An Experience of Delight
Sr. Clemente Authors Book on Piers Plowman
by Anne Marie Mongoven, OP
Sr. Clemente Davlin
Every so often in life we discover a hidden jewel. It is not that the jewel is actually hidden, for much of the time it is right in front of our eyes though we simply do not see it. Usually hidden jewels are small and it may be that their smallness keeps us from seeing them. Discovering jewels does not happen often, but, when it happens to me, I am filled with delight.
The most recent jewel I discovered may be found between the covers of a book. This book is small in size, measuring only seven-by-five-inches and has less than 175 pages. Those who crafted this book prepared it with great care. The pages are a soft, gold color and each page has more blank space than printing, for this is not one of those books with wall-to-wall words. Its design tells us that it is to be read slowly and thoughtfully and reread again and again.
The jewel is a book called A Journey into Love: Meditating with Piers Plowman. The author of this jewel is our own Mary Clemente Davlin, OP, professor emerita of English literature at Dominican University. Clemente has published several scholarly books on the poem Piers Plowman, and this small book is a commentary on that masterful poem with meditative questions for individual or group readers.
For those among us who were introduced to Piers Plowman as freshmen in college and forgot or never knew too much about it, Piers Plowman is, according to Clemente, “the best-kept secret in religious and spiritual literature.” The poem “is a work of fiction about a man named Will who goes seeking adventure. As he wanders, he falls asleep and has a series of ten dreams in which . . . he learns about himself, his world, and God. . . . He comes to know God intimately and is willing to teach others how to do so” (Introduction).
This is a book for the meditative and contemplative among us. Both its text and its design ask the reader to be quiet, to slow down and reflect. It says to the busy bees among us, “Stop!” “Relax,” “Think,” and so this short book may take a month or two to read. That is part of the beauty of A Journey into Love. It stops our hurrying. It calls for thoughtfulness. It may lead to prayer. It is so Dominican. Everything about this book preaches, softly.
The medieval author wrote the book-length poem for “people interested in living better lives,” and Clemente wrote A Journey into Love for those same people, for all of us. This book “contains selections and brief commentary designed to give the reader a ‘taste’ of the poem, its nourishing power and its extraordinary beauty.” It also includes lovely photographic illustrations of places which the author of Piers Plowman, describes in the poem.
Clemente’s commentary on the poem and her questions, which emerge from her study of and reflection on Piers Plowman, help us to recognize the poet’s deep understanding of human life, of the world and the Church, and of God. All of which brings us to a fuller understanding of human life, of our world and our Church, and of God.
A Journey into Love is a delight to read and a book worth cherishing. A Journey into Love may be purchased from the Mound Bookshop. Call (608) 748-4411, e-mail mtill@sinsinawa.org, or purchase online at www.sinsinawa.org/bookshop.