19 Q{uonia}m
igit{ur}
qui scit.
Chaucer - Boethius
Quenched in his blood,
the lamp he had trimmed with a skilful hand gave no more light; the
language of Tully and Virgil soon ceased to be spoken; and many ages
were to pass away, before learned diligence restored its purity, and the
union of genius with imitation taught a few modern writers to surpass in
eloquence the Latinity of Boethius. --(Hallam's _Literature of Europe_,
i. 2, 4th ed. 1854. )
The Senator Boethius is the last of the Romans whom Cato or Tully could
have acknowledged for their countryman. As a wealthy orphan, he
inherited the patrimony and honours of the Anician family, a name
ambitiously assumed by the kings and emperors of the age; and the
appellation of Manlius asserted his genuine or fabulous descent from a
race of consuls and dictators, who had repulsed the Gauls from the
Capitol, and sacrificed their sons to the discipline of the Republic. In
the youth of Boethius the studies of Rome were not totally abandoned; a
Virgil is now extant, corrected by the hand of a consul; and the
professors of grammar, rhetoric, and jurisprudence, were maintained in
their privileges and pensions by the liberality of the Goths. But the
erudition of the Latin language was insufficient to satiate his ardent
curiosity; and Boethius is said to have employed eighteen laborious
years in the schools of Athens, which were supported by the zeal, the
learning, and the diligence of Proclus and his disciples. The reason and
piety of their Roman pupil were fortunately saved from the contagion of
mystery and magic, which polluted the groves of the Academy, but he
imbibed the spirit, and imitated the method, of his dead and living
masters, who attempted to reconcile the strong and subtle sense of
Aristotle with the devout contemplation and sublime fancy of Plato.
After his return to Rome, and his marriage with the daughter of his
friend, the patrician Symmachus, Boethius still continued, in a palace
of ivory and [glass] to prosecute the same studies. The Church was
edified by his profound defence of the orthodox creed against the Arian,
the Eutychian, and the Nestorian heresies; and the Catholic unity was
explained or exposed in a formal treatise by the _indifference_ of three
distinct though consubstantial persons. For the benefit of his Latin
readers, his genius submitted to teach the first elements of the arts
and sciences of Greece. The geometry of Euclid, the music of Pythagoras,
the arithmetic of Nicomachus, the mechanics of Archimedes, the astronomy
of Ptolemy, the theology of Plato, and the logic of Aristotle, with the
commentary of Porphyry, were translated and illustrated by the
indefatigable pen of the Roman senator. And he alone was esteemed
capable of describing the wonders of art, a sun-dial, a water-clock, or
a sphere which represented the motions of the planets. From these
abstruse speculations, Boethius stooped, or, to speak more truly, he
rose to the social duties of public and private life: the indigent were
relieved by his liberality; and his eloquence, which flattery might
compare to the voice of Demosthenes or Cicero, was uniformly exerted in
the cause of innocence and humanity. Such conspicuous merit was felt and
rewarded by a discerning prince: the dignity of Boethius was adorned
with the titles of consul and patrician, and his talents were usefully
employed in the important station of master of the offices.
Notwithstanding the equal claims of the East and West, his two sons were
created, in their tender youth, the consuls of the same year. On the
memorable day of their inauguration, they proceeded in solemn pomp from
their palace to the forum amidst the applause of the senate and people;
and their joyful father, the true Consul of Rome, after pronouncing an
oration in the praise of his royal benefactor, distributed a triumphal
largess in the games of the circus. Prosperous in his fame and fortunes,
in his public honours and private alliances, in the cultivation of
science and the consciousness of virtue, Boethius might have been styled
happy, if that precarious epithet could be safely applied before the
last term of the life of man.
A philosopher, liberal of his wealth and parsimonious of his time, might
be insensible to the common allurements of ambition, the thirst of gold
and employment. And some credit may be due to the asseveration of
Boethius, that he had reluctantly obeyed the divine Plato, who enjoins
every virtuous citizen to rescue the state from the usurpation of vice
and ignorance. For the integrity of his public conduct he appeals to the
memory of his country. His authority had restrained the pride and
oppression of the royal officers, and his eloquence had delivered
Paulianus from the dogs of the palace. He had always pitied, and often
relieved, the distress of the provincials, whose fortunes were exhausted
by public and private rapine; and Boethius alone had courage to oppose
the tyranny of the Barbarians, elated by conquest, excited by avarice,
and, as he complains, encouraged by impunity. In these honourable
contests his spirit soared above the consideration of danger, and
perhaps of prudence; and we may learn from the example of Cato, that a
character of pure and inflexible virtue is the most apt to be misled by
prejudice, to be heated by enthusiasm, and to confound private enmities
with public justice. The disciple of Plato might exaggerate the
infirmities of nature, and the imperfections of society; and the mildest
form of a Gothic kingdom, even the weight of allegiance and gratitude,
must be insupportable to the free spirit of a Roman patriot. But the
favour and fidelity of Boethius declined in just proportion with the
public happiness; and an unworthy colleague was imposed to divide and
control the power of the master of the offices. In the last gloomy
season of Theodoric, he indignantly felt that he was a slave; but as his
master had only power over his life, he stood without arms and without
fear against the face of an angry Barbarian, who had been provoked to
believe that the safety of the senate was incompatible with his own. The
Senator Albinus was accused and already convicted on the presumption of
_hoping_, as it was said, the liberty of Rome.
"If Albinus be criminal," exclaimed the orator, "the senate and myself
are all guilty of the same crime. If we are innocent, Albinus is equally
entitled to the protection of the laws. " These laws might not have
punished the simple and barren wish of an unattainable blessing; but
they would have shown less indulgence to the rash confession of
Boethius, that, had he known of a conspiracy, the tyrant never should.
The advocate of Albinus was soon involved in the danger and perhaps the
guilt of his client; their signature (which they denied as a forgery)
was affixed to the original address, inviting the emperor to deliver
Italy from the Goths; and three witnesses of honourable rank, perhaps of
infamous reputation, attested the treasonable designs of the Roman
patrician. Yet his innocence must be presumed, since he was deprived by
Theodoric of the means of justification, and rigorously confined in the
tower of Pavia, while the senate, at the distance of five hundred miles,
pronounced a sentence of confiscation and death against the most
illustrious of its members. At the command of the Barbarians, the occult
science of a philosopher was stigmatized with the names of sacrilege and
magic. A devout and dutiful attachment to the senate was condemned as
criminal by the trembling voices of the senators themselves; and their
ingratitude deserved the wish or prediction of Boethius, that, after
him, none should be found guilty of the same offence.
While Boethius, oppressed with fetters, expected each moment the
sentence or the stroke of death, he composed in the tower of Pavia the
_Consolation of Philosophy_; a golden volume not unworthy of the leisure
of Plato or Tully, but which claims incomparable merit from the
barbarism of the times and the situation of the author. The celestial
guide, whom he had so long invoked at Rome and Athens, now condescended
to illumine his dungeon, to revive his courage, and to pour into his
wounds her salutary balm. She taught him to compare his long prosperity
and his recent distress, and to conceive new hopes from the inconstancy
of fortune. Reason had informed him of the precarious condition of her
gifts; experience had satisfied him of their real value; he had enjoyed
them without guilt; he might resign them without a sigh, and calmly
disdain the impotent malice of his enemies, who had left him happiness,
since they had left him virtue. From the earth, Boethius ascended to
heaven in search of the SUPREME GOOD; explored the metaphysical
labyrinth of chance and destiny, of prescience and free-will, of time
and eternity; and generously attempted to reconcile the perfect
attributes of the Deity with the apparent disorders of his moral and
physical government. Such topics of consolation, so obvious, so vague,
or so abstruse, are ineffectual to subdue the feelings of human nature.
Yet the sense of misfortune may be diverted by the labour of thought;
and the sage who could artfully combine in the same work the various
riches of philosophy, poetry, and eloquence, must already have possessed
the intrepid calmness which he affected to seek. Suspense, the worst of
evils, was at length determined by the ministers of death, who executed,
and perhaps exceeded, the inhuman mandate of Theodoric. A strong cord
was fastened round the head of Boethius, and forcibly tightened till his
eyes almost started from their sockets; and some mercy may be discovered
in the milder torture of beating him with clubs till he expired. But his
genius survived to diffuse a ray of knowledge over the darkest ages of
the Latin world; the writings of the philosopher were translated by the
most glorious of the English kings, and the third emperor of the name of
Otho removed to a more honourable tomb the bones of a Catholic saint,
who, from his Arian persecutors, had acquired the honours of martyrdom
and the fame of miracles. In the last hours of Boethius, he derived some
comfort from the safety of his two sons, of his wife, and of his
father-in-law, the venerable Symmachus. But the grief of Symmachus was
indiscreet, and perhaps disrespectful; he had presumed to lament, he
might dare to revenge, the death of an injured friend. He was dragged in
chains from Rome to the palace of Ravenna; and the suspicions of
Theodoric could only be appeased by the blood of an innocent and aged
senator. --Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, 1838, vol. vii. p. 45-52 (without
the notes).
INDEX
_(Giving the first line of each Metre, the first words of each Prose,
and the corresponding page of the translation). _
Book Metre Prose Page
I 1 -- Carmina qui quondam studio florente peregi 4
? -- 1 Haec dum mecum tacitus ipse reputarem 5
? 2 -- Heu, quam praecipiti mersa profundo 7
? -- 2 Sed medicinae, inquit, potius tempus est 8
? 3 -- Tunc me discussa liquerunt nocte tenebrae 9
? -- 3 Haud aliter tristitiae nebulis dissolutis,
hausi coelum 10
? 4 -- Quisquis composito serenus aevo 12
? -- 4 Sentisne, inquit, haec, atque animo
illabuntur tuo? 13
? 5 -- O stelliferi conditor orbis 21
? -- 5 Haec ubi continuato dolore delatravi 23
? 6 -- Cum Phoebi radiis grave 25
? -- 6 Primum igitur paterisne me pauculis
rogationibus 26
? 7 -- Nubibus atris 29
II -- 1 Posthaec paulisper obticuit 29
? 1 -- Haec cum superba verterit vices dextra 33
? -- 2 Vellem autem pauca tecum fortunae ipsius 33
? 2 -- Si quantas rapidis flatibus incitus 35
? -- 3 His igitur si pro se tecum fortuna
loqueretur 36
? 3 -- Cum polo Phoebus roseis quadrigis 39
? -- 4 Tum ego, Vera, inquam, commemoras 39
? 4 -- Quisquis volet perennem 44
? -- 5 Sed quoniam rationum jam in te mearum
fomenta 45
? 5 -- Felix nimium prior aetas 50
? -- 6 Quid autem de dignitatibus, potentiaque
disseram 51
? 6 -- Novimus quantas dederit ruinas 55
? -- 7 Tum ego, Scis, inquam, ipsa 56
? 7 -- Quicumque solam mente praecipiti petit 60
? -- 8 Sed ne me inexorabile contra fortunam 61
? 8 -- Quod mundus stabili fide 62
III -- 1 Jam cantum illa finierat 63
? 1 -- Qui serere ingenuum volet agrum 64
? -- 2 Tum defixo paululum visu 64
? 2 -- Quantas rerum flectat habenas 68
? -- 3 Vos quoque, o terrena animalia 69
? 3 -- Quamvis fluente dives auri gurgite 71
? -- 4 Sed dignitates honorabilem reverendumque 72
? 4 -- Quamvis se Tyrio superbus ostro 74
? -- 5 An vero regna regumque familiaritas
efficere potentem valent? 75
? 5 -- Qui se volet esse potentem 77
? -- 6 Gloria vero quam fallax saepe,
quam turpis est! 77
? 6 -- Omne hominum genus in terris 78
? -- 7 Quid autem de corporis voluptatibus loquar? 79
? 7 -- Habet omnis hoc voluptas 80
? -- 8 Nihil igitur dubium est, quin 80
? 8 -- Eheu, quam miseros tramite devio 81
? -- 9 Hactenus mendacis formam felicitatis
ostendisse 82
? 9 -- O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas 87
? -- 10 Quoniam igitur quae sit imperfecti 88
? 10 -- Huc omnes pariter venite capti 94
? -- 11 Assentior, inquam. 95
? 11 -- Quisquis profunda mente vestigat verum 100
? -- 12 Tum ego, Platoni, inquam, vehementer
assentior 101
? 12 -- Felix qui potuit boni 106
IV -- 1 Haec cum Philosophia, dignitate 108
? 1 -- Sunt etenim pennae volucres mihi 110
? -- 2 Tum ego, Papae, inquam, ut magna promittis! 112
? 2 -- Quos vides sedere celso 118
? -- 3 Videsne igitur quanto in coeno probra
volvantur 119
? 3 -- Vela Neritii ducis 122
? -- 4 Tum ego, Fateor, inquam, nec injuria
dici video 123
? 4 -- Quid tantos juvat excitare motus 130
? -- 5 Hic ego, Video, inquam, quae sit vel
felicitas 131
? 5 -- Si quis Arcturi sidera nescit 132
? -- 6 Ita est, inquam. 133
? 6 -- Si vis celsi jura tonantis 143
? -- 7 Jamne igitur vides, quid haec omnia
quae diximus, consequatur? 144
? 7 -- Bella bis quinis operatus annis 147
V -- 1 Dixerat, orationisque cursum ad alia quaedam 149
? 1 -- Rupis Achaemeniae scopulis, ubi versa
sequentum 151
? -- 2 Animadverto, inquam, idque uti tu dicis,
ita esse consentio. 152
? 2 -- Puro clarum lumine Phoebum 153
? -- 3 Tum ego, En, inquam, difficiliori rursus
ambiguitate confundor. 154
? 3 -- Quaenam discors foedera rerum 159
? -- 4 Tum illa, Vetus, inquit, haec est de
Providentia querela 161
? 4 -- Quondam porticus attulit 166
? -- 5 Quod si in corporibus sentiendis, quamvis 168
? 5 -- Quam variis terras animalia permeant
figuris! 170
? -- 6 Quoniam igitur, uti paulo ante
monstratum est 171
Appendix. --AEtas Prima 180
? Balades de Vilage sanz Peinture 182
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
++[I]NCIPIT TABULA LIBRI BOICII DE CONSOLAC{I}O{N}E PHILOSOPHIE.
[_Additional MS. 10,340, fol. 3. _]
[Sidenote: [fol. 3. ]]
LIBER PRIMUS.
1 Carmina qui quondam studio flore{n}te p{er}egi.
2 Hic dum mecum tacitus.
3 Heu q{ua}m precipiti.
4 Set medicine inquit tempus.
5 Tunc me discussa.
6 Haut[C-1] aliter tristicie.
7 Quisquis composito.
8 Sentis ne inquit.
9 O stelliferi conditor orbis.
10 Hic ubi continuato dolore.
11 Cum phebi radijs.
12 Primu{m} igit{ur} pateris rogac{i}o{n}ib{us}.
13 Nubib{us} atris condita.
EXPLICIT LIBER PRIMUS.
LIBER SECUNDUS.
1 Postea paulisper[C-2] conticuit.
2 Hec cum superba.
3 Uellem autem pauca.
4 Si quantas rapidis.
5 His igitur si {et} pro se.
6 Cum primo polo.
7 Tunc ego uera inq{ua}m.
8 Contraq{ue}.
9 Quisq{ui}s ualet p{er}hennem cantus.
10 Set cum racionu{m} iam in te.
11 Felix i{n} miru{m} iam prior etas.
12 Quid au{tem} de dignitatib{us}.
13 Nouim{us} quantos dederat.
14 Tu{m} ego scis inq{ua}m.
15 Quicu{n}q{ue} solam mente.
16 Set ne me inexorabile.
17 Q{uo}d mu{n}dus stabile fide.
EXPLICIT LIBER S{E}C{UN}DUS.
LIBER TERCIUS.
1 Iam tantu{m} illa.
2 Qui serere ingeniu{m}.
3 Tunc defixo paululu{m}.
4 Quantas reru{m} flectat.
5 Uos quoq{ue} terrena a{n}i{m}alia.
6 Qua{m}uis fluenter diues.
7 Set dignitatib{us}.
8 Qua{m}uis se tirio.
9 An uero regna.
10 Qui se ualet esse potentem.
11 Gloria uero q{uam} fallax.
12 Omne hominu{m} genus in terris.
13 Quid au{tem} de corporib{us}.
14 Habet hoc uoluptas.
15 Nichil igit{ur} dubiu{m} est.
16 Heu q{ue} miseros tramite.
17 Hacten{us} me{n}dacio forma{m}.
18 O qui p{er}petua.
19 Q{uonia}m igit{ur} qui scit.
20 Nunc omnes pariter.
21 Assencior inq{ua}m cuncta.
22 Quisq{ue} profunda.
23 Tunc ego platoni inq{ua}m.
24 Felix qui poterit.
EXPLICIT LIBER T{ER}CIUS.
LIBER QUARTUS.
1 Hec cum philosophia.
2 Sunt eteni{m} penne.
3 Tunc ego pape inq{uam}.
4 Quos uides sedere celsos.
5 Uides ne igitur quanto.
6 U[e]la naricij ducis.
7 Tunc ego fateor inq{ua}m.
8 Quid tantos iuuat.
9 Huic ego uideo inq{ua}m.
10 Si quis arcturi[C-3] sydera.
11 Ita est inq{ua}m.
12 Si uis celsi iura.
13 Iam ne igit{ur} uides.
14 Bella bis quinis.
EXPLICIT LIBER QUARTUS.
INCIPIT LIBER QUINTUS.
1 Dixerat orac{i}onis q{ue} cursu{m}.
2 Rupis achemenie.
3 Animaduerto inq{ua}m.
4 Puro claru{m} lumine.
5 Tamen ego en inq{ua}m.
6 Que nam discors.
7 Tamen illa uetus.
8 Quonda{m} porticus attulit.
9 Quod si i{n} corporib{us}.
10 Qua{m} uarijs figuris.
11 Quonia{m} igit{ur} uti paulo ante.
EXPLICIT LIBER QUI{N}TUS {ET} ULTIMUS.
[Footnote C-1: MS. hanc. ]
[Footnote C-2: MS. luper. ]
[Footnote C-3: MS. arituri. ]
[[pg 4]]
[Headnote:
BOETHIUS DEPLORES HIS MISFORTUNES. ]
[Sidenote: [* fol. 3 _b_. ]]
*LIBER PRIMUS.
INCIPIT LIBER BOICII DE CO{N}SOLAC{I}O{N}E PHILOSOPHIE.
Car{m}i{n}a qui q{u}onda{m} studio flore{n}te p{er}egi.
[Sidenote: [The fyrste Met{ur}. ]]
[Sidenote: Boethius deplores his misfortunes in the following
pathetic elegy. ]
++Allas I wepyng am constreined to bygynne vers of
sorouful matere. ? ? at whilom in florysching
studie made delitable ditees. For loo rendyng muses
of poetes enditen to me ? inges to be writen. and drery 4
v{er}s of wrecchednes weten my face wi? v{er}ray teers.
? At ? e leest no drede ne my? t[e] ouer-come ? o muses.
? at ? ei ne were{n} felawes {and} folweden my wey. ? at is
to seyne when I was exiled.
[Sidenote: ypalage antithesis]
? ei ? at weren glorie of 8
my you? th whilom weleful {and} grene co{n}forten now ? e
sorouful werdes of me olde man.
[Sidenote: Laments his immature old age. ]
for elde is comen vnwarly
vpon me hasted by ? e harmes ? at I haue. {and}
sorou ha? comau{n}ded his age to be in me. ? Heeres 12
hore ben schad ouertymelyche vpon myne heued. and
? e slak[e] skyn tremble? vpon myn emty body.
[Sidenote: Death turns a deaf ear to the wretched. ]
? ilk[e]
dee? of men is welful ? at ne come? not in ? eres ? at
ben swete (. i. mirie. ) but come? to wrecches often 16
yclepid.
[Linenotes:
1 _of_--MS. of of.
2 _florysching_--floryssynge
3 _rendyng_--rendynge
4 _be_--ben
5 _wrecchednes_--wrecchednesse
_teers_--teeres
6 _leest_--leeste
_my? t[e] ouer-come_--myhte ouercomen
8 _seyne when_--seyn whan
9 _you? th_--MS. ? o? t, C. yowthe
10 _sorouful werdes_--sorful wierdes [i. fata]
12 _sorou_--sorwe
_ha? _--MS. ha? e
_be_--ben
13 _hore_--hoore
_ben_--arn
_myne_--myn
14 _slak[e]_--slake
_vpon_--of
_emty_--emptyd
_? ilk[e]_--thilke
15 _welful_--weleful
_come? not_--comth nat
16 _. i. mirie_--omitted]
? Allas allas wi? how deef an eere dee? cruel
to{ur}ne? awey fro wrecches {and} naie? to closen wepyng
eyen.
[Sidenote: When Fortune was favourable Death came near Boethius,
but in his adversity life is unpleasantly protracted. ]
? While fortune vnfei? ful fauored[e] me 20
wi? ly? te goodes (. s. temp{or}els. ) ? e sorouful houre ? at
is to seyne ? e dee? had[de] almost dreynt myne heued.
? But now for fortune clowdy ha? chaunged hir disceyuable
chere to me warde. myn vnpitouse lijf drawe? 24
a long vnagreable dwellynges in me.
[Sidenote: Why did his friends call him happy? He stood not firm
that hath thus fallen. ]
? O ? e my
frendes what or wherto auaunted[e] ? e me to be weleful: [[pg 5]]
for he ? at ha? fallen stood not i{n} stedfast degree.
[Linenotes:
19 _tourne? _--torneth
_naie? _--nayteth
_wepyng_--wepynge
20 _While_--Whil
_fauored[e]_--fauorede
21 _ly? te_--lyhte
_. s. temporels_--omitted
_sorouful houre_--sorwful howr{e}
22 _seyne_--seyn
_had[de]_--hadde
_myne_--myn
23 _ha? _--MS. ha? e
_chaunged hir disceyuable_--chaungyd hyre deceyuable
24 _vnpitouse lijf_--vnpietous lyf]
[Headnote:
PHILOSOPHY APPEARS TO BOETHIUS. ]
HIC DUM MECUM TACITUS.
[Sidenote: [The firste p{ro}se. ]]
[Sidenote: Philosophy appears to Boethius, like a beautiful woman,
and of great age. ]
++IN ? e mene while ? at I stille recorded[e] ? ise ? inges 28
wi? my self. {and} markede my wepli compleynte wi?
office of poyntel. I saw stondyng aboue ? e hey? t of my
heued a woman of ful greet reuerence by semblaunt
hir eyen brennyng {and} clere seing ouer ? e comune 32
my? t of men. wi? a lijfly colo{ur} {and} wi? swiche vigoure
{and} strenke? ? at it ne my? t[e] not be emptid. ? Al
were it so ? at sche was ful of so greet age. ? at men ne
wolde not trowe i{n} no manere ? at sche were of oure 36
elde.
[Sidenote: Her height could not be determined, for there were
times when she raised her head higher than the heavens. ]
? e stature of hir was of a doutous iugement. for
su{m}tyme sche constreyned[e] {and} schronk hir selue{n}
lyche to ? e comune mesure of men. {and} su{m}tyme it
semed[e] ? at sche touched[e] ? e heuene wi? ? e hey? te 40
of hir heued. and when sche hef hir heued heyer sche
p{er}ced[e] ? e selue heuene. so ? at ? e sy? t of men lokyng
was i{n} ydel.
[Sidenote: Her clothes were finely wrought and indissoluble, but
dark and dusky, like old besmoked images. ]
? Hir clo?
the lamp he had trimmed with a skilful hand gave no more light; the
language of Tully and Virgil soon ceased to be spoken; and many ages
were to pass away, before learned diligence restored its purity, and the
union of genius with imitation taught a few modern writers to surpass in
eloquence the Latinity of Boethius. --(Hallam's _Literature of Europe_,
i. 2, 4th ed. 1854. )
The Senator Boethius is the last of the Romans whom Cato or Tully could
have acknowledged for their countryman. As a wealthy orphan, he
inherited the patrimony and honours of the Anician family, a name
ambitiously assumed by the kings and emperors of the age; and the
appellation of Manlius asserted his genuine or fabulous descent from a
race of consuls and dictators, who had repulsed the Gauls from the
Capitol, and sacrificed their sons to the discipline of the Republic. In
the youth of Boethius the studies of Rome were not totally abandoned; a
Virgil is now extant, corrected by the hand of a consul; and the
professors of grammar, rhetoric, and jurisprudence, were maintained in
their privileges and pensions by the liberality of the Goths. But the
erudition of the Latin language was insufficient to satiate his ardent
curiosity; and Boethius is said to have employed eighteen laborious
years in the schools of Athens, which were supported by the zeal, the
learning, and the diligence of Proclus and his disciples. The reason and
piety of their Roman pupil were fortunately saved from the contagion of
mystery and magic, which polluted the groves of the Academy, but he
imbibed the spirit, and imitated the method, of his dead and living
masters, who attempted to reconcile the strong and subtle sense of
Aristotle with the devout contemplation and sublime fancy of Plato.
After his return to Rome, and his marriage with the daughter of his
friend, the patrician Symmachus, Boethius still continued, in a palace
of ivory and [glass] to prosecute the same studies. The Church was
edified by his profound defence of the orthodox creed against the Arian,
the Eutychian, and the Nestorian heresies; and the Catholic unity was
explained or exposed in a formal treatise by the _indifference_ of three
distinct though consubstantial persons. For the benefit of his Latin
readers, his genius submitted to teach the first elements of the arts
and sciences of Greece. The geometry of Euclid, the music of Pythagoras,
the arithmetic of Nicomachus, the mechanics of Archimedes, the astronomy
of Ptolemy, the theology of Plato, and the logic of Aristotle, with the
commentary of Porphyry, were translated and illustrated by the
indefatigable pen of the Roman senator. And he alone was esteemed
capable of describing the wonders of art, a sun-dial, a water-clock, or
a sphere which represented the motions of the planets. From these
abstruse speculations, Boethius stooped, or, to speak more truly, he
rose to the social duties of public and private life: the indigent were
relieved by his liberality; and his eloquence, which flattery might
compare to the voice of Demosthenes or Cicero, was uniformly exerted in
the cause of innocence and humanity. Such conspicuous merit was felt and
rewarded by a discerning prince: the dignity of Boethius was adorned
with the titles of consul and patrician, and his talents were usefully
employed in the important station of master of the offices.
Notwithstanding the equal claims of the East and West, his two sons were
created, in their tender youth, the consuls of the same year. On the
memorable day of their inauguration, they proceeded in solemn pomp from
their palace to the forum amidst the applause of the senate and people;
and their joyful father, the true Consul of Rome, after pronouncing an
oration in the praise of his royal benefactor, distributed a triumphal
largess in the games of the circus. Prosperous in his fame and fortunes,
in his public honours and private alliances, in the cultivation of
science and the consciousness of virtue, Boethius might have been styled
happy, if that precarious epithet could be safely applied before the
last term of the life of man.
A philosopher, liberal of his wealth and parsimonious of his time, might
be insensible to the common allurements of ambition, the thirst of gold
and employment. And some credit may be due to the asseveration of
Boethius, that he had reluctantly obeyed the divine Plato, who enjoins
every virtuous citizen to rescue the state from the usurpation of vice
and ignorance. For the integrity of his public conduct he appeals to the
memory of his country. His authority had restrained the pride and
oppression of the royal officers, and his eloquence had delivered
Paulianus from the dogs of the palace. He had always pitied, and often
relieved, the distress of the provincials, whose fortunes were exhausted
by public and private rapine; and Boethius alone had courage to oppose
the tyranny of the Barbarians, elated by conquest, excited by avarice,
and, as he complains, encouraged by impunity. In these honourable
contests his spirit soared above the consideration of danger, and
perhaps of prudence; and we may learn from the example of Cato, that a
character of pure and inflexible virtue is the most apt to be misled by
prejudice, to be heated by enthusiasm, and to confound private enmities
with public justice. The disciple of Plato might exaggerate the
infirmities of nature, and the imperfections of society; and the mildest
form of a Gothic kingdom, even the weight of allegiance and gratitude,
must be insupportable to the free spirit of a Roman patriot. But the
favour and fidelity of Boethius declined in just proportion with the
public happiness; and an unworthy colleague was imposed to divide and
control the power of the master of the offices. In the last gloomy
season of Theodoric, he indignantly felt that he was a slave; but as his
master had only power over his life, he stood without arms and without
fear against the face of an angry Barbarian, who had been provoked to
believe that the safety of the senate was incompatible with his own. The
Senator Albinus was accused and already convicted on the presumption of
_hoping_, as it was said, the liberty of Rome.
"If Albinus be criminal," exclaimed the orator, "the senate and myself
are all guilty of the same crime. If we are innocent, Albinus is equally
entitled to the protection of the laws. " These laws might not have
punished the simple and barren wish of an unattainable blessing; but
they would have shown less indulgence to the rash confession of
Boethius, that, had he known of a conspiracy, the tyrant never should.
The advocate of Albinus was soon involved in the danger and perhaps the
guilt of his client; their signature (which they denied as a forgery)
was affixed to the original address, inviting the emperor to deliver
Italy from the Goths; and three witnesses of honourable rank, perhaps of
infamous reputation, attested the treasonable designs of the Roman
patrician. Yet his innocence must be presumed, since he was deprived by
Theodoric of the means of justification, and rigorously confined in the
tower of Pavia, while the senate, at the distance of five hundred miles,
pronounced a sentence of confiscation and death against the most
illustrious of its members. At the command of the Barbarians, the occult
science of a philosopher was stigmatized with the names of sacrilege and
magic. A devout and dutiful attachment to the senate was condemned as
criminal by the trembling voices of the senators themselves; and their
ingratitude deserved the wish or prediction of Boethius, that, after
him, none should be found guilty of the same offence.
While Boethius, oppressed with fetters, expected each moment the
sentence or the stroke of death, he composed in the tower of Pavia the
_Consolation of Philosophy_; a golden volume not unworthy of the leisure
of Plato or Tully, but which claims incomparable merit from the
barbarism of the times and the situation of the author. The celestial
guide, whom he had so long invoked at Rome and Athens, now condescended
to illumine his dungeon, to revive his courage, and to pour into his
wounds her salutary balm. She taught him to compare his long prosperity
and his recent distress, and to conceive new hopes from the inconstancy
of fortune. Reason had informed him of the precarious condition of her
gifts; experience had satisfied him of their real value; he had enjoyed
them without guilt; he might resign them without a sigh, and calmly
disdain the impotent malice of his enemies, who had left him happiness,
since they had left him virtue. From the earth, Boethius ascended to
heaven in search of the SUPREME GOOD; explored the metaphysical
labyrinth of chance and destiny, of prescience and free-will, of time
and eternity; and generously attempted to reconcile the perfect
attributes of the Deity with the apparent disorders of his moral and
physical government. Such topics of consolation, so obvious, so vague,
or so abstruse, are ineffectual to subdue the feelings of human nature.
Yet the sense of misfortune may be diverted by the labour of thought;
and the sage who could artfully combine in the same work the various
riches of philosophy, poetry, and eloquence, must already have possessed
the intrepid calmness which he affected to seek. Suspense, the worst of
evils, was at length determined by the ministers of death, who executed,
and perhaps exceeded, the inhuman mandate of Theodoric. A strong cord
was fastened round the head of Boethius, and forcibly tightened till his
eyes almost started from their sockets; and some mercy may be discovered
in the milder torture of beating him with clubs till he expired. But his
genius survived to diffuse a ray of knowledge over the darkest ages of
the Latin world; the writings of the philosopher were translated by the
most glorious of the English kings, and the third emperor of the name of
Otho removed to a more honourable tomb the bones of a Catholic saint,
who, from his Arian persecutors, had acquired the honours of martyrdom
and the fame of miracles. In the last hours of Boethius, he derived some
comfort from the safety of his two sons, of his wife, and of his
father-in-law, the venerable Symmachus. But the grief of Symmachus was
indiscreet, and perhaps disrespectful; he had presumed to lament, he
might dare to revenge, the death of an injured friend. He was dragged in
chains from Rome to the palace of Ravenna; and the suspicions of
Theodoric could only be appeased by the blood of an innocent and aged
senator. --Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, 1838, vol. vii. p. 45-52 (without
the notes).
INDEX
_(Giving the first line of each Metre, the first words of each Prose,
and the corresponding page of the translation). _
Book Metre Prose Page
I 1 -- Carmina qui quondam studio florente peregi 4
? -- 1 Haec dum mecum tacitus ipse reputarem 5
? 2 -- Heu, quam praecipiti mersa profundo 7
? -- 2 Sed medicinae, inquit, potius tempus est 8
? 3 -- Tunc me discussa liquerunt nocte tenebrae 9
? -- 3 Haud aliter tristitiae nebulis dissolutis,
hausi coelum 10
? 4 -- Quisquis composito serenus aevo 12
? -- 4 Sentisne, inquit, haec, atque animo
illabuntur tuo? 13
? 5 -- O stelliferi conditor orbis 21
? -- 5 Haec ubi continuato dolore delatravi 23
? 6 -- Cum Phoebi radiis grave 25
? -- 6 Primum igitur paterisne me pauculis
rogationibus 26
? 7 -- Nubibus atris 29
II -- 1 Posthaec paulisper obticuit 29
? 1 -- Haec cum superba verterit vices dextra 33
? -- 2 Vellem autem pauca tecum fortunae ipsius 33
? 2 -- Si quantas rapidis flatibus incitus 35
? -- 3 His igitur si pro se tecum fortuna
loqueretur 36
? 3 -- Cum polo Phoebus roseis quadrigis 39
? -- 4 Tum ego, Vera, inquam, commemoras 39
? 4 -- Quisquis volet perennem 44
? -- 5 Sed quoniam rationum jam in te mearum
fomenta 45
? 5 -- Felix nimium prior aetas 50
? -- 6 Quid autem de dignitatibus, potentiaque
disseram 51
? 6 -- Novimus quantas dederit ruinas 55
? -- 7 Tum ego, Scis, inquam, ipsa 56
? 7 -- Quicumque solam mente praecipiti petit 60
? -- 8 Sed ne me inexorabile contra fortunam 61
? 8 -- Quod mundus stabili fide 62
III -- 1 Jam cantum illa finierat 63
? 1 -- Qui serere ingenuum volet agrum 64
? -- 2 Tum defixo paululum visu 64
? 2 -- Quantas rerum flectat habenas 68
? -- 3 Vos quoque, o terrena animalia 69
? 3 -- Quamvis fluente dives auri gurgite 71
? -- 4 Sed dignitates honorabilem reverendumque 72
? 4 -- Quamvis se Tyrio superbus ostro 74
? -- 5 An vero regna regumque familiaritas
efficere potentem valent? 75
? 5 -- Qui se volet esse potentem 77
? -- 6 Gloria vero quam fallax saepe,
quam turpis est! 77
? 6 -- Omne hominum genus in terris 78
? -- 7 Quid autem de corporis voluptatibus loquar? 79
? 7 -- Habet omnis hoc voluptas 80
? -- 8 Nihil igitur dubium est, quin 80
? 8 -- Eheu, quam miseros tramite devio 81
? -- 9 Hactenus mendacis formam felicitatis
ostendisse 82
? 9 -- O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas 87
? -- 10 Quoniam igitur quae sit imperfecti 88
? 10 -- Huc omnes pariter venite capti 94
? -- 11 Assentior, inquam. 95
? 11 -- Quisquis profunda mente vestigat verum 100
? -- 12 Tum ego, Platoni, inquam, vehementer
assentior 101
? 12 -- Felix qui potuit boni 106
IV -- 1 Haec cum Philosophia, dignitate 108
? 1 -- Sunt etenim pennae volucres mihi 110
? -- 2 Tum ego, Papae, inquam, ut magna promittis! 112
? 2 -- Quos vides sedere celso 118
? -- 3 Videsne igitur quanto in coeno probra
volvantur 119
? 3 -- Vela Neritii ducis 122
? -- 4 Tum ego, Fateor, inquam, nec injuria
dici video 123
? 4 -- Quid tantos juvat excitare motus 130
? -- 5 Hic ego, Video, inquam, quae sit vel
felicitas 131
? 5 -- Si quis Arcturi sidera nescit 132
? -- 6 Ita est, inquam. 133
? 6 -- Si vis celsi jura tonantis 143
? -- 7 Jamne igitur vides, quid haec omnia
quae diximus, consequatur? 144
? 7 -- Bella bis quinis operatus annis 147
V -- 1 Dixerat, orationisque cursum ad alia quaedam 149
? 1 -- Rupis Achaemeniae scopulis, ubi versa
sequentum 151
? -- 2 Animadverto, inquam, idque uti tu dicis,
ita esse consentio. 152
? 2 -- Puro clarum lumine Phoebum 153
? -- 3 Tum ego, En, inquam, difficiliori rursus
ambiguitate confundor. 154
? 3 -- Quaenam discors foedera rerum 159
? -- 4 Tum illa, Vetus, inquit, haec est de
Providentia querela 161
? 4 -- Quondam porticus attulit 166
? -- 5 Quod si in corporibus sentiendis, quamvis 168
? 5 -- Quam variis terras animalia permeant
figuris! 170
? -- 6 Quoniam igitur, uti paulo ante
monstratum est 171
Appendix. --AEtas Prima 180
? Balades de Vilage sanz Peinture 182
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
++[I]NCIPIT TABULA LIBRI BOICII DE CONSOLAC{I}O{N}E PHILOSOPHIE.
[_Additional MS. 10,340, fol. 3. _]
[Sidenote: [fol. 3. ]]
LIBER PRIMUS.
1 Carmina qui quondam studio flore{n}te p{er}egi.
2 Hic dum mecum tacitus.
3 Heu q{ua}m precipiti.
4 Set medicine inquit tempus.
5 Tunc me discussa.
6 Haut[C-1] aliter tristicie.
7 Quisquis composito.
8 Sentis ne inquit.
9 O stelliferi conditor orbis.
10 Hic ubi continuato dolore.
11 Cum phebi radijs.
12 Primu{m} igit{ur} pateris rogac{i}o{n}ib{us}.
13 Nubib{us} atris condita.
EXPLICIT LIBER PRIMUS.
LIBER SECUNDUS.
1 Postea paulisper[C-2] conticuit.
2 Hec cum superba.
3 Uellem autem pauca.
4 Si quantas rapidis.
5 His igitur si {et} pro se.
6 Cum primo polo.
7 Tunc ego uera inq{ua}m.
8 Contraq{ue}.
9 Quisq{ui}s ualet p{er}hennem cantus.
10 Set cum racionu{m} iam in te.
11 Felix i{n} miru{m} iam prior etas.
12 Quid au{tem} de dignitatib{us}.
13 Nouim{us} quantos dederat.
14 Tu{m} ego scis inq{ua}m.
15 Quicu{n}q{ue} solam mente.
16 Set ne me inexorabile.
17 Q{uo}d mu{n}dus stabile fide.
EXPLICIT LIBER S{E}C{UN}DUS.
LIBER TERCIUS.
1 Iam tantu{m} illa.
2 Qui serere ingeniu{m}.
3 Tunc defixo paululu{m}.
4 Quantas reru{m} flectat.
5 Uos quoq{ue} terrena a{n}i{m}alia.
6 Qua{m}uis fluenter diues.
7 Set dignitatib{us}.
8 Qua{m}uis se tirio.
9 An uero regna.
10 Qui se ualet esse potentem.
11 Gloria uero q{uam} fallax.
12 Omne hominu{m} genus in terris.
13 Quid au{tem} de corporib{us}.
14 Habet hoc uoluptas.
15 Nichil igit{ur} dubiu{m} est.
16 Heu q{ue} miseros tramite.
17 Hacten{us} me{n}dacio forma{m}.
18 O qui p{er}petua.
19 Q{uonia}m igit{ur} qui scit.
20 Nunc omnes pariter.
21 Assencior inq{ua}m cuncta.
22 Quisq{ue} profunda.
23 Tunc ego platoni inq{ua}m.
24 Felix qui poterit.
EXPLICIT LIBER T{ER}CIUS.
LIBER QUARTUS.
1 Hec cum philosophia.
2 Sunt eteni{m} penne.
3 Tunc ego pape inq{uam}.
4 Quos uides sedere celsos.
5 Uides ne igitur quanto.
6 U[e]la naricij ducis.
7 Tunc ego fateor inq{ua}m.
8 Quid tantos iuuat.
9 Huic ego uideo inq{ua}m.
10 Si quis arcturi[C-3] sydera.
11 Ita est inq{ua}m.
12 Si uis celsi iura.
13 Iam ne igit{ur} uides.
14 Bella bis quinis.
EXPLICIT LIBER QUARTUS.
INCIPIT LIBER QUINTUS.
1 Dixerat orac{i}onis q{ue} cursu{m}.
2 Rupis achemenie.
3 Animaduerto inq{ua}m.
4 Puro claru{m} lumine.
5 Tamen ego en inq{ua}m.
6 Que nam discors.
7 Tamen illa uetus.
8 Quonda{m} porticus attulit.
9 Quod si i{n} corporib{us}.
10 Qua{m} uarijs figuris.
11 Quonia{m} igit{ur} uti paulo ante.
EXPLICIT LIBER QUI{N}TUS {ET} ULTIMUS.
[Footnote C-1: MS. hanc. ]
[Footnote C-2: MS. luper. ]
[Footnote C-3: MS. arituri. ]
[[pg 4]]
[Headnote:
BOETHIUS DEPLORES HIS MISFORTUNES. ]
[Sidenote: [* fol. 3 _b_. ]]
*LIBER PRIMUS.
INCIPIT LIBER BOICII DE CO{N}SOLAC{I}O{N}E PHILOSOPHIE.
Car{m}i{n}a qui q{u}onda{m} studio flore{n}te p{er}egi.
[Sidenote: [The fyrste Met{ur}. ]]
[Sidenote: Boethius deplores his misfortunes in the following
pathetic elegy. ]
++Allas I wepyng am constreined to bygynne vers of
sorouful matere. ? ? at whilom in florysching
studie made delitable ditees. For loo rendyng muses
of poetes enditen to me ? inges to be writen. and drery 4
v{er}s of wrecchednes weten my face wi? v{er}ray teers.
? At ? e leest no drede ne my? t[e] ouer-come ? o muses.
? at ? ei ne were{n} felawes {and} folweden my wey. ? at is
to seyne when I was exiled.
[Sidenote: ypalage antithesis]
? ei ? at weren glorie of 8
my you? th whilom weleful {and} grene co{n}forten now ? e
sorouful werdes of me olde man.
[Sidenote: Laments his immature old age. ]
for elde is comen vnwarly
vpon me hasted by ? e harmes ? at I haue. {and}
sorou ha? comau{n}ded his age to be in me. ? Heeres 12
hore ben schad ouertymelyche vpon myne heued. and
? e slak[e] skyn tremble? vpon myn emty body.
[Sidenote: Death turns a deaf ear to the wretched. ]
? ilk[e]
dee? of men is welful ? at ne come? not in ? eres ? at
ben swete (. i. mirie. ) but come? to wrecches often 16
yclepid.
[Linenotes:
1 _of_--MS. of of.
2 _florysching_--floryssynge
3 _rendyng_--rendynge
4 _be_--ben
5 _wrecchednes_--wrecchednesse
_teers_--teeres
6 _leest_--leeste
_my? t[e] ouer-come_--myhte ouercomen
8 _seyne when_--seyn whan
9 _you? th_--MS. ? o? t, C. yowthe
10 _sorouful werdes_--sorful wierdes [i. fata]
12 _sorou_--sorwe
_ha? _--MS. ha? e
_be_--ben
13 _hore_--hoore
_ben_--arn
_myne_--myn
14 _slak[e]_--slake
_vpon_--of
_emty_--emptyd
_? ilk[e]_--thilke
15 _welful_--weleful
_come? not_--comth nat
16 _. i. mirie_--omitted]
? Allas allas wi? how deef an eere dee? cruel
to{ur}ne? awey fro wrecches {and} naie? to closen wepyng
eyen.
[Sidenote: When Fortune was favourable Death came near Boethius,
but in his adversity life is unpleasantly protracted. ]
? While fortune vnfei? ful fauored[e] me 20
wi? ly? te goodes (. s. temp{or}els. ) ? e sorouful houre ? at
is to seyne ? e dee? had[de] almost dreynt myne heued.
? But now for fortune clowdy ha? chaunged hir disceyuable
chere to me warde. myn vnpitouse lijf drawe? 24
a long vnagreable dwellynges in me.
[Sidenote: Why did his friends call him happy? He stood not firm
that hath thus fallen. ]
? O ? e my
frendes what or wherto auaunted[e] ? e me to be weleful: [[pg 5]]
for he ? at ha? fallen stood not i{n} stedfast degree.
[Linenotes:
19 _tourne? _--torneth
_naie? _--nayteth
_wepyng_--wepynge
20 _While_--Whil
_fauored[e]_--fauorede
21 _ly? te_--lyhte
_. s. temporels_--omitted
_sorouful houre_--sorwful howr{e}
22 _seyne_--seyn
_had[de]_--hadde
_myne_--myn
23 _ha? _--MS. ha? e
_chaunged hir disceyuable_--chaungyd hyre deceyuable
24 _vnpitouse lijf_--vnpietous lyf]
[Headnote:
PHILOSOPHY APPEARS TO BOETHIUS. ]
HIC DUM MECUM TACITUS.
[Sidenote: [The firste p{ro}se. ]]
[Sidenote: Philosophy appears to Boethius, like a beautiful woman,
and of great age. ]
++IN ? e mene while ? at I stille recorded[e] ? ise ? inges 28
wi? my self. {and} markede my wepli compleynte wi?
office of poyntel. I saw stondyng aboue ? e hey? t of my
heued a woman of ful greet reuerence by semblaunt
hir eyen brennyng {and} clere seing ouer ? e comune 32
my? t of men. wi? a lijfly colo{ur} {and} wi? swiche vigoure
{and} strenke? ? at it ne my? t[e] not be emptid. ? Al
were it so ? at sche was ful of so greet age. ? at men ne
wolde not trowe i{n} no manere ? at sche were of oure 36
elde.
[Sidenote: Her height could not be determined, for there were
times when she raised her head higher than the heavens. ]
? e stature of hir was of a doutous iugement. for
su{m}tyme sche constreyned[e] {and} schronk hir selue{n}
lyche to ? e comune mesure of men. {and} su{m}tyme it
semed[e] ? at sche touched[e] ? e heuene wi? ? e hey? te 40
of hir heued. and when sche hef hir heued heyer sche
p{er}ced[e] ? e selue heuene. so ? at ? e sy? t of men lokyng
was i{n} ydel.
[Sidenote: Her clothes were finely wrought and indissoluble, but
dark and dusky, like old besmoked images. ]
? Hir clo?
