Intermediality in the devotional lyric of Sibylla Schwarz: a penitential song and a vision of paradise
Abstract This chapter aims to highlight the embeddedness of Sibylla Schwarz’s (1621-1638) poetry in the religious traditions of her time, the early modern praxis pietatis of Lutheranism. From the interdisciplinary perspective of theology and literary studies, the chapter’s focus is on the intermedia...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Chapter/Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2026
|
| In: |
Practising piety
Year: 2026, Pages: 318-339 |
| Online Access: |
|
| Author Notes: | Cosima Macco und Katharina Worms |
| Summary: | Abstract This chapter aims to highlight the embeddedness of Sibylla Schwarz’s (1621-1638) poetry in the religious traditions of her time, the early modern praxis pietatis of Lutheranism. From the interdisciplinary perspective of theology and literary studies, the chapter’s focus is on the intermedial dimension in two of Schwarz’s spiritual poems: Which aesthetic and which spiritual value is generated by the interplay of different media? In a first step, we examine the text-music relationship in the poem “Ein Buß-Lied. Im Thon: Jn deinem grossen Zoren/ etc.” as an example for the widespread poetic practice of composing lyrical texts to existing melodies of the popular Lobwasser Psalter (1573). The textual variation on generally known hymn traditions serves the purpose of expressing a very personal practice of faith. The second part of the chapter analyses the poetic depiction of a mystical vision in Schwarz’s poem “Verachtung der Welt”. Here, the speaker describes a heavenly vision of the Last Days, which draws on the Revelation of John but ends at a threshold. We argue that the mystical vision - despite all its claimed immediacy - is to be understood as a medium for the visual realisation of divine salvation. Both analysed poems question whether their media contain vertical potential and, ultimately, God’s accessibility. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Gesehen am 04.05.2026 |
| ISBN: | 9789004746633 |