Anicius Manlius Severinus Boetius, Of the consolation of philosophy in five books / made English and illustrated with notes by the Right Honourable Richard, Lord Viscount Preston.

METRUM V.

O stelliferi Conditor Orbis, &c.

ALL-knowing Architect, whose powerful Hand Inimitably fram'd the starry Sky; Who fix'd on thine Eternal Throne dost sit, And with a rapid Motion turn'st the Sphears; Who dost upon the Stars impose thy Laws, And mak'st even Planets wander by a Rule: So that the Moon in glorious Array Meeting her Brother, clad with Beams of Light, Involves in sable Weeds the lesser Stars: But when to him she nearer doth approach, Her Horns grow pale, and she is lost in Clouds. From his cold Bed thou Hesperus dost raise To usher in the Shades of coming Night; And then dost make him change his wonted Course, To be the pale-fac'd Harbinger of Day; From which Employ he Lucifer is call'd. Thou, when the fiercest Blasts of Winter rage, Dost shorten Day when ripening Summer comes, Thou dost give Wings to the slow Hours of Night; Thou rul'st the checquer'd Seasons of the Year: So that the Leaves which Boreas blows off, When his Autumnal spoils he proudly boasts,

The gentle Zephyres kindly do restore, And(n) Syrius broods upon the Fields of Corn, Which the industrious Swain before had sown Ʋnder(o) Arcturus colder Influence. Nothing in Nature can Exemption plead From that Eternal Law, which long hath fix'd And chain'd each Being to its proper Place. Why then dost thou all other things direct Towards the end by thee before design'd, And only leav'st Man's Actions uncontroul'd,

In Paths uncertain leaving him to tread? Why should unstable Fortune's erring Power Such mighty Changes in the World work, Whilst Innocence has the Reward of Crimes, Whilst prosperous Vice unjustly is enthron'd, And on the Neck of Innocence doth tread? Vertue obscure, neglected and contemn'd Doth lie, which yet in Darkness bright appears, And th' injur'd Innocent those Chains doth bear, In which the Criminal justly should be bound. No Perjury him nor Fraud can ever hurt, If with a lying Varnish colour'd over; But when he's pleas'd to use his mighty Power, He can even Kings and Potentates subdue, Whom all but he do honour and revere. O thou who with fair Concord's lasting Bands The disagreeing Elements dost bind, Behold the Earth, which now so long hath groan'd, Oppress'd with Violence and Misery! Behold, poor Man, not the least noble Part Of this great Work, toss'd on the rowling Waves Of giddy Chance, and almost left alone Without a Pilot or a Polar Star, By which to steer to his long-wish'd for Port! Asswage at length these raging Floods, Great Governour; and as thou dost the Heaven, So on a stable Bottom fix the Earth.

Notes

• (n)

  Syrius.] Or as some write Scyrius, is called so à 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ex∣sicco, to dry up, and is a most bright Star placed in the Mouth of the Constellation called Canis major, the greater Dog; which when it ariseth, accompanieth the Rising Sun from the Month of July, at which time the ripened Corn seemeth to wither. Which Star, because it appeareth in the Mouth of the greater Dog, is named Canicula.

  Jam rapidos torrens sitientes Syrius Indos Ardebat Coelo, & medium Sol igneus orbem Hauserat, arebant herbae, & cava flumina siccis Faucibus ad limum radii tepesacta coquebant. Virgil. 4. Georgic. v. 425. —Tum steriles exurere Syrius agros: Arebant herbae, & victum seges aegra negabat. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 3. v. 14.
• (o)

  Arcturus.] Quasi 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, is a Star in the Sign of Bootes, near the Tail of the greater Bear; which Star doth accompany the Rising Sun from the Month of October, at which time the Earth begins to cherish or nourish the Seed committed to it.

  At si non fuerit tellus foecunda sub ipsum Arcturum, tenui sat erit suspendere fulco. Virgil. Georg. l. 1. v. 67. & v. 204. Praeterea tam sunt Arcturi Sydera nobis Haedorumque dies servandi, & lucidus anguis: Quàm, quibus in patriam ventosa per aequora vectis Pontus, & Ostriseri fauces tentantur Abydi.