Letter 2007: **From:** Ennodius, deacon and man of letters, Pavia

VII. ENNODIUS TO FIRMINUS. Though love may demand what perfection cannot fulfill, and affection may obtain that, through the boldness of speech, the hope of remaining silent should perish where it could have brought adornment, especially since, as Tullius [Cicero] reports, there is no condition for speaking so excessively unsuitable except when it is necessary: yet amid the ways of narrative and the paths that must be opened up by the pruning-hook of learning, affection reigns, untaught to be held back by any consideration of its own strength. In the place of a commander, the love once fixed deep in the chambers of the heart holds sway, believing that one who is anxious for the safety of an absent kinsman is not to be captivated by the weight or pomp of words, nor does it suppose that offense can arise from a kindness, reckoning this to be enough for gladness, if a letter should announce the longed-for safety. But you, whom the balance of skill has weighed in the scale of eloquence, in whom there is abundance of tongue, chastened speech, the cadence of Latium, and a well-squared diction, you seek of course in others what you yourselves practice, you seek what you love. We, sequestered from the training-grounds of the schools, with the droplets of a parched talent provoke as it were the flowing streams of the ocean, as though we were lamps about to do battle against the rays of the sun. My leanness shows itself plainly in the matter of study, and unless the chattering be excused by affection, it is a loss of one's own modesty that I have loved. The vein of the tongue is indeed drawn from the fountain of one's stock, and a noble offspring is wont to be roused by an inborn ardor. I am unequal to my own lineage: the fullness of knowledge has not touched me, who am as it were a stranger to your endowments. I am able only to praise you rather than to imitate you. And although a mature eloquence has not yet come to flower in me, and, pressed by the burden of repaying your favor, I am abandoned by the faculty for doing so, I nevertheless commit my slender skiff to the calm sea, because a silent gratulation differs little from ingratitude. Whence does it arise, I ask, that the prosperous news which I have learned of you by the carrier's report should be counted among the heavenly benefits granted to me? And although I ought to repay the duties of correspondence, yet because the negligence of the conveyers has brought it about that the letters sent by you were either held back or lost: I nevertheless have led my own bashfulness, which had been keeping its station, into uncertain ground, and I commit my whole self to be read for your relish. Farewell, my lord, and cherish one who loves you with frequent gifts of letters. In regard to which pursuits it befits one to be neither sluggish if he would be diligent, nor lazy if he would be eloquent.

VII. ENNODIVS FIRMINO. Exigat licet amor quod non potest implere perfectio et inpetret caritas, ut per loquelae audaciam quae ornare poterat pereat spes tacendi, maxime cum sit dicendi, ut Tullius refert, nisi cum necessaria nimis inepta condicio: sed inter narrationum uias et itinera aperienda falce doctrinae teneri nescius uirium consideratione regnat adfectus. inperatoris loco dominatur semel penetralibus cordis infixa dilectio, credens quod non de uerborum pondere uel pompa capiatur qui de absentis propinqui est salute sollicitus nec existimat quod nasci possit offensa de gratia, hoc ad laetitiam satis esse coniciens, si optatam nuntiet epistula sospitatem. sed uos, quos libra peritiae in eloquii lance pensauit, quibus ubertas linguae, castigatus sermo, Latiaris ductus, quadrata constat elocutio, quaeritis nimirum in aliis quod exercetis, quaeritis quod amatis. nos ab scolarum gymnasiis sequestrati, arentis ingenii guttis quaedam oceani fluenta prouocamus, quasi lychnis contra solis radios pugnaturi. mei macies longe se monstrat studii et nisi excusetur pietate garrulitas, dispendium proprii pudoris est 9 Cicero de orat. I 24, 112 1 archae B, arche T profeticis BLV 2 misteriis T scaemata B, scemata T 3 intexta fort . poenelopae L, poenaelopae V, penelope PT, ponaelopaei B VII. 8 loquellae B q; L 10 conditio LT 11 itenera B et teneri P, etenere B 13 dominantur L, dominator B penetrabitibus LV(?) delectatio T 15 sollicitus salute T in ras. m. 2 ex|timat∗∗nasci B nas inras . posse offensam B 16 leticiam s. e. coatinSs si ob T in ras. m. 2 17 quod L, om. b 18 pensauit scripsi, pensabat VI pensabit BLPTb 19 sermo V in ras . m. 1 elucutio T .21 gimnasiis LV, gemnasiis B, ginnasiis PT gottis B 22 ocheani B, occeani T lygnis BLV, lignis PTb 23 radius B 24 podoris Bl quod amaui. uena quidem linguae a generis fonte trahitur et feruore genuino solet fetura nobilis incitari. ego mea sum inpar prosapia: me dotibus uestris quasi peregrinum scientiae plenitudo non tetigit: ego uos tantum laudare magis quam imitari ualeo. et quamuis necdum in me ad florem uenerit matura facundia et pressus onere gratiae soluendi deserar facultate, committo tamen cymbam tenuem placido mari, quia parum ab ingratitudine differt muta gratulatio. unde nascitur quaeso, ut prospera quae de uobis perlatoris relatione cognoui inter caelestia mihi beneficia conputentur? et quamuis reddere deberem sermonis officia, sed quia portitorum neglegentia fecit ut directae a uobis aut retinerentur aut perderentur epistulae: ego tamen uerecundiam meam in statione degentem ad incerta deduxi et totum me legendum sapori uestro conmitto. salue, mi domine, et amantem uestri frequentibus colite muniis litterarum. circa quae studia pigrum esse nec diligentem conuenit nec facundum.