Language: Latin 
Our translations:  ENG
 ... 
Quae canit altis garrula ramis
Ales caueae clauditur antro :
Huic licet inlita pocula melle
Largasque dapes dulci studio
Ludens hominum cura ministret,
Si tamen arto saliens texto
Nemorum gratas uiderit umbras,
Sparsas pedibus proterit escas,
Siluas tantum maesta requirit,
Siluas dulci uoce susurrat.
 ... 
Repetunt proprios quaeque recursus
Redituque suo singula gaudent :
Nec manet ulli traditus ordo,
Nisi quod fini iunxerit ortum
Stabilemque sui fecerit orbem.

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 second verse passage of Book III, and is spoken by Philosophy.

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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]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 38
Word count: 160