Book III VIII
Eheu quae miseros tramite deuiosAbducit ignorantia!Non aurum in uiridi quaeritis arboreNec uite gemmas carpitis,Non altis laqueos montibus abditisVt pisce ditetis dapesNec uobis capreas si libeat sequi,Tyrrhena captatis uada.Ipsos quin etiam fluctibus abditosNorunt recessus aequoris,Quae gemmis niueis unda feraciorVel quae rubentis purpuraeNec non quae tenero pisce uel asperisPraestent echinis litora.Sed quonam lateat quod cupiunt bonum,Nescire caeci sustinent,Et quod stelliferum trans abiit polum,Tellure demersi petunt.Quid dignum stolidis mentibus inprecer?Opes honores ambiant;Et cum falsa graui mole parauerint,Tum uera cognoscant bona.
Alas, how ignorance makes wretches strayOut of the way!You from green trees expect no golden minesNor pearls from vines,Nor use you on mountains to lay your netFishes to get,Nor, if the pleasant sport of hunting please,Run you to seas.Men will be skilful in the hidden cavesOf the ocean waves,And in what coasts the orient pearls are bred,Or purple red,Also, what different sorts of fishes storeEach several shore.But when they come their chiefest good to find,Then are they blind,And search for that under the earth, which liesAbove the skies.How should I curse these fools? Let thirst them holdOf fame and gold,That, having got false goods with pain, they learnTrue to discern.
Words in this poem
- aurum n.
- Gold. Aurum fulminans (See Fulminate. [L.]
- quin n.
- A European scallop (Pecten opercularis), used as food. [Prov.
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
- quid n.
- A portion suitable to be chewed; a cud; as, a quid of tobacco. [See Cud.]
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III VIII 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 VIII, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-iii-viii.html, id L23716.
Form and metre
Book III VIII is 44 lines in 2 stanzas of 22 lines each. 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 ---AA----B--B--------- deuios · ignorantia · arbore · carpitisA · abditisA · dapes · sequi · uada · abditos · aequorisB · feracior · purpurae · asperisB · litora · bonum · sustinent · polum · petunt · inprecer · ambiant · parauerint · bona
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK strayA · wayA · minesB · vinesB · netC · getC · pleaseD · seasD · cavesE · wavesE · bredF · redF · storeG · shoreG · findH · blindH · liesI · skiesI · holdJ · goldJ · learnK · discernK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Eheu quae miseros tramite deuios | 9 | ········· |
| Abducit ignorantia! | 7 | ······· |
| Non aurum in uiridi quaeritis arbore | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Nec uite gemmas carpitis, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Non altis laqueos montibus abditis | 11 | ··········· |
| Vt pisce ditetis dapes | 6 | ······ |
| Nec uobis capreas si libeat sequi, | 10 | ·········· |
| Tyrrhena captatis uada. | 8 | ········ |
| Ipsos quin etiam fluctibus abditos | 11 | ··········· |
| Norunt recessus aequoris, | 8 | ········ |
| Quae gemmis niueis unda feracior | 9 | ········· |
| Vel quae rubentis purpurae | 7 | ······· |
| Nec non quae tenero pisce uel asperis | 11 | ··········· |
| Praestent echinis litora. | 8 | ········ |
| Sed quonam lateat quod cupiunt bonum, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Nescire caeci sustinent, | 7 | ······· |
| Et quod stelliferum trans abiit polum, | 11 | ··········· |
| Tellure demersi petunt. | 7 | ······· |
| Quid dignum stolidis mentibus inprecer? | 12 | ············ |
| Opes honores ambiant; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Et cum falsa graui mole parauerint, | 9 | ········· |
| Tum uera cognoscant bona. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Alas, how ignorance makes wretches stray | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘···· |
| Out of the way! | 4 | ···· |
| You from green trees expect no golden mines | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Nor pearls from vines, | 4 | ···· |
| Nor use you on mountains to lay your net | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Fishes to get, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Nor, if the pleasant sport of hunting please, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Run you to seas. | 4 | ···· |
| Men will be skilful in the hidden caves | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of the ocean waves, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And in what coasts the orient pearls are bred, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Or purple red, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Also, what different sorts of fishes store | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Each several shore. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But when they come their chiefest good to find, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Then are they blind, | 4 | ···· |
| And search for that under the earth, which lies | 10 | ·········· |
| Above the skies. | 4 | ···· |
| How should I curse these fools? Let thirst them hold | 10 | ·········· |
| Of fame and gold, | 4 | ···· |
| That, having got false goods with pain, they learn | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| True to discern. | 4 | ··˘/ |
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.