The Meters of Boethius · late 9th or early 10th century
Meter 2
Translated by Walter John Sedgefield, King Alfred's Version of the Consolations of Boethius (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1900)
Ah! many a lay once so merrily
I sang in my joy. Now must I sighing,
Worn with weeping, a woful outcast,
Sing words of sorrow. Me hath this sobbing
And this wailing dazed, so that no more ditties
Can I turn so featly, though many tales
Once I wove, when I was happy.
Oft now I find not the words familiar,
I that in old times oft made strange ones.
Me, wellnigh blind, have these worldly blessings
Drawn in my folly to this dim cavern,
And robbed me entirely of reason and comfort
With their false faith, when I had fain ever
To them trusted. To me they have turned
Their backs, oh! cruelly, and kept joy from me.
Ah! why were ye minded, my friends of this world,
In speech or in song to say I was happy
Here in this world? The words are not true ones,
For worldly blessings abide not always.
Cite this text
MLA
Alfred, King. The Meters of Boethius, Meter 2. Translated by Walter John Sedgefield, King Alfred's Version of the Consolations of Boethius. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/work/meters-of-boethius/2/.
Chicago
Alfred, King. The Meters of Boethius, Meter 2. Translated by Walter John Sedgefield, King Alfred's Version of the Consolations of Boethius. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/work/meters-of-boethius/2/.