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Cupiditas Amoris [15]


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Cupiditas Amoris.translation
XV.
August. Ambros. Senec.
SVperbia & Cupiditas in tantum vnum malum
sunt, vt nec superbia sine cupïditate, nec cupi-
ditas sine superbia inuenire1 possit.
Cupiditas est effrænatus, immoderatusque ap-
petitus non rarò amatorum mundi corda affi-
ciens. sicut enim qui per insaniam mente translati
sunt, non res ipsas, sed passionis suæ phantasias vi-
dent, ita etiam horum mens semel vinculis cupi-
ditatis adstricta semper aurum, semper argentum
credit videre, semper reditus computat. aurum
gratius quam solem intuetur: ipsa eius oratio &
supplicatio ad Dominum, aurum quærit.
Vides canem, missa frusta panis, aperto ore ca-
ptantem; quidquid accipit, protinus integrum de-
uorat, & semper ad spem futuri hiat. idem euenit
Amatoribus mundi; quidquid exspectantibus for-
tuna proiecit, id sine vlla voluptate dimittunt, sta-
tim ad rapinam alterius erecti & attoniti in Epi-
cureum illud chaos incidunt, inane sine termino
est. translation

Cat.
Et vorat & protinus ruit in noua frustra molossus,
Quodque petat cupidus semperAmator habet.
Heu! numquam præsens homini fert hora quietem,
Nec satis id, quod adest, pectora nostra iuuat.
Cum desiderio semper gemit ægra futuri,
Atque aliud nobis, mens, aliudque petit. translation

Gregor. Ars magna est satiari. O Anima! translation

[30a] ↓

Res immoderata, Cupido est. translation

Le chien, le ieu, l'Amour, le feu,
Ne sont iamais contents de peu.

31 ↓
Conuoitise de l'Amour.
XV.
Qui veut nourir l'Amour à poids & à mesure,
Ne cognoit son humeur, & change la nature
D'vn feu perpetuel, d'vn appetit sans fin.
Amour, n'est pas Amour, s'il n'est insatiable,
L'assez est criminel, en l'ardeur veritable
Tant de l'Amour humain, que de l'Amour diuin.

Ambos Amores lo dizen,
Que el que llega à estar harto.
No puede valer vn quarto.

Het spel/ den hondt/ liefd'/ en het vier/
En houden maete noch manier.

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Facsimile Images


30

[30a]

31

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Translations

Desire of love.
Pride and desire are one evil to that extent that neither pride can be found without desire, nor desire without pride.
Desire is without bounds, and an immoderate appetite that not rarely affects the hearts of the lovers of the world. For just like those whose mind is deranged by madness do not see things themselves but phantasies belonging to their own affliction, so also the mind of these people when once they are bound by the shackles of desire alway believes to see gold, always to see silver, always calculates its own returns. It has more pleasure in looking at gold than looking at the sun. In its very discourse and prayer to the Lord it looks for gold.
When a piece of bread is thrown to a dog you see it trying to catch it with open mouth. Whatever it gets it immediately devours whole and always waits eagerly in the hope of another piece to come. The same happens to lovers of the world. Whatever fortune casts before them as they eagerly await they get rid of without any pleasure. Immediately they are hot onto grabbing something else and fall numbed into that Epicurean chaos (i.e. boundless space)2.
Not only does the Molossian [hound] always gobble and immediately run towards new morsels (but to no avail)3,
But also the lover in his desire always has something else to go after.
Woe! Never the present hour brings peace to man,
Nor are our hearts satisfied with what is at hand.
With longing for what is to come our mind groans,
And strives for something else and for something else again.
It is a grand art to have had enough, dear soul!
Desire is something that knows no measure.

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Literature


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    Sources and parallels


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    References, across this site, to this page:


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    Iconclass

    A dog, with food in its mouth, looks at the girl who is offering more food; a cupid with a candle behind the dog; a young man points at the hand of God in the clouds

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    Comments

    commentary

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    Notes

    1
    'invenire' is indeed found in the original, but it cannot be right; it ought to be corrected to 'inveniri'.
    2
    'inane sine termino est' gives the impression of being an intrusive gloss, viz., to explain 'Epicurean chaos'. In any case it cannot grammatically be an integral part of the preceding sentence. It is a main clause in its own right. Epicurus' theories included the claims 1. that the goal of life is pleasure and 2. that the world was made up of randomly colliding atoms falling through an endless void.
    3
    'new ones to no avail', it is quite possible that 'frusta', pieces (of bread), is to be read here instead of 'frustra', see also quotation from Seneca supra.