Book III VII
Omne hominum genus in terris simili surgit ab ortu.Vnus enim rerum pater est, unus cuncta ministrat.Ille dedit Phoebo radios dedit et cornua lunae,Ille homines etiam terris dedit ut sidera caelo,Hic clausit membris animos celsa sede petitos.Mortales igitur cunctos edit nobile germen.Quid genus et proauos strepitis? Si primordia uestraAuctoremque deum spectes, nullus degener exstat,Ni uitiis peiora fouens proprium deserat ortum.
The general race of men from a like birth is born.All things one Father have, Who doth them all adorn,Who gave the sun his rays, and the pale moon her horn,The lofty heaven for stars, low earth for mortals chose;He souls fetched down from high in bodies did enclose;And thus from noble seed all men did first compose.Why brag you of your stock? Since none is counted base,If you consider God the author of your race,But he that with foul vice doth his own birth deface.
Habet hoc uoluptas omnis,Stimulis agit fruentesApiumque par uolantumVbi grata mella fudit,Fugit et nimis tenaciFerit icta corda morsu.
All pleasure hath this property,She woundeth those who have her most.And, like unto the angry beeWho hath her pleasant honey lost,She flies away with nimble wingAnd in our hearts doth leave her sting.
Words in this poem
- edit v. t.
- To superintend the publication of; to revise and prepare for publication; to select, correct, arrange, etc., the matter of, for publication; as, to edit a newspaper. [F. éditer, or L. editus, p. p. of edere to give out, put forth, publish; e out + dare to give. See Date a point of time.]
- quid n.
- A portion suitable to be chewed; a cud; as, a quid of tobacco. [See Cud.]
- enclose v. t.
- To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III 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 III VII, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-iii-vii.html, id L23715.
Form and metre
Book III VII is 30 lines in 4 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-----A- ortu · ministratA · lunae · caelo · petitos · germen · uestra · exstatA · ortum
- 2 AAABBBCCC bornA · adornA · hornA · choseB · encloseB · composeB · baseC · raceC · defaceC
- 4 ----AA property · most · bee · lost · wingA · stingA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Omne hominum genus in terris simili surgit ab ortu. | 17 | ····/˘·/˘········ |
| Vnus enim rerum pater est, unus cuncta ministrat. | 16 | ·····/˘˘/······· |
| Ille dedit Phoebo radios dedit et cornua lunae, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| Ille homines etiam terris dedit ut sidera caelo, | 15 | ·····/˘········ |
| Hic clausit membris animos celsa sede petitos. | 14 | ···········˘/˘ |
| Mortales igitur cunctos edit nobile germen. | 13 | /˘·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Quid genus et proauos strepitis? Si primordia uestra | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| Auctoremque deum spectes, nullus degener exstat, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Ni uitiis peiora fouens proprium deserat ortum. | 13 | ············· |
| The general race of men from a like birth is born. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| All things one Father have, Who doth them all adorn, | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
| Who gave the sun his rays, and the pale moon her horn, | 12 | ············ |
| The lofty heaven for stars, low earth for mortals chose; | 12 | ·/˘/·····/˘· |
| He souls fetched down from high in bodies did enclose; | 12 | ·······/˘·˘/ |
| And thus from noble seed all men did first compose. | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
| Why brag you of your stock? Since none is counted base, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| If you consider God the author of your race, | 12 | ··˘/˘··/˘··· |
| But he that with foul vice doth his own birth deface. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Habet hoc uoluptas omnis, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Stimulis agit fruentes | 6 | /˘···· |
| Apiumque par uolantum | 6 | ······ |
| Vbi grata mella fudit, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Fugit et nimis tenaci | 8 | ········ |
| Ferit icta corda morsu. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| All pleasure hath this property, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| She woundeth those who have her most. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, like unto the angry bee | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who hath her pleasant honey lost, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| She flies away with nimble wing | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And in our hearts doth leave her sting. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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.