''Timor mortis conturbat me'' is a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase commonly found in late
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
Scottish and English poetry, translating to "fear of death disturbs me". The phrase comes from a responsory of the Catholic
Office of the Dead
The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper r ...
, in the third
Nocturn
Nocturns (Latin: ''nocturni'' or ''nocturna'') is a Christian canonical hour said in the nighttime.
In the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, nocturns refer to the sections into which the canonical hour of matins was divided from ...
of
Matins
Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning.
The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated b ...
:
Medieval poetry
Since the phrase "" was popular in medieval literature, and was frequently repeated in poetry, there are numerous poems that are conventionally titled because they contain the phrase.
In terms of genre, poetry in this tradition frequently appears in the form of a
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...
, or a
sermon
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...
that employs
exempla
An exemplum (Latin for "example", pl. exempla, ''exempli gratia'' = "for example", abbr.: ''e.g.'') is a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point. The word is also used to express an action performed by an ...
. In some cases, the poetry also took the form of a list (e.g. a list of different famous people appears within the poem). Although the list is not technically a form of genre, it is a common medieval literary convention.
Several themes appear in poetry which are also frequently found in other medieval poems on the subject of death. A common theme is death's triumph over people no matter how great or powerful a person was in life. Another common theme is the uncertainty of when one's life will end. Poets invariably pointed out that there is no guarantee that a person will live from one moment to the next, and that death could strike suddenly and without warning. This naturally led to the theme of the immediate need for penance and good works. It was stressed that a person should not delay in seeking penance or doing good works, lest they should perish and suffer eternally in
Hell for it.
William Dunbar
William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 – died by 1530) was a Scottish makar, or court poet, active in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work i ...
's "
Lament for the Makaris
"I that in Heill wes and Gladnes", also known as "The Lament for the Makaris", is a poem in the form of a danse macabre by the Scottish poet William Dunbar. Every fourth line repeats the Latin refrain '' timor mortis conturbat me'' (fear of deat ...
", written around the end of the 15th century, employs the phrase at the last line of each verse. As its title indicates, the poem refers back to the titular medieval
Scottish poets
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
.
He hes done petuously devour,
The noble Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
, of makaris flour,
The Monk of Bery, and Gower
Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...
, all thre;
Timor mortis conturbat me.
The gude Syr Hew of Eglintoun,
And eik Heryot, and Wyntoun,
He hes tane out of this cuntre;
Timor mortis conturbat me.
In later culture
The first eleven stanzas of ''
Lament for the Makaris
"I that in Heill wes and Gladnes", also known as "The Lament for the Makaris", is a poem in the form of a danse macabre by the Scottish poet William Dunbar. Every fourth line repeats the Latin refrain '' timor mortis conturbat me'' (fear of deat ...
'' are quoted in Chapter III of ''
The Worm Ouroboros
''The Worm Ouroboros'' is a heroic high fantasy novel by English writer E. R. Eddison, first published in 1922. The book describes the protracted war between the domineering King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary ...
'', by
E. R. Eddison,
922
__NOTOC__
Year 922 ( CMXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Summer – Battle of Constantinople: Emperor Romanos I sends Byza ...
In ''
The Sword in the Stone'' by
T. H. White,
938the hawks' ''Ordeal Hymn'' references the traditional form, but modified for the philosophy of predators
Life is blood, shed and offered.
The eagle's eye can face this dree.
To beasts of chase the lie is proffered:
Timor Mortis Conturbat Me.
The beast of foot sings Holdfast only,
For flesh is bruckle and foot is slee.
Strength to the strong and the lordly and lonely.
Timor Mortis Exultat Me.
The phrase is a refrain in
Kenneth Rexroth's 1966 poem "Thou Shalt Not Kill".
What became of Jim Oppenheim?
Lola Ridge
Lola Ridge (born Rose Emily Ridge; 12 December, 1873 Dublin, Ireland – 19 May, 1941 Brooklyn, New York) was an Irish-born New Zealand-American anarchist and modernist poet, and an influential editor of avant-garde, feminist, and Marxist publi ...
alone in an
Icy furnished room? Orrick Johns
Orrick Glenday Johns (June 2, 1887 – July 8, 1946) was an American poet and playwright. He was one of the earliest modernist free-verse poets in Greenwich Village in 1913-1915 and associated with the artist's colony at Grantwood, New Jerse ...
,
Hopping into the surf on his
One leg? Elinor Wylie
Elinor Morton Wylie (September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928) was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensu ...
Who leaped like Kierkegaard?
Sara Teasdale
Sara Teasdale (August 8, 1884January 29, 1933) was an American lyric poet. She was born Sarah Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri, and used the name Sara Teasdale Filsinger after her marriage in 1914.
In 1918 she won a Pulitzer Prize for he ...
, where is she?
Timor mortis conturbat me.
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names.
...
parodies this convention in his novel ''
The Palace of Love
''The Palace of Love'' (1967) is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the third in his ''Demon Princes'' series. It is about a wealthy man, Kirth Gersen, who is obsessed with seeking vengeance on the remaining Demon Princes wh ...
'' (1967). Writing through his character
Navarth the Mad Poet, he relates a poem in which the stanzas end in such examples as Tim R. Mortiss degurgled me, Tim R. Mortiss disturgled me, Tim R. Mortiss occurgled me, etc.
David Markson's 2001
postmodern novel ''This Is Not a Novel'' may also be seen as an extended example of the genre. The Latin phrase appears, translated as "The fear of death distresses me," and the novel's content is dominated by an extensive catalog of how hundreds of writers and artists died.
See also
*
Ubi sunt
*
Memento mori
References
*
*{{Cite book , last = Brown , first = Carleton , author2=Carleton Fairchild Brown , title = A Register of Middle English Religious & Didactic Verse , year = 1916
External links
Online version of "A Lament of the Makers", which repeatedly employs the phrase ''timor mortis conturbat me''
Middle English poetry
Latin words and phrases