Wise men have said that writing non-fiction is well worth the time. So I am doing that. This is simply a small essay that attempts to capture or describe a quality or motif that I find wonderful in art. I am no great scholar, so I merely present this to those wiser than I for consideration and inspiration. If I make claims of history or the science of art here, you may feel free to treat them as nonsensically as they strike you.
The topic of this ode is that quality for which I think the best name is "Encompassing". It is the attempt of a work of art to be universal, primarily by touching lightly on the fullness of a certain set of natural things. I think it is a good name, because contained within the word is a quite common application of the idea: to Encompass, circling around the cardinal directions, and thereby around the world.
I think that, even in saying this, examples are springing up in your mind, dear reader, but I will give my own examples of several works, mainly songs or poems, that possess this quality. The song that spurred this essay into being is a modern song set to old music, by John Renbourn, called "Wexford Lullaby". Woven throughout the song is that simple version of the motif which I have already discussed, the four cardinal directions. Yet that is not the only such set in the song.
A clear set can be found in the fifth and sixth stanzas (or the third verse, as I learned it), where we see the sun (both rising and setting), moon, and stars (or lack thereof). Even in those same stanzas, we see the Christian motif of the Nativity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Less overt and cleanly divided, but still quite clear, is the stages of life: infancy, youth, adulthood, and deathbed. And finally, merely the icing which coats and sweetens the cake, the many mentions of all sorts of natural environments: The sea, the hills, the fields, the forests, the sky, et cetera.
Of note is that all these sets are put in service of the theme of the work. They are not merely the listing of things, but emphasize the feeling of impending loss that the singer is expressing. I think this is something common to all encompassing works of good quality. They use these sets to apply the theme of the work, increasing its scale or applicability. The singer's loss becomes not only an individual emotion, but something that suffuses the world.
To me, an encompassing work has something of a medieval, or pre-medieval, feeling to it. It seems to evoke welsh triads, proverbs, and other poems meant to instruct the listener in lore and the ways of the world. It gives the impression of a kind of epic wisdom. The Rota Fortunae, the four humors and elements, the three primes of alchemy... I don't know if it was actually more common in the medieval period; I certainly see a good deal of modern works that involve it.
There's simple dyads as well, which don't often lose much potency for being simpler. Night and day, the living and the dead... I think about the stories in which the hero's great victories are told, but never without a mention of their eventual demise. The Psalms almost always speak of sorrow, then of joy, and often feature other encompassing sets as well.
A rarer kind of emcompassing, at least modernly, is ekphrastic. Consider the second stanza of the Song of Eärendil. In this case, the encompassing serves not to make the theme universal, but to make the theme comprehensive. It communicates that Eärendil is not merely impressive in a single aspect, but in all ways both he and his possessions are beautiful and noble (the set of Costly Materials is, of itself, a rare theme nowadays. You don't often hear a poem mentioning several different kinds of gems).
Another rare set, perhaps sensibly rare in the modern day, is the set of Trades. You may look to the mid-19th century "Song of the Lower Classes" for an example here: the Farmer, Miner, Builder, Weaver, and Soldier. Of course, the Trades as a set have become far too specialized and numerous to be encompassed in art without a considerable amount of cleverness (or tedium).
To touch briefly on one last example, the two famous sets of paintings by Thomas Cole, "The Course of Empire" and "The Voyage of Life" are great examples of encompassing works of visual art. There are, of course, many others. Many ancient triptychs seem made to touch briefly on everything. I have personally, in my travels, seen at least 5 different sets of statues for the Four Seasons.
I do not think that this quality of encompassing is necessary or overwhelmingly common. But it is certainly beautiful where it makes a fine appearance. I have read, seen, and heard many great works whose focus dwells totally on a single theme in a single instance. However, I think the idea is worth considering while you, dear reader, are creating your own art. To make a work encompassing can give it both a sense of perspective, and of great significance.
(Though, perhaps it is not necessary to explain in such detail to a reader of this blog the joys of making comprehensive lists or referencing reductionist classifications. Oh well!)
