Book II VII
Quicumque solam mente praecipiti petitSummumque credit gloriam,Late patentes aetheris cernat plagasArtumque terrarum situm.Breuem replere non ualentis ambitumPudebit aucti nominis.Quid o superbi colla mortali iugoFrustra leuare gestiunt?Licet remotos fama per populos meansDiffusa linguas explicetEt magna titulis fulgeat claris domus,Mors spernit altam gloriam,Inuoluit humile pariter et celsum caputAequatque summis infima.Vbi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii manent,Quid Brutus aut rigidus Cato?Signat superstes fama tenuis pauculisInane nomen litteris.Sed quod decora nouimus uocabula,Num scire consumptos datur?Iacetis ergo prorsus ignorabilesNec fama notos efficit.Quod si putatis longius uitam trahiMortalis aura nominis,Cum sera uobis rapiet hoc etiam dies,Iam uos secunda mors manet.
He that to honour only seeks to mountAnd that his chiefest end doth count,Let him behold the largeness of the skiesAnd on the strait earth cast his eyes;He will despise the glory of his name,Which cannot fill so small a frame.Why do proud men scorn that their necks should bearThat yoke which every man must wear?Though fame through many nations fly alongAnd should be blazed by every tongue,And houses shine with our forefathers' stories,Yet Death contemns these stately glories,And, summoning both rich and poor to die,Makes the low equal with the high.Who knows where faithful Fabrice' bones are pressed,Where Brutus and strict Cato rest?A slender fame consigns their titles vainIn some few letters to remain.Because their famous names in books we read,Come we by them to know the dead?You dying, then, remembered are by none,Nor any fame can make you known.But if you think that life outstrippeth death,Your names borne up with mortal breath,When length of time takes this away likewise,A second death shall you surprise.
Caius Luscinus Fabricius, Consul 282 B.C., opponent of Pyrrhus;Lucius Iunius Brutus, Consul 509 B.C., founder of the Republic; MarcusPorcius Cato (Cato maior). Consul 195 B.C., great-grandfather of M.Porcius Cato (Uticensis).
Words in this poem
- petit a.
- Small; little; insignificant; mean; -- Same as Petty. [Obs., except in legal language.] [F. See Petty.]
- quid n.
- A portion suitable to be chewed; a cud; as, a quid of tobacco. [See Cud.]
- caput n.
- The head; also, a knoblike protuberance or capitulum. [L., the head.]
- inane a.
- Without contents; empty; void of sense or intelligence; purposeless; pointless; characterless; useless. [L. inanis.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
- ergo conj.
- Therefore; consequently; -- often used in a jocular way. [L.]
- aura n.
- Any subtile, invisible emanation, effluvium, or exhalation from a substance, as the aroma of flowers, the odor of the blood, a supposed fertilizing emanation from the pollen of flowers, etc.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- 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,]
- republic n.
- Common weal. B. Jonson. [F. république, L. respublica commonwealth; res a thing, an affair + publicus, publica, public. See Real, a., and Public.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II VII 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 VII, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-ii-vii.html, id L23709.
Form and metre
Book II VII is 56 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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-BBC-----A----DD-----C-- petit · gloriamA · plagas · situmB · ambitumB · nominisC · iugo · gestiunt · means · explicet · domus · gloriamA · caput · infima · manent · cato · pauculisD · litterisD · uocabula · datur · ignorabiles · efficit · trahi · nominisC · dies · manet
- 2 AABBCCDD--EEFFGGHHII--JJBB mountA · countA · skiesB · eyesB · nameC · frameC · bearD · wearD · along · tongue · storiesE · gloriesE · dieF · highF · pressedG · restG · vainH · remainH · readI · deadI · none · known · deathJ · breathJ · likewiseB · surpriseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Quicumque solam mente praecipiti petit | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Summumque credit gloriam, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Late patentes aetheris cernat plagas | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Artumque terrarum situm. | 7 | ······· |
| Breuem replere non ualentis ambitum | 10 | ·········· |
| Pudebit aucti nominis. | 8 | ········ |
| Quid o superbi colla mortali iugo | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Frustra leuare gestiunt? | 5 | ····· |
| Licet remotos fama per populos means | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Diffusa linguas explicet | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Et magna titulis fulgeat claris domus, | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘·· |
| Mors spernit altam gloriam, | 7 | ······· |
| Inuoluit humile pariter et celsum caput | 14 | ············˘/ |
| Aequatque summis infima. | 7 | ······· |
| Vbi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii manent, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Quid Brutus aut rigidus Cato? | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Signat superstes fama tenuis pauculis | 12 | ····/˘/˘˘··· |
| Inane nomen litteris. | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Sed quod decora nouimus uocabula, | 11 | ··········· |
| Num scire consumptos datur? | 7 | ······· |
| Iacetis ergo prorsus ignorabiles | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Nec fama notos efficit. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Quod si putatis longius uitam trahi | 11 | ··········· |
| Mortalis aura nominis, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Cum sera uobis rapiet hoc etiam dies, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Iam uos secunda mors manet. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| He that to honour only seeks to mount | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And that his chiefest end doth count, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Let him behold the largeness of the skies | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And on the strait earth cast his eyes; | 8 | ········ |
| He will despise the glory of his name, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Which cannot fill so small a frame. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Why do proud men scorn that their necks should bear | 10 | ·········· |
| That yoke which every man must wear? | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Though fame through many nations fly along | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And should be blazed by every tongue, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| And houses shine with our forefathers' stories, | 11 | ·/˘··//·˘/˘ |
| Yet Death contemns these stately glories, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And, summoning both rich and poor to die, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Makes the low equal with the high. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who knows where faithful Fabrice' bones are pressed, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where Brutus and strict Cato rest? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A slender fame consigns their titles vain | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| In some few letters to remain. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Because their famous names in books we read, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Come we by them to know the dead? | 8 | ········ |
| You dying, then, remembered are by none, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Nor any fame can make you known. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But if you think that life outstrippeth death, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Your names borne up with mortal breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When length of time takes this away likewise, | 10 | ······˘//· |
| A second death shall you surprise. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Caius Luscinus Fabricius, Consul 282 B.C., opponent of Pyrrhus; | 17 | ·······/˘··˘/˘··· |
| Lucius Iunius Brutus, Consul 509 B.C., founder of the Republic; Marcus | 18 | /˘··/˘/˘··/··˘/˘/˘ |
| Porcius Cato (Cato maior). Consul 195 B.C., great-grandfather of M. | 17 | ··/˘/˘·/˘···/·˘·· |
| Porcius Cato (Uticensis). | 8 | ··/˘···· |
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.