In the context of the Marian poetry written by the nun-poets, the Christological doctrine of Mary's virginity and the dogma of her divine motherhood may be seen to have borne most fruit, with relatively fewer poems being composed on the Mariological dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. Other sources also influenced the nun-poets, for instance Biblical descriptions of events (such as the Wedding Feast at Cana, mentioned in "A Lute for Our Lady", by Sr Maryanna, OP), or the proclamation of the Magnificat, echoed in poems of that name by Sr Agnes and Sr M Thérèse, SDS as well as in "Prolonged Magnificat" by Sr M Columba, IHM; events recorded in the Apocryphal Gospels (such as Mary's dedication as a Temple maiden, described in the almost imagist "Presentation of the Child Mary" by Sr M Julian Baird, RSM, the poignant "Presentation" by Sr M Catherine, OSU and the intimately personal "Candlemas" by Sr M Thérèse, SDS; and her various appearances through the ages, whether officially sanctioned or not (such as "For Our Lady of Lourdes" by Sr M Julian Baird, RSM, "Our Lady of Fatima" by Sr M Paulinus, IHM, and "Lines to Our Lady of Guadalupe" by Mother M Francis, PCC.). Naturally, prayers, rituals and devotions to Our Lady (such as the Rosary, or the Stations of the Cross, or the Angelus, the last -mentioned being particularly well exemplified in the carefully crafted poem "The Angelus" by Mother M Francis, PCC, as well as feast days (particularly those of the Annunciation and Christmas) also stimulated the nun-poets in their poetic praises, as they have done to poets over the centuries.
A less obvious but all-pervasive influence on the nun-poets' Marian lyrics is to be found in the events of their own lives - lives which in many ways echo the daily life of Mary. They must frequently have drawn strength from the example of self-sacrifice of the Blessed Virgin. Thus there are poems imploring Mary's aid in circumstances ranging from the performance of household tasks, as in "Our Lady of the Home" by Sr M Catherine, OSU to an inability to pray or to bear the sorrows of life, as is manifested in "Ancilla Domini" [the handmaid of the Lord] by Sr M Paula. In such poems, in particular, many of the nun-poets are able to exhibit an imaginative sensitivity to Our Lady which is capable of touching a core of spiritual emotion in the souls of their readers. Indeed, as Walter Croarkin (1940:v), writing in the very period of the American nun-poets' activity, puts it"
Each age of poets added and filled in where their predecessors had left off, until
today we find the poets daringly but reverently exploring the most intimate
details of Mary's soul and her relationship with Christ.
Particularly good examples of this empathetic exploration may be found in the Italian-style sonnet of Sr M Gustave, OP, "Return from Calvary" and in the later "Advent Song" by Mother M Francis, PCC, whose last and most poignantly intimate stanza reads:
but when the little Seed fell in the furrow,
the warm and spotless furrow of your heart,
tell us what pure songs stirred your delicate wonder,
what secret music whispered down your veins.
As can be seen from even a brief perusal of the poems anthologised here, some of the lyrics are highly structured, and some more impressionistic in style. In her dissertation, Dr Whittle (1998:125) quotes one of the most talented of the nun-poets, Sr M Thérèse Lentfoehr, DS, as offering an almost mystical explanation of her initial method of composition and its further development:
I remember never to have been consciously concerned with technique; the
poetic lines sang themselves into my mind as if to some pre-conceived melody,
the poem thus forming itself quite completely before a word was confided to
paper. This, I find, is the method I have followed ever since with this difference,
that now I revise constantly and tirelessly until at times the result surprises me
with its newness. I believe that a poet achieves his fullest freedom under
discipline. A poem must become a part of me, must live with me a long time
before I write it.
We may now proceed to consider two of the poems relating either partially or in their entirety to the theme of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This dogma was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus, but has a tradition dating back at least to 1477, when Pope Sixtus IV approved the feast day relating to it in Cum Praeexcelsa. It is taken by the nun-poets as a mirror of example. In "Garmenting", Sr Maryanna, OP, quotes St Paul's Epistle to the Romans (xiii:14): "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ", where the phrase is used in the context of living a holy life and resisting temptation. She interprets the injunction in a more literal fashion, and allows it to lead her to a comparison of St Anne, the Blessed Virgin, and the Saviour, all in terms of the image of cloth and in relation to herself, or to humankind.
Dr Margaret Mary Raftery
BA Hons, HDE, MA (UND), M Phil (Oxon), PhD (UOFS)
Senior Lecturer English Dept, UOFS, Bloemfontein, South Africa
February 2000
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