A Spir. It was indeed shadowy in former times, but now it shines bright, Ever since the Virgin Mother has appeared for God. 25 For the ancient law has yielded to the new; The letter has departed, but the power of the Spirit thrives. World. Can anyone be unwed, devoid of the wedded life, Or anyone be righteous? Spir. How very elegant you are, Persuading the flesh to join together for the sake of honorable ends; 30 Time has nourished both the good and the evil, But the sower has caused the insolence of the flesh to overflow. Nothing else. To think it is a matter of passion is laughable, As if one were laboring along with the will of God. World. What then have you given to life, and what were you seeking? 35 Spir. Branches. World. So that they might be chilled, or that a storm Might take them? B Give me my root; then you may have the branches. Spir. It is enough to be born. Let another toil for the corruption, Nourishing, teaching, and then suddenly grieving For the one who is no more, seeing painted on the walls 40 The lifeless beauty, the son who does not move. World. I am a person of noble birth. Spir. Of what lineage? And what sort of creator? Are you ignorant that the mud Is one? There is one nobility: the imitation of God. You rely on tombs and new edicts, 45 Through which you were written noble, not reared. World. To me, wealth casts down my enemies, And it melts the wicked with envy, and makes friends, And grants high thrones in the city. Spir. But for me, poverty [grants] not even to have enemies,
nor walls, nor gates, nor machines, nor soldiers? Spir. They labor, lest the body be stolen; he possesses only this and a small rag. 60 Let the thief and tyranny go away to others! The robber [seeks] those who have; my one wealth is God, whom no one shall ever snatch from me who possess him. As for other things, let those who are pleased by them, let all hands seize my substance. 65 Nothing is safer than a poor man. The rich man sacrifices to his own net; he kisses his own right hand as if it were a friend, and he does not praise God, the giver of good things, 70 until what he possesses falls into the hands of a stranger—that is, if unwilling; what do I mean? Perhaps into the hands of an enemy, and from there to another, like the turning of wheels. But as for me, if I die, all my property follows me; D and nothing will be left to envy or to [the world's] revolutions. Mund. How great it is not to look to the hands of neighbors, 75 but [to have] others, perhaps more pious than us, look to ours! Spir. How great it is to look only to the hands of God, who both gives and is asked in a fatherly way!
METRICAL VERSION
[alt-version omitted]
METRICAL VERSION
He who for gain’s sake stoops to naught that’s vile, Mimicking the blood-sucking leech, Holding one thing, while aiming his mind at another, Casting his evil eyes upon yet other things, And painting for himself other things with drowsy hopes, Always the poorer for what he desires! Worldling: How shall one bear the onrush of a difficult time, 85 Having no prop against the bitterness? Spirit: Ask me how one avoids the well-aimed arrow? A hair is not easily split, not even close at hand. Become restricted for me; and you shall escape the onrush of evils. The reed withstands the winds, but not the oaks. 90 The one yields, while the weight overthrows the others. Worldling: It is permitted for me to feast. Spirit: But for me, it is a feast Not to feast, with the belly and the entrails BSwelling, and sickening with a wealthy disease, Reeking with delightful mud beyond the throat, 95 And cramping the mind with the thickness of the mire. Worldling: My cakes [are the pleasure]. Spirit: Bread is my seasoning, My dainties, with everything made sweet by salt; The salty fare of luxury lovers I spit away. Worldling: The scent of perfumes is for me a delight, and songs, 100 The clapping of hands and feet, rhythmic movements, The symphony of pipes playing in harmony. Spirit: You praise these things? But these very things are the reason why Wealth is to me an evil, as a teacher of evils. Better for us is the singing of psalms, 105 Joining the soul to the things that are understood; But Christ is more fragrant than any perfume, He who for us poured himself out, that he might loose the stench,
A with which the mortality of sin had filled me. I clap my hands if my executioner falls, 110 whether he proposes some evil word or action. The dancing of the feet, a divinely inspired turning. B
Sec.
Perhaps you might say this, that poverty is also a protection against diseases, as it provides more remedies for the body.Spir.
I would not say that; for it is not a true statement. 115 But what is true, this I shall speak: A poor man is far more robust than those who have wealth. God gave [this], balancing the favor: strength to the poor, and remedies to the rich. A poor man labors, and by his sweats drains off harmful humors; 120 he hungers, he is cold, he is scorched by the midday sun; he travels, he bears burdens, he suffers the rain, he groans. At the proper time he takes simple and unprepared food, and he knows nothing of those provocations to the appetite which cooks and the ministers of luxury 125 bring forth from the corners of earth and sea, setting an effeminate table before men. Flatulence, catarrhs, spleen diseases, dislocations of limbs, cries of pain, conveyances, pallors, weaknesses — these are the offspring of the rich and their excessive satiety. 130 They take no pleasure even in the things they possess; but they are constantly searching for people to whom they might leave their burden, often envying those who are in better health but weaker than themselves—destitute of everything, wretchedly happy, [though there be at hand] gold, stones, embroidered garments, C and 135 the purple dye of the painter’s hand that mimics the real hue.METRICAL VERSION
Implevit omni parte, fetorem auferat. Jam plaudo læta, carnifex quando meus Cadit, scelestum facinus aut dictum mihi Suadens. Chorea; sanctus est motus vice. Mund. Fortasse dices, inopiam morbos quoque Arcere, plura et pharmaca ægrotis dare. Spir. Non hoc quidem ipsa dixerim, falsum est [enim] Vero quod autem consonum est, hoc eloquar. Pauper opulento viribus longe est prior. Deus vicissim gratiam nam conferens, Vires egeno, diviti dat pharmaca. Pauper laborat, sudat, humorem improbum Exhaurit, alget, esurit, sole uritur; Incedit, onera gestat, imbre funditur, B Gemit, capitque simplices in tempore Cibos, gulæ nec illices novit dapes, Luxus minister intimo quas e mari Terraque sumit, et cocus solers, viris Molles decentem feminas mensam parans. Flatus, catarrhi, splenis et pedum dolor, Gestationes, pallor, et solutio. Hæc divitum sunt (hos parit fetus gula), Quos nec voluptas ex bonis capit suis. Ac sæpe, molem queis suam linquant, petunt, Sanisque, quamvis indigis, tamen invident, Cunctis egentes, divites miserrime. Aurum, lapilli, variaque ars, et murice Infecta vestis, pictus et paries probe, Depicta tigna, calculis stratum solum,
of walls, of ceilings, and of the trodden pebble-floor: A Silver, partly hidden in the bosom of the earth, confined whence it originally came, worthy of graves, and partly in addition, gleaming in drinking cups; 140 horses, tapestries, chariots, and charioteers, dogs, hunters, trackers of wild beasts; and these truly are the delights of a wicked mistress, the belly, and the gain of the all-receiving throat; bed-makers, doorkeepers, callers, sleep-bringers, 145 flower-bearers, sprinklers, basin-washers, tasters, shade-makers, observers of nods, bath-attendants, cupbearers with gestures of the fingers, women to adorn the eyes—all these are the contents of a rich man’s tomb, of painted dust. 150 But the needy man stands; and if he should fall, worn out by disease, at length or after a long time, he will provide no trouble to his friends, he will die like a lion amid roarings, dead, and far more flourishing than the ultra-wealthy. 155 What remains? Insolence, anger, ecstasy, audacity, drunkenness, unrestrained laughter, shameful words, contempt of God, of blood, of friends: these are no more the lot of the poor than of the rich. For wealth brings insolence, and this brings destruction. 160 The poor man, however, is suppressed for the most part, nor is he exalted; especially if the fear of God should happen to join him, that strong pedagogue of all things good. B Observe each thing, one against the other, concisely, [alt-version omitted]
A remaining as a just arbiter of both lives, 165 if it does not appear to you, also, to be an insult, just as standing near the poor, or breathing the same air, or one name being called, or appearing to be of the same roof and shipmates. You envy the best, and I feel pity for the bad. 170 For there is nothing more miserable than the wicked, even if they run through a prosperous course toward a dangerous end. You despise the poor as if they were of another God: I know but one creation, and that all will come to one judgment. But the second creation is one’s way of life. 175 By the virtuous you are puffed up; I am disciplined by fear. You are bent by the wretched; I am lightened by hopes. For nothing remains, but flows in the long passage of time. Night brought day to an end, and day brought night to an end; sorrow replaced joy, and pleasant things replaced misfortune; B 180 therefore, one must not hold fast to these as if they were stable things. For you, nothing is grave, not even of those things which are thoroughly evil; for desire for luxury keeps one from wisdom. But to me, even minor things appear as cause for mourning. For sin is an alienation from God; 185 how, then, could I bear it, if I am deprived of God? For you, sweet sleep and the reclining of two sides (of the body). Pleasant are the dreams, the images of things in the day. You drink, you gamble, you receive, you play, you laugh. But for me, the greater part of life is sleepless; 190 for my toils prick me even while I sleep. And if I snatch some small amount of sleep, I weep; I am terrified by the images of the harsh night, by judgment, by the inexorable judge, and by the trembling standing-place.
A fountain boiling over with unquenchable fire, 195 From there the worm consuming eternally; Within is the conscience, an unwritten accuser. God is God to you if He grants prosperities; To me He is to be worshipped, even if He brings the contrary. For my being troubled is a healing medicine; 200 The more I am pressed, the closer I draw To God: for affliction binds me to God. For an army in pursuit drives one to the walls. Children, wife, and friends bring you consolation, The loss of whom is the greatest calamity. 205 To me my support and solace is God, When I am hungry, and freezing, and distressed. Insult, strike, call me ignoble, call me poor, Trample, use force; for but a little time will you commit injury.
I offer all things to God, toward whom I also look A. 210 I send my thought forward into the life to come, There I take my stand. I know nothing of things below. Thus I am easily freed from that which grieves me. What more? To be judged today, for your part— The charge, as it seems to me, is unbearable; 215 For he who always conquers cannot endure being conquered. But to me it is equal whether I receive or do not receive. God is enough for me, even if another carries away all things; This is the greatest glory to me for victory.
Cosm[os]. What then if some of those of the highest rank fall? B 220 Spir[it]. What then if those who hold the second rank also fall? For both can act excellently and can fall. The account is equal for both; yet I consider those Who fall in the higher life [to be] far worse.
SECTION II. MORAL POEMS
225 For if the victory of those who conquer is more precious, the fall of those who stumble is more miserable. But I demand that this be not imputed to the type of life, if someone should be most wicked: for he is an enemy to that life. But I would have you consider and weigh the character 230 of both good and bad in comparison; and let not that which is lesser weigh down the scale (for it would not be right), but let that which is greater prevail. Thus you will know how great is the difference between these two lives. Do not compare for me the best of donkeys with the worst of horses, 235 nor the best man of the worldly life with the most wicked of my own; for they would appear better, I shall not deny. But if you compare the highest with the highest, and the base with the base in opposition, then you will understand how far I excel. A 240 Consider also this: how many at any given time among you fall, and among us who conquer. For they say that one swallow does not make a pleasant spring, nor does a single hair make old age. What do you say? Do you give your vote? Or shall I let you be? 245 Judge: I give it; for how could I not? From that moment you shall think it necessary to prefer the life below to your own, when, being mad, I equate any mortal with God; but if I am not mad, I shall not believe even this. But begone; it would be better for you to live peacefully, 250 both with one another and with the great God: you, indeed, assigning the first place to the primary life, and you, accepting this other as a second, like a sister.