LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,970)
  • Text Authors (21,000)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,134)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c480 - 524)

Si vis celsi iura tonantis
Language: Latin 
Our translations:  ENG
Si vis celsi iura tonantis
Pura sollers cernere mente,
Aspice summi culmina caeli.
Illic iusto foedere rerum
Veterem servant sidera pacem.
Non sol rutilo concitus igne
Gelidum Phoebes impedit axem
Nec quae summo vertice mundi
Flectit rapidos Ursa meatus,
Numquam occiduo lota profundo
Cetera cernens sidera mergi
Cupit oceano tingere flammas.
Semper vicibus temporis aequis
Vesper seras nuntiat umbras
Revehitque diem Lucifer almum.
Sic aeternos reficit cursus
Alternus amor, sic astrigeris
Bellum discors exulat oris.
Haec concordia temperat aequis
Elementa modis, ut pugnantia
Vicibus cedant umida siccis
lungantque fidem frigora flammis,
Pendulus ignis surgat in altum
Terraeque graves pondere sidant.
Isdem causis vere tepenti
Spirat florifer annus odores,
Aestas Cererem fervida siccat,
Remeat pomis gravis autumnus,
Hiemem defluus inrigat imber.
Haec temperies alit ac profert
Quidquid vitam spirat in orbe.
Eadem rapiens condit et aufert
Obitu mergens orta supremo.
Sedet interea conditor altus
Rerumque regens flectit habenas
Rex et dominus fons et origo
Lex et sapiens arbiter aequi
Et quae motu concitat ire,
Sistit retrahens ac vaga firmat.
Nam nisi rectos revocans itus
Flexos iterum cogat in orbes,
Quae nunc stabilis continet ordo
Dissaepta suo fonte fatiscant.
Hic est cunctis communis amor
Repetuntque boni fine teneri,
Quia non aliter durare queant,
Nisi converso rursus amore
Refluant causae quae dedit esse.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Boethius, Theological Tractates. The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by H. F. Stewart, E. K. Rand, S. J. Tester. Loeb Classical Library 74. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973, pages 372-374.

Note: Boethius wrote his De consolatione philosophiae (On the Consolation of Philosophy) while in prison awaiting execution by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. It is a dialog in alternating prose and verse between Boethius and a personification of Philosophy; this is the sixth verse passage of Book IV, and is spoken by Philosophy.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c480 - 524), no title, appears in De consolatione philosophiae, no. 6 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Hans Henkemans (1913 - 1995), "Alternus amor", 1968, copyright © 1968 [ mixed chorus and orchestra ], from Tre aspetti d'amore, no. 3, Amsterdam: Donemus [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-04-12
Line count: 48
Word count: 210

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2026 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris