"Now I know," quoth she, "another, and that perhaps the greatest, cause of thy sickness: thou hast forgotten what thou art. Wherefore I have fully found out both the manner of thy disease and the means of thy recovery; for the confusion which thou art in, by the forgetfulness of thyself, is the cause why thou art so much grieved at thy exile and the loss of thy goods. And because thou art ignorant what is the end of things, thou thinkest that lewd and wicked men be powerful and happy; likewise, because thou hast forgotten by what means the world is governed, thou imaginest that these alternations of fortune do fall out without any guide, sufficient causes not only of sickness, but also of death itself. But thanks be to the author of thy health, that Nature hath not altogether forsaken thee. We have the greatest nourisher of thy health, the true opinion of the government of the world, in that thou believest that it is not subject to the events of chance, but to divine reason. Wherefore fear nothing; out of this little sparkle will be enkindled thy vital heat. But because it is not yet time to use more solid remedies, and it is manifest that the nature of minds is such that as often as they cast away true opinions they are possessed with false, out of which the darkness of perturbations arising doth make them that they cannot discern things aright, I will endeavour to dissolve this cloud with gentle and moderate fomentations; that having removed the obscurity of deceitful affections, thou mayest behold the splendour of true light. VII. Nubibus atris Condita nullum Fundere possunt Sidera lumen. Si mare uoluens 5 Turbidus Auster Misceat aestum, Vitrea dudum Parque serenis Vnda diebus 10 Mox resoluto Sordida caeno Visibus obstat. Quique uagatur Montibus altis 15 Defluus amnis, Saepe resistit Rupe soluti Obice saxi. Tu quoque si uis 20 Lumine claro Cernere uerum, Tramite recto Carpere callem, Gaudia pelle, 25 Pelle timorem Spemque fugato Nec dolor adsit. Nubila mens est Vinctaque frenis, 30 Haec ubi regnant." VII. When stars are shrouded With dusky night, They yield no light Being so clouded. When the wind moveth And churneth the sea, The flood, clear as day, Foul and dark proveth. And rivers creeping Down a high hill Stand often still, Rocks them back keeping. If thou wouldst brightly See Truth's clear rays, Or walk those ways Which lead most rightly, All joy forsaking Fear must thou fly, And hopes defy, No sorrow taking. For where these terrors Reign in the mind, They it do bind In cloudy errors."