Iesu dulcis memoria: A Proposal for an Alternative Scansion

It is suggested that the Jubilus Rhythmicus de Nomine Jesu, traditionally attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, may have been intended by the author to be scanned as trochaic tetrameter acatalectic, rather than as Ambrosian stropes, as implied in the chant setting in current general use. This proposal...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:Iesv dulcis memoria
Main Author: Nixon, Robert J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brepols [2020]
In: Revue bénédictine
Year: 2020, Volume: 130, Issue: 1, Pages: 165-175
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bernard, Clairvaux, Abt, Heiliger 1090-1153, Jesu dulcis memoria / Skansion
IxTheo Classification:CD Christianity and Culture
KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages
KDB Roman Catholic Church
RD Hymnology
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:It is suggested that the Jubilus Rhythmicus de Nomine Jesu, traditionally attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, may have been intended by the author to be scanned as trochaic tetrameter acatalectic, rather than as Ambrosian stropes, as implied in the chant setting in current general use. This proposal is made on the basis of the consistent employment of double rhyme in the poem. A comparison with other contemporaneous texts, similarly using octosyllabic lines and double rhyme, indicates that a trochaic scansion (resulting in feminine line endings) was invariably associated with double rhyme. Moreover, the pseudo-Bernardine Rhythmicae Orationes ad Unum Quodlibet Membrorum Christi, with which the Jubilus Rhymicus has close affinities, consistently employ trochaic tetrameter acatalectic, supporting the suggestion that this is the meter used in the Jubilus Rythmicus.
ISSN:2295-9009
Contains:Enthalten in: Revue bénédictine
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1484/J.RB.5.120206