poboe203

CONSOLATIO PHILOSOPHIAE 2 metrum 3	FLUX
Boethius	tr. James Harpur
Cum polo Phoebus roseis quadrigis lucem spargere coeperit, pallet albentes hebetata uultus flammis stella prementibus. Cum nemus flatu Zephyri tepentis uernis inrubuit rosis, spiret insanum nebulosus Auster, iam spinis abeat decus. Saepe tranquillo radiat sereno immotis mare fluctibus, saepe feruentes Aquilo procellas uerso concitat aequore. Rara si constat sua forma mundo, si tantas uariat uices, crede fortunis hominum caducis, bonis crede fugacibus! Constat aeterna positumque lege est ut constet genitum nihil.	‘Everything flows.’ Heraclitus ‘How quickly the world’s glory passes away!’ ........................................Thomas à Kempis The sun god in his rose-flecked chariot colours the dawn with spreading light and faces of the fading stars grow pale before the onslaught of his flames. The temperate west wind ushers in the spring and groves become a blur of pink; but if the ravening south wind runs amok, then it destroys the glorious blackthorn. The sea is often like a glowing sheet until the north winds make it seethe. Since nature’s beauty rarely stays the same but goes through changes all the time have faith in short-lived wealth, and put your trust in riches that will turn to dust! The only constant that God’s law has fixed is that no constancy exists.

Published in PN Review, vol. 34 no. 1