Boethius book 1, m 7: clear your mind.

When in 1944 Helen Waddell (1889 – 1965) had almost finished the first draft of a manuscript for a second book of Mediaeval Lyrics, she began to have mental fall outs and lapses of memory, probably  due to brain strokes or dementia preacox. The book was published posthumously in 1976 with the effort of friends and scholars detecting sources and filling now and then a gap in the translation

This poem by Boethius concludes book 1 of his Consolatio Philosophiae, written in his cell and waiting for his death. Philosophia, a majestic woman, is speaking to him and encouraging him to clear his mind from passions in order to see the truth. The poem starts with three nature comparisons: like stars are hindered by dark clouds in spreading their light and the clear sea is made muddy by a storm and the course of a mountain river is sometimes stopped by a rock having strolled down from the top, so our mind is cloudy when still filled with passions.

But whereas Boethius in his imprisonment still had his mind as a resource and escape, Hellen Waddell was in her final years a prisoner of her own and once brilliant mind, with no possibility of escape.

Boethius,  Consolatio Philosophiae 1, m.7

(Meter: Adonic  - u u | - -)

nubibus atris                     ater: dark

condita nullum                 conditus: hidden

fundere possunt                fundo: to pour out, shed, spread

sidera lumen.

si mare uoluens                acc. !

turbidus Auster                 Auster: South Wind

misceat aestum,                 stirs up till a storm

uitrea dudum                     vitrea (unda): clear  / dudum: just, recently

parque serenis                    par + dat: equal to, resembling

unda diebus

mox resoluto

sordida caeno                    filthy by dissolved mud (caenum)

uisibus obstat,                   hampers (clear) vision

quique uagatur                  vagor: to roam, wander

montibus altis

defluus amnis

saepe resistit                     resisto: to stop, stand still

rupe soluti                         by a rock (rupes f.), a dam (obex f.) of a fallen stone

obice saxi

tu quoque si uis

lumine claro

cernere uerum,                  cerno: to discern / verum : the truth

tramite recto                      take your mountain path (calles) on a straight side-path(trames)

carpere callem:

gaudia pelle,                      pello: to cast out

pelle timorem

spemque fugato                fugato: 2nd sg fut imperat act

nec dolor adsit,

nubila mens est

uinctaque frenis                subdued by reigns (frenum)

haec ubi regnant.              haec: gaudia, timor et spes

Translation by Helen Waddell:

Stars hidden by dark clouds

  Can give no light,

If the South Wind stirs up the rolling sea.

  The wave that once was like crystal

  Clear as a shining day

Now fool with loosened mud

  Decieves the light.

The stream that strayed

  Down from the mountain top

Is dammed by fallen fragments of loose chalk.

And you, if you would look clear-eyed on truth,

  Would take the mountain track,

Be rid of joy and fear and hope and pain.

  The mind is fogged

  Held in with bit and reign

  When these have power.

More Latin Lyrics: From Virgil to Milton (posthumous, edited by Dame Felicitas Corrigan, 1976)

Boethius, Consolatio 2. m 5: paradise lost.

With a friend I am reading the Works and Days by Hesiod. He is not the most optimistic writer and bewails that he did not live before in better times. Indeed the idea of a Golden Age is not uncommon in Antiquity and Hinduism has this idea too. In Jewish and Christian mythology there is the story of Paradise, but here we have only two people living. The idea of progress also existed in Antiquity – think of Protagoras and his idea of social evolution – but a decline is more common. And how many elderly people today are not complaining that in their youth everything was better? A few years to go and I too belong to them.

The theme of a Golden Age has also been treated by Roman writer like Horace, Virgil, Ovid and Tibullus and when Boethius was writing his Consolatio in prison, he  uses the material of these poets for his poem about the earlier stage of civilization. Such deliberations are a kind of yearning for better places and times. We can compare the exaltation of `primitive’ cultures by Rousseau in the late 18^th century. According to Boethius we should be glad with what nature gives us and live a life of innocence. A stoic theme rather than Christian and maybe more expressing his deepest feelings than his outward Christian beliefs. 

Boethius, Consolatio book 2, poem 5.

Meter: anapest dimeter:  u u – u u – u u – u (the first two double shorts can be replaced by a single long syllable.)

Felix nimium prior aetas,

contenta fidelibus arvis

nec inerti perdita luxu,

facili quae sera solebat

ieiunia solvere glande. 5

Non Bacchica munera norant

liquido confundere melle,

nec lucida vellera Serum

Tyrio miscere veneno.

Somnos dabat herba salubres, 10

potum quoque lubricus amnis,

umbras altissima pinus.

Nondum maris alta secabat

nec mercibus undique lectis

nova litora viderat hospes. 15

Tunc classica saeva tacebant

odiis neque fusus acerbis

cruor horrida tinxerat arva.

Quid enim furor hosticus ulla

vellet prior arma movere, 20

cum vulnera saeva viderent

nec praemia sanguinis ulla ?

Utinam modo nostra redirent

in mores tempora priscos.

Sed saevior ignibus Aetnae 25

fervens amor ardet habendi.

Heu primus quis fuit ille,

auri qui pondera tecti

gemmasque latere volentes

pretiosa pericula fodit ? 30

fidelibus arvis: with trustworthy  fields

iners inertis: making lazy

sera ieiunia:  late hunger

facili glande: easy to get nut

Bachica munera: wine

norant = noverant

liquido confundere melle: wine mixed with honey is called mulsun

vellus velleris (n.): wool. In the plural anything woven and here it means silk

Seres Serum: Western Chinese tribe known from the trade in silk

Tyrio veneno: Tyrian juice = purple

herba: grass
potus potus (m.): drink

lubricus: easily streaming

pinus (f.): pine-tree

maris alta secabat: it cleaved the height of the sea

mercibus lectis: for excellent commodities

hospes: as guest

classicum: war trumpet

acerbus: sharp, violent

fusus cruor: shed blood

tingo tinxi tinctum: to moisten

arva: a variant reading is arma and is probably to be preferred

hosticus: hostile

nec praemia sanguinis ulla: and not any gain in (the shedding) of blood

utinam modo: `I wish that but’

priscus: of former times

saevus: fierce

amor habendi: the love for possession

pondus ponderis (n.): weight

tectus: covered, hidden

gemmasque latere volentes: and gems wanting  to be hidden

pretiosa pericula: apposition `as dangerous riches’

fodio fodi fossum: to dig out, delve

W.V. Cooper : J.M. Dent and Company London 1902

THE FORMER AGE.

    Too blest the former age, their life

      Who in the fields contented led,

    And still, by luxury unspoiled,

      On frugal acorns sparely fed.

    No skill was theirs the luscious grape

      With honey's sweetness to confuse;

    Nor China's soft and sheeny silks

      T' empurple with brave Tyrian hues.

    The grass their wholesome couch, their drink

      The stream, their roof the pine's tall shade;

    Not theirs to cleave the deep, nor seek

      In strange far lands the spoils of trade.

    The trump of war was heard not yet,

      Nor soiled the fields by bloodshed's stain;

    For why should war's fierce madness arm

      When strife brought wound, but brought not gain?

    Ah! would our hearts might still return

      To following in those ancient ways.

    Alas! the greed of getting glows

      More fierce than Etna's fiery blaze.

    Woe, woe for him, whoe'er it was,

      Who first gold's hidden store revealed,

    And--perilous treasure-trove--dug out

      The gems that fain would be concealed!

Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae, book 2, p3 and m3: nothing is certain.

Boethius is blaming Fortuna for having left him: once he was a celebrated scholar working at the court of Theodoric and esteemed by everyone. Now he is in prison on charges of treason and waiting for his death penalty. Philosophia is reproaching him for this: one should not rely on Fortuna as human life is unstable. Take for instance the change of seasons: there is the warm-blowing western wind (Zephyrus), the nebulous southern wind (Auster) and the stormy northern wind (Aquilo). Like the seasons life of man is. One thing is certain (constat), that nothing is certain for human beings.

Boethius: De Consolatione Philosophiae, book 2 p3 (second half) and m3

Dedisti, ut opinor, uerba Fortunae dum te illa demulcet, dum te ut delicias suas fouet. Munus quod nulli umquam priuato commodauerat abstulisti. Uisne igitur cum Fortuna calculum ponere? Nunc te primum liuenti oculo praestrinxit. Si numerum modumque laetorum tristiumue consideres, adhuc te felicem negare non possis. Quodsi idcirco te fortunatum esse non aestimas, quoniam quae tunc laeta uidebantur abierunt, non est quod te miserum putes, quoniam quae nunc creduntur maesta praetereunt. An tu in hanc uitae scenam nunc primum subitus hospesque uenisti? Ullamne humanis rebus inesse constantiam reris, cum ipsum saepe hominem uelox hora dissoluat? Nam etsi rara est fortuitis manendi fides, ultimus tamen uitae dies mors quaedam fortunae est etiam manentis. Quid igitur referre putas tune illam moriendo deseras an te illa fugiendo?

verba do = laudo

demulceo: to touch softly

ut delicias suas: as her darling

munus… abstulisti: you carried off the prize (of meeting Lady Philosphia.)

commodo: to grant

calculum ponere: to make up the bill

liuenti oculo praestrinxit: has touched you with a dark (i.e. envying) eye

quodsi idcirco: but even if therefor

non est quod: there is no reason

vitae scenum: the stage of life (life as a play on stage was – and is – a common metaphor)

uelox hora: quickly running time

fortuitis manendi fides: (litt.)  faith (In things) unstable of remaining. (Note the reafliojnship between fortuitus and Fortuna.)

ultimus tamen uitae dies mors quaedam fortunae est etiam manentis: that last day of your life is some kind of death of Fortuna, even if she is remaining (all your life).

quid igitur referre: what difference does it make

(meter: sapphic  (uneven line) and glyconeus (even line)

- u -  x  - u u -   u - -

x x - u u - u –

Cum polo Phoebus roseis quadrigis

Lucem spargere coeperit,

Pallet albentes hebetata uultus

Flammis stella prementibus.

Cum nemus flatu Zephyri tepentis

Uernis inrubuit rosis,

Spiret insanum nebulosus Auster,

Iam spinis abeat decus.

Saepe tranquillo radiat sereno

Immotis mare fluctibus,

Saepe feruentes Aquilo procellas

Uerso concitat aequore.

Rara si constat sua forma mundo,

Si tantas uariat uices,

Crede fortunis hominum caducis,

Bonis crede fugacibus!

Constat aeterna positumque lege est

Ut constet genitum nihil.

polo: at the heaven

quadrigae: chariot drawn by 4 horses

palleo pallui:  to become pale

albentes hebetata uultus:  (the stars stella: collective singular) becoming dim with regard to their white faces

Uernis inrubuit rosis: reddens through spring roses

insanum: adverb

spina:  rose

(sub) tranquillo  sereno (serenum: bright sky)

procella: storm

verso aequore:  the sea being whirled

vicis vicis (f.): change, condition

caducus: frail, transitory

aeterna lege

genitum: poetic gen. pl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boethius

Translation by H.R. James (1897):

—methinks thou didst cozen Fortune while she caressed thee, and made thee her darling. Thou didst bear off a boon which she had never before granted to any private person. Art thou, then, minded to cast up a reckoning with Fortune? Now for the first time she has turned a jealous glance upon thee. If thou compare the extent and bounds of thy blessings and misfortunes, thou canst not deny that thou art still fortunate. Or if thou esteem not thyself favoured by Fortune in that thy then seeming prosperity hath departed, deem not thyself wretched, since what thou now believest to be calamitous passeth also. What! art thou but now come suddenly and a stranger to the scene of this life? Thinkest thou there is any stability in human affairs, when man himself vanishes away in the swift course of time? It is true that there is little trust that the gifts of chance will abide; yet the last day of life is in a manner the death of all remaining Fortune. What difference, then, thinkest thou, is there, whether thou leavest her by dying, or she leave thee by fleeing away?'

SONG III.

All passes.

When, in rosy chariot drawn,

Phœbus 'gins to light the dawn,

By his flaming beams assailed,

Every glimmering star is paled.

When the grove, by Zephyrs fed,

With rose-blossom blushes red;—

Doth rude Auster breathe thereon,

Bare it stands, its glory gone.

Smooth and tranquil lies the deep

While the winds are hushed in sleep.

 Soon, when angry tempests lash,

Wild and high the billows dash.

Thus if Nature's changing face

Holds not still a moment's space,

Fleeting deem man's fortunes; deem

Bliss as transient as a dream.

One law only standeth fast:

Things created may not last.

Boethius 3.M12: don't look back!

This month is the month of philosophy in the Netherlands. Don’t expect my fellow Dutch citizens to run at their bookshelves and read Plato, Kant and Nietzsche or that they try for the 4^th time to struggle a way through Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit. No, because so little is done with philosophy here this month has been instituted to promote it. Well, for me a reason to turn again to Boethius. Boethius, waiting for his execution, is spoken to by his guardian Philosophia. She tells him not to worry about earthly things. He is happy who can see bright fountain of goodness and free himself from the chains of the heavy earth! As an example she tells the well-known story of Orpheus, who tried to bring Eurydice back from the Underworld, but alas, he cannot resist looking back and loses her again. So, once having seen this fountain, don’t look back!

De Consolatione Philosophiae  3.M12

Glyconic meter: x x - u u - u -

1             Felix, qui potuit boni

               fontem uisere lucidum,

               felix, qui potuit grauis

terrae soluere uincula.

5             Quondam funera coniugis

               uates Threicius gemens

               postquam flebilibus modis

               siluas currere mobiles,

               amnes stare coegerat

10          iunxitque intrepidum latus

               saeuis cerua leonibus

               nec uisum timuit lepus

               iam cantu placidum canem,

               cum flagrantior intima

15          feruor pectoris ureret

               nec qui cuncta subegerant

               mulcerent dominum modi,

               immites superos querens

               infernas adiit domos.

20          Illic blanda sonantibus

               chordis carmina temperans

               quicquid praecipuis deae

               matris fontibus hauserat,

               quod luctus dabat impotens,

25          quod luctum geminans amor

               deflet Taenara commouens

               et dulci ueniam prece

               umbrarum dominos rogat.

               Stupet tergeminus nouo

30          captus carmine ianitor;

               quae sontes agitant metu

               ultrices scelerum deae

               iam maestae lacrimis madent;

               non Ixionium caput

35          uelox praecipitat rota

               et longa site perditus

               spernit flumina Tantalus;

               uultur dum satur est modis

               non traxit Tityi iecur.

40          Tandem 'uincimur' arbiter

               umbrarum miserans ait.

               'donamus comitem uiro

               emptam carmine coniugem;

 sed lex dona coerceat,

45          ne dum Tartara liquerit

               fas sit lumina flectere.'

               quis legem det amantibus?

               Maior lex amor est sibi.

               Heu, noctis prope terminos

50          Orpheus Eurydicen suam

               uidit, perdidit, occidit.

               Uos haec fabula respicit

               quicumque in superum diem

               mentem ducere quaeritis;

55          nam qui Tartareum in specus

               uictus lumina flexerit,

               quicquid praecipuum trahit

               perdit dum uidet inferos.

viso visi: to look at attentively

uates Threicius: Orpheus, who could play the lure in such a way that trees moved to each other and rivers halted their flow.

flebilis: lamentable

modus: melody

mobiles: resultative predicate `He forced the woods to run so that they were mobile’

intrepidus: fearless

iungo latus: to stand side by side (latus is acc. neuter)

cerva: hind, deer

visum: supine

lepus  leporis (m): hare

placidus: gentle, placid

intima pectoris: the innermost of his heart

flagro: burn, blaze

uro ussi ustum: to burn

subigo –egi –actum: subdue

mulceo: to sooth

immitis: harsh

superi: the gods above

queror questus sum: to complain, lament

infernus: lower, under

blandus: pleasant

tempero: to modulate, play

praecipuus: excellent

deae matris: his mother was the goddess Calliope, chief of the Muses

haurio hausi haustum: drink eagerly

impotens: unbridled

luctus -us: grieve

gemino: to double (his love for Eurydice doubled his grieve)

defleo: to lament (the objects are quicquid…quod…quod)

Taenara: entrance of the underworld

venia: forgiveness

prex precis: prayer

stupeo: to be struck senseless, stunned

tergeninus ianitor: the threefold doorkeeper I.e. Cerberus the hell hound who had three heads (sometimes 100).

sons sontis: criminal

ultrices deae: the revenger goddesses. i.e the three Furies, who haunted (agitant) criminals by inflicting fear

maestus: sorrowful

madeo: to be wet

scelus sceleris (n): crime

Ixionium caput: Ixonian head i.e. pars pro toto for Ixion, a mortal who tried to seduce Hera. Zeus put him into the Tartarus, bound to a winged fiery wheel that was always spinning.

velox: fast

praecipito: to rush headlong, turn fast

sitis sitis (f): thirst

perdido –didi- ditus: to destroy, ruin

sperno sprevi spretum: to despice

vultur vulturis (m): eagle

satur modis: full with the melodies

Tityus: a giant who tried to rape Leto. He was bound into the Tartarus and vultures constantly picked his liver

iecur iecoris (n): the liver

tandem: finally

comitem cuniugem: his comrade wife

emo emi emptum: to buy

coerceo: to restrain

linque liqui: to leave

fas esse: to be allowed

lumina: the eyes

occido –cidi –cisum: to kill

Uos haec fabula respicit:  i.e. this story has do with you

superum diem: the daylight above . The poem ends with a reference to the cave of Plato. Boethius is in that cave, but tries to lead his mind to the light of the metaphysical world. It is also a description of his real situation, as he is imprisoned.

specus – us (m. but in poetry n.): cave

victus: i.e. who has escaped that cave and then overpowered looks back. (The translation in the link below takes it differently: `for the one who in the chasm of the underworld / having been conquered has turned the eyes’ but this – my view - misses the point, as in the previous verses Boethius is trying to get away and this is a warning not to look back.)

lumina flexerit: the object is Tartareum in specus

praecipuum: excellence

perdit: object praecipuum

translation (go to XII):

http://www.san.beck.org/Boethius3.html