Helinand of Froidmont

An interesting document on medieval views of death from the late twelfth century, Helinand de Froidmont's work suffers from the perpetual, almost banal rhyming followed by the translator. Although this is an attempt on Jenny Lind Proter's part to remain faithful to the original poem, at times it becomes ridiculous and forces her to use obscure words and even French. The poem itself is an interesting meditation on death and its inevitability. A Cistercian, the author hopes that thinking on death will cause the readers to meditate more on the importance looking to the eternal instead of focusing on the material world, a lesson still relevant over eight hundred years later.… (mere)