Sympathia Amoris.

XXXI.

Plat. Vetus verbum est, similitudinem amoris aucto-
rem esse.¹

Cat.
Chorda manu non tacta tremit, non mota susurrat,
Quid mirum? quod amat, sentit adesse sibi.
Te video mea lux, nec te mea lumina cernunt;
Audio te, loquitur cum tua lingua nihil:
Sentio te, nec me tua dextera contigit. i nunc
Et cordi, quod amat, numen inesse nega.

Cyprian.
EXperientia notum est arcanam quandam &
occultam inter homines esse naturarum affini-
tatem aut odium, vel naturæ quâdam occultâvi,
vel astrorum influentiâ, vnde fit vt aliquis ab alte-
ro toto pectore abhorreat in alterum vero pro-
pensus sit, nec rogatus causam. dicere posset cur
hunc amet, illum oderit iuxta illud Catulli.

Cat.
Non amo te, volusi, nec possum dicere quare,
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.

Bonauēt.
Si datur sympathia quædam amoris, in huma-
nis; multo maior datur in diuinis. nam sicut lapis
naturali pondere fertur deorsum, sicut spiritus no-
ster fertur in Deum, vnde maxima est inter Deum
& animam sanctam, amoris sympathia.

[148a] ↓

Quid non sentit amor?

Tel est l'accord des amants,
Qu' vn seul point fait deux dischants.

[149] ↓

Sympathie de l'Amour.
XXXI.
Que veut dire, o amour, que lors que tu accordes
Les luths plus differents, les plus diuerses cordes,
L'on n'entēd qu' vne vois, qu' vn ton, qu' vn instrument?
Est ce, que deux amants, n'ont qu' vne seule vie,
Vn accent, vn esprit, vn air, vn harmonie,
Vn aureille, vn amour, vn mesme sentimēt?

Aunque son dos los oydos
Como es vno el coraçon
No se oye mas que vn son.

Als minnaers missen van een snaer/
De liefde wordet strackx ghewaer.

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Facsimile Images

148

[148a]

[149]

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Translations

Sympathy of love.

It is an old saying of Plato's that likeness is the starting point for love.

The bowstring, though untouched by a hand, quivers, not moved it whines;
What wonder! It senses that what it loves is near.
I see you, my light, but the lights of my eye do not see you.
I hear you, while your tongue says nothing.
I feel you but your right hand did not touch me. Go now
And deny that there is divine power in the heart that is in love.

By experience it is known that there exists among human beings some kind of arcane and hidden affinity or dislike, either through an occult power, or through the influence of the stars, as a result of which it happens that somebody abhors one person with all his heart, but is favourably inclined towards another, and when asked for the reason could not say why he loves this person, and hates the other, as in those famous words of Catullus':

I do not like you, Volusius, and I cannot say why;
I can only say this: I do not like you.

If in human affairs sympathy is a property of love, then so much more this is the case in matters divine. For just as a stone by nature moves downwards by its weight, so our spirit is borne upwards to God. Hence there exists a maximum of love sympathy between God and the sacred soul.

What does love not feel?

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