Officium Poetae

Historically, and often autobiographically as well, poetry precedes and founds law. At the same time as poetry is crucial to an understanding of law, it is disavowed. This article addresses both the history and the slips through which the attentive analyst can glimpse the role of poetry and of legal poetics in the development and profession of law. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.