En poetisk "Summa". Om Hildegard av Bingen och hennes liturgiska diktning

Abstract

In the present paper an attempt has been made to discuss the poetry of Hildegard, the famous abbess of Bingen. The main interest has been given to its imagery — botanical, medical, musical, etc — and content, both reflecting, it has been contended, her main concerns, as demonstrated in her diverse prose works. The centre of her thought, reflected in these poems, as well as in the Ordo virtutum, is the drama of salvation history. Men are gathered and united with God through the church, in which they have to struggle, supported by the saints and co­ operating with the divine virtues. Hildegard’s poetry, then, is permeated by this dramatic concept of the Christian life, the end of which is the restored harmony be­ tween God, the spiritual beings of heaven and men. Thus, symphonia, the title of the song-collection, is a keyword in the Saint’s prophetic vision.