Quickness: Emblem

At first I thought that I would want my emblem for quickness to be the ring with a precious stone from the story of Charlemagne. But then I remembered that Calvino said that in many stories that have the quality of “Quickness,” there is often a magical object that is endowed with particular qualities and usually has some sort of symbolism. Then I realized that my analogy to Hermione’s Time Turner was a perfect example! It’s a necklace that would otherwise be mundane if it weren’t endowed with special magical qualities!

Hermione’s necklace is in the form of an hourglass and it has the following engraving: “I mark the hours every one nor have I yet outrun the sun. My use and value unto you are gauged by what you have to do.” I tried to logic out a connection for the motto to quickness but I couldn’t really come up with one that wasn’t a bit of a stretch. So I’ll settle for it to be the emblem.

I think the Time Turner is a really good emblem for quickness because it has the ability to make time an ally instead of something to be conquered. Hermione was able to handle her heavy course load with the help of time. I think it’s a more modern adaptation of an emblem than Calvino’s emblem for quickness: the horse.

Quickness: Calvino’s Quality

In order to explain the quality of Quickness, Calvino tells the story of Charlemagne written by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly:

“Late in life the emperor Charlemagne fell in love with a German girl. The barons at his court were extremely worried when they saw that the sovereign, wholly taken up with his amorous passion and unmindful of his regal dignity, was neglecting the affairs of state. When. the girl suddenly died, the courtiers were greatly relieved – but not for long, because Charlemagne’s love did not die with her. The emperor had the embalmed body carried to his bedchamber, where he refused to be parted from it. The Archbishop turpin, alarmed by this macabre passion, suspected an enchantment and insisted on examining the corpse. Hidden under the girl’s dead tongue he found a ring with a precious stone set in it. As soon as the rung was in turpin’s hands, Charlemagne fell passionately in love with the archbishop and hurriedly had the girl buried. In order to escape the embarrassing situation, Turpin flung the ring into Lake Constance. Charlemagne thereupon fell in love with the lake and would not leave its shores” (Calvino, 31).

Calvino uses this story as an example because it was very well written. Many writers have attempted to re-write this same story (Paris, Petrarch, Errizzo) and they have not been up to par because they are lacking in “Quickness.” They do not have the same speed and the chain of events is not as cohesive. Quickness is the ability of a writer to control the speed of a story. As in Charlemagne’s story, one second and a thousand years can pass by with equal quickness and allure. A master of Quickness is able to make time an ally.

Additionally, quickness in writing has a rapidity and rhythm on the page ; the pronunciation can create a tempo. Calvino uses the art of poetry as an example. Read aloud, poetry changes our perspective of how language can be used. Some poems almost sound like a song when you read them out loud. When a good poem is read, you get the sense that the diction was carefully chosen. Writing with the quality of Quickness should have the same effect. Each word should be so well chosen that it is unalterable. Writing should have rapidity but not so much that the substance suffers. This is when Calvino introduces his own personal motto and emblem which coincides with Quickness:

Festina Lente (Hurry Slowly) is the motto that accompanies this emblem. It means that when working one should strive for haste, not speed. Speed sacrifices quality, haste embodies diligence. One should work and create works in which there is no sense of time passing. Quickness is defined by this motto and emblem.