Abstract
One of the earliest responses in England to Cartesian metaphysics, Henry More’s philosophical poem A Platonick Song of the Soul (1642, 1647) has often been criticized for its generic hybridity and its unruly use of sources. In this essay, I argue that recent developments in adaptation studies reveal the generative possibilities inherent in More’s adaptive praxis. In particular, More’s addition of scientific diagrams, extensive notes, and a glossary in the second edition of the poem not only allows us to consider the role of images and paratext in adaptation but also revision itself as a form of adaptation. While adaptation studies has focused more on intertextuality and intermediality rather than genre, the idiosyncrasies of More’s text invite larger questions about the interrelationship between genres, particularly in moments of cultural rupture. This essay aims to define new avenues of inquiry no longer delimited by genre to better understand adaptation as a process or mode of thought that resonates within a wider range of intellectual and creative endeavors.
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Notes
- 1.
Hereafter, A Platonick Song.
- 2.
The first Latin translation of Plotinus was done by Marsilio Ficino in 1492, who also produced a famous commentary on Plotinus. More undoubtedly read both Ficino’s commentary and Plotinus in the original Greek. C.A. Staudenbaur argues that More’s real pretext is Marsilio Ficino’s Theologia Platonica (565); however, More himself cites Plotinus and cites him in Greek; hence, I will emphasize the influence of the latter over the former.
- 3.
On the relationship between translation and adaptation, see Raw 1–20; Minier 13–35; and Cutchins 26–62.
- 4.
Italicized text has been translated from the Latin following Rouse I.139.
- 5.
Cf. Passannante (194).
- 6.
On Lucretius’ use of analogy for this purpose, see P.H. Schrijvers 255–288.
- 7.
Cf. the editions of Alexander Grossart, Geoffrey Bullough, and Alexander Jacob.
- 8.
On the significance of dialectic for Renaissance skepticism, see Kahn.
- 9.
Cf. Hall and Chen-Morris.
- 10.
On symbiosis, see Bryant 49; on reciprocity, see Cutchins 75, Schober 91.
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Caldwell, M. (2023). Poetry After Descartes: Henry More’s Adaptive Poetics. In: Szwydky, L.L., Jellenik, G. (eds) Adaptation Before Cinema. Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09596-2_4
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