← Content: PreviousContent: Next →

Incrementum Amoris [59]


ad1629061pict

Back to top ↑
120 ↓
Incrementum Amoris.translation
XVII.
Plutarch.
AMor neque nos statim, neque vehementer ab
initio inuadit, neque facilè ingressus decedit,
quamuis alatus, sed sensim ingreditur, ac molliter
manetqueue diu in sensibus. translation

Cat.
Indimus arboribus, tenui dum cuspide, carmen;
Vix teneram signat parua litura cutem:
Incrementa tamen, vix intellecta, videbis,
Dum peragit tacitis passibus annus iter.
Enthea non hederam pier as imitatur Ionæ
Ferre cui patulas nox dedit vna comas:
Parua fides primò, crescit sensim & sine sensu,
Paulatimque sacrum spiritus implet opus. translation

Non confusè, sed ordinatè in hæc inferiora agit
Deus, nec ab vno extremo ad alterum festinè, sed
sensim progreditur: non repentino fulgore dies
terrarum tractus peruadit, sed præmisso dubiæ lu-
cis crepusculo, paulatim. translation
---- Medium sol aureus orbem1
Occupat, & radijs ingentibus omnia lustrat. translation
Spirituales fidelium progressus planè huiusmo-
di, nunquam è medijs peccatorum sordibus, ad
statum gloriæ suos euehit Deus, sed gratiam me-
diam interiacit. Pictura cæpit2 primo ab vmbris
& lineis, deinde monogromata,3 mox accessit lu-
men vnà cum colorum varietate, donec ad sum-
mam artificij peruenit admirationem. ne igitur
animo destituatur pia mens, si lento, dummodo
continuo amoris gradu ad vitæ renouationem ef-
feratur. omne incrementum etiam latens, creden-
ti & amanti salutare est. translation

[120a] ↓

Sensim Amor sensus occupat. translation

Ainsy s'accroissent nuit et iour
Les caractheres de l'Amour.

121 ↓
Accroissement de l'Amour.
XVII.
Ainsy d'Amour les marques plus legeres,
Les traits plus doux, les plus fins caracteres,
Se vont formant par vn secret destin;
Qui fait qu' amour inimitable maistre,
Escrit naissant en fort petite lettre
Les grands effets qu' on en veoit à la fin.

Amor da vida y aumento:
Y assi van sus inpressiones
Creciendo en los coraçones.

De liefde wast/ en wel gheluckt/
Als die van ioncx wordt inghedruckt.

Back to top ↑

Facsimile Images


120

[120a]

121

Back to top ↑

Translations

The growth of love.
Love does not invade us immediately and vehemently, nor does it easily go away once it has entered, although it has wings, but slowly it enters, and softly, and remains in the senses for a long time.
While we graft the poem on the trees with a thin barb,
The small incision hardly leaves a mark on the tender skin.
Yet you will see increases, though hardly noticed,
While the year follows its course to the end with silent pace,
Divine piety does not imitate Jonah's gourd,4
To whom5 one night gave permission to wear her hair loose.6
At first faith is small, it grows slowly and unnoticed,
And slowly the spirit fills the holy work.
Not in an erratic, but in an orderly way does God act on these lower entities, nor does He proceed from one extreme to another in haste, but gradually. The day does not invade the tracts of the earth with a sudden glare, but after having first sent the faltering light of daybreak, slowly.
... The middle of its course
The golden sun occupies and traverses all with its mighty rays
The spiritual stages of progression of the faithful are clearly of this kind, God never draws His own from the sordid midst of sinners to the state of glory, but He placed grace in-between. A picture starts with shadows and lines, then there is one single colour, soon light together with a variety of colours arrives, until reaches the artist's highest admiration. Let therefore no pious mind loose heart, if it is taken in a slow, albeit continuous pace to the renewal of life. All increase, even if it remains hidden, leads to salvation for him who believes and loves.
Love takes possession of feelings slowly.

Back to top ↑

Literature


    Back to top ↑

    Sources and parallels


    Back to top ↑

    References, across this site, to this page:


    Back to top ↑

    Iconclass

    Love has carved an inscription in a tree; a girl is looking at it, holding her hand on her heart

    Back to top ↑

    Comments

    commentary

    Back to top ↑

    Notes

    1
    'Medium sol aureus orbem', cf. 'medium sol igneus orbem' Verg. Georg. IV, 426.
    2
    'cæpit', i.e. 'cœpit'.
    3
    'monogromata' is a mistake in the original for 'monochromata'.
    4
    'Jonah's gourd': the story of the gourd in Jonah 4:6.
    5
    'cui' ('To whom'): refers to 'pietas'.
    6
    'to wear her hair loose', traditional allusion to a woman's having intercourse.