(See Book 1l., Prose iii. p.32)

BOETHIUS'S first wife was Elpis, daughter of Festus. The following epitaph has been handed down as that of Elpis, and has been said by some to have been written by Boethius himself: --

Hope [76] was my name, and Sicily my home,

Where I was nursed, until I came from thence

An exile for the love I bore my lord:

Apart from him my time was full of tears,

Heavy the day, laden with care the night,

(But with him all was joy and peace and love) [77]

And now, my pilgrim's journey o'er, I rest

Within this sacred place, and witness bear

Before the throne of the Eternal Judge on high.

---

Footnotes:

[76] Elpis is a Greek word meaning hope

[77] This line is lost from the original Latin.