Letter 1038: I'm doing exhausting work: I keep writing to someone who keeps not answering.
I am carrying on a task full of labor, in that I persist so often in addressing one who stays silent. On the contrary, unless I keep on prodding you and chiseling some bit of correspondence out of you, forgetfulness will creep in. Whether, then, you judge this diligent service of mine welcome or burdensome, my resolve stands firm: to keep your honored name renowned through our exchanges; so completely is there no falling-away of my old love for you. And rightly so, for nowhere have I invested the effort of friendship equally well. For this reason I complain of your silence. For a more tender affection makes the complaint more readily inclined to come forth. The mind of one who loves is soft [...]
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Plenmn laboris negotium gero, qui conpellare totiens tacitam persevero. contra
nisi instigare pergo atqne excalpere a te aliquid litteramm, gliscet oblivio. sive igitur
» hoc ofGcium meum sedulnm iudices seu molestum, stat sententia honorem tuum cele-
brem praestare colloqniis ; adeo mihi veteris in te amoris nulla discessio est. et merito,
nam amicitiae operam nusquam locavi aeque bene. propterea silentium tuum conque-
ror. &cit enim tenerior adfectio, nt sit querella proclivior. moUis est animus diligentis 2
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern symmachus retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog
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