Fortunatus: Poet and Person

Abstract The irony of informal occasional verse is that, for all its appearance of intimacy, it can erect an impenetrable barrier of elegant trivia which distances a reader as effectively from the poet himself as do the most public utterances. This, however, is not invariably the case with Fortunatus. His poems to various patrons such as Iovinus and Felix, and in particular to Gregory, Radegund, and Agnes, allow us to glimpse interests and friendships of significance to the poet. We can surely conclude that he was not merely a bread-and-butter writer, earning a living by technical mastery-a shrewd politician, but one with no heartfelt interest in his craft. The way in which his verse warms into life, passion, and humour when he has a patron who really appreciates the skill and the tradition behind his writing, conveys enthusiasm and innate humanity. And it must be significant that it was only for patrons, but not for good friends, that Fortunatus wrote his epitaphs; the greatest loss was not to be expressed in so public a fashion. While we can come close to him as a person in such pieces, there are two poems we have not yet considered which cast a particular light on Fortunatus’ role as a poet and on the change in his standing in Merovingian court circles over the years.