ABSTRACT
Claudels poetry for the Christological seasons and feasts already testifies, en passant at least, to his attitude to the Mother of Jesus, the Theotokos. But there are also specifically Marian poems in his oeuvre. In two substantial works, moreover, one on the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the other a series of meditations on Marys Sorrows, he was able to express himself at greater length. The Rosary book also includes, by way of preface and postface, two further poems on the Mother of the Lord. Owing to their integral relation to the text of La Rose et le rosaire they seem best considered in that connexion. Claudel says he can envisage Elizabeth's appearance so exactly he might almost be there. He sees the trembling at the corners of her mouth, the tears forming in her eyes, but also the unmeasurable joy in her eyes. And this draws from Claudel an exclamation of wonder at Elizabeth's blessedness.
