296 i Flora Unveiled
But, none the less, the blossom never closed
against me, even when ‘twas snatched away.Jean de Meun’s lengthy addition uses the same plot framework as the anonymous seventy-
eight line conclusion, with a multitude of philosophical and satirical digressions involving a
host of new characters, the most important of which is “Dame Nature.” In Jean de Meun’s
extension, the goddess Natura appears after the army of barons, led by Cupid and Venus,
storm the castle but fail to rescue the Rose bush from the “Tower of Shame.” We learn from
Nature that God has subcontracted the universe to Her to rule according to Her laws. The
most important law is Love, for it is the means by which species perpetuate themselves. Man
alone, among all living things, defies her authority by rejecting Love. Determined to aid the
Lover in his cause, Dame Nature instructs her chaplain, “Genius,” to exhort Love’s army to
storm the castle and recover the Rose. Genius exhorts the barons to action in sexual terms,
using the ancient agricultural metaphor of the plow:
Plow, barons, plow— your lineage repair;
For if you do not there’ll be nothing left
To build upon. Bend well your sturdy backs
Like sails that belly to take in the wind ...
The plow hales^19 lift with your two naked hands,
and with your arms strongly assist the beam
And strive to thrust the coulter^20 firmly home
And keep it in its proper place, to sink
More deeply in the furrow.The barons attack and Venus shoots her arrow, setting the castle aflame. The enemies of
Love are routed. The Lover mounts the ruined Ivory Tower and arrives at a shrine between
two pillars. The shrine contains a narrow passageway that is blocked by a leathery barrier
symbolizing the hymen. Using the staff that Dame Nature has given him, the Lover breaks
through the barrier and squeezes through the passageway, where he finds the Rose:
I seized the rose tree by her tender limbs
That are more lithe than any willow bough,
And pulled her close to me with my two hands.
Most gently, that I might avoid the thorns,
I set myself to loosen that sweet bud
That scarcely without shaking could be plucked.
I did this all by sheer necessity.
Trembling and soft vibration shook her limbs;
But they were quite uninjured, for I strove
To make no wound, though I could not avoid
Breaking a trifling fissure in the skin,
Since otherwise I could have found no way
To gain the favor I so much desired.