Verses on Various Occasions · Chapter
Prologus in Phormionem explained
The speaker introduces a performance of Terence's Phormio, adapted for a Christian audience in a northern accent.
What happens
The speaker introduces a performance of Terence's Phormio, adapted for a Christian audience in a northern accent. The prologue praises the art of purifying earthly elements with divine light and asks the audience to be kind and merciful to the young actors, who are performing a classic comedy for the first time in a Catholic setting.
Themes in this chapter
The Church and Tradition
The adaptation of a classical pagan play for a Catholic audience, blending classical wit with Christian values.
Sin and Redemption
The act of cleansing earthly dross and clothing it with pure supernal light suggests a redemptive transformation of worldly art.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“What Attic Terence wrote of old for Rome, We in our northern accents lisp to-night; What heathen Terence spoke to heathen ears, We speak with Christian tongues to Christian men”
We are performing Terence's ancient play in our own northern dialect, transforming his pagan words into a Christian message for a Christian audience.
Highlights the cultural and religious adaptation of the classical work.
“These, as they pace the tangled path of life, Cleanse from this earth its earthly dross away, And clothe it with a pure supernal light.”
Those who follow this art purify worldly things, removing their imperfections and imbuing them with divine radiance.
Describes the spiritual refinement of earthly material through art.
“Be kind—they strive with no inglorious aim; Where they do well, applaud; and, if in aught They shall come short, be mild and merciful.”
Please be gentle with the young actors; they are trying their best, so praise their successes and forgive their mistakes.
A plea for audience leniency toward the inexperienced performers.