Medieval Academy of America

Sweetness
Author(s): Mary Carruthers
Source: Speculum, Vol. 81, No. 4 (Oct., 2006), pp. 999-1013
Published by: Medieval Academy of America
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 Sweetness

By Mary Carruthers

This essay offersa provisionalchartingof an aesthetictermso familiarfrom

medievalwritingof all sorts,inLatin and all vernaculars,thatmost scholarshave
tendedto overlook itas self-evident. That termis "sweetness."No word isused
more oftenin theMiddle Ages tomake a positivejudgmentabout theeffects of
works of art. Indeedone can seemclose todrowninginvats of glucosewhen one
reads late-medievalaestheticencomia of (forexample)Chaucer's sugaredelo
quence and honey-sweet words. As a termof value, "sweetness"seemsto have
lostany definitemeaning at all in such judgments.To tryto recoversomeof the
complexityof theconcept,I'm going to takesomething of a Cook's Tour through
it-you might thinkofwhat followsas a verydiscursive,lengthylexicalentryin
a dictionaryofmedieval aestheticterms.
In thisessay,theword "aesthetic"carriesitspre-Kantian,pre-Romantic mean
ingofwhat we ordinarilynow call "sense-basedknowledge,"what we perceive
and know throughour senses.Greek aisthesisis translatedbyLatin sensus,as in
thetitleofAristotle'streatise De sensuet sensato,"feeling"but also "knowing."
As understoodbymedievalwriters,"sweetness"was not in the firstinstancea
theoretical categoryof "beauty"or "pleasure"but referred to a definablesensory
phenomenon. We perceivetheproductsof art through our senses,visual,auditory,
gustatory, olfactory,tactile;thesehuman experiences were transferred as well to
artisticjudgments. Certainlydulciswas used forjudgmentsthatwe nowwould
of an artisticstyle,forexample. It
call "aesthetic,"to referto thepleasingeffects
is frequently foundwithwords like iocundusand dilectus.Itsantithesis, amarus,
meaning both "bitter"and "harsh," is also used oftenin thisway, to indicatean
unpleasantsensation, without alsomaking amoral judgment. For example,Not
kerwrites in theprologue tohisLiber ymnorumof a priestfromJumieges, fleeing
thedevastationof theNormans,who broughthis antiphoner with him to St.Gall.
The verse it recordeddid not fit Notker's familiar
melodieswell, and so,Notker
judges,"Quorum, ut visu delectatus,ita sumgustu amaricatus" (Whilepleased
by theirappearance,at thesame timeI foundthembittertomy taste).1 Notker is
notmaking a moral judgmentabout theverses fromJumieges,but the sortof
judgment we nowwould recognizeas aesthetic,a judgmentabout how his senses
perceivesomething.In otherwords,medieval aestheticjudgmentsare not always

This presidential address was delivered on April 1, 2006, at the annual meeting of theMedieval

Academy of America in Boston.

Thanks to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for a fellowship during which Iwas
able to write this article and toMark Whittow, Paul Brand, Chris Wickham, Sylvia Huot, Douglas
Dupree, Valerio Lucchese, and Anthony Hunt for providing me with occasions to develop thismaterial.

1
Notker, Liber ymnorum, PL 131:1003C; my translation. Thanks to Calvin M. Bower for bringing
this passage to my attention during his seminar on Notker in All Souls College, Oxford, March 16,
2006.

Speculum 81 (2006) 999

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1000 Sweetness

alsomoral judgments(as so oftenwe havemisunderstoodthem). Moreover, the

object isperceivedto be at thesame timebothpleasantand harsh,delectableand
bitter.This is not an unusualmedieval sensoryjudgment.Indeed,as I hope to
demonstrate,themost interestingly medieval aspect of "sweetness"-as with
many othermedieval aestheticterms-is that it isnot justone thing,but has a
contrariannature thatincludes within itselfitsopposites:bitter,salt,and sour.
This sensoryparadox is oftenplayed on inmedieval invocationsof sweetness
as an aestheticresponse. We can see itclearlyin thefollowingpassage fromBer
nard of Clairvaux's sermonson theCanticum canticorum(number19). He is
commentingon theoleum effusumreferredto in 1.2, "Thyname (nomentuum)
isas oil pouredout." Bernardglosses thisoilwith reference toPsalm33.9,making
a firmconnectionbetween tastingand knowing.He says to hismaiden monks:
"Ergo ex uberibussponsae opus sumerehabent unde diligant.Habet oleum ef
fusumsponsa,ad cuius illaeexcitanturodorem,gustareet sentirequam suavisest
Dominus." (Thus fromthebreastsof thesponsa they[themaidens] are able to
comprehendtheworkwhence theyare able to love.The sponsa has theexpressed
oil, bywhose odor theyare aroused to tasteand perceive/know thattheLord is
sweet.)2Collating his texts,Bernard concludes that theoil is "Thy name" and
"Thyname" is "sweet," as Psalm 33 states.
This commentis onlypart ofBernard's extendedmeditationon theoilwhich
isGod's name.He also says, in sermon15: "Aridus est omnis animae cibus, si
non oleo isto infunditur; insipidusest, si non hoc sale conditur.Si scribas,non
sapitmihi, nisi legero ibi lesum. Si disputesaut conferas,non sapitmihi, nisi
sonueritibi lesus. lesusmel inore, inauremelos, incorde iubilus." (Everyfood
of themind isdry ifit isnot spreadwith thatoil; it is tastelessifnot seasonedby
thatsalt [sinon hoc sale conditur].Ifyouwrite something,ithas no tasteforme/I
do not know it [nonsapitmihi], unless Imay read there"Jesus." Ifyou dispute
or argue, ithas no tasteforme/I do not know it [nonsapitmihi], unless "Jesus"
should resoundthere.Jesusishoney in themouth,melody in theear,a jubilee in
theheart.)3Notice how pervasively, how persuasively, Bernard emphasizes the
connectionof tastingand knowingthatinheresin themeaningsof theLatin verb
sapio, sapere.Notice also theeleganceofBernard's rhetoric, not justthemeasures
and internalrhymes ofhiscola and clausulae ("infunditur/conditur," theconstruc
tion"Si . .. non sapitmihi, nisi . . . ,"which is repeatedinthefollowingsentence)
but also thebeautifullyrenderedchiasmusof "lesusmel inore, inauremelos" in
thelastsentenceof thisquotation.This is languagethatdemonstratestheaesthetic
effectof dulcis even as itdefinesit.
Nor is thisoil only "sweet." Indeed,Bernard calls ita condiment,and specifi
cally a salt (sal)-the oppositeof "sweet."And notice thatwithout that"salt"
which is at thesame timealso a sweetoil-no food forthesoul is fruitful or can

2
Bernardof Clairvaux, Sermones super C?ntica canticorum 19.7, ed. J. Leclercq, C. H. Talbot, and
H. M. Roch?is, in S. Bernardi opera, 1 (Rome, 1957), p. 112. The translations from Bernard are mine,
after consulting those of Kilian Walsh, Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Cistercian Fathers
Series 4, 7, 31, and 40 (Kalamazoo, Mich., 1971-80).
3 on Song of
Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones super C?ntica canticorum 15.6, 1:86, commenting
Songs 1.2, "oleum effusum nomen tuum."

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 Sweetness 1001
be tasted:it is "dry" and "withoutflavor"(aridus,insipidus).That Bernard in
vokes the"dry" elementhere is, I think,important, forAristotlesays thatflavor
requiresmoisture inorder to develop at all.4So not only is anAristotelianphys
iologyof experientialknowledge (ifI can call it that) invokedhere throughthe
sensorypoles of saltand sweet,but so also are theopposingelementsof dryand
moist. The whiffofAristotelianisminBernard's analysisof tastecould perhaps
have been introducedthrough medical practiceaswell, fortheconceptof a nature
based upon fourelements with fourcontradictory qualitieswas basic. It ismore
importantto note thateven in thesemost ecstaticsermonsofBernard's,human
knowledge is created throughnaturalpsychologicalprocessesand sensoryexpe
riences,because tastingflavorsis also a means of knowing,evenknowingGod.
Bernardcontinuesconcerningtheoil: "Sed est etmedicina.... Cui aliquando
stetitante faciemsalutarisnominisduritia,ut assolet,cordis,ignaviaetorpor,ran
cor animi,languoracediae?Cui fonsfortesiccatuslacrimarum, invocatoIesu,non
continuoerupituberior,fluxitsuavior?" (But it isalsomedicine.... Inwhom has
thehardnessof heart thatisour accustomedexperience,theapathyof our indo
lence,our bitterness of spirit,the languorof our slotheverstood firmfacedwith
that savingname? Inwhom, having invoked"Jesus,"has the source of tears,
[though]completelydriedup,not immediately burstforth more plentifully, flowed
more sweetly[fluxit suavior]?)Themedical principleofcuringdiseasedconditions
throughapplyingtheircontrariesisplainlyatwork: thesweetnessandwetnessof
theoil alleviatehardnessand bitterness,as thedryheart flowsmore sweetlyin
tears(tears,beingboth bitterand salt,carryaway theexcess of thosequalities,
leavingmind and heartsweeter,suavior).SCertainly, Bernard is thinking ofChrist
as thegreat leechof souls, inkeepingwith Christ'snatureas suavis.But perhaps
thereis also an allusion in thesewords to theancienttropeof theoratoras phy
sician.Aristotleand Cicero both likentheartof oratoryto thatofmedicine,with
thebest orator servingas a kind of physicianto thebody politic.And, as Jean
Leclercq has noted,Bernardearned theepithetBernardusnosterTullius fromhis
contemporaries.6
Of all the itemsin themixed lexicalbag ofLatin bequeathed tomedieval Eu
rope,"sweetness" -dulcedo, suavitas-is among themostmixed and thetrickiest
of concepts.It isencounteredeverywhere inmedieval literature.
ThatRoman snob
turnedMerovingian courtier,VenantiusFortunatus,writeshow hispoems,offered
up in thewilderness likethoseofOrpheus,with theirsweetnesstamethesavage
woods and enrapturethe feralbeasts (thosebeing the sixth-century nobles of

4
See Aristotle, De anima 2.10 (422b), and especially the commentary of Roger Bacon, Liber de
sensu et sensato 7 ("de instrumentis gustus"), who cites Avicenna in particular as authority for the
crucial role of saliva: Opera hactenus in?dita Rogeri Baconi, 14, ed. Robert Steele (Oxford, 1937),
pp. 23-25.
5
Tears are another aesthetic phenomenon that profit from being considered historically, as well as

anthropologically and theologically; see Mary Carruthers, "On Affliction and Reading, Weeping and

Argument: Chaucer's Lachrymose Troilus in Context," Representations 93 (2006), 1-21, and the

bibliography therein.
6 noster monachorum et Tullius oratorum,"
"Bernardus Antonius cited by J. Leclercq, "L'art de la

composition dans les sermons de S. Bernard," Studi medievali, 3rd ser., 7 (1966), 6.

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1002 Sweetness
Poitou).7The effectsof dulce carmenremaineda favorite medieval trope.At the
end of theMiddle Ages, anotherItalian,Dante, writesof anotherband of rough
courtiers-this timedead ones, penned in togetherat theveryboundaryof Pur
gatory'smountain in theValley of Princes.Dante has been talkingto Sordello
when all become silent,a crowd seated inmeditation.Then one signals therest
to listenand standswith his hands clasped in a traditionalprayerposture:
... una de l'alme
surta, che l'ascoltar chiedea con mano.
Ella giunse e lev6 ambo le palme,
ficcando li occhi verso l'oriente,
come dicesse a Dio: "D'altro non calme."
"Te lucis ante" si devotamente
le uscio di bocca a con s'idolci note,
che feceme a me uscir di mente;
e l'altre poi dolcemente e devote
seguitar lei per tutto l'inno intero,
avendo li occhi a le superne rote.
(Purgatorio 8.8-18)8

... one of the souls, (had) uprisen, who was signingwith his hand to be heard. He
joined and liftedboth his palms, fixinghis eyes on theEast, as ifhe said toGod, "For
naught else do I care." "Te lucis ante" came from his lips so devoutly and with such
sweet notes that it raptme frommyself. Then the rest joined him sweetly and devoutly
through thewhole hymn, keeping theireyes fixed on the supernal wheels.]

The leader isunnamed,ostentatiouslyso, ina poemwhere seemingly everybody

The groupbegin theeveninghymn,Te lucisante terminum,
wants tobe identified.
with such sweetnotes ("dolci note"), sung sweetlyand devoutly("dolcementee
devote"), thatDante exitshisownmind ("chefeceme ame uscirdimente") along
with theraptsingers,incontemplative gaze upon thecirclingheavens.Sweetness
here is the vehicle of harmony and of ascent to the divine. In the poem this sound
ingsweetnesscomes as a stark,ifwelcome, contrastto thedisjointedharshness
withwhichDante isusheredintoHell:
and abrasiveness
Diverse lingue, orribili favelle,
parole di dolore, accenti d'ira,
voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elle
facevano un tumulto, il qual s'aggira
sempre in quell' aura sanza tempo tinta
come la rena quando turba spira.
(Inferno 3.25-30)

7 see Peter Godman,

On Venantius, Poets and Emperors: Frankish Politics and Carolingian Poetry
(Oxford, 1986), pp. 1-37; see also John Block Friedman's seminal study, Orpheus in theMiddle Ages

(Cambridge, Mass., 1970).

8
Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, ed. G. Petrocchi (Milan, 1967); my translation, taking into account
those of Charles Singleton, The Divine Comedy (Princeton, N.J., 1975), and John D. Sinclair, The
Divine Comedy (Oxford, 1948). The citation of the Inferno is also from Petrocchi's edition, with my
translation indebted to the same English works.

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 Sweetness 1003
[Strange tongues, horrible outcries, words of woe, accents of anger, voices shrill and
hoarse, and among these the sound of hands were making a tumult that swirls unceas
ingly in thatdark airwithout change, like sand when a sand-devil blows.]

Indeed "sweetness" is one of God's own names, an essentialpredicate. In the

words ofPsalm 33 (in theGallican Psalter):"Gustateetvidetequoniam suavisest
Dominus" (Tasteand see thattheLord is sweet).
But sweetnessisnot all good, as Adam and Eve discovered.The fruits ofEden
were lovelyto lookupon and "ad vescendumsuave," andwe all knowwhat came
of that.A seducer'swords are always sweet,likethoseof theserpent. Though the
Vulgate does not cast theserpent'swords explicitlyas persuasion,commentary
soon identified him as a persuader.
Marius Victorinus,Augustine'sgood friend,
does so specifically:as a formerrhetoricmaster himself,hewas in a position to
appreciatea successfulperformance. Honorius Augustodunensisrefersto him as
serpenspersuadens.The secondgreatpersuader in thisnarrative was, of course,
Eve. Indeed, thisstoryinGenesis can serveas an exemplarof theaestheticand
moral ambivalenceposed by "sweetness."9For like the treeitself,likethesweet
apple ("malum") itbears, "sweetness" isboth inbono et inmalo. From thevery
start,"sweetness"was profoundlyambivalentandmorallydifficult, as isapparent
in thecommentsof bothJeromeandAugustineupon theLatin translations of the
Bible thatmade use of suchwords. Yet theycontinuedinuse, notablyby both
Jeromeand Augustine.Moreover theiruse is characteristic of theLatin church
more thantheGreek, and in theearlychurch,perhapsespeciallyofNorthAfrica,
a phenomenondemonstratedby JosephZiegler, theOld Testamenteditor,in a
seminal1937 studyofhow theconceptwas translatedfromtheHebrew andGreek
intoLatin.10Augustine,who was acutelyaware of the ambiguityof dulcedo/
suavitas,evencounselingagainstusing thesewords in translations of theBible in
favorof lessmorally troublesome words likebonitas,nonethelesscalled inrapture
tohisGod, "vera tuet summasuavitas" (Confessions9.1). For all itsambivalence,
sweetnessseemstohave been a necessaryterm, worth riskingforthesakeof some
greaterexpressivegood.
What thisgoodmightbe is thesubjectof thisessay,which explores"sweetness"
in threeareas: as knowledge,as persuasion,asmedicine.First,knowledge.
The Genesis storyexploitsan ancientassociationof tastewith knowledge,evi
dentaswell in thederivationofLatin sapientiafromsapiens,thepresentparticiple
of theverb sapio, sapere.11 Most commentatorsin theAristoteliantraditionre
9
Marius Victorinus, De physicis 11 (PL 8:1301C); Honorius Augustodunensis, Elucidarium 2.13
(PL 172:1144), on the question "Quid est concupiscentia?"
10
See Jean Ch?tillon, Dictionnaire de spiritualit?, s.v. Dulcedo, dulcedo Dei: "La spiritualit? chr?
tienne, et plus particuli?rement celle de l'Occident, n'a jamais cess? de faire une tr?s large place ? l'id?e
de la douceur et aux termes qui servent ? l'exprimer" (my emphasis). In his seminal study, Joseph

Ziegler went further and identified a fashion especially North African by the fourth century: Dulcedo
Dei: Ein Beitrag zur Theologie der griechischen und lateinischen Bibel, Alttestamentliche Abhandlun
gen 13/2 (M?nster, 1937), pp. 16-22.
11 a sapore; quia sicut gustus aptus est ad discretionem
Isidore of Seville wrote, "Sapiens dictus
saporis ciborum, sic sapiens ad dinoscentiam rerum atque causarum; quod unumquodque dinoscat,
atque sensu veritatis discern?t" (Sapiens is from sapor; for as taste is able to distinguish the flavor of

foods, so knowing is to analyze matters and causes, for whoever analyzes also discerns the truth by

sense): Etymologiarum libri 10.240, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).

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 1004 Sweetness

garded tasteas touchof a kind,thoughthetwosenseshave distinct media through

which theyoperate, fleshin thecase of touchand thetonguein thatof taste(the
tongueis a touchinginstrument and experiencesheat and cold, but it ismoisture
Unlike thecerebralsenses-vision, hearing,and
as saliva thatdevelops flavor).12
smell,all ofwhich operateout of thebrain-touch and tastebothconnectdirectly
to theheart,eithertheheart itself(RogerBacon noted thatAvicenna thoughtthe
fleshof theheartwas itselfsentient)or somewhereclose to it.There isvariation
on thismatter.All agreed,however,that touchand tasteare vital to nutrition,
hence to lifeitself(thoughAristotlepointedout that,strictlyspeaking,animals
can survive without tastebut none canwithout touch,forit is touchthatmakes
a creaturesentient).
What tastedistinguishesis "savors,"or "flavors,"sapores.All thesenseshave
limitsbeyondwhich theydo not operate,and these limitsare expressedas the
extremesof a scale of "intermediate"colors, flavors,and smells.We perceive
colors and flavors(and also smells)ina similarmanner,always asmixturesof the
twooppositequalities,and not-notice-as singularqualities in themselves. Col
ors aremixturesoccurringbetween the two limitsof black andwhite;when we
perceivedifferent colors-even "black" and "white"-what we are perceiving
are differingproportionsof a mixtureof black andwhite.What we perceiveas
distinctflavorsare variousmixturesof sweetand bitter(or souror salt),as sepa
rate odors are varyingmixtures of sweet and rank.Thus, in ordinaryhuman
perception,all thatwe can taste is a mixtureof sweetnessand bitterness. As an
activityof knowing,tastingisdirectlyexperiential:actingupon theheartaswell
as themind, basic to eatingand necessaryforelementalgrowth,sapientia isalso
sapor,"flavor,"thusa varying mixtureof bitterand sweet.
The close linkof tastetoknowingwas oftenexploited inbiblical literature as
well as in For
theGreco-Latin tradition.13 example: "Vinumetmusica laetificant
cor et superutraquedilectiosapientiae;tibiaeetpsalteriumsuavemfaciunt melo
diam et super utraque lingua suavis" (Wine and music gladden the heart yet

12
On the organs and objects of the senses, see Aristotle, De anima 2.5-8 and De sensu et sensato,
esp. 2-4 (441a-445b). On touch and taste, see esp. De anima 2.9-11 (421a, 422a-424a) and 3.12
13 (434b, 435b), where Aristotle argues that touch and taste are closely linked and that both are
essential to life itself inways the other senses are not. The medieval commentaries I have found most
useful specifically on taste and touch are those of Averroes, Commentarium magnum inAristotelis de
anima libros, ed. F. Stuart Crawford, Mediaeval Academy of America Publication 59 (Cambridge,

Mass., 1953), and Roger Bacon, Liber de sensu et sensato (see n. 4, above). In addition to his com
mentaries on De anima and De sensu et sensato, Aquinas discusses five external senses in Summa

theologiae 1, q. 78, art. 3, but says there that taste is a particular sort of touch.
13
Intellectual historians have mostly explored sweetness in the theological concept of dulcedo Dei.
The most important studies include those by Jean Ch?tillon and Joseph Ziegler referenced in n. 10,
"
above; Heinrich Lausberg, Der Hymnus "Jesu dulc?s memoria, Hymnologische und hagiographische
Studien 1 (Munich, 1967); and Friedrich Ohly, S?sse N?gel der Passion: Ein Beitrag zur theologischen
Semantik, Saecula Spiritalia 21 (Baden-Baden, 1989). A recent essay by Rachel Fulton, "'Taste and
See That the Lord Is Sweet' (Ps. 33:9): The Flavor of God in theMonastic West," Journal of Religion
86 (2006), 169-204, adds many excellent quotations to the ones inmy essay. Fulton's approach to
the topic is anthropological rather than philological, and the fundamentally paradoxical nature of
sweetness as, in theWestern intellectual and lexical traditions, an experience always involving its
contraries is not so clearly brought out.

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 Sweetness 1005
more so thepleasureof knowledge;flutesand theharpmake a sweetmelody yet
more so a sweet tongue [Sirach40.20-21]).14 The metaphoric translatiofrom
gladdeningtheheartvia song to thedelightof learning,and fromthesweetness
ofmelody to thesweetnessoforatory,isan ancientcommonplace,as is thelinkage
of suavitaswith dilectio.Inmany of thePsalms, "sweetness"is linked with speak
ingthename ofGod himself."Quam dilexi legemtuam:totadie haecmeditatio
mea ... quam dulce gutturi meo eloquium tuumsupermel orimeo" (Oh, how I
have lovedyour law! It ismy meditationall day long.... How sweetare your
words tomy taste, more thanhoneytomymouth! [Psalm118.97, 103]).Or Psalm
18.11, inwhich the fearof theLord and his judgmentsare said to be "dulciora
supermel et favum"(sweeterthanhoneyand thehoneycomb).15
This persistenceof suavis,enjoyingevena sortof prominenceamong thedivine
names, is all themore peculiarsince,as I said earlier,bothJeromeandAugustine
commentednegativelyon theuse of suavis and dulcis to translatetheGreek and
Hebrew concepts.16In his articleon dulcedoDei fortheDictionnairede spiritu
alite,citingJosephZiegler,JeanChatillon remarksthattheHebrew rootforwhat
is sweet, like theGreek glukus,neverdeveloped theextendedmeanings of the
Latin.Words used intheHebrew Bible thatare based on therootmthq aredirectly
predicatedof thingsthattastesweetlikehoneyormanna, butof otherthingsand
personsbymeans of simile("sweet as honey").17 Most often,thosewords used
of personsor abstractionsin theGreek andHebrew Bible thatare translatedin
theLatin by dulcis/suavisare based on roots thatmean somethingother than
"sweetness":they mean "goodness" (Hebrew tobandGreek agathos) or "beau
tiful" (Greekkalos) or "kind, noble hearted" (Greekchrestos)or "agreeable"
(Hebrew 'areb,no em).By contrast,bothdulcisand suavishave greatlyextended
meanings,applicable inLatin to persons and abstractions-as Origen observed
of both, theyhavemultiple signification, ideal forconveyingtextualobscuritas
and difficultas.In biblicalLatin, sweetnessisoftendirectlypredicatedofwords,
eloquence,and voice.For example,amid all thelushsensorylanguageof theSong
of Songs, all thetastesand smellsand touching,theVulgate describesonly three
thingsas dulcis:One is theBridegroom'sfruit, which isdulcis to theBride's taste
(Song2.3). The othertwooccurrencesbothconcernlanguage:thevox dulcis (Song
2.14) of theBridegroomand thedulce eloquium (Song4.3) of theBride.18
14
It is the Greek that speaks of the pleasure of wisdom; theHebrew speaks of the delight of friends.
See Ziegler, pp. 53-54, for the problems encountered in translating this verse.
15 . . .
Origen wrote of this text, "Candoris autem et dulcedinis habet plurimum quid dulcis, quidve
suavius eloquiis Domini" (There are several meanings of candor and of dulcedo . . .what is sweet,
what sweeter than the eloquence of the Lord), associating "sweetness" specifically with eloquence, as
it commonly was; see Ziegler, p. 76.
16
In the New Testament dulcis and suavis are found very seldom. One of very few instances is in 1
Peter 2.3, quoting Psalm 33.9. Another is 2 Corinthians 6.6, where in a list of virtues of the servants
of God, suavitas to translate Greek chrestos, though the Vetus Latina had used bonitas. Yet a
is used
third isMatthew 11.30, "iugum enim meum suave est" (my yoke is sweet); again the Vulgate adopted
suave where the Vetus Latina had bonum. Given Jerome's own concern about this word (see below),
these adoptions are curious. On Jerome's changes, see the table and comments inZiegler, pp. 41-43.
17
Ch?tillon, "Dulcedo Dei," citing Ziegler's work as well.
18
Two things are described in the Song of Songs as suavis: the Bridegroom's guttur suavissimum
(Song 5.16), usually understood to mean his speech, and the beauty of the Bride "suavis et decora
sicut Hierusalem" (Song 6.3). Pulcher and dilectus are the predicates of choice.

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1006 Sweetness
Latin dulcisand suaviswere used by theVetusLatina translators and byJerome
to translateGreek chrestos.In a letter(number106), Jeromecommentedexten
sivelyon his decisions,includinginPsalm 105.1: "Confitemini Domino quoniam
bonus" (Letus praise theLord, forhe isgood). "Forwhich, you say,in theGreek
[thatis, theSeptuagint]we have read 'for[he is]chrestos,'thatissuavis [as in the
VetusLatina text].But it isknown thatchrestoscan be translatedeitheras bonus
or as suavis.But in theHebrew iswritten 'chi tob,'which allwith an equivalent
word have translated'for[he is]bonus.'Wherefore it isbestadvisablethatchrestos
be understoodas bonus."19Jeromejustifies his decisionon philologicalgrounds.
But therewas anotherseriousobjection to theoveruseof suavis and dulcis, an
objectionon moral grounds.Augustine articulatesthisobjectionmost strongly.
In his commentary on Psalm 118, respondingto thesameproblem in translating
chrestosthatJeromeconsidered, Augustinesays,of theVetusLatina use of suavis
in verse 65, thatbonitas is betterfor theGreek. "We have to rememberthat
sweetness(suavitas)can be foundinsomethingevil (inmalo), forunlawfuldeeds
can be enjoyable,and itcan occur even in legitimatecarnal pleasure.We must
therefore understandthesweetness,thechrestotetaof theGreek text,to be that
affordedby thegood thingsof thespirit.To avoid ambiguity,someof our trans
latorstherefore preferredto call itgoodness."20
Given thispatristicambivalence,it is remarkablethat theproof text for the
conceptionof God's sweetness,Psalm 33.9, was known in two Latin versions
continuouslyin theMiddle Ages: "Gustateetvidetequoniam suavisestDominus"
in theGallican and, in theHebrew, "Gustateetvidetequoniam bonusDominus."
The word Jeromewas translating was Septuagintchrestos,Hebrew tob.Both
Latin versionsof thisversewere thoughtcorrect:indeedbothwere sometimes
writtenout side by side,particularlyinmanuscriptscontainingPsalterglosses.
The problemisnotwhy Jeromechangedhis translationfromsuavis intheGallican
to bonus in theHebrew (heexplained thatinhis letter)butwhy suaviswas con
tinuedat all. Chatillon suggestedthatJerome was concedingto theexpectations
of his audience,who had memorized thePsalms as theyhad no other textand
would recoil fromhaving theiraccustomed languageviolated.Perhaps, though
elsewherein thePsalms Jeromeshowedno such scruple.21
Chatillon, likeZiegler and many othersbeforehim,was concernedwith the

19
Jerome, Epistolae 106.67, ed. I.Hilberg, rev. ed., CSEL 55 (Vienna, 1996), pp. 282-83: "pro quo
inGraeco legisse uos dicitis: quoniam xpncrc?c id est suauis. sed sciendum, quod xpTjcrT?c et in 'bonum'
et in 'suaue' uerti potest. denique et inHebraeo ita scriptum est: 'chi tob', quod omnes uoce simili
"
transtulerunt: quia bonus, ex quo perspicuum est, quod et xpr\GT?(; 'bonus' intellegatur. Jerome
purged many uses of dulc?s and suavis from the Vetus Latina, replacing them with forms of bonus and
bonitas: see Ziegler's tables of Jerome's changes, pp. 39-43.
20
Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmis 118.17.1, ed. E. Dekkers and J. Fraipont, CCSL 40 (Turnhout,

1956), pp. 1718-19: "Verum quia suauitas potest esse et inmalo, quando illicita quaeque etimmunda
d?lectant, potest etiam esse et in ea quae conceditur uoluptate carnali; sic debemus intellegere suaui
tatem, quam xpT|o~T?TT|Ta graeci uocant, ut in bonis spiritalibus deputetur; propter hoc enim earn et
bonitatem nostri appellare uoluerunt." The translation is that of Maria Boulding, Expositions of the
Psalms, 99-120, Works of Saint Augustine 3/19 (Hyde Park, N.Y., 2003).
21
See Ziegler, pp. 41-43. Ziegler comments that Jerome very rarely used suavis for Hebrew tob;
this is one of the very few instances.

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 Sweetness 1007
theologyof sweetness, which he understoodina contemporary psychologicalcon
text(thoughhe does not specifically recognizethisinhis article).For Chatillon,
"sweetness"describestheaffectofGod withinan individual, usingaffectasmod
ernpsychologyuses it,where it isdistinguishedfrom"emotion" and relateden
tirelyto an individual'sexperience.The danger inunderstandingit thisway is
that it limitsor disregardstherationalaspect of "sweetness,"that"sweetness,"
likeany sensoryexperience,is a way to knowledgeof thesort thatcan be artic
ulated, sharedwith others,and determinedto be trueor not.Sapientia,which in
thiscontextIwould translateas "intelligent beliefbased upon experienceof the
world," can trulyknowGod's sapor or flavor. But how? This bringsme to the
secondofmy topics,sweetnessas persuasion.
The affective aspectof sweetnesshas beenmuch commentedon over thepast
century,largely, historians,as amatterof aestheticsin thelate
at leastby literary
eighteenth-century sense-that is, of "sentiment"and "taste." The prevailing
twentieth-century ideawas well expressedby FredericRaby, followingEmile
Male: themedieval tasteforsweetness was due to lay-inspiredGothic pathos,and
theemotionnotedespeciallyin thepoetryof theCistercianand Franciscanorders
expressedan individualistic aesthetic.Personalexperienceand individualempathy
thusreplacedwhat Raby describedas "theold calm theologicalsymbolism" with
"a terribleand sorrowfulrealismof detail," a Gothic "new emotionalism,"the
second (or even third) wave of that"affective piety"ushered inafterthemillen
nium byAnselm and his contemporaries.22 The details of thisanalysisare no
longerinvogue,but itsnarrativestructurestilldominates.The explanationsfor
medieval "emotionalism"thatare prevalentnow remaininsistently focusedon
theindividual, orientedthistimetowardthepsychologyof theliminaland strange,
theexcessive,peculiar,and queer. In otherwords, to an evengreateremphasison
individualaffectand personal taste.
There is anothersetofLatinwords rooted in theconceptof "sweetness"that
is justas importantto itsubiquitousmedieval usage.These show its linkto per
suasion, to rhetoric, which refocusestheconcept fromthe individualonto the
social, forrhetoricis as essentiallysocial as sensoryaffectis individual.I can best
illustratethiswith a story,toldby thetwelfth-century chronicler
Hugh ofFleury.
It is an apocryphalstorymade up well afterthepurportedfactsit tells,about
thegreatCarolingian abbot of Fleury (and bishop ofOrleans), Theodulph.The
story'sinaccuraciesare not importantformy purposes,for,likemost fictions,it
speaks anothersortof truth. Theodulph fellfromgrace afterthedeath ofChar
lemagne,in the revoltof Bernard of ItalyagainstLouis thePious. Though he
probablydid not participatein therevolt,his enemiesat court tookadvantageof
theuncertainty and denouncedhim to theking.Theodulphwas deposed as bishop
in 818 and sent to exile, firstto themonasteryof St.Aubin atAngers and then
(probably)toLeMans, where he died.23 An accomplishedpoet and architectural
patron,a major contributorto the intellectual vitalityof theCarolingiancourt,
an importantimperialadviser-Theodulph was all of these,but theonly thing

22F.
J. E. Raby, A History of Christian Latin Poetry (Oxford, 1953), p. 419.
23On
Theodulph's real life and poems written in exile, see Godman, Poets and Emperors, pp. 93
106.

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1008 Sweetness
you need toknow about him forthestoryI am about to tell is thathewrote the
Palm SundayhymnGloria, laus,et honor.
InHugh ofFleury'sstory, Theodulph has been imprisoned unjustlyby theking
ina towerwithin thecitywalls ofAngers.Like othermedieval citiescontemporary
with thechronicler, Orleans developedan elaboratePalm Sundayprocessionthat
involvedcitizensand clergy with palmsmarchingfromoutside thecityto thegates
(whichwere closed fortheoccasion), holdinga ceremonyof civicblessingat the
gates,and then,thegates beingopened,processingthroughand to thecathedral,
carryingtheirbranchesand singingGloria, laus.Adopting detailsof thisproces
sion, theFleurylegendcontinuesthatone Palm Sunday inAngers, theprocession
halted below the towerwhere Theodulph was imprisoned,and theking (who
happened to be visiting)heard themost beautifulverses ("pulcherrimos versus")
of theGloria, laus, sung fromthe tower in concertwith theprocessionbelow.
Softened("emollitus")by theverses,theking askedwho itwas who sang and,
told itwas Theodulph,had him therefore at once released.24
What thestoryde
scribesis an act of persuasion,which softensand dissolves thehard heartof the
king as he is touchedby thesweetsong.Therein residesthecommunalenergyof
sweetness,not alone in the individualaffectsthatwe so stronglyassociatewith
latermedieval affective piety.The qualityof sweetness, which is at the linguistic
root of persuasion, functionsrhetoricallyto persuade anotherperson to an ac
tion-in thiscase, itenables theemperorLouis, by beingmerciful,tomake what
is also the justdecision.The talealso illustratestheoccasional natureof persua
sion, theneed forcontinualreinforcement and strength ofwill, because, thestory
goes on, just as he was returnedto his own people ("ad sua") Theodulphwas
poisoned, at whose instigationthenarrator leavesunclear.A tale of sweetness
turnedto bitterness,indeed,and an apt historiaof thepowers and pitfallsof
imperialdecisionmaking forHugh's noble patron, thecountessAdela of Blois.
Suavis iscognatewith theverbssuadeo and persuadeo, "to persuade," literally
"to sweeten."Persuasion is thegoal of rhetoric.In book 3 of hisDe oratore,
Cicero speaks of an "ornatus et suavis" orator.He triesas well to distinguish
suavis fromdulciswith respectto style:a properlysuavis oratorwill have sub
stantialand austeresuavitas,not extra sweetened("dulcem") or syrupy("decoc
tam,"cooked down).25InQuintilian and some laterrhetoricbooks, dulcis is said

24
The story is told in Raby, Christian Latin Poetry, p. 175, who got it from Charles Cuissard,

Theodulphe d'Orl?ans (Orl?ans, 1892), pp. 134-48. Cuissard quotes a fifteenth-century French ver
sion from an Orl?ans manuscript, but a similar story is told by the chronicler Hugh of Fleury, writing
c. 1115 (PL 163:854D); he dedicated his Libri sex historiarum ecclesiasticarum to Adela of Blois. Hugh
concludes (in the narrative present), "Sed dum ad sua revertitur, veneno, sicut fertur, extinguitur" (But
when he was returned to his own, as he was being transported, he was assassinated by poisoning).
There is no other evidence that Theodulph was poisoned?or indeed that any of this happened as

Hugh says it did, and much to indicate it did not. It is evidently a local legend that enjoyed a long
currency in the vicinity of Orl?ans; interestingly as well, it is a legend about the efficacy of a favorite
hymn and the persuasive effect of dulce carmen.
25
"Ita sit nobis igitur ornatus et suavis orator . . . ut suavitatem habeat austeram et solidam, non
dulcem atque decoctam" (Consequently while we secure that our orator shall have ornament and
charm ... at the same time his charm must be severe and substantial, not sweet and luscious):
Cicero,
De oratore 3.26.103, ed. and trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass., 1942).
Subsequent references are to this edition and translation.

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 Sweetness 1009
to be a characteristic flavorof themiddle styleof oratory("flavor" like"color"
being termsapplied to varietiesof rhetoricalstyle),but that is not a universal
teaching.26 InLatin, successfuloratoryisalways suavis,however:bydefinitionit
must be, howeverone definesthatquality.For, as Aristotledefinedrhetoric,it is
"the abilityforeveryoccasion to see theavailablemeans of persuasion."And
what ispersuasive isdetermined with respectto a particularaudience: "theper
suasive ispersuasiveto someone."27
This social, communalemphasisremainedat theheartof rhetoric. Dialectical
proofalone isnot persuasive,foraction involvingthewill, an assent,must result
fromany genuinepersuasion. In his RhetoricAristotleuses a group ofwords
derivingfromGreek pistis forwhat we now call persuasion.These have to do
with belief-in theLatinNew Testament,suchwords are translated with fides
and with formsof credere.So it is interesting that in rhetoric,Latin translates
"persuasion" as itdoes, as suasoria,with such an evidentlinkto an ambiguous
concept.From itsverybeginningsin fifth-century Greece rhetoricenjoyed (and
stilldoes)much thesamemorally ambivalentreputationthatsweetnessitself did.
So Iwonder ifthechoice of suadeowas intendedto conveysomeof thatambiv
alence.As did hismaster,Cicero,Augustine frequently plays on theassociations
of suavitas,eloquentia,and (per)suadere,notablyinDe doctrinaChristiana.Play
ingon a favoreddebate inancientrhetoricconcerningtherelativeimportance of
wisdom and eloquence,Augustineobservesthatthosewho speak eloquentlyare
heardmore pleasantly("suaviter"),thosewho speakwisely are heardmore ben
He concedesthatScripturesays,"multitudoautemsapien
eficially("salubriter").
tiumsanitas est orbis terrarum"(a multitudeofwise men is thehealth of the
world [Wisdom6.26]). Yet things wholesome butbitter("amara salubria") some
timeshave tobe swallowed,and perniciouslysweetthings("perniciosadulcedo")
alwaysbe shunned." [But] what betterthansweetthingsthatgivehealth,ormed
icinesthatare sweet (salubrisuavitate,vel suavi salubritate)?"
Wisdom with el
oquence isbest,forthereare churchmen who have commentedonGod's eloquent
words not onlywisely butwith eloquence.28 Dulcis eloquentia,verbadulcia,vox
suavis aremedieval tropesas commonlyinuse as dulce carmen,and indeedthe
phrase "vocesdulces/suaves"can refertovoices singingor speaking,to thewords
spokenor sung,and especiallyto thewell-crafted words oforatory.Sweet-talking
is "sweet" because itpersuades,by reason (onehopes), but essentiallypersuasion
must invigoratethewill, enablingit to act.That isof course itsgreatpower.

26
Quintilian discusses the styles, genera dicendi, in Institutio oratoria 12.10, where he associates
dulc?s with the middle style. But the characterization is not consistent, and, as all rhetoric masters
counseled, a good orator varies his styles as appropriate with the occasions and audiences of his

speeches. Compare Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.8-11 and Cicero, Orator 5-6 and especially 21-28.
27
Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric 1.2.1 and 11, trans. George A. Kennedy, Aristotle on Rhetoric

(Oxford, 1991).
28 . . . Sicut autem
"Qui enim eloquenter dicunt, suauiter, qui sapienter, salubriter audiuntur. saepe
sumenda sunt et amara salubria, ita semper uitanda est perniciosa dulcedo. Sed salubri suauitate, uel
suaui salubritate quid melius? . . . Sunt ergo ecclesiastici uiri, non solum sapienter,
qui diuina eloquia
sed eloquenter etiam tractauerunt": De doctrine Christiana 4.5.8, ed. J,Martin, CCSL 32 (Turnhout,
1962). The translation is that of R. P. H. Green, On Christian Teaching (Oxford, 1997). Thanks to
David Ganz for reminding me of this passage.

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1010 Sweetness
But persuades towhat? The seducer,the teacher,the lawyer,thepreacher,and
thestatesmanare uncomfortably close in theirprofession,as indeedeverywriter
on oratoryacknowledged.Quintilian predicatedhis idealoratordicendiperitus
(accomplishedin speaking)upon thepriorconditionthathe be virbonus (a good
man).29Moral goodness is somethingan orator bringsto his rhetoric, not some
thinghe acquires fromit.Like rhetoricas well, sweetnesscharacteristically oc
casions and exploitsirony, oxymoron,paradox. Itsveryessence isambiguous,just
as excessivesweetnessof flavorreboundsto itsopposite,producingthesensations
of bitterness and rankness.In rhetoric,sweetnessisnot limitedtoone sensealone
but can be a propertyof our experience more generally, using thepersuasivetool
ofmetaphoric transference, medieval translatioor transumptio(adoption). InDe
oratoreCicero commented:"Quin etiamgustatus,qui estsensusex omnibusmax
imevoluptariusquique dulcitudinepraeterceterossensuscommovetur, quam cito
idquod valde dulce est aspernaturac respuit! ... Sic omnibus in rebusvolupta
tibusmaximis fastidiumfinitimum est." (Taste is themost voluptuousof all the
sensesandmore sensitiveto sweetness[dulcitudo]thantherest,yethow quickly
even itdislikesand rejectsanythingextremelysweet [dulce]! . . . [I]nall thingsthe
greatestpleasuresare onlynarrowlyseparatedfromdisgust.)30 Medieval writers
did not need tohear thisfromCicero. The experienceof theprophetJohn,eating
the scroll that is sweetupon his tonguebut embittershis stomach (Apocalypse
10.9-11; cf.Ezekiel 3.2-5), encapsulatesthisessentialfeatureofwhat is sweet.
A thirdpropertyofmedieval sweetnessderivesfromthislast.Sweetness isme
dicinal; itheals and restores.But itdoes notwork inhuman bodies likea pill.
Medieval medicineswere given inorder to restore what aMiddle English trans
latorof thefourteenth-century papal physicianGuy de Chauliac called "le swete
accorde"-in Galen theconceptof eucrasia,thewholesome balance and blending
of thebody's qualities and humors.31Since theprincipleof growthand lifewas
foundedon nutrition,thefirstmedical goalwas to redressexcess,typically through
purgation-which is not a pleasant, agreeableexperience.To thisendwere ad
ministeredvarious sugars,including honey,milk, syrups,treacles,and thepotions
called "letuaries" inEnglish (fromLatin electuaria),mixed froma combination
of herbs and othermedicaments.Not all thesepotions containedsugars (garlic
was also an important medicinal),but a greatmany of themdid, somuch so that
sugar itself,likehoney,"sweet"wine, and licorice,is spokenof asmedicine.
For instance,in theHarley lyricnow called "Annotand John,"thefairlady is
describedas follows:
Muge he is antmondrake pourh miht of be mone,
trewe triacleytold wit tonges in trone;
such licorismai leche fromLyne to Lone;
such sucremon sechep Oat saner men sone;
blipe yblessed of Crist, pat baypep me mi bone

29 to Cato.
Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 12.1, inwhich Quintilian attributes the maxim
30
Cicero, De oratore 3.25, 99-100.
31 can be found in the online
The quotation from theMiddle English translation of Guy de Chauliac
Middle English Dictionary, s.v. swete (adj.), 7(b).

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 Sweetness 1011
when derne dedis in day derne are done.
Ase gromyl in greue grene is be grone,
ase quibibe ant comyn cud is in crone,
cud comyn in court, canel in cofre,
wit gyngyureant sedewale ant be gylofre.

He ismedicine ofmiht, mercie ofmede.

[She is nutmeg and mandrake through the power of themoon,

reckoned truemedicine by tongues on the throne;
such a medicine may heal from the riverLyn to the riverLune;
such sugar a man seekswhich heals men at once;
a happy one blessed of Christ, who grantsme my prayer
when secret deeds are done discreetlyduring the day.
As gromwell in a thicketgreen is the seed
As cubeb pepper and cumin famous for itscorona,
cumin famous in court, cinnamon in a box
with ginger and setwall and clove-gillyflower.
She is a medicine in her power, mercy in reward.]32

Though neverdescribedas sweet in thislyric, Annot is everykind of sweetthere

is,sweetsmelling,sweetsinging,sweet inaction,sweettasting:thepoet sumsher
up, "He ismedicine ofmiht,mercie ofmede." In otherwords, herveryname is
Sweet,perhaps incontrafactal parodyof theGod whose name is suavisandwho
is (asLanglandwrote) "lecheof lif"by reasonof thatsweetness.33 To be sweet is
to bewholesome,without excessof bitterness and salt: thuswater andwine both
are called "sweet"when theyare pure,whetheror not theyare also sugared.
Thingsare also "sweet"when theyare fresh-Plautuscan speakof a suavispiscis,
a fishboughtatmarket thatisnot yetputrid.34 Yet sweetturnsbitter with excess,
and so has potentiallyunpleasanteffectsevenas itrestores. Galen had noted that
honey, when boiled, turnsbitterand thatitcouldhavedeleteriouseffectsinvarious
circumstances.35Cicero, as I noted earlier,applied thismaterial quality to rheto
ric'ssweetnessaswell,which readilyturnstodisgust,as a sweetfishquicklyrots.

32
The Harley Lyrics: The Middle English Lyrics ofMS. Harley 2253, ed. G. L. Brook (Manchester,

Eng., 1964), no. 3.

33
Piers Plowman, B 1.204, ed. A. V. C. Schmidt (London, 1995). Suavis and sweet are cognate in
the same Indo-European root, as is the multicompounded Greek root edu-; (per)suadeo is cognate
with these. Dulc?s and glukus are cognate in a different Indo-European root: see Carl Darling Buck,
A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages (Chicago, 1949). De
spite the efforts of many historical linguists to rationalize their various uses, dulc?s and suavis evidently
overlapped to a large extent, and distinctions between them inmedieval writers are more a matter of

personal style and the literary conventions within which someone composed than of any demonstrably
consistent distinctions.
34
In Plautus's Asinaria (The Comedy of Asses), the brothel madam, Cleareta, says that her clients
are like fish, the fresher ("recens") the better, for such fish "habet sucum, is suavitatem" (1.3.178-79,
ed. and trans. Paul Nixon, Loeb
Classical Library [Cambridge, Mass., 1916]). Cicero uses the same
idiom (without the sexual innuendo) of fresh fish teeming in the sea: "Quid multitudinem suavita

temque piscium dicam?" (Why should I speak of the teeming swarms of delicious fish?): De natura
deorum 2.64.160, ed. and trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass., 1933).
35
Galen, On the Natural Faculties 2.8.121-25, ed. and trans. A. J. Brock, Loeb Classical Library
(Cambridge, Mass., 1916).

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1012 Sweetness
Sweetnessis a paradox innature,a sensoryoxymoron.But then,God (at leastso
Augustine thought)is a master not only of naturebut of rhetoricalart as well:
recall thathe governshistoryitselfthroughthefigureof antithesis:"Neque enim
Deus ullum,non dico angelorum,sed uel hominumcrearet,quemmalum futurum
essepraescisset,nisipariternossetquibus eos bonorumusibuscommodaretatque
ita ordinem saeculorum tamquampulcherrimumcarmen etiam ex quibusdam
quasi antithetishonestaret.Antithetaenimquae appellanturinornamentiselo
cutionissuntdecentissima."(ForGod would neverhave createdanymen,much
less any angels,whose future wickednessHe foreknew,unlessHe had equally
known towhat usesHe could put themon behalfof thegood, therebyadorning
thecourse of the ages like a most beautifulpoem set offwith antitheses.For
what are called antithesesare among themost elegantfiguresof speech.)36
VenantiusFortunatus, withwhom I began, isbest remembered not forhisOr
phicpoems among thebarbariansofPoitiersandTours but forhishymns,among
themtheoriginalversionofPange linguagloriosi laureamcertaminis,sungto the
gloryof a triumphant God, whose bodywas stretched on thecross,whose viscera
were piercedwith iron. It is one of theearliestChristianpoems to exploit the
terribleparadoxes inherentin theaestheticqualityof dulcis/suavis.
Consider the
followingstanza:

Crux fidelis, interomnes arbor una nobilis

nulla silva talem profert fronde floregermine;
Dulce lignum dulce clavo dulce pondus sustinens.

[FaithfulCross, among all others a unique unchanging tree

no woodland brought forthsuch a leaf, flower,shoot;
Sweet tree sustaining a sweet burden with a sweet nail.]37

The single,noble treerecallsthe treesof Edenwhose fruits werewholesome and

sweet to eat-all save theonewhose fruitproved both sweetestand bitterest of
all. Like thosetrees,thisone also bears fruitthat is sweetto taste,sweetnessthat
is knowledgeofGod, medicine both forthesinglesoul and, throughthe liturgy
withinwhich thishymnwas intended,forthewhole communityof humankind,
and yet that-by a frightening paradox-is most sweetwhen it ismost deadly.
This sweetnesshas killed twiceover,first when Eve and Adam tasted/knew the
sweetapple, and thenwhen thesweetnails fastenedthesweetbody to thesweet
wood. The sweetparadox is invokedaswell inan elegantlycompactversionof a
Ciceronianmaxim, cited ina different contextbyBernardofClairvaux: "Sit suavis
et dulcis affectuituoDominus lesus,contramale utique dulces vitae carnalis il
lecebras,et vincatdulcedo dulcedinem,quemadmodumclavum clavus expellit"
(Let theLord Jesusbe pleasurableand sweet inyour affection, especiallyagainst

36
Augustine, De Civitate Dei 11.18, ed. B. Dombart and A. Kalb, CCSL 48 (Turnhout 1955); trans.
R. W Dyson, Augustine: The City of God against the Pagans (Cambridge, Eng., 1998).
37
This stanza has become a refrain for the whole hymn in liturgical usage, though it is unclear how
soon during theMiddle Ages this occurred.

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 Sweetness 1013
thewickedly sweetenticements of sensual life,and sweetnessconquerssweetness
as one nail drivesout another).38
Venantiuscomposedhis hymnbefore600, longbeforetheusual dates assigned
tomedieval affective piety.The concentratedseriesof oxymoronsthatfocusthe
poem- "dulce lignumdulce clavo dulce pondus sustinens"-emerged fromin
terwovenphilological,theological,philosophical,rhetorical,and medical tradi
tionsthatfullyrecognizedand exploited,ifwith some justified apprehension,the
powerfuldimensionsinbono et inmalo of theadjectivedulciswithwhich Ve
nantiusmeasures his verse.

38 canticorum 20.4, 1:117. The maxim

Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones super C?ntica is in Cicero,
Tusculan Disputations 4.35.75, ed. and trans. J. E. King, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass.,
1927): "etiam novo quidam amore veterem amorem tamquam clavo clavum eiiciendum putant" (Some

think, too, that the old love can be driven out by a new, as one nail can be driven out by another).
Thanks toMarcia Colish for bringing this quotation to my attention.

Mary Carruthers isErichMaria Remarque Professor of Literature and Dean ofHumanities

at New York University (e-mail:[email protected]).

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