Letter 9012: I endure the absence of your letters if — as it seems — your silence is the price of excellence.
Ennodius of Pavia→Messala|c. 503 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
education books
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Messala [a young aristocratic protege]
Date: ~503 AD
Context: A letter praising the young Messala's literary progress — Ennodius was moved to tears by the quality of his writing, and attributes his gifts to his distinguished parentage.
To Messala, from Ennodius.
I endure the absence of your letters if — as it seems — your silence is the price of excellence. The loss of correspondence is not painful when rare letters come attended by splendid style. What I receive from you in reports of God's favor toward you, and what I had already presumed from the merits of your holy parents, I now accept with joy.
You have already won the support of friends of God — He who is both father and brother to you. I read your composition, and I will not hide it: I could not finish it without the tears that joy produces. I will not overwhelm you with detailed praise. But work to polish through eloquence what your natural gifts supply. You lack nothing that your father's son should possess — except what you deliberately withhold from yourself.
May God forgive you your modesty. Continue as you have begun. Farewell.
XII. MERSALAE ENNODIVS.
Fero uestrarum abstinentiam. litterarum, si sic ad incrementa
gaudii mei pertinet quod tacetis: non est molesta paginalis
intermissio, si cum splendidis dictionibus iunguntur rara conloquia.
quod de gratia circa uos dei, quod de sanctis parentibus
praesumebatur accipio. iam suffragiis amicorum dei, qui
tibi pater et frater est, agnouisti. uere dictionem tuam sine
lacrimis, quas dabant gaudia, non relegi. nolo apud te quae
de te sentio uerborum inportunitate producere. labora ut quod
suggerente in sensibus uena inuenis conponas eloquentia. nihil
tibi a domni Fausti et domnae meae matris tuae filio minus
est, nisi quod ipse studiose subtraxeris. parcat tibi tamen deus,
2 piae B copola B 3 serenu ̃ T moribus T 4 peroccupauit
B relinquid B 6 gracia B 8 prouintialis
LV 10 quae-redderer om. B aut scripsi, et LTVb
11 offitiis B honerosus BLTV 12 exsequi (se corr. uid.) B,
exequi T simplicetis L
XII. 16 messale BLT 17 absentiam Sirm . 18 paginales
B 19 si] sic B 20 perentibus L 21 praesummabatur B,
praesumatur LTVb 28 dabant T*, dabunt LPT1 Vb, debunt B
25 sentibus B 26 et ex a? corr. B 27 ipse B, ipsa LPTV,
ista b studiosae BV
ut credas me inmemorem tui esse, dum inpedientibus morbis
frequenti te scriptione non ueneror: debes nosse dignum esse
uenia quicquid necessitate delinquitur. domine mi, salutationem
plenissimam dicens benedicere me deum in operibus eius de
domni Auieni coniunctione significo et de te quod eius pietas
pollicetur expecto.
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From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Messala [a young aristocratic protege]
Date:~503 AD
Context:A letter praising the young Messala's literary progress — Ennodius was moved to tears by the quality of his writing, and attributes his gifts to his distinguished parentage.
To Messala, from Ennodius.
I endure the absence of your letters if — as it seems — your silence is the price of excellence. The loss of correspondence is not painful when rare letters come attended by splendid style. What I receive from you in reports of God's favor toward you, and what I had already presumed from the merits of your holy parents, I now accept with joy.
You have already won the support of friends of God — He who is both father and brother to you. I read your composition, and I will not hide it: I could not finish it without the tears that joy produces. I will not overwhelm you with detailed praise. But work to polish through eloquence what your natural gifts supply. You lack nothing that your father's son should possess — except what you deliberately withhold from yourself.
May God forgive you your modesty. Continue as you have begun. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.