JoLIE 10:2/2017

ON TROPES AND THE RHETORIC OF DEATH IN

DIVANUL BY DIMITRIE CANTEMIR

Marcela CIORTEA
1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia

Abstract

The present paper proposes an analysis of the figurative register centred on tropes, aiming
to illustrate the artistic style adopted by Prince Dimitrie Cantemir in his early work,
Divanul sau gâlceava înțeleptului cu lumea sau giudețul sufletului cu trupul, Iași, 1698.
Cantemir’s idea of writing a book in Romanian, his native language, in spite of the fact that
he was functioning as a diplomatic agent of the Iași Principality Court to the Sublime
Ottoman State in Constantinople, emerges during the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars, after the
Battle of Zenta between the Ottoman army and the army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy.
The theme of the dispute between soul and body is largely used in the theological literature
of the Medieval Age; Cantemir uses it and reframes it in a laic manner, composing a
treatise of Christian morality for laymen. He builds his work on three fundamental
metaphors: the unstable luck, the vanity of life and the correspondence between the big
world (macro-cosmos) and the small world, meaning the man (micro-cosmos). These three
main metaphors are dressed up in other metaphorical layers, created with the help of
metonymy and synecdoche.

Key-words: Dimitrie Cantemir; Divanul; Metaphor; Metonymy; Synecdoche.

1 Introduction

In 1688, at the early age of 15, Prince Dimitrie Cantemir starts his diplomatic
career in Constantinople, as capuchehaie1 for his father, Constantin-Vodă
Cantemir, who held the office of ambassador to the Sublime Ottoman State until
1693 (Țarălungă 1989: 58). During his stay in the fortress of the czars
(Constantinople – Țarigrad), the young prince establishes rewarding diplomatic
relationships with Pierre Antoine de Châteauneuf, marquis of Castagnères,
ambassador of France (appointed in 1689) and with Jakob Collyer, ambassador of
the Netherlands (appointed in 1688), two personalities with political experience

1 The representative of the Wallachian or Transylvanian ruler to the Ottoman Empire,

during the feudal times.

8 Marcela CIORTEA

and a certain length of service in diplomacy. Once in their entourage, the young
prince starts to feel the necessity of speaking several languages, in general, and
especially Latin (Dinu 2011: 20). In 1692, in the same environment, he meets
Charles de Ferriol, Châteauneuf’s successor in diplomacy. After spending two
years in Moldavia (1693-1695), the prince meets Piotr Andreevici Tolstoi,
appointed ambassador of Peter the Great in 1701 (Dinu 2011: 143). Handsome,
elegant, with good manners and the ambition of learning the art of conversation in
Oriental languages, the five men spend years together, going through various
experiences together, from bacchanalian parties to mortal dangers, establishing
life-long friendship relations.

2 The Metaphor of Life

Among the five learned men mentioned above, Dimitrie Cantemir was the
youngest, thus, the most protected. His adulthood starts in 1697, when, being part
of the retinue of the sultan in the Battle of Zenta, the young prince received the
rank of pasha with three sanjaks2 (Țarălungă 1989: 346), and witnessed disasters
that were hard to understand and difficult to forget. In times when epidemics were
unstoppable and the draught, the famine and the earthquakes were sad realities of
life, wars did nothing else but deepen the feeling of fear in front of death (Lemny
1990: 116 sqq.) and develop inside the sensitive spirits a funereal rhetoric coming
from the ecclesiastic vanitas vanitatum (vanity of vanities, all is vanity). During the
disaster from Zenta, Dimitrie Cantemir, in spite his young age, drew the conclusion
that the human body is mortal, while the soul can be saved and these are, the most
certain, his first thoughts that are the source of Divanul. He describes one of his
own experiences during the above-mentioned battle in an annotation from Istoria
Imperiului Otoman (Annotationes ad Historiae Othmanicae, Lib. III, Chapter IV,
(ee), 136-137):

(ee) Repellere armis possidentem | Quotienscunque actorum illo tempore

recordamur, incognitus aliquis horror adhuc artus nostros occupare videtur.
Nulla ibi erat ab amico, nulla inimico securitas, confusio, contra, si quae
potest esse, maxima. Sultanus per tres dies omnibuz, nisi Paszae, ignotus in
urbe latebat, rumores de eo capto et a suis prodito diversi per tota castra
vagabantur. Copiae, quae evaserant, hinc inde oberrabant, sine rectore, sine
duce, sine disciplina, et, prae fame, obvium quemlibet depraedabantur.
Siccitas, quae in illum annum inciderat, maxima omnes absorpserat aquas,
iumenta caenum haurire saeva sitis cogebat, si quis stagnantem aliquam
auqm reperisset, plures occidere aut vulnerare debebat, antequam illi saltem
madefacere liquore labia, nedum sitim sedare concederetur. Nos, elapsi e
clade, tentoria nostra et impedimenta integra abstuleramus, et cum reliquis
copiis Temesvarinum veneramus, ibique in vinea aliqua suppellectilem
nostram deposueramus. In hac cum os putei terra obruti invenissemus, supra

2 The flags of high ranking officials and dignitaries.

 On tropes and the rhetoric of death … 9

id nostrum tentorium extendi iusseramus, eaque nocte, fontem ad fundum

usque purgato, frigidissimam et purissimam aquam eramus nacti. Potata
familia et iumentis, postea, elucescente die, servum cum hydria ad coquum
miseramus, cui, in via obviam factus, miles aliquis lagenam extorquet, aquam
exhaurit, et mortem minitatur, nisi profiteretur, ubi hanc aquam invenerit.
Hic, strictum contra se gladium videns, pertimescit, fateturque sub bostro
tentorio nos invenisse puteum. Miles, accepta hac notitia, statim socios
invenit, quae audiverit narrat, nec mora, cuncti, / lumbos gladiis cincti,
singulique situlas manibus tenentes advolant, et quemlibet obvium
interrogant, ubi nostrum esse tentorium. Nos autem, viso rem iam patefactam
esse, nec celari amplius posse, tentorium mutari et puteum aperiri iussimus,
excusatione interposita invenisse nos ibidem cadaver humanum, ideoque
occultasse fontem, ne quis imprudens, antequam purgaretur, siti coactus, ad
eum accederet, adeoque animam suam pollueret, atque eo sacro et pro
temporis ratione necessario mendacio non solum barbarorum furorem
evitamus, sed et obtinuimus, ut nobis pro praestito officio summas gratias
agerent. (Cantemir 2002: 492-493)

(32) Cei mai tari. De câte-ori mi aducu aminte de confusiunea deplorabile de

atunci, totdeauna me coprinde o secreta oróre. Nu era omulu in securitate
nicairi: amiculu că si inamiculu, era asemenea suspectu; disordinea era
universale si neimaginabile. Sultanulu a statu trei dîle ascunsu in cetate;
nime, afara de Pasi'a, nu scia ca unde è. Intr'aceea mii de sciri se respandisera
printre trupe; unii dîceau ca è prinsu, altii ca l-au tradatu chiar soldatii sei.
Trupele cari scapasera, reteciau incóce si 'ncolo fara comandanti, fara
conducatori, fara disciplina; calauzulu lor era fómea; si ce vedeau, totu
predau. Secet'a estraordinaria d'in acelu anu secase tóte apele, caii muritori de
sete erau redusi a suge mocirle puturóse. Si déca, cine-va pe intemplate, da de
vre-unu picu de apa statatória, trebuia ca mai antaiu se omóre séu se
vulnereze pre multi altii inainte de a-si poté macar uda buzele, departe de a-si
poté stempera setea. Dupa-ce amu scapatu si io cumu amu potutu, m'amu
dusu cu celelalte trupe la Temisiór'a, si miamu pusu cortulu cu totu bagagiulu
intr'o vinia. D'in intemplare, amu datu aici de unu putiu acoperitu cu
pamentu. Mi-amu mutatu cortulu asupr'a putiului; l-amu curatîtu, si astfeliu
aveamu apa próspeta si curata pentru mine, pentru ómenii mei, si pentru caii
mei. Intr'o demânétia, pre cându se reversá de diua, amu tramisu prin
servitoriu unu olu de apa la bucatariulu meu. Pe cale-lu vede unu soldatu, i
iea olulu si bea ap'a; apoi 'lu amerintia cu mórte, déca nu i va spune de unde
are ap'a aceea, si i puse sabi'a in peptu. Bietulu baiatu, tremurandu de frica,
spune soldatului, ca io amu unu putiu sub cortulu meu. Soldatulu indata curge
la camaradii sei si le spune ceea ce audise. La momentu pléca cu totii,
tienenedu intr'o mana sabi'a góla, si 'ntr'alt'a unu vasu, si intrebandu in tóte
partile, ca unde este cortulu meu? Io amu vediutu numai de câtu, ca nu este
nici-unu midi-locu de a mai ascunde lucrulu; mi-amu mutatu cortulu, si am
lasatu putiulu liberu. Pentru a me escusa, le-am dîsu, că a fostu unu omu
mortu in putiu, si l-am ascunsu, pentru ca m'amu temutu, ca cine-va arsu de
sete ar poté se bea d'in elu inainte de a-lu curati, si prin acést'a ar poté se-si
spurce sufletulu. Minciun'a acésta innocenta, dar' necessaria in acele
impregiurari, m'a scapatu de sabi'a aceloru barbari, ba anca mi-au si
10 Marcela CIORTEA

multiamitu pentru servitiulu bunu, ce le-amu facutu. (Cantemir 1878: 714,

note 32)

(32) The strongest ones. Every time I recall the deplorable confusion of that
time, I feel by a secret abomination. The man was safe nowhere: the friend,
as well as the enemy, was equally suspect; disorder was universal and
unimaginable. The remained hidden for three days in the fortress; nobody,
except for the pasha, knew where he was. Thousands of pieces of news
spread among the troops; some said he was caught, others said he was
betrayed by his own soldiers. The refugee troops were wandering to and fro,
without commanders, leaders or discipline; their guide was hunger; all eyes
could see was already a prey. The extraordinary draught of that year drained
all waters; the horses, dying of thirst, were left only with sipping from stinky
gutters. And if someone, by any chance, happened to find a body of still
water, he had to kill or wound many others before even feeling some
moisture on the lips, far from quenching the thirst. Escaping myself by all
possible means, I joined the other troops going to Timișoara, and pitched my
tent and the entire luggage in a vineyard. Accidentally, I discovered there a
well, hidden by soil. I moved the tent above it and, thus, I managed to have
fresh clean water for myself, my people and my horses. One morning, at the
break of dawn, I sent a servant with a pitcher with water to my cook. On his
way, a soldier saw him, confiscated the pitcher and drank all the water; then,
the soldier pointed the sword at my servant and, threatening to kill him, asked
where the water was from. The poor boy, shaking with fear, told the soldier I
had a well under my tent. The soldier ran at once to his comrades and told
them the news. With a sword in one hand and a pitcher in the other, every
soldier started to ask for directions to get to my tent. I understood in just a
second that there was no way to keep the secret anymore; I moved the tent
and set the water free. To excuse myself, I told them a story about a dead
man found in the well and that hiding the well was just to clean the water and
to avoid the possibility of an unfortunate thirsty man drinking from the dirty
water and vitiating his soul. This innocent lie, necessary in those
circumstances, was my escape from the barbarians; moreover, they thanked
me for my good service (Cantemir 1878: 714, note 32, translated by C.
Vănoagă)

Due to the fact that he manages to save his life, he draws another wise conclusion:
fate is changeable. Thus, next to vanitas vanitatum, a second theme of interest is added:
fortuna labilis. Both themes, together with other themes discussed in the literature of those
times, are connected in an imaginary dialogue between the World and the Wise Man, where
the former represents the body, which is easy to lead into temptation, while the latter is the
soul, unshakeable in virtue.

3 The Metaphor of Fate

Metaphor is the basic figure of speech used by the young author to develop the
themes of his discourse. The changeable fate – fortuna labilis – is represented
 On tropes and the rhetoric of death … 11

under the classic form of a wheel, because it governs the cycle of the human life.
Cantemir builds this metaphor starting from a simile enounced right in the subtitle
of chapter 63 from Book I of Divanul, developed at large in the respective chapter
and in the homonymous chapter from Book II. In front of the treasures of the
world, the mortal human, incapable to resist temptations, accumulates wealth.
Conscious of the fact that worldly wealth is a passing thing, the World warns in
chapter 62: Omul în voia lui lăsat, carele mai sus să va sui, mai cu grea cădzătură
va cădea (When man reaches the step of his choice, he will fall lower, the higher he
climbed). This warning is the pretext for the Wise Man’s discourse in the following
chapter, where the imagination of the painter is praised, because he painted the
luck as a wheel, whose upper side can easily go down. Still, the volcanic temper of
young Cantemir hopes that the turn of the wheel can enhance everything, including
youthfulness:

Înțeleptul: În mare mărime a mirării mirându-mă și uitându-mă stau. Cu ce

cântece, cu ce laude, cu ce slavă voiu cânta, voiu lăuda și voiu slăvi pe acel
supțire la minte, iscusit la socotială și întreg la chitială zugrav, carele de toți
întăi aiave forma și chipul avuției fiilor tăi au șeruit și adevărat o au zugrăvit.
O, frumoasă, întreagă și decât smiceaoa briciului mai ascuțită și mai iute la
minte, că roatei prin osie învârtitoare o au asămănat. (Cantemir 1974: 63,
22r)

The Wise Man: I am deeply amazed and confused, thinking and perusing
which hymns and praises, or what veneration and gratitude I should employ
to glorify while thanking and thank while glorifying the one who hates
defamation and the greatest painter. I refer to him who, endowed with a sharp
mind and understanding, considered carefully and reflected in detail your
sons' faces, skilfully reproducing their features and revealing their true life.
Thus, their defamation was clearly shown by a serene mind, sharper than the
shining blade of a sword, which explained in to us by describing and
comparing in to a fast-spinning wheel. (Cantemir 2007: 63, 23v)3

Instead, fate is very capricious, so it does not offer in any way time for rejoicing,
especially when the human is on the upper side of the wheel. Related to the down
side of the wheel, whose maximum point is fatality and its final point is death, the
mortal being has no representation. He falls in an abyss and leaves the world to
return to dust, without knowing the time and the details of these events. Still, the
author completes the metaphor through a synecdoche disguised in a comparison,
preferring the noun ignorant eyes to the noun mortal human, probably in contrast
to the always watching eyes, knowing all the mysteries of the world.

3 All the English quotes from Divanul are from Ioana Feodorov’s version, a translation from
Arabian, bilingual edition published by Editura Academiei Române in 2007. The rest of the study,
including the fragment from Istoria Imperiului Otoman, was translated from Romanian into English
by Cristina Matilda Vănoagă, whom we thank for her contribution.
12 Marcela CIORTEA

Înțeleptul: Că precum partea roatii cea dedesupt să suie în sus și agiungând în

mijlocul cumpănirii (unde, nu de mult, macar câtăvași puțintică vréme a sta s-
ari cădea), nice minută macar nice cât ari clipi ochiul nu să zăbăvéște, ce din
cumpăna mijlocirii, spre în al giosului parte cu mare răpegiune să povârnéște
și așé partea care mai dineoarea o vedeai suindu-să în sus, acmu și mai într-
acel ceas o vedzi cuborându-să în gios și partea carea era în mijlocul
cumpănirii ceii deasupra, iaste în mijlocul cumpănirii ceii dedesupt. Și
precum ochiul a roatii samă când să suie, când să pogoară și când face o
învârtejire a lua mai nu poate |, așé viața și vârsta vieții fiilor tăi, când să
naște și cât trăiaște, ce face și când moare, minte a pricépe mai nu poate. Și
precum partea roții carea de la pământ s-au, în sus suindu-să, sculat, iarăși în
gios pogorându-să, de unde s-au sculat să suppune, așé și fiii tăi, de în
pământ ieșind, iarăși prin mai nepricepută vréme, iarăși în țărna lor să întorc.
(Cantemir 1974: 63, 22r-22v)

The Wise Man: You see how the heavy side descends; at once you see it
turning upside-down and climbing, without one second of rest or merely the
blink of an eye. When it reaches the middle of the route, it turns back, //
going from an upward bend to a downward bend in the shortest delay
possible. At that moment, the side that you had previously seen climbing, you
watch how it is now descending. You will notice the side that was at a point
of balance at the top has now reached the one at the bottom. And as the sight
cannot divide the gradual spinning when it is climbing and then descending,
the same is with your children's life and times, for the mind cannot grasp the
hour of their birth, their life-span, the way they will live and the moment
they will die. And as you saw how the top point of the wheel spins
downwards, you will soon see in attracted upwards too, then turning
downwards as soon as it reached the top. Thus is your sons' nature too, for as
soon as you saw them arising from dust, in one unnoticed moment you will
see them covered in dust, dying of an evil death. (Cantemir 2007: 63, 23 v-24r)

The English version, translated from Greek and later from Arabian, transposes the
synecdoche in metonymy, in an attempt to re-establish the relation cause-effect
suggested by the author. Constructed almost exclusively from real, concrete
elements, the description of the wheel of fortune, unseen by anyone, but
represented by painters, outlines one of the fundamental themes of Divanul:
fortuna labilis.

4 The Metaphor of Vanity

Even if references to the above analysed theme appear in flashes in the entire
treatise, the commented fragments show a grouped approach of the theme. The
discourse around the theme vanitas vanitatum is, on the other hand, recurrent,
appearing in passages of approximately equal dimensions in the economy of the
book. Lamenting the perishable fate of worldly goods, the Wise Man attacks the
World through the words of the prophet David and verses from the Ecclesiastes.
 On tropes and the rhetoric of death … 13

Not even Solomon, in spite of the fact that, during his life, he seemed to rule over
everything, could not win the war with vanity and, deluded by beauty and by the
world and its gifts, defied the divine order:

Înțeleptul: […] Și încă mai prin ispită știu, căci iarăși cu acela ce te lauzi
proroc David, ț-au dzis: Deșertarea deșertărilor și toate sunt deșérte (Ecl. 1,
1), adică tu ești deșartare și lucrurile tale sunt deșertări. (Cantemir 1974:
43, 12v)

The Wise Man: […] I also know that the son of this David that you pride
yourself with, i.e. that wise man who rejected your claim, declaring to you:
All is vanity, vanity of vanities (Eccles., 1, 2), shows that you are vain and all
that is yours in vain. (Cantemir 2007: 43, 14r)

The idea returns in skilful diatribes in accordance with all the rules of rhetoric and
the theme of vanity is rebuilt on an abstract level from elements which strive to
concreteness (advice, trap), alternating with epithets structured in phraseological
constructions (teller of fairy tales, confessor of lies). The unity is achieved through
coagulant parts, which are stylistically arranged in crescendo (Parpală 2006: 249
sqq.), in order to outline the acknowledgement of the fact that man is always the
victim of flatteries and temptations and the road through life is a continuous fight
to avoid them:

Înțeleptul: Ah, povață oarbă ce ești, lume! Ah, plină ce ești de meșterșuguri
și cursă întinsă ce ești, lume! Ah, spuitoare de basne și mărturisitoare de
minciuni ce ești, lume! Cum silești și a mă face te cu lingușituri nevoiești, ca
cuvintele tale să fie adevărate și a Domnului și ale credincioase slugile
Domnului să fie minciuni să dzic. Pentru care lucru moarte voiu priimi, și
aceasta, nu numai a face, ce nice a dzice nu o voi gândi, ce iarăși cu glas
mare voi dzice: Răbdând, voiu răbda Domnului și nedejdiuind, mă voi
nedejdiui adevăratului cuvânt al slugii Domnului (Ps. 39, 1); și dintru aceasta
nepoticnindu-mă, după a mea nedéjde mi s-a izbândi. Iar pre tine părére
deșartă și vis de nălucire te voi socoti, și celor ce-ți | ție urmadză, povață
oarbă te voi numi. (Cantemir 1974: 69, 26v-27r)

The Wise Man: What means can you use, O, World, you blind guide, full of
cunning and craftiness, lying witness, slanderer, deceiver and idolater,
when you want to make me, with your flatteries, submit to your words and
believe that they are true and sincere, while God's words and his followers'
are vain and lying. But I would rather die for them and receive punishment
than to ever say such lies and only utter them, or merely consider them. On
the contrary, I will sing in a loud voice, saying thus: I waited patiently for the
Lord (Ps. 40, 1) and I relied on the words of his truthful servant. And if I am
constant and unswerving my wish will be fulfilled. As for you, I will consider
you fictitious, vain, and home to confused dreams, and I will call you
blind, leading those who depend on you. (Cantemir 2007: 69, 28r)
14 Marcela CIORTEA

This construction of the world into abstractness has a correspondent into

concreteness and Cantemir tries to find, in some sort of interpreting scale inside the
text, a celestial correspondent for each terrestrial element. Once again, the Wise
Man is the one offering explanations related to understanding the meanings of the
World, based on the metaphysical idea of the correspondence between macro-
cosmos and micro-cosmos, meaning the big world and the individual, with the
obvious aim of establishing a consensus.

Înțeleptul: […] Tu ești plazma și zidirea a vécinicului împărat și

înfrâmsețată în toate podoabele tale (căci Dumnădzău ceva grozav și neplăcut
nu face), prin vréme a șése dzile deplin întru toate isprăvită precum, decât
toți mai vechiul istoric, scrie Moisi. | Și pre tine lume mare te chiamă, pildă și
tipos a lumii mici, adecă a omului; și toate podoabele și céle ce în tine să află,
spre om și céle ce sunt în om [spre tine] să pot tâlcui. Dzic dară: întâi în tine
iaste lumină, carea la om iaste credința; la tine întăritură, adică ceriul,
carea la om iaste nedéjdea; la tine sunt apele diasupra, carele sint la om de
la Dumnădzău lăsate grijă; apele dedesupt sint carile din trup născătoare
dodeiale. În tine iaste pământ, la om trup; ierbile și copacii sint bunele
lucruri; roadele și sămințele tale sint bunătățile și poménele; soarele – a
vécinicilor înțelepciune; luna – a vremelnicilor arătare; peștii, carii sint
pururi în apă, sint plecăciunele; pasirile zburătoare sint cereștile privéle;
dobitoacele – a săracilor agiutoriu și agiutorie; târâitoarele, adecă
lighioaiele carile pe pântece să trag, sint a altor durori pătimiri; jiganiile
însămniadză a demonilor și a răutăților chitiri; iar omul, spre a lui
Dumnădzău închipuire făcut, însămniadză hireșea sau fireasca a omului
alcătuire și hireșea și fireasca a minții plinire, raiul, acea desăvârșit fericire
și a slavii urmare arată. Pentru aceasta dară lumea mică, adecă | omul, având
lumina, adecă légea, credința și având întăritura, adecă nedéjdea (și
acestea întăi îmi sint trébnice, ca lumina credinții adevărul să arate, iar
greșala și întunerécul să împraștie și să rășchire. Într-acesta chip dară ești tu,
o, lume! (Cantemir 1974: 77, 32r-33v)

The Wise Man: You are the creation of the eternal King and the product of
his hands, and you are improved with all goodness and beauty on all your
accounts, because God did not make anything ugly and not pleasing, and
your creation was finished // in six days, as the oldest chronicler, Moses,
reported. You were named macrocosm since you became a model for the
microcosm, which is man, because all the decorations that are to be found in
you may be explained by their existence in man, who exists in you. And the
proof to this is our word that the light inside you is paralleled by the light of
faith in man. And the water in the highest skies, that is to be found in you,
is paralleled by the worries that God placed in man, while the water that is
to be found in you, down under, is paralleled by the trouble and the
confusion that exist in the flesh. In you is the earth, in man – the flesh. In
you are plants and trees, in man – good deeds. [In you are] seeds and fruit,
while in man – virtues and spiritual meditations. The sun stands for the
eternal wisdom <of the people>, while the moon stands for the transient
things. The fish that live in the depth of the sea stand for humility, while the
 On tropes and the rhetoric of death … 15

birds that hang in the skies stand for the heavenly visions. The non-rational
animals stand for relief and help for the poor. The vermin and the bugs
stand for soul pains and various aches. The dangerous, wild beasts stand
for the jinns and the study of evil, disgraceful things. Man, although
created to the likeness of God, corresponds to the condition of man, who was
moulded of dust, while the plenitude of his own mind the microcosm, i.e.,
man, first needs // the light, i.e., faith and law, then a firmament, i.e., hope,
so that truth comes out into the light of faith. As for faults and sins, they will
perish at the same time with the suppression of darkness, because this is what
you are, O, World! (Cantemir 2007: 77, 33r-34r)

This is how the Prince explains the meaning of the two worlds in the cosmos,
separated by the skyline: the world of the upper waters, beyond the sky, and the
world of the nether waters, meaning the seen world of the rivers and seas. There is
always a connection between the two cosmic kingdoms governed by waters, as
probably discovered by reading Aristotle, and each entity of the nether world
develops a cosmic solidarity in the upper world, with the only difference that there
is, on earth, a construction created after the celestial image and, unlike the celestial
world, the worldly creation is temporary, thus, vain.

5 The Metaphor of the Spheres

Cantemir’s Divanul is, in spite of the massive presence of concrete elements,

replete with metaphors subscribed to these two reference themes. The relation
between micro-cosmos and macro-cosmos, as suggested in the fragment above, is
resumed and developed through the voice of the Wise Man, who uses the metaphor
of the spheres incapable of stability in superposition, and also the metaphor of the
circle circumscribed to the human body.

Înțeleptul: […] Suptstările, asuprastările, împregiurstările și céle dinlontru

cuprinse, precum mai sus am pomenit, precum le ai tu le am și eu. Pre tine
macrocosm, pre mine mocrocosmos mă chiamă. Tu ești rătundă, eu sunt
rătund; și de vei întreba în ce chip sunt rătund, măsoară din créștetul capului
pănă în talpele picioarelor și din vârvul dégetelor mânii drépte până în vârvul
dégetelor mânii stângi, și vedzi că tot o câtință a măsurii într-amândoao
părțile vii afla; și așé, iată că și eu sunt rătund. La acéstea potrivire avem.
Numai cu câtința a ne asămăna nu putem, căci tu ești mai mare, eu sint mai
mic. Acmu, tu ești mai mare și mai rătundă, eu sint mai mic și iar rătund; tu
din fire așé și eu din fire iar așé; și 2 gloanță rătunde unul peste altul poate să
stea? Ba, ce numai unul de pe altul iaste să să răstoarne și să să prăvăliască.
Nici peste tot poate unul de altul să să lipască și, ca cum am dzice, pre vun
rătund sclip sau în vârful acelui rătund sclip sau cumbea, un | rătund tăvălic
de piatră poate să stea? Ba, ce numai îi caută a să prăvăli. Așé dară, firea ta
céle pămintești, iară a mea céle cerești caută, și atâta osăbire fac, cât apa din
foc; și de va putea focul cu apa într-un loc a lăcui și doaă rătunde gloanțe
16 Marcela CIORTEA

unul preste altul a să sprejeni, și eu cu tine prieteșug voiu putea alcătui.

(Cantemir 1974: 79, 35v-36r)

The Wise Man: […] everything that exists in you in terms of upper and lower
issues and the things that reside in the conscience are present [in both of us],
as we said before. You are called macrocosm and I am called microcosm
[Berchorius, RM, II, IV, ch. V]. You are round and I am too. And if you ask:
How is it possible that you are round when you have upright posture? I will
answer: Measure from the top of my head to the soles of my feet and from
the fingertips of my right hand to the fingertips of my left hand, and you will
find that the height of my body is equal to its spread. Therefore, I am round
same as you, although not as to the measure of bigness and smallness, but
because I am round. This is clear, as we mentioned. But in this case the two
round objects cannot sit firmly one on top of the other. God forbid, if one
does not fold onto the other it will tumble, and it is completely impossible to
make them stick together. If, for instance, you placed over an archway a
stone that rolls, can it be stopped because of its inborn // tendency? Not at all,
it tends to fall to a lower ground, requiring a resting place. This is also your
nature, O, World, round and inclined towards earthly things, while my nature
is round and inclined toward heavenly things. So where is our agreement?
This is therefore the difference between us. As water and fire cannot stay
together and two round things cannot settle one on top of the other,
likewise we cannot stay together. (Cantemir 2007: 79, 35v-35r)

The representation of the human reality and of the super-human one, through the
symbolic metaphor (Parpală 2006: 251) of the sphere, attenuates the reproach from
the Wise Man’s voice, leaving space for the regret that, with all the similarity in
form and structure of the two worlds, they cannot be put together, because one of
them, the small world, is temporary, while the other, the big world, is eternal. The
fragment ends with a remark gliding into aphorism, not only through the gravity of
the conclusion, but also through its rhythmic and rhymed form. The sentence şi de
va putea focul cu apa într-un loc a lăcui / şi doaă rătunde gloanţe unul peste altul
a să sprijeni, / şi eu cu tine prieteşug voiu putea alcătui (As water and fire cannot
stay together and two round things cannot settle one on top of the other, likewise
we cannot stay together) is organised in three syntactical fragments, each
equivalent to a verse, maintaining the structure of 16-19-16 syllables, ending in the
infinitive form of a verb in the category of the fourth conjugation, also built as
anapaest: lă-cu-i () / spri-je-ni () / (al)că-tu-i ().

6 Conclusions

We selected for our analysis fragments exclusively from Book I of Divanul by

Dimitrie Cantemir (which are a dialogue between the World and the Wise Man)
and exclusively the lines of the Wise Man, based on the fact that, as long as the
time and the space of the discourse cannot be determined, they contain questions
 On tropes and the rhetoric of death … 17

and answers, beliefs and expectations of eternal validity. As the Wise Man is the
one opening the polemics in Divanul, he keeps the role of the transmitter, aiming
the World as recipient. His acts of speaking are preponderantly interrogative and
exclamatory, occasionally outlining real indictments, unlike the answers of the
World, who pleads its defence in an assertive manner. Of course, the metaphor, in
all its variants, from metonymy to synecdoche, appears on each occasion of attack
in the favour of the Wise Man, but it is always included in massive units of
meaning and it is used with an explanatory aim. It appears most often in the
description of the World by the Wise Man: the delights of the World are pulbere și
fum (D: I, 5, 1v) / delights are dust and smoke rising [in a] thick cloud (Cantemir
2007: 5, 4r); the intention in the real cause of the World’s words is to feed the Wise
Man with dulceață de miiare, însă cu otravă amestecată (Cantemir 1974: 13, 3r),
thus the World is miiare amestecată cu fiiare (Cantemir 1974: 55, 18 v) / O, World,
O, World, your sweetness is mingled with gall (Cantemir 2007: 55 20r), it is
temniță (Cantemir 1974: 46, 14v) / a prison (Cantemir 2007: 46, 16 r), maica
răutăților și gazda tâlharilor (Cantemir 1974: 57, 19r) / the mother of ugliness and
evil, and a gathering of thugs (CANTEMIR 2007: 57, 20v), and foc curățitoriu
(Cantemir 1974: 75, 31v) / a fire which purifies me (Cantemir 2007: 75, 32r).
None of the above formulations is flattering in any way; instead, under the
mask of humour, irony is built and a careful reader can distinguish the sadness and
the fear of a possible immature death. Related to this aspect, the metaphors are
tightly intertwined, building, through the instruments of Christian-philosophical
discourse, the rhetoric of death for the laypeople, while the controversy between
Soul and Body maintains its alert rhythm, similar to the poetry of François Villon.

References

Dinu, T. (2011). Dimitrie Cantemir și Nicolae Mavrocordat. Rivalități politice și literare la

începutul secolului XVIII. Cuvânt înainte de Giorgios Dion. Poukamisas. București: Editura
Humanitas.

Lemny, Ș. (1990). Sensibilitate și istorie în secolul XVIII românesc. București: Editura

Meridiane.

Parpală, E. (2006). Introducere în stilistică. (3rd revised and annotated edition). Craiova:
Editura Universitaria.

Ţarălungă, E. (1989). Dimitrie Cantemir. Contribuţii documentare la un portret. Bucureşti:

Editura Minerva.

Corpus of analysed texts

Cantemir, D. (1878). Istori'a Imperiului Ottomanu. Crescerea și scaderea lui cu note fórte
instructive de Demetriu Cantemiru, Principe de Moldavia. Partea II. Traducere romana de
Dr. Iosif Hodosiu. București: Editiunea Societatei Academice Romane.
18 Marcela CIORTEA

Cantemir, D. (1974). Opere complete, I, Divanul. Ediție îngrijită, studiu introductiv și

comentarii de Virgil Cândea. Text grecesc de Maria Marinescu-Himu. București: Editura
Academiei Române.

Cantemir, D. (2002). Demetrii Principis Cantemirii Incrementorum et decrementorum

Aulae Othman[n]icae sive Aliothman[n]icae historiae a prima gentis origine ad nostra
usque tempora deductae libri tres. Praefatus est Virgil Cândea. Critice edidit Dan
Slușanschi. Timișoara: Editura Armacord.

Cantemir, D. (2007). The Salvation of the Wise Man and the Ruin of the Sinful World /
Ṣalāḥ al-ḥakīm wa-fasād al-‘ālam al-damīm. Edited, translated, annotated, with editor’s
note and indices by Ioana Feodorov. Bucureşti: Editura Academiei Române.
 JoLIE 10:2/2017

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Nadezhda Yurievna BASUEVA

Associate Professor, Ph. Sociology of Culture.
University of Tyumen, Russia
16 Lenin Street, Tyumen 625003, Russia
Email address: eflecturer@mail.ru
Nadezhda Y. Basueva, Ph.D. in Sociology of Culture (2003), teaches Translation
Studies and Intercultural Communication, Business English for university students,
carries on research on communication and cultural issues, supervises research work
of Bachelor and Master students. She is co-author of the monograph Cross-cultural
communication and the problems in cognitive linguistics (2014); textbook Business
English for graduate students (2016) and a number of English readings for Business
students. Nadezhda Y. Basueva is also the author of over 30 articles in the field of
Intercultural Communication, Sociology of Culture, Cognitive Linguistics, ELT
methodology. She developed and implemented over 40 syllabuses for Higher School
English language teaching. Nadezhda Y. Basueva was the scientific secretary of the
International conference in Cognitive Linguistics in 2016. She holds the position of
Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural
Communication, University of Tyumen, Russia.

Liana Luminița BOCA

PhD Student
The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Email address: liana.boca@gmail.com
Liana Luminița Boca is a PhD student in Computers and Information Technology
at the Technical University of Cluj Napoca. She holds a BSc in Information
Technology from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia and a MSc from
Politehnica University of Timișoara. Her areas of research include Computational
Linguistics and Web Technologies. At present she is teaching seminars in
Information Technology at 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia.

Marcela CIORTEA
Assistant Professor PhD
1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia
11-13 Unirii Street, Alba Iulia 510009, Romania
Email address: marcela.ciortea@gmail.com
142 Notes on contributors

Marcela Ciortea graduated from the Faculty of Letters Babeș-Bolyai University of

Cluj, classical philology specialisation, Latin and Ancient Greek (1995); tenure
professor to the National College Inochentie Micu Clain of Blaj (until 2001), tenure
PhD lecturer to the University 1 Decembrie 1918 of Alba Iulia (starting in 2001).
PhD in philology with a thesis entitled Impersonal moods in “Divanul” by Dimitrie
Cantemir, specialisation Romanian language, The Romanian Academy, The
Institute for Linguistics and Literary History Sextil Pușcariu of Cluj-Napoca and
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (2004), scientific coordinator PhD CP I
Sabina Teiuș. She is a tenured professor for the courses of Romanian language
(morphology and syntax), History of the Romanian language and History of the
Romanian literary language, Functional stylistics, Children literature, Myths and
literature, European mythology in literary lectures and essays. She is interested in
the inter-disciplinary study and preoccupied with the cultural-scientific activity of
encyclopaedic personalities such as the philosopher Anselm of Canterbury, the
theologian Thomas Aquinas, the pedagogue Jan Amos Comenius, the metropolitan
Petru Movilă, the diplomatist Nicolae Milescu Spătarul, Prince Dimitrie Cantemir,
the monk Samuil Micu, and the linguist Timotei Cipariu.

Sylwia FILIPCZUK-ROSIŃSKA
Senior lecturer
The Polish Air Force Academy
ul. Dywizjonu 303 nr 35, 08 − 521 Dęblin
Tel: 605 -172-940
E-mail address: s.filipczuk@wsosp.pl
Sylwia Filipczuk-Rosińska is Senior lecturer at The Polish Air Force Academy
specializing in military English and preparation for STANAG level 3 examinations.
She is also examiner of STANAG military exams. Sylwia Filipczuk-Rosińska
authored resource books for military students: Writing Practice for Advanced
Military Examinations, Lesson plans for STANAG 3, Developing speaking skills for
advanced learners. She holds the position of administrator of Pearson Test of
English examinations. She is freelance translator for Politechnika Lubelska and
Maria-Curie Skłodowska University. Sylwia Filipczuk-Rosińska is a PhD student at
Maria-Curie Skłodowska University in Lublin in the research area of cognitive
linguistics, metaphor, children’s literature – Roald Dahl.

Giacomo FERRARI
Professor of English Linguistics
University of East Piedmont, Italy
E-mail address: giacomo.ferrari@uniupo.it
Giacomo Ferrari is doctor in historical linguistics and Sanskrit, he carried out some
research in the field of ancient and middle Indian languages. His research interests
moved to computational linguistics and in this field he carried out projects in
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