Book II III
Cum polo Phoebus roseis quadrigisLucem spargere coeperit,Pallet albentes hebetata uultusFlammis stella prementibus.Cum nemus flatu Zephyri tepentisVernis inrubuit rosis,Spiret insanum nebulosus Auster:Iam spinis abeat decus.Saepe tranquillo radiat serenoImmotis mare fluctibus,Saepe feruentes Aquilo procellasVerso concitat aequore.Rara si constat sua forma mundo,Si tantas uariat uices,Crede fortunis hominum caducis,Bonis crede fugacibus.Constat aeterna positumque lege estVt constet genitum nihil."
When Phoebus with his rosy teamShoweth his lightsome beam,The dull and darkened stars retireYielding to greater fire.When Zephyrus his warmth doth bring,Sweet roses deck the spring;Let noisome Auster blow apace,Plants soon will lose their grace.The sea hath often quiet stoodWith an unmoved flood,And often is turmoiled with waves,When boisterous Boreas raves.If thus the world never long tarryThe same, but often vary,On fading fortunes then rely,Trust to those goods that fly.An everlasting law is made,That all things born shall fade."
Words in this poem 17
- polo n.
- A game of ball of Eastern origin, resembling hockey, with the players on horseback. [Of Eastern origin; -- properly, the ball used in the game.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- pallet n.
- A small and mean bed; a bed of straw. [OE. paillet, F. paillet a heap of straw, fr. paille straw, fr. L. palea chaff; cf. Gr. pala straw, palava chaff. Cf. Paillasse.]
- auster n.
- The south wind. [L. auster a dry, hot, south wind; the south.]
- verso n.
- The reverse, or left-hand, page of a book or a folded sheet of paper; -- opposed to recto. [L. versus, p. p. of vertere to turn: cf. F. verso.]
- constat n.
- A certificate showing what appears upon record touching a matter in question. [L., it is evident.]
- lege v. t.
- To allege; to assert. Bp. Fisher. [Abbrev. fr. allege to assert.]
- nihil n.
- Nothing. Nihil album Etym: [L., white nothing] (Chem.), oxide of zinc. See under Zinc. [L.]
- lightsome a.
- Having light; lighted; not dark or gloomy; bright.
- zephyrus n.
- The west wind, or zephyr; -- usually personified, and made the most mild and gentle of all the sylvan deities. [L. See Zephyr.]
- noisome a.
- Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See Annoy.]
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- boisterous a.
- Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful. [OE. boistous; of uncertain origin; cf. W. bwyst wild, savage, wildness, ferocity, bwystus ferocious.]
- boreas n.
- The north wind; -- usually a personification. [L. boreas, Gr. .]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II III is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Theological Tractates and The Consolation of Philosophy, Project Gutenberg ebook #13316; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Boethius, Book II III, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-ii-iii.html, id L23705.
Form and metre
Book II III is 36 lines in 2 stanzas of 18 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-BBAA-B-B-----B-- quadrigisA · coeperit · uultusB · prementibusB · tepentisA · rosisA · auster · decusB · sereno · fluctibusB · procellas · aequore · mundo · uices · caducis · fugacibusB · est · nihil
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII teamA · beamA · retireB · fireB · bringC · springC · apaceD · graceD · stoodE · floodE · wavesF · ravesF · tarryG · varyG · relyH · flyH · madeI · fadeI
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Cum polo Phoebus roseis quadrigis | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Lucem spargere coeperit, | 7 | ······· |
| Pallet albentes hebetata uultus | 10 | /˘········ |
| Flammis stella prementibus. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Cum nemus flatu Zephyri tepentis | 11 | ··········· |
| Vernis inrubuit rosis, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Spiret insanum nebulosus Auster: | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Iam spinis abeat decus. | 7 | ······· |
| Saepe tranquillo radiat sereno | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Immotis mare fluctibus, | 7 | ······· |
| Saepe feruentes Aquilo procellas | 9 | ········· |
| Verso concitat aequore. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Rara si constat sua forma mundo, | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Si tantas uariat uices, | 7 | ······· |
| Crede fortunis hominum caducis, | 10 | ·········· |
| Bonis crede fugacibus. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Constat aeterna positumque lege est | 11 | /˘·······˘/ |
| Vt constet genitum nihil." | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When Phoebus with his rosy team | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Showeth his lightsome beam, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The dull and darkened stars retire | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Yielding to greater fire. | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| When Zephyrus his warmth doth bring, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Sweet roses deck the spring; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Let noisome Auster blow apace, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Plants soon will lose their grace. | 6 | ······ |
| The sea hath often quiet stood | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With an unmoved flood, | 5 | ··˘/· |
| And often is turmoiled with waves, | 9 | ·/˘·/·˘·· |
| When boisterous Boreas raves. | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘· |
| If thus the world never long tarry | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| The same, but often vary, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| On fading fortunes then rely, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Trust to those goods that fly. | 6 | ······ |
| An everlasting law is made, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| That all things born shall fade." | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.