Because the poem occurs in the center of the work and contains uniquely written verse, scholars typically consider Book III, Song IX to be the focal point of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy. In this specific poem, Lady Philosophy leads Boethius to consider the grandeur of God's ordered universe and to pray for a mindset focused towards God's light.
The scholarly conversation surrounding Song IX focuses on the poetic nature of the Song. Scholar Stephan Blackwell, in his book titled, The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy, acknowledges that it mirrors the first part of Plato's Timaeus, but confirms that the poem, at its core, is a hymn. Blackwell emphasizes the poetic mystery that serves as the principal characteristic of the verse, "(T)he mystery of creation thus becomes the very means of address to God…the supplicant thus robes herself in theological mystery; but not just any mystery: it is the mystery at the heart of the prisoner's" (1)[1]. In this quote, Blackwell reveals the framework of the poem and for philosophy itself: consolation comes from centering oneself on who God is. God, as the poem suggests, is a mystery, and out of his goodness, created all elements. By comparing the verse to a hymn, Blackwell argues that it guides the supplicant to contemplate the God of the universe through liturgy. Blackwell demonstrates how the art of poetry in the hymn (the poetic rhyme structure) leads the reader to redirect their vision to divine unity, "all which of which make the hexameter a natural vehicle for contemplative prayer – is not found in any other poem of the Consolation…the poem is thus a rhythmic-acoustic enactment of the mystery it describes, of temporal movement emerging from unchanging unity" (3). Blackwell reveals how the poem's use of meter and its natural structure leads the reader to contemplative prayer. He explains a central point to understanding the hymn's rhetorical significance in raising a noteworthy theme for us to consider, the presence of contemplative prayer. But he does not mention the role of imagery in the poem and how that contributes to contemplation of the Divine. When considering the contemplative nature and its use of imagery to direct the reader, Book III verse IX raises the importance of having a beautiful theology because God himself is lovely. It is a call to contemplative prayer through the contemplation of beauty, which is essential to knowing His goodness.
The poem begins as Blackwell stated, with the reader orienting themselves in who God is. The hymn acts as a prayer, first leading the reader to reflect on the mysterious nature of God, "Father of heaven and earth, Who makest time swiftly slide, / And standing still Thyself, / yet fram' st all moving laws" (49). Philosophy uses the beginning of this hymn to show how one prays – we look up and acknowledge the heights of the heavens. Meaning, by contemplating the starry night sky, twisted clouds, and tangerine sunsets, we recognize the Creator's power. Without “Him” who "moves" all "laws," the world and its beauty does not exist. Philosophy acknowledges that the world is "guided" by Someone who "fram' st all moving laws." The hymn expresses God’s power, but emphasizes the beauty in His command. He, though is still, moves the universe and all of its patterns; he spins the earth forward, and in His massive, eye-catching, well-ordered world, He reveals Himself.
In other Songs and Prose selections in the Consolation, Philosophy stresses the role of astronomy in knowing God (Wyman 72). At the beginning of Song IX, by orienting the reader first in the stars, Philosophy essentially reveals the importance of astrology and invites study of God's world,
(T)he Boethian tetrad of disciplines, the quadrivium: arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music. God was seen as "generator" of these numerical forms, which were manifest in the physical universe…Understanding this perfectly designed system would lead to an understanding of the created world, to divine nature, and finally to the knowledge of God himself. The cosmos, with patterns of order at all levels of existence, was therefore created in the image of God – man, too, was created in a like manner. (Wyman 72)
In other words, by "mastering the stars," we grow closer to God. And in the study and contemplation of God's "moving laws," Philosophy leads Boethius to a profound theological truth which answers: "Why did God create the world?" Philosophy offers an answer, "But by a sweet desire, where envy hath no place,/ They goodness moving Thee to give each thing his grace,/ Thou dost all creatures' forms from highest patterns take." In contemplating the vast heavens and their structured order, Philosophy concludes that God created everything because of "sweet desire;" it was out of the goodness of God that we have this world. If beauty is goodness made manifest to the senses[2], and God is goodness himself[3], then by studying and considering the world's beauty, we also intentionally or not, reflect on God's generous nature.
Makoto Fujimura, in his book titled Culture Care, writes of the generous nature of beauty in creation, "Because it is gratuitous, beauty points beyond itself, beyond survival to satisfaction…It points to discoveries waiting to be made about creation. It points towards questions of right relationships, of ultimate meaning, and even of eternity. It points backward and forwards to our ultimate Source and Sustainer" (52). Like Philosophy, Fujimura remarks on how beauty in itself is generous ("Thy goodness moving") and leads us back to our Creator. Philosophy, in contemplating how God orders and guides the universe, knows the generosity of God. Thus, beauty is a part of philosophy; we need beauty in order to “console” ourselves with God’s goodness when trouble comes. In Philosophy's use of imagery, we learn how creation leads us to our ultimate "Source" because it reflects God's beauty, "From Thy fair mind the world fair like Thyself doth make. / Thus Thou perfect the whole perfect each part dost frame." Philosophy uses "Fair," meaning bright, clear, and attractive to describe God and His world and uses repetition of this world to highlight its importance. By reflecting on the world's "fairness," Philosophy invites us to see how God is also fair and perfect; her emphasis on God's beauty calls for a beautiful theology, a theology which is rooted in the sheer generosity, kindness, and abundance of God's love.
Next, Philosophy contemplates the "earthiness" of the world – its elements and its beauty. She sings, "Thou temp'rest elements, making cold mixed with flame/ And dry things join with moist, lest fire away should fly,/ Or earth, oppreset with weight, buried too low should lie." Again, Lady Philosophy's diction centers on the physicality of the earth - all of the things that make up nature, material, and being. C.S Lewis's stance on beauty's purpose is reminiscent of Lady Philosophy's focus on the earth's materiality leading us to God, "(T)he books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing" (Weight of Glory). What Lewis is saying, it that it is not the object itself that is beautiful, but God’s presence moving through it. And thus, true beauty reveals our longing for God; anything from "books" or “music,” “cold” or “flame,” leads us to our Creator. And this is true according to Philosophy as she explains how God disperses Himself into His creatures, "(C)ut in several parts that run a different race, / Into itself returns, and circling doth embrace.” It is only natural for us to see God's hand in His universe.
Beauty in God's world brings us right back to our Foundation. Lady Philosophy's words reflect this theology, "They stream, like fire returning, back to Thee, their God." God uses the heavens, earth, its elements, its grandeur, to embrace His people once again. Beauty centers us on who God is; it "behests" us back to Himself and reminds us of who we are. The beauty of Lady Philosophy's hymn reflects her theology – she uses the Song's striking imagery to direct Boethius's attention to God's loveliness. Because we know God’s goodness through his beauty, Philosophy’s consolation would not be complete without a clear understanding of a beautiful theology. She calls him to Christian contemplation of beauty, "Dear Father, let my mind Thy hallowed seat ascend, / Let me behold the spring of grace and find Thy light." The hymn's very nature reorients Boethius to consider God's light by asking God to help them reflect on His stunning throne. Philosophy teaches us that if we are to be free from our "earthly weights," we need a beautiful theology that sets our sights on God's brightness, loveliness, and grace.
Barbara Hart Wyman. “Boethian Influence and Imagery in the Poetry of George Herbert.” Studies in Philology, vol. 97, no. 1, 2000, pp. 61–95. JSTOR.
Blackwood, Stephen. The consolation of Boethius as poetic liturgy. OUP Oxford, 2015.
Conlee, John W. “A NOTE ON VERSE COMPOSITION IN THE ‘METERS OF BOETHIUS.’” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, vol. 71, no. 4, 1970, pp. 576–585. JSTOR.
Curley, Thomas F. “The Consolation of Philosophy as a Work of Literature.” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 108, no. 2, 1987, pp. 343–367. JSTOR.
Fujimura, Makoto. Culture care: Reconnecting with beauty for our common life. InterVarsity Press, 2017.
Lewis, Clive Staples. Weight of glory. Zondervan, 2001.
[1] This page number is taken from his chapter on “The First Four” and is not the original page number from Blackwell’s book, The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy
[2] Dallas Willard
[3] St. Julien of Norwich