CLAUDIANUS

ON

THE MAGNET.

An ornate woodcut decorative initial letter 'Q' features a dense pattern of intertwined floral motifs and scrolling foliage within a square border.

Whoever, having followed the world with anxious reason,
Searches into the seeds of things, why the Moon labors
In eclipse, what cause bids the Sun grow pale,
Whence come the red comets with their deadly hair,
Whence flow the winds, what motion moves the trembling
Innards of the earth, what origin leads the lightning,
Whence the clouds thunder, and with what light the rainbow blooms:
If my mind has any strength to grasp the truth,
May it explain this to me as I search. There is a stone called the MAGNET,
Discolored, obscure, common: it does not adorn the combed
Hair of Kings, nor the white neck of a maiden,
Nor does it shine with any remarkable biting referring to the setting of precious gems beauty:
But if you look at the new miracles of the black rock,
Then it surpasses beautiful finery, and whatever the Indian
Searches for in the red seaweed on Eastern shores.
It earned its life from iron, and it feeds on the rigidity
Of iron: these are its sweet feasts, these it knows as food.
Hence it renews its own strengths: hence spread through its limbs