Fortune's Prisoner: The Poems of Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy - Softcover

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0856464031 ISBN 13: 9780856464034

Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd., 2007

Synopsis

An aristocratic scholar and influential member of the court of Theodoric, Boethius (born about AD 480) was arrested for alleged treason and executed in about 524. While in prison he wrote his masterpiece, The Consolation of Philosophy, a work of mixed prose and verse in which he considers universal issues such as the nature of justice, the problem of evil in a world controlled by God’s providential plan, and the workings of Fortune and free will.

 

With his fresh and imaginative treatment of the poems from this book, James Harpur argues for the reappraisal of Boethius as poet. His well-crafted modern translations and persuasive introduction encourage their reading as a coherent poetic sequence outside their original context.

 

James Harpur has published four collections of poetry. He studied Classics and then English at Trinity College, Cambridge. Awards for his poetry include the 1995 British National Poetry prize and bursaries from Cork Arts, the Arts Council, the Eric Gregory Trust and the Society of Authors. His non-fiction books include Love Burning in the Soul, an introduction to Christian mystics. He lives in Co. Cork.

About this title

About the Author

An aristocratic scholar and philosopher and one of the most influential members of the court of the Ostrogoth ruler Theodoric, Boethius (born c. 480 AD) was arrested for alleged treason (which he denied). During his confinement in northern Italy, he wrote his masterpiece, The Consolation of Philosophy, a work in which he considers universal issues. Executed in about 526 AD. James Harpur was born in 1956 of Anglo-Irish parentage. He read Classics and then English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is now a freelance writer living in Ireland, with three previous collections of poetry from Anvil. Author of Love Burning in the Soul: The Story of the Christian Mystics, from Saint Paul to Thomas Merton (Shambhala, 2005).

Reviews

Translating only the poems in The Consolation of Philosophy, the classic sixth-century wisdom book, may seem quixotic, but Harpur does the job so well as to squelch carping. His versions are vital contemporary poems, verging on sounding anachronistic. This is an effect of their fluency, enhanced by liberal use of conversational contractions, quite apart from their timeless content. The circumstances in which The Consolation was written—sentenced to death by an aging, paranoic king, the long-favored Boethius seeks solace from classical philosophy, which is personified in the text and speaks the lion’s share of the poems—still resonate with sufferers of acute personal disaster, life-threatening or, more often, not. So does philosophy’s counsel that fortune is ever changing, indeed cyclical; that the universe is controlled by a good Creator; that happiness can only be achieved through virtue; that evil, free will, and divine foreknowledge are and will remain mysteries to mortals; and to trust in God. Few writers have better conveyed this wisdom that Harpur has revivified in sharp iambics for our times. --Ray Olson

Edition details

• Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd.
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0856464031
• ISBN 13: 9780856464034
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96