Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

Literature as Prophecy: Scholarship and Martinist Poetics in Mickiewicz's Parisian Lectures by

Wiktor Weintraub
Review by: Kenneth F. Lewalski
Books Abroad, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Summer, 1961), p. 288
Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40115986 .
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288

BOOKS ABROAD

"emeralds, sapphires, jaspers, calcedonies,

rubies, carbunclegarnets, and topazes" (p.
72). The translatordoes not seem to be sure
of them.
This is a beautifulexampleof printing,designed by Jane McCarthy.The ornamentsat
the chapteropenings,the use of red and black
inks, the balanceof each page on cream text
paperare noteworthy.There is a limited edition of 650 copies. It is not stated whether
there is also a tradeedition.
UrbanT. Holmes, fr.
Universityof Norm Carolina

K John H. Whitfield. A Short History of

Italian Literature. Baltimore. Penguin.
1960.303 pages.$0.95.
Enthusiasts of Italian letters will certainly
welcomethe publicationof A ShortHistoryof
ItalianLiteratureauthoredby the noted British scholar,ProfessorWhitfield. As the book
has a modest price, lively style, accuracyand
intelligence,the work should enjoy much favor among studentsand the generalpublic,to
whom this reviewerwarmly recommendsit.
Less than three hundred pages may seem
woefully inadequate to cover satisfactorily
such a rich and diversifiedfield as that of Italian literature.It is to the author'screditthat
he succeedsadmirablywell, managingto stimulate and challengeeven the teacherwell acquaintedwith the texts analyzed. Aside from
the few omissions(the dialect poets) and an
inadequate emphasis on certain important
critics (as De Sanctisand Croce) the book's
most grievous flaw is its fragmentarytreatment of twentieth centuryItalian poetryand
fiction. Despite the fact that Ungaretti,Montale, Quasimodoand Moravia(to mentionbut
a few namesthat occurimmediatelyto mind)
have been writing for severaldecades,Whitfield makesno attempteitherto describetheir
work or commenton their achievement.
It is sincerelyhopedthat a futureeditionof
the History will containsuch a badly needed
chapterand will revise and bring up to date
what is otherwisea useful,but somewhatprovincial bibliography.
Sergio tacipci
Yale University

* Luitpold Wallach. Alcuin and Charlemagne. Ithaca, N. Y. Cornell University

Press. 1959. x + 325 pages. $6.50.
Knowingveryintimatelythe Latinvocabulary
and style of Alcuin, close adviser to Charlemagne, ProfessorWallach is able to distinguish effectivelythe part that Alcuin played
in the important mandates and letters that
went out from the court.The authorexamines
also Alcuin's Rhetoricas a treatiseon "good
government"for Charlemagne,and he discussesthe sourceand characterof the treatise
on "Virtuesand Vices." Some 250 letters of
Alcuin are extant;it would seem that he used
them himselfas modelsfor laterwriting.Wallach comments also upon the school of epigraphic writing at Tours. There is so much
minute learning packed into this book that
some readersmight be repelledat first glance,
but this is not right: the style is easy and clear
and the content sharpensour understanding
of the CarolingianRenaissance.
Urban T. Homes, jr.
Universityof North Carolina Yael Dayan. Envy the Frightened. New
York.World. 1960. 187 pages.$3.50.
* Wiktor Weintraub.Literatureas Proph- The title is based on the Book ot FroverDs:
fearethalways."The
ecy: Scholarshipand MartinistPoetics in "Happyis the man that
The
who
Lectures.
author,
participatedin the Israeliwar of
Mickiewicz's Parisian
the young fightersswept away
sees
78
1959.
$2.
Mouton.
liberation,
pages.
Hague.
This short but valuablemonographexamines by their own prowessand bravery.The story
Mickiewicz's largest and most controversial begins with a sceneof small Israeliboys playThe name
work, namely the one hundred thirteen lec- ing a gameof courageandtenacity. the fearand
is
"Who
is
as
1844
the
and
1841
of
strong?"
between
he
delivered
tures
game
the admiredwinners.Thus
professorof the newly createdchair of Slavic lessparticipantsare their
children
Weintraub
the
France.
trulychildishgames
de
the
at
neglect
literature
College
in a Spartanlife of competand
Saint-Martin's
of
account
brief
a
up
with
they
grow
begins
aesthetictheoryandproceedsto analyzethe ex- itive strength. That, however,is not the ideal
tent to which propheticcriteria determined of Yael Dayan. She would rathersee the chilMickiewicz's interpretationof Slavic litera- drengrow up with a little fear,a littlesoftness.
ture and history.He also traces,in intelligible Men should strivefor some tendernessrather
and lucid fashion, the evolution of Mickie- than aggressiveness. The twenty year old
writer grew up on an Israelifarm, studiedat
wicz's most enigmaticphase.
F.
Kenneth Lewals\i the Hebrew Universityand joined the Israeli
MassachusettsInstituteof 1 echnology army. Her grandfatheris one of the first pio-

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