Book V II
Puro clarum lumine PhoebumMelliflui canit oris Homerus:Qui tamen intima uiscera terraeNon ualet aut pelagi radiorumInfirma perrumpere luce.Haud sic magni conditor orbis;Huic ex alto cuncta tuentiNulla terrae mole resistunt,Non nox atris nubibus obstat.Quae sint, quae fuerint ueniantqueVno mentis cernit in ictu;Quem, quia respicit omnia solus,Verum possis dicere solem."
Sweet Homer sings the praiseOf Phoebus clear and bright,And yet his strongest raysCannot with feeble lightCast through the secret waysOf earth and seas his sight,Though 'all lies open to his eyes.'But He who did this world devise--
The earth's vast depths unseenFrom his sight are not free,No clouds can stand between,He at one time doth seeWhat are, and what have been,And what shall after be.Whom, since he only vieweth all,You rightly the true Sun may call."
Words in this poem
- luce n.
- A pike when full grown. Halliwell. [OF. lus, L. lucius a kind of fish.]
- solus a.
- Alone; -- chiefly used in stage directions, and the like. [L.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- 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,]
- rightly adv.
- Straightly; directly; in front. [AS. richtlice.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book V II 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 V II, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-v-ii.html, id L23729.
Form and metre
Book V II is 29 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 A--ABB------- phoebumA · homerus · terrae · radiorumA · luceB · orbisB · tuenti · resistunt · obstat · ueniantque · ictu · solus · solem
- 2 ABABABCC praiseA · brightB · raysA · lightB · waysA · sightB · eyesC · deviseC
- 3 ABAB-BCC unseenA · freeB · betweenA · seeB · been · beB · allC · callC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Puro clarum lumine Phoebum | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Melliflui canit oris Homerus: | 10 | ·········· |
| Qui tamen intima uiscera terrae | 10 | ·········· |
| Non ualet aut pelagi radiorum | 10 | ·········· |
| Infirma perrumpere luce. | 7 | ······· |
| Haud sic magni conditor orbis; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Huic ex alto cuncta tuenti | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Nulla terrae mole resistunt, | 7 | ······· |
| Non nox atris nubibus obstat. | 9 | ········· |
| Quae sint, quae fuerint ueniantque | 7 | ······· |
| Vno mentis cernit in ictu; | 8 | ········ |
| Quem, quia respicit omnia solus, | 9 | ········· |
| Verum possis dicere solem." | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sweet Homer sings the praise | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of Phoebus clear and bright, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And yet his strongest rays | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Cannot with feeble light | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Cast through the secret ways | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of earth and seas his sight, | 6 | ······ |
| Though 'all lies open to his eyes.' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But He who did this world devise-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The earth's vast depths unseen | 6 | ····˘/ |
| From his sight are not free, | 6 | ······ |
| No clouds can stand between, | 6 | ······ |
| He at one time doth see | 6 | ······ |
| What are, and what have been, | 6 | ······ |
| And what shall after be. | 6 | ······ |
| Whom, since he only vieweth all, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| You rightly the true Sun may call." | 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.