Boetius.

Ought the greater

If he afterwards hath not

Power over himself

In his thoughts,

And does not earnestly

Guard himself well

In words and deeds

Against the vices

That

tioned?

P. 170.

I have wings Swifter than the birds: With them I can fly Far from the earth, Over the high roof Of this heaven.

And there I now must Wing thy mind,

With my feathers,

To look forth

Till that thou mayest

This world

I have rapid wings that can ascend the heights of the pole, which the swift mind puts on when she looks down on the hated earth: surmounts the globe of the immense air, and sees the clouds behind her.

Alfred.

This is he that governs
Over the nations of men,
And all the other
Kings of the earth.
He with his bridle

Hath restrained around
All the revolutions

Of earth and heaven.

He his governing reins
Well coerces.

He governs ever

Through his strong might
All the swift cars

Of heaven and earth.

He the only judge is steadfast,
Unchangeable,
Beauteous, and great.

If thou turnest right in thy
way

Up to that country,
Thou wilt find it

A noble place:
Though thou now yet
Hast not obtained it.
If thou ever again
There canst come,
Then wilt thou say,
And soon declare :-

"This is entirely
My own kindred,
Earth, and country.
Formerly from hence
I came, and was born

Through the might of this

Boetius.

the sceptre and governs the reins of the world, and, stable himself, rules the swift car, the splendid arbiter of things.

may say :

"I remember that this is my country this is my birth-place: here I will rest."

Because this is

Here will be the rest to

A desirable port

port; a tranquil abode. Here,

To high ships;

Of our mind

the only asylum open to the wretched.

Boetius.

This is the only port

That will last for ever;

After the waves

Of our troubles,

Of every storm,
Always mild.

This is the place of peace,
And the only comforter
Of all distresses,

After this world's troubles.

This is the pleasant station
After these miseries
To possess.
And I earnestly know
That the gilded vessel,
The silvery treasure,
The stone fortress of gems,
Or riches of the world
To the mind's eye
Can never bring any light.
Nothing can recompense
Its acuteness,
But the contemplation
Of the truer riches;

But such things strongly

The mind's eye

Of every one of men
Blind in their breast,

When they to it

Are made brighter.
But all things

That in this present
Life so please,

Are slender,
Earthly things,
And to be fled from.

But wonderful is that
Beauty and brightness,
Which every creature
With beauty illuminates,

Not all that Tagus may give in its golden sands, or Hermus from its glittering bank, or Indus near the warm circle mingling green gems with white, can enlighten the sight; but they make the mind more blind from their darkening effects.

Whatever of these pleases and excites the mind, earth nourishes in its lowest caverns.

The radiance by which Heaven is governed and flourishes, shuns the obscured ruins of the soul.