Jacopone da Todi: Lauds

The Classics of Western Spirituality

by Jacopone da Todi, Serge Hughes (Translator), Elizabeth Hughes

Jacopone da Todi c. (1230-1306) entered the Order of Friars Minor during the last quarter of the thirteenth century when the conflict between the Franciscan Conventuals and Spirituals was raging. His lauds, which long have had an established place in the history of Italian poetry, sing the praises of poverty, insist on the supremacy of the love of God above all other loves, and inveigh against the worldliness of the Church under the reign of Pope Boniface VIII. In this volume, Serge and Elizabeth Hughes have given us a fresh, highly-readable rendition of Jacopone's poetry. Writing in the introduction to this book, Professor Serge Hughes describes Jacopone's significance for today: " We continue to turn to this work after seven centuries…because of the intensities of Jacopone-his descent into the self and his search for and struggle with God."

Genres: Poetry, Religion, Christianity, Mysticism, Italian Literature

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1490

About the author

Fra Jacopone da Todi, O.F.M. (ca. 1230 – 25 December 1306) was an Italian Franciscan friar from Umbria in the 13th century. He wrote several laudi (songs in praise of the Lord) in Italian. He was an early pioneer in Italian theatre, being one of the earliest scholars who dramatised Gospel subjects.

Reviews

[Ivan Granger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lauds is a series of ecstatic poems praising love and the total transformation of self through love. Dive deep and explore.

[Cristina Contilli]

Letto nel lontano 1997 per l'esame di letteratura italiana 1

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume from the absolutely wonderful Classics of Western Spirituality series, Jacopone da Todi, a leading figure among the Spirituals of the late 1200s and early 1300s, is explored, and his most Serge and Elizabeth Hughes translate his most famous work, The Lauds. Written in beautiful Italian poetic language, the Lauds explore the world of the Spirituals and their praise of poverty, the sublimation of God’s love, and the rejection of the worldliness they saw dominating the Roman Catholic church after the resignation of one of their own. The translation has lost much of its poetic beauty, but the thought still remains. Elemire Zolla writes in the Preface that “The Jacoponean subculture has vanished, the simple souls and astute minds, the glaring gazes and the gruff voices are no longer available, and there is nothing living at which one may point to illustrate at least in part the human enigma that was Jacopone…What appears so intriguing in him is the glaring contrast between the man and the mystic.” Later, Zolla notes that Jacopone swings between the rustic, metaphysical thinker and the attacks that he leveled against the pope. “There is no transition between contradictory levels of consciousness. Mystical rapture and animal directness, sublime spiritual enlightenment and devotional trivia appear simply juxtaposed, black and white.” Jacopone was quite an opinionated person.

Hughes notes in the introduction that Jacopone was brought repeatedly to his knees by half-hearted devotion, including that in himself. This is a topic repeatedly covered in The Lauds. In fact one wonders often if it is false piety, so often does Jacopone confess his sins in this regard. However, this is not the full picture.

Jacopone possessed a remarkable, biting wit. On the sniping between theologian in Laud 31, Jacopone remarks:
See how these theologians love one another!
One, like a young mule, watches and waits
For the right moment to kick the other in the chest.
There are also personal, sarcastic attacks on the Pope, such as the opening to 58, Third Letter From Jail to Pope Boniface VIII, which starts:
Pope Boniface, you’ve had a good deal of fun in this world;
You’ll not be very lighthearted, I suspect, as you leave it.

In many, Jacopone presents beautiful images. I love the earthy, metaphorical content of The Five Senses, imagining each in an argument that his is the sense with the most fleeting nature. The verse in 60, Holy Poverty and Its Threefold Heaven is purely beautiful:
God does not dwell in a heart that’s confined,
And a heart is only as big as the love it holds:
In the great heart of Poverty
God has room to dwell.
Laud 69 is similar in its metaphorical beauty, using the branches of a tree’s hierarchy to further explore Jacopone’s religiosity.


Most of the work, however, requires a very serious and whole-hearted commitment to Christianity in its simplest and purest form. In Laud 26, Christ’s Lament Over the Sinner, Jacopone puts into Christ’s mouth the words:
The world puts on a gladsome face
To persuade the unwary of its goodness;
Its emptiness and falsity it carefully conceals, knowing
That as you approach Me, I raise you up and crown you.
Laud 34, On the Differences Between True and Counterfeit Love, Acquired and Infused Knowledge, Jacopone ends with a stern warning:
When the will overbalances judgment and strength,
There are no defenses against madness,
The trinity crumbles and falls apart.
Our vision blurs, and we find,
Contrary to our expectations,
That evils have no end.

What folly to pride ourselves on our lofty estate,
Perched on top of a rickety ladder!
Should the ladder break we plunge to earth,
And future generations will mock our madness
In song and legend. O the unpardonable stupidity
Of not trying to foresee the ends of our actions!

Before reading this volume, I was unaware of the contribution of Jacopone both as a writer and as a spiritual thinker. Although much is repetitive, there are moments of clear brilliance throughout. This is a worthwhile study.