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Sed, ne omiserim, non omnis oculis prestanda licentia est. Eis enim spectantibus, splendores cognoscimus, invidiam introducimus, concupiscentias attrahimus omnes; eis agentibus, excitatur avaritia, laudatur formositas, damnatur squalor et paupertas indigne; et cum indocti sint iudices et superficiebus rerum tantummodo credant, sacris ignominiosa, ficta veris et anxia letts persepe preficiunt; et dum abicienda commendant et brevi blandientia tractu, inficiunt nonnunquam animos turpissima labe. Hi nescii a formositate, etiam inhonesta, a lascivis gesticulationibus, a petulantia iuvenili mordacibus uncis capiuntur trahuntur rapiuntur tenenturque; et, cum pectoris ianua sint, per eos menti nuntios mictit libido, per eos cupido inflat suspiria et cecos incendit ignes, per eos emictit cor gemitus et affectus suos ostendit illecebres.

I should not omit this observation: we must not give too much freedom to our eyes. Their wandering gaze dazzles us, makes us envious, and excites us to concupiscence. And it is by means of the eyes that avarice is aroused; beauty praised; squalor and poverty unworthily condemned. Since, however, the eyes are unlearned judges and trust only the outward appearance of things, they often prefer the shameful to the sacred, the false to the truth, and troubles to blessings. When the eyes praise things that should be condemned and whose pleasure is fleeting, they sometimes stain the soul in a shameful way. The eyes are unwittingly captivated, attracted, seized, and held fast in the sharp hooks of beauty (especially dishonorable beauty), of lascivious gestures, of youthful wantonness. The eyes are the gateway of the spirit: through them lust sends messages to the mind; through them love sighs and lights hidden fires; through them the heart sends out its groans and reveals its seductive intentions.

English translation by Virginia Brown.

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from De Mulieribus Claris .​.​. Giovanni Boccaccio (2020), released November 15, 2020

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Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

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