Ludovicus van Leuven, Amoris divini et humani antipathia (1629)
Table of contents ↑Acu-pictura Amoris [56]
Acu-pictura Amoris.
XIV.
Cat.
Non sibi fert animus tua serica perdere, quamuis
Mille for aminibus serica pungat Amor.
Quod lacerauit acus, rutilo mox splendet in auro,
Pulchrior exipso vulnere tela redit.
Quos premis, alme Deus, non opprimis. arrige mentens
Qui gemisæ thereâ vulnera facta manu:
Perfer, erit sanâ, cute pulchrior ipsa cicatrix,
Et dabit haud dubiam vulneris auctor opem.
Cat.
Non sibi fert animus tua serica perdere, quamuis
Mille for aminibus serica pungat Amor.
Quod lacerauit acus, rutilo mox splendet in auro,
Pulchrior exipso vulnere tela redit.
Quos premis, alme Deus, non opprimis. arrige mentens
Qui gemisæ thereâ vulnera facta manu:
Perfer, erit sanâ, cute pulchrior ipsa cicatrix,
Et dabit haud dubiam vulneris auctor opem.
August.
QVod hîc in bysso, id in nobis agit Amor. quē,
precor, vnquam honorauit magnus ille opi-
fex, quem non ante onerauit? quem vnquam è suis
Deus, aut gratia spirituali imbuit, aut honore cor-
porali egregiè decorauit, nisi præmissâ, in vtro-
que, insigni aliqua calamitate? non antè Patriar-
cha Iacob opulentus & ingenti famulitio tanquā
exercitu stipatus ad suos redijt; quam solus bacil-
lo innixus in exteras regiones profugus abijsset.
non antè Paulus lucem Euangelij, nisi cæcus, vi-
dit. non antè Iosephus regali splendore emicuit,
quam carceris squalore sorduisset. Quid multa?
vtiles sunt fidelibus afflictiones.
Si quando ergo affligi te contigerit, o mens
pia, corpore siue animo, in solatium tui, hoc aut si-
mile argumentum deprome. Deo est propositum
me honorare, infamiâ enim afficior: me firmare,
quippe debilitor: diuitijs me cumulare, in pauper-
tatis angustias detrudor: gaudio me afficere, dolo-
ribus cruciandum me tradit. Intellige, igitur, o A-
nima, medicum esse Deum, & tribulationem me-
dicamentum ad salutem.
precor, vnquam honorauit magnus ille opi-
fex, quem non ante onerauit? quem vnquam è suis
Deus, aut gratia spirituali imbuit, aut honore cor-
porali egregiè decorauit, nisi præmissâ, in vtro-
que, insigni aliqua calamitate? non antè Patriar-
cha Iacob opulentus & ingenti famulitio tanquā
exercitu stipatus ad suos redijt; quam solus bacil-
lo innixus in exteras regiones profugus abijsset.
non antè Paulus lucem Euangelij, nisi cæcus, vi-
dit. non antè Iosephus regali splendore emicuit,
quam carceris squalore sorduisset. Quid multa?
vtiles sunt fidelibus afflictiones.
Si quando ergo affligi te contigerit, o mens
pia, corpore siue animo, in solatium tui, hoc aut si-
mile argumentum deprome. Deo est propositum
me honorare, infamiâ enim afficior: me firmare,
quippe debilitor: diuitijs me cumulare, in pauper-
tatis angustias detrudor: gaudio me afficere, dolo-
ribus cruciandum me tradit. Intellige, igitur, o A-
nima, medicum esse Deum, & tribulationem me-
dicamentum ad salutem.
Ex vulnere pulchrior.
Broderie de l'Amour.
XIV.
Amour instruit cet ame encor nouiçe
Et luy fait veoir en ce bel artifiçe,
Qu' il est en tout le plus accort des Dieux.
Il prend ce cœur, qu' il blesse & qu' il reblesse,
Qu' il poingt, repoingt & contrepoingt sans cesse,
Et neantmoins ce cœur s'en porte myeux.
XIV.
Amour instruit cet ame encor nouiçe
Et luy fait veoir en ce bel artifiçe,
Qu' il est en tout le plus accort des Dieux.
Il prend ce cœur, qu' il blesse & qu' il reblesse,
Qu' il poingt, repoingt & contrepoingt sans cesse,
Et neantmoins ce cœur s'en porte myeux.
Translations
|
Needlework of love. |
|
Your heart does not bear to lose your silks, Although love punches a thousand holes in your garment, What the needle lacerated, will soon glitter in shining gold. It will turn out more beautiful as a result of the very wound it sustained. Those You press on, generous God, you do not oppress. Raise your hearts, you who groan because of the wounds inflicted by a heavenly hand. Endure, the scar itself will be more beautiful than a healthy skin. And no doubt the one who is responsible for the wound will give you solid assistance. |
|
What action this one undertakes in the deep, love does in us. Whom, I beg you, does God honour, whom He not hounded beforehand?
Whom of His own did God ever shower with spiritual grace, or eminently dress with bodily honour, unless after sending in both
cases some resounding calamity? Only after he had moved to remote lands as a refugee, leaning on a stick, the patriarch Jacob
returned to his own, rich and bestowed with tremendous offspring, like an army. Paul only saw the light of the Gospel when
he was blind. Only after he had gathered filth in the squalor of prison did Joseph rise up glittering with regal splendour.
Need I say more? Afflictions are of use to the faithful. So if ever affliction may befall you, pious soul, in body or in mind,
present yourself for your own consolation with this or some such argument: 'it is God's plan to honour me, for I am afflicted
with shame; to make me strong, for I am becoming weak; heap riches on me, for I am pushed into the narrow straights of poverty;
to give me joy, for He is delivering me to painful torture'. Understand therefore, dear soul, that God is a medical doctor,
and tribulation the medicine that leads to salvation. |
|
More beautiful as a result of wounding. |
Sources and parallels
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Same copperplate, slightly altered, in: De liefde verfraait [13] (in: Willem den Elger, Zinne-beelden der liefde (1703))
[Compare
]
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Needlework, same motto underneath the pictura, in:Ex vulnere pulchrior. [8] (in: Jacob Cats, Proteus (1618))
[Compare]
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Porteman 1975, p. 212. Same pictura, same title under pictura as motto in: Ex vulnere pulchrior. [9] (in: Jacob Cats, Sinne- en minnebeelden (1627))
[Compare]
References, across this site, to this page:
- Ex vulnere pulchrior. [8] (in: Jacob Cats, Proteus (1618))
- Ex vulnere pulchrior. [9] (in: Jacob Cats, Sinne- en minnebeelden (1627))
- De liefde verfraait [13] (in: Willem den Elger, Zinne-beelden der liefde (1703))