던과 홉킨스와 마더 테레사의 내적 고통: 신의 침묵/부재 (Aspects of Internal Agony in Donne and Hopkins and Mother Teresa: God's Silence/Absence)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국고전중세르네상스영문학회
· 수록지 정보 : 고전중세르네상스영문학 / 19권 / 1호 / 55 ~ 83페이지
· 저자명 : 이상엽

초록

Although Donne(1572∼1631), Hopkins(1844∼1889) and Mother Teresa(1910∼1997) lived in different periods respec- tively, there are some similarities or common elements in their life of faith. The similarities are that they were great clergies suffering from severe internal agony or pain owing to God's silence/absence until they died. In other words, they had a painful longing for God's grace in their lives which they felt was not answered. In this paper, I want to trace the extreme situations of their agony by examining how they suffered from internal agony by means of close reading of their works.
Some of Donne's “Holy Sonnets” are the ones in which God's silence/absence is most striking. All of these sonnets are petitions to God for an act of grace. But like the mistresses in his love poems, God is silent. The imagery of estrangement from God is vivid. For instance, “Batter my heart,” the speaker says he is a walled town from which God is shut out. In “Thou hadst made me, And shall thy worke decay?” the speaker sees himself as the abandoned and decaying artifact of God. Here, the sense of estrangement touches on despair. The silence of God made it possible for the speaker to cast doubt upon the existence of God. Therefore, we can see them as expressions of despair.
Let me examine the factors of Hopkins' spiritual crisis. His agony seemed to be the result of his conversion to Catholic- ism, his giving up writing poetry according to Jesuit rules, and his weariness of the work as a professor and an examiner in Dublin. These causes made him suffer from inner conflict whose feeling was expressed in the “terrible sonnets.” In “No worst, there is none” all that he could do was to ask for a short respite from pain. In “To seem the stranger”, in which Hopkins especially emphasized his continual loneliness, he touched on some of the reasons for the feeling of desolation. In “I wake and feel”, the darkest of the terrible sonnets, at last he was deprived of sleep. Here, he thought the night seemed interminable. Moreover, he compared his situation to that of the damned in hell. The poems mentioned above records Hopkins' deep despair, feeling of separation from God, and sense of personal worthlessness.
Although Mother Teresa was joyful in public, she lived in a state of deep and abiding internal pain. According to Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, from 1947 when she started The Missionary of Charity to 1997 when she died, she underwent the “dryness,” “darkness,” “loneliness,” and “torture.” She was aware of the difference between her inner state and her public demeanor. She said, “The smile is a mask or a cloak that covers everything.” In the letter sent to the Rev. Michael Van Der Peet, she said, “Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.” For one thing, “darkness,” one of the key words of the 40 letters given to several clergies, meant internal suffering, lack of consolation, spiritual dryness, and absence of God from her life.
I can suggest that the works of Donne, Hopkins, and Mother Teresa are cries out of their spiritual conflict, but not records of their spiritual growth and prayers to God.

영어초록

Although Donne(1572∼1631), Hopkins(1844∼1889) and Mother Teresa(1910∼1997) lived in different periods respec- tively, there are some similarities or common elements in their life of faith. The similarities are that they were great clergies suffering from severe internal agony or pain owing to God's silence/absence until they died. In other words, they had a painful longing for God's grace in their lives which they felt was not answered. In this paper, I want to trace the extreme situations of their agony by examining how they suffered from internal agony by means of close reading of their works.
Some of Donne's “Holy Sonnets” are the ones in which God's silence/absence is most striking. All of these sonnets are petitions to God for an act of grace. But like the mistresses in his love poems, God is silent. The imagery of estrangement from God is vivid. For instance, “Batter my heart,” the speaker says he is a walled town from which God is shut out. In “Thou hadst made me, And shall thy worke decay?” the speaker sees himself as the abandoned and decaying artifact of God. Here, the sense of estrangement touches on despair. The silence of God made it possible for the speaker to cast doubt upon the existence of God. Therefore, we can see them as expressions of despair.
Let me examine the factors of Hopkins' spiritual crisis. His agony seemed to be the result of his conversion to Catholic- ism, his giving up writing poetry according to Jesuit rules, and his weariness of the work as a professor and an examiner in Dublin. These causes made him suffer from inner conflict whose feeling was expressed in the “terrible sonnets.” In “No worst, there is none” all that he could do was to ask for a short respite from pain. In “To seem the stranger”, in which Hopkins especially emphasized his continual loneliness, he touched on some of the reasons for the feeling of desolation. In “I wake and feel”, the darkest of the terrible sonnets, at last he was deprived of sleep. Here, he thought the night seemed interminable. Moreover, he compared his situation to that of the damned in hell. The poems mentioned above records Hopkins' deep despair, feeling of separation from God, and sense of personal worthlessness.
Although Mother Teresa was joyful in public, she lived in a state of deep and abiding internal pain. According to Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, from 1947 when she started The Missionary of Charity to 1997 when she died, she underwent the “dryness,” “darkness,” “loneliness,” and “torture.” She was aware of the difference between her inner state and her public demeanor. She said, “The smile is a mask or a cloak that covers everything.” In the letter sent to the Rev. Michael Van Der Peet, she said, “Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.” For one thing, “darkness,” one of the key words of the 40 letters given to several clergies, meant internal suffering, lack of consolation, spiritual dryness, and absence of God from her life.
I can suggest that the works of Donne, Hopkins, and Mother Teresa are cries out of their spiritual conflict, but not records of their spiritual growth and prayers to God.

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