Give a very appropriate and perfect example: it is in the sky that countless stars shine brilliantly. Similarly, reason and spiritual virtue shine brilliantly, because they are entrusted with nobility; Various good tendencies in nature, such as pity, faith and admirable emotions, such as shame and kindness, shine with noble light; The advantages of the human body, such as beauty, strength and health, are also dazzling because of nobility.
There are countless shining stars in the sky, so it is not surprising that human nobility can bear all kinds of fruits; Noble nature and strength are embodied in so many forms that they are gathered and contained in different entities, just like different fruits on different branches.
I dare say that the nobility of human beings, in terms of its many achievements, is superior to the nobility of angels. It is true that the nobility of angels is more sacred because of purity.
The author of the Psalm pointed out the countless fruits brought by human nobility, and wrote at the beginning of a poem:
Our Lord, how wonderful your name is all over the world!
When the author of the psalm comments on people, he is almost surprised at God's love for human creation:
"God, what is this world, do you care about him? You made him inferior to the gods, crowned him with honor and glory, and let him dominate your destiny. "
People are looking for nobility, but so many people talk about it is full of fallacies. Take color as an example to illustrate: just as crimson comes from black, virtue comes from nobility. Dark red is a mixture of purple and black, but black has the upper hand, so it is called dark red; Similarly, virtue is a mixture of nobility and emotion, but nobility is dominant, so the title of virtue has the meaning of doing good.
It can be inferred from the above description that anyone without those fruits can't claim: "I was born in a certain family." You shouldn't think you are noble.
It can be further concluded that all those who accept this "grace", that is, all those who have this sacred thing, are almost like God and are not polluted by evil. This kind of grace can only be given by God, and God treats others equally, which is clearly stated in the Bible.
Urbetti family in Florence and Weiss Kong Di family in Milan are advised not to say such things: "Because I belong to this family, I am noble." It should be noted that the sacred seeds are not sown in the family, nor are they integrated into the bloodline, but are sown on individuals. As will be proved below, family does not make individuals noble, but individuals make families noble.
It may be said that in order to understand a work and further elaborate it, we need to master its four meanings.
The first meaning is called literal meaning, which does not exceed the literal meaning of words, such as fables written by poets.
The second kind of meaning is called metaphorical meaning, which is hidden under the cover of fables written by poets and the truth hidden in wonderful fiction. For example, Ovid described that when orpheus plucked the golden harp, he could make the beast bow and the trees and rocks dance with it; This means that a smart person can use the power of sound to make a cruel heart docile and kind, and make creatures unrelated to science and art obey his wishes, while a person who loses any rational life is almost the same as a stone. As for why the poet expresses his thoughts in this obscure way, this will be discussed in the last second paper. In fact, theologians' understanding of the metaphorical meaning of their works is quite different from that of poets. But here I intend to understand the meaning of metaphor according to the way poets understand it and their habits.
The third meaning may be called moral meaning, which is the meaning that readers should carefully explore in their works so that they and students can learn from it. Examples can also be found in the gospels. For example, when Jesus climbed a high mountain and changed his image, he only chose three of the 12 apostles to follow. From a moral point of view, it can be understood that there should be only a few companions when doing extremely secret things.
The fourth meaning is called secret meaning, that is, super meaning, or spiritual meaning. A work not only has real meaning literally, but also can express lofty and eternal glorious things through the things described in the work. This can be seen clearly in the poem. The psalm says that when the Israelites fled Egypt, Judaism became a sacred and free area. Literally, this is obviously right, but spiritually, it is also right, that is, once the soul is freed from sin, it will gain free will and enter a sacred situation.
When defining the meaning of a work, we need to explain the literal meaning first, because all other meanings are contained in it. Without it, other meanings, especially metaphorical meanings, are incomprehensible and absurd. Secondly, because everything has a surface and a core, if we can't clearly understand the surface first, we can't further understand the core; Similarly, the literal meaning of a work is always superficial. If you don't understand the literal meaning first, you can't grasp other meanings, especially metaphorical meanings. Moreover, every kind of thing, whether created by nature or man-made, can't determine the shape of things without first studying the object on which the shape of things depends; This is like mining and processing the physical object, that is, gold, before determining the shape of gold, and cutting and processing the physical object, that is, trees, before determining the shape of the box. As far as the literal meaning of a work is concerned, it always exists as an object with other meanings, especially metaphorical meanings. You can't understand other meanings without understanding the literal meaning first.
The goodness and beauty of any work are different from each other. Goodness lies in the thought of the work, and beauty lies in the modification of the text of the work. Kindness and beauty are pleasant, but kindness should become particularly pleasant. This poem is good, and many people who say it are hard to understand, because it needs very fine understanding, and the beauty is obvious; Therefore, in my opinion, people tend to pay more attention to the beauty of poetry and less attention to its goodness.
(Lu translation)
Precautions:
See Psalm 8 of the Old Testament.
Urbetti family: 12 to 13 century Florence's most powerful family.
Weiss Kong Di family: the family that ruled Milan city-state from 12 to 13 century.
See Ovid's Metamorphosis (ⅶ, Ⅰ).
See Old Testament Psalms (1 14). Judea, the place name here, is located in ancient Palestine.
Make an appreciative comment
During the period of 1304- 1307, Dante created The Night Banquet, which is an encyclopedic academic work. By interpreting some of the author's poems, he introduced the knowledge of philosophy, literature, politics and ethics to the readers. Therefore, the "banquet" also includes Dante will be enriched. This book was originally planned to write 15 articles, but only 4 articles were completed. The works show Dante's extensive knowledge and profound knowledge. The knowledge introduced mainly comes from Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and others, followed by the Bible and other philosophers and theologians.
In The Night Banquet, the poet praised "nobility" in a praising tone, promoted it to such a lofty position as the source of human reason and spiritual virtue, and boldly pointed out that "the nobility of human beings is better than that of angels in terms of many achievements". The poet also believes that nobility lies in personal virtue, not family status, and these precious thoughts are shining with humanism.
This paper also expounds four meanings of poetry, namely literal meaning, metaphorical meaning, moral meaning and mysterious meaning, and demonstrates the direct dialectical relationship between literal meaning and other meanings. Dante emphasized the basic position of literal meaning, which directly influenced his later creation of Divine Comedy.
Finally, the poet discusses his aesthetic thought. Of the two characteristics of poetry, Dante pays more attention to goodness, because "goodness lies in the thought of the work" and "it needs very fine understanding", while "beauty lies in the rhetorical modification of the work" and "obvious" can please people.
Dante's prose is famous for its simplicity and fluency, and often uses metaphors, literary allusions and religious legends, which not only strengthens the persuasiveness of the argument, but also inspires people's unspoken meaning and Taoist meaning, and is brilliant in literary talent.
(Zhu)