According to Plotinus these could assume a body
of air or of fire, but the generally entertained view of the school
was, that their bodies were of air.
of air or of fire, but the generally entertained view of the school
was, that their bodies were of air.
John Donne
.
.
.
Yet soon he healed; for Spirits that live throughout
Vital in every part, (not as frail man
In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins,)
Cannot but by annihilating die;
Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound
Receive, _no more than can the fluid air_.
All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear,
All intellect, all sense; _and as they please,
They limb themselves, and colour, shape, or size
Assume, as likes them best, condense or rare_.
The lines italicized indicate that Milton is familiar with the
doctrine of the schools, and is giving it a turn of his own. Milton's
angels, apparently, do not _assume_ a body of air but, remaining in
their own ethereal substance, assume what form and colour they choose.
Raphael, thus having passed through the air like a bird,
to his proper shape returns
A Seraph winged, &c.
Nash says, speaking of Satan, 'Lucifer (before his fall) an Archangel,
was a cleere body, compact of the purest and brightest of the ayre,
but after his fall hee was vayled with a grosser substance, and tooke
a new forme of darke and thicke ayre, which he still reteyneth. '
_Pierce Penniless_ (Grosart), ii. 102. The popular mind had difficulty
in appreciating the scholastic doctrine of the purely spiritual nature
of angels who do not possess but only assume bodies; who do not occupy
any point in space but are _virtually_ present as operating at that
point. 'Per applicationem igitur virtutis angelicae ad aliquem locum
qualitercumque dicitur Angelus esse in loco corporeo. ' The popular
mind gave them thin bodies and wondered how many could stand on a
needle.
The Scholastic doctrine of Angelic bodies was an inheritance from the
Neo-Platonic doctrine of the bodies of demons, the beings intermediary
between gods and men.
According to Plotinus these could assume a body
of air or of fire, but the generally entertained view of the school
was, that their bodies were of air. Apuleius was the author of a
definition of demons which was transmitted through the Middle Ages:
'Daemones sunt genere animalia, ingenio rationalia, animo passiva,
corpore aeria, tempore aeterna. ' See also Dante, _Purgatorio_, xv. The
aerial or aetherial body is a tenet of mysticism. It has been defended
by such different thinkers as Leibnitz and Charles Bonnet. See
Bouillet's note to Plotinus's _Enneads_, I. 454.
PAGE =23=. BREAKE OF DAY.
This poem is obviously addressed by a woman to her lover, not _vice
versa_, though the fact has eluded some of the copyists, who have
tried to change the pronouns. It is strange to find the subtle and
erudite Donne in his quest of realism falling into line with the
popular song-writer. Mr. Chambers has pointed out in his learned and
delightful essay on the mediaeval lyric (_Early English Lyrics_, 1907)
that the popular as opposed to the courtly love-song was frequently
put into the mouth of the woman. One has only to turn to Burns and
the Scotch lyrists to find the same thing true. This song, indeed, is
clearly descended from the popular _aube_, or lyric dialogue of lovers
parting at daybreak. The dialogue suggestion is heightened by the
punctuation of l.
Yet soon he healed; for Spirits that live throughout
Vital in every part, (not as frail man
In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins,)
Cannot but by annihilating die;
Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound
Receive, _no more than can the fluid air_.
All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear,
All intellect, all sense; _and as they please,
They limb themselves, and colour, shape, or size
Assume, as likes them best, condense or rare_.
The lines italicized indicate that Milton is familiar with the
doctrine of the schools, and is giving it a turn of his own. Milton's
angels, apparently, do not _assume_ a body of air but, remaining in
their own ethereal substance, assume what form and colour they choose.
Raphael, thus having passed through the air like a bird,
to his proper shape returns
A Seraph winged, &c.
Nash says, speaking of Satan, 'Lucifer (before his fall) an Archangel,
was a cleere body, compact of the purest and brightest of the ayre,
but after his fall hee was vayled with a grosser substance, and tooke
a new forme of darke and thicke ayre, which he still reteyneth. '
_Pierce Penniless_ (Grosart), ii. 102. The popular mind had difficulty
in appreciating the scholastic doctrine of the purely spiritual nature
of angels who do not possess but only assume bodies; who do not occupy
any point in space but are _virtually_ present as operating at that
point. 'Per applicationem igitur virtutis angelicae ad aliquem locum
qualitercumque dicitur Angelus esse in loco corporeo. ' The popular
mind gave them thin bodies and wondered how many could stand on a
needle.
The Scholastic doctrine of Angelic bodies was an inheritance from the
Neo-Platonic doctrine of the bodies of demons, the beings intermediary
between gods and men.
According to Plotinus these could assume a body
of air or of fire, but the generally entertained view of the school
was, that their bodies were of air. Apuleius was the author of a
definition of demons which was transmitted through the Middle Ages:
'Daemones sunt genere animalia, ingenio rationalia, animo passiva,
corpore aeria, tempore aeterna. ' See also Dante, _Purgatorio_, xv. The
aerial or aetherial body is a tenet of mysticism. It has been defended
by such different thinkers as Leibnitz and Charles Bonnet. See
Bouillet's note to Plotinus's _Enneads_, I. 454.
PAGE =23=. BREAKE OF DAY.
This poem is obviously addressed by a woman to her lover, not _vice
versa_, though the fact has eluded some of the copyists, who have
tried to change the pronouns. It is strange to find the subtle and
erudite Donne in his quest of realism falling into line with the
popular song-writer. Mr. Chambers has pointed out in his learned and
delightful essay on the mediaeval lyric (_Early English Lyrics_, 1907)
that the popular as opposed to the courtly love-song was frequently
put into the mouth of the woman. One has only to turn to Burns and
the Scotch lyrists to find the same thing true. This song, indeed, is
clearly descended from the popular _aube_, or lyric dialogue of lovers
parting at daybreak. The dialogue suggestion is heightened by the
punctuation of l.
