Book III V
Qui se uolet esse potentemAnimos domet ille ferocesNec uicta libidine collaFoedis submittat habenis.Etenim licet Indica longeTellus tua iura tremescatEt seruiat ultima Thyle,Tamen atras pellere curasMiserasque fugare querelasNon posse potentia non est.
Who would be powerful, mustHis own affections check,Nor let foul reins of lustSubdue his conquered neck.For though the Indian landShould tremble at thy beck,And though thy dread commandFar Thule's isle obey,Unless thou canst withstandAnd boldly drive awayBlack care and wretched moan,Thy might is small or none.
Words in this poem
- longe n.
- A thrust. See Lunge. Smollett. [Abbrev. fr. allonge. See Lunge.]
- ultima a.
- Most remote; furthest; final; last. Ultima ratio Etym: [L.], the last reason or argument; the last resort. [L., fem. ultimus last.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III V 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 III V, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-iii-v.html, id L23714.
Form and metre
Book III V is 22 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 -------AA- potentem · feroces · colla · habenis · longe · tremescat · thyle · curasA · querelasA · est
- 2 ABABCBCDCD-- mustA · checkB · lustA · neckB · landC · beckB · commandC · obeyD · withstandC · awayD · moan · none
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Qui se uolet esse potentem | 9 | ··/······ |
| Animos domet ille feroces | 9 | ········· |
| Nec uicta libidine colla | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Foedis submittat habenis. | 8 | ········ |
| Etenim licet Indica longe | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Tellus tua iura tremescat | 8 | ········ |
| Et seruiat ultima Thyle, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Tamen atras pellere curas | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Miserasque fugare querelas | 8 | ········ |
| Non posse potentia non est. | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| Who would be powerful, must | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| His own affections check, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Nor let foul reins of lust | 6 | ······ |
| Subdue his conquered neck. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| For though the Indian land | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Should tremble at thy beck, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And though thy dread command | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Far Thule's isle obey, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Unless thou canst withstand | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And boldly drive away | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Black care and wretched moan, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy might is small or none. | 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.