CIC. But what signifies that branch of palm, around which is the legend,
"Cæsar adest?"
TANS. Without further talk, all may be understood by that which is
written on the tablet:
29.
Unconquered victor of Pharsalia,
Though all thy warriors be well-nigh spent,
At sight of thee they rise once more;
Their strength returns, they conquer their proud foes;
So does my love--that equals love of heaven--
Become a living presence through my thoughts;
Thoughts that my haughty soul had killed with scorn,
Love brings again stronger than love himself;
Thy presence is enough, oh memory!
These to reanimate in all their strength,
And with imperious sov'reignty they rule
And govern each opposing force.
May I be happy in this governance
And with these bonds, and may that light ne'er cease.
There are times when the inferior powers of the soul--like a vigorous
and hostile army, which finds itself in its own country practised,
expert, and ready--revolt against the foreign adversary, who comes down
from the height of the intelligence to curb the people of the valley and
of the boggy plains, where, through the baneful presence of the enemies
and of such obstacles as deep ditches, advancing they lose themselves,
and would be entirely lost, if there were not a certain conversion
towards the splendour of intellectual things through the act of
contemplation, by means of which they are converted from inferior
degrees to superior ones.