Here we have a look at Clement Marot of late mediaeval France; and Ovid, of the pre-Christian Roman Empire.  

Marot 

Clement Marot is one of France’s most famous poets. He lived from 1497-1544. Perhaps Chaucer is the English speaker’s equivalent. Here is the ‘Contreblason du Tetin’, in which we can admire the power of anaphora: the repetition of words or phrases, for emphasis, in argument.

 

Tit, skinny tit,

flat tit that looks like a flag,

big tit, long tit,

tit, must I call thee bag?

Tit with its ugly black end,

forever moving tit.

Who would boast having touched you?

With their hand fondle you?

 

Burnt tit, hanging tit, withered tit,

tit that contains foul water, but no milk,

the devil himself created thee…so ugly that thou look more like a tripe!!!

Tit stolen from an old goat,

tit good enough to feed Lucifer’s brats,

tit, long tit, resembling a stick,

tit that can be thrown over a shoulder!

 

When I see you I yearn to grab you by both hands

shake you, blow my nose

over the woman that owns you.

 

Go, stinking tit, GO!

Your sweat could certainly produce a deadly perfume

that would kill many unsuspecting victims.

 

Horrid, despicable tit,

tit with a shameful past,

tit that forever oozes a lacrimous pus

tit made of peas and glue,

my God, I can no more!

Leave it alone by Jove,

my throat is tight, I can no more…

 

If the tit were to buried in the soft earth

would it grow back to its previous splendour and charm the eye?

A tit knows how to deceive many ignorant sods

that see it well exposed and inviting enough!

A tit knows how and when to be bold,

thus taking away the courage of anyone

who might be strong to resist.

 

Smelling tit under the chin,

tit that stinks like an old lamb!

Tit, what have you done to yourself?

 

(translated for me by Helene Marmoux) 

Marot was court poet to Francis the First, and probably gained the post at the age of 20. He soon became a famous poet and lyricist. He developed several forms of poetry such as the rondeaux and ‘Parisian chansons’, and helped translate and set to music the Psalms (the Geneva Psalter). He was outspoken and was imprisoned in 1526 for Calvinist views. In 1528 he was appointed valet de chambre to Francis I.  

At this time Marot probably invented the blason, and contreblason, style we see above. The blasons all concern body parts seen in a positive light; the contreblasons see them in a negative light. 

Consider:  Marot’s poem about the old breast might have amused the 16^th century court, but what might a doctor think was wrong with it?

                   How about your own contreblason? Pick an organ you despise and write about it!

 

Perhaps old people were rare in the sixteenth century; and the many theories of illness causation that circulated in those days might have lent one, for example, to dismiss her as a witch instead of someone with pathology. 

For someone so ardently engaged with both poetry and religion, one might expect more compassion than shown in the above poem! Observe how it leads the modern reader along: when I read it people often laugh at first…                 

Ovid 

Aiming to end her pregnancy-so rashly-

Corinna lies exhausted, life in doubt.

To run such fearful risks without my knowledge

should make me rage, but fear’s put rage to rout.

But still, I got her pregnant-or I think so;

I often take as fact what could have been.

 

There is not a lot that Ovid does not discuss in his two books of love, the Amores I & II, and Cosmetics for Ladies and The Cures for Love.

Ovid lived at the heyday of the Roman Empire. Born in 43BC he knew the victories and defeats of Anthony and Cleopatra, and the great poets Virgil and Horace. He was banished from Rome by the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius for an unknown political indiscretion, perhaps some consequence of his poetry. His other great work was the Metamorphoses.

Ovid was not a doctor, or a patient in his poems, but he writes about abortion and its consequences in The Amores Book II Parts 13 and 14, and reveals in his invocation of numerous Gods one of the major approaches to healing in the Roman Empire. Someone of his education and status in Rome may have often given advice on medical matters. His poems are moralistic and opposed to abortion, but he asks the Gods, such as ‘kind Ilithyia, who take pity/when girls are locked in labour…’ to allow every girl one ‘mistake’:

But gentle girls do that, though not unpunished;

killing their wombs’ young life, they often die.

Die, and they’re on the pyre with hair dishevelled’

and ‘Serve them right’ say all those standing by.

 

But may these words of mine bear no bad omen,

but vanish in the wind, and I’m content.

Ye gracious Gods let her sin once in safety;

Enough- next time impose your punishment.

 

Consider: Is there a medical procedure you have some doubts or reservations about? Can you write a few lines, from a patient’s point of view, that express why you feel this way? I suggest you try to use a common type of metaphor in medicine: comparison to some kind of food.

‘I had surgery and I felt like a slab of meat…

‘I had an x-ray and thought my insides were cooking…

‘I had a blood test. The blood looked weird, as if the blender in my heart wasn’t working properly…’

 

What sort of theories do you imagine people form about the insides of their bodies? 

References and Further Reading 

Marot’s book of contreblasons is available to view on line through the University of Virginia Library. 

Ovid is in numerous editions 

New York University maintains a Database for Literature and Art in Medicine. This I think is the best resource on the web for the medical humanities:

endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/authors.html