The Consolation of Philosophy | Page 6

upon thee through the hatred of my name, by sharing
this trouble? Even forgetting that it were not lawful for Philosophy to
leave companionless the way of the innocent, should I, thinkest thou,
fear to incur reproach, or shrink from it, as though some strange new
thing had befallen? Thinkest thou that now, for the first time in an evil
age, Wisdom hath been assailed by peril? Did I not often in days of old,
before my servant Plato lived, wage stern warfare with the rashness of
folly? In his lifetime, too, Socrates, his master, won with my aid the
victory of an unjust death. And when, one after the other, the Epicurean
herd, the Stoic, and the rest, each of them as far as in them lay, went
about to seize the heritage he left, and were dragging me off protesting
and resisting, as their booty, they tore in pieces the garment which I
had woven with my own hands, and, clutching the torn pieces, went off,
believing that the whole of me had passed into their possession. And
some of them, because some traces of my vesture were seen upon them,
were destroyed through the mistake of the lewd multitude, who falsely
deemed them to be my disciples. It may be thou knowest not of the
banishment of Anaxagoras, of the poison draught of Socrates, nor of
Zeno's torturing, because these things happened in a distant country;
yet mightest thou have learnt the fate of Arrius, of Seneca, of Soranus,
whose stories are neither old nor unknown to fame. These men were
brought to destruction for no other reason than that, settled as they were
in my principles, their lives were a manifest contrast to the ways of the
wicked. So there is nothing thou shouldst wonder at, if on the seas of
this life we are tossed by storm-blasts, seeing that we have made it our
chiefest aim to refuse compliance with evil-doers. And though, maybe,
the host of the wicked is many in number, yet is it contemptible, since
it is under no leadership, but is hurried hither and thither at the blind
driving of mad error. And if at times and seasons they set in array
against us, and fall on in overwhelming strength, our leader draws off
her forces into the citadel while they are busy plundering the useless
baggage. But we from our vantage ground, safe from all this wild work,
laugh to see them making prize of the most valueless of things,

protected by a bulwark which aggressive folly may not aspire to reach.'
SONG IV.
NOTHING CAN SUBDUE VIRTUE.
Whoso calm, serene, sedate,
Sets his foot on haughty fate;
Firm and
steadfast, come what will,
Keeps his mien unconquered still;
Him
the rage of furious seas,
Tossing high wild menaces,
Nor the flames
from smoky forges
That Vesuvius disgorges,
Nor the bolt that from
the sky
Smites the tower, can terrify.
Why, then, shouldst thou feel
affright
At the tyrant's weakling might?
Dread him not, nor fear no
harm,
And thou shall his rage disarm;
But who to hope or fear gives
way--
Lost his bosom's rightful sway--
He hath cast away his shield,

Like a coward fled the field;
He hath forged all unaware
Fetters
his own neck must bear!
IV.
'Dost thou understand?' she asks. Do my words sink into thy mind? Or
art thou dull "as the ass to the sound of the lyre"? Why dost thou weep?
Why do tears stream from thy eyes?
'"Speak out, hide it not in thy heart."
If thou lookest for the physician's help, thou must needs disclose thy
wound.'
Then I, gathering together what strength I could, began: 'Is there still
need of telling? Is not the cruelty of fortune against me plain enough?
Doth not the very aspect of this place move thee? Is this the library, the
room which thou hadst chosen as thy constant resort in my home, the
place where we so often sat together and held discourse of all things in
heaven and earth? Was my garb and mien like this when I explored
with thee nature's hid secrets, and thou didst trace for me with thy wand
the courses of the stars, moulding the while my character and the whole
conduct of my life after the pattern of the celestial order? Is this the

recompense of my obedience? Yet thou hast enjoined by Plato's mouth
the maxim, "that states would be happy, either if philosophers ruled
them, or if it should so befall that their rulers would turn philosophers."
By his mouth likewise thou didst point out this imperative reason why
philosophers should enter public life, to wit, lest, if the reins of
government be left to unprincipled and profligate citizens, trouble and
destruction should come upon the good. Following these precepts, I
have tried to apply in the business of public administration the
principles which