# Song III: All Passes explained — The Consolation of Philosophy

> Chapter companion for The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius.

## What happens

This brief poetic chapter uses natural imagery—the rising sun dimming stars, the wind stripping blossoms, and storms churning the sea—to illustrate the transience of all created things. It argues that just as nature is in constant flux, so too are human fortunes and happiness fleeting, with only the law of impermanence standing fast.

## Themes in this chapter

### Fortune and Misfortune

The poem directly compares the fleeting nature of human fortune to the changing seasons and weather, emphasizing that fortune is as transient as a dream.

### Vanity of Worldly Goods

By asserting that all created things must pass, the poem underscores the vanity of clinging to worldly goods and happiness.

## Character check-ins

### Phoebus

Mentioned as the sun god whose rising light dims the stars.

## Key lines

> Thus if Nature’s changing face Holds not still a moment’s space, Fleeting deem man’s fortunes; deem Bliss as transient as a dream.

Since nature itself is never constant, you should consider human fortunes and happiness to be as brief and insubstantial as a dream.

_This is the central moral of the poem, linking natural flux to the impermanence of human fortune._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_consolation_of_philosophy_se/chapters/song-iii-all-passes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_consolation_of_philosophy_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_consolation_of_philosophy_se/chapters