely laid out a detailed plan prior to the final composition. Free of the restraints imposed by translation from a Latin original, Wace has made artful use of stylistic devices in a symmetrical organization of the material.¹⁰

Assuming that Wace has utilized the device of “framing” the entire Nicholas poem with an “exhortatio” and a “conclusio” of equal length, the former must be construed as extending from line 1 to line 44, and the latter from line 1519 to line 1562. It is immediately evident that the “epilogue” as this is normally conceived, extends only from line 1546 to line 1562. In order to arrive at a division parallel to the first forty-four lines, the account of the final miracle (lines 1519-45) must be added to the “epilogue” proper. A similar revamping is necessary within the first forty-four lines: lines 1-34 inclusive contain a unified exhortation; lines 35-44 contain those elements which normally constitute the Old French “prologue.”¹¹ Having established that parallel divisions can be discerned at beginning and end of the poem, full attention will now be given to the first thirty-four lines of the work, hereafter referred to as “Exhortation.”¹²

As the author consciously “framed” the entire Nicholas poem with sections of equal length, so it appears a distinct possibility that the same parallel structuring has been used in the Exhortation. The brevity of the section under consideration militates against the likehood that contextual distinctions would allow enough substance for an elaborate structural plan. However, a casual reading of the early lines of the poem presents a wealth of repetitions—a most pronounced characteristic of the style of Wace—and close scrutiny of these repetitions as well as other features of style provides a key to the symmetrical structure underlying the Exhortation.

The first use of direct repetition occurs in lines 5-7; in this instance the repetition is of a single word in three successive lines:

Chescone feste est controvee,
Chesconë a sun jur gardee.
Chescon ne poet pas tut saver.

If the poet has consciously used direct repetitions as a means of structuring the Exhortation, then a parallel triad of repetitions should occur near the end of this division of thirty-four lines. Such a parallel feature is to be found in lines 28-30, again with the repetition of a single word in three successive lines:

Et sa bonté et son poer
Et Deu servir, son creatur,
Et as barons sainz pur s'amur.

A second instance of direct repetition occurs in lines 9-12; here the poet has utilized two words for repetition both within the verse and in four successive lines. He has further embellished the repetitions with antitheses—another recurrent feature of the poetic style of Wace.

Li un sunt lai, li un lectré,
Li un fol et li un senee.
Li un petit et li un grant,
Li un povre, li un manant.

If Wace has been following architectonic principles, then, proceeding backward from line thirty-four, a similar section marked by repetition and antithesis should occur within a distance of two lines from the triad of repetitions found in lines 28-30. A striking parallel is to be noted in lines 23-26:

Qui mels set mels deit enseigner
Et qui plus poet plus deit aider.
Qui plus est fort plus deit porter
Et qui plus ad plus deit doner.

One further instance of combined repetition and antithesis presents itself in lines 17-18. Whereas the two instances of incorporation cited above encompassed quatrains, this final sample is restricted to a couplet, significantly perhaps, the central couplet of the Exhortation.

Li chivaler et li burgeis
Et li vilein et li corteis.

It appears, then, that the poet has consciously spaced his direct repetitions and antitheses according to the following concentric pattern:

Line	1-8	Repetition	8
	9-12	Antithesis / Repetition		4
	13-16}				4}
	17-18	Antithesis / Repetition			2	10
	19-22				4
	23-26	Antithesis / Repetition		4
	27-34	Repetition	8

The concentric pattern seems quite plausible in the present analysis as an underlying plan for the structural composition. A further elaboration of the use of stylistic devices to unify the Exhortation then becomes evident. Direct repetition and to a greater extent antithesis serve as the focal points of organization. The poet has used antithesis as a structuring device, and the employment of triadic repetitions at points equidistant from the beginning and end serve to demarcate “frames” for the Exhortation. Closer scrutiny of the occurrences of repetitions in groups of three reveals that the poet has made a further use of this device for the purpose of organization.

Focussing attention on lines 5-7, it may be seen that the initial word of each verse is “chescone.” This word then occurs two more times in the course of the Exhortation, at line fifteen and again at line twenty-seven. It is readily apparent that the third instance of “chescone” serves to introduce a unit of four couplets (lines 7-14), which is followed by a second group of six couplets (lines 15-26) introduced by the word “chescone.” The structuring is completed by a third division of four couplets, again introduced by “chescone” (lines 27-34). An elaboration of triadic repetitions serves to unify the text of the Exhortation.

The poet's penchant throughout the entire poem for the number three is quite conspicuous. Within the thirty-four lines under consideration, the following examples of triadic groupings are found within individual couplets:

A ces qui n'unt lectres aprises
Ne lur ententes n'i ont mises.

(1-2)

Deivent li clerc mustrer la lei,
Parler des seinz, dire pur quei.

(3-4)

Chescon ne poet pas tut saver
Ne tut oïr ne tut veer.

(7-8)

Chescon deit mustrer son saver
Et sa bonté et son poer.

(27-28)

Qui ben l'aimë et ben le sert
Bon gueredon de lui desert.

(31-32)

One instance of triadic grouping spans three lines:

Deivent en Deu aver fiance
Et honorer de lur substance
Bonement deivent esculter.

(19-21)

In conclusion, it may be seen that the Exhortation which introduces La Vie de Saint Nicholas has a basic symmetrical structure.¹³ It is clear that Wace has employed direct repetitions and antitheses according to a definite plan of composition; the frequent use of triads can hardly be fortuitous. There may be symbolic significance in the use of thirty-four lines for the Exhortation, and of seventeen lines for the “epilogue” proper. It is apparent that Wace was conversant with medieval numerology, and the possibility of architectonic structuring in the Nicholas poem as a whole is scarcely to be discounted. An investigation based on numerological considerations might indeed resolve the definitive version of the poem and provide new insights into the role of numbers in the composition of medieval poetry.

Notes

1. Ernst Robert Curtius, Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelater (Bern, 1948), pp. 491-98.

2. Vincent F. Hopper, Medieval Number Symbolism (New York, 1938), pp. 89-135. See also A. T. Hatto and R. J. Taylor, “Recent Work on the Arithmetical Principle in Medieval Poetry,” Modern Language Review, XLVI (1951), 396-403.

3. Michael S. Batts, “Numbers and Number Symbolism in Medieval German Poetry,” Modern Language Quarterly, XXIV (1963), 342-49. See also Max Ittenbach, Deutsche Dichtungen der salischen Kaiserzeit, Bonner Beiträge, No. 2 (Würzburg, 1937); Fritz Tschirch, “Schlüsselzahlen: Studie zur geistigen Durchdringung der Form in der deutschen Dichtung des Mittelalters,” in Beiträge zur deutschen und nordischen Literatur: Festgabe für Leopold Magon zum 70. Geburtstag, Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für deutsche Sprache und Literatur der Akd. Wiss. zu Berlin (Berlin, 1958), pp. 30-53. For Old Saxon see Johannes Rathofer, Der Heliand; theologischer Sinn als tektonische Form. Vorbereitung und Grundlegung der Interpretation (Cologne, 1962).

4. Michael S. Batts, “The Origins of Numerical Symbolism and Numerical Patterns in Medieval German Literature,” Traditio, XX (1964), 462-71.

5. Ernst Robert Curtius, “Zur Interpretation des Alexiusliedes,” Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie, LVI (1936), 113-37.

6. See development in articles by Anna Granville Hatcher, “The Old French Poem St. Alexius: a Mathematical Demonstration,” Traditio, VIII (1952), 111-58, and by Eleanor W. Bulatkin, “The Arithmetic Structure of the Old French Vie de Saint Alexis,” PMLA, LXXIV (1959), 495-502.

7. Einar Ronsjö, La Vie de Saint Nicholas par Wace, Etudes Romanes de Lund, No. 5 (Lund, 1942). Other editions of the poem by Nicholaus Delius, La Vie de Saint Nicholas (Bonn, 1850) and Mary S. Crawford, Life of Saint Nicholas (Philadelphia, 1923). Citations in this study are from edition of Ronsjö.

8. William R. Ashford, The Conception Nostre Dame of Wace (Chicago, 1933).

9. The symbolic use of numbers will not be discussed here. Suffice it to say that Wace's fondness for the number “3” is apparent in the Nicholas poem, and that a concrete example of his interest in the symbolic value of numbers may be seen in his elaboration of the Latin original in Conception Nostre Dame. In lines 392-412 of that poem, Wace contributes an explication of the symbolic values of the numbers “10,” “12” and “100.” No such clarification is found in the original.

   Joachim si sacrefia
   .X. agnels blans premierement,
   .XII. torels, oeilles.c.
   A Deu dona les.X. agnels,
   E as proveires les torels.
   E les oeilles totes.c.
   Mist al pueple comunement.
   Par les agnels que il ocist
   Nos senefië Jesu Crist
   Qui en la cruiz fu por nos mis
   Et fu por noz pechiez ocis.
   Li doze tor senefiërent
   Doze aposteles qui preechierent
   E puis furent sacrefié
   Por amor Deu martirié.
   Par cent berbiz qu'ot demandees
   E al pueple en comun donees,
   Ce, nos est avis, senefie
   La celestial compaignie,
   Quar cent cist nombres, ço savun,
   Senefië perfectiun.

   (Ashford, pp. 21-22).

10. One of the basic sources for Wace's Vie de Saint Nicholas has been established in Boninus Mombritius, Sanctuarium seu Vitae Sanctorum (1910 edition). Wace has not translated the Latin prologue. For stylistic studies see Paul Meyer, “Le couplet de deux vers,” Romania, XXIII (1894), 1-35; Francis M. Warren, “Features of Style in Early French Narrative Poetry,” Modern Philology, III (1905), 179-209, 513-39 and IV (1907), 655-75. For a later study see M. Jirmounsky, “Essai d'analyse des procédés littéraires de Wace,” Revue des langues romanes, LXIII (1925), 261-96.

11. Paul J. Jones, Prologue and Epilogue in Old French Lives of Saints before 1400 (Philadelphia, 1933).

12. The total number of verses set apart here (thirty-four) immediately calls to mind the division of the Alexis poem on the basis of that number. See Bulatkin, pp. 498-99; Hopper, pp. 88-135.

13. The concentric pattern—a central passage flanked by passages of equal length—is one of two patterns favored by medieval poets. The other, a so-called “mirror” pattern—two passages of equal length in juxaposition—can not be applied to the Exhortation. See Michael S. Batts, “Numbers and Number Symbolism in Medieval German Poetry,” p. 348.