TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS

LORD, LORD

SIGISMUND

COUNT VON DÖNHOFF

SON OF THE PALATINE OF SIERADZ,

POLISH KNIGHT,

A square decorative woodcut initial 'E' featuring a central flower blossom surrounded by scrolling foliage and vines.

Many reasons have stirred me, Most Illustrious
Count, ever since the time when
you heard me lecturing on the Faculty of Oratory original: "Oratoria Facultate," referring to the art of rhetoric and public speaking which Balde taught at the University of Ingolstadt.
at Ingolstadt, to dedicate this
present Poem to your Name. I will offer nothing
merely to please the ears original: "Nihil auribus dabo." Balde implies he will speak the truth rather than using empty flattery.. Your spirited Virtue, nourished
by the lineage of the highest blood, and the courtesy
and weight of your character in the first vigor of your youth,
moved me most of all. Indeed, Virtue, which is
subject to no stings of Fate, nor to be restrained by the
passing moments of time, has ripened the tender
years of your youth. You have attained the
glory of manly Wisdom original: "virilis Prudentiæ," referring to practical wisdom and sound judgment., not by the measure of your life, but by its
use. You were great before Nature gave your body its
full, marked, and described size. This happened
not by any lack on Nature's part, but by an
increase that marveled at the pleasure of its own haste;
and by the prerogative of the Mind itself, raising
itself more swiftly above the Vanity of passing things.
These are things which I point out with my hand, but which
you trample with your feet. You have deemed nothing worthy
of a serious look among those things which the ignoble
common people gaze upon, though they are fluid and
perishing. Surely other seeds have been scattered in
Noble Minds. Other qualities the Guardian Spirit original: "Genius," the protective spirit or inherent nature of a family. of your
Most Illustrious Family has impressed upon its
SIGISMUND, with a happy ease, fertile in every
glory of honor. These qualities are like the flowers
we see when their buds original: "calyculis," the outer part of a flower bud. are slightly loosened,