Poems—Moral Poems (Book I, Volume II)

Nor let the closed doors of the nuptials bar me, 60 Where the Word, mingled with pure hearts Under the great bonds of desire, grants courage and glory. But when my King, returning from the nuptials, shall come, Coming suddenly upon those who expect and those who do not, May He find me among those who expect, and may He praise, for fear, 65 As a good servant, and gentle to those over whom he is set, And a dispenser of grain, of solid Word, the most excellent. And in the terrible day of the dividing of goats and sheep, Of godly men and unholy from either side, Place me not numbered with the goats, but with the sheep 70 At the right hand, and let the left remain for the wicked. May some lamp of light shine outward for me, ^A From above on the lampstand. It is a good thing even for God alone To be known, who sets an overseeing eye upon all things. And may I always love God more, whether He might provide some bitter 75 Or good thing; for all is good. But if I should be struck By robbers, descending from the great city of Christ, Do not leave me to be slain at the hands of murderers. And if you cast a spirit out of my soul, let not the enemy, Finding it idle, run upon me with more. 80 Nor destroy the useless fig tree, but still hope for fruit, And do not cut it down, O King; but take care to raise it up. And finding the drachma, and the sheep, and the son who wasted all, The one on the ground, the other on the mountains, the third under his feet, Having turned back pitiably to his father's house, O King,

may I find a response of such things from God. But if I should have stored ^A away these things—may I not be a harsh exactor of my fellow-servants, even though the good King is present to my own sufferings. And may I prune away some of the debts, hiding it with a prudent mind, so that when I am in need, I may have a remedy hereafter! 90 May I here be Lazarus, and hereafter ^B may another be proud here, while being dishonored there, having flames in place of a dance. May I not be boastful, since I am a wicked publican. May I have pity with tears, and may the Pharisees fall. But if ever I should 95 send away a widow struggling at my gates empty-handed, and if—hating while pretending to be friendly—I should offer a stone or a dire serpent instead of the bread and delicious fish I should have offered, reaching out from this hand, ^C may I receive such things from God. But if my storehouses hold, partly by seal, partly by hopes that quickly flow away, 100 may this night destroy me with listless dreams. Nor may the talent which God has entrusted to me—measuring out a greater grace to others—I pray that this remain idle in my hands, nor the mina of natural reason, a grace equally distributed; 105 but may I both provide the work, and obtain the reward of glory; and may I not pay a bitter penalty, and have disgrace.

XXVIII. The Tempest Stilled by Christ.

There was a time when Christ was sleeping a natural sleep in a boat, and the sea was raging with storm-creating winds.

^A The sailors cried out in fear: "Awake, Savior, help those who are perishing." The King, rising, commanded 5 the winds and waves to be still, and it came to pass. ^B Those who were present recognized the nature of God by that miracle.

XXIX. Hymn to God

O You who are above all things; for by what other speech is it lawful to celebrate You? How shall prayer praise You? For You cannot be expressed by any words. How shall the mind behold You? For You cannot be grasped by any mind. You alone are 5 ineffable; since You have brought forth all things that are spoken. You alone are unknown; since You have brought forth all things that are thought. All things, both those that speak and those that do not speak, sing of You. All things, both those that possess mind and those that lack it, honor You. For the desires are common, and the pangs reach all alike. 10 Your composition, which understands You, utters a silent hymn. In You alone all things remain; to You all things together hasten. And You are the end of all, and one, and all, and none, being neither one nor all. O You of all names, how shall I call upon You, the only one who cannot be invoked? What heavenly mind 15 will penetrate the coverings above the clouds? Be propitious, O You who are above all things; for what other speech is it fitting to use to celebrate You?

XXX. Another Hymn to God

You, the immortal, ^C monarch, ^D grant that I may hymn You, grant that I may sing of You, grant that I may praise You, O King and Master, by whom 5 the dance of the angels exists, by whom the ages, which are unceasing, exist, by whom the sun shines forth, by whom man has obtained [alt-version omitted] the dignity of contemplating the Divine,

^A a rational animal. For You have created all things, assigning an order to each one, and sustaining them with Your providence. You spoke the Word, and the work existed. Your Word is God and Your Son; for He is of the same nature, and equal in honor to the Begetter, who has fastened all things together, that He may rule over all. But the Holy Spirit, who is Himself God, containing all things, guards them with foresight. I shall call You the living Trinity, the one and only Monarch, a nature unchanging, without beginning, a nature of ineffable essence, a mind of wisdom inaccessible, the unshaken power of the heavens, without beginning, without end, ^B an invisible light, beholding all things, knowing no depth, from the earth unto the abyss. Father, be propitious to me. Grant me to worship this Majesty at all times. Cast away my sins, cleansing the conscience from every evil thought, that I may give glory to God, lifting up holy hands; that I may bless Christ, bending the knee, and supplicating that He may then receive me as His servant, when He comes as King. Father, be propitious to me, that I may find mercy and grace; for glory and thanksgiving are due to You unto the measureless age.

XXXI. Another Hymn.

METRICAL VERSION

XXXI. ANOTHER HYMN.

^A Glory to the most praiseworthy and all-holy Spirit. The Trinity is one God, who created and filled all things: the heaven with heavenly beings, the earth with earthly ones; 5 He filled the sea, and the rivers, and the springs with water-creatures, giving life to all things by the power of His own Spirit. Every creature should sing the praises of the wise Creator, who is the sole cause of being and of remaining. May the rational nature especially sing throughout all time, 10 as to a great King, as to a good Father. By spirit, and soul, and tongue, and mind, grant also to me to glorify You purely, O Father. ^B

XXXII. VESPER HYMN.

You have commanded the law that honors ^A brotherhood and friendship. And through this you have placed a limit 25 on the labors of the toil-worn flesh; but that you have incited to work and to deeds pleasing to you, so that, fleeing the darkness, 30 we might hasten to the day—the day not to be dissolved by the grim night. Do you shed a light sleep upon my eyelids, 35 so that my tongue, the praiser, may not be silenced by being lulled to sleep for too long, nor, in answering the angels, may your work cease, nor your creature lie silent. But let my couch with you carry pious 40 thoughts, and let not the night rebuke any of the uncleanness of the day, nor let the mockeries of the night arouse vain dreams; but let the mind, even apart from the body, 45 speak to you, O God, to the Father, and to the Son, ^B and to the Holy Spirit, to whom be honor, glory, and might, 50 forever. Amen.

XXXIII. Thanksgiving

To you be thanks, O King of all, and Maker of all. The heaven is filled with your glory, and all the earth with your ^C wisdom. God the Son, your Word, created all things. Your Holy Spirit grants life to all. Holy Trinity, be gracious to the world; be gracious to us, O Son of God according to the spirit, and according to the flesh, the Son of man, who endured to taste of death upon the cross, ^D as a mortal; yet on the third day you left the gates of Hades, as God; for you loosed the bonds of death, rising again, 10 and granted to the mortal race a nature whereby we live all our days, and ever sing of you, the Immortal.

[alt-version omitted]

XXXIV. Another Act of Thanksgiving

To you be thanks, O King of all, and Creator of all. To you be thanks, who by your word created things intelligible and visible, Establishing things that were not before, and bringing them forth from darkness. Your throne is surrounded by pure laudators; ^A 5 Hence, myriads, and again thousands from thence, The fiery chorus of the angelic host, incorruptible from the beginning, The people of the firstborn, and the chorus of shining stars; The spirits of divine men, and souls of the just, All assembled together, surrounding your throne, 10 With joy and with fear they sing eternally, Chanting a pure hymn, yea, and an unceasing one. To you be thanks, O King of all, and Creator of all. This is the pure hymn in the heavenly chorus. Yea, I also entreat you, immortal Father, and I bend the knee ^B 15 Of my heart, O immortal Father, and my mind within Lies prostrate before you; my head inclines to the earth As I supplicate you. I lie a suppliant and pour forth tears; For I am not worthy to lift my eyes to heaven. But do you have mercy upon me, Father of compassion, be propitious 20 To your mourning servant; save me, stretching forth your hand From the talons of death, cleansing all my thoughts. Do not strip me of your Spirit, but rather still more Pour strength and confidence into my breast, That I may sing of you worthily with heart and with lips. 25 Even as you stood by my begetter, your servant, Grant also to me a pure life, and a pure end, And to attain a good hope, and mercy, and grace. And blot out all things, whatsoever I have sinned from my youth,

^A even as a good king; for to Thee is thanksgiving for all days, to Thee is thanksgiving for all days, and unto all ages.

XXXV. Prayer before the reading of the Scriptures

Hear, O Father of Christ, who beholdest all things, these my prayers. Grant a divine hymn to thy servant. For he who directs his footsteps onto the holy path is he who has known God, begotten of Himself, among the living, and Christ as the protector of mortals and king, who, once having taken pity on the race of mortals suffering terrible things, willingly changed his form at the counsel of the Father. And God, who is immortal, became mortal, until he loosed all those groaning in the Tartarean bonds through his blood. Come hither now, and from the holy and pure book ^A feed your soul with divinely inspired words. For there you shall behold the ministers of truth, who are about to announce life with a heavenly voice.

XXXVI. Prayer before undertaking a journey

Christ the King, who art all good things to thy men, and in all things art the straight path, who didst lead the army with fire and cloud, and who didst find a way in the sea that was split for thy friends, and didst cover Pharaoh, and didst provide new bread from heaven, and from the rugged rock didst cause a stream to gush forth, a great miracle, in the wilderness, having stayed the might of hostile men, when he stretched out his hands, Moses—forming the shape of the cross, which is my ^B protection. And the moon and the sun stayed their course. And as the river

yielded to the hurried, so a road was made easy for them upon the earth, which Thou Thyself didst promise and assent to. Thou Thyself didst show the heavenly path to mortals, and didst join the new way to the ancient one, when God and man, having been fused together, traveled upon the earth 15 and afterwards ascended from thence to heaven, appearing more manifest to those who desire Him than before. Thou Thyself also didst tread upon the sea, and before Thy feet the surge fell, though it was being urged on by grievous winds. But, O Blessed One, be a fellow-traveler to me also as I call 20 to Thee today, and grant me a prosperous journey, and a good angel, a guide, a defender, and a helper, so that, taking me far away from all evils of the day and of the night, and granting a good end of the journey to me as I labor, he may bring me back healthy from my home, and home again ^A 25 to my relatives and friends who pass a life similar to my own. There I might beseech Thee, night and day, free and untroubled, leading a life before Thee untainted by wickedness, and ever lifting up to Thee my winged mind, the light of my life, until I might complete the final, common path 30 and arrive at the dwelling-place which is the end of toil for the pious. For Thee I live, for Thee I speak, for Thee I sit at rest, O King Christ, and for Thee I lift the footprint of my foot, since Thou coverest me with Thy hand. But do Thou lead me even now to the good end of my journey.

XXXVII. Another prayer for a prosperous journey.

It is not possible to lift a single footprint of a foot without Thee, O King Christ, who art all ^B good to Thy mortals, and in all things hast been made a straight path. Trusting in Thee, I both cut this path, but do Thou send me...

[...and restore me, O King, to my humble home, where, free from care, I might propitiate You by night and by day.] ^A

XXXVIII. Another prayer. You who led Your people with fire and cloud, and who found a path in the sea, having solidified the waves for those passing through: You who rained down bread from heaven to those who did not expect it, and who drew forth a fountain from the jagged rock: now also, come as a companion to Your servant who calls upon You, O Christ, light of mortals, bringing all things prosperous.

METRICA VERSIO. (A. B. Caillau transl.) By cloud or fire favoring, You who for the holy people through the deep seas opened a dry path, while it fled; You who poured forth the new gifts of heavenly bread, drawing from the jagged rock abundant streams: I pray to You now with my heart, be a companion to Your servant praying, O Christ, light of men, bringing all things prosperous.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS.

I. In Praise of Virginity.

We shall crown virginity with our garlands, singing in hymns from a pure heart with those who are pure. For this is the noble gift of our life, more brilliant than gold and electrum and ivory, by which the virginal passion casts earthly life to the ground, raising thence the wing of the mind to God reigning in heaven. Rejoice with me as I begin the hymn, you who are pure; for the hymn is a common reward for all those who are holy.

I. In laudem virginitatis. It is pleasing to crown virginity with our wreaths, singing from a pure heart in pure hymns. For this is the noble gift of our life, more splendid than gold and electrum and ivory, in those by whom the virginal ardor casts earthly life to the ground, henceforth raising the wings of the mind to God reigning in heaven. Rejoice therefore, you who are pure, as I begin to praise, for the hymn is a common duty for all the pious.

METRICAL VERSION.

^A

But let the envious shut their ears to my words; yet if any should open them, let him cleanse his mind with the discourse.

In Praise of Virginity

Virginity, hail greatly, God-given, bestower of good things, mother of integrity, portion of Christ, consort of heavenly beauty; for the unmarried are first God, and after Him the choir of God that ever is. For He is the fount of lights, a light neither to be named nor to be grasped, fleeing the swiftness of the mind that draws near, always running far ahead of the minds of all, that we may be drawn by desires to a height ever new. But others are lights secondary to the Trinity, which keeps the royal glory. The first virgin is the holy Trinity. From the Father without beginning is the King-Son, not sent forth from elsewhere (for He Himself is the path and root and beginning for all), nor generating a son in the manner of men, but proceeding as splendor from splendor. From the Son, however, no longer does another Son proceed, holding honor equal to the Father; but the Father remains entire, and the Son likewise remains in himself only the Son, alone from the Alone: passing into one with the great Spirit, who likewise proceeds from the Father, one God shining forth in the three lights. ^B Such is the pure nature of the Trinity. And from that *source* appear the shining angels, those without form, who stand around the great throne; for they are swift minds, divine fire and spirits darting quickly through the air, eagerly performing the great commands.

[alt-version omitted]

Metrical Version

For this praise of piety touches all alike. But whoever you are, held by wretched envy, begone, and shut your ears to our verses; or if by chance someone opens them, take pains first to wipe away the foul stains from the depths of your mind.

Hail, virginity, handed down as a divine gift, mother of a life unoffended, shedding greatest blessings, portion of Christ, and associated with the spirits above, which are ignorant of the marriage-chamber; for the great God is without a spouse, as is the shining choir of the omnipotent God. He is indeed the fount of light and the perennial light, which cannot be expressed by words or held by hands. But He flees the mind with swift course, and is always withdrawn from the nearby eyes of men, so that He may drag us toward new heights of love, and kindle the flame. But these are the nearest lights, drawing from the first radiance of the holy Trinity, which light in its splendor surpasses everything. For the first Trinity is virgin. Because the Son was born of the Father who is without beginning (for He is Himself the principle of things and vital source), nor did He beget the Son in the manner of human seed: but just as you see sparks flashing from fire. But indeed, from the Son no other Son is brought forth, who would seize honor equal to the Father. For He remains the Father in his entirety, and here, too, the Son remains entire, alone from the Alone, with the sacred Spirit (who proceeds from the Father above, yet in all things is like the Father), joined in nature, for God is one, and one divinity shines forth in the triple light. And such is the nature of the Trinity, pure on every side. From it, furthermore, is the most certain source of light for the angelic choirs: they who cannot be seen by mortal light, surrounding the seat and the blessed throne of God (for there is nothing lighter than those minds, for they are spirits, and flames running through the pure air), promptly fulfill the sublime commands.

^A For them there is no marriage, nor pains, nor anxieties, nor the terrible and wicked turbulence of the passions; they are not separated by members, nor by homes; they are like-minded toward one another, and each one is at peace with himself. Their nature is one, their thought is one, their one desire is around God, the great King. 40 They do not take pleasure in children, nor in wives, having avoided such sweet toil. Neither is wealth desirable to them, nor all the incentives of wickedness that the earth brings forth for mortals. They do not plow, nor do they sail the seas for the sake of an unyielding belly—that belly which is the primal source of evils. There is one supreme food for all: 45 to be sated with the Word of the great God, and to draw immense light from the Trinity. Alone they live, pure ministers of a pure God, ^B simple, possessed of intellect, and radiant, not beginning from flesh (for when flesh is knit together, it perishes again), 50 nor going into flesh; but they remain such as they were created. With them is joined virginity, God-like and a ready path 52 to God, following the thoughts of the Immortal [One], who wisely directs the great design of the world. In it is also the heavenly, the earthly, the great-hearted, the mortal, 55 the sacred race of toiling men, the boast of the King.

But come now, I shall tell of the venerable mysteries of God, and how virginity shone forth in the last times. There was once a time when black night covered all things. The lovely light of dawn did not yet go forth, nor did the sun 60 rush with fire along its path from the east. The horned moon did not shine, the ornament of the night.

All things, borne together, wandered aimlessly, ^A bound by the dark chains of primogenial chaos. But Thou, blessed Christ, obedient to the designs of the great Father, didst distinguish each thing most excellently according to its order. Light was made first, so that all works might be graceful and filled with light. Then, having circled the starry Heaven, a most great marvel, radiant with the sun and moon, Thou didst speak to them: 70 to the one, that it should show forth the dawn to men in streams of boundless light, and turn the seasons; to the other, to shine in the gloom, and bestow a second day. Beneath this, Thou didst place the earth as My seat, and didst bind the sea within the embraces of the earth, 75 and the land within the sea, flowing around in the gulfs of Ocean. And thus, all things were a World; the earth, and the heaven, and the sea; the Heaven rejoicing in heavenly lights, the Deep in swimmers, and the vast Earth in those that walk upon it.

^A Having then watched and perceived all these fitting things, He rejoiced in the harmonious works of the King, His Son. He sought also one who might be cognizant of wisdom, the mother of all things, ^B and a king of the terrestrial sphere, God-like; and He spoke thus: "Already pure and ever-living ^C ministers occupy the broad Heaven, holy intelligences, noble angels, 85 hymn-singers, chanting My glory, never ceasing; the Earth, however, still rejoices only in senseless living creatures. It pleases Me to fashion a mixed race from both, holding a place between mortals and immortals, a man endowed with intelligence, ^D that he may rejoice in My works, and be a wise initiate."

^A Rejoicing in my works, and a wise initiate of heavenly and earthly things, a second angel from the earth, and an announcer of my strength and of my mind." Thus He spoke, and taking a portion of the newly fashioned earth, He set up my form with immortal hands. He shared with it of His own life; for He breathed in a spirit, which is an emanation of the invisible Divinity. And from earth and breath, man was born, the image of the Immortal; for the ruling nature of the mind is in both. Therefore I cherish this life on account of the earth, and I have conceived love for the other on account of the divine particle.

^B But when the divine and earthly creature appeared on earth, and in the dales of the ever-flourishing paradise, and there was not yet any helper of his life similar to him, then the greatest miracle of the most wise Word occurred. The mortal, whom He had fashioned as a spectator of His own world—my root and the seed of manifold life—He divided in two with His great life-giving hand. He took a single rib from his flank, and building it into a woman, and infusing love into their breasts, He permitted both to be inclined toward one another. Not to all, nor for all, did He grant this, but He placed a limit upon desires, which they call marriage, the rein upon unmeasured matter.

[alt-version omitted]

So that it might not rage and storm uncontrollably, And, rushing forward like a driven herd one upon another, Might shatter the holy race of mortals, bereft of connection, ^A 115 And awaken wars and burdens for all, A goad carried by mindless folly. 125 So that the mutable race of mortals, like a stream, Might not be drawn backward, unstable from death, And yet remain through their offspring. But when the bays and the wide ends of the earth, The sunrise and the sunset, the side of the South and of the North, 130 Were filled with short-lived mortals, and the clay boiled over with insolence, And the creature, having been tamed beforehand by many teachings— By tongues divided, and by waters, and by showers of fire, And by the instructions of the written law, and by the prophets— Would not shake off the bonds of its first wickedness, 135 But was always held in the solid knots of the flesh, Raving with lewdness, and drunkenness, and idols.

METRICAL VERSION

To us, joined together with no distinction, Without the law of the marriage bed, from lustful union, Lest pleasure, rushing recklessly and indomitably, Should shatter the sacred companionships of the human race And stir up countless crowds and horrible wars. Therefore, while the earth was in need of our race, And had not yet received its own glory and the whole world, And also because of his own fault, and the envy ^B Of the cruel dragon, on account of the tasting of the forbidden, destructive tree, Unhappy Adam, driven from the pleasant paradise, Fell down to earth, weighed down by a garment of skins: For so long, too, the gentle conjunction of flesh Was best, and marriage [was] a solace for grief. For while some were offering their throat to gloomy death, And others were again plucking the vital breezes, Life was drawn on like that of a violent river, Unstable because of the fatal darts of harsh death, And fixed eternally by the seed of numerous offspring. But after the bosom of the earth and the most remote ends— The rising and the western side, and where the humid South And the North strikes the globe with icy breath— Were filled with the human race, and the mud began to boil over with wicked vices, And the race, having been tamed in many ways while previously rebellious (the tongues divided, and by waters, and by avenging flame, and by the documents of the written law, and by the prophets), It refused to shake off the bonds of its ancient guilt; But rather, clinging to the flesh with firm embarrassments, Into Bacchus and Venus and mute idols it rushed, By the plan and nod of the Parent at last.

^A 137 Finally, the friendly race obtains this honor, by the nods of the immortal Father and the works of the Son. Christ, in as much as He placed a portion of heavenly nature into the single body of a mortal, seeing it being consumed under the baneful malice of the biting, crooked serpent who rules over men, so that He might raise up His own portion—no longer did He entrust the disease to other helpers, for a small remedy is not sufficient for great sufferings—but having emptied Himself, He who was the glory and the heavenly and immutable image of the heavenly Father, according to the human manner and contrary to the human manner, ^B incarnate within the venerable womb of a spouse who knew no man—O wonder, unbelievable to weak minds!—God came, and became mortal, having gathered two natures into one, 150 the one hidden, the other manifest to mortals. The one of these was God, the other was lastly fashioned for us, then when God was mixed within human entrails: one God from both sides; since, being mingled with the Deity, ^A even man, through the Deity, became King and Christ. 155 A new mixture existed, because I had despised the former one. First, I obtained the divine breath, and finally Christ took up my soul and all my limbs: that Adam, former and free, who was naked of sin before he saw the serpent and tasted the fruit 160 and death, but fed his soul with simple thoughts.

[alt-version omitted]

^A Since he is a mystic and a brilliant contemplator of the divine things of God, He came in order to refashion him, and God ^B assumed human nature; so that, having struggled and conquered the murderer through death, and having cured the taste with gall, and the wicked hands with the nails, and the tree with the cross, and the earth with the high stake, He might lead Adam back to life and crown him with glory. ^C Extending His sacred body to the ends of the earth, He gathered together the human race from the ends, and bound it into one light, and placed it in the arms of the great divinity. By the blood of the Lamb, He cleansed all the stains of old age, and having been lifted up from there, he became a leader of the heavenly path for mortals. O King, who could discover Thy mind and depth, who knowest the whole number of the drops of rain, and of the sand of the sea, and the paths of the winds? ^D And who, O Blessed One, could ever discern the footprints of Thy counsel, 175 Thou who, reigning on high, beholdest all things and governest all things, whatsoever the infinite age has hidden? To Thee the mind of men straining catches a glimpse of a tiny light, just as the lightning quickly fleeing from the air. But this is nevertheless 180 certain, that Thou hast raised man up from there by Thy sufferings, and hast placed him into another life, free from evil. Before, life and the world were in labor and groaning, and a great host stood around the king of those below, whom he had snatched away by the deceits of the great King. 185 Now, however, Christ has snatched them from the hand of dire wickedness, and leads them back to the great King and to a better world.

METRICAL VERSION

With simple foods, meditating on heavenly things, the illustrious ^B disciple of God, turning over only divine things in his mind. Christ, wishing to renew this human nature for the ages, Went forth, so that, struggling, and overcoming the cruel Robber through bitter death, and by the taste of gall The pernicious taste of the wood, and the wicked right hands With nails, and the sweet plant with the holy tree of the cross, And the earth with the tall stake of the saving cross, He might restore Adam to ancient life and to his former light. Moreover, extending the limbs of His sacred body To the ends of the world, He collected the mortal race from the ends, And drew man together into one, And placed him in the midst of the arms of the great deity, Purging the foul stains with the blood of the Lamb, And removing from the midst the wickedness that had closed the stars. Who could find out the secrets of Thy mind, good King, To whom the drops of rain, to whom the count of every grain of sand, And the paths of the winds are known? Who could discern again The arduous footprints of Thy great counsel? Omnipotent, Thou who seest all things and governest all things, Whatever this vast world contains. Fixed upon Thee, The mind of men shines for a brief moment with a spark, No otherwise than the rapid lightning, which, once risen, Immediately dies, and leaves behind eyes that have been dazzled. Nor is this, however, doubtful, that through Thy wounds Liberty has been restored to us, and, the filth of the prior Life having been shaken off, we enjoy a better age. And previously the world was scattering seeds upon the earth, And a vast crowd of the world was surrounding the tyrant, Whom the crafty one had held, having led him away from the great King. Now, however, Christ, having rescued them from the foul whirlpool of vices, Claims them for the King, and for a better age. That marriage, against this, brings to mortals A splendid virginity; that is the glory of the earth, but this of the heavens.

^A Just as a man, painting lifeless images upon tablets, 190 at first with light and faint strokes attempts to sketch the form, but afterward completes the whole figure with every sort of color; so indeed virginity, ^B associated with the ever-existent Christ, was formerly visible in a few, and was shadowy, 195 until the law also reigned over them, appearing in faint colors, and the hidden light shone with a gleam for a few. But after Christ, having passed through a holy virgin Mother—untouched, God-fearing, undefiled (since there was a necessity that he be born without marriage and without a father), 200 he sanctified women, and cast off bitter Eve, and dismissed the laws of the flesh, and subjected the letter to the Spirit with great arguments, and grace came into the midst; then truly virginity shone radiant for mortals, loosening itself from the world, and loosening the faint world, 205 being as much more excellent than marriage and the bonds of life, as the soul is more excellent than the flesh, and the broad heaven than the earth, and the life standing for the blessed is more excellent than that which flows, and God is better than man. And a faultless choir stood around the light-bearing King, 210 heavenly, hastening from earth to be God, Christ-bearing, a servant of the cross, wise toward the world, dead to those on earth, and concerned with those in heaven, the lamps of the world, clear mirrors of light, who behold God, and whose God is, and who are God’s. 215 Come, you who are like-minded in your sides, or [of] marriage... [alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

^A initiate ones, who carry your heads high and eyes bold, and gold mixed with noble stones, and who cover your delicate limbs with soft, flowing robes, tell us what advantages marriage and the bond provide to mortals, and then we shall call upon the one who has no yoke.

The former, then, will speak with a rushing flow, puffed up: "Hear, O dear children of marriage, of the king of those on earth, we to whom marriage and the bonds of life are a care, of the human race and of our blood, which the Son of the eternal Father established as a law from that time when he first bound Adam at the rib, so that fruit might exist from man as a mortal, and from generation, although he was mortal, he might remain sprouting in his offspring, even as in an ear of corn; ^B we have joined together one to another, since we were born of dust, and we observe the most ancient law of dust and of God. For indeed, as many natures as have obtained the wide heaven are without a yoke, and are stronger than passions and grievous anxieties; but for those who live on earth, marriage and the bond are a benefit. ^C Both as a root for beloved branches and for lovely fruits, and a good support for a sweet life. First is God, the begetter of all. (And be gracious, O Christ, to your pure laws, more than before.) And upon this is the bond of love, since both earth and heaven, and the sea, flourish with offspring through the gifts of marriage. And if truly a law of love dwells in the high-crested palm trees, ^D this law you obey, and the lovely yoke-fellowship, and you clothe yourselves in the most ancient law of dust and of God. For indeed, as many natures as have obtained the wide heaven are without a yoke, and are stronger than passions and grievous anxieties; but for those who live on earth, marriage and the bond are a benefit, both as a root for beloved branches and desirable fruits, and a good support for a pleasing life. First is God, the begetter of all. (And be gracious, O Christ, to your pure laws, more than before.) And upon this is the bond of love; since both earth and ether, and the sea, flourish with offspring through the gifts of marriage. And if truly there is a law of desire in the high-crested palms,

^A if even from a pair of stones a single stone comes into being, as those learned in the nature of stones report, then there is marriage and a bond of love even in inanimate things.

But what are foreign stories and longings to me? Look to what marriage has provided for prudent mortals. Who taught them a beloved wisdom, and who discovered the depths, ^B as much as the earth contains, as much as the sea, and as much as the heaven? Who laid down laws for cities, and before these, who raised up cities and found out crafts through ingenuity? Who filled the marketplaces and homes, and who filled the games? Who [ordered] the army in wars, and tables at feasts? ^C Who established the hymn-singing choir in the fragrant temple? Who put an end to the life of beasts, and taught [men] to plow the land, and to plant, and sent the black ship speeding upon the seas by the winds? Who bound the earth and the sea by a moist path ^D without marriage; and who gathered together things far apart into one?

These things are so. But those things above are much better. We are hands and ears and feet to one another in this union. Marriage has made [it] both double and unyielding, a great joy to the well-disposed, but a grief to the ill-disposed. Common cares lighten distresses; common joys are sweeter to both. Wealth is rendered more pleasant for those of one mind; and being of one mind is more pleasant than wealth for those in want. [It is] a key to both self-control and desire.

^A Marriage, and the seal of necessary friendship; a single colt of friendship gladdening the heart with its leaps. A single drink from a domestic spring, untasted by strangers, neither flowing forth outside, nor gathering any other from without. Joined in flesh, like-minded, and sharpening in one another the goad of piety in love. ^B For neither does marriage place a man apart from God; rather, a man holds to Him more firmly, since it presses [upon him] all the more. As a small breeze moves a small ship with its sails spread wide, racing quickly through the swelling waves, while hands send it along, urged on by oars; but a greater wind pushes a heavy [ship] coming across the sea: so too, since those who are unmarried live lightly, ^A they require less help from the great God. But he who is busied with his dear spouse, his possessions, and his children, and sails through the great and vast sea of life, being in need of more things, worships God more. Such is marriage; but life without love is maimed, cruel, unheeding, homeless, mountain-roaming—no protection against passions, no remedy for doting old age, by which parents grow young again ^B in their children; it is no support of a sweet life. They take no pleasure in public gatherings, nor in feasts; joyless, outside the world in which they were born, they do not love the roots of life, nor do they possess a heart in harmony with mankind. But if anyone loves virtue yet despises friendship, not even virtue is far from friendship; not only because [alt-version omitted]

marriage has always been dear to the pious, but also because they are the offspring of a gentle love 500 and witnesses to Christ's passions, as well as prophets, patriarchs, priests, victorious martyrs, kings, and those adorned with every virtue. For the earth has not brought forth good men just as it is said to have produced the monstrous race of giants; rather, they are all the offspring and glory of marriage. 505 Who showed God, who holds great sway over mankind, even though they were far off, and filled their mind with a more divine love, and from there led them away to another life? Who cleansed the souls of all men with shining rays? Faith translated Enoch. But he saved 510 the whole world from the waters with a few souls and swimming seeds, ^A the great Noah. Abraham was the father of cities and nations, and bound his son to the altar as a sacrifice to Christ. Moses led the people from heavy Egypt with great wonders, and received the law upon 515 stones from on high, and beheld God face to face. The faithful Aaron was foremost among the priests of old. Jesus stayed the course of the moon and the sun, ^B preparing longer slaughter and grief for his enemies. And you too, blessed Samuel, pure one, bearing the horn for Christ's anointed, 320 David was the most celebrated among all kings, and Solomon the primary glory of wisdom. Nor will I forget the prophets. A chariot snatched Elijah up to heaven. And who does not marvel at John, the loud-voiced forerunner of the highest light, who was set as the midpoint between the law and the Spirit? [alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

Marriage was dear to all, the celibate life being despised, But also because prophets, sacrificers, teachers, and patriarchs Are created by a progenitor through the marriage bed; Laurel-crowned kings, decorated with every virtue. For the dry earth did not give birth to these excellent men As they recount the vast bodies of the giants: They are all sacred, the fruits and glory of the marriage torch. Who revealed the Almighty Deity of Olympus to the human race, Even though He dwells far away from the heights above? Who filled the minds of men with divine love, And snatched them from the earth to a more excellent age? Who purged clear souls of black filth? Bountiful faith and piety carried Enoch to the stars. Noe, with a tiny number and a floating seed, Preserved the whole world from the death-bearing waves. Renowned Abraham, source of a numerous race, B did not tremble as he brought his son to the altar to be sacrificed. Indeed, even Moses performed great wonders, While he dragged the people, pressed by hardships and harsh tyranny, Out, and received the holy laws and the statutes commanded on stones, And beheld the Deity in facing light. Among ancient sacrificers shone Aaron. And Jesus prolonged the course of the moon and the sun, While he followed the broken and scattered phalanxes through the fields. You too were faithful, O priest born of Anna, And you carried the horn and the oil of the Lord’s anointed. What of David? A man than whom no king was more excellent. What of Solomon, the vertex of wisdom, and all the prophets, And Elijah snatched away to the heavens in a burning chariot? Who would not admire the mediator of the old and new Covenant, and he who, soon bearing joyful messages In the coming supreme light, ran before it to mortals?

^A Who then is the twelve of the renowned disciples, who is the courage of Paul, that great-hearted traveler of the sky, and others both who have existed and who now are the best, the bastion of the Word, the glory of the world, and the foundations of the people? Marriage and Christ gave them all to mortals. 330 Nor indeed did women adorned in piety, whose great number is in the divinely inspired books, attain glory without marriage and the flesh. I shall tell a greater story regarding the honor of my marriage bed. For Christ himself was mingled with pure, yet mortal, inward parts 335 and was brought forth from a betrothed woman, mingling half of human wedlock with divinity. But one thing among all is my greatest strength, if the unmarried prevail; these also are my race, as are all others. For the married did not spring from the unmarried, but the unmarried from nuptials: 340 So we enjoin the children: "Cease from the struggle; even if you are not fathers, yet you were born of fathers." Such is marriage. Afterward, Virgil (in modesty), with a melancholy face, in tattered rags, and with feeble limbs, barefoot and withered, having her eyes fixed upon the ground, 345 barely parting her lips in shame, reddening her countenance with a holy blush, and silently drawing the veil from her head to cover herself—I might persuade her with these words: "O child of the Heavenly One, and inwardly vocal, 350 you who stand in the choirs of the great Ruler chanting hymns, although both body and earth hold you, come hither and speak a word. I, before you..."

I shall stand. For you have come to me, O queen, as a gift from God; you have come, and may you come yet more often and be propitious. 355 Who is it that brings me, even against my will, to this seat? Who is it that calls me—eager as I am to honor my God in peace, through daily toils and nocturnal songs, and fountains of tears, and holy purifications—to vain strife and the quarrels of words? 360 For my strength is not among men, nor am I glib in speech, nor do I mingle in the markets, nor am I elated by the votes of judges ^A in whom there is little care for upright justice, and for but a few, and who often incline the scales of law now this way and now that. 365 Others may have the honors of this life. But for me, there is one law and one inward purpose: to stand having mixed the cup full of love for God, and from there to hasten toward the light-bearing Ruler of the heights. The desire for the other goods—with which empty men think themselves vainly puffed up, 370 things that come quickly and perish most speedily, which are no more than smoke or vapor, or a flowing breeze, or sand scattered and driven everywhere by the winds, or a ship’s wake upon the sea—no longer takes hold of my heart. I would rather be dishonored among men ^B 375 and have a small share of glory among the everlasting inhabitants of heaven, than to rule over all and fall away from God. Yet I tremble and fear, lest someone, having been uplifted and flapping newly-fledged wings of virginity in the ether, should by such words as these slip back down to the earth most swiftly.

[alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

I myself will be your patron: for you have come to me indeed, O divine one, by a heavenly gift. And would that you might come more often, and come as a friend! Forthwith she sends forth such words as these from her breast: "Who, in truth, brings me against my will to these seats? Who calls me, while I am preparing to serve God through the probity of my life, through nocturnal hymns and daily sweats, and through pious rites and the unending fountain of tears, to the contest and vain quarrels of words? ^B My power and ability are not among mortals. I am not practiced in tongue, nor do I seek the din of the forum; neither does the favor of a judge elate my soul. For in judges there is the slightest care for what is right, and only in a few men. For often the wicked are accustomed to incline the balance of justice to either side. Let the sweetest comforts of this life be for others: this one law is mine, this one aim, that, caught up by the love of God, I might be able to depart from the earth. The rest, with which vain hearts most emptily swell, and which come quickly and perish in sudden ruin, do not affect my mind more than empty smoke, or vapor and wind, and sand shaken and scattered everywhere by the driving force of the storm, or even the wake of a ship upon the broad sea. I would rather live inglorious among humans, provided I have some glory among the dwellers of heaven, than, while reigning over the earth, to fall far from the high citadel and lack God through all the ages. But I fear lest someone, beating the air with wings of virginity that are not yet firm, should fall headlong to the earth because of these words, and leave heaven behind. Therefore, that for you, by the gift of Christ, the danger...

^A of my children being lost might be avoided, I have come forward as an aid, bringing a word of assistance, by God’s gift. To my mother I will first speak what is fitting, that which you truly uttered, and in this I agree (for I will begin where your speech ended), that marriage is the root of the celibate life. For it is indeed both root and beginning. Who of sensible mind could deny parents? Yet you did not speak all things truly. But receive, even though you are a mother, a wise and thoughtful word, ^C and a mystery of great wisdom concerning generation, which the secret places of the great God have revealed to me. A human being is not the father of the whole man, as they maintain, but only of the flesh and of the blood, both of which will perish. But the soul is an inspiration of the almighty God, falling from without into the earthly figment. He knows who mingled it, ^D when he first breathed it in, and mingled the image with the earth. Your own love is a witness to my words. For it is halved, not loving the souls of your children, but only their bodies, for which you grieve when they suffer, and rejoice when they flourish. For the heart of a father and of a venerable mother is wounded more by the slight blemishes of their children than by great vices of the souls and worse defilements. For they are parents of the bodies, not at all of the souls. But if I call you mother, even though it is by the baser part, why do you begrudge those who are celibates a more excellent Father? Therefore, ^B yield willingly to the great progenitor of men, [alt-version omitted]

Honor to virginity, which embraces God the Father. Such are my words to my mother; and let this suffice. But I, beloved children of God, king of all, 410 revering this law, have mingled an endearing concord with God alone, and have abandoned the love of the flesh, which the Son of the eternal Father established from on high, having been born of the unbound One, and being immortal from the Immortal, from that time when first He placed Adam in paradise 415 without a yoke, and thereafter, giving the law, sanctified the people, and cleansed childbearings by the law, and built a temple with the most holy bodies of those performing the priestly offices. The great father of John is my witness, who did not before beget the beloved son, whom he received within the temple, 420 the herald of the great Christ to mortals, before he completed the divine mysteries with holy days. Christ is the end of the law, having been mingled with men from a virgin womb, so that marriage might incline toward the earth. And while the former departed, the world shone forth as better, 425 and death, which through the dissoluble flesh of the first ancestor had traveled to those born in flux and perishing by generation, met with virginity and perished, as when upon a rugged sea-cliff a great wave, or as when a flame is consumed by water. In the face of these things, who delights in cities and weak laws, 430 or in the marketplace, and in swelling pride, and who in the contests which legends have fashioned over youths brought to an untimely end? Who delights in armies in wars, and in banquets at tables?

METRICAL VERSION

Now offer honors to the life of virginity, As it constantly embraces the Parent of the heavens. This suffices for me to have said to my dear parent. But I, sweetest offspring of the heavenly Father, revering this law, having left the lowly earth, am all inflamed with the love of the immortal Lord, a law which Christ, born of the eternal and celibate Genitor, instituted when He placed in the seat of paradise that first-born Adam, lacking a consort for his couch, and thereafter, bestowing the law of Venus, He commanded that the people should wholly abstain from its use on certain days. Furthermore, He ordered that recent childbearings be cleansed by law, and He adorned with sacrifices the noble temple, for those who performed the divine gift with pure bodies in place of their own. Let that man be my witness, Zacharias; for not until he had received in the sacred house the one bringing joyful tidings of the immense Light to the world, did he bring forth his son, before He had celebrated all the divine festivals during the virgin days. Now, however, Christ, upon whose coming the law was buried, has flowed from a Virgin, mingled with the human race: so that henceforth married life might incline toward the earth. And so, that life indeed yielded, and the world suddenly began to shine forth, rising up better upon the earth. And death, traversing the flesh of the first-born and men born from the fluid seed of fathers, and leaving the lights of life after offspring had been brought forth, fell upon the virginal life and was killed, such as an insane storm falling upon abrupt rocks, or a most rapid flame falling into icy waters. Who, furthermore, follows broad cities and infirm laws, and the forum, and fierce surges? Who extols with great praises the public contests which legend has fashioned for youths falling in premature death? Who [delights in] the dishes of a luxurious table?

^A Has it praised empty-vaunting wisdom, or that which is in the hands, Or that which lies in spider-like discourses and webs, 435 Being born of itself, and dissolving into the air? Who then delights in these things, and in the labors of planting, And in the course of a swift-sailing ship under rushing winds? These are not the teachings of marriage, but a small part Of the ancient penalty of Adam, through which creeps 440 The bitter serpent, watching my heel. But if these [things] Are of marriage, away with them! For they do not accompany me To another life, hastening from hence; but all these blessed things will perish Today, or with the unstable stream of the world. For you journey through the flowing [stream] of a flowing life, 445 Touching it lightly and running past the runner. If you delight in wise men, since they were born of you, Receive also the wickedness of sinners, of whom you are the root. You are the root of Cain, and of the Sodomites, and of those whom Christ Scattered at the tower, acting wickedly, and of those whose insolence 450 The rain from heaven extinguished, having purged the whole earth at once with its breathing. ^B Who nourished the evil-counseling Pharaoh, the audacity of Ahab, and the Most bitter kings of the Assyrians? And who [nourished] righteous Blood, which he gave to the drinking and the lascivious movements of his daughter, The abominable Herod, the child-slayer, and the murderers 455 Of Christ the King of all, as many as were persecutors Before and afterwards, and in the last times, Of whom the last and the first is the evil abyss of Beliar.

^A Terrible is the power of Julian, destroyer of souls, who, having been smitten from God because he waged war against Christ, 460 his dust still seethes, a great terror to the wicked; and others too, whom marriage has given to the world and will give—liars, murderers, the crooked, those who swear falsely, ^B plunderers of others’ goods, ravagers of the marriage bed of a stranger—who could count them all? For this is manifest to all, ^C that there is more dust of gold, and that the wicked are more numerous than the good; for indeed they walk upon uneven paths. For the path is low and easy for the wicked, but the good cut through the uphill slopes. Therefore, the wicked are far more numerous than the good. 470 If indeed you would cease to exult in your children, and cease to call a blinded life the companion of divinity, we shall end our discourse here. You might possess a glory that is disputed. For neither do I myself begrudge you your earthly parent. But if, having obtained the second place beside God, you claim the first for yourself, 475 I shall speak a word that is true indeed, but painful to the heart. Who among all mortals has devised how to beget this best of sons? Or what is the way to beget a son who does not suffer from vice? A painter will draw an image no worse than the image, and a sculptor has formed statues similar to the forms, 480 and art works the gold with its hands wherever the mind wills, and a farmer has reaped a good ear of corn from good seed, and his desire did not fail of the end, just as he had hoped. But a mortal does not clearly know the nature of his offspring, what it will turn out to be, neither the bad nor the good; yet one who is good prays for better things.

Metrical Version

^A Having vexed those who worship God with signal piety and zeal—in whose number Julian is to be held, he who is the last in the series indeed, but the first in crime, without a doubt the abyss of Satan and the pestilence of souls. ^B Because he had attempted to overcome the faith of Christ with sacrilegious arms—he who was smitten by a divine wound—his dust itself still seethes, a fear not small for the iniquitous. Who would recount the others, whom marriage has already given and will give to the world, speaking mendacious words, shrewd, stained with the crime of foul slaughter, vomiting dire perjuries with a venomous mouth, plunderers, treading upon the rights of another’s marriage bed? For it is clear to everyone that, just as dust exceeds gold in number, so the crowd of the wicked surpasses the just—for the path is not trodden on equally by both; for it is prone for the wicked and on all sides easy, but for the just it is rough, difficult, and troublesome. Wherefore, it comes to pass that an impious hand greatly surpasses upright men. But if you would at length cease to think proudly of your offspring, and to call the life united to the King above maimed and infirm, I shall put an end here; you may now continue to reap your doubtful praise; for I do not begrudge the daughter her earthly father. But if, born of the highest Parent, you prefer vile things to the wondrous, and being secondary, claim the first place, I will give you words that are true indeed, but bitter. Who ever has known with this intention how to produce a just son? By what reason again could anyone create one deformed by vices? A painter leads the same picture from the image: a sculptor restores the proposed form in no dissimilar shape, and with skillful hands, the gold is drawn wherever the mind has led it; and from good seed the tiller of the soil is accustomed to bring forth a rich crop, nor does he lament a vain hope. But for man, as to what he will create by the sowing,

^A If some man who is Paul should beget a Christ-slayer, an Annas or a wicked Caiphas, or some Judas; nor—even if one is by nature as wicked as Judas—will he be called the father of holy Paul or of Peter, that unbreakable Rock, who obtained the keys as his progenitor. 490 For a father does not even know whether he is to beget an agreeable son or a daughter. He has merely quenched the frenzy of the flesh in the marriage bed. From one original ancestor stood forth Cain and Abel, the envious one and the noble offerer of a sacrifice holy to God. And Isaac’s children were Esau the bad and Jacob the most excellent; 495 and more than this, for from one came a twin offspring in no way alike. And Solomon was first wise, then most wicked, when he followed after sinful women. But conversely, Paul had great strength in both directions, ^A *who treated Christ with reproaches, but afterwards made him manifest to all, 500 having turned his burning zeal into a good impulse. To what part of these shall we attribute marriage? To nothing, in my view. For an image does not necessarily follow those who are joined. But just as someone enjoying his mind with turning dice 504 might cast the dice—yet his hands did not bring about the even or the odd, 505 but the automatic spinning of the stones brought it about: ^B so too marriage, the sower of children, did not beget the wise and the wicked, but human nature and training taught them. And if you truly desire to know the account, they are best when the Spirit and the Word shape them. 510 For a spark of piety is hidden within humans, as the power of fire is within stones. And just as iron brings forth light from stones by striking, so too from mortals

^A speech brings forth hidden piety. But as for the wicked, ^B they are rather the offspring of wedlock. For in this age, it brings forth more fruit, and, a companion to a failing world, it binds the flesh to the earth, weighing down the soul like lead, and the inheritance remains here in the children, similar to the parents.

Yet, let us leave the parents, nor do you object to me the good, and I shall cast away the wicked. 520 For in other matters, how much superior the holy life is, you would discern, if you were to consider the love of God and of the thick flesh, and the nature of the world and the twofold ends. For if you were to scatter even a little from your eyes the film that defiles, or from the radiance the mist, 525 and were to open your pupil to the rays of the sun, ^C and with a pure mind you were to contemplate all things, you would find virginity to be entirely a dedication to God, brighter than gold, and electrum, and ivory, discerning, serene, swift-winged, high-headed, 530 light, shining on all sides, above the earth, not fixed within the hollows of the ground, but in the wide-founded city of Heaven, and dwelling far from the flesh; with one hand holding onto ageless life, and with the other, wealth and glory that never ceases; 535 not like one carrying its house, under a shell-like burden, dragging a moist body with sluggish steps, nor divided between Christ and the flesh as king, nor, as is the custom for amphibious creatures, holding to the dry land.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

^A For if you were to gaze upon all things with a clear mind, you would find virginity to be entirely a dedication to God, brighter than gold, and electrum, and ivory, discerning, serene, swift-winged, high-headed, 530 light, shining on all sides, above the earth, not fixed within the hollows of the ground, but in the wide-founded heavenly city, and dwelling far from the flesh; with one of its two hands holding onto ageless life, and with the other, wealth and glory that never ceases; 535 not like one carrying its house, under a shell-like burden, dragging a moist body with sluggish ^B steps, nor divided between Christ and the flesh as king, nor, as is the custom for amphibious creatures, holding to the dry land.

[alt-version omitted]

^A And dwelling in soft waters night and day, 540 But directing the whole mind toward God, and from God Blooming with better than earthly offspring, With hope, and pure thoughts from the Pure One. But you will see a marriage entirely wandering away from Christ, By the destructive swellings of the flesh, and by the world’s 545 Innumerable cares, or touching upon things divine only lightly. For just as one looking together at two heads, or faces, Or at letters written upon two pages, Does not grasp the whole form accurately, although one may yearn to, But one part eludes the sight, and another parts and flees, 550 Being scattered, as a sting upon both— Weak is the connection to the world and to Christ—but let the stead- Fast man extend his aim toward one. For one who possesses Christ entirely has disregarded a spouse, Or, honoring the love of flesh, has forgotten Christ. ^A I have observed some stone-cutter, or some one skilled 555 In wooden works, a prudent and sensible man— When they calibrate with a straight line, How they bind one lamp under their eyelids, And sending all the light through the other, they gather it into one, They have attained to the truth, and the iron (tool) follows— 560 So desire, going into one, drives one closer to Christ; He who desires, desires the One desiring, and having looked, He has seen, Having looked, He has seen, and He meets the One approaching. As much as one desires, and looks, and as much as one beholds, So much one also desires: the noble circle turns upon itself. 565 The One I, desiring, abandoned life, nor was I able

to cast my eyes elsewhere; but a sweet bond restrains me, A yearning for that beauty which, having beheld, has moved my mind, And, kindled within me, it has shaken forth a brightly-shining Torch, and has made me wholly beautiful and radiant. 570 For this love alone draws a portion of beauty from the One who is loved Into the lover, and blessed is he who has received this gift. But you, however, cherish another love within your breast, And you think that you are drawing closer to heavenly things Because of—as you say—children, and possessions, and parents; 575 As for the light, and for those who are light, the love of the wise is [unprofitable], A small ship, a brief voyage, and a light gain Of perishing things. But for you, this is an immense navigation, And you boast of crossing the strait, as if you were sailing the sea With sails expanded across the waves of the Ionian. 580 A wind brings these things, and it is better, if it be favorable; But if it be adverse, it is a small misfortune to die here. But the voyage of the soul and of a noble spirit is great. Trembling at this, I clasp Christ all the more tightly; Not only this, but enjoying tranquility, I still pursue 585 My Christ, a pure yearning, which is steadfast to those who desire Him. But whoever, in need, looks toward the hand of God, Thinking he is in no need, has quickly cast away the desire of the moment. [alt-version omitted]

^A For if Christ should pierce your heart from above, and wound it in the midst with a cooling dart, looking upon both loves separately, you would know how much sweeter is the goad of the King. What more? Parents flourish again when their children care for their old age, and the husband with the wife, and the wife with the husband. Joys are shared, and pains and anxieties 595 are lighter, and one who walks upright is a great support to one who stumbles. But as for me, my parents are those who taught me what is good, and my children are those whom I have taught. And as a spouse I have received Christ, who embraces the celibate above all others, even though He is fixed for all and raised the cross for all. 600 In Him I rejoice with gladness, and if He casts upon me things that are unwelcome, He still raises me up through my sorrow, as gold in the furnace is purged of its filth. Yet for modesty, which in you the marriage bond restrains, I have not flesh but the Word as my helper, 605 and love, which, when it dominates, casts out what is alien, like a lion standing over weaker beasts. For bodies are like-minded in passions; therefore, they know how to return kindness to one another. For you, a table is heavy with dishes; for me, a morsel nourishes, 610 as once the great Christ nourished thousands in the desert. For you, vines provide drink; my rich wine is always, and springs and rivers and deep wells flow.

^A For you, fat faces and magnificent garments: For me, my adornment is matted hair and sordid clothing. 615 I wear a garment agitated by golden fringes, Christ, the hidden and most beautiful ornament of my soul. For you, a soft bed: for me, the sackcloth and the sheets, And a pallet on the floor, and the earth bedewed with tears. For you, the gold is precious: for me, the dust is a delight. 620 You are more wanton than a calf, I am bowed down with a sorrowful face. You cackle with laughter, the cheek which I have never loosened [to mirth]. You yearn for glory, but my glory is not on earth. But when you have examined these things and seen them, Consider also the things of marriage, the yoke-fellows of the flesh. 625 A husband is something to be bought for a wife, and what is worse, ^B often not even a good one—and a wife is a thing to be bought for a husband, and often even hateful: a malady taken on, and not to be repaired. For if they are good and concordant, to those proceeding in one [path], the voyage of life is lighter and the wind mixed. 630 But if they are evil, domestic toil is within, and hatred unceasing. Let us suppose them to be not bad, and like-minded; but often heavy fate has come upon the newly-wedded yoke. A bridegroom, then a corpse; a bridal chamber, a tomb; mixed with pleasures, ^C sorrows: a brief song, a better thing preceding the grievous. 635 One lit the nuptial torch, another has extinguished it. Another someone called a child "father," another [is left] childless. ^D [alt-version omitted]

I shall be silent about the arrows of childbirth and the dead weight in the mother’s womb, the bitter and motherless fruit—not births, but graves before the births, and then the ones who bore them, and the older fates of childbirth, and the bride in labor. I shall also be silent about the untimely, the mindless, and the misshapen ^A 650 insults to the human race and mockeries of the flesh. Let one weigh these things, wherever the inclination of the balance may look, and my life would draw its height far toward God who reigns on high, conspicuous to all for its excellence. But we shall be silent about each other's disgraces; for it is fitting that 655 the holy mouth of virginity avoid slandering. But if you, in your virginity, bring forward god-like reproaches, if anywhere someone has even slightly defiled my walk, and mixed the spotless tunic of Christ with filth, having stood in sins against the first of your good things, 660 a late-marrier, a fugitive from a great and holy life, I too shall recount the theft of the utterly shameful bed, which the lawless steal, trampling upon the threats of God. For this is the most deadly of evils among mortals.

^A Consuming the inward parts more savagely than a burning fire, 665 when some craftily approaching a bed not his own, holds both offspring and the bond of love in dispute. But neither adulterers nor vengeance hold men back from marriage; for he marries, even he who has plunged the death-dealing sword into the flank of an enemy adulterer, still dripping 670 with human gore, and he who has escaped the point. And shall some folly cut me off from the love of Christ, or will a small pebble restrain a wide flowing stream? It is not right, nor is it fitting, since it is much better for many, as they rise on high, to fall (if it is lawful ^B 675 to speak this word which is contrary to the tongue), than to remain on the ground in fear, lest the wing should flow down to the earth. For while the noble are Christ’s glory, the basest men, as if throwing a stone into heaven through folly, receive wickedness and shames upon their own heads. 680 Lucifer was an angel before; but when he had fallen, his glory remained with the celestials, just as for the disciples Judas was no reproach when he fell; but the one quickly from the number of the chosen was cast off, while the eleven remained the best. And the sea destroyed one man, but another, having spread his white sails, 685 sails on, looking upon the tomb of the shipwrecked, or from the tomb loosing the cables, he fastened his stern-cables from thence. My mother, do you bid me leave the life that thus ascends, or should we cease our speech, since the victory belongs to the daughter, my strength, and yet in this way also the strength of my parents? But if, O mother, 690 you rejoice in my virginity, how great is the glory that is mine!

[alt-version omitted]

Do you not hear that all the excellent men you have enumerated were born of parents, yet were more righteous and better than their parents? ^A And Christ was indeed born of Mary, yet He is far superior—not only to Mary, and to all who bear flesh, but also to as many as the wide heaven covers. And the ear of grain grows from a small grain, yet it is an ear of grain, ^B and from the sand, most excellent gold comes to be.

The Conclusion of the Discourse

But, beloved parents and you who are still as yet unmarried youths, ^A how long will you live like the humble things, or tortoises, or those that walk obliquely and have eight feet, like crabs, 715 or like long snakes with the tortuous coils of their belly, weighed down by a wretched burden of flesh? Come, hear the exhortation of Christ,

[alt-version omitted]

^B But yet flowers are seen in the time of winter, and cold snows sometimes in the days of spring: and the youth has brought forth white hair, and I have seen a green, flourishing old age, and limbs overcoming youthful strength. Not otherwise, although the life of the married is of the earth, and chaste virginity is adorned by Christ as its spouse: yet sometimes virginity lies weighed down, sinking to the earth, while the marriage bed strikes the heavens on its wings. In such a way, both mimicking, they feign with an empty appearance, the one marriage, the other virginity. But you, O fathers, and you nurslings of virginity, how long, I pray, like the slow tortoise, or like crabs walking with an oblique path, or like long snakes trailing their limbs over the ground, will you live, weighed down by the burden of the flesh?

^A Having cast aside beauty, glory, wealth, lineage, and prosperity, all of these being the delightful offspring of cruel malice, let us rise from this state, and let us enter upon a life that is light, so that, having become most pure and like-minded with the pure inhabitants of heaven, we may, as great followers of God, sing a festive hymn with joy to our King. And having declined into marriage from the splendor of paradise, and from the labor-filled earth which follows those who are perishing, let us go back from this life, which is unyoked, toward glory—and toward that good plant of paradise, from which we fell through folly. Such is the state of being unmarried, which is godlike. But the judges, even though they desire marriage, shall nevertheless crown the head ^B of virginity; and Christ, bestowing rewards upon both, shall take the one with His right hand, and the other with His left, which is likewise a very great honor.

II. Precepts for Virgins.

Victory is yours, and let even he who is very much a companion to the flesh judge in this way. But, O maiden renowned and of glorious mind, very prudent, lend a small ear to my words, and take my speech into your heart; for the exhortation of one who is gray-headed is best. Do not let your mind be wounded by being swept away by fierce impulses; for often a fall has lifted one up from the earth, and heights have laid one upon the earth. These things are established by God as laws; and let him who is friendly to the flesh judge likewise. ^C But, O maiden, endowed with excellent intellect and most wise, incline your ears to my words, and fix my discourse in your heart, for the advice of age is best. Do not let your mind be wounded, raised high by reckless urges; for often a fall from the earth has raised one heavenward, and even haughtiness has cast one down to the earth. To God these things are fixed laws.

^A Be favorable to the groaning, but curb the proud. 10 Weigh not your path by meager standards, nor if you outstrip someone who is wandering or wicked, think that you have reached the goal of virtue; for it is not the highest good to excel the few. Let the commandment be your measure, and God, from whom you are far, even if you surpass others in lightness. 15 Consider not by how many and how great you are preferred, but by how many and how great you are surpassed, and you boast that you excel all. The broad heaven is above you: yet you exalt yourself among those on the lowly earth. I have heard that for fish beneath the water, the moon, the sun, and the stars shine; and although they see only 20 weak images of truth, ^B they take delight in the faintest reflections, as if they were lamps. For since they never once rose up from the salt sea, they never gazed upon the lamps themselves; otherwise, they would surely have distinguished the light and the playthings of light. 25 So too with some men. For since they have not beheld the true height of the King, if they rise but a little, they seem to themselves to have attained the total height. But you, grasp one thing, hope for another, and reach for yet another, in many stages, always looking to that which is before you. To stand still is the worst thing; make haste as if to grasp, 30 until Christ shall lead you to the final stage.

METRICAL VERSION

For it is the custom of the Deity to embrace groaning hearts with favor, and to trample upon proud minds. And do not weigh your life by a meager test, if you happen to surpass someone foul with crimes or wandering in error, thinking that therefore you are in the citadel of virtue. For it is not the highest praise to excel the small. Let the divine law be your measure; let the Ruler of Olympus be your standard, who, although you are able to outstrip others in the course, yet surpasses you immensely and leaves you behind; and when many surpass you in the honor of virtue, do not lift up your spirits as if no one were your equal. The vast royal palace of heaven is above you: yet you, rising slightly among those cast down and groveling on the ground, why do you puff yourself up with vain glory? Just as the sun and sister moon and the stars radiate in the shimmering waters for the fish, although they are not truly there, but rather their shadows, ^B and they gaze upon the vain images of the truth from afar, and delight in the shadows and the vacant image of light (for never having emerged from the salt-sea waves have they beheld the bright stars of the azure heaven: for otherwise it would have been easy for them to discern which is the true light, and which the playthings of light); just so with some, because they have never beheld the summits of the great King with their eyes nor in the image of their mind, if they rise but a little, they think they hold the highest pinnacles of praise. But you, holding fast some things already attained, hope for some, and for the rest, press on with great step, always climbing and gazing upon what is before you. To stand in one place is a bad thing. Therefore, put aside your torpor and hasten, that you may grasp it: until you have reached the citadel of virtue and the supreme stage, under the guidance of Christ. Be vigilant, lest Momus and a wicked tongue...

^A strike you from behind, showering viperous venom upon your virtues. For there are two paths for mortals, and a twofold reproach: the one is evil, and leads to an outcome of the same nature; the other is good, and it has a dear end, as is fitting. But Momus attacks both! For what would be more excellent than the tongue, if it assailed only the basest of men? But now it vents its rage equally upon all, both good and bad. Do you, however, be a prudent overseer of both; and as for the one which accompanies sinners, shun it, so that you may escape the wickedness with which the tongue is harsh. But as for the other, I have as much fear of the bitterness which the wicked enemy whets against the good, ^B as I do of the sea-cliff and the crashing wave. Do not abandon the good, which the basest of men might loathe. Act in a manner worthy of renown. But if it is absent, let not the lying word distress you, but walk your way with a ready mind. Let them bark in vain; they shall harm nothing of divine love. And may envy consume the eyes of the envious. Nor should you, having fled from Sodom and escaped the cinder of this life and the grievous threat of divine fire, look back toward Sodom, lest you suddenly stiffen into a stone, a pillar of vice and painful death. Nor should you merely steal your feet away from Sodom, only to linger in the neighboring plains near the fire; but most swiftly do you seek salvation in the mountain, lest a shower of fire overtake you.

Do not fear the nature of the flesh too much, as if it could not be tamed. ^A For the fear that binds a man in chains does not come from God. Do not indulge too much in soft flesh, lest satiety drive you imprudently into precipices. Go forward willingly on the rough path. And if you should enter upon it, take heed of any slip, so that you may reach the end without falling, and pass through the narrow gate, ^B where there is light and glory, and a respite from all evils. If you tremble because a small spark ignites straw, take heart: a shower from heaven will cool the great flame; and prayers, and groans, and daily tears, and nightly anxieties, and a heart wholly centered upon the King. Such are the excellent remedies of chastity, by whose aid, O excellent one, you will not even cast images of a baser love into your heart, and you shall have a pure mind, as the temple of the great God and the splendor of the Spirit. ^C Virgin, be a virgin in your ears, and in your eyes, and in your tongue; for it is prone to sin in all these things. Let your ears be feathered only for noble words, and let doors be fastened against shameful and senseless ones. Let your eyes be restrained in your eyelids, as in a bridal chamber, temperate, and let them not arouse a sting with wanton movements. Let your lips, resembling rosebuds, be kept bound, and let speech be desired. And let your feet, going in arrogance—

METRICAL VERSION

Nec tibi sit nimio carnis natura pavori, Tanqam illam nequeas ulla ratione domare (Non etenim timor hic divina manat ab arce, Qui mentes hominum tam dura compede nectit). Nec rursus carni plus æquo frena relaxa: Ne te securum abripiat, sternatque repente. Durum iter et salebris infestum carpe libenter, Conscendensque vide, ne quid vestigia fallat: Ut tibi propositam pedibus contingere metam Detur inoffensis, perque arctam tendere portam Ad sedes superas: ubi gloria luxqne perennis, Et jucunda quies nullo interrupta dolore. Si metuis, stipulam quia parvulus excitat ignis, Pone metum, flammam ingentem tibi cœlicus imber Sopiet, atque preces, gemitus, lacrymæque diurnæ, Atque graves curis noctes, totusque supernum ^D Ad regem contensus amor, sedesque beatas. Talia virgineæ sunt optima pharmaca vitæ, Queis tu nec nudas species curabis amoris Corporei miscere animo: sed mente pudica Esse laborabis, velut alti Numinis ædes, Pneumatis et radius supero demissus ab axe. Virgo, sis oculis, sis ore atque auribus ipsis Virgo; nam tribus his facile est decedere recto. Egregiis tantum pateant sermonibus aures: Turpibus et stultis claudatur janua verbis. Quin etiam velut in thalamo tua lumina claude Involucris devincta suis, nec motibus illa Lascivis stimulent vesano pectus amore. Utque latet rosa verna suo putamine clausa, Sic os vincla ferat, validisque arctetur habenis, Indicatque suis prolixa silentia labris.

They belie their virginity, and their gait has something of the harlot in it. ^A Shrink away from a tattered tunic and from heads not pampered in luxury; let no silk, with its fine weaving, be your pride. Let another be adorned by the pearl and by gold flashing upon her limbs, whose faces are painted, the handiwork of earthly hands, alien to the heavenly image, foul masks, monuments of wantonness, and silent reproaches, moving tablets, mysteries of the profound night, 90 splendid disgraces, sepulchers hiding a stench. Stand far aloof from these, you who are glorious, hidden by a beauty that is reserved for the bride of Christ the King. Join eye with eye, word with word: the pure with the pure; ^B but never laughter with laughter, nor daring with daring. 95 For from such things comes a grievous slip for mortals. Avoid all men, but especially the "introduced" one (the bitter water of Marah, believe me, chaste virgin), even though he be purer than gold and firmer than adamant. For here a twofold fear lies hidden. If you rely 100 on your flesh, what trust is there in limbs that dwell together? Might not your eye and mind be pure and spotless, yet your heart hide something else within, and follow after the spirit? You have passed from the flesh to the Spirit, and from there you have been raised up; ^C how then, again praising the life shared with flesh, do you disgrace the Bridegroom, who passionately desires that form of yours, 105 lest, perchance, He deprive you of noble love?

Or with a twofold, limping gait? ^A You have Christ as your beloved; reject all men. Why have you any need of a helper, for one who himself needs a helper? 110 Even as foals are dear to foals, and stags to stags, And starlings to starlings, and for the pure, the pure man is precious. Yet, beware of the evil planner, lest he deceive you, Even though you are prudent—for he hates the wise even more. Often he has contrived evil out of good, even for the virtuous. 115 Now light, then darkness; death within, food above. He coaxes with sweet things, and destroys with hidden ones. Often he has gathered together those who are like-minded in spirit, ^B And light has come, and he has slipped in under a venerable name, Which they call "Agapê" [Love]. But afterwards, 120 Leading the desire from the heart onto the bodies that are near, He either brings forth fire, or the sad signs of fire. But if you do not even have the signs of fire, yet most quickly 123 You will strike those who look upon you. All are ^C More prone to vice: just as a river flows downward. 125 Yet house, and clothing, and table, and the feebleness Of painful old age—this has brought shame as an aid. You exchange gold for bronze, if in place of a shining Life, you have accepted a base and unseemly pleasure.

METRICAL VERSION

Lest at length He be angry and deprive you of holy love— You, who are seen to limp on a double-jointed limb? Christ burns with love for you; let not the form of a man Press upon you, and fix its seat in the center of your heart: Tell me, what need have you of his help, you who Are not sufficient for yourself, but seek an assisting friend? Though a horse be dear to a horse, and stags to stags, And starlings to starlings, and the pious man is excellent To men excellent in piety: yet guard yourself, Lest the enemy, however prudent and keen-spirited you may be, Should draw you into deceit by his arts and tricks. For he pursues sharp minds with a heavier war, And often craftily brings forth evils to the good from what is good. Now he shines, now he is covered in opaque shadows: Death is heavy within, though the food above is very sweet; By flatteries he soothes, and through hidden poison he destroys.

^B Often he has collected into one those equal in soul and mind, And held before them the appearance of light, and the honorable Name of "Agapê": soon the cunning one turns all Love from the heart to the flesh that is near, And leaves behind either a flame or the most sad signs of a flame. And though he might not have impressed any signs of the flame, Yet he will strike their breast with a lethal wound, Because they turn their eyes upon you. For we are all drawn More readily to vice: just as a most rapid river is accustomed To move along a downward slope. But house, and table, and garment, and sad old age, And an invalid body, are used as a pretext for this. You exchange great things for smallest, gold for iron, If for the sake of a life bathed in clear light, you prefer Small and most unbecoming pleasures; Even if you gave me great heaps of gold,

^A And wealth of electrum, and verdant plains and broad flocks, And a shining house, and the table of Alcinous, And if you offered me another life, ageless instead of the present one, Not even so would I choose a base life as a deserter of Christ. Let bread be scarce for me, and water my only drink; ^B 135 Let fig leaves cover me, as they did Adam and Eve before; And may I have for a house the crevices of rocks, or some hollow of an oak, and a simple life, like that of the beasts; Or, cast down beside some gate as a burden to the earth, a pauper, another Lazarus, 140 I would drag out a wretched life and a sickly body. Now these things, but afterwards, the chasm; and in return for all these, ^C the pleasures. To you, satiety; to me, pain: in a little while all things are forgotten. For all of us, after the tomb, there is one dust; the place is equal for slaves and for kings. And what is left over, if not the abyss? 145 Therefore, let neither the present good things delight you, nor let the hardships of this life crush your mind too much. For you shall leave behind all things, both pleasant and painful, ^D not long from now. And what is long in this ephemeral life? Be a stranger and a sojourner, creeping upon a foreign land, 150 from whence God shall raise you up to your own fatherland, after you have struggled a little, and the prize is greater than the labors. And you also to your dear children, Jonadab, excelling in wisdom, hastening the supreme wealth among mortals, spoke this law and account: "My sons, come, receive from your father the wealth which he did not provide

^A nor any other loved father at any time, enduring forever. Do not dwell in houses enclosed by roof-beams, do not plough the land. For what gain is a vineyard to you? Dwell in tents; and let neither the inebriating nor the sweet drink ever, my children, be poured down your throat; but live for God, and hold God alone ^B as your wealth, ever-living, unchanging, unshaken." Thus he spoke; and the children fulfilled the command of their father. I myself also know the people hastening toward the Promised Land, for whom a pillar of fire went before as a guide, and a cloud led them through the trackless desert. The sea gave way to them, and the heaven gave food, and the rock ^C brought forth water, and the widely flowing river retreated backward, and the sun held back its chariot, ^A and the man, with his hands outstretched to cast a shadow of the cross, set up a trophy, and faith chained the sharp swords. And Elijah was fed by ravens, and he nurtured the Sidonian widow with small drops of life, never failing in her meager meal-bin, ^B and the jar always blooming with liquid oil, as much as was drawn out by the hands of the woman who loved her guest. And the Hebrew children, longing for their own food, so that they might not be defiled at the king's table, leaped rejoicing above the Assyrian flame, ^C and returning from there, refreshed, they came to their homes. And Daniel, thrown to the raging lions as food, did not feed the lions, since he stretched out his hands, and received the prophet's meal brought through the air.

METRICAL VERSION

Neither let any father [provide] wealth to his offspring that remains without end, but take hold of and joyfully seize the heavenly kingdoms. For you [are to] keep your bodies within no roofs, nor furrow the earth with a ploughshare: let there be no vineyard for you, and let tents serve in place of a roof. Never drown your throat in sweet Bacchus, my progeny, but live for the King on high, and store all riches and capital in Him, the capital which remains stable for all years. Thus he speaks, and they, the children, perform the pious commands of their father. Why should I recount the fields of the Israelites, seeking the promises: for whom the flame led the way, and the column of cloud, leading through deserts which no one had trodden before; for whom the sea gave way; for whom the sky and the hard rock gave sweet nourishment and waters, and the cold river in terror retreated backward, and with its course checked, Titan held longer his light upon the lands? And with outstretched hands one man put to flight the hostile camps, ^B modeling his pious arms into the form of the cross: and faith blunted the hostile swords and iron. And the plundering ravens fed the noble Elijah: and he too nurtured the widow, broken by her senile years, in the Sidonian city, not with great feasts. For the poor container always gave sweet meal, and just as much oil flowed from the full skin as the hostess of the holy guest had drawn from it. Why should I mention the Hebrew boys asking for food separately: lest, if they should fill their bellies with the king's table and foods, they should mark themselves with a foul stain? And they, who even with joyful heart leap into the Chaldean flames, and return home with their body unharmed? Daniel himself, thrown to the savage beasts as food, did not feed the cruel lions with torn flesh: but after he had poured out prayers and stretched out his palms, food was carried to the prophet through the middle of the air. Furthermore, the marine fish from the middle of the breast

^A vomited up the divine Jonah, the 185 creature of the sea, just as it had received him three days before. O great miracle! For faith had been enclosed together with the prophet in the entrails. The food of John was locusts and wild honey, his clothing the hair of high-necked camels, and his home the wide heaven, and desert places his couch. 190 Who saved Thecla from the fire, or who bound the mighty fury of the ravenous beasts? O great miracle! Virginity even lulled the beasts to sleep, nor did they dare to defile the pure body of the maiden with their jaws. Nor indeed shall I forget pure 195 Susanna (for it is not fitting), even if a husband brought her under a yoke; she burned with such a love of chastity that, when she had escaped the ^B wicked hands, though she was being dragged to doom by the unjust sentence of the judges, the spirit of a youth, old in mind and in the prudent counsels 200 of a righteous judge, saved her from death, he who bound the elders of Babylon, most wicked and lawless, by their own words. And I myself have heard from Paul how great a conflict of wickedness, how many and how great labors and grievous anxieties he endured, among 205 friends and enemies, on the sea and on the land, to reach the third heaven and to capture the whole world with sweet nets. That man glories in adverse things more than anyone else glories in prosperous ones. And virtue lies in the midst of evils, like a rose among hateful and sharp thorns.

METRICAL VERSION

The sea-beast vomited Jonah (a thing wonderful to tell!) just as it had received him into its vast jaws three days before. For faith remained his companion in the belly of the beast. Born of Zacharias, he repelled hunger with wild honey and cheap locusts, and covered his limbs with the hair of a camel, and had the shifting heaven for a house, and gave his body to sleep upon the hard ground. Who snatched Thecla from death and the danger of flame? Who bound the strong claws and the rage of the beasts? Virginity (O thing wonderful in every age!) Virginity was able to lull the tawny lions to sleep ^B nor did they dare to press the noble limbs of the virgin with impure tooth, and tear them with rigid bite! Nor indeed must glorious Susanna be passed over by me, although she was rightfully joined to a husband of the bridal chamber. She burned with such love of modesty that, fleeing forbidden Venus and wicked right hands, when she was near to death, decreed by an unjust judgment, by the counsel of the youth in such danger of life, she was saved, he who of white-haired mind and sagacious genius, by his own mouth, convicted the iniquitous elders of Babylon and deprived them of the dear light of life. Paul himself recounts to you in a long discourse how many evils, how many sad cares and hard labors, pressed by both external and civil arms, he endured on the sea and on land: then he arrived, rejoicing, at the third summit of the shining heaven, and entangled the whole world with sweet snares. He exults more in sad things than the rest of the crowd of men is accustomed to exult in prosperous ones and a favorable breeze. Virtue, moreover, is fixed in the middle of evils, not otherwise than the soft rose among the sharp thorns.

^A Remembering these things, keep a life pure for the King, relying wholly upon good hope, lest need—which most swiftly subdues even a prudent man—deceive you. For this reason, the contriver of evils, when he approached to tempt Christ the King, seeing Him as God and man in one, 215 hungering, commanded Him to change stones into food, so that he might take the needy one in his nets. But he failed regarding God; yet he fawns upon you, a mortal, as a mortal. But do you belong to God, and chase the enemy far away, remaining wholly of God and above the flesh. 220 Nor, as in the turning circle of an entwined dance, hold one with your right hand and another with your left, being equally in contact with and divided between divinity, being half Christ's and this half the flesh's; 225 when the Spirit is standing still and a calm sea is swelling, do not hold a swift voyage with anchors, nor let it be drawn from the land, sluggishly traveling the path through the swell, both similar to those who travel by sea and those who travel by land. Nor cast into your life the remora-flesh, 230 which, even though it is striving, nonetheless hinders the ship. But as one traveling with a whistling sound through the narrow channels of a passage, with the leaden weight—round in the hollows— ^B full of as much as it can hold, it leaps upward swiftly, propelled by the force behind it, 235 so I command your love, tightly gripped in your heart, to be carried on high towards Christ, or to irrigate some beautiful and fertile land.

METRICAL VERSION

Turning these things over in your remembering mind, most beautiful virgin, accompanied by good hope, strive always to keep yourself pure and holy to God in every part of your life, and may need—which easily breaks even the prudent heart—never deceive you in hard circumstances. Indeed, when the crafty enemy also tempts Christ, seeing Him oppressed by hunger, he commands Him at once to turn the hardest stones into sweet loaves, so that he might thus entangle the needy one in pestilential snares. But all his force was in vain against Christ. Therefore, like before, he labors to soothe men with mortal lures, as if Christ were the author of salvation. But join yourself to God, drive the malignant enemy far away, remaining wholly of Christ and not subject to the fragile flesh. Nor, as is wont to happen in the dance of a charming circle, hold one with your right hand and another with your left, and however near you may be, be just as far removed from Christ the Almighty, and at the same time dedicate your soul to both flesh and God. Do not, when furrowing the treacherous seas in a swift vessel—while the zephyr blows for you and does not stir up great waves—commit the fault of having the anchor cast to retard the course of the raft: do not draw it back from the land, nor traverse the path slowly through the deep, like a sailor and like one on foot; nor cast into your own life the remora-flesh, which, like an inserted shackle, detains the speeding stern and forces such a great mass to come to a standstill. And just as water flowing through a narrow passage, as soon as the leaden channel is filled as much as the flowing water can hold, takes in no more, but leaps upward at once, bound and climbing, by the force pushing back from behind: not otherwise do I command your own love, which is constricted in your mind, to be raised to Christ on a lifted wave, or to water some beautiful and fertile land. For if you scatter the liquid waves here and there,

^A or upon stones, or a meadow, or a ravine, your excellent stream is dispersed and lost, and is of no benefit. If indeed your beloved father is alive, he who brought you into the light, or your sweet mother, and your love for them is blameless; if you lean upon your kind brothers, or the parents who sustain their offspring, or upon those in need of help, then to live a life in common with them brings no envy, nor will Momus, who is bitter and wicked, cast his eye here to gnash his teeth and jeer, calling out his scandals. And this, too, is a benefit to me, that he casts his wicked eyes [upon them]. He indeed shall cast them, but my heart shall remain steadfast. ^B 250 To flee from the love of others is my concern as much as the deceptive and faithless confidence among those who are flourishing, as it is fitting to embrace Christ, steadfastly clinging to Him with everlasting longings. 255 And do not yourself glory in having a longing for desirable virginity, while opening your mind entirely to other passions, thus parading your temperance; for this is indeed a worse evil, that an evil thing is conceived out of that which is good through the deceits of the envious demon. For it is not so much marriage, nor the works of marriage, 260 which God uses to forever increase the race of mortals, that I must flee, as it is the remedy and help for my own passions that I have sought in virginity. If I can have even a day free from these, I have a certain gratitude for my celibacy. But if I were to open the gates to wild beasts, and my beloved plot with its fences

^A should be tightly joined on one side, while I left the paths open to passers-by, what would be the gain? For the enemy would ravage the threshing floor just the same, rushing in from all sides. He watches everything regarding you, ^B both what he may strike from without and what he may seize from within, openly or by lying in wait. Who could easily escape such wickedness, ^C if he did not always have Christ as his helper? Never consider anything small in wickedness, nor even that which is small; meet small things, and you will never encounter graver ones. Whatever best things you hear, speak; and whatever you speak, ^D look upon it with a ready mind. Let sight impel you to action. All these things go together: the end, the word, the sight, the hearing. Shun evil seed, that you may harvest a good crop. Do not steal an adulterous love of life; for he who accepted even a light root of evil steals it. 280 For from the root, many and varied branches are poured out, ^A here and there, from the blood-stained humor; a small drop has bound together a great stream of milk, and a pebble leaping upon steady water ^B suddenly disturbs the whole beautiful spring, agitated into many circles, always bursting forth from the center and vanishing on the outside. ^C The whole body was bent, struck by pains, and dragged down; even a small taste, and I am a dead man.

^A For thus errors have sinned, just as when, for a brave 290 Warrior, another army, when it takes the wall. The wound of an asp is not great, but it grants straightway a Sleep-bringing fate, and a delightful death to those breathing their last. Therefore, do not let my mind possess defilement, nor even in small things. The belly, if it bears locks, might perhaps escape wickedness. 295 I fear for the doorless one, lest some insolence of a crowd come upon her. To the body being subdued, shameless lust is subdued along with it. Wine for maidens is a greater reproach than anger, And passion, in turn, than madness. But the path for all is toward death. O maiden, do not be pampered for me, nor in sordid garments; 300 There is some evil even in cheapness, to delight those who see. ^B Nor stir up the enemy with twitchings of your cheeks. May those whose roof is unlocked laugh in shameful ways, Leaping with joy. But let your cheek be gently relaxed, And let a blush steal forth, most quickly 305 Giving a semblance of joy. For a blush on those who see strikes shame. It is fitting for women to speak a few things concerning God, Only as much as is sufficient to know the venerable nature of the Trinity, Threefold in divinity, one grace (for it is not better To be silent about piety than to utter words), but to listen to 310 More, and with trembling mind, both holily [and as if, and from above to wear the veil of modesty. But let them fight

^A with contrary arguments, [and by their] wisdom disperse the faithless. May God not be snatched away from you by hateful cares, which quickly drag down even that which flies on high to the earth, 315 nor let your mind be led astray, carried hither and thither from the goal, like an untamed racehorse ^B running far off—O great glory of Christ! But if the bitter Belial should deceive you, a wandering mind, may you, turning as quickly as possible, return to the finish line, having entered upon the straight course. 320 Let the distaff be your care, and wool, and meditation upon divine oracles; wisdom, and divine canticles, the prudent sound of a delicate voice, not for show, which should be stored up more in the heart, and let but little of it lie upon the lips. Often even the enemy has leapt in through the ears of the deaf. 325 And do not, having fled from the marriage yoke and the burdens of women through more divine desires, O most wise, follow after the chambers of others ^C and the business of marriage, and in place of a maiden be called a wife. And do not sit by as a guest in houses, nor at tables. 330 Nor let yourself be whirled about in the midst of the din of servants and domestic trifles. Do not pay back fawning words in place of satiety. Embrace moderation in hospitality; if any is most excellent, open your narrow house promptly; if any is of the crowd, let him be a friend from afar. A fortified ^D house is to your credit. 335 Better for virgins is lack of hospitality than a house filled with many guests. For modesty perishes in a great crowd, and by this your shining virginity would be insulted.

[alt-version omitted]

^A Seek not, I pray, to gather faith from the ends of the earth. Reverence gray hair, and embrace solemn ways; 340 For prudent old age brings much more than youth. Do not, in your zeal for piety, wander here and there, Often unsuitably, with lighter-minded men, Hurrying your feet to holy places Though they be far away. Christ is the guest of all, 345 King and neighbor, and resides within the heart of the lover. Reverence first God, then after Him the priest of Christ On earth, who bears the person of Christ and is the guide of your life; To him, like a swift bird, attach yourself, and to him, In silence, yield; ^A rejoicing to rise to him, and falling, to him 350 Submit, that trembling as you return, you may be raised on high. Be dead to all others, since this is more useful For virgins than to lead a life open to the eyes of all. I praise those among virgins whom men do not even know: They live far from the world, but to God their hidden things are manifest. 355 Practice piety greatly, but do not be greatly puffed up. Desiring glory, you might quickly lose the true glory, Even in the eyes of men; but let the pride of a woman perish. Let the best man be zealously sought, and the wicked be hated. To envy the good is the same as to love the worst. 360 Nor, seeing the wicked living in tranquility, stray from the path.

^A Restrain yourself, nor let your mind be bent by those who prosper. These are the games of life; look rather to the final outcome of all things. Rejoice modestly while it is calm, for what things are to come you do not know with certainty, lest perhaps some deadly, stormy wind may blow. 365 Therefore, you should either fear the present life, or, more so, fear the life to come. But if the bad should fall, plant your foot more firmly. And if even one who runs straight should stumble, you must be the more on guard. For if the best men fall, to lead an unswerving life is not at all easy. All of life is like burning coals to the feet, 370 and you walk always above hidden snares. I fear lest, having laid the foundation of my life upon the sands, I may be swept away by rain, by rivers, and by winds; or like a seed going into dry and barren earth, ^B quickly springing up, yet quickly becoming dry, 375 smitten by the rays of the sun and by petty evils. And may the sower of evils and the envious enemy not mix in, for me while I sleep, the evil seed of tares; that when the band of the ten pure virgins, watching with unsleeping lights, 380 may deem that God their King, the desirable Bridegroom, is coming; that they may meet Him as they shine brightly, may you not rank me with the empty-minded and the foolish, while Christ is already near to those who labor, nor, seeing the dim light of the torches with my eyes, 385 might I seek too late the liquid oil of the light of life; and may the doors of the marriage chamber not be shut and thrust me away.

[alt-version omitted]

^A Where the Word, in the pure and tight bonds of love, is mingled with hearts, he bestows splendor and glory. There is a marriage which a good and excellent father celebrates for his best son, rejoicing. May I be a participant in this! Would that I might be present at it, and whoever is a friend to me. But let him remain outside who prefers to the marriage his farm, or a new yoke of oxen, or his wife; and let not those who possess the nuptial garment 395—having garments that are filthy, being bound hand and foot—fall far from the bridal chamber, the friends, and the marriage. And when my King returns from the marriage, if he come—suddenly appearing among those who expect and those who do not expect—may he find me among those who expect, and may he praise me for my fear 400 and as a good servant, gentle to those over whom he is set, and a just dispenser of food—of the solid Word.

To the virgins, indeed, I, as a father kindly providing, command these things, loving them from my heart. But, daughters and sons, and children, listen to your loving father, 405 if there is indeed for me some grace of God, as I hope. And do not, like the sons of Eli, despise the commandment of your father; do not, children, do not choose a fate similar to theirs. To the others, however, this is my discourse. I will speak openly, ^B holding the balance and scales equal for both, 410 regarding both the unmarried state and marriage. And let God be the witness. By as much as virginity is superior to marriage, by so much is a chaste marriage superior to an uncertain life. Therefore, O best of men, either embrace the pure state entirely,

^A if strength and inclination stir your heart within you, or choose a marriage similar to virginity, as they say, holding the second best course after the first. However, shun that foul mixture of both lives—the single and the wedded—where gall is mixed with honey, and mud with wine, and the most wicked Samaria with the holy Jerusalem. 420 For it is not as one who retraces his steps along the same path, whose labor is vain and who has nothing to fear; nor like one who, shooting a small arrow, drops it before his feet, without reaching the mark and the ultimate goal. Not so is it if one who has offered virginity to Christ the King as a rational sacrifice, a victim without blood, 425 seeks marriage thereafter; for him this is not merely a loss, but a most grave disaster, near to death, and therefore an indelible disgrace. It is similar to if someone, from a precipitous mountain—which he had ascended with much sweat in order to dig for gold, 430 or while pursuing the pleasant toil of the hunt—were suddenly to fall headlong to the earth with his feet. Who, in fact, hearing of the miserable Sapphira and Ananias, who bartered their own souls for the evil lot of gain, does not tremble even to diminish his promise in the slightest? 435 And one who, having secretly stolen the golden tongue, when it had been set apart, along with the leader’s garment, and a small amount of wealth, brought ruin upon the entire people—such is the course of him who turns back from virginity, or even worse. ^B It is a fall, near to death, and a disgrace not to be retrieved, like that of one who, as if from a sheer mountain, had climbed up with most intense labor, digging for gold, 430 or pursuing the pleasant work of the hunt, were suddenly to slip and fall headlong to the ground with his feet. Who then, hearing of the doomed Sapphira and Ananias, who exchanged their own souls for a wicked share of gain, would not fear to diminish even a little of his vow? 435 And [consider him] who, after having secretly stolen the golden tongue, and the garment, and a small amount of wealth from those who had gone before, against the leader’s will, brought ruin upon the whole people. Such is the path behind virginity, or even worse.

METRICAL VERSION

If this manner of life pleases you, or if you are unable to subdue your members, bind your neck to the marriage yoke, and as one who cuts through the vast seas with ships holds his course according to the second [best], if the first and better one be denied. But beware of a foul mixture of the two lives, and do not mix mud with wine, nor sweet honey with gall, nor wicked Samaria with the holy Jerusalem. For it is not as if one torments his limbs with vain labor who retraces the steps he had trodden before, or perhaps foolishly strikes the dense ground with a launched arrow, or drops it before his feet from a slackened bow, not having fixed his rashly flying darts where he intended. ^B So too, he who has offered virginity to Christ—a spiritual sacrifice, empty of blood—and then, turning back his foot, seeks marriage, for him this deed is not merely a loss, but a grave disaster and a fall near to death, and a disgrace and stain lasting for every age. No differently than if someone, from the precipitous summit of a mountain, which he had ascended crawling with heavy sweat to dig for gold, or while pursuing wild beasts in his course, were suddenly to fall to the earth in a sudden ruin. Who, moreover, when he reads the tremendous punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, who paid for their hidden coins with death, does not fear, even slightly, to break his vows? And he, too, who carried off the gold fashioned into a tongue, and the garments, and a few coins without the leader’s knowledge, bound the whole people in a sacrilegious crime. The sin of the virgin is no less light, who, faithlessly abandoning her noble course, is miserably borne in the opposite direction.

^A How much that spiritual portion prevails! Thus let that 440 conjunction perish, which no marriage law established, but which he—who ever drags back souls tending toward what is right, so that he may rule over the greater number who lie low—being the first cast down from heavenly glory to earth, ^B 364-365 drawing the yoke of infamy for his own pride, of which you must always observe the sting.

I will now also advise parents on the best course, in whose hands lies the life, and the shame, and the noble glory of virgins, as well as prudent kinsmen and guardians. It is not right, nor is it fitting, to do violence to the great 450 handiwork of God. For we are all of one lineage—He who reigns, He who is numbered among the subjects, he who lacks riches, he who possesses much, sitting on a high throne, inclining toward the earth, he who grew grey, and he who rejoices in youth. We all come from one, for all there is one breath, toward one we all 455 tend. And as God was made like a mortal to all, and died, and raised us up with Him, and exalted us to heaven—therefore, let no one, indulging in foolish flesh, drag against her will to the bridal chamber and bed a virgin who follows Christ, burning with ardent love, 460 just as one would shake a polypus from a rock with its suckers, or a song-bird from a beautifully crafted nest. But if you have a heart that loves Christ, or if God has bound you with more divine bonds and raised you from the world, ^C

439 *Thus let that conjunction perish*: namely, that wicked cohabitation of sacred virgins and men introduced to them. 442 *Drags back*: Reg. *will drag back*. 443 *From*: Thus the Coislin and Regius 990. The edition has *into*. Mos. *having been turned*. Regius 991 *having been dragged*. Superlinear *having been loosened, having slipped*. 444 *Of his pride*: See above, sect. 1, poem IV, verse 47, *De mundo*. Thus in Homer, Iliad 1, 205: *By whose pride he might soon perhaps lose his life.* He will soon at length lose his soul by his own pride. 445 *To be*: Thus Reg. 991. Coisl. superlinear *to have become*. 448 *Guardians*: Reg. *counselors*. Superlinear *tutors*. 455 *Was made equal*: Two Regg. *was born equal*. Superlinear *was begotten*, natus est. 456 *Raised up*: Not well, Billius, *he returned to life*: but *he co-resurrected, and made us sit in the heavenly places*. Ephes. II, 6. 459 *Living/calling*: Two Regg. *crying out*, and superlinear *shouting*, flagranti inclamans desiderio (calling out with burning desire). 460 *Rock*: Coisl. *on a rock*. 462 *You have*: Reg. 39 *may you have*. 463 *Lift up*: Reg. *lift up*.

METRICAL VERSION

It is not fitting, nor is it lawful, to force the handiwork of the great Parent; for we all flow from one origin, both the king, and he who pays tribute to the king, the rich man, the destitute, he who sits on high thrones, and he who leans toward the ground, both he who is gray and broken by old age: All are offspring of the same Father, for all there is one Spirit, and we all hasten to the same King. For all, Christ was born, for all He equally bore death, and returned to life, and offered the blessed life and the shining vaults of the heaven of heaven. Let no one, therefore, while he follows the very vain joys of the foolish flesh, call the maiden who burns with the love of Christ against her will to the bridal chambers and troublesome Venus: And let him not attempt to drive off the polypus clinging and fixed to the cold rock, or the bird from its nest. But if instead Christ has pierced your breast,

^A offer with a ready mind the beautiful bride to Christ, or a boy, loving your children as Anna once offered Samuel, the holy offspring of your own pure womb, a living sacrifice, more precious than all firstborns, and than the ears of grain and the clusters of grapes which the good husbandman has culled as first-fruits.

But if you walk mid-way between Christ and the world, ^B weighing with equal scale the yoke of marriage and the yoke of virginity, and having set forth as many goods as there are, and as many things that are contrary to both, well and skillfully, and having marked out the two goals, follow where the ardent desire leads and provides assistance, whether toward [conjugal] servitude or toward heavenly longings. ^C Whichever maiden is ripe for marriage and sage counsel—the bond for the wife is the husband, for the daughter her parents, but for both the fear of Christ, while love is for the unmarried—do not hinder the girl who desires a man, nor compel her who clings to God into the house of a man. ^D Meanwhile, it is right to explore and make trial of whether the desire is true. But if you have given your whole mind and hand to marriage, and have instituted bridal chambers, dances, and feasts, cheerful in spirit, and have shaken off the cares of old age, and virginity, having fled from you, has ascended to Christ—as once Astraea did when the plow-ox was slaughtered—I fear lest God may be angered by unfair judgments, to whom all earthly nature is subject, as wax to fire.

METRICAL VERSION

And the immortal Father filled her with divine love, so that it might not be burdensome to present the bride to Christ, or the boy, as once Anna poured out the one she had carried in her womb, than whom no person is more sacred—a living host, more excellent than all first-borns, than all the clusters and ears of grain which the hand of the diligent husbandman harvests, while he worships the divine Power with the first-fruits of the crops. But if you walk between the love of Christ and the world, endeavor to weigh both lives with an equal scale, and reporting in excellent words what are the goods and what are the disadvantages of each side, and looking toward the goal of each: then at last, wheresoever the will of that person tends, follow it, and either extend the right hand of help to the bridal chamber, or succor the divine flame. But she who has already grown up in the mature years of life, so that she can marry either a mortal or Christ (as the husband is the bond for the wife, so are parents for the daughter: and both fear God, but the virgin, with fear cast aside, burns in him with celestial flames): do not restrain her who is eager for marriage and the union of a man, nor, on the other hand, compel her who desires to marry Christ into grave bridal chambers, and hand her over to a husband. Nor, however, do I forbid that you should test her somewhat, and explore what mind she possesses, and make a trial of it. But if you have truly given both your mind and your hand to marriage, instituting bridal chambers, banquets, and dances, happy in your spirit, and shaking off the cares of old age, and if virginity, having been wretchedly put to flight, seeks again the heavens and brings its complaints to Christ, as once Astraea, having abandoned the earth, returned to heaven when the plow-ox was slaughtered: I fear lest the bountiful Father, offended by unfair judgments, may avenge this grave misdeed with just wrath.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

Liquefied. Fear also of God has bound the flesh. He is like to the heavenly beings, who is a worshiper on earth: 490 there is also among mortals a soul approaching the Divinity. He sinned, whoever mixed with the flesh a nature devoid of flesh, and awakened the mighty Giants through angelic desires, and cleansed the earth with the crimes of the heavenly ones. These things he [imputed] to the sons of the Greeks, 495 since they devised a defense for their sins by setting up gods as criminals: thieves, androgynes, adulterers, deceivers of men, homicides, cruel to their children, and even to their parents. Nor only this, but they even offered sacrifices to these very crimes. Behold first how many [forms] were devised by the madness of the gods, 500 bull, swan, serpent, gold, husband, bird, all the forms which swift love and the effeminate boy commanded him [to take]. To them, indeed, let them despise the amiable virginity, that shackle of the flesh. To them let the splendor of the body be incredible, who measure all men by their own filth. 505 It is for an unhealthy eye to see the stars as dark; and the earth is stable, yet to those who labor with vertigo it is untrustworthy. But it is not right for us to pour reproach upon virginity. For what is incredible, if the love of Christ the King 510 calms mortal affections and the impulses of the flesh, as formerly he stayed the bloody flux of the woman with the issue of blood, ^A when he had taken it, while he loosened the reins to insane Venus? Now he is made a bird, now a serpent and a husband, now a bull whiter than snow, now a swan and gold: and whatever forms the son of the Cytherean commands, he snatches up; and he executes the boy’s orders as soon as they are given. ^B To these, indeed, let it be a disgrace; virginity, which binds the flesh with a shackle, may not be celebrated with any honor by these: let them think it impossible that the mass of flesh should shine, who measure all by their own sordidness. But it is the mark of a diseased eye to behold the stars of heaven as dark; so the earth, although it rests immovable, is itself rolled through a blind vertigo by those who are captivated. But it is not fitting for us to rend the virginal life with reproaches, and to assail the innocent with harsh words. What is to be wondered at, if Christ, fixed in the midst of the body, repels all human loves with violence, just as formerly he alone repressed the sanguine flow of the sick woman [index: entries preserved]

who had touched him? For God stole away the desire, and the dry fountain at that time flourished, when it withered. ^A Or the force of fire, of swords, and of water, and of cruel beasts, when limbs are torn by savage horns? 515 The spirit in Christians is greater when the time of persecution arises, stirring up war against God. Do they not lead an insomnious life and one without a roof? Do they not offer up prayers and ceaseless groans? Are they not melted with tears? Do they not, with nocturnal and diurnal hymns, 520 take flight from here, abandoning life and the flesh? Do they not sustain their spirit with meager food? Do they not have caves as homes, and rock as bedding, or tender grass and withered branches? ^B Do they not dwell as companions with carnivorously savage beasts, 525 that they might flee the wickedness and shackles of the flesh? Just as the phoenix bird, as the story goes, becomes young while dying, born again in fire after the cycles of many years, generating a new progeny for itself from the old dust, so indeed they, dying, exist as always living, 530 burning with the fiery desire of Christ the king. In infirmity, strength is placed for the pious. Who, looking upon these things, will not make a covenant with chaste bodies, ^C when he has burned with a better flame? "O mother of all nature, I will tell of your miracles, and not my own, 535 which you have established both on lands and in the seas." I learn that the winged turtledove, widowed of its beloved mate, the chaste one longing for its partner, 525 [continuing from the sense of the previous lines] that they might flee the wickedness and chains of the flesh. As the bird phoenix, as report has it, while dying grows young again, born in fire after many circling years, an alien child of an aged dust, self-engendered, so those who are dying become ever-living, 530 consumed by a fiery desire for Christ the King. In weakness lies strength for the pious. Who, seeing these things, is not moved toward god-like ^D and joyful bodies, because the passion of the better kind has boiled over? And—abandoning life and flesh—they spring forth from here. Nor does the breath of food restrain them with small sparks. Do they not have caves as homes and the rock as bedding, and the soft grass and withered branches? "O all-mothering nature, I will tell of your miracles, not mine, 555 which you have placed both on the dry lands and in the seas." I hear that the winged turtledove, widowed of its beloved mate, the chaste one longing for its partner,

^A does not accept another husband above its nest. O wise bird! But how much more excellent is a chaste life for mortals! 540 And indeed the chattering, black-complexioned crow itself lives, having cast away all desire for nuptials, loathing every husband after it has lost its sweet spouse. There is a law for sea-dwelling fish—though neglected by a few—concerning nuptials; indeed, for the majority, there is a care for temperance, 545 and for marriage beds and wives. And justice rules even there. Some do not struggle with more than one bearing; others delight only in the spring-time love, and still more. But nature has set a measure for desires. The timing of gentle love is, in turn, for all, 550 for those in the air, in the sea, and for all that walk upon the earth. And they do not pour out their desire beyond the limit, but they require the seasons to be raging, when spring stirs them. And some rush into mixed nuptials; but to others, beloved wives are a care, and the law of love. 555 For others, a single breeding is sufficient, as some say, who have scrutinized the generation of animals and all else. But if even those lacking reason have some care for temperance, will you, a creation of God, not restrain the whole law of the flesh, if you wish? For a mortal yields to reason, just as iron to fire. 560 If, however, the nature of the flesh is not subject to reason, as if an image were made by God, what more do we have, we who are agitated by the same impulses? Although the nature of many is untamed, we know this, however, that the common nature often restrains the commandment. ^B And some mate indiscriminately with no distinction. The rest of the crowd defines love by legitimate union, calming their rabid fires with their own wives. There are also those for whom it is enough to produce one brood, as those who have delighted to know have recorded in their writings, both how many and how varied are the offspring that animals produce. Therefore, since brute animals bear a certain care for chastity, will you, whom the supreme Ruler of Olympus fashioned with his omnipotent hand, not shackle the whole of your flesh, provided that you have a ready will? For thus were you made, so that you yourself might be able to yield to right reason no less than iron yields to [flames. But if, as a celestial image made me a god, the highest mind does not in the same way hold the flesh under its command, tell me, in what way do animals finally yield to us, if we are entirely agitated by the same movements? Although, however, many passions are swept along into all things, nevertheless, a common nature undoubtedly often prevails over the command.

^A For my own body is similar; but the Cross, seizing me, has bound me, the Cross to which I have bound my flesh, bringing it 623/624 along. For I yearn to die with Christ, that I may rise together with Him, bearing all things of Christ: the Word, the body, the nail, the resurrection. To others, the binding of the flesh is automatic, not out of divine love, which they do not even call temperance. 570 Yet it is a gift bestowed by God to live without stain, and to keep the mind tranquil and unshaken. Another, in turn, has hated pleasant wine, another food, which others love, he has loathed; another, a scent. Others, again, having a spirit hateful to men, 575 dwell in the extremities, and eagerly flee far away from mortals. But you have an unbelieving mind toward the celibate. ^A Yet I do not deem it unbelievable. But you flee in fear, and at that time you forgot the yoking of evils. Does not the small salamander run through raging fire as if it were earth, 580 rejoicing with its low-lying feet? And there is the *empyrus* fish, which is in fire and is not overcome by the unbelievable fire; it is fiery, and burns, shining in the midst of the brine. Does not the magnet stone draw the iron vessel? Does not the adamant remain unsubdued? And does it not emit a spark when struck 585 with iron? Others shine when in small amounts of water. What shines in water is put out by oil. And if there are wonders even beyond these, who could number them? For it is possible to speak of many. For the most high Word plays in all-variable forms. ^B [alt-version omitted]

590 Mixing, as He wills, the whole world hither and thither. I shall speak of a few things from among the many, some of which I myself Have seen, while to others books and the ears of others have brought faith. Is there not one downward course for all rivers? And one law for the seas to be bound to their shores? 595 And is there not one upward movement for the flaming fire in dense leaps? Yet a river flows through the bitter brine, And although it is a river, it does not mingle with the water of the waves. Sailors draw sweet drink from the sea, Bringing their ship to the river flowing back toward the land. 600 And I have seen the bold channel of Euboea, and the unspeakable Strait, the key of the sea, with its surging currents ^A Raging. The sea flows, and the stream returns. Does not the Ocean recede from the land, and then to the land Return, rushing with driving surges? 605 And in turn, are the land and sea seen on Cimmerian shores? Another stream again flows, of flaming fire, if indeed these things are true; An incredible tract flows from the peaks of Etna, A river of fire. These incompatible things have been mingled, at Christ’s will. I know how to recount similar miracles even in small things. 610 There is a certain seed, as they tell, that is hard-horned, Which alone of all that the life-giving earth brings forth, Possessing a rigid and unsoftening body, neither is dissolved in the earth, Nor is nourished by the rains, but stands fixed, Dry, harder than horn, through all the days.

METRICAL VERSION

From many things now a few seem worthy of mention, Which I have seen partly with these eyes, and partly drained with my ears; And partly ancient records have given me faith. Do not rivers glide with a downward course? Is not the savage sea constrained by shores? Is not the light flame carried by nature on high? And yet there is a river which traverses the salty waves, And sweet water is not mingled at all with the bitter waters. But it is permitted for sailors to draw sweet Streams from the sea, if the ship is moved to the refluent river. And now have I seen the Euboic tract and the strait, Which rages with waves returning frequently: The wave flows and flows back, and in turn runs back again, And now the Ocean, rapid, strikes the land, seeking deserted Seas again: ^B and in the same way on the Cimmerian bank, the damp earth Is perceived, and now it is covered by the ocean waves. There is another river again with burning flames, If indeed they report the truth, flowing from the summit of Etna. A wonderful flood! Fire is joined with water in friendly bond; Opposites come together by Christ’s command. Indeed, even in small things the same miracles shine. They say there is a seed, which alone of all those That the most bountiful earth pours forth from its fertile bosom, Has a rigid body, and is never dissolved in the earth, Nor is fattened by heavenly rain; but for all time It remains fixed and dry, and yields in hardness to no horns, Because it is, of course, struck.

615 Whose horn has struck the horn of an ox, when the plowman's Right hand pours the seed into the field, Whence it acquired both name and nature from the horns, If the wise know of any other cause; indeed, I do not. This nature provides. But hear also how much art achieves. 620 Starlings speak like men, Emulators of a foreign voice, which a clever man Taught by showing the bird its own image In a polished mirror, while emitting a hidden sound. And ravens likewise steal sounds. And the lovely-colored 625 Parrot, with crooked beak, dwells within a woven house, Speaks with a human voice, and deceives a man's hearing. And for horses there are hanging ropes, above which They walk. And the terrible bear travels through the air, And in seats of justice, like some wise judge, 630 Sitting, it balances the divine scales of justice, As it seems, with its paws, and the beast feigned reason. And mortal man taught things that nature did not. For I saw The lion-tamer sitting upon the back of a lion, And the beast's rage was subdued by his hand, 635 And indeed the man held the reins, and the roaring beast was led, Having cast off its deadly breath, and it fawned upon its master. And just so does an Indian boy lead the heavy, Huge-bodied beast, the elephant, sitting above it, Controlling it with a small goad, 640 Steering the frame of the mighty elephant as if it were a ship. Bold was he who first sought to tame a beast, And placed a yoke upon its neck, and drove a monstrous chariot. But you attribute more to beasts than to men,

^A for if custom has bent the nature of wild beasts, yet they remain untaught in what is good, though they have a helping word ^B near at hand. 645 O barbarian, how do you so outrage the great handiwork of God? Who has ever been so much an enemy to his own race? But my mind is not like this, as it thinks pure thoughts; ^C for I know men and women who are heavenly in their thoughts and chaste in body. For the greater part is in the limbs; 650 but virtues are common to both, and the path is common to a lofty life. But he who is more eager—to these, those who frequent the heavens, I give these commands. But do you, O Virginity, take care for me, so that you may be fortified ^D on all sides, well supported, and be perfect and fit for God, 655 a pearl among stones, a morning star among lights, 656 a dove among winged creatures, a branch of olive in the groves, and a lily in the fields, and a calm in the seas. O Virgin, casting away the whole world and all the joys of life, stand near the shining Christ, 660 and taking hand in hand, lead Him into your chamber, pleasant, sweet-smelling, and fragrant, so that with heavenly ointments you may mingle your own ointment, there outpoured with ineffable desires for desires, and beauty for beauty, the hidden with the hidden, and the shining with the resplendent, 665 may you have Christ as the noble lover of your glorious form, Christ your bridegroom. And Christ has unveiled the covering,

and seeing you, he has marveled at his noble and exceeding beautiful bride, holy, adorned with pearls, set on a lovely throne, noble of head; and though you were already beautiful, he has made you even more graceful. 670 Christ shall lead you, as you exult, into his own dwellings, and shall set for you the nuptial feast in great and immaculate choirs and with heavenly songs; and he shall wreathe your head with ever-blooming graces, and shall set out the mixing bowl of sweet-breathed delight, 675 and shall show you the mysteries of wisdom, the images of which we behold here as in a mirror, the true lights of a purer mind. For gross bodies shall yield to the Spirit, and having become aerial, they shall receive a life free from old age.

But, O friends, let us sing, as many as have a pure love for the King, 680 young men and maidens, of the marriage of the heavenly God; lighting lamps, imitations of the divine light, ^A inextinguishable and intellectual, ever fanning them more in pure deeds and words ^B even unto the heavens. Do you, however, come propitiously to us, 685 propitious, propitious to us, O holy Trinity, coming together into one out of the One, shining upon our bright eyes today, and more brightly at the last, you through whom we have shone, ^C one God from the Father through the Son unto the great Spirit, standing in a perfect divine nature in those who are perfect.

III. Exhortation to Virgins

Metrical Version

May he enlarge the most abundant gifts of your form, the sweet lover, and may he lead you rejoicing to his own dwellings; and in holy choirs, in songs and in supernal, magnificent nuptial feasts, may he join you to himself by a covenant, and wreathe your temples with a garland of grace, and pour out cups pregnant with ethereal nectar, and reveal the hidden mysteries of highest wisdom (the faint shadows of which we now behold as in a mirror), the true lights of the soul perceiving by an open ray. For then the grossest bodies shall yield to the Spirit, and the light shall obtain the gift of eternal life. But we, O dear young men and dear maidens, whose pious hearts the holy love of Christ has seized, let us celebrate the marriage of the eternal Father, rejoicing: and may you all hold in your hands your lamps, lit continually, imitations of the divine light, which speech and excellence of manners and life may ever excite, so that they may be carried like a lucent flame into the heavens. Do you also, O holy Trinity, approach us graciously, ^D do you, O good One, I pray, come to us, you who ever coming together into one out of the One, do here graze our minds with clear light, and will at last cast upon us your rays, more splendid still, in the ethereal hall: by which God shines forth as one, Father, Begotten, and the holy Spirit. For the whole Deity stands together in the number and faith of the perfect Trinity.

^A Always purify yourself in the Word and in wisdom, That you may live bright in the presence of the Bright One for all ages. For this is better by far than the corruptible union. 5 In your body you have imitated the intellectual powers, And have pursued on earth an angelic life. Here there is binding, and loosening, and bodies from bodies; But above, each unit is never dissolved. The first ones bear the ray of the pure Trinity, 10 Spirits and fire, ministers of the commandments of God. Matter found a mixing, a nature always flowing, But God set the measure, having legislated marriage.

^B But you, having fled the work of matter, have been joined to those above, Just as mind is joined to mind in divine harmony, 15 And warring against the flesh, you aid the image. For you are the breath of God, bound to the inferior part, That from conflict and victory you may receive the crown, Having been set above, with the dust well subordinated. Let marriage also be praised by you, but before marriage, incorruptibility; 20 Marriage is a concession to passion, but purity is brilliance; Marriage is the father of saints, but purity is worship. This they honored even then in favorable times, Adam in paradise, Moses on Mount Sinai, And Zacharias, the father of the Forerunner, performing his ministry.

Marriage is the root of the virginity that is dear to God, ^A yet it is also a servitude of the flesh and of the tumult of passion. When there was the Law, and shadows, and temporary forms of worship, then marriage held the first place, as if still in infancy. But when the letter departed and the Spirit was introduced in its place, and Christ suffered in the flesh, having come forth from a Virgin, then chastity shone forth, gathering the world, which must migrate thither, having ascended with Christ. You walk well, O virgin, toward the mountain, be saved on high; do not look back toward Sodom, lest you become a pillar of salt. Let not the nature of the flesh frighten you too much; nor be overconfident, so as to be led astray at some time. A spark ignites the straw, but water extinguishes the flame.

^A You have many remedies for venerable chastity; let the fear of God steady you, let fasting make you void of desire, 40 vigils, prayers, tears, sleeping on the ground, a love directed entirely and sincerely toward God, lulling to sleep every desire foreign to those things above. Let him who has fallen rise again; let him who has suffered shipwreck be pitied. But you, sail happily, having spread the sail of hope. A few lose their feathers, but the majority run the course well. Lucifer fell, but the heaven of angels remains. Judas was a traitor, but the eleven are lamps. Only keep your whole self pure, O virgin. 50 See that you do not defile the spotless robe of Christ. Let your eye be chaste, let your tongue be virgin.

[alt-version omitted]

Let not your mind be wanton, let not your laughter be loose, let not your foot step disorderly. ^A 65 Let there be nothing between you and the tasting of the condemned tree, lest the serpent cast you out from the tree of life. And of this be persuaded, O virgin, do not live with a protector, having Christ as your bridegroom, who is jealous for your chastity. Why, having fled from the flesh, do you turn back towards the flesh? 70 Not all men comprehend your simplicity. Like a rose among thorns, so you move about among many, and you walk upon evil traps. One man raises up bridal chambers, while another carries out the bridegroom; one becomes a father, while another is suddenly childless. 75 How great a misery are pangs of labor, often fruitless! And how great is the jealousy of a spouse, for fear that friendship should anywhere be stolen away. ^B

METRICAL VERSION

Let not your mind be wanton, nor your laughter loose, nor your foot step in an unruly manner: the squalor of your robe and your unkempt hair I prefer to gems and silk adornments. 55 Modesty is a lovely flower, and paleness is a glorious ornament. To be crowned with all virtues is a beautiful plait. Let another adulterate the image of God with colors, a living tablet, a silent index of the affections of the soul; but you, extinguish the beauty of your form to the greatest extent possible, 60 and shine instead with the splendor of a soul divinely adorned. Flee the sight of men, even of the chaste, that you may not wound another, nor be wounded by the envy of Belial. Do not deliver eyes to eyes as captives, nor draw out speech with speech: nor let cheek grant license to cheek. 65 Let there be nothing between you and the tasting of the condemned tree, lest the serpent cast you out from the tree of life. ^C And believe this, O virgin: do not dwell with a protector, you who hold Christ as the jealous guardian of your chastity. Why, you who have fled from the flesh, do you return to it? 70 Not all men understand your simplicity. Like a rose among thorns, so you move about among many, and you walk upon ruinous snares. This man raises up marriage chambers, while that woman accompanies the bridegroom to the tomb: one becomes a father, another is suddenly without children. 75 How great a grief do births often bring, luckless as they are! How great is the jealousy of a spouse, lest anything should creep into your friendship and the nuptial bed? ^D

^A And to rear and educate them, only to be despised, and to reap bitter returns for your labors? But for you, let one concern remain: to look ever toward God. 80 Let your need be small—a crust of bread and a narrow shelter—from the experience of which the tempter approached Christ, asking the hungry One to turn stones into bread; for the sake of which, may you never endure anything shameful. You are not worse than the birds who are fed with ease. 85 The jar of oil will not fail you if you believe. A raven shall feed you, just as it did Elijah in the wilderness. You see Thecla, who escaped from fire and beasts, and the great Paul, hungering and shivering with a ready spirit, so that you, O virgin, may learn to look only to God, 90 who knows how to feed even myriads in the wilderness. ^A Beauty fades, glory passes by; wealth is an untrustworthy stream, and power belongs to few. But you, having escaped the turnings of the deceitful world, have entered—rejoicing—into the Holy of Holies, 95 and with the angels you shall lead the ceaseless dance, having obtained a place better than that of sons and daughters. But, O virgins, wait faithfully for Christ, and receive the Bridegroom with bright lamps, that, having come together, 100 you may behold the beauty of the Bridegroom and be united to the heavenly mysteries.

IV. To a Virgin

Nor as a helper should you take any man, not even one who is most wise. For you indeed are chaste; but I fear envy greatly, lest, pricking you with some infamy, it extinguish the chaste zeal of the life which you embrace. Perish, I say, anyone who, while cultivating chastity—the attendant of the fleshless angels—wishes to have a virgin as a companion. What need is there of fire? ^A Are you superior to fire? And how will you escape the smoke, blackening yourself with the vain jabbering of men? From there you have been raised, O virgin, and you live above. Is a meager crust and clothing a heavy burden for you? For the sake of these, let you never suffer anything shameful; and do not, in place of your protector, receive some ^B partner in disgrace and life, however chaste you may be, lest perhaps Christ cast you out as a double-dealer.

V. To the monks living in a monastery

For envy besets not only those who live alone, but even more so those who live in groups, and the urge toward evil is greater. But if you wish to dwell alone, ^A having communion only with Christ, this also is acceptable; yet for all, even as for me, there is the fear of the hostile struggle and of ruinous falling.

VI. On Pudicity

It is good to be bound in marriage, provided it be chaste, and to render more to God than to the flesh. It is better, however, to be free from bonds, and to render everything to God and to the things above.

^{B A} 5 God is unwedded, and there is the incorporeality of the angels; but matter is paired and full of corruption. Marriage is a care for one’s spouse and for those most dear. To virginity, Christ is the care. If a woman brings something equal to God, then marriage is equal to the celibate life; 10 but if it is not equal, then it is not equal in its way of life. Do not, therefore, O parents, insult me, frolicking in marriage but not in purity. I grant marriage, but I choose purity. ^B But there are those who have fallen—alas!—not choosing the best, but the weak. For the former are a disgrace to themselves, while the latter are a glory to us. Is the earth not to be tilled on account of the hail?

METRICAL VERSION

That they may dwell in distinct places, And thus follow a pious life with equal praise. For an unjust envy does not threaten only those who wander alone, But much more those whom the company of life delights; For a heavier struggle wears them down. But if, unless with Christ, you wish quite plainly to live alone, That also is acceptable to me; but may there be a common fear for both, As there is for me, that they may not yield to the cruel enemy in the contest, And fall headlong to the dark realms of Dis.

VI. ON PUDICITY

It is good to be bound by nuptials, provided it be chastely, And to give more to God than to the tie of matrimony: But it is better to be free from bonds, And to give all to God, and to things celestial. God is unwedded, and the life of angels is celibate; But marriage is a crude mass and full of corruption. Marriage is anxious about one’s spouse and dearest things: But for the celibate, Christ is the care. If a wife Is equal to God, the marriage bed is equal to the celibate life. But if she is altogether unequal, the lives also are unequal. Do not, therefore, O fathers, bespatter me with reproaches, Following the wedding torches, not knowing the life of the marriage bed. I do indeed grant pudicity to the marriage bed, But the celibate reap the glory of purity. But some, you will say, have fallen. Woe Be to you, who choose the weak, not the best. For they are a disgrace to themselves: these, however, are a glory to us. Does the earth not be tilled on account of the hail?

Or does the sea not lead into its harbors all whom it receives? 20 Why recount distant things to me? When Lucifer fell, did the choirs of angels fall with him? And what of that? Was not Judas the murderer of the Lord, while the rest of the disciples were a glory? You do not consider this, [regarding] the evils of your marriage and the thefts of adulterers, 25 from which love and the birth of offspring are debased. Walk on high, and leave envy down below. Be pure in all respects, O virgin. To Christ alone, ^A His bride, keep your beauty sealed. He is indeed kind, but also full of zeal. 30 He brings forth nothing deformed, nothing unruly. In the attire of the world, unkemptness is an adornment; flee from effeminacy, and humble your wayward inclinations. Do not hunt for [the admiration of] being seen by looking at others. Walk discreetly, even if you are alone. 35 Let a key be placed upon your ears, and let not laughter wallow [in excess of] cheeks, nor let there be an appearance of laughter. Anger, drunkenness, and the demon are all the same to maidens; but worse than all is the gluttony of the belly. Let beauty yield to prayers and vigils. 40 Do not easily choose [to live with] a companion, not even a brother. Why is it necessary to look upon the fuel of the disease? There is nothing base in this, unless it be the mere memory of dust. To you, O young maiden, let the Father and the faithful God be all; let others flee, just as the beasts once fled 45 the mountain of Sinai, when the law was being inscribed upon tablets. Let the sacrifice and the virgin be untouchable—the former by the profane, the latter by the eyes of all.

METRICAL VERSION

Let no necessity of the flesh ever bring you into servitude. If you are in need of anything, a jar will flow for you like a fountain, 50 And a water-pot will yield the fruit of the ground. Five thousand people are fed with loaves: How much more you, who stand before God? Do not, therefore, while you have this pure Bridegroom Of incorporeal beauty, be joined to another; 55 For he is an adulterer, not your husband, Claiming for himself the love of a living man. Or will you take back what you have offered to God? Will you flee the fire of Sodom, and then ^B Turn back? God forbid that you should turn into a pillar of salt. 60 You are more than a widow, yet even a widow’s marriage Is liable to punishment, when the boundaries of chastity are transgressed. What is more worthless than a golden tongue, A cloak, and a didrachm, and the other spoils of a plundered city? Yet, these being stolen, the army of the Hebrews was put to flight. 65 Perceiving these things, then, O virgin, obey God.

VII. On Chastity.

All virtue promotes the just To a single degree. ^C He who is free from the marriage bed Is equal to the angels; Let him be ranked with the virgins. But he who observes the laws of marriage, Let him be equal to the continent.

METRICAL VERSION

Let no necessity of the flesh bring you under subjection. If you require anything, it will flow in the manner of a fountain; A jar, and the water-pot will offer you flour. An immense multitude is fed with five loaves; How much more you, who stand before the greatest God? Since your bridegroom, therefore, is he whose beauty Is devoid of flesh, take care not to be joined to another. For he is an adulterer, not a husband, Transferring to himself the love of the living Man. Having once given a basket to God, Will you take it back? Having fled the Sodomitic pyre, Will you return? God forbid; may you not become a pillar of salt. You are more than a widow. But it makes widows also Guilty, if they break the vow of chastity. What could be more worthless than a golden tongue, Or less than a didrachm? Yet these, when stolen, Caused the whole army to perish. Perceiving these things, then, O virgin, obey Christ.

VII. ON CHASTITY

Every virtue is promoted by the righteous To another degree: He who is a stranger to the bed Is equal to the ministers of God. But he who cultivates a continent ^D Life, let him be equal to the maidens: And he who preserves the marriage bond Let him be like the abstinent.

Only cultivate temperance, 10 That you may attain to greater things.

VIII. COMPARISON OF LIVES

^A Vit. Judge for us, O stranger. Jud. And what is the judgment? Vit. The lives are in conflict. Jud. And which ones? What is the point of contention? Vit. The worldly life and that of the spirit; which is better and intended for the wise to live? ^B 5 Jud. It is a difficult thing to judge, yet it must be heard. Worldly. Being born of the world, I know and cherish these things; piety is to revere the ancestral law. Spirit. Being born of God, I know and worship God; piety is to know the perfect worship. 10 If to you the inferior is most precious, how is the superior not more just for me? Worldly. My mother is flesh, and I was tempered with it; I desire the fullness of the flesh ^C which is broken. Spirit. God is my father, and I am yoked to God; I desire an imitation of the form from which I flowed. Worldly. But tell me, how would the race of mortals have stood if the union of flesh had not joined together, ^D governed by divine law and nature? Spirit. Such was the law, but now I must be freed, hastening toward another life better than the present, free from bonds and corruption. Worldly. How then did the virgin life come to be? [alt-version omitted]

VIII. ARGUMENT

COMPARISON OF LIVES (Interpreted by Billius)

Vit. Act as judge here, I pray you, for our dispute, O stranger. Jud. What dispute is this? Vit. Two lives are in conflict. Jud. Which ones, and why? Vit. The worldly life and the life of the spirit, Regarding which is to be preferred by wise men. Jud. This is not a difficult matter to judge, yet I will listen. Mund. Born of the world, I justly love the world: For it is pious to revere ancestral laws. Spir. Being born of God, I know and worship God: For it is a grave impiety not to know the Most High God. B If you think that which is inferior is so desirable, Is that which is superior not more justly dear to me? Mund. I am born of fleshly mother, and joined to dust; I demand that the severed flesh be added to me. Spir. God is my father, and I have bound myself to God: I long to emulate the form from which I came. Mund. Tell me, how would our race have subsisted, If flesh had not been joined to flesh? What divine law and nature command. Spir. The law so ordained; but now it must be dissolved, While I hasten with swift course toward a higher age, Which is totally devoid of decay and the ties of the marriage bed. Mund. How then did the unwed life come into being? 21

^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.

Spir.

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.

If one cannot attain the first, what prevents Having the second? This does not imply dishonor; 255 In this way our life will be secure.

IX. On Virtue

I desire virtue, indeed, but this has not taught me What it is, or whence it may come to me, Though I desire it most eagerly. Longing unfulfilled is torture. If the stream of virtue is truly pure, and not mingled With wintry waters or mountain torrents, 5 I seek who has found it upon the earth. For either he has drawn up The mire from his heart, or he has received, bearing a heavy body, ^A And dragging along, and being clouded from without by the hostile Enemy of our life, and by the muddy pit. 10 For it was not fitting—since I am a coagulated nature, And I flow through a transient life—that I should remain unflowing. But if the stream is not entirely silver, but is mixed With inferior things, and virtue is a disordered fusion, Consider how it can still be virtue. For I indeed 15 Whirling my swift mind hither and thither within my breast. The nature of snow is cold, and white; But the nature of fire, in turn, is yellow and hot, and these Are not things that are mixed. Or truly, their power is dissolved before they are mixed. But how has defilement come upon virtue, dishonoring its image,

^A O sin, you who delight in evil—if I am truly a god, and I boast that I am your portion? I hear of the beautiful stream of Alpheus flowing through the bitter sea, a great wonder, a sweet stream, and not the least ^B of corruption is mixed into it. But defilement is the mist of the air, 25 and disease is of the limbs; and as for virtue, it is our night. Often I have lifted my wing toward the ether, and heavy and wasting care has cast me to the ground; often again I have gazed upon the pure light of the Godhead, but in between 30 a cloud has come, and the great brilliance has been hidden and has wounded me, ^C as it fled when I was near. What is this envy? Or does the law of mortals demand that I always desire it, or is this better ^D for me, to obtain it with labor, and with labor to preserve it, for this is stable, in which the mind has labored much. But often again the enemy has taken away the discernment of good and evil, 35 like some wily beast placing its tracks upon tracks, that it might lead the hunter of the good astray with its wiles. Another thing the flesh urges upon me as pleasant, and another the command; another thing is God, another is envy, another is time, and another is eternity. I do the things I loathe, and I take delight in evils. 40 And I laugh a terrible death within my inward parts, a Sardinian laughter, a rejoicing in evil, since indeed destruction is sweet. Now I am lowly, and now again uplifted; today I dishonor pride, and yet tomorrow I am a boaster; I am different at different ^A times, like some polypus taking on the color of the rocks.

^A Hot tears are flowing, but sin does not flow away; I have poured these out, but I collect others from within through new transgressions, and I have cast away the remedies of medicine. I am a virgin in body, but whether I am so in mind, I do not know for certain. Shame covered my eyes, but my mind looked up shamelessly, 50 keen-sighted for the vices of others, but blind to my own. In my words I am heavenly, but in my understanding I am earthly; I am tranquil and calm, but if even a light breeze blows, I rise up with swollen waves, nor did the raging swell cease before 55 a calm had come to pass. And then, that my anger should fall is no great wonder. Often, too, as I run well with the best hopes, and have already extended my reach beyond the middle path of virtue, ^B the baneful enemy suddenly casts me headlong beneath his feet, just as one bearing his step upon the sand, an enemy brings it to pass that I am 60 caught and fall before my own tottering footprints. I rise again, and again I slip back, more wretched than before, ever journeying, ever possessed of great terror, barely ascending, and quickly do I slide away. My life is long, and I do not desire the ending of life, though I pine for a remedy, yet the remedy is far from me, 65 as I gather to myself more wickedness with each passing day. Therefore, let this dogma be fixed for my generation: First is the pure nature of the Trinity; next, ^C the angelic; and third is I, a mortal, balanced between two sides, 70 midway between life and painful death.

METRICAL VERSION

^A having run the race, having raised up the heavy flesh even unto heaven; this is a gift of God. But let a measure be set ^B for mortals.

85 Come then, I will also place this thought in your mind, how you might arrive at the goal of great virtue, which alone is a pure sacrifice to the pure God. I do not, indeed, think that it happens here. For a manifold smoke occupies our minds here below; but I am content if—should I succeed—I leave behind the tearful evils of this life. 90 It is not only the gift of God, while He honors His own image, but it also depends on your own desire; nor does it depend solely on your will, but also on the great power of God:

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

[alt-version omitted]

^A Just as my eye alone cannot behold visible things, Though it looks very intently, without the light of the great sun; 95 For the sun itself makes the eyes shine, and in the eyes it is itself seen. There are two parts of the great God toward what is better, The first and the last, and one that is mine. He creates the capacity for beauty, and He provides the strength, But I myself, a runner in the middle of the stadium, not very nimble, 100 Come forward—not without a prize—stretching my limbs in leaping, Holding Christ as my breath, Christ as my strength, the whole object of wonder, Who makes me both open-eyed and swift-running. Apart from Him, all mortals are but vain toys, And living corpses, stinking with sins.

105 For you have not seen a bird flying without the air, Nor has a dolphin swum without the water of the sea. So too, without Christ, no mortal lifts a foot. Therefore, do not be overly haughty with me, nor pride yourself On having strength of mind, even if you are very wise. 110 Nor, seeing someone more lowly, should you be lifted up on high, As though you were master of all, and running near the finish line. He who has not looked at the limit of the race has remained within the limit. Do not be too fearful, and do not be overly bold. God has cast down haughtiness to the earth, but raised hope to heaven, 115 And God is very angry at insolence. Lay hold of the one with your hands, hope for the other, and yield to Him.

[METRICA VERSIO: omittitur]

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

It belongs to a temperate mind to know the measure of its own life. It is a certain kind of evil both to cast away hope of virtue, And to have great confidence, as if it were easy to be the best. 120 For if you are affected in either way, you will stand still upon the path in a pernicious manner. Let the arrow aimed at the mark always lie between your hands; Neither let it be sent beyond the great command of Christ, Nor let it fall short; for you will wander from the mark on either side. Often even immoderate desire is useless, when, longing for new 125 Glory, we shoot with an over-strained bow. If you are proud, I will remind you whence you came into life, Who you were before, who you were hidden in the womb, Who you will be hereafter, dust and food for moths, Bearing nothing more in death than the most infirm of men. 130 If you are of too abject a spirit, reflect that you are Christ's creation, And breath, and a noble part, from which you were compacted, Celestial and terrestrial, a fashioning of God, an unforgettable work, Traveling towards eternal glory through the passions of Christ. Therefore do not indulge the flesh, nor love the superfluous things 135 Of this life, but build a better temple. For man is a temple of the great God, whom He fashioned, Moving him from the earth, and always drawing him to heaven. This [temple], I command you to keep fragrant with every Work and word, always having God within, 140 Always being the best, truly, and not merely appearing so. Do not guide the vermilion-cheeked ship, shining with beautiful Colors, or gleaming with spurious beauty, upon the back of the sea.

But rather one good with bolts, easy to sail, well-fitted ^A by the hands of the shipbuilder, cutting through the swell with speed. Let everyone go forward, and may all hold fast to God, whoever is wise, whoever is strong, whoever is rich, or whoever is in need, as to an unfeigned anchor. Let the ropes from that place be fastened for all, but especially for me, who sit on a lofty throne, leading a people with prayers toward heaven, for whom there is so great a burden if I should dishonor Christ with darkened understanding, ^B or if I should approach the noble glory of God with godhead. For indeed the measures of life follow the measures of God, and as the measures of God follow the measures of life. Thus, thinking in this way, may you lead a secure life here, and here and hereafter with a better procession of God, when the shadowed life of this day has been dissolved.

X. On Virtue

I hear many things, and I would wish not to say them in vain, for I do not fear to speak thus: [alt-version omitted]

X. ARGUMENT

In this poem, Gregory instructs a certain young man, showing what is the best manner of life, as well as of studies; he especially demonstrates how much Christian doctrine excels pagan doctrine, and how much more illustrious in every type of virtue are the examples of our people than those of the philosophers. He rouses the young man to the study of virtue, declaring that there is absolutely nothing on earth that can be compared with the worship of God. Then, repeating his discourse from a higher point, he discourses on the creation of things. He places before the eyes the end of both lives, the praiseworthy and the wicked. Then, having first won over [the reader] with his authority and benevolence, he teaches that those who flourished among the pagans in the praise of wisdom and learning—even though they were otherwise very far from true piety, and even contended among themselves in most sharp rivalries of souls—this notwithstanding, in this one thing they all agreed, namely that there is nothing better or more excellent than virtue. And then, descending to the individual types of virtue, he recounts who among them excelled in each type, but in such a way, however, as at the same time to show that a certain color and mere lineaments of virtue were found among them; for solid virtue, perfect in all its parts...

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

But noble action must accompany reputation. Whether, therefore, some of the friends of God, who make it their earnest care to observe all things in young men, seeing you while you are young—giving as you do, excellent indications of life (for they say the lion is known by his claws)—have proclaimed this wonder to one another with joy; or whether Divine Providence, which governs all things excellently and wills what is best for you, is paving the road of the Word for your deeds ^A so that, being anticipated by the reputation of being good, you might have it as a sort of pledge of piety, called by God to salvation—let anyone who wishes conjecture this.

But what I hear, this I proceed to declare: that your soul looks toward a great height, and that the mist which covers our life here, all lying upon the earth, you have parted and risen above it a little, and, having stepped over the mire and the shackles of the composite body, and cast off the tyrants of the divine image, you make it your earnest endeavor to give yourself to God—which you ought to consider the only true education, and the first and greatest good for men. For what is there so great among those things that wander below, and that inflate some with one sort of vanity and others with another, and which are bestowed by time and fortune, as they say?

^B Let it be so, then, that I declare what the sacred writings teach. Let it be so that, if you turn your mind to look at the heavens, you penetrate that cloud which covers our life here as it lies prostrate on the ground, and by looking a little higher, surpassing the heavy mire and the shackles of the body, and driving far away the tyrants of the image of the Highest Divinity, you strive to give yourself to God. For this is indeed to be held the sole instruction, and the first and greatest good of our race. For what such great fruit is there in things that are fleeting, and in other trifles that inflate with pride, being the gifts of time and of the blind goddess, as they say?

^A Even if all the goods of all men were to come together into one, as they are—or rather, as they are thought to be in this miserable life—what gain so great is there, even if you seem to transcend your boundaries? And even if the riches of Gyges, he of the much gold, were yours, and you were to turn everything with a twist of a ring, a silent tyrant; and even if you felt yourself to be like the Lydian, with the Persian Cyrus sitting beneath you, flowing with gold, he who boasted of being the master of thrones; and even if you were to take Troy with your famous fleets, and peoples and cities held you to be of bronze; and if you led the churches by your nods, and celebrated feasts worthy of your crowns, and if you breathed the spirit of Demosthenes in your lawsuits, and Lycurgus or Solon gave way to your laws; even if you had the muse of Homer in your breast, and the tongue of Plato, which is honey-dipped, as it is and as it is thought to be by the human race; and even if you were to press all men with the inescapable and evil shackles of contentious arguments; and if you were to twist everything up and down, weaving labyrinths with the inextricable arguments of Aristotle or certain Pyrrhonians; and even if Pegasus or the arrow of the Scythian Abaris—whoever he may have been, for both are mythical—were to lift you into the air: what such great gain is there from these things that I mention, or from a brilliant marriage and a Sybarite feast, and all the other things by which minds are puffed up, as is the gain of making all these things of no account, and placing them below oneself? [alt-version omitted]

To consider the dignity of the soul, and whence it has come, and to whom it must return, and whither it should be turned, and what is its reasonable movement? For since it is, as I reckon, and as I hear from the wise, a certain divine emanation descending to us from above—whether it descends entire, or whether it be the mind, its pilot and governor—it has one natural and sole task: to be borne upward and united to God, ^A and always and in every way to keep its gaze fixed upon its kindred, in no way enslaved by the passions of the body, which flows toward the earth and drags it downward, sending inside the sweet error of visible things and the darkness of the senses, by which—if the soul is not governed by the Word—it flows and little by little falls downward. ^B But if it is mastered and held back often, as with a bridle, by the Word, perhaps the Word will one day lift it up, and little by little it will reach the sacred city above, until it attains the things long desired: that is, having run past every covering and the shadows of this present life, and the riddles here, and whatever of beauty is envisaged through mirrors, ^C it may look upon the Good itself, stripped bare, with a mind stripped bare; and having been sated with the light which it longed to obtain, and standing finally free from error, it possesses there the highest of good things. For He who made all things by His wise Word, and fashioned the ineffable harmony of the universe by the tempering of opposites, and ordered this world out of disorder… ^D

[alt-version omitted]

… He showed a greater miracle in the nature of an animal. I shall philosophize for you a small point above. 90 God is either mind, or some other essence surpassing this, graspable by the impulses of mind alone; if perfectly to those above, God knows; to us, however, dimly, to whom a cloud of thick flesh stands as an enemy obstacle; 95 for now thus, but more fully hereafter. Since God holds the first principles of discourse, let us observe what comes from God. And how does He hold them? There are two extremes and opposing natures. The one is close to God and honorable: 100 they call it rational and full of mind, they call it such by a name derived from the Word, ^A a sort of attendant to God, as I know it, the order of top and secondary angels, higher than senses and bodies, 105 the first and bright one of the primal Triad. But the other is far removed from God and from the Word; they call it irrational, as one alien to the Word, as much as is in sound, and as much as is spoken. But having thus separated these, God the Word, 110 as a master craftsman and wisely weaving creation, fashions me as a composite animal from both, fitting together what has reason and what has no reason, of an invisible soul, in which I bear the image of the greatest God, and of a body not intelligent. 115 This is the mixing of that honorable creature.

I think that this is another great world in miniature. ^A And so that, overflowing with light and with the Good, He might grant even to me something of the Good, and that my work might be my own choice, He set forth the limits of both lives, 120 and then, having shown them and distinguished them by reason, and having added the law as a helper to the creature, He made me a free worker of the good, so that I might bear away crowns from the battle and the struggle; for it is better than living without bounds. 125 This is the account for you of my composition. But the soul is stirred here by many turnings, tossed up and down and whirled about, being in the midst of evil matters and right ones, through which the wretched one is inflamed and tested, ^A 150 just as gold in the purifying coals. But later on, the fruits of what we have sown shall be harvested, at the just judgment of God, and the barns are ready to receive the harvest of the books. Thus, these things being as they are: he who 135 keeps the law, and honors the portion of God which he has, in every work and word and movement of the mind, remaining as undefiled as possible from those who have been seduced, and in no way wallowing in the flowing filth, but drawing his clay back up toward heaven — 140 (O the greatest and most wise mystery!) — shall have the reward of his labors, to become God, a god by adoption, indeed, but filled with the supreme light, of which he here tasted the first-fruits in moderation. ^B [alt-version omitted]

Whoever, then, bowing toward the worse and the shackles, ^A appears an associate of things below, a slave to the flesh, and fond of fleeting things, insults his divine nobility by his way of life. Even if he should fare as well as possible in unstable things, pride-puffed by empty dreams and shadows, 150 rich, indulging in luxury, and exalted on thrones, alas for the weight of the lashes to be endured there! For the greatest of evils is to fall away from God. Since you hear these things and are persuaded, walk the right path and leave the base one, 155 if you would obey me, your true counselor. I know it is better to be persuaded, and you will accept my word. For since there are three things, as the ancients say, ^A with which a good counselor ought to be armed—experience, friendship, and freedom of speech— 160 you will find me lacking in none of these. As for experience, I have attained as much as it is reasonable for those to have who have labored for a long time and who have conversed for a long time with the books of the wise and with the words of divinely inspired doctrines, 165 a sweet fountain, to be drawn upon by the prudent, from which we have drawn a small depth. Regarding the second, which I mentioned—that is, goodwill—it is a matter of great faith; for I wish for you these things ^B which I previously counseled for myself, my dearest, 170 when my own reasonings ran alongside the dangers of the bitter sea, by which I was brought together to God.

[alt-version omitted]

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

For fear is often the beginning of salvation. ^A Never seek a trial of boldness, neither of my own [counsel], nor of those who are strangers to you; 175 but neither shall you find it if you are persuaded by my words: for you shall be worthy of praise, not of reproaches. But since these things are so, come, give yourself to me, give [yourself to me], and we shall give you to God, whom you shall receive once you are given. For such is the nature of the Giver. 180 By contemplating [thus], you might attain the truth. There are some among the Greeks who are wise, yet not truly wise—for how could we call those wise who have been ignorant of the most excellent nature, God, the first cause of all good things? 185 Of whom even nature is a herald to those who think, as is the order of things seen and understood. ^B But some, having cast out the Divine from their discourse entirely, or having removed His providence, ^C or else having set limits [to His power] lest God should weary in saving, 190 some of them, using sight as their teacher, have given dominion to the stars, their fellow-servants, by which they guide all things, though they themselves are led very poorly. Others have worshipped the shame of beasts, having fallen all the more; ^D while others have worshipped shadows of demons, and have invented myths as advocates of their own passions, and have set up pillars worthy of their senselessness, foundations of matter, and works of the hand. Who, then is so unwise as to deem these men wise? Yet let them be wise, if it so seems. [alt-version omitted]

^A 200 You would find these men, while inconsistent and discordant with others in their dogmas regarding the doctrines of things intelligible and visible, of divine providence, of ideas, of fate, of infinite matter, and the synthesis of bodies, 205 of the soul, of the mind, and the deception of the senses—from which spring the Stoa, the supercilious brows, the Academies, and the entanglements of the Pyrrhonians, their speculations, their suspensions of judgment, and the nonsense of their systems—yet in these things, while they are indeed discordant, all are equally 210 praisers of virtue and agree, setting nothing above virtue, even if it is secured only by ten thousand sweats, many labors, and a long period of time. I shall recall, for the sake of example, a few of them, 215 so that from this you might learn the nature of virtue, gathering, as they say, roses from thorns, learning better things even from the faithless. Who does not know the dog of Sinope? This man (what need is there to say the rest?) was indeed of 220 such a humble and temperate life, observing a law prescribed by himself and not accepted from God, nor moved by any hopes, so that he had but one possession, his staff, and a home beneath the sky in the middle of the city, 225 a movable cask fleeing the force of the winds, which was to him better than houses with vaulted golden ceilings, and his food was simple, not labored over. ^B Crates, in like manner, deeming himself above wealth, and having abandoned his property to be grazed by cattle,

^A mounting an altar, with a great proclamation, announced himself, as if in the midst of Olympia, crying out this wonderful saying: "Crates himself sets free Crates the Theban," 235 deeming the love of money to be slavery. They say that he (though some say it was another of the philosophers, but one of equal greatness of mind), when sailing, while the sea was raging and the ship was becoming burdened by its cargo, 240 willingly cast his wealth into the deep, and was worthy of memory for adding this word: "Well done, O Fortune, my teacher of noble things, how easily I am reduced to my cloak!" Another left his property to his kin. ^A 245 Another, passing beyond these things as merely human, gathering all he possessed into a single golden mass, then having sailed into the deep sea, gave that arrogant deception to the abyss, for he said it is not right to provide what is not good to another. 250 And I praise this too. One of the ancient Cynics approached a king and deemed himself worthy to receive food, whether from being in need or from putting him to the test. And the king, whether for the sake of honor or as some sort of trial, commanded that a talent of gold be given 255 with a ready mind; he does not refuse to take it, but having taken it, immediately in the sight of the one who gave it, having bought bread for the price of the talent, he said: "This I desired to receive, not inedible pride." These things, then, are almost equal to my own laws,

^A but they make of their anxieties and labors of acquisition, and of their penury, a pretext for luxury. They reveal this with barley breads ^B seasoned with sesame, and with lines from tragedy, among which is this one, aptly spoken: "O stranger, depart from the path of tyrants," 280 and endive, fleeing from the midst of delicacies, the poor man’s side-dish, a boundless grace of the earth. But for us, whatever good we may do is without show; those for whom it is a primary principle that not even the left hand should clearly know the movements of the right. 285 And self-control is a witness to the indwelling of God. Beautiful is the well of Cleanthes, and the poverty of Socrates’ life; but how disgraceful are all other things!

260 Which on certain wings carry me to the life and nature Of birds, with food provided for the day and unsown, And by the beauty of the lilies, which are most splendidly clothed, They promise me clothing without art, If I look to God alone, the Great One. 265 But if I must also discuss these lives, So that I might not appear to be recounting these things in vain, Those, indeed, who prize poverty, And a life free and above chains, Did not first pursue the good in a good way; 270 For there was more empty vanity in it than pursuit of virtue. For what need was there of altars and heralds? Then, in truth, they indulged the pleasures of the belly, As they who fled, not the satiety of wealth, But the anxieties and labors of possession, 275 And turned poverty into a bounty of delicacies. They demonstrate this with barley loaves Falling behind, and the words of tragedy, Among which is also that well-known saying: "O stranger, yield to tyrants," 280 And chicory, fugitive from the midst of dainties, The side-dish of the poor, and a bounty of the earth. To us, however, it is a sin to bring into the light if we have done anything well, For whom the primary principle is that not even the left hand Should clearly perceive the movements of the right. 285 Continence is also a proof of divine aspiration. The well of Cleanthes is noble, and the poverty of Socrates’ life; but how disgraceful are all other things!

^A The Charmides and the cloak 290 Under which the noble man conversed on divine things with the young. For only the beautiful are intelligent. Let no one hunt for beauty with the love of bodies. May such speculations perish! Let the boundaries of the Mysians and Lydians be set apart. But who will ever praise this in Alcmaeon, 295 He who, first of the illustrious Athenians, A man breathing high in lineage and power, Was seen to be so submissive to wealth, As much as he ought to have appeared superior to it? For when Croesus greeted him with many gifts, ^A 300 And having laid out all his treasuries of gold, As a ruler puffed up with great pride in his fortune, He bade him take as much gold dust as he could; And having filled his lap, and his cheeks, and his hair, Having placed gold upon him (what immoderation this is!) 305 He went forth to the Lydians, wealthy and laughed at. But what of your Plato, although he was the wisest Of men? What of Aristippus? The most pleasant one, I say. What of the graceful Speusippus, as I suppose? One of them lived the life of a wretched shopkeeper, 310 Enduring seafaring labors for the sake of profit; The cargo was oil. Perhaps not yet has this

been considered worthy of blame, nor that you concede something to poverty. But that Plato should court the tables of tyrants—alas for such arguments and noble labors! 315 If some Libyan had not appeared more benign to Plato than Greece, and for a small price purchased both his glory and his teachings. But this man from Cyrene—great indeed is ^A his boldness—320 Yet he mingled luxury with liberty, debasing the good with a salty doctrine. For, reeking of perfumes, he breathed them upon his fellow drinkers; and the grace and wit of his character ^B were the guides for his gains. Thus, once, 325 when the wise Archelaus presented a woman's garment—I know not how or for what reason—Plato did not accept it, uttering an iambic line from Euripides just in time: «I could not endure to be clad in woman's attire.» 330 He, however, when the gift came into his hands, brought by someone, took it readily; and he struck back at the cleverness of the iambic with another iambic, saying: «For even in the rites of Bacchus, 335 if a woman is chaste, she will not be corrupted.» The same Archelaus, as they say, when at one time Sophocles desired to receive something from him, gave it instead to the most wise Euripides, ^C saying:

Non criminandum: dasque inopiæ quidpiam. Mensas Platonem sed sequi tyrannicas, Turpe, et labores atque doctrinam indecens: Mitto auctionem, quæ nec habuisset locum, Ni præstitisset Græcia sese Africus Benigniorem; namque paucis numulis Platonis emit gloriam ac scientiam. Fiducia oris magna Aristippo fuit: Sed juncta nimium luxui fœdo tamen. Læsumque misto dogmate est falso bonum. Nam combibones, unguine ipse perlitus, Amabat; atque comitas morum, et sales Huic muniebant maximum ad quæstum viam.

Sic Archelao rege quodam tempore Vestem offerente femina dignam (haud scio Qua mente munus istud), hanc quidem Plato Rejecit, illud proferens Euripidis: « Non feminarum vestibus queam indui. » Hic autem, ut ejus munus in manus idem, Ferente quodam, venit, hoc statim accipit; Versum et rependit versui lepide alterum, Hæc dicta fundens: « Non enim in Bacchi Orgiis Matrona casta labis aliquid contrahet. » Idem Archelaus, ut ferunt, cum posceret Sophocles ab illo quidpiam, hoc Euripidi Dedit erudito protinus, verba hæc loquens: ^D

After saying this, he added: "You seem to me indeed worthy to ask, but Euripides worthy to receive," 340 indicating what is the noblest part of a generous character. And he who once fixed the taxes for the Greeks, the son of Lysimachus, who stood out among the foremost in both political leadership and military command, was seen to be so far above wealth, 345 (for I will willingly pass over that he took his name from his conduct, as one who was and is still called "the Just"), that the city, having given his daughters in marriage, honored [his] noble poverty with money, and buried him himself, though he had nothing from which to be buried. 350 Nor will I pass over the noble deeds of the Romans, so that I may not insist only upon the ancients. Fabricius, having defeated Pyrrhus in battle, ^A was a general who was much to be admired, and he conquered them even more; for when 355 Pyrrhus fell into a narrow strait of hope, he tried to suborn the general with talents of gold; but he would not accept them, though he did nevertheless make a truce. But when Pyrrhus, as they say, playing peacefully toward him, displayed one of the armed beasts, 360 one of the elephants, huge and great, a thing never before seen by him, he showed it; and when its trunk appeared suddenly, he was not terrified, and spoke this to him with a placid expression: "Neither gold nor beast has conquered me." 365 These things are enough, and even beyond measure, such as anyone who despises wealth might say. Do not, therefore, admit those things which are not noble

^A from ancient books, my good man, in which you have been reared: "Allow me to be called evil because I gain wealth." 370 For it is better, while observing the laws of the gods, to live as a poor man, having traded in glory. Do not speak to me of lineage; a morsel of food is my lineage. Wealth is the most precious thing to men. Nothing is more miserable than a poor man. 375 And without money, Apollo does not utter prophecies. There is no man who is prosperous in everything; for either he is born noble but lacks a livelihood, or, being low-born, he plows a wealthy field. For how can you call him miserable who is indeed poor, 380 but possesses a way of life much wealthier? It is truly miserable to think so falsely. ^B Therefore, avoid all these things and those who have spoken them, or anything else in speeches that is similar to them. But praise these things that have been spoken wisely: 385 "When you take gain from a wicked thing, consider it to be a pledge of misfortune." Do not gain from every source, shaming yourself; to be prosperous unjustly brings fear. Do not call Plutus a god—I do not admire a god 390 whom even the basest of men has easily acquired. He is poor indeed, but in his character he is wealthy. I prefer a wise poor man to a wicked Midas. Theognis, however, babbles nonsense to me, as if it were a vast vanity, preferring cliffs and abysses to poverty, 395 and wickedly prescribing laws to Cyrnus regarding wealth.

Metrical Version

Those things which a young man frequently turns over in his hand, take care not to be called evil, provided I gain; for that is better than to live in poverty while observing the laws of the denizens of heaven, while seeking glory from this. Do not bring up lineage to me; a morsel is my lineage. No matter is more precious to mortals than wealth. Nothing can be imagined more miserable than the needy. Phoebus denies his responses if money is lacking. No one is blessed in all things. For either a man of upright character lacks food, or, though his stock is sordid, he abounds in wealth. For why do you yourself deem him to be called miserable who is lacking in wealth, but is rich in character? He is truly miserable, whoever thinks these things wrongly. ^B Therefore, avoid all these things along with their authors, and whatever else has been said of such a kind. But praise these things, for they are said rightly. When you take profit from a dishonest thing, know that you hold a pledge of calamity. Do not make gain from every side; revere yourself. Prosperity gained through injustice is not without dread. Why do you ask about Plutus? I do not admire the god whom even the basest of men can acquire without difficulty. He is poor indeed, yet he is wealthy in character. I prefer wise men who lack goods to wicked Midases. Theogis, moreover, raves most greatly, preferring dire death to penury, and sanctions for Cyrnus wicked laws regarding wealth.

^A And you, Homer, how is it that you assign such great worth to a fickle thing, so as to say in some part of your poems that virtue is a follower of wealth? He says: "I said this myself, not because I felt this way, but laughing at those who feel so miserably. For does it not seem to you that that Ulysses who escaped the sea, who endured so many struggles, having been seen as a naked wanderer by the princess, having won over the maiden to his side through his speech, ^B and having appeared highly worthy to the Phaeacians themselves, was clearly a panegyric of virtue?" I praise the Phrygian fable, which is excellent; for when Midas, having asked that all things be filled with gold, for his immoderation God gave him what he wished to happen; the gold was uneatable, and he who had it was a corpse. But what do I need with strange myths and teachings? Consider now my own laws as well. My race [noble origin] is primally that good from which I have come forth, and unto which I raise my life, striving to free myself from bonds. But that [sort of nobility] which springs from limbs and corruption, and from renowned dead who have long since rotted—which those below call "nobility"—is no more noble than flowing dung. And the fatherland of our bodies is not free, but ^C a slave to tributes, and poorly divided [by geography], marked off by the gulfs of the sea and by forests.

METRICAL VERSION

Homer, how does it come that you, too, attribute so much to a thing so fleeting, as if to declare in some place that virtue is a handmaid to wealth? "I said it, indeed," he says, "but not because I felt it so; I was mocking those who hold such wretched opinions. For do you not think that Ulysses, who endured so many toils when he fled the rush of the raging sea, and, naked and destitute, was seen by the princess, ^D and swayed her with his words, attaining the greatest esteem among the Phaeacians, is a splendid eulogy to virtue?" And that fable of the Phrygians is most beautiful; for when Midas had prayed that all things be changed for him into gold, in order that he might suffer the penalty of his evil craving, God granted his request; he had the gold, but the wretch perished from hunger. But why do I set forth foreign myths and precepts? I would have you look now to my own laws. My lineage is that first good from which I have sprung, to which I take up my life, struggling to free myself from baneful bonds. But that which is called noble by earthly men, flowing forth from the contagion and shackles of bodies, and from the famous long-dead and rotten ones, is by no means nobler than flowing dung. And the fatherland of bodies is not free, but subjected to heavy taxes and wretchedly carved up, bounded by forests and the inlets of the vast sea,

^A continually changing its wretched inhabitants, 425 the same being mother and tomb of her offspring, smiting those who smite her. O justice, O justice, of the taste and deception of the first-created! But that which is sought in her stead by the wise, toward which we look and are not carried away 450 like some herb floating upon the waters, is broad and boundless in its noble habitations, held by its inhabitants forever, mother of the living, and a stranger to labors, a chorus of those who unceasingly praise the great Christ, 435 an assembly of the first-born written in heaven and in the eternal books.

I also praise the glory laid up for me on high, a righteous standard, a good most free from falsehood. But the glory here is a breeze and a vainglory of empty men; 440 the righteous sort adds absolutely nothing, while that which is not true turns into harm. For to seem [to be] takes much away from [truly] being. Wealth, on the other hand, is flowing and full of drunkenness, blind in appearance and wandering, 445 blowing many up and vainly drawing in fortune, some swelling of the belly filled with dropsy. May that medicine, full of disease, creep toward others—a plaything of time and of envy, though it be held in honor. To me, however, wealth is abundant and enduring, ^B [alt-version omitted]

450 Standing firm, inviolate, supreme in possessions, Possessing nothing except God and the things above. For no one, even if he so desired, could acquire, Nor has anyone as yet acquired, all things; But it is possible to despise all things at once, 455 And in this way to be superior to all. Let others arrange phalanxes of heavy infantry, And suffer more evils than they inflict, Striking, lamenting, in wavering conflicts Contending and buying with blood 460 Some mass of wealth or the power of tyranny. Let others measure out the gulfs of the earth And of the wild sea, wretched merchants. Let others zealously weave together Lawsuits and contrary laws for the sake of small gains; ^A 465 But for me Christ is the purchase of all things, And I bear the poor man's cross as a great wealth, Having cast away the things that the moth gnaws and which are tossed about like game-pieces. His first law was the first delight, Even Eden and the paradise blooming with plants, 470 And the fountain parted into four sources. There was no gold, no electrum, nor silver, Nor the grace of bright and transparent stones, Which the earth gives to those who are bent toward the depths; But with fruits alone it fed in abundance 475 The laborer of God and of divine delight. Even there, a certain limit was measured for pleasure; For it forbade the tree of the knowledge of opposites. Which, not having been guarded, deprived me of everything, And gave me over to the toils of the earth, my mother.

^A One such [law] is to possess more than is necessary, And to know no measure for acquisition, Applying a remedy worse than the evil, And, while thirsting, to be scorched by the drink itself. Consider from this what happens, how strange it is: 485 Ever to be poor in wealth through that which is lacking, And to be unable to enjoy what has been acquired, Because of that which is not present—for this consumes the mind. This is the first law of a simple life; And there is that second one. Abraham 490 the patriarch, that great beholder of God, having been drawn out From house, and kin, and fatherland— he who is the steward of the greatest mysteries— ^B He led [him] easily into a foreign land, A stranger, a sojourner, roofless, wandering. 495 For faith was drawing him toward greater hopes; Jacob asked only for bread and a covering, Setting out into the midst of rivers, as the word [says], Even though he returned later with many flocks, Having found a just reward for those toils. 500 And it is good to add this also to what I have said: When Moses, inside the darkness, alone with the alone God, held converse, and received a law On tablets, double, by which he led a great people; Then, distributing what they possessed from God, ^C 505 To some he measured out other foreign land, But to the sons of Levi he distributes no portion. For their most excellent portion was God.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

Jonadab once, leading his children, ^A regarding the possession of no property and the high life (for he knew, indeed he knew how to philosophize, even though at that time poverty was not yet held in admiration), spoke these words, like a very kind father: "O children, what a great, what a very abundant inheritance I provide for you, such as no father has yet given to his children, not even the most wealthy! 515 Flee every possession, lead a life easily unburdened, held by no bond. Dwell in tents, in portable houses. Let another man till the land; but let a vine 520 be planted by him whom wine gladdens; but for you, let life be wineless and self-controlled. Living thus, you shall dwell safely, my children." ^B Such, then, is he. But where shall we place Elijah, whom great Carmel nourished 525 with ravens and a torrent, from a thirsty land? He who was a pauper and the last of the paupers, he withheld rains from tyrants, and the depths of rivers, he drew fire from heaven upon his enemies and upon his sacrifices. To the widows he caused to drip the drops of meager food, 530 feeding them, he who was in need, who was fed in abundance; and he raised the dead, a reward for pious shelter, and he was carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire. And the inheritance of Elisha, which came from Elijah, ^C was grace and that glorious cloak from on high. 535 This one was holy before he was even in the womb. O the wonder!

METRICAL VERSION

Rechab, also, persuading his children to a life of need ^D and loftiness (for he already knew how to pursue the path of the higher life: although at that time poverty was not yet held in honor, nor was it a miracle), uttered these words, worthy of an excellent father: "What a rich inheritance I offer you myself, my children! Such as no father has ever given, not even one flowing with wealth. Possess nothing; lead a free life, held back by no bond; dwell in tents; let these be-your portable homes. Let another man cut the soil of the earth, and plant vines, he whom the liquor of Bacchus delights. But let your life be entirely ignorant of wine. So shall you pass your days in safety, my children." Such, then, is he. But where shall I place Elijah, whom God fed through both ravens and a torrent, while the land was parched with thirst? He who, though a pauper and the poorest of the poor, yet withheld the flow of rains from tyrants, and struck fire from on high upon his enemies and his victims, and poured out for the widows drops of meager food, that needy man feeding liberally those who fed him, and drew the dead from the underworld as a reward for hospitality, and was snatched to the stars in a chariot of fire. What shall I say of the inheritance of Elisha, the grace that descended from on high along with the cloak? What of him who was holy before birth? O miraculous thing! O thing sacred to God!

Surely you hear of Samuel the great, Whom his mother's prayer brought to God— Unless it be too bold to say this: That his mother did not even have him, for he was given to God from infancy. 540 Who was the boundary between the old and new Testaments of God, as between shadow and body, Closing the one and opening the entrances to the other? Who was the great lamp running before the supreme light? Who was the first among those born of women, to whom God is witness? 545 He dwelt in the desert and had strange nourishment; A camel’s hair garment and a twist of skin Girded him—the Word described John, Who did not allow even a tattered rag to be possessed in duplicate. ^A What, then, could one say to Paul, 550 Who provided his own sustenance through his craft? Or to Peter, Feasting only on lupines, those great apostles, Who cast the whole world within the nets of God, Whose hands showered abundant Wealth upon the poor, bestowing it richly? 555 Others left their fishing-boats to their kin, Called by God for a better catch. For they were led by the excellent words Of Christ, who became poor and put on the thickness of flesh, Though He was the greatest Mind, and the first nature of Mind; 560 And having appointed the poor as heralds of the Word, He gives them faith alone as their traveling companion,

^A 565 And allows them not even a staff in their hands, That the strength of the Word might be their faith. Observe the greater thing: not even to the young man desiring to learn How one might attain the perfect, Does He define the summit by anything else, save this alone: 570 That it is necessary to distribute all things to the poor, To bear the great cross upon one's shoulders always, And to follow Him, being dead to things below, If indeed one should long also to be exalted with God. Thus He perfects even the tax collectors at His coming, 575 Giving all things eagerly to God. And let Zacchaeus persuade us, who, having been wealthy in ways that were evil, By having pity on the poor and those he had wronged, Grows wealthy in poverty, and is cleansed of filth. So then, these things concerning riches are thus. 580 As for temperance, the things said by the ancient Wise men among both the Greeks and the barbarians be few. For even among the barbarians there was some account of virtue. But what need is there to write down how and how many things are ours? For they are manifest and known to all. 585 I heard this from the wise tragedy: • Endeavor to hold every rein of the belly. • For it alone has no gratitude for what it has received.

METRICAL VERSION

^A In satiety, Cypris is present, but not in those who go hungry. A fat belly does not beget a subtle mind. 590 To fill a skin with honey or with flour—these differ in nothing in the recesses of the belly. And what grace is there in pouring into a leaking jar? But the belly, insatiable, has discovered even the courses of ships, and has armed others against others in frenzy, 595 and all the precious things of the gluttons—yea, not even the most common grain—to sink them into the abyss; from one single cauldron, truly, as my dearest Cercidas says—the end of those who live in luxury—he himself feeding on salt, 600 and spitting out the very salty brine of luxury itself. And who does not praise [him] regarding the young man living in luxury, ^B having said: "Cease adding to your chains, and rousing the beast that tears you apart." And what is this [other sayings] of the most beloved Stoics? 605 As someone speaking to his flesh, as one to another: "What do I owe you, miserable skin? To eat? A loaf of bread, given sparingly, is the greatest gift. To drink? We shall give you water, and vinegar. You ask me not for these, but for the things of luxury and satiety, 610 and the delicacy of crystalline drinking cups. We shall most willingly give them—but it will be a noose." Are these not better than the ancient indulgences of Sardanapalus of Ninus, who, being once ^C resplendent in wealth and corrupted by luxury, 615 wished that he had a throat longer even than a crane’s.

^A O divine David, when you were thirsty and had reached the well of the land of the Philistines and the drink held there, since some had served your desire at the cost of blood and battle, you took the water in your hands 620 and poured it out; for you could not bear to have your thirst satisfied by the troubles of others. But if there is a certain bread of angels, truly the food of the Word (for corporeal food does not nourish that which is of non-corporeal nature), 625 how many among us live the life of angels, subsisting on small sparks of life! And this they do not willingly, but on account of a divine decree; for one must remain bound until God grants release. I pass over the story of the scriptures and the things of old. 630 As many as have been deified by the purification of their bodies, ^B they passed many days tasting no food, as if they were free from bodies; they endured the threat of fire and the jaws of lions, so as not to partake of profane food in a strange land by the command of barbarians. But from the time that the enemy wrestled with Christ and departed, 635 conquered by noble flesh which had tasted nothing for forty days and nights, so that he was more ashamed, being defeated in his temptation, 640 a law of voluntary affliction of the body came forth for the contests—O wise wrestling!—and we offer bloodless and divine sacrifices, which the whole world offers to the Master; not calves as in the ancient law, 645 nor rams, nor any external offering. [alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

Of those not perfect (for everything irrational is deficient), They themselves, by limiting their body’s nourishment, Delighting in having no delights—O strange delight!— Striving to cleanse their temples for God, 650 By all-night vigils and psalm-singing, And by the migration of the mind toward the great Mind, Living in shadows and phantoms only so far As to grasp the hidden things through those that are seen. Hence, some having bound the heavy weight of the flesh 655 With iron, extinguished its satiety; Others, enclosed in darkness and narrow dwellings, Or in the fissures of wild rocks, Checked the ruin of wandering senses. Still others, in deserts and in the wooded haunts of beasts, ^A 660 To flee the bestial nature of sin, Gave themselves over, living a strange life, Knowing only this world which they see. Another, with sackcloth, and ashes, and tears, Drew down compassion, and by the labor of a bed on the ground, 665 And by a standing-vigil of many nights and days, And months—even something greater than this; for if I should say years, It would be unbelievable, I think, though to me very credible, And to as many as were witnesses of the friends of this miracle. For faith and the fear of God planted them firm, 670 Having snatched their minds prematurely from their bodies. But you shall hear of strange drinks and foods: Ash mixed with tears, Breadless, just as others are waterless in their lives.

METRICAL VERSION

(For all brute creatures lack perfection), But each, holding the wasting of the body as a luxury, Counts it a luxury to lack sumptuous feasts—O new luxury!— Striving diligently to purify the temple for God, While he spends whole nights keeping vigil in hymns, And in mind migrates to the great Mind, living hitherto In light shadows and specters, that through these Which the eye discerns, he may grasp hidden things. Hence one party, binding its body in chains, Has extinguished all wantonness to the very root. Another party, in narrow houses which the sun never sees, Or shut in some hollow of an eroded crag, Has repressed the damage which wandering senses bring. Desert places, and woods which wild beasts inhabit, ^B A portion sought, with no slow foot, to flee Bestial wickedness, passing a new kind of existence, Knowing only this world, which it sees. To him whose portion is ashes, sackcloth, and with tears, And sleep caught on the ground, he has bent God; And by the stationing of very many days and nights, And of months also: since if I should speak of years, The great throng will not believe; yet I myself will believe. And they will believe likewise, to whom this wondrous thing has been seen. For faith, and the fear of God, held them fast, Abstracting the spirit from the body before the time. And you shall hear of a meal that is not customary, Cinders with hot tears mixed at the same time. There are those who have lived without bread, and without water.

^A These things seem to me to transcend the laws of nature, when zeal leads one into strange paths. What are these? You marvel at the daughters of Leos, who were gladly sacrificed for Athens, and at the ready offering of Menoeceus, who died for Thebes so that he might save the city; and at the noble leap of the wise Cleombrotus from the heights, that he might depart from his body, since, having been persuaded by Plato’s discourse on the soul, he was seized by a desire for release. You speak of the broken leg of Epictetus, before he would utter a single word that was slave to pain; for we are taught that it is a man’s part to have the body as a slave, but the character as free. ^B And the pounding in a mortar of the hands of Anaxarchus, as if he were not present, and how he sternly commanded them to pound his own skin-bag, for he himself remained unpounded, being what he is, invisible. And the hemlock of Socrates, and that strange toast, drunk so gladly. Do you praise these? I too praise them, to the extent that they were brave in inescapable evils; for I see no salvation left for those who might wish for it. From here, come to the divine struggle of my athletes, and let fear cause you to tremble, as you hear of these things and keep them in memory: through what sort of dangers, and how great, we have magnified the venerable and new mystery of Christ, ^C and those who were deemed worthy to be called from this life. For envy has often set ablaze many of us with [the fire of]...

the enemies and persecutors of the Word, breathing wrath, like savage beasts, and we have never yielded to the shifts of the time. But if calm and peace ever contained any negligence, or if anyone was timid from any other cause, here we all stood firm in God, and being emboldened by a fiery zeal, we received the attack of our enemies, being gloriously defeated. For no one accepts safety as gladly as we accept noble dangers. Who has welcomed fire, swords, pits, famine, the noose, or murderous beasts as if they were a delight? ^A Or tortures, dislocations, the loss of eyes, boilings, lacerations, and the rending of limbs, cold, depths, darkness, and precipices, and the varied tragedy of long-enduring time? I am speaking to those who know it: that which is the worst of evils. For the height of evil is the relief of fear, but always to be expecting something is to be always suffering, and to die many cruel deaths instead of one. I pass over exiles and the confiscation of goods; and [all this] being endured before the eyes of husbands, wives, peers, children, and friends—which breaks even the stoutest. And for what sake? Perhaps for a single syllable. But why do I say a syllable? It is for a nod ^B or [as the context of these tyrants] who ruled over affairs...

[alt-version omitted]

[METRICAL VERSION] The name also from whence it fell to us to draw. For very often when envy disturbed many furious enemies against us, who were persecuting the faith and were like unto cruel beasts, we never yielded to a turbulent time. Yea, if peace had any element of languor, or if anyone elsewhere had failing morals, here we all with one heart stood firm, and being solid in fiery zeal, we endured the fury of our enemies, and were gloriously defeated. For no one accepts safety more willingly than we do [the hazards] to which true praise is a companion. Who has received fire and swords, or pits, or the cross, or famine, and savage beasts as if they were a luxury? ^B Or tortures, and limbs torn from their sockets, and eyes snatched away, and members mangled on every side, and cold, and darkness, and bodies cast into precipices, and the varied tragedy of long time—than which, I speak to those who know, nothing is more grievous to the mind? For the heat of pain soon removes fear; but to fear always is to suffer always, and to endure many deaths in place of one. I pass over mentioning exiles, and goods taken away, and these things in the sight of husbands, wives, companions, and often of dear offspring: which often bend hearts, even the bravest. And why these things? For the sake of a single syllable. What do I say, for the sake of a syllable? [It is for] a light nod.

730 One who, by negation, poorly preserves his life; For it is God who is set forth in brief, Whom if they betray, it is not possible to obtain another. What need have I of many words? Raise your eyes In a circle; contemplate the whole inhabited world, 735 How much the saving word now occupies, Binding together, and mingled with, both God and Passion— A strange mixing, and far from the laws of God; This they illumine, like the stars, Almost entirely with heavenly flashes, 740 And with high-roofed thrones and teachings, And with gatherings and all-embracing courses, And with hymnody worthy of the labors, ^A Of the famous victors of the slaughtered One. So great is the reverence for the struggle, 745 That even a little dust, or some relic Of ancient bones, or a small portion of hair, Or even rags, or some token of drops of blood, Suffices at times for the honor of the whole. And I have known a name, of which there is a remnant, 750 Bestowed upon places in place of the whole martyr, Having received equal power—O, the miracle! For I believe that even merely remembering [them] saves. What if I were to tell also of diseases and of demons, And the incredible purification [wrought] therefrom, up to the monuments 755 Which were once deemed worthy of precious bodies?

^A And against the incursions of opposing spirits? Such are the marvels of my athletes. But you boast to me of Pisa and the Delphic dust, and Nemea and the Isthmian pine, 760 Through which a wretched youth obtained glory, awarding themselves small and trifling prizes for contests, of boxing, wrestling, running, and jumping, Things which it is great neither to win nor be defeated in. For God is not the prize, nor salvation, 765 As in my laws and my struggles, nor is it [the prize] to obtain the glory which is on high and the crowns. But since you observed steadfastness in these things (Which it is most excellent and highly salutary to imitate also in the daily struggles 770 Against the pursuer of the depths and the hidden one, who cunningly steals away with misleading senses), ^B Come, consider for me also the things belonging to what we honor most, chastity. For it is as follows. There are, indeed, there are even among the Greeks, some 775 Lovers of this [virtue], both of old and even now. For I will not disbelieve the things that are noised about; for there is no envy in being temperate, even regarding foreigners. They speak of Xenocrates, when a certain harlot 780 Was thrown upon him as he slept at night (For, in fact, while sleeping at night), when he perceived it, he was neither terrified by the strange insult, nor did he rise up, nor did he deign to flee; For both were beneath Xenocrates; but he was so unmoved and invulnerable, 785 That she, fleeing, cried out gladly: "Why, by laying me beside a corpse, have you deceived me?" Epicurus indeed contended for pleasure

as being the reward of my toils, and that to it all the good things of men tend. 790 But that he might not seem to be praising it out of a certain love for pleasure, he lived honestly and chastely, recommending the doctrine by his manner of life. Nor will Polemon be passed over by me; for the thing is marvelous and very widely celebrated. 795 Before this, he was indeed little chaste, and a very shameful slave to pleasures; but after he was seized by the love of the good, having found an advisor—I cannot say who it was, whether some wise man or himself—he suddenly 800 appeared so much the master of his passions that I shall place it among his wonders. A certain intemperate youth called for a harlot; ^A but when she came near the entrance, ^B they say, a painting of Polemon was projecting there. 805 Seeing this—for it was venerable—she departed immediately, overcome by the sight, as if she were ashamed before the painted figure as though it were alive. And I know that this is celebrated by the mouths of many; Dion breathed, they say, a breath that was not very sweet 810 (I speak of that Dion of whom there is much talk), and a certain citizen mocked him for this; but he, when he saw his wife, said to her: "What is this? For you did not tell me of the infirmity." And she, with an oath: "I thought this infirmity belonged to all men, ^C not to you alone." So far had she removed herself from men and friends; for these words are an indication of a chaste nature.

Metrical Version

He maintained that pleasure was the reward of my toils, and that all the good things that men accomplish tend hither. And lest anyone should think he did this for the sake of pleasures, his life was honest. Thus, his chastity of conduct brought support to an otherwise wicked doctrine. Nor is Polemon himself worthy of silence. Indeed, this too is celebrated in the speech of all. He was at first very immodest in his behavior, and a slave to his lusts; but after he was captured by the love ^D of the good (I know not whether he used his own persuasion or that of some wise man), he immediately extinguished all the flames of his own lusts in such a way that I should not be loath to recount one thing from his miracles. A certain lustful youth had summoned a harlot; and so, when the harlot reached the atrium of the house, catching sight of the prominent portrait of Polemon (for he was of a venerable and very grave countenance), she was overcome and turned back her foot at the mere sight, fearing the painted man just as if he were endowed with life. Moreover, this too is very much on everyone's tongue: Dion had a breath, as they say, that was not very sweet (I speak of him who is famous in report). When someone reproached him for this, as soon as he saw his wife, he said to her: "What? Why did you not point out my malady to me?" Then she, calling the gods as witnesses, replied: "I thought all males smelled thus." So far removed had she kept herself from all men, and even from friends! For this saying indicates the greatest chastity.

Who, among other things, would not praise this of Alexander? When the daughters of Darius, whom he had conquered, 820 Came into his hands, having learned they were beautiful, He would not receive them for an audience; for he deemed it a vice For a man, having vanquished men, to be bested by maidens. These things are in no wise close to my own concerns, Yet I praise them. And why? For how pleasant it is to see 825 A white form among Ethiopians, Or a spring of sweet water in the midst of the sea! So also, among corrupt and wicked teachings, To possess something chaste is a miracle of the greatest kind. For those whose objects of worship are most driven by passion, 830 To them, suffering is evidently something honorable. And indeed, for some god, whose passion it is, he presides ^A As a helper in evils, having made use of evil. Whose loves, tell me, burn even for males? For it is fitting that your gods have something more than you. 835 Whose Phrygian youths are wine-bearers, Pouring out the sweetest nectar dissolutely? For I am ashamed at the mysteries of Zeus. Whose are the thefts of wedlock and the outrages of bonds? A shameful spectacle and laughter for those invited! 840 How the women make Zeus do everything— A bull, a thunderbolt, a swan, a man, a beast, Gold, a serpent—the ecstasies of love— The highest one, and the contriver of the foulest deeds! Who counts a goddess as the mistress of pleasures, 845 And raises altars and temples to her passions? ^B

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^A Whose are these nights—nights truly worthy of the name—honored with rituals of shameful things? And the Ithypalli and Phalli, among bursts of laughter, mingling a new god into their inventions? 850 Even to speak of these things requires one to be veiled: Hermaphrodites, Panes, a foul lineage! Gods with the legs of goats, and goats in their manner of life, among whom virgins dance the choruses of marriage (for there must be some experience of marriage, even if it be not true marriage). 855 Among whom the beautiful give away the not-beautiful, ^B or contribute as a dowry their earnings of fornication. Such is the vileness that is the honor of some demon, so that not even humanity remains decent. From this, shame has gained its boldness—860 the brothel’s roof, the profits, the wickedness sanctioned by law. The wise men fashion their courtesans into Aphrodite, so that they may be worshipped through this sophistry; and Phidias [inscribed] the joys of his youth on the finger of the maiden with the words: “Pantarches is beautiful.” 865 Hence it is that such deeds of manliness and martial prowess are made brilliant by paintings, applause, and writings.

^A Observe with me so many harlots honored with temples and divine rites—Euphro, Phryne, and Leæna in the form of a beast— 870 for the name itself was revered in the midst of the temples—and her who dominated Greece, of whom there is much talk, the foul Lais born in Hyccara, and many others, for they are beneath my notice.

As for these, my good friend, like a skilled 875 assayer of silver, accept whatever is good, but cast away what does not make you better; rather, hasten to all your own teachings, and to the models of temperate men and women whose hope and teacher is God, 880 who write better laws than those which the hand inscribes.

^B For we are those who consider adultery an evil, while others merely categorize and punish it by law; yet we ourselves suggest something even greater concerning this: that one should not even look with lustful and licentious eyes, 885 placing the cause in the same category as the end—just as one might link anger to murder, as anger is the source of murder, and a readiness for oaths to perjury. For when evil does not arise without these, ^C by forbidding them, we put the terrible acts themselves to flight. 890 Thus, for me, chastity is secure; from which comes my great chorus of virgins, imitating the unbodily life of angels and of God who dwells with them and alone. Whence what follows? That they flow into the other life

895 All things stream by and desire a migration, Released from bonds and nuptial laws. Since Christ, the offspring of a virgin mother, Appearing, makes the virgin by new laws. For when I entered into life, and was bound, 900 Compelled by nature to know the fluid things by flux, And the things of corruption by corruption, so that I might learn the better things From those which are seen and which are deceptive; Rejoicing, I lead back the image to God, With a life free and unfettered, 905 Leaving behind no trace of my skin, Like another wineskin inflated in life. And I, whole, am moved by the whole God, Together with many other genuine companions, Who looking only to the life which we hope for, 910 Have dedicated not hair nor wealth to God, From whom are all things—but that which they have As the first-fruit: purity and an incorporeal life. These are the congregations of the new Nazarites, Abounding and shining with internal goods, 915 Which virgins honor even unto blood. What should I say to you of Thecla? Or of her, or of those, As many as, desiring to preserve for God The beauty [which is] sealed, ran toward dangers? But that which is always most known to all, 920 You see the sleepless psalmodies of virgins Of men and women, having forgotten their nature; How many and of what sort, and how much they are being deified! ^A

METRICAL VERSION

As all things absolutely desire to migrate from here, Released from the laws and bonds of the bridal chamber, From which Parent Christ, born of the Virgin, Makes me a virgin through new laws. For when I came into time, and bound indeed, By flowing things to know those that flow, and through decay Compelled to recognize these things which are subject to decay and death, That I might learn better things through the vague and that which we see, I lift up in my mind, joyful, the image to God, Through an unyoked and free kind of life: Leaving here no mark of my skin, Inflated like some wineskin in life, by God But urged on by the One, with many Other best companions of the holy way; ^B Looking ever toward the heavenly life Which they dedicated to Christ, not hair nor their wealth, But the chastity of the body, to which they have nothing That can be compared among their goods. These Nazarites I call, who in a new troop All abound with goods hidden within, Which holy virgins honor even unto death. What should I tell you of Thecla, and all the others, Who while they study to preserve for the Thunderer The form [which is] hidden/bestowed, Have come into the greatest dangers of life? But, what is most known to all, Do you see how at night they sing praises to God Either sex having forgotten its own nature? How many, and how holy? You see an angelic choir,

^A a harmonious, antiphonal choir of angels, double, ordered in heaven and on earth, 925 singing the praises of divine majesty and nature. Thus, therefore, chastity is to be honored by you, through such arguments and types, looking to which, "Purify yourself, that you may receive the laws of God." For all things that pertain to reason belong to prudence. 930 For what is praiseworthy without prudence? But the first and greatest thing is to know God, being honored genuinely in deed and word; for this is the source and salvation for all. God is understood by some, even if only moderately; 935 but by no one is he expressed, nor heard, ^B as much as he is, even if one thinks so excessively. For there intrudes, like a mist, upon the contemplation, always something of my own and of things seen; which, having surpassed, may I be joined to God, 940 so as even to grasp and be persuaded that I possess this which I hastened to take, laboring no longer. Not to worship God is a most destructive thing, nor to know any first cause of all, from which all things both have proceeded and remain, 945 kept safe by an unspeakable order and word. But that one should think he knows what he is, is an injury of the mind, unless, perhaps, one looking at the shadow of the sun upon the waters might think he is looking at the sun itself.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

Or, struck by the beauty of the vestibule, ^A 950 He might think he sees the Lord of what is within. One man is somewhat wiser than another, He who has drawn more of the light, seeing more; Yet all are alike below the dignity of God, Whom light covers, and before whom darkness stands. 955 If any man cuts through the gloom, he is flashed upon By the secondary veil of the highest light. It is not at all easy to penetrate this double veil Which fills all things and remains above all, Which makes the mind wise, and flees the mind's grasp, 960 Always drawing me toward the heights, as it slips away. Above all, one should both know and revere God, Showing one’s love in the fervor of the commandments. ^A To seek what He is—not everywhere, nor always, Nor to lay bare the Word rashly to all. 965 Let one thing be said of God, and that with fear; Let another thing be kept within, and revered Only by the mind, concealed and honored in silence. But to those to whom it might be opened, if anyone teaches the Word, For less danger comes to the ears than to the tongue. 970 We should desire to learn clearly what is to follow Once this density of the body has been loosed; but now, as you have strength, Take care to cleanse and renew yourself by a bright life; For thus you will also receive God as He is conceived. Every word urges us to hasten to the temple of God; 975 For the pure is a pure dwelling place. Reasonings contribute but little to the knowledge of God.

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^A For every argument has a counter-argument, but my word does not hold a fickle faith; rather, it is a great thing to cleave to that which is spoken. 980 For he who has loved will himself be loved, and he who has been loved receives God as his guest. Wheresoever He is, one cannot fail to have light; and to know the Light itself is the first part of light. Thus, love becomes the harbinger also of knowledge; 985 and this is a better path to the truth than that which is honored in word and in shiftiness. ^B Therefore, we shall clarify that which can be understood: an Unoriginate Principle, a Spirit, a holy Trinity, Causeless, Begotten, and Proceeding; 990 the Father the first, the Son the second—Himself also the Word—and the third is not indeed the Son, but the Spirit of the same essence. One God out of three, and a common worship, by which I am released from the mortal bond of this entanglement. If you honor these things for me and hold fast to them, by a holy life, 995 having cast off all the storm of this lower life, by true doctrine and hatred of fables, you shall be set on high, and may you become greater than I, so that you may attain to greater boldness.

XI. A DIALOGUE WITH THE WORLD.

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Yet I am also—I, who was fashioned by the hand of Christ—woven from both, heavenly things and earthly. This body, indeed, was fashioned from thence, ^B but the soul is the breath of a great mind. But yet, I am driven hither and thither by many calamities, some from myself, and some from the enemy. Like a dolphin, though a sea-traveler, I die upon the land, in the air. World, I have passed by; lead your people unhurt.

XIII. On the Same Subject

We pass by one another, I and time, like birds or ships upon the sea.

XI

Having nothing stable; but what I have sinned will not pass away, ^A But remains; this is the most miserable thing in life. 5 Nor have I anything to pray for: to live longer, or to be released; There is loitering on both sides; but thus he speaks to me: Life is very grievous to me because of my sins. But if I should die, Alas, alas, there is no remedy for my former sorrows. If life signals this to you, of which there is such a burden, ^B 10 Nor does release provide an end to my toils, There is a precipice on both sides. What shall we do? This is best: To look to You alone, and to Your kindness.

XIV. On human nature.

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XIV: On human nature

Who have I been, who am I, and who shall I be? I do not know clearly, nor is there anyone who surpasses me in wisdom. But I myself, covered by a cloud here and there, ^A wander about possessing nothing, not even in a dream, of the things I desire. For we are all low-lying and wandering, over whom hangs the dark cloud of the flesh. But that man is wiser than I who, more than others, has cast out from his heart ready-spoken falsehoods. "I am." Declare, what is this? One part has already slipped away from me. I am something else now, and I shall be something else, if indeed I shall be anything. Nothing is firm; I am the current of a muddy river, ^B always moving onward, holding nothing standing still. Why do you ask me of these things? Teach me what I am, more than you. And now, remaining here, watch that I do not flee you. You will not cross the river's current twice, as you crossed it before, nor will you see the same mortal whom you saw before. I was before in the flesh of my father; then my mother received me, a common offspring of both. Thenceforth, a mass of flesh, ^C indistinguishable, not human, but an unformed baseness, partaking neither of reason nor of mind, having the mother as a tomb. We are buried twice, living in corruption. For the life which I run through, I see to be the expenditure of years which has poured upon me baleful old age. But if immortal time receives me there, as the report says, consider whether life may not have death, and death be life for you, ^D otherwise than you think.

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^A I am nothing. Why am I oppressed by evils, as if I were something solid? For this alone is unchangeable in human affairs, 45 innate, inseparable, and unaging. From the moment I slipped from my mother's womb, I first shed tears, knowing into how many and what great calamities I was to run—weeping before I even touched life! We hear of some land free from wild beasts, as Crete once was, 50 and some land free from chilling snow-flakes; but no mortal has ever boasted that he departed from this life free from its hateful labors. Infirmity, poverty, childbirth, death, enmity, wicked men, the wild beasts of the sea and the land—such is life entirely. 55 I have perceived many evils that are altogether devoid of joy, but not one good thing is entirely devoid of grief, ever since that bitter retribution was wiped upon me by a destructive tasting, and the envy of the adversary. To you, indeed, flesh, such things are said, 60 O enemy who art hard to heal, who art never released from war, O beast that fawns bitterly and cools with fire—what a wonder! A great wonder, if ever you should be kind to me at the last. ^B And to you, soul, what is fitting shall next be spoken. Who, whence, or what are you? And who placed you as a bearer of the dead, 65 and bound you in the hateful chains of life, to this earth that is weighed down on every side? How were you, a spirit, mingled with density, and mind with flesh, and light with a burden? For these things fight against one another in opposition.

METRICAL VERSION

I am nothing; why then am I oppressed, as if I were some most solid thing, by such savage evils? ^B For this alone is solid for man, and free from old age, ever since he is born and bedews his face with weeping, testifying through the tears he sheds on the threshold of life what hard troops of evils await him. There is a region, as once was Crete, ignorant of wild beasts; there is another land that knows no wintry snow: but that any man has closed his time of life empty of adverse circumstances, no one can rightly say. Disease, poverty, childbirth, death, hostiles, the wicked: and whatever wild beasts the earth or the sea nourishes. And I have seen many evils associated with no good things; but no good things to which evils were not joined: ever since that destructive eating brought upon me avenging punishments, and the envy of the savage demon. These things be said to you, O flesh, curable with difficulty, O fawning enemy, waging war at every time: O wild beast that caresses harmfully, O chilling fire. Which, if you should favor me, will be a truly new thing. Come now! Soul; for I shall address you now, and what I shall say, I think is not foreign to the telling. What are you, O my soul? And what origin came to you? And who gave you to carry a stinking corpse? Who bound you with the solid and heavy chains of life, hanging you perpetually with your eyes fixed upon the ground; so that spirit is joined to thickness, mind to flesh, and you, light, are joined to a hard burden? For there is a grave battle between them.

^A If you truly have come into life sown together with flesh, 70 Alas for the union, pernicious to me from of old! I am the image of God, and I have been made the son of shame; I am ashamed of desire, the mother of my honor. Flux gave me birth; it is corrupt: now I am a man; again, ^A not a man, but dust; my last hopes. 75 But if you are heavenly, who are you, and whence? Teach one who desires to know. If you are the breath of God and a portion, as you think, cast away wickedness, and I shall be persuaded. For it is not fitting for that which comes of the pure to be even slightly soiled. For neither does darkness come from the sun, nor did the brilliant offspring 80 of an evil spirit appear. But how are you driven by so mighty an impulse of the baleful Belial, even while you are being intermingled with a heavenly Spirit? For if you have such a helper and yet you incline toward the earth, alas for the intensity of your unsullied ruinous malice! 85 But if you are not from God for me, what is your nature? I truly fear greatly that I may be puffed up with empty glory. The creature of God, paradise, Eden, glory, hope, [the commandment], the rain that destroyed the world, the rain of fire, and then the law, a written remedy; then afterwards 90 Christ, who mingled his own form with ours, so that He, being God, having suffered in my sufferings, might furnish a safeguard, and might make me a god in human form. But nevertheless I have an indomitable spirit, and like a boar, I rush headlong into the iron [of the blade] in self-slaughtering madness.

72 *I am ashamed.* I am ashamed of the mother of my honor—that is, the divine image—either to speak of or to consider the wanton and shameless lust of the flesh. 76 *Portion.* Heritage: if you were given by God, if you are a gift of God, etc. 87 *Creature of God.* He enumerates the helps and benefits of God toward man. First, He planted paradise in Eden; then He infused this primary glory into him, so that He might create him in His own image. Then, for the sake of help, He laid upon him a commandment, to the keeping of which was promised the hope of attaining immortality. Furthermore, when he had departed from the commandment, not even then did He leave him destitute of every help; but through many kinds of discipline, both public and private, He visited the impieties and crimes of those by whom He was wickedly offended, punishing them justly; thus, little by little, He trained them for the knowledge of Himself; and indeed He handed over the world to destruction, having been overwhelmed by the waters; but He crushed the execrable lust of the Sodomites with thunderbolts and reduced their cities to ashes. Afterward, another kind of medicine was introduced: the written law through Moses; and finally the most powerful and excellent remedy of all, full of the highest goodness, the only-begotten Son Himself, in the fullness of time, in no way departing from the Father's bosom, united His divine nature to the human—wholly and entirely, personally united in an arcane manner—whereby, indeed, God, remaining impassible, while suffering in the human part, might heal my passions. BILL. 94 *Self-slaughtering.* Coisl. Int. and Reg. 991 mutual-slaughtering.

METRICAL VERSION

If you have come into existence in life sown together with flesh, how far removed from me is this pestiferous union! I am the image of the Divinity, but I have sprung from a stain; and, alas, foul lust gives birth to ^B my exceeding pride. Corrupt seed gives me birth; I am now man; and again, not man, but dust is our final hope. But if you are heavenly, tell me, I pray, whence is your origin? If you are a part of God, as you judge, and His breath itself, then, while you drive away crimes, I shall believe it: for it is fitting that that which has been brought forth from the Pure should be free from every stain. For neither does the sun produce darkness, nor does a brilliant and good spirit arise from a depraved breath. But if you are an ethereal spirit from on high, how does the rabid enemy so shake and urge you, and how, if you lean upon such aid, do you incline toward the depths, alas, what a store and force of vice is yours! If you are not sprung from God, what is your nature? I must fear lest empty honor puff up my mind. God's creature, paradise, Eden, hope, glory, and command; the rain destroying the world, the rain of fire likewise. Finally, medicine was sought from written laws: and at last the Begotten of God was made man: that He might bear the medicines for our diseases as one who suffers, and for our sake, having been made man, might make us holy divinities. But yet my force is indomitable: and no differently than a savage boar, I rush headlong into the iron.

POEMATA MORALIA

95 What is the good of life? The light of God? But hostile and hateful darkness drives me from it. There is no gain for me. And why is there no more for the wicked? For I would that I were equal to them, even if I laboured greatly! I lie languishing; a divine fear has bent me low; 100 I am worn out by daily and nightly anxieties. This man, arrogant and stiff-necked, has thrust me supine and trampled me underfoot. But do you tell me of all things to be feared: sacred Tartarus, the fire-breathing rivers, the whips, 105 and the demons, those executioners of our souls. All these are a fable to the wicked, and the only good is what lies before one’s feet; wickedness has no regard for punishment. It would have been better for the trangressors to be unpunished hereafter ^A than for me to be vexed now by the calamities of corruption. But why, for me, why is it so necessary to sing of the woes of mortals? 110 Suffering is present to all of our race. The earth is not for me unshakeable; the winds buffet the sea: the hours give way to one another in their haste. Night brings the day to an end, and it ^B clouds the light with gloom. The sun gives way to the stars, and the clouds 115 steal away the beauty of the sun, and the moon returns to life; yet the starry heaven is half-revealed. And you too, Lucifer, at one time ^C were among the angelic choirs, but now you have fallen, a disgrace from the heavens.

METRICAL VERSION

What is the good of this life? Light; but dire ^C darkness, full of envy, drives me from it. I have nothing more: what is not better for the wicked, moreover? For I would that at least an equal portion were mine! I lie oppressed: divine fear torments me, I am worn out, miserable, by cares night and day, he lays me low, and every ^D arrogant man tramples me with his feet, and lazy; and you, tell me what things are to be feared, the blackest Tartara, Phlegethontes, dire lashes, and the obscene demons, executioners of the soul. All these things the wicked mock, and they love only the present; the wicked race cares not for heavy punishments. It would be better for the depraved not to pay penalties after death than for me to pay for their crimes here. But why do I collect the grievances of men, of our race? No thing is plainly free from pain. Not the earth is intrepid, but it is shaken by the wind, and times in turn yield to their own appointed hours. Black night gathers the day, storm darkens the air: the sun obscures the grace of the stars. The sun is covered by clouds, and the moon rises again: and half hidden, it lies apart from the pole. You too, Lucifer, who were once among the angelic hosts, having fallen from the high citadel, you are wretched.

^A Be propitious to me, O Triad, venerable kingdom: for not even you have escaped the tongue of rash men. First the Father, then the great Son, and lastly the Spirit of the great God, is attacked with reproaches. Whither, O unreasoning anxiety, will you carry me, snatched away as I am? Desist. Everything is inferior to God. Yield to the Word. ^A For God did not form me in vain. Here I now retract my song; these things are to be attributed to our own lack of sense. For now there is darkness, but afterwards reason, and you shall perceive all things, either seeing God or being consumed by fire. ^B After my friendly mind had sung these things to me, I digested my grief. So, late at night, I returned home from the shady grove, now laughing at myself for having thought otherwise, now again tearing my heart with sorrow, as the mind struggles with itself.

XV. Concerning the Vileness of the Earthly Man.

Who was I born? Who am I? And who shall I be not long hence? Whither, O Immortal, will you take your great masterpiece when you set it down? If there be anything great—as I think, we are nothing—we mortals vainly lift our eyebrows. 5 If we were only this, as it appears to most, once life is lost, I would have nothing more. The calf leaps forth from its mother’s womb and skips, and strikes the sweet udders; at three years old it takes up the yoke, and bears the weight of the wagon, 10 and joins its great neck to the yoke-strap. The fawn, with its dappled hide, as soon as it slips from the womb, immediately places its foot beside its mother’s foot.

It flees from flesh-eating dogs and the swift horse, ^A and hides in the dens of the thicket. Bears, and the race of destructive boars, and lions, the wind-swift tiger, and the might of leopards, immediately bristle their manes as soon as they see iron, and they bristle and leap upon the fierce hunters. The bird, just now featherless, not long after being furnished with wings, ^B 20 circles high above the nest in the air. The tawny bee, having left its cave, builds a dwelling ^C opposite, and fills the house with sweet offspring. And all these things are the labor of one spring, and their food is automatic, provided by the bounty of the earth. 25 They do not plow the unyielding sea, they do not cultivate fields, they have no stewards, nor cup-bearers, ^D having performed but little labor, their concern is for the day. And the great lion, having killed the beast, just as I have heard, 30 having lapped, shrinks from the remnants of its meal. At one time it feasts on alternate days, and at another time it laps up drink, weightily imposing limits upon its belly. Such a much more effortless life is theirs; the rock and the branches are a home always ready. 35 Sound, strong, and exceedingly beautiful; but if disease should overcome them, they leave behind their valiant breath without grief. They do not lament with mournful songs, standing about, one from another, nor do their friends tear their hair. Let me speak a greater word; they perish here without fear, 40 and the wild beast tremors at no evil when it dies.

^A Behold the miserable race of mortals, ^B so that you may say, ^A Truly, there is nothing weaker among mortals. ^B I am a child of flux, and my mother bore me with travail; I was nurtured in many bitter labors. 45 My mother held me in her arms, a sweet burden; but afterward I crawled upon the earth, worn down by pains. Thence I went, four-footed upon the ground. Thence I was lifted, with trembling steps, aided by stealthy hands. Thence my mind began to shine forth, through the traces of silent speech; 50 thence again, with tears, I was entrusted to the masters of oratory. At twenty years of age, I gathered my strength, and met many sufferings beforehand, like some athlete. Other things are mine—but they have departed; for others you shall struggle. Know this, my soul, as you traverse life: ^C for if you were to balance in the scales all the pleasures and all the griefs of life, drawing the middle of the beam, the pan of evils would greatly weigh down and come to earth, while the pan of goods would fly upward in return. Strife, sea, field, toil, men who are robbers, possessions, tax-scribes, collectors, loud-voiced criers, 65 rhetoricians, books, judges, a wicked ruler—all these are the wretched playthings of life. Look also at the things that seem pleasant: satiety, weight of body, singing, laughter, and the tomb, always full of putrid corpses. ^D Inspice hominum miserum genus, ut dicas, Certe hominibus nihil debilius. Fluxus quidem sum proles: magno labore me genuit mater. Nutritus sum multis gravibusque laboribus. 45 Ulnis gestavit me mater, onus dulce: deinde Terram radebam doloribus confectus. Postea ingrediebar solo ut quadrupes. Tum erectus steti, Vestigiis vacillantibus, furtim nixus alienis manibus. Inde mens sublucere cœpit signis inconditæ vocis. 50 Post hæc lacrymas fudi sub liberalium artium magistris. Vicesimo ætatis anno vires collegi, atque in multas calamitates Obvias incidi, ut quidam pugil. Alia quidem me premunt: hæc effluxere : aliis autem vexaberis, Id bene scito, anima mea, trajiciens hanc vitam, 55 Tractum infidissimum, fluxum ferum, æstum maris, Hinc atque hinc frequentibus ventis ferventem. Multum quidem stultitia exagitor; sed alia dæmon Vitæ nostræ hostis mala attulit. Etenim si omnia bona, omniaque vitæ mala 60 Appenderis, æqua examina trabens, Multum certe præponderans malorum lanx ad terram verget, Contra vero bonorum lanx sursum feretur. Pugna, mare, terra, labor, prædones viri, Possessio, tributi scribæ, exactores, clamosi præcones, 65 Rhetores, libri, judices, princeps homo scelestus, Omnia hæc miseræ hujus vitæ sunt ludibria. Inspice et quæ jucunda: saturitas, gravitas corporis, cantus, risus, Sepulchrum fétidis semper refertum cadaveribus, [alt-version omitted]

^A Dowries, marriage, and marriage once more, when the former is [cast aside, 70 Adulterers, murderers of adulterers, children a suspected grief, Beauty an unfaithful love, a fearless evil, a disgrace, Anxieties of good childbearing, the pains of bad craft, Wealth and poverty both an evil, insolence, distress, A ball tossed back and forth by the hands of the young. 75 Seeing these things, I am heart-torn, if anyone thinks This is the best, where the evil is greater than the good. Do you not weep hearing how many were the sufferings even of those of old? I do not know if you will weep or laugh as you hear it. Both of these things wisdom fitted for men of old: 80 For one, there was weeping even here, and for the other, laughter, As Trojans and Achaeans leaping upon one another Were slaughtering each other for the sake of a harlot. The Curetes and the warlike Aetolians fought Concerning a boar’s head and the swine’s bristles. 85 The Aeacidae, a great subject of song—yet they died, the one at the hands of [enemies, In a maddened hand, the other through wantonness. Amphitryoniades’ great glory: yet he was subdued By a flesh-eating garment, that slayer of all monsters. Cyrus and Croesus did not escape their evil fate, 90 Nor, indeed, did our own, as many as were lords but yesterday.

^A And you, O son of a dragon, restless in your fury, Alexander, whom wine destroyed when you had traversed the whole world. What advantage is there among the dead? Dust, mere bones, alike for the hero Agamemnon and for Irus the beggar. 95 Constantine the emperor, and my own servant; whoever is poor, whoever possesses much: each is marked out by one lonely tomb. And so it is with things here; but who could tell of those things elsewhere, ^B or how many things the final day brings upon the wicked? A crackling fire, terrible darkness, set far from the light, 100 and the worm, that eternal reminder of our own malice. It would have been better for you, wretch, if you had not entered the gates of life; or if you had entered, that you had perished entirely, like a beast, than that, having such great sorrows here, you should afterwards bear even greater punishments for what you have given here. ^A 105 Where is the great glory of my first ancestor? It perished by food. Where is the wise Solomon? He was subdued by women. And where is he who was numbered among the twelve, Judas? For the sake of a little gain, he was enveloped in darkness. ^B Christ, O King, I beseech you, grant me a remedy for these evils at once, 110 and raise me up from here to your servant, O Blessed One. One thing alone is good and steadfast for men: heavenly hopes, to which I breathe a little. For other goods, there is great satiety. All those things which are swept along upon the earth, I desire to leave behind for the ephemeral ones: 115 my country and foreign lands, thrones and the glory of a spurned throne, those nearby and those far away, the pious and the wicked, the open enemies and the ambushers, those bearing an envious eye, ^C and those wasting away within by their own self-slaying malice. Let the joys of life belong to others; but I, of my own free will, shall escape them. 120 Woe is me that this life is longer than its own sorrows! [alt-version omitted]

^A How long shall I be held in the filth? For truly all the comforts of our life have a double-edged grace: to take in and to cast out, measured day by day. The throat holds but a little, while all the rest is a sewer. 125 Winter again, summer in turn, then spring, and autumn; days and nights, the two shadows of life. Heaven, earth, sea—nothing is new to me, neither things that are fixed nor those that revolve. I have had my fill of these. Grant me another life and another world, 150 for which, though I labor, I would willingly endure all hardships. Would that I had perished when you bound me in my mother’s womb; straightway for me, at the breaking forth, were tears and darkness! What a life is this? Leaping from the tomb, I journey toward a tomb; 155 and from my grave I shall be buried by the fire without regard. ^A Yet as long as I breathe, like the torrent of a river flowing swiftly—always departing and coming again from behind, possessing nothing that stands still; all of it is dust, casting shadows upon my eyes, 138 so that I might fall far from the light of God, 139 and touching the walls, wandering hither and thither, 140 I might hold my foot outside the great Life. I shall dare a certain true word, that man is a plaything of God, one of those things which are in the cities. Another face is above, which a hand has carved; but if it be lifted, I shudder, for suddenly I have appeared as someone else. 145 Such is the entire life of wretched mortals, whose care is empty hope—like dreams. Hold these things for a short time.

But I, having grasped Christ, will never cease, Being loosed from the bonds of this earthly life. For I am twofold: the body was formed from thence; ^A 150 Therefore it inclines also toward its native earth. But the soul is the breath of God, and ever Ardently desires the better portion of heavenly things. As the stream of a fountain is downward-flowing, but fire Knows one way that is straight—it leaps upward— 155 So great is a mortal, and an angel, if, casting off As a serpent its dappled old age, he goes thence. Be disturbed, O priests; for I have died. And O sinful Neighbors, you shall no longer shudder at me, as before; ^B To them you shall always claim for yourselves the great house of the living King, 160 But I, leaving all, have one thing, The Cross, the shining pillar of my life. And if I be raised From hence, and touch the heavenly sacrifices, To which envy—a fabricated evil, if it be lawful to say—does not approach, Then I shall pray even for the envious, being myself free from envy.

XVI. Concerning the ways of life. Who am I, and whence have I come into life? Since the earth shall take me, Who again shall rise up from the dust? ^C And where will the great God place me when He has brought me, or will He save me, Having raised me thence into a tranquil harbor?

METRICAL VERSION

But I will embrace Christ, who remains for the ages, When the bonds of life shall have been broken for me. For I am duplex; my body was born of earth, Whence it weakly tends toward its own soil. But the mind is the breath of the Deity: and therefore it ever seeks To enjoy the better goods, those of the heights. Thus indeed the fountain slides downward: but enkindled fire Knows but one path toward the heights. Great is man, or rather a new angel: if he Like a serpent lays aside his old age, and seeks the highest stars. The deed is done; leap, O sacred ones, leap, O neighbors: My terror shall no longer shake you as before. You block yourselves from divine pardon: But the cross, with all things cast aside, is my only one, ^D A clear pillar that is of my life: and loosed from hence, I shall joyfully offer a sacred rite in the ethereal temple, To which the hidden taint of envy does not approach— A fabricated evil, if I may be permitted to say so with this voice. And for those who now pursue me with the cruel tooth of envy, I, empty of spite, shall pray.

XVI. ON THE WAYS OF LIFE. (Translated by Billius.)

Whence have I come into the light? And having been buried in the earth, Who shall I be, reviving from the meager ash? And where will the great God place me? Will He, Having extracted me from dangers, lead me to the safe shores of heaven?

On the Paths of Life

^A 5 Many are the paths of this long-suffering life, And one brings one person to trials, another to others. There is nothing among men that is good and unmixed with evil. Would that the grievous things did not have the greater share! Wealth is treacherous, and the throne is the eyebrow of dreams; 9 10 To rule is a labor, and poverty is a shackle. Beauty is like a lightning flash, a fleeting grace; and youth Is the fever of time; old age, the bitter dissolution of life. The words are winged; glory, air; ancient blood Is nobility; strength is that of a wild boar. 14 15 Wanton is fullness; a bond is marriage; and having good children Is a necessary anxiety; having bad children is a disease. Marketplaces are the exercises of vice; but peace Is helplessness; the arts are for those who walk on the ground. Narrow is another’s bread. And to plow the earth

20 Is toil. The greater part of seafarers are in Hades. Their fatherland is a pit for them; being a foreigner is a reproach. All things here are a juggler’s trick to mortals; all things are laughter, Down, shadow, phantom, dew, breath, a wing, vapor, a dream, A swell, a stream, the track of a ship, a breeze, dust, 25 25 A circle endlessly turning, rolling all things alike, Standing, running, being dissolved, fixed, By seasons, days, nights, labors, deaths, griefs, By delights, diseases, falls, successes. And this is of Thy wisdom, O Father, O Word, that all things 30 Should be unstable, so that we might have a longing for the stable. I have traveled with the wings of my mind through all things, whatever is old, Whatever is new; but nothing is weaker than mortals.

^A There is only one thing good and firm for men: to begin from this place, lifting up the cross; 35 tears and groanings, a mind obsessed with divine things, hope, and the radiance of the heavenly Trinity mingling with the pure, the release of senseless clay, the incorruptibility of the image which we have received from God; to live a life alien to this life, and instead of the world 40 exchanging the world, and enduring all burdens.

XVII. The Beatitudes of Various Lives

Blessed is he who has a solitary life, and is not mingled with those who walk upon the earth, but has deified his mind. Blessed is he who, though mingled with many, is not turned about by the many, but sends his whole heart to God. 5 Blessed is he who bought Christ instead of all possessions, and holds the cross, which he carries on high, as his only possession. Blessed is he who, ruling over his own pure possessions, offers the hand of God to those in need. Blessed is the life of the unmarried blessed ones, who 10 are near to the pure Godhead, having cast off the flesh. Blessed is he who, having yielded but a little to the laws of marriage, gives a greater portion of love to Christ. Blessed is he who, bearing the authority of a people, brings Christ to earthly men through holy and great sacrifices. 15 Blessed is he who, being a child of the flock, leads Christ’s heavenly realm, a most perfect nursling.

XVII. THE BEATITUDES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF LIVES

Felix is he who is detached from the world, who lives in the wilderness and lifts his mind to the stars. ^B Felix is he who, though joined to many, is not turned about by many matters, but has given his whole heart to God. Felix is he who has bought Christ with all his fortunes, and holds the cross, which he carries, as the likeness of all things. Felix is he who rules over his pure wealth, and willingly extends his friendly hand to the poor. The virgin choir is felicitous, which, having repelled the flesh, remains not far from the highest Deity in its purity. Felix is he who, by yielding a little to the marriage bed and the bridal torch, nonetheless assigns more to God. Felix is he who, while duly governing the people with authority, appeases God for mankind through pious sacred rites. Felix is he who, to be numbered among the first of Christ's sheepfold, quietly maintains himself among the sheep.

XVII: ON THE VARIETY OF THE BEATITUDES OF LIFE

^A Blessed is he who, with the vigorous impulses of a pure mind, beholds the splendor of the heavenly lights. Blessed is he who with industrious hands 20 honors the King, and is for many a rule of life. All these are the fullness of the heavenly winepresses, which receive the fruit of our souls, bringing each to the place of its own virtue; for there are many mansions for the many modes of life. 25 Blessed is he whom the great Spirit has shown to be poor in passions, who leads a mournful life here below; who is ever insatiable for heavenly food, who in his kindness is an heir of great things; who within his heart draws down the great compassion of God, 30 and who is a friend of peace, and pure in heart; ^A he who has endured many struggles for the sake of Christ, who is of great renown, shall also attain great glory. If you wish, tread this path. If all of them, it is better; if a few, the second best; if one only, 35 and that preeminently, it is also pleasing. There are rewards worthy for all, both for the more perfect and for those who are less so. Even Rahab did not lead a life ordered in propriety, but yet the highest virtue of hospitality made her glorious. The tax collector, by this one thing, had more 40 than the Pharisee, of the humility of one who greatly exalts himself. A celibate life is better, yes, better; but one mingled with the world, and earthy, is inferior to the dual life of the temperate. The unreachable life of those who dwell in the mountains is most high, yet pride has often brought even them low.

^A For those who do not measure their own virtue against others who are most excellent, ^B sometimes conceive a rash pride in their hearts. Often, too, with a fervent mind, like hotter colts, they carry their foot far from the goal. Therefore, either lift yourself up completely on light wings, ^C or remain below and run securely, lest by heavy weight your wing should bend toward the earth, or lest, having been lifted on high, you should fall with a most pitiful tumble. A small ship, joined together with close-set nails, carries a heavier cargo than a large one whose framework is loose. ^D The way of the divine portal is indeed narrow, but many paths lead into one. Some follow this one, as far as nature here inclines them, while others follow another, merely holding fast to the narrow way. Nor does one kind of life suit all Christians alike. Tears are best for all, and sleeplessness, and labors, and restraining the madness of grievous passions, and seizing hold of satiety, and lying under the powerful hand of Christ, and trembling at the coming day. If you perfectly complete the highest path, you are no longer a mortal, but one of the heavenly beings. These are the laws of Gregory.

XVIII. On Human Life

The violent swirling of spirits That raises us to the height, casts us down below. For so the storms of evil spirits Lift up our multifaceted life To a height and a spurious glory. 10 But again the dust descends and stays below, Until the Word of the Creator joins together The necessary dissolution of those things bound together. But now, peering forth as if from some depth, The dust, having been enlivened by the divine image, 15 Proclaims the earthly tragedies, And weeps for the life that seems to laugh.

XIX. On the Same Subject

XX. On Longing

METRICAL VERSION

XIX. ON THE SAME SUBJECT

XX. ON DESIRE

XXI. On the death of dear ones

XXII. On friends who are not good

XXIII. On the same subject

XXIV. A dialogue against those who frequently swear

[alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

XXI. On the death of dear ones

XXII. On false friends

XXIII. On the same subject

XXIV. A dialogue against those who frequently swear

^A A. To these points, answer, I pray, and let us consider them. B. Speak, if you have anything to say, my dear friend. A. Do you know of anything greater than all the things of which you have knowledge? B. Of what things are you asking? A. Of all things, both those perceived and those understood. B. I do not understand anything greater than God. A. You speak rightly, though I did not question you rightly. B. How then ought you to have asked? A. There is nothing greater; for it cannot be compared. Is this not clear to you? B. Truly it is clear. A. What, then, ought you perhaps to have asked as to what is the greatest? B. I think so. A. And could this be said through comparison? B. I do not think so. How do you mean? [AA] A. There is nothing greatest among things that are not of the same nature; but what is of the same nature as God? B. Nothing. A. Let God, therefore, be spoken of otherwise. B. As you say, so I would have it. A. What, then, of all things is not even comparable? B. God. A. We shall speak of him thus, as it seems. A. And why is he not to be worshipped, and he alone, by every nature? B. To be worshipped alone, you speak rightly. A. Or is he both to be worshipped and also subjected to insult? B. And how shall we mix things that cannot be mixed? A. For let us consider if an oath brings honor, but not also insult; if there were not the danger of perjury, thus it would also possess reverence; ^B as some safe mediator is named, for he is indeed a mediator.

METRICAL VERSION

A. I would have you answer me as I inquire. B. Speak, if you have anything at hand. A. What do you think is greater than all things? B. Of what things? A. And to which do things seen, and the sight of them, yield? B. I deem nothing greater than the Thunderer. A. You indeed speak rightly: but I am not questioning well. B. What then ought you to have asked? A. Not "which is greater," for he cannot be compared. Is this not clear to you? B. Most clearly. A. Perhaps then I ought to have asked, "what is the greatest?" B. I personally believe so. A. And is this also said in the way of comparison? B. I do not believe so; explain what you say. ^B A. Where the nature of things is disparate, there is nothing "greatest." What is equal to the Thunderer? B. Nothing. A. Otherwise, therefore, must one speak of God. B. I will approve whatever you say. A. What alone cannot be compared? B. God. A. As you wish, for thus we shall speak. A. And is he not to be worshipped by all alone? B. Clearly he is to be worshipped alone. A. Is he at once worthy of worship and also of reproach? B. Who would mix things that cannot be mixed? A. Let us consider if an oath brings honor, not shameful reproach; if there were not the danger of foul perjury, praise and honor would belong to it; it would be called a mediator of law, as a holdfast, for it is indeed a mediator.

^A 35 Now consider for me this matter, and where it leads. B. I almost know, but still, tell me. A. I seek a most clear image of the argument. B. What could it be? A. Have you seen a stone rolling down from a hill? 40 B. And often, too. For why not? A. And cast downwards with a great rushing sound? B. And with much terror. A. And have you seen it easily brought to a halt? B. If someone else has, I have not. 45 A. For the stone, as it impels itself, is stronger than a hand. A. You speak the truth. I suffer the same thing, even when I run downwards. A rushing impetus carries me along with force; ^B yet to remain as at the beginning, both for me and for the stone, is most easy. 50 B. And what is not most easy in this? A. Every evil is similar to this image, but especially an oath, I think. Hear now, the way it is: much pleasure attends the matter. 55 Then if someone happens to fall into a state of sympathy, What happens? He is not held back Until he reaches the precipitous depth. B. What precipice are you speaking of? A. The greatest of precipices is perjury. 60 B. I would gladly learn how that is. For many do not even know how it is an evil. But how, pray, is it?

^A A. Does not someone frequently swear by his own salvation? B. Certainly, quite often. 65 A. What then? Fearing lest he might commit some evil, and be himself harmed by it, he has meanwhile set his salvation as a mediator—his own, that is to say—so that he might perish, should he be found to be telling a lie. 70 B. So it appears to me. A. Consider this, then, even if you ever swear by God. B. Which is that, so that I may understand? A. You have set God as a mediator of your faith. B. A mediator, indeed. For what else? 75 A. It is preserved for the one who swears rightly, but it is destroyed—insofar as it depends on us—if he does not. B. You speak well. ^B A. But tell me, what does it seem to you not to fulfill [an oath]? B. A negation, I think. A. Perjury, then, is by nature a negation. 80 B. There is no other way, in any respect. A. And can you name anything worse than a negation? B. It is not possible to find one. A. Therefore perjury is the worst of all things, as has indeed been demonstrated at length. 85 B. How then shall we avoid it? A. Let us acquire honest manners so as to create trust. B. You speak of a great thing. A. For there is less need of an oath for men of good character. B. There is indeed, I think, no need at all. A. But one’s manners stand in the place of a witness. 90 B. That is how the matter stands. A. What greater profit, tell me, is there for those who often swear? B. Laughter. And what else would you add?

[alt-version omitted]

^A A. Not even if they say something true, ought it to be believed. B. I agree. 95 A. Come then, obey me. B. Most willingly. A. Suppress the whole disease through the medicines of reason. For many whom I have known have overcome even greater things than those I speak of. 100 B. What greater things do you mean? A. Anger, envy, gluttony, and the things that come from gluttony. B. How are these things greater? A. The desire is greater. And where the desire is intense, the grip is stronger. B. That is true. 105 If you do not yet have control over the disease, what must be done? ^D A. Always, and most vehemently, in every matter, shun multiplying oaths. B. When then, and for whom, and for what causes do you grant the favor of an oath? 110 A. When necessity arises. B. So be it: but what necessity, tell me? A. To free someone from dangers. B. That is good. A. Or to free even yourself from a shameful accusation. 115 But let not an oath bring you the gain of money. For that appears entirely shameful. B. Entirely. A. It is easy to bring a charge of perjury against such people. What is more, there are more evil men because of money. 120 B. Many more; who would not agree? A. This was also a doctrine held by the sophists. B. What great thing, then, is it that we do?

^A A. It is nothing great if we imitate them. But if we appear worse, that is the most disgraceful thing of all. 125 B. And which oaths, then, must be most avoided? A. It is obvious. B. Yet it is safer to hear it from you. A. I speak of those that are more terrifying. B. Are you afraid to say? A. All those that simply bring the name of God into memory. 130 B. And what of the Scriptures, or of the Passion, or of the Offering? A. These are likewise mystical. B. But among us they are among the primary local customs. A. It is so, and I weep for it; for long-standing custom 135 becomes law. Yet everything is susceptible to reason.

^B B. What oath, then, do you leave behind? A. I would that there were none, nor any other. B. Not even by wife, children, salvation, life, or a life free from grief? A. These are imprecations, yet they are still considered an oath. 140 B. And let them be considered such; even if we are struck by them, we do not perish—for there is as yet no danger to the soul. To be lost—that is total destruction. A. You are right in this. But for you, in the heat of your heart, 145 everything is brought in: God, the table, most dear things, the Cross, your wife, the divine blood, your own blood, the earth and the sea—whatever a base desire 150 first brought forth, moved by your tempter.

METRICAL VERSION

A. It is no great thing if we are alike; but if we are defeated, we shall shamefully hold a lower place. B. But what oaths is it most fitting to flee? A. That is clear. B. Yet it is safer to hear it from you. A. I mean those which are more heinous than the rest. B. Do you fear to tell? A. As many as have taken the name of the high Divinity. B. What of sacred Scriptures, the passion, and the oblation? A. These, too, are truly mystical. B. Yet to swear by these is a frequent custom among us. A. It is so; and that I lament. For long-standing custom takes the place of law, but reason accomplishes everything.

^B B. What oath then would you have left? A. I would have none, nor that any other existed. B. What if I swear by salvation, by my children, by my partner or my bed, and by a prosperous life? A. Thus you pronounce an imprecation, yet it has the form of an oath. B. It does, we admit. But although I may be struck, I have not yet perished; for there is not yet peril to the mind; for he who has lost his mind altogether is a wretched man and dead. But you, in your fervor, swear by all things: by God, by the table, by dear pledges, by the Cross, by the blood of God and your own as well, by the earth and the sea, and whatever a pestilent lust first brought forth, ^C moved by a depraved demon.

^A Who also causes the disease to seem sweet— O madness! 155 As if one were to pour out gold from a gluttonous tongue. B. It is indeed so, as you say. A. But other waves are stirred up on top of others, As anger breathes, Perhaps, perhaps from the longing for wealth: 160 For the snares are most numerous. He does not consider the terrible oath he has poured out to be burdensome. B. Indeed, he does not consider it such. A. But to the one who persists in it, alas, poor wretch! he is strangled. B. You are like a painter of this disease. 165 A. He thinks he compels belief when he is most disbelieved, If he is not understood. What need is there of more arguments for you, if one prevails? B. A superfluous labor, obviously. A. And what need is there of more oaths, if one prevails? 170 B. I do not think there is. A. The multitude is therefore a token of a lack of faith. B. It is not otherwise; you speak well. A. Therefore, either do not swear at all, or else swear to someone. B. That would have been best. 175 A. If one is violated, the whole will be violated. B. What a fine piece of sophistry! A. Who would say that the multitude is believed? B. They think so. A. Or do you make gold by gathering dust? 180 B. Who else could, or what nature could? A. But from many [testimonies], that are disbelieved, what reason is there For faith to be generated?

^A B. None, it seems to me. A. Will you ever cease from wicked wealth, which is better? Therefore, do not at all times, nor in all things, [take oaths], whether eating, gambling, 185 sailing, traveling, suffering misfortune, prospering, selling, or acquiring anything, rejoicing, groaning, among friends, or among banqueters, vomiting forth an oath, as those who are filled with food and drink. B. A matter of great calamity. A. And not for the sake of all things, as if you were 190 liable to be caught, whenever you are overcome By a deed, a word, a shadow, or a tyranny. B. At least, as it generally appears. ^A A. You revile all things, both God and affairs. B. How then all things? A. By linking all things into one, even though they are not equal. This is a rope of reins. ^B What then? You will say, is not even God found 195 by us, on occasion, to be swearing, As the Scriptures at least [suggest]? Or what is even better than God? B. Nothing better is found. A. If then there is nothing better, He would never swear. B. How then do they speak [of Him swearing]? A. He says something, and this is the oath of God. B. How then is it said to be by Himself? ^C A. How? Would He even exist at all, if He were to lie? B. You speak of something fearful. This is a rope of reins. [alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

^A A. It is the very nature of God not to lie; there is no one who would deny this. B. What then of the Old [Law]? A. It does not forbid the oath, but it seeks the truth. 215 For to kill was lawful at that time, but now it is not even permitted to strike. B. For what reason? A. At that time, it was the fulfillment of evils that was judged; now, it is even that which stirs them up. B. It seems so to me; for it has advanced even further. 220 A. So that the wise man will not even crave it. B. What then? You have given to some, as to infants, the first foods, so that they might also receive the later food? A. Correctly indeed, and most wisely. ^B 225 B. And Paul swore, they say. A. Who told you this? How he was a babbler! B. "God is my witness," and "God is my witness to this." Were these not oaths? A. And whose? They are an unshakable confirmation for such matters. 230 B. And will you grant the same to me? A. May you become for me Paul in every respect in virtue! This is indeed a just standard. B. Will anger take something? A. Nobly, then, indeed, whenever something happens. 235 Does a simple evil seem worse to you, or a double one? Such as this is: to fall suddenly into an oath without being provoked. What appears to you? B. Yes, envy.

METRICAL VERSION

A. It is the nature of the Divinity to speak the truth; there is no one who would deny it. B. What then of the old Law? A. It does not forbid the oath, but seeks what is true. For that law forbade the committing of murder, and this one even forbids striking. B. Why so? A. At that time, the end result of crimes was wont to be punished; now, even the origin. B. So it seems to me, for this reaches out even further. A. Therefore, he who is wise will flee the oath. B. Therefore, do you offer to some, as to boys, milk to be drunk, so that they might be able to take firmer foods afterward? A. Wisely do I offer that. B. But Paul also swears. A. Consider him who says this to be a trifler. B. "God is witness," who... "The highest God knows this." Are these not oaths? A. Not at all. But an assertion firm regarding the greatest matters. B. Will you grant the same to me? A. I would have you become an emulator of the great Paul in all things. This rule is indeed right. B. What then will anger take? A. Most excellently then indeed, when something has arisen. Do you consider a simple evil graver, or a double one? Of this kind is this: what, if you fall into an oath spontaneously, not being driven? B. That is an inhuman crime.

^A A. What, however, if being provoked, you should perform some graver act? 240 B. It is the same evil as before. A. What if from ignorance? A. Less of an evil, indeed. Yet I am accountable for those things whose motion arises from me. B. What if not exactly unwillingly, but to be delivered from danger? A. Let someone else concede that. 245 B. But if one should write it down, not uttering the oath with his mouth? A. What then does the document intend? Furthermore, a written document binds with stricter chains. B. But if from necessity? A. How did he not face death? For it was fitting rather to die. 250 B. What if the sacred books were not present? A. Does the codex afford the veneration, or God? B. That is manifest. A. You fear the parchment; I, however, fear God more. 255 A. This is common to many; just as if someone, while beating and insulting a master, should either set the servant free or wish to honor him. B. What a great dishonor indeed! A. Or if one should preserve an image of a king, 260 while casting the King himself from his throne. B. It is indeed so. But I would wish you to add this still, if anything remains to be said. A. The tongue has sworn, but the mind is unsworn, many say. 265 Everything beforehand, rather than an oath, is mere sophistry. Let no one be deceived in any way. It is an oath, and how much evil is added by the duplicity!

[alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

^B A. What if, being stirred up, you should do something graver? B. It is a crime just the same. A. What if unknowingly? A. That is less, yet if the motion be from me, I am guilty. B. If not compelled, but fleeing danger? A. Let another concede that. B. What, if one writes an oath, but does not utter it with the mouth? A. What does this writing mean? Chains bind us less tightly than written bonds. B. What if compelled? A. It was fitting to have suffered death before that. B. What if one does not produce the sacred codex? A. Does the codex grant veneration, or God? B. That is clear. ^B B. This disease is frequent among many. A. To many it is the same thing, as if, while beating and spurning the master, someone were to send away the servant, or even worship him. B. That is a huge ignominy. A. Just as if someone, while preserving the statue of a prince, should dislodge him from his throne. B. It is as you say. But I would wish you to add further if anything remains to be said. A. The tongue has poured forth an oath, many say this, but the mind does not likewise. But an oath rejects fraud above all things. Let no one practice deceit upon himself. This is an oath; and when fraud is joined in addition, how much more evil does it add?

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

B. I consider. What then is an oath? A. The intent of things determined. 270 B. I shudder hearing what you say. A. You speak, indeed. But I do not yet know, until I learn by experience. For action creates faith. Sows shudder immediately, when one sow squeals. B. That is so. 275 A. Yet that is nothing great. But if a word touches the heart, I praise it. B. What then? Is not the laver a cleansing for me? A. It is. But consider. B. What am I to consider? A. The laver does not entirely wipe away character, but rather lapses. 280 B. How then is the cleansing of character achieved? A. It is achieved only if you also wash something away beforehand. B. I understand. A. For there must be fear for the future; and the forgiveness of many things is not to be highly prized. B. How would one say that? 285 A. Lest perhaps there be need of a second cleansing. B. What is that? Indicate it. A. It is the cleansing of long-enduring tears and bodily afflictions. B. May that not happen to me. A. It is dangerous to cast away the gift too easily. 290 B. These are the tablets of God. A. They are indeed of God. But do you inscribe them on the tablets of your heart. Do you wish to know that this is a struggle of the devil, who envies your prosperity? 295 B. By speaking you will do me good; for I am severely afflicted. A. Listen. B. Speak. A. I heard you saying it, not without tears. B. What is this? I will not deny it.

^A If I should ever chance to speak any word, and I do not put forth an oath, I am ashamed of my speech as not being perfect. B. This is clearly that same thing. A. Do you yourself add what is missing to the discourse? That is an oath, 305 a wicked completion of that terrible flame. And Plato also does this, taking care to observe the reverence of not swearing by any god. B. I know what you are about to say. A. There was a certain plane tree, by which he used to swear, and that alone; 310 but not even this was done with accuracy. But he knows by whom [he swore], though who it was, he did not add.

^A What is this? A kind of shadow of an oath, and a nameless manifestation. B. An oath without an oath. How strange! This is [the meaning] already. A. Let this be the end of the discourse. B. You threaten to leave me, thirsty as I am, ^B in great haste. A. If, indeed, an oath seems to you to be a small thing, 320 this I do not approve. But if it is, as it really is, among the most terrible of things, I too will dare something noble: I adjure you by the oath itself, avoid oaths. B. You have won the victory.

[alt-version omitted]

325 A. If I should obtain this, Christ my God, I render praise to You, the wonder-worker, as You are present. Let us all, being of one mind, say this: Amen, let it be so.

XXV. Against Anger

I am angry at anger, the demon who dwells within. This bile alone of all others seems to me licit, if one must suffer something that is customary. For since we have already repressed the oath in our speech, having gained the excellent fruit of silence, and knowing that anger is a certain root of the oath—the most bitter and blackest of all the many others from which this evil grows—we shall also, God granting, root it out, cutting it, as far as possible, with the blade of the word. First, however, I pray that no one be angered by my speech. For the sickness of those who do not know how to moderate themselves is so wild that often they grow fierce even against shadows and against their own true advisors. It is not fitting, as it seems, to speak softly when so great an evil is the subject of my discourse; but rather, as a fire that roars with wild flame, leaping and trembling with many shocks, flowing upwards with a living force.

XXV. ARGUMENT

[alt-version omitted]

20 [The wild beast] seizes all that is in its path, We attempt to quench the flame with water or by casting dust; Or as a beast emerging from a dense and shaded wood, Fuming, showing fiery eyes, foaming at the mouth, 25 Panting for battle, for slaughter, and for corpses, We might overcome with lances, hounds, and slings; Perhaps in this way we might become stronger against the passion Through God’s gift, or at least keep it within moderate bounds. Neither does this seem to me a small thing, 30 That a very great evil should have even a small remission, Just as for those who are suffering from a serious malady. Let us examine the disease a little from a higher vantage, What it is, whence it arises, and how it is to be guarded against, Looking back at the collections of the ancient men, 35 Whoever has investigated the natures of things. ^A There are those who say that the agitation of the blood, Which is neighbor to the heart, is this ecstasy; These assign the disease to the body, Just as they do with most other passions. Others have called it an appetite for retaliation 40 (Attributing the harm to the soul, not to the body), Naming the impulse itself "wrath"; but if it remains within, Lying in wait, this happens to be called "rancor." But to those for whom the disease belongs to the composite, They said it was an agitation of blood, and that its cause 45 Was appetite, combined with reason. How these things stand, it is not the time now to examine. That one thing, however, is most well-known to all, ^B

[alt-version omitted]

^A that the mind is the guide of all, which the Master has given us as an ally against our passions. 50 Just as houses are shelters from hail, shrubs from precipices, and foundations from the depths, and walls from those fleeing from some battle; so is reason against the arrival of anger. ^B When that which causes combustion smokes within your mind, 55 before it ignites a fire and a flame is fanned, whenever you feel the spirit being moved, ^C immediately bind yourself to God, and considering Him as one set over you and as a witness of those things by which you are stirred, ^D check the rush of the matter with shame and fear, 60 as long as the malady is susceptible to remedy. Immediately cry out the words of the disciples: «Master, a terrible wave involves me.» ^A Shake off sleep, and you will expel your bile, ^B as long as you are master of your reason and mind, 65 while the malady is not yet a deluge; ^C while the horse, like an unruly one, still biting the bit with its teeth, does not go running off, ^D breathing forth a course of precipices and depths, and having darkened with passion the guidance of the eyes. 70 For it is easier to strangle it with reason at the start, than to control it by force once it has first seized you. For it does not stop setting itself on fire, until it has cast the rider headlong from his reason. Consider then for me how great a disgrace it is, 75 and what sort of person it makes one who is evilly struck. For the maladies of others are secret, love, envy, sadness, and wicked hatred. [alt-version omitted]

In some cases, indeed, it does not appear at all, or at least only slightly, ^A but the diseases are held fast within. 80 For perhaps they might melt away in the depths of the mind before they become visible to those who look on. And a hidden misfortune is to be counted as gain. 83 But wrath is an entirely naked and manifest evil, an image protruding from an unwilling body. 85 If you have ever seen anyone caught by this malady, you know clearly what I am saying, and my discourse is painting it. It would have been necessary for a mirror to be held up to the angry, so that as they gazed, they might at least relax their own outrage slightly, their minds yielding out of sight of the malady 90 to a silent accuser. Or even this stands ready, the very person who is the author of injury to you, ^A in whom you may examine yourself, if you have the leisure. For where the malady is the same, the symptoms are also common. A cruel appearance and distorted eyes, 95 swine-like hair and a damp chin, a pale cheek, the impression of death; in others, red, and in some, lead-colored; just as, I presume, the frenzied and most wicked painter happened to color someone. 100 A neck swelling up, veins bulging, a breath that interrupts the word and is rapid, a rabid wheezing and indecent raging, a wide nose breathing out total outrage. Clapping of hands and leapings of feet, 105 bowings, twistings, laughter, sweats, and weariness.

[alt-version omitted]

Who is working? No one, except a demon. Noddings upward and downward, without reason, Cheeks swelling and sounding, Like a threshing floor; and struck by the fingers, 110 The hand threatens, and is a prelude to commotions. And what words could represent what follows these? Insult, striking, baseness, perjuries, The abundant spray of a boiling tongue, Like the sea, when it spatters the crags that buffet it. 115 It says one evil thing, and has an impulse for another, It is straitened by this one, and the next moment knows not what it is doing. And if it sees those standing by remaining quiet, it is vexed; It seeks for all things to be shaken together in its agitation. It demands thunderbolts, it becomes lightning-bearing, ^A 120 And it is angry at the heaven for remaining in its own place. It performs one of its evils, and with another it feasts Its mind. For it thinks as though it had done what it desires. It kills, it pursues, it sets on fire. But of these, what is it doing? So blind and vain a thing is a boiling temper! 125 He is voiceless, weak, a herdsman, A rhetor, a Milo, a tyrant—all at once. The low-born and poor man calls the noble, The wealthy man, most low-born, A pauper; and the one who is the flower of his age, 130 He calls a slave-form, the bane of mortals; The glorious, he calls inglorious, One who cannot even tell who he is, or whence he came. I know not if this performance is worthy of tears or laughter. Every weapon is available to wrath, even if it is not present.

^A He is an ape, and he becomes a Typhoeus. 135 He twists his hand, he crooks his fingers, He seeks some hill or the Aetnean crag, As if to hurl from afar by the force of his hand Both missile and tomb for his enemy. What fire, what hail shall restrain this insolence? 140 When he has exhausted the slings of his words, Straightway the hands, the close-combat assaults, The struggle and violence, and he overcomes the enemy— He who is himself more wretched and overcome. For I consider it a defeat to win among the baser sort. 145 Are these things not the work of a demon? And more, save for the fall. And falls I have seen of those who were shaken, When they were carried along by the force of the spirit. Are these things not clearly an alienation from God? How could they not be? For the mild and gentle nature is God's, 150 Whose image it is not good to outrage By introducing an unrecognized form. Insanity is nothing so great to us, Nor are the diseases of the body as yet so great. These are not the sufferings of the willing, but of the unfortunate, 155 Even if they are wicked, and I am stung when they are present (For what is present is somehow greater to those who are suffering), And they are more worthy of pity than of a curse. And what is clear is safer among evils; Yet what does not seem to have fallen upon us, does damage. 160 Drunkenness is indeed an evil; for how could it not be? Who will gainsay it? And this—of those who are willing; for those whose cause it is,

though they know not, they suffer themselves to be overcome; they are plainly the authors of this evil. But there, indeed, the severity of the evil 165 ceases at a laugh. For surely a single sleep immediately drives away drunkenness. But if anger is overflowing, tell me, is there anything worse—out of all things you know—and what is the remedy for it? For other vices, the remedy is God falling into the mind; but anger first shuts the doors against God 170 when it becomes more severe. If any mention of God is made, it grows worse, and joins God Himself to its insults. I have seen stones once—o, fearful passion!—being thrown at Him, and dust, and bitter words. To whom, I ask, and against whom, and how could one prevail? 175 Laws are pushed aside; friend is not distinguished from enemy, father, wife, and kinsmen are all regarded the same. ^A Everything is swept away by a single impulse, by one torrent. If anyone stands against it, he draws the bile upon himself, just as a beast is stirred to noise, 180 and he who wished to bring aid is himself in need of aid. By these words, therefore, it is most fitting to be swayed; for you will not have need of more, if you are wise. But if you have need of an even more efficacious incantation, contemplate for me the lives of the ancients and of the new, 185 those who at one time obtained boldness of speech through their character, who were most beloved of God, and what they practiced first or most greatly—that Moses, Aaron, the most beloved, David, Samuel, and then later Peter? 190 They, indeed, found Egypt, though punished with so many plagues, to be foolish; nevertheless, [alt-version omitted]

they were treated with restraint, such that they were like the insolence of Pharaoh, until they were overwhelmed by their own arrogance—those to whom his long-suffering had not brought reverence, 195 so that all might learn to respect this. For it is safer to disdain the bold than the gentle. I praise Samuel, who once, when distressed by an insult—as Saul tore his own mantle—and then, being asked to grant forgiveness, 200 immediately released the cause of the offense to his plea. What could be gentler than this? Call to mind David, and the playing of the lyre, by which he once freed Saul ^A from an evil spirit: and then, having encountered an ungrateful man, 205 fleeing, wandering, anxious in a great peril of life, he spared Saul, who had been given into his hands (and this you know)—and this, though he himself had barely escaped death. The rent garment is a sign that Saul had been in David’s power, and the cruse that was stolen from his helmet. 210 What need is there to tell how he endured his son, the parricide and unseemly tyrant? Where he even weeps for him when dead, and calls him back with many laments and wails, and punishes the messenger of the calamity 215 as if he had seized some enemy, and not one bringing good news?

For nature stood before the crimes, Having assumed the manner of a patron, As one also positioned against an army, Almost becoming a stranger to his own power. 220 What? Did he not endure the insulting Semei, Who was an ill-omened presence at the glory of his entry? ^A And I have truly marveled at wise Peter, How patiently and with very youthful spirit He bore Paul's noble freedom of speech, 225 (And this in such a city and before so many Who were praisers and disciples of the Word), In that he was not rightly a table-companion to the Gentiles, Even if he thought this would benefit the Word. For that which moved him was only the fear of God, 230 And the illumination of the Gospel through preaching. Nor would I pass over the excellence of Stephen, Whom I acknowledge as the first-fruits of martyrs and victims. He was being overwhelmed with stones, yet—O miracle!— In the midst of the stoning, his voice was heard, 235 He himself offering forgiveness, as to benefactors, To those who stoned him, and entreating God. Are these not clearly a manifestation of God, And of his sufferings and doctrines; Who, being God and Lord of the lightnings, 240 As a lamb was led to the slaughter in silence? And how many spittings and blows He endured! Even to the smitten ear, Malchus knew his kindness. He did not cry out.

METRICAL VERSION

For nature, indeed, stood before the crimes, Having the manner of a most firm patron: Thus, though gravely offended by a military hand, He almost fell from the summit of his own kingdom. What? Did he not endure the revilings of Semei, Who spoke ill of his splendid return? I truly extol Peter with praises, Who with a tranquil mind, and a heart quite great, And strong, bore the free voice of Paul (And this in a very great city, and among those To whom he was the teacher of faith, in a great flock), Because he ate improperly with the Gentiles: In that he believed this would be advantageous for the faith. For what moved him was only the fear of God, ^B And the radiance of the sacred Word from the preaching. Nor is it fitting to pass over the glory of Stephen, Who stood forth as the leader of victims and martyrs. He was perishing by stones: and yet, what is so new? Amidst the stones flowed the voice of the holy man, Through which he himself, as if they had done well by him, Spared his enemies, and was a suppliant for them to the Divine. Do these things not openly bear the type of Christ, His torments and his most sacred teachings? Who, though he was God and Lord of the lightnings, Was led without a voice like a lamb to the slaughter, And endured foul spittle, and very many blows. Yet Malchus experienced his kindness Even to the ear. A cry from him, indicating

^A in a demonstration of himself, and as a sign of liberty; 245 He did not contend. One broken by crimes, He kept unbroken. He threatens indeed to extinguish The fickle flame of the mind, but being benevolent he spares, That he may master us by his gentleness. Such and so great are the examples of your Master, 250 With which, if you compare what you perhaps suffer, And even if you endure all things, much will still be lacking; Since suffering is weighed according to the dignity of the one who suffers. Are these noble instructions sufficient for us, The laws of the tablets and the customs from the holy mountain? 255 And is there anything bastard that must be added to these? And there is nothing worse; for so we might even gather Something from the inferior, for the sake of the stronger and the friends. For to have power, and that too greatly, is not greatly praiseworthy, To be mastered by these, and that too much, what a great evil! ^A

260 I will mention also some others, and briefly. The Stagirite was about to strike some one Whom he had caught in shameful and evil deeds; But when he perceived that anger was supervening, He stood, struggling against the passion, as against a foe. 265 Having waited a little, he said (O wise speech!): « You have experienced a new thing. You have had as a patron bile; For if it were not for anger, you would have come off beaten. But now, it was a shameful thing for me, by an evil to strike an evil, And to master a slave, being myself overcome by passion. » 270 Thus he. And the story of Alexander runs: When Parmenio once said to him, Having captured a certain city of the Greeks, Thinking often on what must be done, « O, if I were that man, I would not have spared; » 275 « But neither would I, » he said to reply, « if you were that man. »

For cruelty is pleasing to you; but gentleness is mine, and to deliver the city from dangers. And how is this act, and how worthy of praise? Someone was reviling the great Pericles, 280 Assailing him with many and base insults (He was a man not worthy of any regard), until evening. But he, bearing the abuse quietly, as if it were praise, At last, as he was weary and walking homeward, Sent him off with a torch and extinguished his anger. 285 Another, to an abuser who had added a threat ^B To his abundant insults, saying, « May I perish miserably, If I do not kill you badly, evil as I am, if I can, » Replied with these humanizing, gentle words: « And may I perish, if I do not make you my friend. » 290 And concerning Constantius (for it is worth mentioning, ^A So that the earlier tales may not be the only ones to receive attention, Which you yourselves are witnesses of, and you should not despise them), They say he once spoke a word worthy of memory. What was it? One of those in high station, 295 Incited him against us, not bearing that we were honored With such honors (for he was most pious, If any other of the emperors we know was), And saying many things, added this kind of statement: « What is gentler than a bee? 300 But even that does not spare those who harvest the honeycomb. » He heard in reply: « How do you not know, my good man, That not even for the bee is the sting safe? It strikes, but it itself immediately perishes. » You have so many medicines for this passion, 305 But the greatest of all, which I mentioned, is the law of God, Which does not even allow one to revile the striker. « For you shall not kill, » as was ordained for the ancients. ^D

^A For you, it is commanded not even to be angry, much less to strike or to dare murder. He who forbids the first does not permit the second; he who removes the seed prevents the ear of corn from growing. To not look with evil intent is to cut off adultery; to not swear is the antidote to perjury; to not be angry is a safeguard against murder. For consider it thus: anger sends forth a word, the word causes a blow, and the blow causes wounds; and from wounds we know that murder arises. Anger has been revealed as the father of bitter murder. For who ever brought back a reward for not killing? Not to be angry, however, is among the things that are praised. The wages of the former is the avoidance of danger, but the reward of the latter is a portion of the valued earth. Listen to what Christ wishes for the meek ^A in the beatitudes which He enumerated, 325 defining the measures of the hopes for the life to come. For this reason He writes for you such laws as these: Are you struck on the cheek? How do you let the other remain barren? If it is against your will, you have not yet suffered anything great, but if you do it willingly, something greater remains. 330 Add the voluntary act, so that it may be a hired service. Do they strip you of your tunic? Add another garment; and if you have a third, strip yourself of it. You have the profit of these things if you bequeath them to God. If we are reviled, let us bless the evil-doers; 335 if we are spat upon, let us hasten to have honor from God. Are we being driven away? Are we driven away also from God? This alone of all things is that which cannot be taken from us. If anyone curses you, you pray for him. Does he threaten to act? Threaten in return to endure.

METRICAL VERSION

But for you, it is not permitted to be seized by anger against anyone, much less to strike or to shed blood. He who forbids the first gives no place for the later acts, and he who destroys the seed at the same time hinders the ear of grain. You shall cut off defilement by not looking upon a woman with evil intent. Do not swear, and you will have a medicine against perjury. Let anger depart; this will be a caution against murder. For consider it thus: anger brings forth a word, words bring about blows, and blows bring about wounds; and it is clear that wounds bring about murder. Thus, anger is the certain parent of horrid murder. Who has not obtained a reward for not perpetrating a murder? But one who is empty of anger obtains the greatest praise. The wages of the former is the flight from danger, but the reward of the latter is the rich earth. Listen to what Christ Himself wishes for the meek, ^B calculating the beatitudes and the highest goods, defining what the holy nation hopes to attain there. Because of these things, He gives you such laws also: Are you struck with pain, and do you let the other cheek remain without fruit? If this was suffered unwillingly, the praise is small, but something greater remains if you do it willingly. Join this [act] voluntarily, so that you may carry off a certain reward. Does someone take away your tunic? Add your cloak also, and if it be for you, strip yourself even to a third garment. If you leave these to the Thunderer, the fruit remains. If an evil man hurls reproaches at you, pray well for him; if he spits upon you, grasp honor from God. Does he drive you away? But the King of heaven does not, who alone cannot be taken away from all things. If anyone execrates you, pray for his sake. Does he threaten many things? Threaten that you will endure them.

^A Does he commit an outrage? Let your work be beneficence. Thus you shall reap two of the greatest rewards: you yourself shall be the most excellent guardian of the law, and you shall have him, by your own gentleness, become gentle, a student made out of an enemy, overcome by the very things through which he thought to win. 345 Do you see? It desires for you, above all, not to be angry. For this is also the safest path. But if, however, you do get angry, do not let the sun go down upon your wrath; release the agitation before evening. Whether it be the sun that sends its rays outside our eyes, 350 or whether it be that one which shines within for the wise. For the latter sets for those whose minds are struck, just as it shines forth for the best and most virtuous, yielding greater light to those who have the eyes to see. Why, you ask, has nature not given us bile? 355 And how, pray tell, is one to control that bile? Or who gave us sight, or hands, or the movement of feet? God has given all these things, and nature too, but for us to use them toward the good. I do not praise you when you use them poorly. So too do the other passions of the soul behave. 360 They are gifts from God, when they are steered by the guidance and direction of reason. Anger, breathing in moderation, is an armament for zeal; but without love, God cannot be captured. I know reason to be the teacher of good things. 365 If, however, these incline toward the worse—the one pouring forth insolence and wickedness, the other goaded toward most base pleasures, and the third not restraining these but weaving snares—then the good things become the instruments of the destroyer. 370 It is not good to mix God's gift with wickedness. ^B And when you hear in the Scriptures that God is angry, ^C what of his vision, or his hands, or the step of his feet? God is all things, and nature is all things, except for evil. I do not praise you for using them badly. Thus it is also with the other passions of the soul. 560 They are gifts from God, when they are moved by the guidance and leadership of reason. Anger, breathing in moderation, is an armament for zeal; but without love, God cannot be taken. I know reason to be the teacher of good things. 365 If, however, these three incline toward the worse, the one pouring forth outrage and wickedness, the other goaded toward the basest pleasures, and the third not checking these but weaving trickeries, in this way the good things become the property of the destroyer. 370 It is not good to mix God’s gift with evil. And as for hearing in the Scriptures that God is angry, [note: the Greek text breaks off here at the bottom of the column].

[or for instance comparing Him to] a leopard, or a bear goaded by longing, ^A or one boiling from drunkenness and carousal, or even a sword gleaming 375 against the wicked—do not make this a soothing excuse for the passion from which you suffer; for in this way you are not seeking the removal of evil. Understand the matter correctly, not sinisterly. For God suffers nothing of what I suffer. Let no one say this; for God never at any time departs 380 from His own nature. These things belong to those who are composite, and to those who have long since begun to fight. But He, as is evident, is an immutable nature. How then are these things attributed to God? By the laws of trope. Why? To strike fear into the minds of the simpler ones, 385 just as do most of the things revealed by speech. ^A Understand an "antistrophe" [a reciprocal analogy], and you have the whole thing. For because we strike out when we are angry, we have written that God is angry when He strikes the wicked. We have devised eyes, ears, hands, 390 using them ourselves, and have assigned them to God whenever He performs any of these things, as it seems. Next, you hear that the wicked—not the good—suffer something by the anger of God and the laws of justice; but your own anger is not defined by measures, 395 and it makes everyone equal. Do not, therefore, say that your passion is from God, and that it is of God. Or do you think that you are imitating God? Be zealous, but cast your disease to the winds. And if you have somewhere read of the angers of godly men,

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

400 You have found all things just. I believe you even have no anger, as you see the blows rightfully inflicted upon the wicked. For the blow was not yet an evil thing to them; nay, the blows were most beneficial to them, as they were in need of a great purgation of life, 405 the thorny bush ^A provoking the iron, before the law, and before the law had power, before it had taken root perfectly in the men of that time. Thus, then, you will extinguish the disease, softening yourself with these words, 410 as those who charm the race of vipers. But how, pray, will you bear the injury? For this is the second thing for you. For fear that fire should kindle fire, and anger should kindle anger; 413 for it is the same thing, whether he himself begins the evil, 414 or someone else should wrongly sympathize with one who is moved to ^B bitterness. 415 First, then, running immediately to God, asking that He might rub out the harsh hail, and spare us who have wronged no one; and straightway signing yourself with the Cross, which all things fear and tremble at, and by which I have always 420 known myself to be protected against all— 421 then, preparing yourself for the struggle against him who moves the bile, but not against the one who is angry, so that you, armed, might overcome the passion; 424 for the one is not ready and does not resist, 425 ^C but he who has made himself ready, is able also to conquer. And what is it to conquer? It is to bear what is being conquered. 427 Third, do not deem yourself worthy of the greatest things, ^D [note: text continues on the next page]

^A knowing whence you have come and whither you return, that you may not be troubled by breathing beyond your worth. 430 For the humble spirit also bears being conquered, but the exceedingly swollen spirit does not bend. I know those who are dear to God, calling themselves ashes, earth, and shadow, so that they may restrain something of their own exaltation. 435 But you, as if you were the best of men, disdain insults? Take care lest you pay the penalty for your pride. How would you suffer in act any of the things that are not pleasant, when you do not even bear words with ease? 439 Fourth, knowing that life is nothing, 440 and that not all men are unerring judges of things that are good or not good; and that the greater part of us, my good man, in most things, ^B is whirled around and led astray. For the things that are base to us are not likewise base to the Word; 445 and things that are not [base] to me, such happen to be so to the Word. There is one thing altogether base: wickedness. But this little glory, and wealth, and nobility, are playthings for children. So that for things at which I am annoyed, perhaps I ought to delight, 450 and for those at which I am haughty, I ought rather to be humbled, instead of being now puffed up and not rightly swollen. 452 Fifth, let us use a greater reckoning. If what he says is not true, ^C he who is boiling and blinded by bile, it is nothing to us; but if he speaks the truth, I have harmed myself, and why do I blame him who has spoken out what before was hidden? ^D

^A Bile knows not how to keep faith: For since it is set against the truth, and often speaks what is false, 460 How could bile keep a secret for me? Then you will become more moderate, reflecting on this: If indeed anger is not an evil, It is not right to rebuke the angry man; but if it is an evil, As it is, and as it appears to you, is it not disgraceful 465 To suffer from the same vice for which you rebuke another, And not to accept even an enemy as a mentor? If he is one who was not praised before, He who now boils and breathes forth defiance, He will now clearly be blamed instead of you. 470 But if one were to call him a good man, you will not seem wise. For the inclination of the majority leans towards the better side. But he has been treated well? He will be blamed all the more. ^A But has he done you an injury? Do not repay him with evil. But will he be held back? Or if he rages even more, 475 But has he begun? Then let him be broken quickly By your word and your character turned against him, Just like a wave quickly dissolved upon the shore, Or like the onset of a storm that has no resistance. Is this an outrage? It is an outrage if you fall into the same. 480 Or shall we exchange insults with those who are sick? Do you not bear with the resistance of those possessed by demons? I speak specifically of those who bark with violence. What of those who are deranged and terribly mad? If you are of sound mind, you will bear with them; and furthermore, the drunkards, 485 Whose judgment wine has flooded. What if a dog should run at you, full of rabies? What if a camel, from its natural wantonness...

^A Thunders with its throat and raises its neck against you: Will you stand and fight? Or is it the part of a wise man to flee? 490 What, moreover, if a harlot should attack you with her own shame? For this is a custom among harlots, For whom it is a terrible shame—the shame of knowing— Seeing that they have the art of not feeling shame at all. The man from Sinope, drawing near to the brothel, 495 Used to heap abuse upon these women, as the story goes; what did he seek to achieve? To learn how to suffer insults easily with insults. By considering these things, you will hold insults in contempt. Shall I say something clever, though not worthy For those who value gentleness? Yet I will say it, 500 For it is a coolant for resentment. Have you ever seen boxers? How their first Struggle is for the position, for each one ^B Strives to take the higher ground? For it contributes no small amount to the victory. So, be eager yourself to take the better position, 505 Which is to strike the raging man with playful jests. Laughter is a most powerful weapon in the battle against anger. Just as those who cast an empty hand at athletes With a fierce and frenzied impulse Grow more weary than the bodies that are struggling 510 (For an unskilled grip surely breaks one's strength); So he who insults someone who does not grow angry, But instead laughs at the fight, feels the pain all the more. For to be resisted creates a certain satisfaction. A greater supply of fuel is established for the bile 515 In a matter so sweet and insatiable. Let this be for you the end of our counsel. What is the most mild of all existing things? God.

METRICAL VERSION

With throat and neck outstretched, he threatens you? Will you stand in battle? Is it not wise to flee? What if a foul harlot should attack you with her insults? For this is the custom of harlots, Whom it brings great shame to be shamed, Since it is their art not to blush at all. The citizen of Sinope, approaching the brothel, Assailed the harlots with foul words: what was he attempting? That by insults he might learn easily how to suffer insults. Reflecting on this, you will disregard abuse. Shall I say something cunning? Not indeed that it Will sit well with peaceful minds: yet I will say it. For this extinguishes the mind’s heavy weariness. Do you see the boxers, how their first concern is this, Which one will fix his foot in the higher place? ^B For this bears no small weight toward the palm of victory. Thus, strive to attain the higher step; This is to attack the one burning with anger with jests. For against anger nothing is more powerful than a joke. Just as one who casts an empty hand at a boxer, And is carried along with great force, and rages entirely, That one, whose limbs are toiling, grows more weary (For an unskilled grip weakens his strength), Thus he who harasses a man who is peaceful and free from anger, Laughing at the cruel battle, suffers all the more. But he who fights back produces a certain joy, For from this, more material for wrath arises, A thing which is sweet and refuses to be satisfied. May this final clause be the exhortation of our counsel: What stands out as milder than all things? God.

What, then, is the irascible nature? The slayer of men. Know that this (demon) is also called by this name, 520 among the other appellations which malice possesses. Choose of these two, which one you will; for it is not possible to have both. Consider also this: who is mocked, and who is celebrated with praises? For this is not a trivial matter to discerning men. Therefore, I adjure you, O friend of evils, O inimical patron and protectress, who inflames and delivers to the gates of Hades, that you ^A yield today to God and the Word, O wrath, O fervor, dwelling of him who kills mankind, 530 O manifest baseness of face, O disturbance of the mind, O drunkenness, which art a gadfly, a precipice-bringer, conveying to Tartarus. O legion of spirits, corruption of soul and body, breaking bonds and shackles along with their knots! Christ wills — He whom this whole universe cannot bear, 535 yet He Himself guides the universe without stumbling by the helm, directing the life both of mortals and of angels, ^B He who brings release from evil spirits and from passions to those who call upon Him earnestly—He wills that you flee from hence as quickly as possible; 540 enter and fill the depths of your own swine; they shall receive you readily as you fall into the abyss. But from us, who are the care of God, abstain. And these things are of silence; but you, who have loosed my speech,

METRICAL VERSION

Who burns with wrath? The slayer of mortals. For it is also called wrath, besides the other Names which mighty depravity has made for it. Choose for yourself one of these two parts; For to have both is not permitted to you. Consider also this: Who is mocked, and who is in the praise of all? For to a right estimator, not even this is truly trivial. What remains? O you who are dear to the wicked host, At once hostile leader and helper, And you swell, and deliver to hell, so that you might yield to God, I adjure you, yield to these my words. O wrath, fervor, house of the horrid demon, Manifest stain of the face, whirlwind of minds, Crapulence, and asylum, leading to the lakes of Tartarus, Horrendous legion, manifold corruption of evil, Both breaking chains, and the heavy binding of feet: Christ, whom all things together cannot bear, But He Himself guides all things without fall by the helm, Directing the life of men, and the minds of the dwellers of heaven: Who chases away the evil spirits, and the powerful diseases of the soul, if anyone calls Him with prayers: Christ, I say, bids you to flee hence forthwith. Cast yourself into the belly of your swine: The herd will gladly receive you, rushing into the sea. But spare us, who are the care of God. And these things [are] of the silent one. You who loose my prayers,

if indeed you have a word worthy of these, bring it forth to me; but if it is worthy of silence, bring it not forth to me. I will bind my ears to words, just as I have bound my voice.

XXVI. To a Nobleman of Bad Character

Someone of noble blood, yet altogether evil, made boasts regarding his ancestors to a man of no famous descent, but in all other respects admirable. And he, smiling very sweetly, gave an answer worthy of remembrance: "My lineage is a disgrace to me, but you are a disgrace to your lineage." Keep this saying, so that you may not prefer anything else before virtue. If anyone were to reproach you for the deformity of your face, or a foul odor, would you say, "My father was handsome, or pleasingly fragrant?" And if anyone were to mock you as a coward and unmanly, (would you say): ^A "As my ancestors won many Olympic games?" Thus, if someone exposes you as evil and senseless, do not speak to me of your fathers, nor of corpses. Someone having a golden lyre played it most poorly; another, from a common one, produced an excellent melody. Which of these, O good sir, seems to you the better lyre-player? It is he who sustains the harmony with skillful strokes. But you were born of golden parents, as they say, yet you yourself are not good. And then you have high spirits? Is this your splendid lineage—those long-dead corpses, and the fabrications of myths, and old wives' tales? You are joking. For I look only to you, whether you be just or evil. The beginning, the clay, is the same for us all.

[alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

If you have anything to say that is worthy of these themes, speak it to me; if not, do not speak it to me. I will bind my ears to your words, just as I have bound my voice.

XXVI. To a Rich Man of Bad Character

Noble in birth, but covered in grave vices, he was recounting his ancestors to a man of honest, though not illustrious, condition. Another laughed at these things, and wisely replied to this: "As my lineage is a disgrace to me, so also are you a disgrace to your lineage." Store this in your mindful heart, and repeat it time and again: that there can be nothing for you more important than virtue. If anyone should provoke you with jests and insults, because you have foul odor along with your (facial) appearance: Will you say, "My father was superior, and the odor ^B which he gave forth from his whole body was pleasing?" Or, if you happen to be called timid and unwarlike, will you say, "My ancestor won Olympic victories?" In the same way, if someone calls you wicked and foolish, do not bring forward to me ancestors whom fierce death has snatched away. A beautiful barbiton produced crude melodies for one, but for another, a vile one produced excellent sounds when struck. Tell me, which of these two lyre-players is to be judged the better? Is it not he who strikes the barbiton with learned art? Therefore are you arrogant, because, although you yourself are wicked, you are called a descendant of golden parents? Or is your nobility composed of ancient corpses, fictitious stories, and what a chattering old woman pours forth? You are playing. But I look only at you (for the origin is equal for all; the clay is indeed the same), whether you are good or bad.

^A All are clothed in the same skin; but we are inflated, swollen with wealth, and glory, and an illustrious fatherland. And so, why do you boast to me of these trifles, of father, of lineage? Neither fables nor tombs delight me. But you, good man, I behold. All are one dust, the offspring of one Creator. But tyranny, not nature, has divided mortals into two parts. Every evil man is a slave to me; every excellent man is free. But if you have arrogance, what is that to lineage? What disgrace does a donkey-father bring to mules? None. And what glory have donkeys from mules? Eagles, indeed, cast out the fledglings they beget. Why then do you praise ancestors to me, while you leave yourself out, wishing to be noble? And yet, if you came from a harsh thorn—a rose—you are worthy of the fire. How, being the most base, do you think so highly of your forefathers, O pack-mule, possessing the pride of a horse?

XXVII. On the same subject.

If I were to carefully fashion a monkey in the likeness of a lion ^B and present it to you, would you be afraid looking at it? And why would you be? But what if a crow, the foulest of all birds, were to attempt to seem a swan to you by assuming a white color? Would it not be all the more ridiculous? To me, at least, it so appears. But if a man, base in his ways, boasts of nobility, shall I revere him? Certainly not, for it is not right to revere a painted image more than a man who breathes, even if that image should shine. Let others be painted; for me, character is lineage.

METRICAL VERSION

All have the same skin: yet fatherland, and riches, and a vain honor make us swollen. Why then do you talk to me of fatherland, of lineage? Fables and ancestral tombs do not please me. I inspect you yourself. There is one dust for all, and one Creator: but tyranny, not nature, splits men into these two. Whoever is evil, this man is a slave; whoever is good, this man is free to me. What does a mind that is too haughty contribute to a famous lineage? What disgrace is it to many that they have descended from a donkey? What glory is it for mules to have been born of donkeys? Truly, a bird brings forth young, yet casts them from the nest of Jove: therefore, with you yourself cast aside, why do you promise me your ancestors? I would rather be upright, though base in birth, than have famous fathers ^C while being full of vices. For a rose is born from thorns, but you are worthy of the fire, created from soft earth as a thorn. Why, O pack-donkey, do you lift your head like a horse, and why do you boast of ancestors, when you yourself are wicked?

XXVII. ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

If I were to offer you a monkey carefully fashioned in the likeness of a lion; do you fear when you behold this? Why? If a crow, the foulest of birds, should strive to appear a swan to you, tinted with whiteness, this would seem more worthy of laughter to me. If, in the same way, anyone who is base in his morals boasts openly of nobility, shall I revere him? Yet it is not fitting to fear a painted image more than a man breathed into by the spirit, even if it might shine. Therefore, let others be painted;

What is this, and what is happening to you, O mortal race? There is no horse that is not a horse by nature, Nor any bird that is not buoyed by its wings. Does anyone looking at an ox say, "This is a dolphin"? 15 What each thing is, that is known and recognized. These are the two things in the comedy of life: An animal lying on the earth is placed among the stars, And a written decree makes the basest person noble. Do you buy a horse, the good one and the swift, 20 Or one that is bad, but from a well-known breed? The good one, I know. And the dogs? Do you not choose the swift ones? So it is. Why, then, is it not the same way with everything? With all things, equally. But, since you are the basest man, ^A Do you call yourself noble? You talk nonsense in vain. 25 Let the plumb line prove what is straight, and I will be convinced. You call me base-born, even though I am free. I laugh at your sickness, if you think, being the basest of men, That you will hide your corruption by means of your lineage. Wealth judged the noble, not one's manner of life, 30 Perhaps those very people from whom you sprang. But place character alongside it: What is this to you, a most base noble? The man who is noble, but base in his character, I consider to be dead and reeking of decay. There is one nobility: to possess a virtuous character.

XXVIII. Against the wealthy.

(Note: The Latin text here provides a rendering of the Greek above; the section marked "METRICA VERSIO" is an alternate poetic rendering which is omitted in accordance with the instructions.)

^A But not even this do the thrice-wretched know, That they might receive something for salvation, Some word, or counselor, or the remembrance of God— 5 All which are medicines to the wounded. But they are strong, as they think; O pitiable passion! As those who are struck and maddened are, Thinking their sickness to be a strength of mind. They fly, they plow, wingless and without oxen. 10 They rush to battle, and no phalanx is near; They sail without sailing, they toil alone, They grow rich, they rule, they win lawsuits. All these things are of the sickness. Does one persuade? You will catch some evil before you persuade them by speaking, 15 ^A That they have need of medicines for their infirmity. For who, thinking he is not sick, but healthy, Either takes medicine or seeks salvation? This is the mark of a sick man—though one but moderately so. But whoever thinks a just man is sick, 20 When would he accept a remedy for his affliction? You are rich; you strive that no one may be a neighbor to you. You seek to possess a field; but the neighboring one Is not yours; this thing is a disaster. You think It is fitting that your view alone should exist. It is a terrible thing, if your body 25 Should be struck—would that it were so! For then perhaps You might ever stand, harvesting the greater portion, Desisting more and more from devouring.

Like a flame, or a torrent, ^A or a pestilential plague, With nothing in between to check it. So you seem to me 30 To have no enjoyment at all of your own possessions, Unless something further be added from what you crave. Then the handmaid of your hand is chicanery. Have I suffered some loss? You are there as creditor, soon as exactor, With tortures, with chains; the poor man spares 35 His own body: he gives everything, wishing to escape alive. He is generous, though unwilling, with what he possesses. What of this? Are you not accountable for your role in the state And in naval command? Are you not the friend of the brigand? He names someone who does not exist, so as to gain by spreading fear. 40 "How then," you ask, "did your ox injure my cattle?" And what is this injury, pray? "It bellowed louder— Being a poor man's ox—and it did so as if seeking a fight, Or even won." The shade of your trees, Protruding, does harm to my trees. 45 "Your servant came into my field." Give way, or he threatens that he will prove this. Thus the ox, the servant, the garden are lost. Such is tyranny. But if a wicked man Happen to be also clever, the fiction is more persuasive. 50 He restrains others (taking on the guise of a protector) From committing some evil, and while defending, reduces them to slavery. Then he devours, like a lion that has chased away The beasts of some creature, not out of benevolence, But because he himself holds the prey as his own, most easily. 55 Why do you toil? It is simple: be content with what you have. But great is the labor of insatiable acquisition, Wars, lawsuits, sophisms, and perjured oaths.

^A If there were nothing else, anxieties, like shadows, Always place before these men something that is another’s. 60 And if, while you possess a station at the table equal to others, You were insatiable, and burdensome to your fellow-guests, Stuffing your hands immoderately with all things, Would they praise you? Much less for your acquisitions; For greed is everywhere to be loathed. 65 But it does not appear so to you, whose mind is clouded. For one thing is present, another you covet, another you hope for; And for these things there are procurers and panderers, Just as there are others for the sickness of the body. You worship gold. But to the moths, food 70 Is buried clothes. And the man of granaries is always ^B Full. And you traffic in opportunities. Some groan, while on others hope remains. For hope is a light dream of the day. You seal up some, and open others with skillful aim, 75 So that, I imagine, even the things of the season may flow. Alas, alas! You collect the calamities of the poor, Reaping a harvest from others’ misfortune, Making a narrow field into another one! Who is this? And from whom are you? And from whence your boldness? 80 You, whom the present night perhaps will find a corpse, Snatched away from the midst of your desired things. How terrible it is, when all things are abundantly Offered by others—bodies, possessions, to God,

from whom all things [come], you ought to seek to have. 85 For what do you gain? Terrible treasures, the burden of a table, and for the sake of a narrow throat, into which all anxieties run together, the swelling of the belly, and the malady of satiety (for these are the offspring of gluttony), 90 superfluous houses, and mostly empty, shining with gilded roofs and tablets, boys adorned in the likeness of women, shades, cooling-vessels, intoxicating drinks, ^A musical harmonies mixed with discordant shouts, 95 by which the beauty of the image is corrupted, to breathe out something splendid and great in the city, [to walk] with head held high, and to boast of the power of thrones, thrones which are a wrestling-ground of envy and tyranny. For one does not allow another to think highly of himself, 100 while excelling and becoming more arrogant, just as the scales of a dragon flow over one another.

Well then, what else is precious to you? The effeminacy of women in stones and gold, and in braids and artificial plaitings? 105 Chains of hands and feet, a delightful weight, by which beauty is not beautifully cultivated, practicing how to please many men? What else? To leave behind wealthy children, 110 and guardians of ancestral insolence? These would be something, if hopes were met. But now, no one even knows the earth where he will be dissolved, [alt-version omitted]

^A nor where the ruin of the possession will go. You yourself labor at length, and perhaps keep watch, joining nights to days in anxieties, 145 so that the narrow measure of pleasure is less; you are a usurer, and you feed interest with interest, and you always carry the interest on your fingers. These things are preserved neither for you, nor for those you hoped for; but they are for those to whom they chance to belong, and it may be for strangers. 120 That would have been welcome; but now, perhaps, they belong even to enemies, who slander you and your good things, whom you never thought worthy even of a crumb. Among these, perhaps, will be one of those who have been badly treated, who watered you with that bitter draught, 125 and your house with wails and tears, ^B or who will be fed in the labors of others, a fat cock looking upward, 128 not approving of many of the things now being formed by you; who, if it should happen, will not even break bread for your heir of empty illusions.

131 In addition to these things, if you devise anything, take more upon yourself. Torture, use force, leave no evil undone, let the depths of earth and sea be searched. Shear, as they say, even the hairs of the dead, 135 perform a sacrifice to the fishing net, worship the right hand that gathered for you so much gold. Do everything to acquire things that are lower, enemies, friends, relatives, benefactors. These things will differ in no way from the ebbing tide,

140 or from Charybdis, which swallows ships. In a little while, your wealth too shall be spewed forth, Just as a cargo of food cast up on high. I shall wait a little, and justice will approach, Better if now; if not, then later. 145 It is better to be poor with honor than to be rich wickedly, To be humble rather than puffed up, Viewing sickness as if it were a state of health. Would that all your gold, as they say of Midas once, Had been turned into that state, so that you might suffer as Midas did, 150 Holding a just hunger from an evil prayer. There is a certain thirst, belonging to the viperous kinds, Of those that the Egyptian desert brings forth. The name of this beast declares the nature of the wound, ^A For the creature is named after the affliction. 155 The one who has drawn the venom dies as he drinks; If he finds any stream, he falls upon it, swallowing it whole, Until he bursts the internal burden with drink. And at the same time, life is lost and the thirst is quenched. Do you not know this, dearest one, nor have you heard 160 How heaven once rained bread for the people, Passing through the desert, as is likely, without provision, A lavish gift, as from God, and bountiful? But then, justice lay in store for the excessive. Immediate nausea followed the extra; for the measure 165 Of the gift was the need for it. That this, therefore, should always Be the lot of each of the unjust is just: To yearn for what they crave, or to amass for which they are wickedly

^A possessed. Thus alone could they be restrained. Why do you not also offer up your own body to anyone? 170 Why do you not also embrace the life of a brigand, Breaking through walls and prying open graves, If you are intent on being rich, and that alone, Careless of how, or whence, or even why? There is a measure for beauty, and for sight, 175 For running, and strength, and limbs, and leaping, And for words, and labors—as the work is not for plunder. But for possession, there is no measure; instead, a stranger ^B Enjoys the things of one who has labored and gained them well, Or of one who has received a father’s inheritance properly. 180 And this is for the little breath of life those have Who perhaps do not even know the goods they possess. Shall the whole world be given to you alone? And if we grant even this, will nothing else be left? What then will you do? Will you be eager to possess those things as well? 185 You will always toil, for the one who lacks is poor. But will you be checked? Let this seem good even now. You have the enjoyment of your own things; but if you are without measure, Know that this is adding fire to what you now possess, And it is a flame to thorns, which approaches wickedly; 190 To whomsoever it approaches, these things also perish together with them. Just as a drink from the brine does not quench thirst,

but makes it flare up doubly; so the remedy taken by insatiable men 195 always stirs up an appetite for more. I would gladly give advice to those who lead a more tranquil life, or to the poor, to give something to the wicked—as one offers food to wild beasts, or libations to the demons that the superstitious present— 200 if, by such a gift, we were to obtain tranquility. Thus, it might be possible for the poor themselves to have something, they who always tremble even at the shadows of the wicked. But now I know there is a remedy for all things, except for the wicked. For hunger, the remedy is food; for overindulgence, fasting; 205 for dropsy, draining; for the eye, darkness; for mourning, reason or a friend; for pain, time; for those tossed by a storm, a light or a harbor in view; ^A for labors, anointing. But for the wicked, there is nothing, except for God, and punishment, and blows— 210 nay, the wicked do not even perceive the punishment. For satiety scorns even the punishment itself. That fellow-worker of the wicked casts a darkness over their minds; he makes their back like bronze, and, as one clearly untameable, like an anvil to the iron—the man becomes suited for affliction. 215 He immediately runs to examples. What is this, O Christ? Why have you allowed to the wicked the offenses of the best of men, so that they might find some refuge for their own way of life? No one considers what is good, however great it may be, 220 but what is evil—even if it is something small—becomes a model for the most foolish and wicked men. [alt-version omitted]

[SECTION II. MORAL POEMS]

For honorable things, iron; for the basest, wax, Are they—easily molded into the worse. "I am not chaste: what then? Is no other found 225 Like this?" Alas! And he will cite some wise man. "I kill: what then? Shall not one be found Among the ancients, or the new? I grow rich wickedly." "And another has acquired nations and cities." "And does not one know how much worse is the denial 230 Of an oath?" Then the denial of someone is feigned, As a covering for lesser wounds. For this matter, I wish to tell you a story, too, If it is permitted to play in the midst of misfortunes, A story fitting for these sophistries. 235 A man was mocking an owl; but she was warding off Each of the taunts with a well-aimed word: ^A "What a head!" "Yet how much greater is Zeus'!" "And how blue the eyes!" "This is the color of the Owl-eyed one." "You croak unpleasantly!" "The magpie does so even more." 240 "And how about these thin feet?" "And what do you think of a starling?" But since she parried everything easily, She is overcome by one thing, though she is wise nonetheless. "But, O wise one, consider that of these, each one Possesses but one, while you possess all, and to excess— 245 Gray, croaking, thin-footed, big-headed." At these words, the dearest one departed, shamed. But you, not even this, for even in the fable There is a bird much wiser than your mind. All things in one—this is your difficulty. 250 Since for one thing to be snatched away, and perhaps a second, To stumble somewhat, and a little, is pardonable.

[alt-version omitted]

^B "Alas, what a neck!" — "It is much greater in Zeus." "How great the blue color is!" — "And Minerva is blue-eyed." "You sing unpleasantly." — "The magpie is far more unpleasant." "And how thin the feet are compared to yours!" — "Than a starling's, rather." But since she repelled everything with easy matter, She is overcome by one thing, however skilled she may be. "Look," the other said, "O wise one, that a single Vice belongs to each; but all things, and intensely, to you— Neck, color, croak, and thin foot." At these words, she departed immediately, blushing. But you are not even like that; yet the bird in the fable Is seen to be much wiser than you yourself are. All vices defile you: this is your evil. For to sin, by the impulse of the mind led astray, Once and even a second time, a little, is not without pardon.

I will grant something small to the darkness of the body. For to be completely free of stumbling is for God alone. But to sin deliberately, and while boasting in evil, 255 and often, and to commit even the greatest of sins, and to be impudent, even when laughed at, and not even to wish to be corrected by the blows ^A by which every most miserable person is instructed, and to rush into dangers with head bare— 260 this is a terrible and evil disease. Examine yourself, and what is commanded, what you must do, and what you must not do. And consider for what time and what type these things were; the faith was beginning; and just as for infants 265 there was need of guidance and delicate food— this was the cause why pardon was granted to those who stumbled. But for you, it is not the same, since the faith is now full, and Christ has suffered many things for your sins. But retribution for the things you have stumbled into awaits you; 270 what do I say, stumbled into? Of the things you are now committing. Justice has many means even here (I am not yet speaking to you of the hopes from hereafter): your house, your wife, your children, if anything is most dear— if you remain well-disposed to these, 275 this possession, the freedom to live in luxury, the body itself, in the last place. Having such a burden of life, sail safely. What then? You say, do not diseases and calamities befall you? And is not your life poor and without a home?

^A Again you artfully stir up the troubles of others! Why do you call my misfortunes what you yourself label them? Or if you were suffering, would you suffer less because your neighbor was suffering too? Listen, then: it is not the same thing to suffer. 285 Some of these I have brought upon myself, I do not suffer them. For I desire to be poor and to wander of my own free will, and to be free of bonds, and for my dwelling not to be fixed here. To you these things are dear, but to me they are the opposite. 290 Cease measuring a lion by a monkey. Do you truly think these are misfortunes? O, misfortunes! To be sure, I am distressed by some things—for I will not deny that I too have something of clay and wood in me, ^A and of the pleasure born therefrom, being a man— 295 but at least I endure and bear it while I suffer. My suffering is better than your strength. Furthermore, let us consider this together. We are both afflicted; but for you, suffering is the penalty for your character; your character is your accuser, 300 that bitter and clear tribunal within. For me, however, it is a certain purgation of wickedness or of the soot that happens to be there; I do not yet even mention that this hardship is a certain trial and struggle, so that by overcoming I might win the prize. 305 What is all this? What profit comes to you from these words? No one in his right mind plays tricks on a physician; or else, being ignorant, he will perish, consumed by his disease.

There are two diseases here: either to despise God, or, ^D overwhelmed by evils, to cast off all hope of good. 310 Take, however, my advice. May neither befall you; contempt of God and despair are an equal evil. God is a judge, but he is also a Father; if you fear him as a judge, trust in him as a good Father. 315 Confide, set forth your disease, ask for salvation; offer tears for your wounds. Give also to the poor, who are your excellent patrons, those who lavishly bestow what we ourselves need: namely, God’s compassion and good hopes. 320 Give, furthermore—if you are giving—from your own means; do not set a table from another’s property, nor clothe the poor with it. For the poor person is a creature of God’s hand ^A and therefore is venerable. Do not attempt to corrupt the Divine, as if he were a base judge, lest he grow more enraged against you. Do you teach the One who forbids theft how to steal? If I persuade you, it is better; but if not yet, at least cease at last from tyranny (since there is a satiety 330 for all things, both good and bad); and this part of your actions I shall praise; for in evil men, to desist from wickedness is a very great thing. If you accept this, good; but if not, I shall remind you of the tomb, which is the end of all evils, ^B where you will be 335 equal with all, even if you pass by the Pillars of Hercules and the Caspian Gates.

^A Possessing the wealth of fellow-citizens and neighbors, which another—as I think—will scatter, since he is endowed with the same character as you, walking obliquely in his path by your own footprints, a worse disciple of a crafty teacher— 340 and the day, dreadful and sad to the wicked, in which darkness and flames and hells, being the exaction for the evils committed here, seek the image of God, deeply buried and overwhelmed by the snares of the wily dragon, 345 who offered us the basest pleasure to taste. I, however, seek how I might escape this wickedness; with what wings, or with what depths of earth or sea, or with what sophistries, or at what limit of the inhabited world arriving, 350 taking what darkness as a covering or a cloud, or by what prayers propitiating the Divine? Since these three are everywhere—time, place, and the easy opportunity for wicked sin—will I set up the divine law. What is this? 355 "Flee," He said to the apostles, "from city to city; for there will be some who will be left [when they have been cast out], when the Ruler of all, God, is driven out." I will change all [cities] until the final fire, fleeing the irresistible incursions of the wicked. 360 There, indeed, justice will hold them, even if they are unwilling. They will disturb nothing in the heavenly mansions, nor will they cast out the poor, as they do now, ^B and from there—even if they should perhaps be in need of a tiny drop for the cooling of their flames. 365 Let the rich man and Lazarus persuade you:

He indeed pays the penalty solely for his luxury, While the other was afflicted by famine and the weight of his sores (For he, like you, used to drive away Lazarus, as you do the poor); But the latter, because he bore all things with a patient mind, was granted honor. 370 Let this be the end of my speech. But you, receive this word with trembling. While there are many evils, and many are called wicked, This one alone has been called an idolater (Which is the greatest of evils in human life), He who knows nothing else, nor cares to ponder anything, 375 Beyond the counting of money; For it is easy for one who labors under this disease, If an occasion arises that brings profit to his greed, To worship even Chamos, the abomination, as Wealth. Let us cast away, therefore, let us cast away the images of idols, ^A Worshipping only God, whom we know.

XXIX. Against women who adorn themselves excessively

Do not tower your heads with false braids, O women, Softening your necks from the heights, Nor smear the forms of God with foul pigments, So that you wear a mask, and not a face. 5 For it is not fitting for a woman to show an uncovered head to a man, Either ringed with gold upon her braids, Or with unfastened hair tossing hither and thither Upon her shoulders, like a Maenad in the gentle winds. Neither is it permitted to carry a crest above like a helmet, 10 A beacon shining from afar to men,

but rather to veil the hair, shining through soft linen, ^A hidden, yet manifest, this frontal veil, flashing yellow, keeping itself from the head-covering, as if it were the work of a hand. For whenever you stand before a teacher who does not see, as a soulless image of appearance, you portray beauty from thence. But if nature has given beauty, do not hide it under dye, but keep it pure for your husbands alone, nor cast your eager eyes upon others; for the heart follows after unholy eyes. But if nature has not bestowed it upon those being born, flee from a second deformity—flee that beauty brought about by hands; that beauty which the earth produces, and which is for sale to common women, being traded for a few obols. ^A Beauty, when wiped away, flows to the ground; nor does it stand fast in laughter, when it loosens the joy of the whole cheek, and it is put to the test by the sluices of tears, and by moist fear, and it is dissolved by even a small droplet. And the cheek, which before was shining and graceful, suddenly appears with two colors, dark and marble-white, a great mockery. O dark-complexioned one, painted with red lead, how can you hold onto a beauty that is brought to shame? These things are not for statues that do not move; but for you, a form that is unendurable, and dissolved by many passions. This body is God's, that is of the hand; this is ancient, this is new, like a meadow bearing twofold flowers,

METRICAL VERSION

And either to bind up the glowing hair with linen, Hidden or clear upon the brow, is a sin: The yellow flashing, as soon as the veil is cast aside, So that it stands as a gift of the craftsman's hand: Since, setting forth a blind teacher, and a soulless image Of appearance, hence she pursues her adornment. If nature gave the form, do not induce it with rouge, But see that it be pure for husbands alone: And do not dart your greedy eyes toward any other; For the heart does not follow the eyes with purity. If less elegance of form has been granted to you, Do not procure a deformed adornment by your hand: The beauty which earth brings forth, and which is venal to wolves And harlots, is bought for a few coins. This beauty, wiped away, flows along the ground, and to remain In laughter it knows not, when the cheek is loosened. It is washed away as often as the rain of tears is poured; This, both moist fear and a small drop drive away. Thence the cheek, which before shone most pleasing to the sight, Appears discolored, a thing truly ridiculous, Dusky and marble-like. O woman poorly tinted with red lead, Who can retain the beauty that is proven false? These things are not present by their own motion as living signals: The outward form is dissolved in numberless ways. This is the work of the Divine, that of the hand; that figure is old, This one is new; as a meadow bears various violets,

^A alternately pleasurable and grievous, is a garment of shifting hue dragged by many ribbons. Therefore, either flee the painted body or keep it, and do not possess an aid to beauty that is subject to reproach. The loom of Penelope, which the night unraveled as the day wove it; within, you are Hecuba, without, you are Helen. If, in truth, there is any device to hide yourself from your husband, yet it is not to be tolerated that you should conceal a form more divine than that of a mortal. May God not requite you, having been angered by such things! Who is this painter, and whence? Away with you, you alien creature! I did not fashion you, you shameless wretch, but I fashioned an image of myself. How, then, do I possess an idol in place of a dear image?

But let us grant some pardon to this infirmity. If, however, it is a tablet that is clearly visible, containing one form of a painter upon another, know that you are erecting a monument of disgrace to mortals, a form which you paint while breathing with the strength of a young person. ^B Your beauty is a garden of Adonis, bearing no fruit, the color of a polypus, lines on the sand. But since you have the form of a daw—if indeed you do not care, as the daw, clothed in alien feathers, tells the tale, and again having been stripped, it becomes ridiculous—do you not care for the ultimate disgrace, [now that] your beauty has perished? Do you hope to have immovable brilliance? Not long hence you will see how great is the grief for beauty that is not your own.

METRICAL VERSION

The form that is shifting, the dress that is various of hue, Are but alternating joys and griefs. Therefore, flee the painted body, and beware: Spurn this shameful aid to beauty; The loom of Penelope, woven by day, unraveled by night; For indeed you are Hecuba within, but outwardly you are Helen. But if there were any reason that you might be hidden from your husband, yet this is not possible: To conceal the divine image from a mortal; Lest God, being angered, should rebuke you with these words: "Who is this, and whence is this painter? Away, you alien to me! I did not paint you, you dog; My own image was fashioned by Me: Why do you give me these phantoms in place of that form?"

^B Yet let us grant some pardon to this infirmity. But if it is manifest, Like a painted tablet of a master showing one form after another, Believe that you are erecting a clear column of ignominy, Which you create as living by the power of your own wits. This beauty of yours is a garden of Adonis, failing in its fruits, A multi-colored polypus, a letter written in the sand. It is a known fable, like a bird rejoicing in the stolen gift Of feathers, which stirs laughter among the birds, Soon when it is stripped of that appearance. Why is it pleasing to you To possess the ultimate disgrace and a plague-bearing beauty? Can you hope that these joys which are destined to perish will never cease? Soon you shall discern how grave is a beauty that is not your own.

^A I hear that the face has some supreme excellence, when old age Makes wrinkled a form that once wore the bloom of youth; When the molding of the limbs is unadorned, as if fire-scorched, And what remains of the flesh is but dust. 65 Late, then, one laments the deception of the limbs, when that which survives Is pushed like a monkey into thick wrinkles. Such is the grace of false-seeming limbs. But, O most excellent one, Now set a shape upon your face, as it was before. Yet I for my part do not truly believe; rather, long before, 70 Wish that none of the men had eyes to see— Those who once praised you, and had their eyes fixed On you, as you moved here and there with proud steps. And this is ridiculous, that you wish to escape the notice of the race of men, You who have drawn men as votaries to your face. 75 For men have ground up these cosmetics in which you delight, Plunderers of households, architects of such madness; These are not inventions of temperance, but of lewdness, For whatever you contrive for the sake of men is lewdness. People say that the proud peacock, when he raises 80 His golden, star-spangled neck in a circle, Cries out in desire for the female. But if you Do not paint your form to please lustful eyes, I am amazed. For if you possess the longing of your husband, just as he has yours, From that time when, filled with love, he led you to his chambers 85 While you were still a blooming bride, you have grace; but if you Desire to please with your eyes other men, this your husband hates. It is better to keep the charm of your limbs hidden within your own home Than to display your false paints in a way that is not holy. ^B

^A For to her husband, a wife is sufficient; but to many, she 90 stands, as a net to a flock of flying birds. You take pleasure in the one who delights in you, and you return gaze for gaze, ^B And then laughter, and a contrary word; stealing it at first, then having confidence. Speak no more to me of what follows, garrulous tongue! 95 But this I will tell you truly: there is nothing without a sting in all the things that are played out among women regarding young men. For all things follow one another together, like iron which a magnet draws, leading one after another. Would that you men, senseless as you are, instead of women, were to shine with white lead and rouge, 100 you who, having such shame residing in your eyes, take pleasure in vice, putting on a shroud of darkness! ^C But you yourselves are swine in your own shames; 105 perhaps you might fall into dark pigsties, bound by the Circean, beast-bearing ointments, you who neither hate them, but like dry wood throw them into a fire, which it is better to draw away than to bring. For one man desires to surpass another by the adornments of women, 110 in his folly wishing to have more. Often, too, lacking possessions, in order to arouse ^D the pride of their own wives, they undertake greater labors. You never offered your sword to an enemy, nor against the torrent did you open an easy path for your own cornfields. 115 They say that Pandora, after the devouring fire was stolen, came as an avenging punishment to mortals.

^A Instead of fire, another fire—that is, evil instead of good—and with which he might inflame; ^B and more, that the divine powers decorated her with every kind of beauty, vying with each other to bring their own allurements together into one. Then, indeed, he brought a collected fraud upon men, one lying in wait at feasts, fickle, impudent, honey-tongued, a pernicious delight, a torch ever burning. I, for my part, do not believe in myths; but if you insist, do not, you, become a devious Pandora. Pandora’s kin are all shameless little women; but you, be an image of Christ, shining with temperance and prudence. But now, having cast aside myths, listen to my words, which I shall draw for you from divine oracles. ^C Have you not heard how, of old, the bright color of the man-killing tree misled your parent? The fraud of the enemy and the counsel of his wife deceived him and cast him out of the verdant paradise. This law, from that time, is yours by paternal right: never trust in beauty, my daughter. For every beauty brings me a pleasant but brief spring, and ^D a harsh winter destroys it instantly: either sickness breaks it prematurely, or heavy time destroys it, rolling on the devouring circle of the years. But this is even more ridiculous: a woman knows that she has an ugly appearance, and walks like Danaë, glorying in her shame. And what is more shameful (as those who are skilled in this art say—for it is not explored by me) is that they labor under a common disease, and wish to hide it from one another. What is worse than this disease?

METRICAL VERSION

Another fire for fire, and evil for good [and equality: And that it might burn the more, the spirits adorned her; And by arts, with fraud brought together into one, They moved to bring upon men a trap of every kind: Lying in wait at feasts, flattering, shameless, talkative, A burning brand, a harmful joy. I am no believer in fables; if you wish to believe, Do not fashion yourself after a manifold Pandora. This genus of Pandora is brazen-faced, but hush, you: Refer yourself in your mind to Christ and sobriety. It is no myth: come now, grasp my spoken words; Which I shall declare to you from ethereal oracles. Have you never heard how your father Adam was deceived ^B By the comeliness of the pestiferous fruit? Hostile deceit and the converse of his wife mocked him, And cast him quickly from the green paradise. Hence, from your ancestor, a law is prescribed for you, Do not trust, dear daughter, in your own form. Every grace is fragile, which the hour of spring has brought forth, And by a brief moment fierce winter cuts it down. Disease has broken it before the day, and winged time Has mown it down, which snatches away countless years. This woman is also worthy of greater laughter, Who knows herself to be misshapen, yet conducts herself as Danaë, Exulting in her disgrace. But a baser thing is recorded by The experienced (nor does my mind understand this work); They are vexed by a common disease: and they desire to hide From one another: what, I ask, is worse than this disease?

^A A craftsman knows the work of a craftsman, a singer knows the singer’s skill, and a thief knows a thief. But they do not wish that what they recognize in others be recognized in themselves. That is truly consistent; a vice brings blindness to the eyes. Thus men honor faces at which they also laugh, ^B 150 taking pleasure in the colors of moving tableaux. Nor do I think they are as pleased by the tablets themselves as by the spirit of the men, of which the colors are the witnesses. I hear that some Echo, vain and formless, responding later to sounds, once wandered, longing, over the cliffs, 155 and she once became enamored of her own form, and there by the spring she bent over the image of her destructive beauty. ^C She was maddened, nor did she leave the beloved banks; She would lap up the water, she would draw it with her hands, she would grasp the foam: 160 But not even so did the fiery desire cease in the waters. Thus is love blind and hostile. It is no great wonder if you also throw some young man far from his right mind, one who is fair-skinned, soft-robed, rose-fingered, high-headed—not just one, but as many as you depict in your lines. 165 I believe the story that a wise man once deluded a bull with his art, having formed a wooden heifer with colors. (Strange love! Living beings rush toward lifeless forms), since you have contrived a similar sin for young men. ^D Orpheus used to persuade beasts, but you persuade men, whose spirit is like 170 that of beasts, and whose life is mad with love for women.

METRICAL VERSION

^A If you do not indulge the flesh, but instead use eyes in place of the flesh—for love is an airy malady—perhaps you are entirely unwounded. I grant this; yet it is not noble, in my view, to harbor the reputation of a hollow vice. 175 For even if you were to lay down a law for many, however wise you may be, you are establishing a dishonorable one. Vice runs swiftly. While others conceal their way of life, stained as it is, with artful devices, you, for your part, clothe yourself in temperance and some dark garment. For if chaste women are adorned, you would never 180 persuade other women to possess a chaste spirit. It is a tenet of our law, moreover, not to cast eyes upon another’s wife with adulterous desires. For the origin of shameless love is a shameless look, which, if a man were to flee, he would flee vice itself.

^A 185 How then, woman, can you bear a girdle of such great love toward men, and remain far from the vice of the marriage-breaker? But come, I will tell you a story befitting your obscenities, for old age is talkative. Ancient indeed, as the story goes, was a race of mortals who were indistinguishable: both the best 190 and the worst, without any distinction between them. Many who were truly excellent were thought to be wicked, and many, conversely, were thought to be good, though they were foolish and senseless. Glory followed the most abject, and dishonor followed the best, with neither receiving a just reward from those who exchanged positions. 195 But vice, reigning widely, did not escape the notice of God the King; and at last, being indignant, He spoke this word: "It is not right for the glory of the good and of the bad to be the same, for thus would vice increase all the more."

^A Therefore I grant to them a distinct sign, 200 so that you may know well who is base and who is good. Having spoken thus, He reddened the cheeks of the good, shedding blood beneath the skin when shame arises; and especially for women, since they are of a finer texture and a soft heart, He spread this more abundantly. 205 But for the evil He stiffened the blood and kept it immobile within; therefore, they are not moved in the least by shameful acts. You, however, being for me [one] of these, multicolored—for I do not revere that redness, even if you bear so much of it upon you. For this is a redness [that is] the offspring of shameless impudence, 210 which the rain of Sodom of old does not wash away. Do not paint your face, you wretch, nor deceive your complexion. Beauty is for me only that which nature has given.

^A For wealth that is ancestral to me is better 900 than that which my hand gathers unrighteously, 215 even if it be small, it is worth much more. And as a wife I love the one who is wedded, not an adulteress; and they are far superior to painted children, whom I begot, even though [they] seem stronger/better, they who are worse. Mindful of these things, keep your body as it was fashioned, 220 and do not wish to seem to be another instead of who you are. The Celts, indeed, judge their offspring by the streams of the Rhine, and coals are the test of pure gold. But let your temperate mind be the measure of an unadorned beauty of form. Do not let Belial paint you with soot 225 for he has turned all to ash, or poured forth smoke, having treated so much grace with such disgrace. [alt-version omitted]

^A Nor let gold, interwoven with gems, cast its rays upon your eyes, With its airy, noble brilliance; nor a collar, round your breast, Or dangling, 250 heavy with pearls, swinging about your throat; Nor that which is round the head, the most lofty, nor a garment Rich in gold, the crafted work of fine-spun threads, Purple, golden, sparkling, gleaming; Nor the deadly pigments for the cheeks, 235 A vanity for women; nor lips stained purple; Nor to carry the blue (stibium) above the arch of the painted eyelids, Or to roll your dewy pupils within; Nor to bring a gentle ear to one who is effeminate, Nor to bind hands and feet in a dear and pleasant bondage, 240 Bound in gold, to have a servile pride; Nor to anoint your body or head with soft ointments (Vultures attend to the dead); Nor to soften in your mouth some inedible morsel, Moving your jaw here and there, 245 As if scorning those who are sober; And from your teeth, to send forth foam from your dewy mouth. Nor let yourself be proud of the splendor of a carriage; nor reveal Your form through the split, artfully carved double-doors, Watching the onlookers. Do not be lifted up by a multitude 250 Of servants, or by maidservants who are images of your own heart. As swallows are the heralds of spring, and flowers are of fruit, So are the maidservants of a lady—and ponder this well.

[alt-version omitted]

^B Not adorning your collar with gold, nor a gem hanging From your ear, which presses and shakes it; Nor golden head-bands, nor a garment rich in gold, Fine, and of rare workmanship, Decorated with Tyrian, and tawny, and shining splendor, Nor pigments, fatal to the cheeks themselves, Adorn the feminine race; nor lips daubed with purple, Nor painted eyelids, high eyebrows. Nor a moist pupil rolled within, nor an ear Captivated by the allurements of a soft and broken voice. Forsooth, binding your palms and feet with golden chains, You then enjoy a captive's adornment. To smear the body and head with soft ointments, What profit is there? (For the vulture, indeed, loves a corpse.) And to what end do you press and grind in your mouth tasteless food, And move your chin and both your cheeks? Do you disdain those who possess an honest life and robe, While you stir up foam from your wet mouth with your teeth? Let not these things capture you, nor the great brilliance of a carriage, Nor let it please you to thrust your face through double-latticed windows; Nor let the crowds of servants exalt you, nor the company Of maidservants, which is the image of your own heart. As the flower is the herald of fruit, and the swallow of spring, So is the maidservant the indicator of the lady.

^C For even if each one of these faults is light in itself, all of them together are a sure ruin. 255 A single bloom is lovable in women, a good blush—namely modesty, which our painter depicts. We will grant you, if you wish, a second: that you might bring a paleness to your beauty, wasting away from the labors of Christ, from prayers and sighs and day-and-night vigils. 260 These are the cosmetics for the unwed and for the married alike. Let us therefore leave colors for walls and for those women by whose filth the youth are driven into madness. While they may dance impudently and laugh, for us it is not even lawful to look upon such harlots. 265 Good character is the ornament for women: to remain at home for the most part, to occupy oneself with divine oracles, to apply oneself to the spindle and the wool—for this is the task of women—to distribute tasks to the maidservants, to avoid the men-servants, to set a seal upon one’s lips and eyes and cheeks, 270 and not often to set foot outside the doors; to take delight in modest women and in the one husband alone, to whom you have loosed the virginal girdle given by God. Moreover, set a limit to this license so that you may prove your faithfulness to him, showing that you shrink from the eyes—and the loves—of others. 275 Who first painted the handiwork of God? May he perish, who first mixed impudence with colors. Just as shameless divers—men unworthy of the name of men—conceal the image of the form hidden within, and exhibit it outside, and then follow it with what is fitting— 280 posturings and shameful dissolute movements of the clamorous limbs. ^D

Metrical Version

Pleasing to foolish men; so indeed they, Having put on an alien beauty from without, A theatrical, not a holy covering of modesty, thenceforth Are moved, as is worthy of a painted form. ^A 285 For her, doors, keys, mirrors labor, Cosmetics, female painters, nor is the house devoid of trembling. These are the fruits of vain-glorious painting: but of simplicity Nothing is less laborious than modest elegance. If indeed you pride yourself so much on spurious beauty, 290 You will never have a mind chaste toward Him who shuns the cosmetic. Esther fashioned an amiable form; but what was of her Work of preeminence? A whole nation was saved. Once the harlot Jezebel painted her eyes of savage spirit, But she bathed the harlots, indeed, in harlot's blood. ^A 295 Neither is it your task to appease the anger of a king, nor do you hold A share among harlots: wherefore spare your modesty. Do you not tremble while bowing your head to priests, Like some mask shining with opposing shapes? Do your hands not shudder, when to the mystic food 300 You extend them—the same with which you paint a mournful elegance? And how do you, in the midst of those martyrs for whom the people Establishes a chorus in full assembly, worshiping the precious blood, Bring an appearance that entices many, like some marketplace Drawing to itself a multitude in the center of the cities? 305 Or are you like the showmen of wild beasts, who bring forth The creeping things of darkness from their dreadful bellies? But, woman, be persuaded by our words, Lest a new desire wound you, leading your hands to your face.

Do not, O daughter, be a fellow voyager with such women, ^A nor participate in their counsel or company. Leave those superfluous things to others; but for yourself, be bashful—even be celebrated by the lips of men. This is the glory of women. If your life is completely free from the bonds of marriage, live to Christ alone, having shaken off all else, ^B a radiant virgin, prudent and glorious in mind, having as the bridegroom of your heart the pure Word. But if the desire for the side from which you were hewn has seized you, cling to that one beloved side alone, nurturing a praiseworthy and pure love, free from evil; but to other passions, do not yield even in a dream. ^C And you, O virgin, who stand before the great God, you will not escape notice if you ever mingle anything feminine with a lowly kind of life. There is sometimes an unseemly softness even in filthy garments, and gravity in soft ones. Many are aware of this. A wrinkle is uglier on you—know this for certain—than the greatest wounds in those who live in the world. Revere your profession; ^D for a stain does not appear as much on filthy garments as it does on pure ones of a single color. If I could persuade you of this, I would be of service; but if you should harden your face, you may shine twice as much, if you wish, with gold, electrum, silver, and ivory—these I bestow to women studious of new ornamentation. The column is indeed prepared, and I shall inscribe this epigram: come here, whosoever wishes, and be delighted by beauty.

XXX. Iambic verses, acrostic according to all the letters of the alphabet, so arranged that each iambic ends in some admonition.

Propose to yourself God as the beginning and end of all things.

The gain of life is to die every day. Know all the noble deeds of excellent men. It is terrible to be poor, but worse to be wealthy through wickedness. ^A By doing good, believe that you are an imitator of God. Seek God, yourself being good, for your own goodness. Let the flesh be mastered and well-subdued. Rein in your anger, lest you fall outside your senses. Let your eye attend, and let your tongue have a plumb line. ^A Let a bolt be placed upon your ears, and let not laughter be licentious. Let reason be the lamp that guides your whole life. Let not your true being slip away into mere appearance. Understand all things, but do that which it is right to do. Know yourself to be a stranger, and honor strangers.

^A When you are sailing prosperously, above all remember the storm. All things must be accepted with gratitude from God. The rod of a just man is better than the honor of an evil man. Wear out the thresholds of the wise, but not of the wealthy. ^A That which is small is not small, when it brings forth something great. Rein in insolence, and you shall be a great wise man. Guard yourself, and do not laugh at the fall of another. It is a grace to be envied, but to envy is a great disgrace. Let the soul be offered to God rather than all else. O who shall keep these things, and be saved?

XXXI. Two-line Sentences

Let your whole life be a naked furrow, and let not a heavy Ship commit itself to the sea, soon to be engulfed.

[Translator's note: The remainder of the Latin text on this page consists of scholarly apparatus, notes on variants, and an alternate metrical Latin version (a secondary interpretatio) of the preceding poems. Following the instructions to skip secondary versions and apparatus: [alt-version omitted]]

As you contemplate ever-present, chilling death, Be mindful, and you will endure a death that is of less account. 5 Always build a new temple to God, so that you may have the King, the incorporeal One, set within your heart. Know yourself, O noble one, whence and who you have been born; easily thus may you reach the beauty of the archetype. Day drags you after day; he who is light-minded is swept along, 10 but he of solid judgment possesses an indissoluble day. Whoever trusts in things departing and arriving, trusts in a river that never stands still. To me, a wicked life and wicked discourse are an equal evil; whichever you may possess, you will obtain the other. ^A 15 To stand offering sacrifices while impure is a sin; more terrible still is the worshipping of all the remains of the dead. Stand firm; never turn from the path of the good; to creep into the abyss of evil is for you a downfall, whoever you are, far from your own wickedness. Blind is he who sees, though he does not perceive the destruction of his own evil; 20 to track the footprint of a beast is the work of sharp eyes. If you stand in need of a healer for your passions, and you conceal your evils, never will you escape the grievous rot. Your word, the work of me. He who has not performed a good deed, let him have fine speech as an ally wrapped around him. 25 A wanton is sated. But I wish you, noble one, to have a work, the setting of a soul that is ever-turning,

^A to enrich yourself with God alone, and to esteem the whole world as always like the webs of a spider. 29 Things of men are all alien to this life; 30 but human virtue, this alone is life. Come, the Word of God, unfailing in counsel, cries out to all: hasten to the knowledge of the heavenly Trinity. Set your mind to it, as many as holy marriage has bound in life, to bring forth more abundant fruit for the heavenly winepresses; 35 and as many of you, maiden virgins, as are embraced by the great Word of God, offer everything to God. A solitary, shining brightness is the monk; but let him lead his mind away from the world, and stand far from the things of the flesh. To have faith in colors, and not in the heart, is arrogance; 40 it is easily washed away. The depth is dear to me. ^B Let there be neither an inflexible justice, nor a guileful prudence. A mean in all things is best. Govern your boldness, since once boldness is unleashed, it shall not be a strength. It belongs to temperance to have a certain serenity. 45 To open one's mind constantly to the sayings of God is best; thus you shall be skilled in heavenly laws. Strive to be the best; be displeasing to those to whom it is best to be displeasing; for it is an inglorious fame to please the wicked. It is shameful for one who is good to be an advocate of the wicked— 50 it is the same as if you yourself had your foot inside vice. Gold indeed is tested in furnaces, but the good man by troubles; grief is often lighter than security. Easily would he disavow the great God who disavows his father; 54 but know your father as the father of piety.

55 Moths eat everything; do not therefore leave your riches in the tombs: it is an honorable thing to have an eulogy inscribed on one's tomb, and a glorious name. Show mercy to our fellow-guests, but especially ^A to the helpless dead who have left all these things behind. Come then, put aside the whole world and its burdens here, 60 and spread your sails toward the heavenly life. May all things always be performed as best works, worthy of God, and may the Trinity be your concern above all things.

XXXII. Other maxims of the same sort.

^B The end of a noble beginning being also noble, the outcomes of things rightly prove. Moreover, the beginning which brings forth a noble end for men is purity of life diligently cultivated. 5 Relying on the wings of reason, do not fly without wings; for not even a bird flies without wings. Knowledge is the greatest glory for men in life; but it is a great evil to those who use it ill. May vain glory never seize you.

METRICAL VERSION

Moths devour all things: do not you leave yours in tombs: It is an honorable burial to have a good name. Let your voice show mercy to fellow-guests, and to these Especially, for whom the final day has closed. Come hither, leaving behind the world and the world's burdens too, Straightway spread your sails toward the houses above. With no clamor always perform those things which are right: But let the holy Trinity be your exceeding care.

XXXII. OTHER MAXIMS OF THE SAME SORT.

^A For this is indeed crafty toward the simpler ones. When acting rightly, guard yourself to remain in this state; For the path to the worse is swift. Let laughter be kept down, and let anger find an end; And let idle talk be utterly restrained. 15 Fear God first of all, and honor your parents, Praise the priests, and treat the elders with reverence. That a son should speak what is just to his father, The ordinance determines, and before ordinances, nature. Such as you do not wish to suffer from another, 20 Do not wish yourself to do even to another. Anger is no trivial thing to those who have done great wrongs; For Justice judges those who are like them. Wise lips drop sweetest words; But a bitter throat belches forth quarrels. 25 A glib tongue pours out streams of sweetness; But a mouth without judgment produces base sayings. Friends love what is dear to their friends; But enemies shamelessly despise their friends. The doors of the wealthy are hidden from poor friends; 30 But bright halls are forever friends to the rich. Water, a most excellent drink, tempers the mind; But drunkenness, taking hold, clouds the intellect. Wine knows not how to keep nature in check, But rather stirs it up, provoking pleasures. 35 The swelling of the belly drives away a subtle mind.

METRICAL VERSION

For contraries are at war with contraries. Better is a moderate portion of food, if it be available, Than a delicate feast, which one has fashioned for oneself in a dream. Fools are enriched more by dreams 40 Than those who possess a bottomless pit of wealth. Better to be childless than to beget foolish offspring; For the one is childless, but the others are many and evil. To every dying mortal, the whole earth is a tomb; For everything that is from the earth is earth, and returns to earth again. 45 A shepherd milks, if he wishes, even the he-goats; But instead of milk, he will draw forth fountains of blood. The sow, overlooking the preparation of the meal, ^A knows not to confuse the bounds of the table. Do you also constrain the unruly, so as not to dissolve 50 The order that is becoming and adjusted to laws. Keeping the laws, cast fear outside; For everyone who is a guardian of the laws is outside of fears. A skilled pilot will avoid the storms, And a mind bearing a wise judgment will avoid all terrible things. 55 Do not think the contrary to an excellent life; For justice is manifest to the most wicked. The great anvil does not fear the blows, And the prudent mind does not fear any force that drags it. The rustling of leaves terrifies hares, ^B but the mind that is upright knows how not to confuse the bounds of the table.

^A Shadows of circumstances make men unmanly. Iron when struck kindles even the stones; And a harsh whip educates the heart. ^B I hate a poor man who gives gifts to the rich, Just as I do one who speaks of feeding but forgets to do so. An evil orator destroys the laws; But a pure orator is a harmonious concord. ^C 65 The wealthy laugh at the reproaches of orphans; They laugh at the very punishment of God. He who does not lawfully bear the guard of the law Shall be entangled by the laws toward his own destruction. It is natural for the poor not to think great things of themselves; 70 For the rich, there is not even a care for how they live. Educate the foolish, as far as their nature admits; For they will perhaps possess intelligence beyond one's expectation. ^D Things which the hostile fear more than all others, The Cross and the communion of baptism. It is most base to give and to receive oaths; For perhaps you have offended justice in both ways. Store up the age that is outside of the end; 80 For this one has vanished even before the end. Do not love wealth, which time dissolves; For what time has built, time will also dissolve. It is shameful for women to display the character of males; For to modest women, order and shame are shared in common. 85 Pleasure is precipitous for those who indulge in it,

Moral Poems

and as it approaches, so it departs, like a stone. No wealth is more precious to the sick than health; ^A wisely, the nature of mortals desires this. The sounds of the sea are the words of a foolish man: 90 they press upon the shores, yet they do not nourish the pastures. Gifts persuade even the wise to overlook things; for mortals, gold is a snare, as a trap is for birds. Sorrows produce old age even before its time; for what character has cast down, time will not restore. 95 Wealth is the swiftest servant of evils; for power is readily available for wickedness. There is no possession better than a friend; ^B never acquire a wicked man for a friend. Let order be honored, and let it take precedence over force, 100 for it is force itself and always the guardian of force. An anxious mind is a worm consuming the bones, but the body flourishes when it runs from cares. No satiety is naturally disposed to act with temperance; for fire is accustomed to run toward fuel. 105 Wine is the awakening of passion when it has otherwise faded; for the material flowing in strengthens the flame. Those who fear quarrels flee from angers; for quarrels often kindle wrath. It is a terrible thing to add labors to one who is already exhausted by labors; 110 yet, on the contrary, one labor has often put an end to others. While some are fearful of the labors of others, they are seen to be struggling in the dangers of others. Always be concerned for eternal glory. [alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

^A for the present day deceives.

115 No one guided by anger deliberates with security; for things done with anger do not yet possess sound counsel. Dreadful are dragons, and crafty are vipers; The woman possesses the double malice of both beasts. They persuade those who see the bare bones, 120 That nothing here is closely attached to us. If the offspring of crabs do not walk sideways, Let them take proof from the gait of their mothers. You will clearly give, forcing nature, Good pupils from evil teachers. 125 Adorn yourself with excellent proofs, And do not despise the needy orphan. When God gives, envy avails nothing, And when He does not give, labor avails nothing. You bring forth, O viper; do not fear the labor pains; 130 You have received proof of your mother’s birth. No one is a victor through manifest cowardice; For victories demand praises. A sleepy man is a finder of dreams; For sleep is a mystic of phantoms, not of realities. 135 Violence is accustomed to persuade even those who do not wish it, For it often throttles even giants. When the people have stumbled, every charlatan takes the lead; And the mob is entirely a confusion of the good. I do not call work an incidental task.

METRICAL VERSION

For the present day deceives in any respect. No one who is agitated takes right counsel; Nor are those deliberations sound to which anger is joined. Savages are the dragons; crafty are the vipers; The force of women is double among the beasts. While we look upon bones stripped of flesh, We learn that nothing here is certain for us. Whether the gait of a crab is not sufficiently curved, Let them learn this from the gait of their parent. If nature should feel your force, from evil Teachers you will certainly furnish good pupils. Adorn yourself indeed with excellent matters, Yet do not despise the needy orphans in your insolence. ^B When Christ gives, evil envy can do nothing: When Christ does not give, our labor can do nothing. Let the viper not fear the pangs of birth: For she thus experiences the birth of her own parent. No one bears away the palm whom base fear holds: For victory alone demands praises. A somnolent man finds only dreams: For sleep does not teach realities, but things seen. Violent force is accustomed to move the unwilling: For it brings even the giants under its hand. When the plebs errs, the charlatan soon takes over: So the plebs is altogether a confusion of the good. Work1 that does nothing toward the goal, is no work.

140 That which does not contribute to the matter at hand must be despised. The order of dogs gathered together At the dead bodies of those cast upon the ground is praised. When gold speaks, every discourse should remain silent, For gold knows how to persuade, even if it is born without a voice. 145 Those who are maddened by the shifting things of life Will have—even now—things to bring to peace.

XXXIII. Tetrastich Sentences.

I am the toil of Gregory, and I keep to a four-line structure, A memorial of wisdom in spiritual maxims. Would you prefer action, or contemplation? Contemplation is the work of the perfect; the former is for the majority. Both, indeed, are excellent and friendly; But to that for which you were formed, stretch yourself out more. 5 Someone of the spiritual ones asked me a problem: "If you are cleansed," I said, "but I am sober." "If you are cleansed—but now there is need for purifications. An ointment is not entrusted to a putrid vessel." Do not resist everyone, nor follow every word, 10 But only those to whom you know how, and how much, and when.

^A Quæ præferenda est, actio an theoria? Haec est adultæ mentis, illa plurium. Ambæ tamen sunt laudibus dignissimæ. Ad quam aptiorem te vides, hanc arripe. Quidam explicari quid sibi quæsiverat Sublimioris. Purus, inquam, sis prius. At mente consto. Sordibus verum scates. Unguentum olenti vasculo non creditur. Nec cede cunctis, nec resiste vocibus. Fac ante noscas: tunc modum et tempus tene.

XXXIII. TETRASTICH SENTENCES.

Which is to be preferred, action or theory? This belongs to the mature mind, that to the majority. Both are nevertheless most worthy of praise. To that for which you see yourself more suited, turn your mind. A certain one of the spiritual ones asked me What he had inquired about. "First," I said, "be pure." "But I am fixed in my mind." "You are truly swarming with filth. Ointment is not entrusted to a foul vessel." Do not yield to all, nor resist every word; See that you know [the speaker] first: then keep the measure and the time.

^A Rather hang upon God, than defend Him. Every word struggles against a word, but who struggles against a life? Either do not teach, or teach by your conduct. Do not draw with one hand, while pushing away with the other. 15 You will have less need of speaking, if you do what is necessary: The painter teaches more by his representations. I speak especially to you who are at the front, That your eye may not be filled with darkness, Lest we appear to be leaders of evil. 20 For if the light is such, how great is the darkness? A silent deed is better than an idle word. No one has ever been exalted without a good life; Yet many have been, without a well-spoken word. ^A For grace belongs not to those who speak, but to those who live well. 25 Your character is a most beautiful gift to God. Even if you bring everything, you will bring nothing worthy. What the poor man gives, bring that. A pure man does not share in the wages of a harlot. Never vow anything to God, not even the smallest thing. ^B 30 For it is God’s already, before you receive [it]. What then do I say? You are stealing your own things, if you do not give them. O new debt! Let Ananias and Sapphira persuade you. Consider this life to be a marketplace. If you trade, you gain. For the exchange is 35 [to trade] the smaller for the greater things, and the transient for the eternal. But if it [the time] passes, you have no other season.

METRICAL VERSION

Not so much to defend God, as to follow Him should be your care. Words are contrary to words: but [they are] nothing to a life. Either do not teach, or teach by your morals: Do not draw me with that hand, while pushing me away with this one. One will have to speak less, if you live uprightly: The painter teaches not so much by speech, as by the hand. Beware, I pray, especially you, prelates, Lest you be a light entirely bereft of light, And you be leaders of vice only, not of good. ^B If the light is such, how great is the darkness? Action conquers hollow words. No man was ever great without a life, Yet many have been [great] without flattering words. For grace belongs to the one who acts, not the one who speaks. There is no gift more pleasing to God than virtue. Whatever you may give, you will still bring nothing worthy. Offer, therefore, what a poor man is able to give. The pure One abhors the reward of a harlot. Promise nothing to God, be it ever so small, For the gift is God's already, before you took it. You are a thief of your own goods, (O new kind of debt!) If you do not give. Sapphira and her treacherous husband teach this. I would wish that you believe this life to be a marketplace. If you know how to trade, you will make a profit, Exchanging perishable things for everlasting blessings. After this time, another will not be available.

Great is the course set before you, but greater is the reward. Do not, by looking at the whole at once, lose the whole; for you do not sail the entire sea at once; and this is often a temptation from the enemy. ^A Do not be too confident, nor despair too greatly. For the former relaxes you, and by the latter you are brought down. Accomplish one thing, and apply yourself to the next; there is no envy in this, nor does the remaining part of the journey render your labor void. Do not rush impetuously, but remain in those things that you have judged for yourself; it is better to progress than to cut away any part of the good. For we call those evil, not those who are below, but those who, once they have been raised high, fall greatly. A spark and a small flame kindle a great fire, and the seed of a viper has often caused destruction. Seeing this, therefore, shun even a small injury; it is indeed small, but it grows into something greater. Examine yourself more than your neighbors; for you will gain from the former, but the latter is for your neighbors. Reasoning is better than wealth; for the former remains, but the latter is corrupted. Let your mind constantly labor, being shaped by divine thoughts and the words of life. ^B But spare your tongue; for it is easier to do harm, and the profit is less when it is moved well. My sight took hold of me, but I was restrained; I did not set up an image of sin.

METRICAL VERSION

The course which is proposed to you is vast, but the reward is ample. Do not, seeing the whole at once, abandon the whole. You do not cross all the waves of the sea at once; often the enemy hides this deception here. Do not trust too much, nor cast away hope entirely. The mind languishes from the one and is altogether overturned by the other. Do this, and hold that; if you cannot do more, the labor that remains for you does not make the journey void. Do nothing with such haste that you desert what has been begun. It is better to progress than to sever any good. For one who remains below is not called evil, but he who, having been carried on high, falls to the depths. A small spark excites great flames, and the seed of the viper not rarely kills. On account of this, flee from harm, however small; for though it be small at first, it grows nevertheless. Examine yourself rather than your neighbors; that will be gain for you, this will bring gain to others. It is better to count one's deeds than vast riches; for deeds always remain, while riches flow away. Diligently fix divine thoughts in your mind: and let life be ever sculpted by your words. But spare your tongue: for it harms most readily: and it provides less profit, when it pours out sounds rapidly. My sight indeed captured me: but it was repressed, the form was not painted in my mind, nor is the sin mine.

^A An image has stood? We have avoided the action. These are the steps of the struggle against the enemy. 65 Seal your ears with wax against base words, and against the effeminate windings of pleasant songs; but to those things which are noble and good, always give your ears for speaking, for hearing, and for doing—there is a small distance between them. Do not be overly dissolved by the effeminacies of perfumes, 70 and the smoothness of touch, nor by tastes. For how would you ever act like a man if you are defeated by these, apart from the pleasures of women and men? Give, said the belly. If, having received, you are temperate, I will give readily. But if you give to what is below, 75 you might receive dung, yet not a rich [supply]. But if you should hoard it, we shall give even a rich supply. Laughter is worthy of laughter for those who are wise, ^B especially for all, but more so for the lecherous. Uncontrolled laughter brings out even tears. 80 A somber character is better than one that is dissolute. Consider beauty to be the ornament of the mind, not what hands paint, or time dissolves, but what is recognized by the eye of a prudent mind. And likewise, consider the lack of order in the mind to be ugliness. 85 Sorrows have come, pleasures, boldness, fears, ^C wealth, poverty, glory, infamy, wailing; let them flow as they will. Nothing of things that do not abide touches a man who has taken his stand well. Be lofty in life, rather than in pride; 90 the former makes you a god, but by the latter you fall greatly. You will attain this, if you are not measured by small things. Even if you are raised the highest, you are below the commandment.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

[alt-version omitted]

^B Laughter is deserved by anyone, in the eyes of the healthy, and laughter that is wanton, especially that of a harlot. Unregulated laughter produces no light weeping. It is better to be sad than of dissolute habits. Consider true beauty to be the ornament of the mind, not that which the hand paints or the day destroys, but that which the eye of a modest mind perceives: and conversely, [consider] bad morals to be deformity. Sadness, pleasure, terror, and confidence, riches, poverty, glory, and infamy have come; let them flow as they wish: no fleeting thing touches a firm man. Let your life be high: but not your spirit: the former will make you blessed, but the latter will miserably cast you down. This will come to pass, if you do not compare yourself with small things: though you may be high, yet the law is above you.

^A Pursue glory, but not all of it, nor excessively: For it is better to be than to seem. But if you are immoderate, 95 Do not hunt after empty or novel glory. For what profit is it to a monkey if he seem a lion? Praise another, but do not be puffed up when praised; For there is a danger that you may not live up to your praises. Do not praise another immediately, before you know them by experience, 100 Lest, if they be found wicked, it become a source of shame for you. It is better to be poorly spoken of than to speak poorly. When someone brings forward another for a comedy, Thinking to delight you, consider that you yourself are being held up. In this way you would be most displeased by such speech. 105 Do not say anything great while sailing smoothly before reaching the mooring. For many a ship has foundered when sailing smoothly toward the harbor; Many have arrived at the harbor after a tempest. There is one security: not to reproach others for their misfortunes. It is better, living well and suffering, 110 To have some confidence before the Master, Than to flourish in ill-gotten gains and be required to pay the penalty; Even if all things move according to reason. Cast away all things, and possess God alone: For if you be a distributor of others' wealth, 115 If you do not wish to give all, give the greater part. If not even this, then show piety with your superfluities. It is a good thing to snatch something away from moths and from envy, And to have Christ as a debtor rather than to possess all things, Who grants a heavenly kingdom in return for a scrap: 120 You cover and feed Christ, when you feed the poor.

METRICAL VERSION

I would have you seek neither all reputation nor seek it too much: It excels to be upright rather than merely to seem so. If you shrink From due measure, at least flee from what is vain and novel. What gain is it for an ape to be thought a lion? Praise others indeed: but do not be puffed up by your own praises. For we must fear that you may not be equal to the praise you receive. And do not praise another before you know them, Lest you soon blush if they should behave dishonestly. It is better to hear reproaches than to speak them yourself. When one attacks another with jests, thinking That it pleases you, believe that you yourself are being attacked. Thus this discourse will displease you most of all. Do not boast before your ship is in the harbor. Many have already perished when close to the shore: ^B Many have arrived at the harbor driven by a whirlwind. To reproach no one for their calamities is a certain safety. It is better to speak to God with free speech, While faring well but pressed by sorrows and evils, Than to be burdened with sins and pay heavy penalties; Even if all things flow according to the best of reasons. Cast off all things: let Christ alone be your wealth. Those things which you offer are not your own resources. If you do not wish to give all, give at least the greater part. If you do not wish for even this, spend what is redundant. Take something away from envy and from black rust; And prefer God as your debtor above all others, He who repays heavenly scepters for a scrap: You cover and feed God, when you feed the poor.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

The pauper approached, and then went away having obtained nothing: I fear, O Christ, lest I also, in need of Thy hand, Should depart in want, according to my own laws. For what one has not given, let him not hope to receive. 125 Nothing is more secure than a man in poverty. He has turned toward God, and looks to Him alone. But do Thou embrace him; for the eagle, as they say, Greatly cherishes the small bird in its nest. Better is poverty than unjust acquisition; 130 For it is even as a disease compared to evil prosperity. Truly, by famine has no one easily been destroyed, But for the wicked, on the other hand, misery is their fate. What is a master, or a slave, or a base distinction? ^A One Creator for all, one law, one judgment. 135 When being served, look upon him as a fellow-slave. Whenever you are released, you shall appear more honorable. And what are servants, especially those belonging to God? Let them not shrink from showing goodwill to their masters. For character defines a man as free or slave. 140 And Christ was seen as a slave, yet He was a liberator. Be ashamed if you are called bad, but not if you are of low birth; For those who have long since rotted are [the source of] noble birth. It is better to be the beginning of a lineage than to dissolve a lineage, As it is better to be noble than to be the descendant of noble men. 145 Be insatiable for God alone and for divine things, He who grants even more to those who have received.

METRICAL VERSION

A pauper approached me: but in vain, however! Christ, I fear that while seeking Thy help, I may depart, in turn bearing nothing from Thee. For what one denies to another, he will seek in vain. Nothing is more secure than a man lacking in wealth. He holds all his hopes fixed upon God: But do Thou cherish him; for, as they say, the large Eagle tends its young in the nest. Better is poverty than goods wickedly obtained, As a disease is [better] than an unpraiseworthy state of health. Rarely has cruel hunger carried anyone off: But for wicked men, death is a certain evil. ^B What is a servant, or a master? This division is an evil. There is one Creator, one law, and a judge as well. Therefore see your servants as you would a fellow-servant. See that you excel others when you are released from the body. But what of servants, especially those who are pious? Let them serve their masters with affection. Life alone makes servants and masters. Christ served, yet He delivered us from the yoke. To be called evil is shameful, not to be of ignoble birth; For those families are long since rotten flesh. It is better to initiate a lineage than to dissolve one: As it is to be noble, than to be sown by a noble father. Be never sated with God and with heavenly things: He gives more to those who have already received.

^A Thirsting to be thirsted for, flowing forth bountifully, yet in other matters being content to be overcome. Do not desire to conquer all things, nor yet always; for it is better to be well conquered than to conquer ill. For a wrestler is not utterly defeated because he lies on the ground; often he is the stronger. And suffer some loss; this is often gain, even as pruning a plant [leads] to fruitfulness. 155 But if you add what is not good to what you now possess, you bring fire to the wood, or disease to the body. If you owe nothing in the way of punishment to God, do not yourself be merciful to those who owe [you]. if you know that you are a debtor, be the first to extend mercy; for with mercy is mercy weighed and meted out by God. ^B Whenever insults inflame your mind, remember Christ and His wounds, and how small a portion this is of the sufferings of the Master. And thus you shall quench that which grieves you, as if with water. 165 Love, drunkenness, jealousy, and the demon—they are equals; whomsoever they approach, they engulf their reason. Wasting away, prayer, a tear—these are the remedies. This is the healing of my maladies. Flee from all oath-taking. How then shall we convince? By word and by the manner of life which gives credence to the word. ^C For false swearing is the denial of God. Why is there need for you to invoke God? Interpose your character. What doctrine of kindness is more brief? Be such to your friends and to your neighbors, as you would wish them to be to you.

METRICAL VERSION

Thirsting to be thirsted for, abundant and flowing to all; Do not bear it ill to be overcome in other things. Do not strive to obtain all things, nor always. Love rather to be surpassed nobly than to conquer basely. For an athlete is not conquered simply because he lies On the ground; but often he who is thrown holds the enemy. Suffer some loss; hence gain frequently returns, Just as a pruned tree is rendered more fruitful. But if you add what is bad to the goods you possess, You bring a torch to the wood, and beget disease for your body. If you owe nothing of punishment to God the avenger, Do not yourself be harsh to your debtor. But if you do not deny that you are a debtor, forgive. For God repays mercy to the merciful. ^B When you burn, wounded by very great sorrow, Be mindful of the wounds of Christ, and how great a part These are of the pains which your Master bore. Thus indeed, as if overwhelmed by waves, your grief perishes. Wine, lust, envy, and the demon—they are peers. They deprive of their mind those whom they possess. To these, show mercy With prayer, with shed tears, and with fasting. For this is the sure remedy for my diseases. Do not swear. By what means will trust be made? By discourse, and by a life which builds up faith in the words. He who swears falsely, he is utterly denying God. Let your life be a witness (what need is there of God?) for you. What doctrine of benignity is more concise? Such as you seek for your neighbors to be toward you,

^A be such toward them yourself. And if you seek something even more concise: consider the sufferings of Christ. Consider that nothing is worthy of a faithful friend whom the wine-cup has not tested, but dangerous time; who grants nothing unless it is purely useful. Recognize the limits of enmity, but not of friendship. The eye, while seeing all else, does not see itself, nor does it even see the rest if it be very rheumy. For this reason have a counselor in all things; for hand needs hand, and foot needs foot. If you are admonished and follow the good, you shall not be ashamed when mocked by the bad. Whenever you contemplate a shameful deed, consider that many are present, and feel shame before yourself.

^A Always prefer the good over those who are not good, for if you associate with the evil, you will certainly be evil. From an evil man never accept a favor, for he seeks to obtain forgiveness for what he has perpetrated. I, however, derive some profit even from an adversary; for I advise others to be safer by avoiding the handles of reproach, and although I shudder at bitter medicine, I censure that which is sweet. Repay the good, and despise the evil; yet let it be a favor to the latter that you suffer no harm from them, so that in time you may make them good. Kindness is a lovely gift to a patient man. Be kind to all, if this is in your power, but more so to those nearest you. Why do I say this?

METRICAL VERSION

Be such to them. But if you seek something still ^B more brief, take the hard wounds of Christ. Think nothing more excellent than faithful friends, whom harsh misfortune has brought forth, not the wine-cup: who counsel what is profitable, not what is pleasant. Let there be an end to wrath, but let favor know no end. The eye observes all else, but does not see itself: nor indeed does it see the rest, if it is too blind. Therefore have a monitor in all things: for hand requires hand, and foot the foot. If you hear the good who warn you, and obey them, you will not blush afterward when the evil mock you. When you turn some shameful thing in your mind, deem that many are present for you; revere yourself as well. Always prefer good men over the wicked. For if you are frequent with the wicked, you will be wicked. Never take a gift from the hand of an evil man, for he seeks thus to gain pardon for his own offenses. I gather a certain advantage from the enemy himself; for I live more cautiously henceforth, lest he be able to accuse me. I shudder at the bitter medicine, and am angry with the sweet. Repay the good: despise those whom you see are evil. Let this benefit also be from you to them, that they may pay no penalty. So you will render them good. For kindness is an ample gift to the man of lenity. Be benign indeed to all, as much as you can: but more so to those who are near. Why do I say these things?

Who would believe you to be good to strangers ^A If you do not practice justice toward those to whom it is owed? 205 Why do we blame the wretched enemy for everything, Granting him the power to harm us by our own way of life? Blame yourself, either in all things, or in the greater part. The fire is from us, but the flame is from the inciting Spirit. Do not be overly prone to follow the trifles of dreams; 210 Do not have a mind that is fearful toward everything; Nor let yourself be carried away by favorable apparitions. Often these are the ambush of the adversary. Let hope for every noble end be set before you; For if any man is a fellow-worker of what is worse, 215 How is it not just to be so also for the good? For I do not endure to be overcome by evil. Consider prudence safer than fortune; For the one is but a light onrush of events, The other is a rudder. And do not think anything 220 Is better than education, which alone truly belongs to its possessors. Show your potency not by doing evil, But by doing good, if you wish to be like God. This is the nature of a man who knows his own kin. For even the stingray and the scorpion kill quite easily. 225 It is shameful for a young man to be weaker than an old man, And for an old man to be more senseless than a young one.

METRICAL VERSION

Who would believe you ever to be good to those abroad, If you show yourself unfair to your own kin? Why do we always cast the blame upon the enemy, When our own transgressions provide him with his strength? Blame yourself entirely, or at least for the most part. For the fire is yours, but the flame belongs to the demon. Do not put too much faith in the trifles of dreams: Let not all things terrify you. Nor let joyful visions lift you up too much. The demon frequently prepares these snares for you. Let joyful hope always go before your deeds. For if he assists the wicked, how much more ^B Is it fitting that a good man be assisted by this? For it is not to be endured that the good should yield to the evil. Prudence is safer than blind chance, For that is but a light onrush of affairs: This is a rudder. Let nothing be more precious to you than learning, Which those who possess it have as their only wealth. Do not demonstrate your strength by harming others: But by doing good, if you desire to follow God. This is the mark of him who knows what his race is. Yet the stingray and the scorpion kill with ease. It is shameful for a youth to be weaker than an old man, And, conversely, for an old man to be more foolish than a youth.

Let the former be most wise according to the season; ^A but for the latter, it is best to be sober even before the season. Always perform [the work of] salvation; but most especially [do so] when the end of life draws near. Old age has arrived; a herald proclaims the departure. Let everyone make ready; for the judgment is near. The end of the discourse is a twofold denial of God, by deed and by word. Do not be stolen away; watch closely ^B (since you are always being pursued by secret wrestlings), lest you have need of final purifications. ^C

XXXIV. Rather coarse definitions.

God is essence, the primary good. The cosmos is the bond of things that flow and things that are understood. That each thing is this or that, is nature. Nature is immaterial, an angel, the first creation. And those who turned away from the good, what are they? Demons, of whom the first is he who once was Lucifer, the inventor ^D and champion of unsightly darkness. Matter is the seat of forms, the second creation. The beauty of matter is the form of that which is shaped. The boundary of things that flow and those that are understood is the celestial pole. The nature of the stars is fire, revolving in a circle. Light is a radiance from fire, [and] to the mind, it is reason. Darkness is twofold, the dissolution of a twofold radiance. Eternity is an interval, flowing ever without time.

[alt-version omitted]

XXXIV. DEFINITIONES MINUS EXACTAE.

God is the first being of all, and the primary good. Whatever flows is the world; whatever the mind perceives, is light. What each thing is, in its own way, I call its nature. Simple nature is an angel, the first creature. Those who deviated from the good, what are they? Demons. The prince of these is Lucifer, who once was, the inventor and high priest of black darkness. Matter is the foundation for forms, created afterward. To wear a form is a sure beauty for it. The pole is the boundary of falling and firm things. What are the stars? Flame, holding a circular course. Light is burning splendor, the reason of my mind. And darkness is twofold, a twofold absence of light. Eternity is that which flows constantly without time.

15 Time is the measure of the sun's motion. Earth is compacted matter, which the pole encompasses. Fire is a nature that burns and flows upward. Water is a fluid nature, and one that tends downward. Air is the filling of the void, and a breath-giving nature. 20 I am man, a figment and image of God. The body is matter, and a dimensioned mass. It is an element, the first part of the body. The soul is a vital nature, and one that carries; Reason and intellect have been mingled with my soul. 25 Life is the bond of body and soul, Just as death is the separation of the two. The mind is an inner vision, not subject to limitation. The work of the mind is thought, and the expression of things. Reason is the investigation of the mind’s concepts, ^A 30 Which you will utter through the organs of speech. Sense is a certain reception from without. Memory is the retention of the mind's impressions. Oblivion is the loss of memory. And of oblivion, There is memory again, which I call reminiscence. 35 I know will to be the mind's inclination and concurrence Toward those things that are within our power; the rest are not to be willed. The movement toward "I wish" is autonomy. I call the intense and eager effort [alacrity]; But that which is involuntary is a tyranny upon the will. 40 I know reasoning to be the division of things. Desire is an appetite either for good or not-good things. Love is a hot and hard-to-restrain desire. Anger is a sudden boiling of the mind; Wrath is persistent anger. And that [which persists] ^B toward evil.

[alt-version omitted]

^A One who is mindful, and lies in wait—this is malice. I know the tempering of grief to be long-suffering; and that which is calm in the face of insult is angerlessness, which indeed it was the custom of the ancients to call gentleness. Consider virtue to be a habit of good things, but consider its opposite, vice, to be a disease; the former is a gift of God, the latter an invention [of man]. The beauty of everything is harmony, while ugliness is the abuse of beauty, as is my argument. Fortitude is constancy in the face of dangers; Audacity is confidence where there should be no daring. Timidity is a certain constriction of the mind toward things that should be dared. Temperance is the mastery of pleasures; I call the defeat by these things intemperance. Justice is not to seek to have more; to step over the lines of equality, this is injustice. Prudence is experience in affairs. Let wisdom be considered the contemplation of things that are. Simplicity is a habit inactive toward evil; Duplicity is the wickedness of character. Pleasure is a certain softening of the soul; Grief is a biting of the heart and confusion. Care is a turning and twisting of the mind, and anxiety even more so. Consideration is the conflict of reasonings concerning things to be done; Judgment is the fixing of the deliberations of the mind; I know the casting away of these to be listlessness. Envy is the wasting away at the prosperity of neighbors; Witchcraft is harm caused through envy. [alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

The malicious man is called one who remembers [injuries]. Long-suffering is the digestion of annoyance. When quiet holds the one who is wronged, Which was once the custom to call gentleness. Virtue is the firm habit of good things; And again, the habit of evil is the opposing disease. That is a gift of God, but this is a bad invention. Grace is the elegant harmony of all things; Against grace is the disgrace of ugliness. Now fortitude is strength in dangers; But to be confident where there is no need is audacity. Whoever shrinks from things to be dared is pressed by fear. It is for the temperate man to conquer what is pleasant; For the lustful man, conversely, to succumb to them. ^B Justice is: to demand no more than others; To depart from equity is iniquity; One skilled in things is called prudent; but let him be considered Wise, who with his mind perceives the essence of things. Whoever is slow toward evil is called simple; But whoever is double in his ways is called crafty. What is joyousness? It is the expansion of the mind; Sadness is the biting and trembling of the heart. But care turns the mind, and anxiety does so even more; The battle of reasons is: whether or not you will act. But a decision firms the counsels of the mind; He who repels these is possessed by listlessness. Envy grieves at the prosperity of one's neighbor; Witchcraft is more: for it harms as much as it can.

^A Mending the wicked is a praiseworthy passion. Shame is a certain contraction of the spirit through the fear of disgrace. 75 The contempt of shame is impudence. Diligence is a certain intensity toward things proposed; And I know the dissolution of this to be listlessness. Sloth is a certain sluggishness toward any action. Zeal is on the one hand imitation, and on the other, a certain sorrow. 80 When the force of love is stolen toward some strange object of desire, The ancients call this jealousy. Boastfulness, I know to be a swelling of the heart; Pride is an inflammation that levity awakens. The arrogant man, to me, is also a show-off. 85 And self-will, I call self-complacency. Humility is not to think highly of oneself. ^B The pretense of this is hypocrisy. Liberality is a simple giving of money; I know the dissipation of these to be prodigality. 90 And I call covetousness illiberality. Magnificence is the splendor of deeds; Meanness is to think much of small things. Of the magnanimous man, it is to bear all things easily; But not to bear even small things, this is pusillanimity. 95 Ambition is a moderate desire for honor; But laxity is even beyond the moderate measure. Know you that the craving for vain things is vainglory; And glory, that which is this to us, or seems so. But another glory is the phantasms of things. 100 Insolence is the unkindness of an enemy.

[alt-version omitted]

^A Action and speech. The reviler brings shame. Reproof is the blameless criticism of a friend. Criminati­on is an accusation of matters punishable; If it is false, it is sycophancy; 105 If secret, it must be called calumny for you. A reproof that is unaccountable is blasphemy. A slanderer is one who arms his tongue against everyone. Urbanity is cheerfulness in conversation. But jocularity is cheerfulness without reason. 110 Foolishness is useless speech. Laughter is a bubbling of the cheeks, a throbbing of the heart. Call the immoderate use of wine drunkenness, and the insults caused by drunkenness, debauchery. A hangover is a stale insult born of drunkenness. ^A 115 Murder is one of the body, another of the image; And both are a destruction of the dear harmony. Fornication and adultery, the one is a theft of alien bodies, the other too of demons; When the affection of God falls upon His enemies. 120 Idolater is he who worships also gold. If it is utility, to receive gain for the soul; If it is a loss, to suffer damage to it, it happens. Mercy is sympathy with suffering. Pity is to do some good to the one who has suffered. 125 A certain disposition toward things is character (tropos); And habit (ethos) is a molding that accuses the character. Instruction is the imprint in deed and word. And the best word is a physician of evils.

METRICAL VERSION

It is an act, and it brings insults with reviling. A mild complaint of a friend is reproach. But the crime is that for which the law imposes a penalty. If charges are fabricated, it is sycophancy. If this is done secretly, then call it calumny. When someone criticizes with impunity, it is blasphemy. A slanderer is he who attacks everyone with his mouth. In conversation, sweetness is urbanity. Mirth bereft of reason is jocularity. But foolishness is when speech flows in vain. Laughter of the cheeks is heat: this makes the heart throb. Excessive use of wine is drunkenness. Insults arisen from wine are debauchery. A hangover is if you behave impudently after the wine. One is the murder of the body, the other of the soul: Through both, the sweet connection is dissolved. Fornication is double, and adultery is double. By the one the body is stolen, by the other the mind. 119 As often as the love of the Divine falls toward its enemies. Call those who worship gold idolaters. When our mind seeks gain, then this is useful, Consider it a loss of the mind when it suffers harm. Mercy is to be attracted by sorrow for grave accidents: Pity is to add to that sorrow, so that you may help the wretched. There is a certain habit toward things, this they call character. But habit is again a molding, an index of character. Doctrine instructs in things, and in words as well. The best word is a remedy for the wicked.

But he who is not good is a destroyer of fair things. 130 Consider contemplation to be the examination of intellectual things. Action is a certain activity directed toward things to be done. Habit is a certain permanent quality. I call activity its issue. Art is an arrangement derived from experience; 135 Habit, which cannot be dissolved, I call knowledge. That for the sake of which everything else is done, is the end. A goal, indeed, is that for which one strives as an end. Think of petition as the asking for what one lacks; And know prayer to be for the better things; 140 A vow, an offer of propitiation; And propitiation, a gift which brings honor. Praise is to speak well of something of mine. But a hymn is a holy praise towards God. ^A A hymn, I think, is a melodious praise. 145 A psalm with song becomes psalmody. To assert that existing things are as they are, is truth; To say they are not as they are, is a lie. And the contention of speech Is to speak hostile words—what is worse for life? An oath is a confirmation of faith with God in the midst. 150 And the observance of this is truthful swearing. I know "religion" also as the worship of demons. But piety is the adoration of the Trinity. To deny is to cast down one of the Three into a lower rank, And not to worship the unity of the divine nature. 155 Faith is twofold: the one is from the force of the word, Or is even just. The other is a ready concurrence. For the Word is the presiding officer of the word. Hope is the communion with an absent thing.

I call the loss of this, desperation. 160 Charity I define as the harmonious conjunction of souls, which is also toward God, and a path of divinization. Hatred is a certain turning away, the worker of enmity. Hypocrisy, however, is a hidden bitterness. Honor to the Creator is to love man; 165 honor to the One who made Himself poor is an affection for the poor. He is studious of hospitality who knows himself to be a guest. The tranquility of life is a most grateful peace; it is, especially for the soul, a quieting of the passions. ^A Enmity to me is ill-will and dissension; 170 enmity also is war, the inventor of evils. Holiness is the conversation with God. Consider that which is profane and execrable to be sin. Purification is the washing away of defilements. I know defilement to be the very impression of evil upon the soul. 175 Marriage is the lawful conjunction of bodies; virginity is an exit from the body. That man is a monk who lives for God and for Him alone. A monastery, to me, seems a multitude gathered for the sake of salvation. Sin is a deviation from the good, 180 which neither nature nor law permits. Law is the just defined boundary of things to be done. The commandment, however, is the injunction of the Master. Wickedness in law is transgression of the law; I know that which is "lawless" as that which is free from laws.

METRICAL VERSION

This, however, bleak desperation shatters. A harmonious will, charity, and the love of God Point out the certain path to the highest stars. Hatred is aversion; from this, animosity is born. But what is hidden hatred? Hypocrisy. Whoever loves man honors the Fashioner; And whoever loves the poor honors Him who voluntarily became poor. What is a hospitable man? One who considers himself a guest. If you desire peace, you will exact a tranquil life. A serene mind is one lacking savage agitations. What is animosity? It is an impropriety of dissension. War and animosity stir up nothing but evil. What is holiness? To be accustomed to God. ^B What is profane, what is sacrilegious? It is vice. What is cleansing? It is the removal of impurities. Yet even the mere pattern of evil defiles. The marriage bed is the lawful connection of bodies. But a celibate life is to depart from the body. What is a monk? He is one who lives for God alone. A monastery is a gathering that strives for salvation. What, I ask, is harm? A turning away from the good, From what nature offers me, and the law of God. The law dictates to me what must or must not be done. But a commandment is what my Lord has enjoined. What is done wickedly against the law is iniquity. But equity is that which is freed from the bonds of laws.

POEMATA MORALIA

185 Judaism is the first law; The second, the mystery of the Passion. The former being shadowed, a destroyer of demons; The latter, clear and a solver of riddles. The incarnation of Christ is another creation of me, 190 God suffering in the flesh for my suffering, Who rendered all things for all my things. He came from a woman for the sake of Eve; From a Virgin, and indeed from the Father alone First, unwed from the unwed. And the registration 195 Had the image of the divine enrollment again. The swaddling, in place of the nakedness. The slaughter of the children, the removal of infant shadows. The running star, the adoration of the creation. The Magi running up, the entry of the nations. ^A 200 The washing was a purification of my waters. The Spirit, a witnessed kinship. The fasting, an anointing for the struggle against the enemy. The trial was a probing of God’s weaving. The crown of thorns, and the putting on of purple, 205 The despoiling of the enemy’s power through the wrestling. The cross is the trophy of the tree—of the tree. And the nails, the fixing of my sin. And inside, all things with both hands outstretched. And by the taste, the taste of gall is the counter-agent. 210 Of the robbers, one was saved by believing—Adam; The other remained wicked, though crucified. The mourning of the One suffering was the sixth-hour darkness; The rending of the rocks, the defender of the rocks; The rising of the dead, and the entry into the city.

191 Who rendered all things for all. He expiated disobedience with obedience: my shameful pleasures with most cruel torments. 203 Of God's weaving. A probing of the divine union, of the joining with God, to see if it were God who hungered from fasting. Billius: The trial is a specimen of divine love. 212 The mourning of the One suffering. Darkness [was] the mourning for Christ suffering, as if the sun were lamenting Christ hanging upon the cross. 215 Defender of the rocks. A defender of the rocks, of stony hearts.

METRICAL VERSION

Judaism is the first law: the law of Christ’s cross Is said to be the second, the mystery. The first, shadowed, crushing the worship of demons; The second, clear, explaining that of the old and doubtful. The humanity of Christ is my restoration, Since God suffered in the flesh for my transgression, Who rendered all His own for all of mine: Born indeed from a woman in favor of Eve, Yet from a Virgin, as before from the Father alone: Unwed from the unwed. But the description of the world Bore the image of the heavenly. Indeed, by bands He willed to be wrapped, on account of my nakedness. The slaughter of the little ones marks the eclipsed shadows. With the star running, the created worship the Thunderer. The course of the Magi indicates the entry of the nations. ^B Baptism cleanses His waves of my own. The Spirit comes as a witness equal to Him. That he may fight with the enemy, he is anointed by fasting. The trial is a specimen of divine love. The crown woven with thorns, and the purple cloak, Despoils the hostile power by the heavy struggle. The cross is the triumph, the august tree, of the tree. The nails, the fixing of my crimes. He embraces all things with His hands spread out: The taste of gall heals the bad taste. One of the robbers is saved by faith, Adam: The other remains, even fixed on the cross, wicked. The darkness mourns the One suffering: and for the stony, The breaking of the stones begins a battle with hearts. But when the dead rise again, and seek the city,

^A the departure of those who have died toward heaven is established. From His side flowed blood and water together; this was a twofold baptism, of a bath and of suffering, ^B when the times bring dangerous persecution. But the death is the abolition of my own death. 220 The rising from the dead is a liberation from Hades. And the journey on high carries me up also. And what follows upon these, come, let us consider. The people ^C is an assembly for the worship of God. The temple is the holy place of purification for the people. 225 Purgative sacrifices are a gift to God. The holy container of the gifts is the Table that receives God. Priesthood is a purification of the mind, bringing man to God and God to man; it is a certain ineffable, religious mystery. 250 I know the charisma to be a divine gift of the Spirit. I call prophecy the proclamation of hidden things; the Gospel, that of the new salvation; the apostolic office, the aid to the preaching; catechesis, the knowledge of the Word for the young; and exorcism, the driving out of demons. The bath is the seal of the second life. The offerings are ^D of the incarnation of God.

METRICAL VERSION

NOTES

and the participation in the sufferings of God. ^A 240 A sign is a thing marvelous and unaccustomed. Through tongues of fire, the presence of the Spirit. The animal man is he who is not yet good; the carnal man, he who is exceedingly a friend of passion; the spiritual man, he who is not far from the Spirit. 245 Who is the Antichrist? A beast full of venom, a powerful man. And what is the apostasy? The most wicked apostate who recently flourished, and the division of God which now prevails; after which Christ will come again in the glory of the Father, 250 to show his body to the deicides. After which the resurrection, the binding together of the composite; after which the conclusion, the dissolution of existing things; though there is indeed a certain change for the better— ^A after which judgment and fear. And what is the judgment? 255 One's own inner burden of conscience, or lightness, and the weighing of life against the law. Happiness, to my mind, is the blessed life. And what is the kingdom? The contemplation of God, and with the angels, glory and hymnody. 260 But to the most wicked, darkness, to fall away from God; and the worm, and fire, the melting of material passion. If there is anything better than this, it is not outside of God. ^B And fortune, and providence, and fate: the first is what happens automatically, without reason; 265 the second is the rudder by which God governs the all; the third is, I think, the chain of things decreed by God. These are for us clearly defined outlines.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS

XXXV. On Philosophical Poverty

XXXVI. On the same subject

XXXVII. On Patience

XXXV. On Philosophical Poverty

XXXVI. On the same subject

XXXVII. On Patience

^A

XXXVIII. On the same argument

If you, being a hateful offshoot of malice, have flourished here, know that you are kept for extreme punishments. If you are a good man who has fallen into a harsh life, know that you are being purified like gold in the crucible. ^B Or if you are physically suffering because of the struggle against the envious one, know that you are another Job, so that when you have contended, you may carry off the crown of victory. Therefore, do not delight your mind in prosperous things, nor be broken by adversities, bearing all things with a Christ-bearing heart.

XXXIX. On fortune and prudence

Someone of those who love gold once said these words: ^C « I would rather have a drop of fortune than a cask of intelligence. » To whom one of the lovers of wisdom replied: « A drop of intelligence for me, rather than a sea of fortune. »

XL. On the vanity of human affairs

Those who imitate the threads of spiders, and delight in the transient things of life, let them know how easily all the pleasant things of a spider-like life are snatched away by the winds. ^D And you who are puffed up by flowing outward shows, consider the punishment that is ultimately unavoidable, as nothing can in any way escape it.

[alt-version omitted]

XXXVIII. ON THE SAME ARGUMENT

If by chance you are this offshoot of evil flourishing in the world, Believe me, the ultimate torments await you. If you have fallen, being righteous, upon the hard path of life, Believe that a fiery force is smelting you like gold: Or you have become another Job with languishing limbs, So that, as a victor over the demon, you may bear away rich rewards. Do not rejoice in joyful things, nor ever yield to evils, Patiently bearing all things with a pious heart.

XXXIX. ON FORTUNE AND PRUDENCE

A certain miser once said this: « A drop of Good fortune for me is prior to a cask of mind. » To whom one of the prudent replied: « For me, a drop of mind is preferred to a sea of fortune. »

XL. ON THE VANITY OF HUMAN AFFAIRS

Those who draw out threads just like a spider, And delight in the brief and decaying goods of life, Should know that they are easily snatched away by blowing winds, Those things which in this life please them—equal to a spider's web. You who hold thrones shining with light, Proud of the flowing glory of dignities, Look to the final, ultimate punishments, Which man can escape by no arts.