Heloise (1079-1142)and Abelard (1101-1164)in Love Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Peter Abelard was a French philosopher.
Heloise was the niece of Fulbert, a canon.
He was born in ten thousand seventy-nine
And she was twenty years younger to him.
He was teaching philosophy in Paris.
She was aspiring to learn philosophy.
Abelard must be 40 when he met her.
Heloise must be in her 20 to see him. 1

Heloise, of no mean beauty, stood out
Above all by reason of her knowledge,
Which was abundant, as much as her charm.
He wanted to teach; she wanted to learn.
Her beauty attracted him to teach her.
His reputation drew her towards him.
He wanted to have her so he taught her.
Fulbert consented his stay with them. 2

Proximity is a culprit for passion.
Their corporal presence in study paved
The way for him to advance upon her
And exploit her passion for having sex.
‘All men are under a necessity
Of paying tribute at sometime or other
To LOVE, and it's vain to strive to avoid it.'
He wrote in his correspondence about her.3

He wrote, ‘Charming Heloise, said I, blushing,
If you know yourself, you'll not be surprised
With the passion you have inspired me with.
There was a most happy understanding
Between us; the same house united us.
We improved the time with the sweet of love.'
Love is incapable of being concealed.
Abelard was obliged to leave her and the house.4

He could not live without seeing Heloise.
He entreated her servant to help him
For money but attractive as she was,
She wanted him to have her his mistress.
So entirely did he love his Heloise
That he turned her desire down and left her.
Heloise's singing master helped their meet.
Both had an ardent meeting in her garden.5

The first news she acquainted with him plunged
Him into a distraction. She must be
Delivered of a burden she was feeling.
She was soon shifted to her sister's house
In Brittany. It is a robbery, he felt,
Which love had made him commit and it was
A sort of treason. Next step he did was
Asking Fulfert's pardon with confession. 6

He further offered to marry her in secret.
‘Will it not be more agreeable to me
To see myself your mistress than your wife.
And will not love have more power than marriage
To keep our heart firmly united? ' she told.
However, marriage took place in secret.
A boy was born and entrusted to his sister.
To hide marriage, she was sent to nunnery. 7

It was Abelard who kindled in her love.
It was Heloise who watered in her love.
‘I have your picture in my room and never
Pass it without stopping to look at it.
If a picture can give me such a pleasure,
What cannot letters inspire? ' she wrote,
‘I shall read that you are my husband
And you shall see me sign myself your wife.'8

‘You can only relieve me with tears and words.
I will still love you with all the tenderness
Of my soul till the last moment of my life.'
She wrote and reasoned against marrying,
‘The name of wife is hoourable in the world
Yet the name of your mistress had greater charms.
In marriage I am necessitated
To love always one who loves me or not.'9

Heloise is considered the first woman
In 12th century on feminist philosophy.
‘Happiness is the union of two persons
Who love each other with perfect liberty,
Who are united by an inclination
And satisfied with each other merit.'
She preferred to be known as mistress
Rather than wife and enjoyed that liberty. 10

He spent his time with monks. Fulfert mistook
Abelard to have abandoned Heloise as a nun
And got him castrated through his servants.
After castration, filled with shame from this,
Abélard became a monk, without retaliation.
It was at this time that they have exchanged
Their famous letters having literary merit.
They convey the remembrance of lost love. 11
June,2020
(The Abelard-and-Heloise tomb is found in Pere Lachaise site in North East of Paris.)