ROSWITHA THE NUN 



It is in a spirit far different from that of her 

 panegyric on the emperor Otho that Roswitha 

 writes her dramas. Fear and mental perplexity 

 no longer possess her. Though humbly begging 

 the reader not to " despise these strains drawn 

 from a fragile reed," she has no misgiving, for 

 she feels that herein lies her mission. She 

 explains her reason for using the dramatic form, 

 and for taking Terence as her model. There 

 are many, she says, and she does not entirely 

 exonerate herself, who, beguiled by the elegant 

 diction of the Classics, prefer them to religious 

 writings, whilst there are others who, though 

 generally condemning heathen works, eagerly 

 peruse the poetic creations of Terence because 

 of the special beauty of his language. She 

 further expresses the hope that by trying to 

 imitate his manner, and by at the same time 

 dramatising legends calculated to edify, she 

 may induce readers to turn from the " godless 

 contents of his works " to the contemplation 

 of virtuous living. Emboldened by this pious 

 hope, Roswitha shrinks from no difficulties 

 or details, details which might well have made 

 her hesitate, and which, betraying a knowledge 

 of the world, have raised the question as to 

 whether she made her profession as early as was 

 customary. This solicitude of Roswitha for the 

 welfare of frail and all too human mankind 

 recalls St^Bernard's condemnation, some hundred 

 and fifty years later, of all carving in church or 

 cloister, when he says, "one reads with more 



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