TANS. It means that enthusiast, signified by the naked child as simple,
pure, and exposed to all the accidents of Nature and of fortune, who at
the same time by the force of thought, constructs castles in the air,
and amongst other things a tower, of which the architect is Love, the
material is the amorous fire, and the builder is himself, who says:
"Mutuo fulcimur"--that is, I build and uphold you there with my
thought, and you uphold me here with hope; you would not be in existence
were it not for the imagination and the thought with which I form and
uphold you, and I should not be alive were it not for the refreshment
and comfort that I receive through your means.
CIC. It is true that there is no fancy so vain and so chimerical that
may not be a more real and true medicine for an enthusiastic heart than
any herb, mineral, oil, or other sort of thing that Nature produces.
TANS. Magicians can do more by means of faith than physicians by the
truth; and in the worst diseases the patients benefit more by believing
this or that which the former say, than in understanding that which the
latter do. Now let the rhymes be read.
27.
Above the clouds in that high place,
When oft with dreaming I am fired,
For comfort and refreshment of my soul
An airy castle from my fires I build,
And if my adverse fate incline awhile,
And without scorn or ire will understand
This lofty grace for which I die,
Oh happy then my pains, happy my death.
The ardour of those flames she does not feel,
Nor is she hindered by those snares
With which, oh boy! thou'rt wont to enslave
And lead into captivity both men and gods;
By pity's hand alone, oh Love,
By showing all my woe, thou shalt prevail.
CIC. He shows that which feeds his fancy and bathes his spirit; yet,
inasmuch as he is without courage to explain himself and make known his
sufferings, although he is so deeply subjected to that anguish, if it
should happen that his hard, uncompromising fate should bend a little
(as, in the end, fate must soothe him, by showing itself without scorn
or anger for the high object), he would consider no happiness so great,
no life so blessed, as in such a case would be his happiness in his
woes, and his blessedness in his death.
TANS. And with this he comes to declare to Love that the means by which
he will gain access to that breast, is not in the ordinary way by the
arms with which he usually captivates men and gods, but only by causing
the fiery heart and his troubled spirit, to be laid bare, to obtain
sight of which it is necessary that compassion open the way, and
introduce him to that secret chamber.