The Consolation of Philosophy · Chapter
Song V: The Former Age explained
Boethius contrasts the simple, virtuous life of the former age with the greed and corruption of the present, lamenting the discovery of gold and gems that led to strife and moral decay.
What happens
Boethius contrasts the simple, virtuous life of the former age with the greed and corruption of the present, lamenting the discovery of gold and gems that led to strife and moral decay.
Themes in this chapter
Vanity of Worldly Goods
The poem criticizes the pursuit of wealth, gold, and gems as a corrupting force that leads to war and moral decline.
Fortune and Misfortune
The former age is portrayed as blessed by fortune due to its contentment with simple necessities, while the present age suffers misfortune from greed.
Characters to notice
- Boethius
The speaker who laments the loss of the former age's simplicity.
Key passages
“Too blest the former age, their life Who in the fields contented led, And still, by luxury unspoiled, On frugal acorns sparely fed.”
The people of the past were truly happy, living simply in the countryside, eating only acorns and untouched by extravagance.
Boethius idealizes the past as a time of contentment and lack of luxury.
“The trump of war was heard not yet, Nor soiled the fields by bloodshed’s stain; For why should war’s fierce madness arm When strife brought wound, but brought not gain?”
There was no war because there was nothing to gain from fighting; violence only caused injury without profit.
Boethius connects the absence of greed to the absence of war.
“Woe, woe for him, whoe’er it was, Who first gold’s hidden store revealed, And—perilous treasure trove—dug out The gems that fain would be concealed!”
Cursed be the person who first discovered gold and precious gems, which should have remained hidden underground.
Boethius condemns the discovery of valuable minerals as the root of human corruption.