Chapter VIII — Fortune's One True Service

The Text

A new modern English rendering, made from the Latin with AI assistance — a reading aid, not a scholarly edition.

Chapter VIII

"But, lest you think I wage an inexorable war against fortune, there is a time when she, that deceiver, deserves well of men—namely, when she reveals herself, when she uncovers her face and declares her ways. Perhaps you do not yet understand what I mean. It is a strange thing I am eager to say, and so I can hardly unfold my thought in words. For I think that adverse fortune profits men more than prosperous. The latter always lies under the appearance of happiness, when she seems kind; the former is always true, when she shows herself unstable by her changing. The one deceives, the other instructs; the one binds the minds of those who enjoy her with a falsehood under the appearance of goods, the other frees them by the knowledge of how fragile happiness is. And so you may see the one windy, flowing, and always ignorant of herself, the other sober, well-girt, and made prudent by the very exercise of adversity. Finally, prosperity, by her flatteries, draws men astray from the true good; adversity for the most part draws them back by a hook to true goods. Or do you think this should be reckoned among the least of things—that this harsh, this terrible fortune has uncovered for you the minds of your faithful friends? She has sorted out for you the sure faces of your companions from the doubtful ones; departing, she took her own away and left you yours. How much would you have paid for this while you were untouched and, as you seemed to yourself, fortunate? Now you complain of lost wealth: you have found friends, the most precious kind of riches."

Song VIIILove is Lord of all.

That the world with steadfast faith varies its harmonious changes; that warring seeds keep an everlasting compact; that Phoebus brings forth the rosy day in his golden car, that the moon may rule the nights that the evening star has led in; that the greedy sea holds back its waves within a fixed bound, so that the lands may not be allowed to stretch their broad borders over the wandering deep— all this chain of things is bound by love, which rules the lands and the sea and holds sway over the heavens.

If love should loosen the reins, whatever now loves mutually would at once wage war, and would strive to break apart the great engine that now, in faithful partnership, they drive with beautiful motions.

This love also holds peoples joined together by a sacred bond; this love binds the sacrament of marriage with chaste affections; this love also dictates its own laws to faithful companions.

O happy race of men, if the love that rules the heavens should rule your minds!

Chapter VIII

'But that thou mayst not think that I wage implacable warfare against Fortune, I own there is a time when the deceitful goddess serves men well—I mean when she reveals herself, uncovers her face, and confesses her true character. Perhaps thou dost not yet grasp my meaning. Strange is the thing I am trying to express, and for this cause I can scarce find words to make clear my thought. For truly I believe that Ill Fortune is of more use to men than Good Fortune. For Good Fortune, when she wears the guise of happiness, and most seems to caress, is always lying; Ill Fortune is always truthful, since, in changing, she shows her inconstancy. The one deceives, the other teaches; the one enchains the minds of those who enjoy her favour by the semblance of delusive good, the other delivers them by the knowledge of the frail nature of happiness. Accordingly, thou mayst see the one fickle, shifting as the breeze, and ever self-deceived; the other sober-minded, alert, and wary, by reason of the very discipline of adversity. Finally, Good Fortune, by her allurements, draws men far from the true good; Ill Fortune ofttimes draws men back to true good with grappling-irons. Again, should it be esteemed a trifling boon, thinkest thou, that this cruel, this odious Fortune hath discovered to thee the hearts of thy faithful friends—that other hid from thee alike the faces of the true friends and of the false, but in departing she hath taken away her friends, and left thee thine? What price wouldst thou not have given for this service in the fulness of thy prosperity when thou seemedst to thyself fortunate? Cease, then, to seek the wealth thou hast lost, since in true friends thou hast found the most precious of all riches.'

Song VIIILove is Lord of all.

Why are Nature's changes bound To a fixed and ordered round? What to leaguèd peace hath bent Every warring element? Wherefore doth the rosy morn Rise on Phœbus' car upborne? Why should Phœbe rule the night, Led by Hesper's guiding light? What the power that doth restrain In his place the restless main, That within fixed bounds he keeps, Nor o'er earth in deluge sweeps? Love it is that holds the chains, Love o'er sea and earth that reigns; Love—whom else but sovereign Love?— Love, high lord in heaven above! Yet should he his care remit, All that now so close is knit In sweet love and holy peace, Would no more from conflict cease, But with strife's rude shock and jar All the world's fair fabric mar.

Tribes and nations Love unites By just treaty's sacred rites; Wedlock's bonds he sanctifies By affection's softest ties. Love appointeth, as is due, Faithful laws to comrades true— Love, all-sovereign Love!—oh, then, Ye are blest, ye sons of men, If the love that rules the sky In your hearts is throned on high!

Reading Guide

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❧ What happens

Book II closes with a reversal: ill fortune is better for us than good fortune. Good fortune lies, flattering us into thinking it will last; bad fortune tells the truth by showing how fragile it all was — and it performs one priceless service: it separates true friends from the fair-weather kind.

✦ The hinge of the book

This reconciles Boethius to his disaster as the very thing that can free him. The remedies so far have been gentle; with this, the patient is ready for the ascent to true happiness in Book III.

Song VIII · Love is Lord of All — the climax of the book: the same love that binds the elements, holds the stars in their courses, and yokes the sea to its shores also rules human hearts. If only mankind were governed by that love which governs heaven.