The world in constant change
Maintains a harmony,
And elements keep peace
Whose nature is to clash.
The sun in car of gold
Draws forth the rosy day,
And evening brings the night
When Luna hold her sway.
The tides in limits fixed
Confine the greedy sea;
No waves shall overflow
The rolling field and lea.
And all this chain of things In earth and sea and sky
One ruler holds in hand:
If Love relaxed the reins
All things that now keep peace
Would wage continual war
The fabric to destroy
Which unity has formed
With motions beautiful.
Love, too, holds peoples joined
By sacred bond of treaty,
And weaves the holy knot
Of marriage’s pure love.
Love promulgates the laws
For friendship’s faithful bond.
O happy race of men
If Love who rules the sky
Could rule your hearts as well!
This poem comes from The Consolation of Philosophy by the Roman statesman Boethius, around AD 524
~ an influential work on Western Philosophy and Medieval Christianity.