Defending the 12th century since the 14th; blogging since the 21st.

Catholicism, Conservatism, the Middle Ages, Opera, and Historical and Literary Objets d'Art blogged by a suburban dad who teaches law and writes stuff.


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"Too modest" -- Elinor Dashwood

"Perhaps the wisest man on the Web" -- Henry Dieterich

"Hat tip: me (but really Cacciaguida)" -- Diana Feygin, Editor, THE YALE FREE PRESS

"You are my sire. You give me confidence to speak. You raise my heart so high that I am no more I." -- Dante

"Fabulous!"-- Warlock D.J. Prod of Didsbury

Who was Cacciaguida? See Dante's PARADISO, Cantos XV, XVI, & XVII.


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Tu n'y dépendrais de personne;
point d'officier à qui tu doives obéir,
et point de retraite qui sonne
pour dire à l'amoureux qu'il est temps de partir!*
Le ciel ouvert, la vie errante,
pour pays tout l'univers, et pour loi ta volonté!
Et surtout la chose enivrante:
la liberté! la liberté!

-- CARMEN, Act II

Or, as the Supreme Court would put the same sentiment:

At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State.

*Yes, I too had trouble with the scansion of that line. Try eliding "pour" and "dire" into one syllable; then treat "l'amou" as if it were a complete word, and start the next musical phrase (after the octave jump) with "reux." Works that way.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:45 PM