Quantas rerum flectat habenas Natura potens, quibus inmensum Legibus orbem prouida seruet Stringatque ligans inresoluto Singula nexu, placet arguto Fidibus lentis promere cantu. Quamuis poeni pulchra leones Vincula gestent manibusque datas Captent escas metuantque trucem Soliti uerbera ferre magistrum : Si cruor horrida tinxerit ora, Resides olim redeunt animi Fremituque graui meminere sui : Laxant nodis colla solutis Primusque lacer dente cruento Domitor rabidas imbuit iras. 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. Validis quondam uiribus acta Pronum flectit uirga cacumen : Hanc si curuans dextra remisit, Recto spectat uertice caelum. Cadit hesperias Phoebus in undas, Sed secreto tramite rursus Currum solitos uertit ad ortus. Repetunt proprios quaeque recursus Redituque suo singula gaudent : Nec manet ulli traditus ordo, Nisi quod fini iunxerit ortum Stabilemque sui fecerit orbem.
J. Novák sets lines 17-21, 22-26, 34-38
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rudolf Peiper, ed., Anicii Manlii Severini Boetii Philosophiae consolationis libri quinque, Leipzig: Teubner, 1871, pages 54-55.
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.
Text Authorship:
- by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c480 - 524), no title, appears in De consolatione philosophiae [author's text checked 1 time 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 Jan Novák (1921 - 1984), "Avicula", lines 17-21, 22-26, 34-38, from Cantica latina, no. 21 [sung text checked 1 time]
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