Satire XII sur léquivoque (French Edition)

Mary is not to be identified with Wisdom for all that, for in adding that then "we shall. Nevertheless, when referring to Wisdom and Mary, Montfort shifts from one to the other easily, and he uses such subtle changes of meaning that they are sometimes imperceptible. Let us note, however, that whatever he says about Mary is only included because of its relevance to Jesus Wisdom. This type of reading, called mystical, has been used by the saints down the ages. It follows from their spiritual experience. When Saint John of the Cross describes the Cross as the starting point of all spiritual experience and the key to the understanding of Scripture, what he says fits in perfectly with The Love of Eternal Wisdom.

Without revealing any personal secrets, Montfort, who frequently uses the first person singular,48 shares his personal experience. LEW reflects his own life, sufferings, prayer, and encounter with God. We only need to read his letters to realize this. In Letters 15 and 16, which were probably written in , he shows that he is sighing "night and day" for Wisdom, whom he is hoping to obtain through the Cross and prayer.

In Letter 20, addressed to his mother in , he uses the mystical theme of spiritual marriage to describe his bond with Wisdom: In the same Letter 20, Montfort said, "No one knows the secrets I am talking about, or at least very few people do. Unless we regard as a mere literary device the way in which he involves the reader in the book cf.

He writes for the sake of other people. Commenting on Sir Whoever makes me known will have eternal life," Montfort interprets the passage as suggesting three degrees of devotion, the highest one being perfection: Finally, he ends chapter 12, in which he has gathered together the great truths "which Eternal Wisdom came on earth to teach us, having first put them into practice," by commenting on the three degrees mentioned in LEW Most blessed of all are those who believe them, put them into practice and teach them to others; for they will shine in heaven like stars for all eternity" LEW , which includes a quotation from Dan This tells us the principles on which his vocation as a spiritual writer was based and his motives for writing books.

Although Montfort wrote the book when he was a young man, probably about , The Love of Eternal Wisdom firmly lays down the main principles of what may be called the Montfort spirituality50 by basing them on Scripture itself. This angle is that of the economy of salvation.

In that vast perspective, each theme finds its place in relation to others. It is clear, for example, that the Cross and Mary are ordained to the acquisition and preservation of Wisdom, that is, to mystical union with Christ, who remains the goal of all efforts in the spiritual life. Was this because of the demands of the missionary life and the needs to be supplied?

The span between and , the year of his death, is a short one, and the spiritual man did not really change over that period. Actually he never grew old. He expressed his inmost thoughts in the letters he wrote at the end of his life, and we can find in them the accents of the LEW and the same desires. Letters 24 and 26, written in , are all about the Cross. And in the last letter of those which came down to us, Letter 34, which he wrote about Easter , he intermingled Wisdom and the Cross in every line. These two works appear to have been written at about the same time, probably towards The latter followed close on the former and gives a summary or abridgment of it: The same holds good for Ps TD contains about explicit quotations, more than half of them from the Old Testament, and over allusions, mostly to the New Testament.

The explicit quotations are usually given in Latin and are very accurate. Only very occasionally does Montfort change or add to or adapt the text to make it fit his own idea cf. TD , in which he adds "Mariae" to the words of Ps Most of the allusions are incorporated into his thoughts and enter naturally into the stream of the sentences, shaping his language and turning his style into a real biblical style.

Some passages, like TD 61, 68, , read virtually like fragments of Scripture. And in TD everything hinges on the fact of the Incarnation as the fundamental biblical event par excellence, on which all the rest hangs, and this was how Montfort saw it. Now, whether we like it or not, Mary was involved in this event, and Montfort emphasizes this right from the start: This undeniable fact allows him to read the biblical texts with Mary in mind. Because the Incarnation took place in this way and because it was the means chosen by God to prove his love for us, it follows that Mary was necessary TD In the light of the will of God and of the Incarnation, the whole of the Old Testament, seen as heralding the New, takes on a different complexion for Montfort.

All that seemed obscure or mysterious in it springs to life and is seen as prophetic, rather as if the secret code of the hieroglyphs had been cracked. Everything becomes a type announcing the mystery of Christ and the mystery of Mary, who cannot be separated from him: Montfort quotes quite a few of them. He repeats that Mary is the only human being that "has found favor with God" Lk 1: TD 16, 44, ; she was filled with the Holy Spirit and conceived God himself in her most pure womb Lk 1: TD 6, 16, 35, 44 ; she was proclaimed the servant and slave of the Lord Lk 1: Montfort gives, however, a spiritual meaning to the biblical texts more freely and boldly in TD than he did in LEW.

He hardly refers to the Book of Wisdom at all but quotes and gives a Marian interpretation to a few passages from the Book of Proverbs 8: LEW ; Prov 8: He applies to Mary the text of Prov He dwells especially on Sir In LEW he applied to Mary the words in which God ordered Wisdom to "make your dwelling in Jacob, in Israel receive your inheritance and place your roots in his elect and predestinate. TD 29, 31, 34; SM He also borrows from the Song of Songs to explain the mystery of Mary: He sometimes puts forward arguments in the manner of the Church Fathers.

He uses "Homo et homo natus est in ea" from Ps While cleverly claiming that Daniel is rather bold, he applies "Haec facta est mihi" from Ps After the Fall, God condemns the serpent, but he introduces in his verdict a word of hope for humanity. Montfort refers several times to the prophecy, which is the only one that he comments on in TD.

He quotes it in full with its cross- reference in the text of the Vulgate: This first glimmer of salvation has been called the Protevangelium. Later on, in the Greek text the second part of the sentence began with a masculine pronoun instead of a neuter as required by the generic "He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel"; consequently.

This interpretation which involves the Messiah necessarily brought Mary into play, and the Marian interpretation of the Latin translation ipsa conteret became fixed in the tradition, at least in the Roman Catholic Church. The heel that the serpent strikes stands for the humble slaves and poor children of Mary. In PM the "heel of this mysterious woman" stands for the "little company of her children who will come towards the end of time" PM 13 , and RM states that in their preaching the missionaries are continuing the thousand-year-old battle RM Among other texts dear to Montfort are Gal 4: Montfort applies to Mary what Saint Paul says of himself: I am in labor again with all the children of God until Jesus Christ, my Son is formed in them to the fullness of his age" TD 33; cf.

Montfort himself expresses clearly and distinguishes very well the literal meaning what Paul says of himself from the other meaning, which might be called allegorical, when applying the passage "more truthfully" to Mary cf. On the basis of Eph 4: He understands this to refer to the full spiritual growth, the mystical union with Christ. In his opinion, however, "it is in the bosom of Mary that people.

He firmly believes that "so few souls come to the fullness of the age of Jesus [because]. Mary is not formed well enough in their hearts" TD and because they do not take the quick. In this connection, it is worth noting that the Pauline expression, which epitomizes the whole spiritual journey, concludes both the first and the last numbers of LEW LEW 1, In a book in which he frequently speaks of spiritual motherhood,52 Montfort says nothing about the beginning of Jn Here is your mother.

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Why did he choose to leave out53 the first part, which Mariologists rightly regard as fundamental to establish Mary as Mother of the Church? He asks the Father to remember his Congregation, which "you made. Perhaps this is the right perspective in which to consider "Da Matri tuae liberos" in PM 6, which probably refers to Gen Montfort gives no answer to the question. In TD 18 he evokes the scene on Calvary. In TD 5 he explains the word "woman," but his explanation has since been discarded. He quotes the second part of Jn John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her times without number as my total good" SM But he never quotes "Here is your son" or "Here is your mother" [except for quoting these words from J.

Nouet in HD 3b]. Montfort, of course, could not know what recent Johannine exegesis has emphasized: This fulfillment took place on Calvary, but Scripture was not fulfilled when the Word became flesh Jn 1: This was the view taken by Montfort and some theologians in former days. In TD he writes, "I have taken her for my own. De la Potterie suggests that the Johannine expression Jn It is indeed by virtue of his relation to Christ that the disciple receives Mary in his life as a believer.

Though Montfort might have argued the case differently, we must admit that his interpretation tallies well enough with the one suggested. We are referring to "the story of Jacob who received the blessing of his father Isaac through the care and ingenuity of his mother Rebecca" TD I shall expound it further later on. What we will concentrate on here is the use that Montfort makes of the biblical narrative. In TD he tells his readers that he will relate "the story of Jacob and Rebecca which exemplifies the truths I have been setting before you. He had already expanded on all this.

In other words, the "truths" are well established before he illustrates them by means of biblical texts. This was the method used at the Council of Trent; it consisted in turning to Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the Doctors of the Church to support theses that had been put forward and formulated previously. Montfort shows here that he was a man of his time, and he uses the same method in other places in TD. He did not read Scripture as an exegete but as a spiritual writer. This comes through clearly in TD and SM. In these works, he gives the spiritual meaning of Scripture and adapts it so as to go beyond the literal meaning without leaving the vast Christological framework in which Mary has her place.

And he has pointed them out to other people. But as he has said repeatedly, his aim is always to direct their attention to the main theme. The three works form a trilogy, and they should be considered together. The text takes up only eight pages in OC and is wholly Scripture-inspired. It contains 31 explicit quotations, 25 of which are taken from the Old Testament, and about 15 allusions to precise passages, mainly from the New Testament. On the whole, however, quotations from the Psalms predominate. They run through the texts, and Montfort uses them as naturally and as aptly as he does his mother tongue.

He addresses his prayer to each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity in turn, to the Father , to the Son , and to the Holy Spirit , and at the end comes back to "great God" PM and concludes with "God alone. The first quotation is from Ps He elaborates on this in the first six numbers, but he emphasizes "Memento" again in PM 15, 18, and This first quotation serves as a framework for the whole prayer and is therefore fundamental.

It sums up the prayer and would make a fitting name for it. Two other texts describe the congregation that Montfort is praying for: Among the other quotations, we must highlight Gen 3: Montfort quotes the passage in Latin without translating it in PM 12 and comments on it in the following number. This text is fundamental, because it accounts for the warlike tone of the prayer, justified by the "only enmity which you have instigated" PM The reference to the prophecy about Mary also accounts for the military- sounding name by which Montfort calls his Congregation: For it is to hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy that Montfort, using Ps Psalm 73 is a national lament.

The first few verses tell us straight-away about the great misfortune that has brought Israel so low. The people of YHWH has been heavily defeated. The Covenant community has been ransacked. The foes have set the sanctuary on fire, there is no longer any prophet v. The situation is desperate. In its literal sense, the psalm describes the distress of the people under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Montfort applies the psalm to his time: Will you never break your silence? Now, as formerly, what happens belongs to salvation history. The reference to Gen Montfort refers to the prayer of Rachel, who had borne no children to Jacob, but he changes the perspective completely.

And he may also have been thinking of the gift that the crucified Christ gave to his Mother on Calvary Jn As for Psalm 67, on which Montfort draws to describe his missionaries, its state of preservation is the worst of all psalms and its meaning most obscure. Any translation can only be conjectural, as is any interpretation. Montfort, who speaks of "the cloak of obscure words," is fully aware of this. The verses quoted by Montfort describe the wonders that God worked when he brought his people out of Egypt, and sings of the conquest of Canaan vv. It is in the context of mirabilia Dei cf. Here again, the words of the psalm are given a spiritual and allegorical meaning: The "creatures and poor folk" who will dwell in the "heritage" and the "silver wings of the dove" are also allegories.

But is the final battle really about to be waged? The atmosphere of PM is, without any doubt, eschatological. The missionaries envisaged by Montfort are identified with the "apostles of the latter times" whom he mentioned in TD So the coming of the end raises the temperature of the "burning prayer. Torrents of iniquity flood the whole earth carrying away even your servants. He urges God to act. He puts forward one reason after another, brings together the apocalyptic signs that he has collected from the Bible and from spiritual books.

He himself, at least vicariously through his Company, wants to take part in the great final battle. But when will it be fought? He has no idea. Obviously he is eager for the fray, but his very eagerness betrays his ignorance. Although he mentions three reigns, those of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, he sees himself in the third, which is that of the Gospel.

The reign of the Spirit, which is still unended, is therefore the reign of the Church, in accordance with the Johannine tradition, in which the coming of the Holy Spirit follows the glorious death of Jesus cf. It is during that reign that his Company is to fight for love and justice cf. This language is biblical; it belongs to the Last Judgement and is reminiscent of Mat But is the end near at hand? It is permissible to hope it is, to pray for its coming, and to try to read the signs of the times; we have no choice, however, but to say with Jesus, "About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" Mk Montfort echoes these words at the end of the passage about the apostles of the latter times: For our part we must yearn and wait for it in silence and in prayer" TD For him these texts are prophetic: As the New Testament writers read and interpreted Scripture in the light of the mystery of Christ, so Montfort, like all spiritual writers, read Scripture in order to find in it his own history and to apply the deeds of God in the past to his own time.

Bringing the hermeneutic cycle into play, he enters into the words of Scripture, and the words of Scripture enter into him. His reading of Scripture as a spiritual writer might be disputed by some, but it is the result of his faith. He is not naive and does not claim to say what the text meant at "the time of writing" or to have insights into the thought process of the ancient writers.

The Matter of Mind

Rule of the Missionary Priests of the Company of Mary. The Rule is the concrete expression in ordinary life of the ideal set out in PM. The biblical texts contained in it are comparatively few. However, some favorite texts recur there as well, for example, the reference to the mouth and wisdom that no opponent will be able to withstand in Lk In RM 61 he quotes again "evangelizantibus virtute multa" from the famous Psalm 67, quoted also in PM As Montfort is dealing with more practical details in the Rule, he draws more on texts by Saint Paul, particularly 1 Corinthians, and the gospel writers; he fleshes these out with quotations from the Old Testament but always with preaching in mind, as if drawing on a repertoire of biblical texts designed for preachers.

The contrast between RM and RW is striking. Obviously, the two works do not develop along the same lines. In the numbers making up RW, against 91 in RM, there are only three scriptural quotations and about ten allusions. The quotations Sir Of course, the two sets were designed for different people. Most important, however, a comparison between RM and RW reveals that the main biblical texts quoted in the former refer to the apostolic life, the ministry of the Word, whereas the few texts quoted in the latter refer to the interior life of the Sisters, their personal journey to holiness.

Obviously, Montfort does not mean to make the mission the preserve of men; although the "interior aim of the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom is the acquisition of Divine Wisdom" RW 1 , the exterior aim is certainly apostolic, including as it does teaching children, caring for poor people in hospitals, running retreat houses, etc. It is noteworthy, however, that the distinction between interior and exterior aims is not made in RM, which throughout deals with the life of the Company only from the angle of the mission.

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The difference is certainly striking. The last work of the trilogy is short and incomplete and is made up of only eleven numbers. It opens with a quotation of Lk The first four numbers contain about fifteen quotations, but they give prominence to some important texts like Psalm 90 LCM 3 and Mat 6: But even in the following numbers, which are said to have been borrowed from Nouet,63 the accent is strongly biblical, and Montfort once again repeats his favorite quotations from Psalm 67, for example in LCM 7 cf.

PM 19 and from Lk 9: The letter, which was probably addressed to a pious association called the Friends of the Cross, is said to be contemporary with TD, SM, and the trilogy. Some parts of FC are nothing but a series of allusions to scriptural texts cf. Montfort was a past master at arranging them. They inspire his thoughts, carry them along, and mold them to such a degree that it is sometimes difficult to tell Montfort and Scripture apart.

However, the key quotation on which the whole work hinges is Mt Montfort takes up again, comments on, and paraphrases virtually each individual word: There are a few quotations, already commented on in LEW, that establish the link between Wisdom and the Cross. In FC 16 Montfort repeats the adaptation of Wis 8: LEW , ; and FC 45, about praying for "the wisdom of the cross, that knowledge of the truth which we experience within ourselves," evokes once again the infinite treasure of Wisdom referred to in Wis 7: The composition of this work is not as original as that of his other books, and it contains fewer Scripture quotations.

He uses them as a basis for assertions or in an allusive way. No one particular passage, however, is specially commented on or highlighted. Biblical references are notably more numerous when he considers the fifth decade, which is said to be "his own composition. What we have just said about the composition of SR does not apply to LS. The book does not report what Montfort definitely preached, but it is an important document all the same.

It gives us an idea of the environment in which Montfort developed his talents as a preacher. It tells us what sort of preaching was given in his days, what subjects were dealt with, what doctrine was taught, what points were emphasized, what theology was in current use the small number of the elect, etc. LS is like a cross section revealing Christian living and pastoral activity in those days. Many people say that much of LS is not original. Yet he wrote most of the manuscript with his own hand, he arranged the plans of the sermons, he summarized them, added to them in various places, and supplemented them with his own ideas.

Reading through the book, one realizes what Montfort was exposed to in the way of theology and pastoral care during the hidden years at Saint-Sulpice, when he was preparing for the ministry that he was hoping to exercise,67 and also during the years of his hectic missionary life, as several of the summaries and plans were written after or , and others in the last years of his life.

What he suggests to others he had practiced in an exemplary way. LS tells us how his mind was shaped, what thoughts flashed through it that he thought necessary to put down in writing so as to ponder on them while doing the demanding work of summarizing. This would give us an inkling of how far his theological knowledge and his spiritual and pastoral experience extended. One thing about the sermons that is blatantly obvious is the large number of references to Scripture and the Church Fathers. The passages are quoted mostly in Latin.

Does this mean that preachers in those days addressed their audience in Latin? They probably gave their text in Latin, as was the practice before Vatican II, which introduced the vernacular into the liturgy. The Latin passages, however, especially those borrowed from the Church Fathers, with which the faithful were less familiar, were designed for the preachers, rather than for their audience.

At the time of the Counter-Reformation, controversy70 was prevalent, and preachers turned to Scripture and the Church Fathers to support their arguments. Montfort has drawn up long lists of loca varia Scripturae N. The reason for this was that in order to give convincing proof, preachers needed to have the original text, or at least the Latin version, at hand.

Besides, Montfort was aware that in controversies between him and the heretics, even "the oldest French versions or the Vulgate" were not authoritative enough, and he had "to turn to the Greek text, which is the most reliable" N This, at any rate, shows that Montfort was aware of the theological debates taking place in his days. It also accounts for the natural ease with which he could use Scripture quotations in his works, as a man of his time during the Counter-Reformation, and as a preacher of parish missions, rather than as an exegete. Scripture had been familiar to him for a long time and he had assimilated it so thoroughly that by osmosis, as it were, it had become for him a natural means of expression.

He refers to Scripture constantly and in many different ways. Sometimes he studies a whole book, for example, the Book of Wisdom. Sometimes he makes systematic syntheses, on the theme of Wisdom, for example, or on the role of Mary in the economy of salvation; these syntheses belonged to biblical theology even before it was known by that name. Sometimes he comments on, or paraphrases at length, specific passages, for example, Mt At other times he puts forward arguments that he supports with a series of quotations, or he simply lets his prayer flow with the words of Scripture, as he frequently does with the Psalms.

His many quotations are not ineffective. A quotation refers to somebody else for confirmation or support, or simply to insert the text into a larger tradition. Authority, auctoritates, was the word used in the Middle Ages. The force given by auctoritates was due to the holy teachers quoted: Their names enjoyed more prestige than their words. The author of a quotation was more important than the quotation itself. Whenever Montfort quoted Scripture, something similar happened. The Holy Spirit was speaking71 through the quotations. Montfort only needed to quote the first few words, and the Spirit took over, so much so that Montfort sometimes does not trouble to complete a quotation but leaves it unfinished and just adds "etc,"72 as if the actual words hardly mattered.

The essence of a quotation is that it refers to somebody else, or in the case of Scripture, to Another. It enables him to express himself. The secret work that takes place is a particular characteristic of theological Christian speech, which, in the last analysis, is only reference to Somebody else.

It is based on Somebody and on texts expressing His mystery. This was the view taken by patristic exegesis. If he reads Scripture in a spiritual way, uses and adapts it, it is because he, too, firmly believes that "all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness" 2 Tim 3: He rereads Scripture and rewrites it in order to live it out and bring others to do the same.

This "editorial" work on the vast corpus of Scripture is theological in the full sense of the term. It belongs to the order of the understanding of the faith. The Jewish exegetes, for whom the text was a living reality, also reread and rewrote the texts. The practice has been a long-standing tradition among Christian exegetes, and the spiritual writers in particular gave it a new impetus. Concilium Tridentinum, Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau , 5: Besnard, IV, ; V, DS , or G.

Edge Pirot, doctor at the Sorbonne, who had been censor of Histoire critique. Bio-bibliographic Study , Presses universitaires de France, Paris , Bossuet, Oeuvres completes, published by F. Lachat, Louis Vives, Paris , 4: Auvray, Richard Simon , , gives a more qualified though similar opinion. Bossuet, Oeuvres completes, , 3: Montfort mentions his recent journey to Paris. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort , N.

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Verger, Nantes , Saint Augustine, Contra Faustum, 22, This small book had a far-reaching influence. Martelet, Sacraments, figures et exhortation en 1 Cor Allison Peers, Garden City, N. After investigating the spiritual tradition of Wisdom for a long time, E.

Catta, likewise, states, "No one before Montfort has set up this system, which is, as it were, exclusive. Sedes sapientiae, in Maria. Studies on the Blessed Virgin , ed. Hubert du Manoir, Beauchesne, Paris , 4: It must be said that Wisdom literature enjoyed some vogue at the end of the seventeenth century cf. Bossuet; and France, col. We give in brackets the number given in the Septuagint, in line with most modern editions of the Bible. We note the suggestion put forward by M. Now, "burden" can also refer to the instruction the sages give to their followers Sir 6: The likely answer can be found in the uneasy relationship between these word games and poetry.

More specifically, these word puzzles, by their very form, defied certain classical conventions and for this reason, as I will demonstrate, they provoked the critics to oust them from the realm of literature. Since few modern-day readers have come across these puzzles, let me start by explaining how they work. Enfin je suis un des fils du Soleil, Et j'ai la lune pour Marraine. The editor does not reveal the answer, which is "lundi," until the next issue, but in the meantime, some readers may have already seen through the deceptive personification of the day that brings work and suffering, shortens sleep, and displays the leftover wares of the previous week.

Others may have resolved the apparent contradiction of having the sun as a father, who makes the day possible, and the moon as a godmother, who provides the name lune. While in our time, crossword puzzles and children's riddles stand innocuously outside the realm of the literary, the Early Modern forms I have just mentioned perch on a fuzzy borderline between pastimes and belles-lettres. Because of their contested status and because of their enormous popularity, they attracted the satirical venom of certain contemporary writers. In the comic writings I will discuss, several accusations appear repeatedly: The third objection proceeds directly from one of the tenets of the classical doctrine, which is the need for clarity: In numerous novels and plays, starting from the mid-seventeenth century, the attacks on word games aim at the literary pretensions of women and the supposedly foppish effetes who live among them.

By citing these word games, along with genres such as madrigaux and portraits , almost as passwords, Cathos and Magdelon attempt to show their guest that they belong in the realm of bel-esprit. To defy this precept was to risk being demoted from poet to entertainer. He thus gives street performers and salon witlings the same shameful status. The latter included Pierre Corneille, who openly defied the Academy's critique in the name of the public who took great pleasure in watching Le Cid. He first acknowledged that instructing was indeed an important purpose of art, but then he gave a conveniently wide definition to the word instruire: In short, he argued that the word games are morally good because they inspire joy, which is almost equal to virtue.

The perceived threat that they posed was thus in part due to their open defiance of one of the rules that the erudites imposed on the rest of the literary world. According to opponents, they defied the conventions of poetry in two ways: Since none of the other characters venture a guess, he announces the answer: The appalled speechlessness attests to the fact that in this period the bodily functions had already been relegated to the realm of the private, the process that Norbert Elias traces in The History of Manners.

Cotin thus distanced himself and those of his society from this Italian wit whose riddles coyly employed double entendres which verged on the obscene Cotin lxxiii—lxxiv. Although practitioners such as Cotin and the editors of the Mercure maintained their word games at the level of bonne compagnie , the stigma associated with their predecessors still unfairly tainted the genre's reputation. With the exception of the rhetorical division between high, low, and middle style, however, it is difficult to cite an explicit rule that bans using such words in poetry.

Without citing the reason why these words are objectionable, Jaucourt asserts that gens de lettres should feel shame at devoting their efforts to describing such objects. What further complicates the question of diction and decorum is the elevated tone of many of the enigmas. One example of such a fusion of high and low, of lyrical and quotidian, appears in the March issue of the Mercure:. First, the lettuce plant can only grow with the aid of the gods, since Neptune waters it, Cybele provides the earth, and Aurora presumably supplies the morning sunlight.

Once the lettuce is prepared to be served, it receives olive oil from Minerva, who introduced the olive tree to humans, and vinegar, which is wine in a different form, from Bacchus. Vertumnus, Roman god of fruits and the harvest, probably adds tomatoes and other ingredients to the salad. In the final stanza, the salad can be described as the metaphorical guest who comes to the table but cannot eat nor drink, since it is a dish, but is instead threatened by the fork and knife of the person who is eating.

Needless to say, the banality of the word salad would normally exile this text from the realm of poetry, in spite of its poetical ornaments. If an emblem depicts a rose or a sun, for example, it is evident that the reader should seek a higher meaning that goes beyond the object's concrete definition.

Aside from the largely unfounded accusations of vulgarity—justified in the sense of mentioning objects of everyday life, but unjustified in the sense of obscenity or scatology—a major objection to the enigmas from a critic's point of view lay in the intentional obscurity that defined these texts. An overwhelming number of critics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries maintained that the ability to hide meaning was not a desirable quality in poetry.

In fact, for Bouhours, clarity defined the French language itself, whose great virtue was to express things as they are, as opposed to bombastic Spanish and coquettish Italian. Therefore, to clutter expression with ornaments and word games meant to betray the very soul of the French character:. In this treatise, Bouhours defends his ideal of the French language against many rivals, including other languages, other periods, and, most significantly for this study, other contemporary ideals of French, such as the one forged in the salons.

He explicitly denounces the latter by stating:. Bouhours and Bellegarde belonged to a tradition of defining the French language by its clarity, which continued and gained momentum well into the eighteenth century. The treatises that attack the latter disapprove of the obscurity of Christian writings that defy logic, the idea of esoteric hidden meanings in Scripture, and the tortured writing style attributed to priests and theologians. Since critics such as Boileau and Voltaire could only go so far without confronting the mysteries of the Christian religion itself, they sometimes had recourse to distinguishing the core of the religion from the religious commentators who corrupted it.

In fact, he compares religious chaos to the verses that meet the standards of the Mercure galant , since both are filled with error:. De cette erreur dans peu naquirent plus de sectes [ He uses an obviously disapproving tone, since he constantly puts the authority of these sages in doubt and even claims that if the hidden truths were expressed clearly, they would have seemed less impressive.

If foolish readers impetuously mistook word games for real poetry, we should consider some reasons why two groups of people would uphold the following opposing claims: They are in verse, they rhyme, and more importantly, they have a meaning. As in poetry, words have multiple senses, and one can enjoy full satisfaction only when one has succeeded in finding the true solution that coherently explains the whole work.

The creator of the riddle, as the readers depicted within the Mercure itself claim, has obviously taken a great deal of trouble and has used up great stores of ingenuity to convey a simple message in a circuitous fashion. Following this train of thought, the reader must be equally cunning in order to extract the various nuances and ambiguities of each line. Later editors of the Mercure show a measure of impatience for these games and for their frenzied fans, even though they almost guarantee the success of their journalistic enterprise.

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Perhaps even more puzzling to the editors themselves was the conspiratorial air shared by the riddle-solvers who submitted their answers and names each month so that they could be listed in the pages of the Mercure. As the years pass, from onwards, the list becomes longer and the names become increasingly bizarre. Some examples of those who are listed as having submitted the correct answer are: Some volunteered their names in anagram form: