The Letters of Marsilio Ficino

BOOK IX

...your letters are delivered to us, their incredible sweetness cannot soften all the harshness and indignation of our soul. For since you hold the spear of Achilles In Greek mythology, the spear of Achilles could both wound and heal the king Telephus. Ficino uses this to mean Lorenzo's writing has the same dual power. in your hands, know that your slowness in writing is the point that wounds; but your letters can heal the wound inflicted such that they take away and erase not just the wound itself but every trace of a scar. Farewell, from Pisa.

On Matters of Love: How each person is to be loved and how they should be praised.

Marsilio Ficino to the Magnanimous Lorenzo de' Medici, sends greetings.

qThat you love me, Lorenzo, I have known for a long time by many very clear proofs. That you love original: "ames"; Ficino distinguishes between "diligere" (to esteem/value) and "amare" (to love passionately). me has recently been shown by this one thing above all: that like a jealous lover, you grow slightly angry over the slightest and most false little offenses. Be angry as you please; be angry like a jealous lover; as long as you meanwhile grow warm with love. The fire of anger and of love is similar. For I, when I am slightly angry with you—which I often do—am then burning most of all with the fire of love. You also burn no small amount; I know what I am talking about. But if we ever seem to grow lukewarm, then even this lukewarmness of ours burns more fervently than the heat of others, and our hatred—by Jove!—is more loving and lovable than the love of others. Behold now, my Lorenzo, this anger of yours seems gentler to me than the mildness of others; this bite of yours is sweeter than a kiss. Oh, how sweetly you bite! How sharply you kiss! You mix a wonderful sweetness with bitterness, and bitterness with sweetness, as nature is accustomed to do in the most pleasant flavors. And as often as your bitterness turns more sour, it gives off a scent sweeter than sweetness itself, like Malmsey vinegar acetum maluaticum: A high-quality aromatic vinegar made from Malvasia wine. But what do you accuse me of, you sharp accuser, you most sharp lover? Brevity? But you are the cause. For that I am brief is due to your business. That I seem very brief to you is caused by the magnitude of your love toward me. You accuse me of silence, suspecting it comes from forgetfulness, and forgetfulness from absence. You ought to remember that Marsilio is not absent from there if Lorenzo is not absent, in whom Marsilio dwells. If the soul is everywhere at the same time? Which you yourself confirmed in your letter the other day. What then does Saint Christopher Ficino is punning on the name of their mutual friend, the scholar Cristoforo Landino hinder me from seeing you? Especially since he is "diaphanous" and transparent; and in Christopher himself I see Lorenzo, since through Lorenzo himself I seem to see and embrace Christopher. Finally, do you want me to tell the truth? It is not the opposition of Christopher that causes an eclipse through which I might go blind or fall silent. On the contrary, you compel me to grow dark, to be stunned, and to fall completely silent by your flashing and your thunder. Wicked youth! Ah, you rejoice too much in a victory, however honorable it may be. What more is left for you or for the rest? For you, indeed, it is to conquer yourself. For the others, it is to suffer being conquered with a calm mind. I certainly—to speak of myself first—rejoice in being surpassed by you almost as much as you yourself rejoice in surpassing me and the others. But what shall I say of the others? The morning sun gathers the mists. The midday sun scatters them. Youthful virtue excites envy; mature virtue calms it. He finally tames spite who has first conquered all opinion. You have now turned almost all envy into admiration. Many praise you openly who until now were envious. But although almost no one lies when praising Lorenzo, nevertheless to no one except the Platonists...