Clinging to a Short Syllable: How Adeodatus’ Temporal Life Pointed Augustine to Eternal Love

In her book Motherhood, Natalie Carnes speaks on behalf of many mothers when she expresses her dismay with Augustine’s neglect of his experience as a parent in his Confessions. Indeed, Augustine barely mentions his son and leaves his feelings about Adeodatus’ life and death unusually hidden. However, a close reading of Augustine's earlier texts written shortly after Adeodatus died suggests that there is more of Adeodatus in the Confessions than the few words Augustine devotes explicitly to him. In those earlier texts, Augustine introduces his doctrine of ordered love through the metaphor of temporal syllables in a poem “passing away.” This metaphor and doctrine, later incorporated into the Confessions, suggest that he was confronting his dysphoria over Adeodatus’ young death. Reading the Confessions with an eye toward unearthing Adeodatus’ hidden presence there opens up new possibilities for parents to engage with it in understanding their relationships with their children.