The Medieval Art of Poetry and Prose: The Scope of Instruction and the Uses of Models

Emily Dickinson’s poem recalls the art of versification taught in medieval schools. Beginning with malleable material, one makes many foolish blunders. Yet a time comes when one passes from shapes practiced in paste to those formed in precious stones. The tasks of apprentices lead to the jeweler’s mastery. The hard stone becomes malleable. Mutatis mutandis, we find the same trajectory evoked in the arts of poetry.