Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy (12th c., Lombard script)

If anyone, ignorant of the path by which the stars are turned in the high vault of heaven, does not know why the neighbors of the Bear’s chariot [the stars near the North Pole] move in their tracks, he is amazed that the moon with its full horn is opposite the flames [of the sun], and why the moon, smaller than the stars, becomes pale as it enters the sun’s rays, fearing it may lose its light the closer it draws to Phoebus. The bristling nations of the night are amazed when it is eclipsed; and when Phoebus, pale at his rising, brings back the darkness, the agility of the night divides the hours.

For so long as the spirit of the North wind [Boreas] tempers the year, the mild spirit of Phoebus [the Sun]—which he saw earlier—does not scorch the high crops; nor does the summer heat burn them, provided that each is permitted to perform its work as it was placed.

What is done under human affairs, where the pain of the wicked is moved—nothing [of this] honors him [the wicked] here, nor does it aid the slippery [unstable] cases of justice. Fame carries the due and harmful penalty for the crime. But when he [the judge/divine] dies in the high vault, he rules over the trodden pole, and the guilty ones with their dark lives are turned away from the light.

[The wicked] hide the light with darkness, so that the things of the night seem to flourish. Applause in a void, empty of color, writes shadows upon the people. When the fear of the people is present, the blush of shame flees; oh, now again look upon the nature of things! How the one who is bound in [worldly] goods is not blessed, the one who is laden with empty bread, and whose fame is consumed by hunger! It is more beautiful to prefer the joys of the mind; and…

Here, where you are with quiet sorrow, the misery of your condition having been moved, you seek to recount your troubles; you, who once knew the causes of things, now you do not know them. You have been bitten by the tooth of fortune, and you, who once were accustomed to track the paths of heaven, now you are cast down...