Rosemary Dobson studies an individual amongst the pre-eminence of religion. In Painter of Umbria she explores a “legend” of her own creation, comparing a single man to the Virgin Mary as he “measures his height against the unpainted plaster”, against his “magnum opus.” Along similar lines, her Annunciations tells a story of waiting, comparing her experience to that of the announcement of the Incarnation by the angel Gabriel to Mary. Eutychus differs from the other two in the regard that it focuses on an actual story of the Bible, but she continues to focus in this on the human scale against the greater questions, with a sense of humour about it.
Eutychus offers a humour exploration of the human element of a great religious story, shown through …show more content…
Eutychus begins with the character himself being unable to “remember anything [Paul] said”, already establishing a sense of the biblical being contrasted with the ordinary frailties of men, as it continues after the biblical sounding “in Troas when they met to break their bread and preached till midnight.” Here, Dobson is recognising that humans are subject to feebleness in will, unable, like Eutychus, to be able to always do what is considered to be the right thing. This contrasts with the character she creates in Painter of Umbria whose dedication is clearly pronounced and the poem is told like a story of the greatness of one man. “Francesco Calvi, Umbrian by birth” is shown to be a mere mortal compared to Virgin Mary as he “measures his height against the unpainted plaster”, yet eventually shows himself to be worthy of something great, as he “joins his angels grouped about the Virgin.” In Painters of Umbria, Dobson even shows a link between Francesco Calvi’s painting of the Virgin Mary and God’s creation of the world, as Francesco “paints from dawn to darkness…ponders his creation.” This is displaying the superhuman nature of Francesco, that he does something which is beyond that of what a normal human could achieve. Annunciations shows how an unnatural amount of patience leads to something amazing, as the waiting that Mary experienced led to the “prophesied” birth of Jesus. In this, Painter of Umbria and Annunciations show a different view point of Dobson’s.
Eutychus offers a humour exploration of the human element of a great religious story, shown through …show more content…
Eutychus begins with the character himself being unable to “remember anything [Paul] said”, already establishing a sense of the biblical being contrasted with the ordinary frailties of men, as it continues after the biblical sounding “in Troas when they met to break their bread and preached till midnight.” Here, Dobson is recognising that humans are subject to feebleness in will, unable, like Eutychus, to be able to always do what is considered to be the right thing. This contrasts with the character she creates in Painter of Umbria whose dedication is clearly pronounced and the poem is told like a story of the greatness of one man. “Francesco Calvi, Umbrian by birth” is shown to be a mere mortal compared to Virgin Mary as he “measures his height against the unpainted plaster”, yet eventually shows himself to be worthy of something great, as he “joins his angels grouped about the Virgin.” In Painters of Umbria, Dobson even shows a link between Francesco Calvi’s painting of the Virgin Mary and God’s creation of the world, as Francesco “paints from dawn to darkness…ponders his creation.” This is displaying the superhuman nature of Francesco, that he does something which is beyond that of what a normal human could achieve. Annunciations shows how an unnatural amount of patience leads to something amazing, as the waiting that Mary experienced led to the “prophesied” birth of Jesus. In this, Painter of Umbria and Annunciations show a different view point of Dobson’s.