Letter 3002: Though the exchange of letters belongs more to joy than to grief, and though a tongue stumbling under the confusion...

Ennodius to Eugenetus. Though the exchange of letters belongs more to joy than to grief, and though a tongue stumbling under the confusion of fresh sorrow can hardly bring into the light either the secrets of the heart or the diligence of friendship — I will still consider whether less frequent correspondence inflicts a loss on affection. And yet, if no words at all are offered, the very silence reveals our inadequacy. God gave the tongue the office of bearing witness to our feelings. But you may say, my lord: these are words ill suited to a man you know to be consumed by the most terrible sorrow — that a heart pressed by anguish cannot be roused to the language of love, and that grief hears nothing that could soothe it. Whatever crushes the spirit rejects what would delight the ear. Your brother, who was the greater half of your soul, has departed for the heavens and carried that half away to the grave. What can be demanded of a man whose other self now lies enclosed in a tomb? In the depths of affliction, the voice, enslaved by groaning, cannot speak. Amid a season of tears, an untimely narrative is being dictated. I will answer: a grief equally bitter has entered my heart as well. I cannot be separated from the sorrow of a man whom shared inclinations have joined to me in happier times. Yet I will show that speech has often been the messenger of graver suffering in times of mourning, and that the remedies of silence have been betrayed by conversation. I will say this: a man who denies his pages to his own lamentation consigns what he mourns to a single generation. The memory of a brother — and a learned one — does not deserve to have what we felt about him perish with our grieving. When the mouth rests idle in mourning, the heart grows stingy. But the recollection of a beloved person, when committed to writing, pierces the hearts of those who loved him with a sharp and violent sting. The written account of a funeral never lets death grow old. It is in this spirit that I address Your Greatness, weeping even as I console — so that through the gift of mutual correspondence, under God's invocation, the promised affection between us may be nourished, and the person of eloquence, whose merits do not permit him to suffer oblivion, may through our conversation live again.

II. EVGENETI ENNODIVS. Quamuis commercia litterarum magis sint laetitiae quam maeroris nec secretum pectoris aut amicitiae diligentiam bene in lucem digerat clauda recenti confusione elocutio: uidero tamen utrum dispendium caritati inferat sermo rarior, monstrat tamen si nullus prorogetur infantiam. testem diuinitas gratiae linguae dedit officium. sed dicas, mi domine, haec aliena esse ab eo quem nouerim maximis doloribus occupatum, pressum pectus angoribus ad amoris uerba non erigi nec quicquam delenificum lamenta sentire: res quae mentem premit repudiat quod oblectat auditum: qui maior animae fuit portio frater in superis, hanc transtulit ad sepulcra. quid exigendum ab illo sit, cuius diuiduum salutis busta clauserunt? in summis adflictionibus queri non posse uocem gemitibus subiugatam. lacrimarum tempore dictatur inportuna narratio. respondebo, quod par quoque meum pectus acerbi casus maeror intrauerit. nec diuidi me posse ab eius tristitia, quem mihi pro uoluntatum similitudine nonnunquam laeta iunxerunt. ostendo tamen saepe grauioris mali in luctibus indicem fuisse sermonem et intercepta taciturnitatis remedia proditore conloquio. dicam: n 2 reginem B . 3 qua ex qui T corr . 4 et ex e V eorr. m. 1 ? hoc contra extiterit T II. 7 ennodius om. T 8 commertia LV, commentia PT 9 meroris BLTV 10 uideo T 11 inserat L* 12 protegetur T1 15 pectus eae peccatis T quidquam B 16 premet B, praemit F* 18 superas Lt ut uidetur sepulchra BL 19 diuiduum] dimidium Sirm . 20 quaeri b et sirm. 21 dictatur scripsi, dicatnr BLPTVb 22 meror BLTV 24 nonunquam B iuncxeront BL, iunxerant V 25 saepae B 26 tacetnrnetatis B qui lamentationi suae paginas denegat in una aetate uult perire quod deflet: non meretur recordatio fratris et docti, ut planctibus quid de ipso senserimus occumbat: feriato ore in planctibus parcus est animus: amati commemoratio quae mandatur tabellis uiscera carorum aculeis uiolenter inrumpit: numquam patitur obitum ueterescere relatio funeris digesta per litteras. hoc studio magnitudinem tuam flens consolator appello, ut uicarii sermonis beneficio et promissus sub inuocatione dei inter nos nutriatur affectus et persona facundiae, quae meritis suis occasum non patitur, nostra quoque confabulatione reuiuiscat.