Book II VI
Nouimus quantas dederit ruinasVrbe flammata patribusque caesisFratre qui quondam ferus interemptoMatris effuso maduit cruoreCorpus et uisu gelidum pererransOra non tinxit lacrimis, sed esseCensor extincti potuit decoris.Hic tamen sceptro populos regebatQuos uidet condens radios sub undasPhoebus extremo ueniens ab ortu,Quos premunt septem gelidi triones,Quos Notus sicco uiolentus aestuTorret ardentes recoquens harenas.Celsa num tandem ualuit potestasVertere praui rabiem Neronis?Heu grauem sortem, quotiens iniquusAdditur saeuo gladius ueneno!"
We know what stirs he madeWho did the Senate slay and Rome with fire invade,Who did his brother kill,And with his mother's blood his moistened hand did fill;Who looked on that cold faceTearless, and nicely marked her members' several grace.Yet his dread power controlledThose people whom the sun doth in the east behold,And those who do remainIn western lands or dwell under Boötes' wainAnd those whose skins are tannedWith southern winds, which roast and burn the parched sand.What? Could this glorious mightRestrain the furious rage of wicked Nero's spite?But oh! mishap most bad,Which doth the wicked sword to cruel poison add!"
Nero 24; Tac. Ann. xiv. 9.
Words in this poem
- fratre n.
- A monk; also, a frater house. Shipley. Frater house, an apartament in a convent used as an eating room; a refectory; -- called also a fratery. [L., a brother.]
- quondam a.
- Having been formerly; former; sometime. [L., formerly.]
- censor n.
- One of two magistrates of Rome who took a register of the number and property of citizens, and who also exercised the office of inspector of morals and conduct. [L. censor, fr. censere to value, tax.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- notus n.
- The south wind.
- tandem adv.
- One after another; -- said especially of horses harnessed and driven one before another, instead of abreast. [L. tandem at length (of time only), punningly taken as meaning, lengthwise.]
- gladius n.
- The internal shell, or pen, of cephalopods like the squids. [L., a sword.]
- tearless a.
- Shedding no tears; free from tears; unfeeling.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- wain n.
- A four-wheeled vehicle for the transportation of goods, produce, etc.; a wagon. [OE. wain, AS. wægn; akin to D. & G. wagen, OHG. wagan, Icel. & Sw. vagn, Dan. vogn, and E. way. Way, Weigh, and cf. Wagon.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- mishap v. i.
- To happen unluckily; -- used impersonally.
- nero n.
- A Roman emperor notorius for debauchery and barbarous cruelty; hence, any profligate and cruel ruler or merciless tyrant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II VI 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 VI, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-ii-vi.html, id L23708.
Form and metre
Book II VI is 34 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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---AA--- ruinas · caesis · interempto · cruore · pererrans · esse · decoris · regebat · undasA · ortu · triones · aestu · harenasA · potestasA · neronis · iniquus · ueneno
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH madeA · invadeA · killB · fillB · faceC · graceC · controlledD · beholdD · remainE · wainE · tannedF · sandF · mightG · spiteG · badH · addH
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Nouimus quantas dederit ruinas | 9 | ········· |
| Vrbe flammata patribusque caesis | 9 | ········· |
| Fratre qui quondam ferus interempto | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Matris effuso maduit cruore | 8 | ········ |
| Corpus et uisu gelidum pererrans | 11 | /˘········· |
| Ora non tinxit lacrimis, sed esse | 10 | /˘········ |
| Censor extincti potuit decoris. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Hic tamen sceptro populos regebat | 11 | ··········· |
| Quos uidet condens radios sub undas | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Phoebus extremo ueniens ab ortu, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Quos premunt septem gelidi triones, | 9 | ········· |
| Quos Notus sicco uiolentus aestu | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Torret ardentes recoquens harenas. | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Celsa num tandem ualuit potestas | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Vertere praui rabiem Neronis? | 8 | ········ |
| Heu grauem sortem, quotiens iniquus | 9 | ········· |
| Additur saeuo gladius ueneno!" | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| We know what stirs he made | 6 | ······ |
| Who did the Senate slay and Rome with fire invade, | 12 | ···/˘····/˘/ |
| Who did his brother kill, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And with his mother's blood his moistened hand did fill; | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Who looked on that cold face | 6 | ······ |
| Tearless, and nicely marked her members' several grace. | 12 | /˘·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Yet his dread power controlled | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Those people whom the sun doth in the east behold, | 12 | ·/˘·······˘/ |
| And those who do remain | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In western lands or dwell under Boötes' wain | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And those whose skins are tanned | 6 | ······ |
| With southern winds, which roast and burn the parched sand. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| What? Could this glorious might | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Restrain the furious rage of wicked Nero's spite? | 12 | ˘/·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| But oh! mishap most bad, | 6 | ··/··· |
| Which doth the wicked sword to cruel poison add!" | 11 | ···/˘··//˘· |
| Nero 24; Tac. Ann. xiv. 9. | 5 | /˘··· |
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.