Letter 8041: The grief of those who truly love is inconsolable by ordinary means.
Ennodius to Agapitus.
The grief of those who truly love is inconsolable by ordinary means. Only God can reach the depth of what we feel, and only time — His instrument — can begin to heal what loss has broken.
I write to mourn with you, not to console. Consolation will come later, in its own time. For now, let us share the weight. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
XXXXI. ENNODIVS AGAPITO.
Insolabiliter amantum ferretur absentia, nisi opem darent
remedia litterarum, quae ieiunas desiderantum animas pascunt
esca conloquii. bene enim per stilum dilectio amicam sibi
pingit effigiem, cum qua sine laboris patientia misceat mella
sermonum. ad hoc magnitudo tua artifex, ne inpastam gratiam
linqueres, scripsisti. debeo uicissitudinem, quia memorem mei
te esse cognoui. honore ergo salutationis exhibito rogo, ut
quod scis apud caros et adfectione praeditos esse pretiosum
sub continuatione facere non omittas.
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