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of wickedness, 1357 Belching forth rage, a naked evil, which especially, furiously boiling up, carries a man away from his mind, Or hiding a deceitful thought in her breast, And speaking smooth things from a soft mouth. Would that there were some door upon my eyes, And upon my ears, not well opened in every direction, So as to see the good and to receive it upon hearing, And for both to be closed automatically to evil things. And the best work for hands is to always raise them pure to heaven, And to submit them to heavenly laws. And so for feet, to go on a smooth path, not upon thorns, Nor down cliffs, and not on an unholy path. But now God has given every limb as good for good things, But wickedness has found for me a weapon of death. 1358 What is this law for me? How am I a prisoner on earth Of the flesh? How was the body mixed with the light spirit, I am neither wholly mind, a pure nature, nor wholly inferior Dust, but from both something else and both. For this reason I bear the ever-unceasing turmoil of war, Of flesh and soul set against each other. I am an image of God, and I am drawn to wickedness, As the worse unholily battles the better; Or I flee wickedness and stand firm, not without toil, Having struggled much with a heavenly hand. For there is, there is for me a twofold law; of which the one is good, Following the beautiful; but the other is worse, Following evil things; the one, the mind, is ready To obey Christ, coming to the light; 1359 But the other, of flesh and blood, is eager To receive Belial, being dragged towards the darkness. The one is warmed by earthly things, as if by good things, Which are not lasting, but flying past. And it loves revels and enmities, and dreadful excess, And the shames of dark deeds, and gains. And it goes on the broad way, and delights in its own destruction, Having put on the gloomy mist of foolishness. But the other exults in heavenly things, as if those hoped for were present, and has God alone As a hope for life; but the things here are dishonored smoke, Lying at one time under one circumstance, at another under another. And it loves poverty and burdens, and noble Cares, and goes the narrow way of life. And to those warring, an overseer came from above, 1360 The Spirit of the great God, and gave a hand to the mind, Loosening the turmoil of the grievous body, and calming The rising swell of dark passions. But even so, it has a mad force, nor does the flesh Cease from war, and the battle inclines this way and that. At one time the dust is subdued by the mind; but at another time The mind unwillingly follows the strong flesh. But it longs for what is better; but doing what it hates, It weeps for its grievous slavery, And the error of the first father, and the sinful Deception of the mother, the mother of our madness, And the reckless, bloodthirsty falsehood of the crooked serpent, Who delights in the sins of men, And the tree, and the fruit of the plant baneful to mortals, And the destructive taste, and the gates of death, 1361 And the utterly shameful nakedness of limbs, and the most dishonorable casting out from paradise And the tree of life. These things the weary mind laments. But my flesh Looks to my ancestors, and the man-slaying plant, And always embraces every sweet food, Which the destructive, bitter serpent shows, fawning. Truly I both groan, and with prayers to the Lord, Who rules all things, and brings the scales to all, I beseech on behalf of soul and body, To judge both favorably, and to scatter the war, Subduing the worse to the better, as is right; For this is not a little better for both; That the soul, weighed down by dust, should not journey to the earth, Like a leaden weight being dragged to the deep, 1362 But that the dust should yield to the winged spirit and image, As evil melts like wax by fire. Praying such things and bringing many remedies for the thick flesh, I quickly scatter the difficult disease. And its force, like that of a most untrustworthy beast, I hold with strong chains, trembling at the evil swell. I place locks on my stomach, with unhealing pain I bite my spirit, and I pour forth streams of tears. I bend my worn knees to the Lord, I drag out sleepless nights, and I soil my mourning garment. For others there are banquets, and choral dances, and laughter, And revels, the games of green youth. And others in turn rejoice in wives and sons,

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τῆς κακίης, 1357 Θυμὸν ἐρευγομένη, γυμνὸν κακὸν, ὅς τε μάλιστα Λάβρος ἐπιζείων, ἐκ νοὸς ἄνδρα φέρει, Ἣ δολερὸν κεύθουσα ἐνὶ στήθεσσι νόημα, Λεῖα δ' ἄρ' ἐξ ἁπαλοῦ φθεγγομένη στόματος. Εἴθε δὲ ἦν τι θύρετρον ἐπ' ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἐμοῖσιν, Οὔασί τ' οὐκ ἀγαθῶς πάντοσε πεπταμένοις, Ὡς τὸ μὲν ἐσθλὸν ὁρᾷν τε καὶ εἰσαΐοντα δέχεσθαι, Κλείεσθαι δὲ κακοῖς ἀμφότερ' αὐτομάτως. Χειρῶν τ' ἔργον ἄριστον ἐς οὐρανὸν αἰὲν ἀείρειν Ἁγνὰς, καὶ παρέχειν οὐρανίοισι νόμοις. Ὣς δὲ ποδῶν ἰέναι λείην ὁδὸν, οὐκ ἐπ' ἀκάνθας, Οὐδὲ κατὰ σκοπέλων, καὶ τρίβον οὐχ ὁσίην. Νῦν δὲ Θεὸς μὲν ἔδωκεν ἅπαν μέλος ἐσθλὸν ἐπ' ἐσθλοῖς, Εὕρατο δ' ἡ κακίη ὅπλον ἐμοὶ θανάτου. 1358 Τίς νόμος οὗτος ἐμοί; πῶς δέσμιός εἰμ' ἐπὶ γαίης Σαρκός; πῶς δ' ἐλαφρῷ πνεύματι σῶμα μίγη, Οὔθ' ὅλος εἰμὶ νόος, καθαρὴ φύσις, οὔτε χερείων Χοῦς ὅλος, ἐκ δ' ἀμφοῖν ἄλλο τι κἀμφότερον. Τοὔνεκα καὶ πολέμοιο φέρω κλόνον αἰὲν ἄπαυστον, Σαρκὸς καὶ ψυχῆς ἀντικαθεζομένων. Εἰκών εἰμι Θεοῖο, καὶ ἕλκομαι ἐς κακότητα, Κρείσσονι μαρναμένου χείρονος οὐχ ὁσίως· Ἢ φεύγω κακότητα, καὶ ἵσταμαι, οὐκ ἀμογητὶ, Πολλὰ διαθλήσας χειρὶ σὺν οὐρανίῃ. Ἔστι γὰρ, ἔστιν ἐμοὶ διπλοῦς νόμος· ὧν ὁ μὲν ἐσθλὸς, Ἑσπόμενός τε καλῷ· αὐτὰρ ὁ χειρότερος, Ἑσπόμενός τε κακοῖσιν· ὁ μὲν νόος ἐστὶν ἕτοιμος Πείθεσθαι Χριστῷ, πρὸς φάος ἐρχόμενος· 1359 Ἄλλος δ' αὖ σαρκός τε καὶ αἵματος, ἔστι δὲ πρόφρωνν ∆έχνυσθαι Βελίαν, πρὸς ζόφον ἑλκόμενος. Ἤτοι ὁ μὲν χθονίοισιν ἰαίνεται, ὥσπερ ἐπ' ἐσθλοῖς, Τοῖς οὐχ ἱσταμένοις, ἀλλὰ παριπταμένοις. Καὶ φιλέει κώμους τε καὶ ἔχθεα, καὶ κόρον αἰνὸν, Ἔργων τε σκοτίων αἴσχεα, κερδοσύνας. Εὐρείην δ' ὁδὸν εἶσιν, ἑῷ δ' ἐπιτέρπετ' ὀλέθρῳ, Ἀφροσύνης δνοφερὴν ἀχλὺν ἐφεσσάμενος. Αὐτὰρ ὅγ' οὐρανίοισιν ἀγάλλεται, ὡς παρεοῦσι Τοῖς ἐλπιζομένοις, καὶ Θεὸν οἶον ἔχει Ἐλπωρὴν βιότοιο· τὰ δ' ἐνθάδε καπνὸν ἄτιμον, Ἄλλοθ' ὑπ' ἀλλοίῃ κείμενα συντυχίῃ. Καὶ φιλέει πενίην τε καὶ ἄχθεα, καὶ μελεδῶνας Ἐσθλὰς, καὶ στεινὴν εἶσιν ὁδὸν βιότου. Μαρναμένοισι δὲ τοῖσιν ἐπίσκοπον ἦλθεν ἄνωθεν 1360 Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ μεγάλου, καὶ νοῒ δῶκε χέρα, Σώματος ἀργαλέοιο λύον κλόνον, ἠδὲ κελαινῶν Εὐνάζον παθέων οἶδμ' ἐπανιστάμενον. Ἡ δὲ καὶ ὣς λυσσῆεν ἔχει μένος, οὐδ' ἀπολήγει Σὰρξ πολέμου, κλίνει δ' ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα μάχη. Ἄλλοτε μέν τε νόῳ χοῦς δάμναται· ἄλλοτε δ' αὖτε Σαρκὶ νοὸς κρατερῇ ἕσπεται οὐκ ἐθέλων. Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ποθέει, τό γε βέλτερον· ὃ στυγέει δὲ, Ἕρδων, δουλοσύνην μύρεται ἀργαλέην, Πατρός τ' ἀρχεγόνοιο πλάνην, καὶ μητρὸς ἀλιτρὴν Πάρφασιν, ἡμετέρης μητέρα μαργοσύνης, Καὶ σκολιοῖο δράκοντος ἀτάσθαλον αἱμοβόροιο Ψεῦδος, ὃς ἀνθρώπων τέρπεται ἀμπλακίαις, Καὶ ξύλον, ἠδὲ φυτοῖο βροτῶν δηλήμονα καρπὸν, Γεῦσίν τ' οὐλομένην, καὶ θανάτοιο πύλας, 1361 Γύμνωσιν μελέων τε παναίσχεα, καὶ παραδείσου Ἠδὲ φυτοῦ ζωῆς ῥίψιν ἀτιμοτάτην. Ταῦτα νόος κάμνων ὀλοφύρεται. Ἡ δέ νύ μοι σὰρξ ∆έρκεται ἐς προγόνους, καὶ φυτὸν ἀνδροφόνον, Πᾶσάν τε γλυκερὴν ἀσπάζεται αἰὲν ἐδωδὴν, Ἣν ὀλοὸς σαίνων δείκνυσι πικρὸς ὄφις. Ἦ μὲν καὶ γοάω, καὶ εὐχωλῇσιν ἄνακτα, Ὃς πάντων κρατέει, καὶ ζυγὰ πᾶσι φέρει, Λίσσομ' ὑπὲρ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, ἀμφοτέροισιν Εὐμενέως δικάσαι, καὶ πόλεμον σκεδάσαι, Κρείσσονι, ᾗ θέμις ἐστὶν, ὑποκλίναντα χέρειον· Τοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ ὀλίγῳ λώϊον ἀμφοτέροις· Μὴ χοῒ βριθομένην ψυχὴν ἐπὶ γαῖαν ὁδεύειν, Ὥστε μολυβδαίνην ἐς βυθὸν ἑλκομένην, 1362 Πνεύματι δὲ πτερόεντι καὶ εἰκόνι χοῦν ὑποεῖξαι, Ὡς κηροῖο πυρὶ τηκομένης κακίης. Τοιάδε λισσόμενος καὶ φάρμακα σαρκὶ παχείῃ Πολλὰ φέρω, χαλεπὴν νοῦσον ἄφαρ σκεδάω. Καὶ μένος, οἷά τε θηρὸς ἀπιστοτάτοιο, κραταιοῖς ∆εσμοῖσιν κατέχω, οἶδμα κακὸν τρομέων. Γαστέρι κλεῖθρα τίθημι, δυσαλθέϊ θυμὸν ἀνίῃ ∆άπτω, καὶ δακρύων ἐκπροχέω λιβάδας. Κάμπτω γούνατ' Ἄνακτι τετρυμμένα, νύκτας ἀΰπνους Ἕλκω, καὶ ῥυπόω πένθιμον ἔσθος ἔχων. Ἄλλων εἰλαπίναι τε, χοροστασίαι τε, γέλως τε, Καὶ κῶμοι, χλοερῆς παίγνιά θ' ἡλικίης. Ἄλλοι δ' αὖτ' ἀλόχοις τε καὶ υἱέεσσι γάνυνται,