Praise of a letter as rational spring and music

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Procopius opens his letter by thanking the recipient for a letter that has delighted him, and he will go on to defend his enthusiastic praise and ask the recipient not to stay silent.

You have done well indeed with your wonderful letter. It has brought us a rational spring, and in place of swallows it sounds something very musical. I am as one transported by pleasure, admiring everything: the wording, the thought, the harmony, the writer. And I suddenly think I am a Lydian, imitating the Lydians, who, devoted to Dionysus, observed spring only when Dionysus happened to be present among them. But perhaps you will laugh at this, since sophistry plainly blooms in it, and perhaps you will call me a sophist as a reproach. Yet I am not able not to admire beautiful things; even if you keep silence, my good friend, we speak the opposite. But do not, while I seek, give me the task of representing in writing the grief that comes from silence.

Greek

Epistula (e cod. Barocc. gr. 131) Εὖ γέ σοι τῆς θαυμασίας ἐπιστολῆς· ὡς ἔαρος ἡμῖν προσέβαλε λογικοῦ, καὶ μουσικόν τι λίαν ἀντὶ τῶν χελιδόνων ἠχεῖ. ὡς ἔνθους εἰμί τις ὑφ' ἡδονῆς, πάντα θαυμάζων, τὴν λέξιν, τὸν νοῦν, τὴν ἁρμονίαν, τὸν γράψαντα. καί μοι δοκῶ Λυδὸς ἐξαίφνης εἶναι, τὰ Λυδῶν μιμησάμενος, οἳ τῷ ∆ιονύσῳ προσκείμενοι μόνον ἔαρ ἦγον ἡνίκα δὴ καὶ τύχοι παρ' αὐτοῖς ὁ ∆ιόνυσος. ἀλλὰ μὲν ἴσως ταῦτα γελάσεις, ὡς αὐτόχρημα τὸ σοφιστικὸν ἐπανθεῖ αὐτοῖς, καί με τυχὸν ὡς ἐν ὀνείδει καλέσειας σοφιστήν· ἐγὼ δὲ τὰ καλὰ μὴ θαυμάζειν οὐκ ἔχω, κἂν σιωπήσῃς, ὦ λῷστε, τἀναντία φθεγγόμεθα· ἀλλὰ μή μοι διδόναι πρᾶγμα ζητοῦντι τὴν ἐκ τῆς σιωπῆς λύπην παραστῆσαι τοῖς γράμμασιν.

About this text

A short thank-you letter from Procopius of Gaza praising a friend's letter as a spring of words and asking him not to fall silent.

Procopius of Gaza wrote this letter. He was a Christian rhetorician associated with the School of Gaza, and a collection of his letters survives, addressed to friends, persons of rank, and literary opponents.

The letter responds to an unnamed correspondent whose letter delighted Procopius. He writes to thank the sender and to urge that person not to leave him in silence.

Procopius praises the letter as bringing a rational spring and a musical sound in place of swallows. He admires its wording, thought, harmony, and author, and compares himself to the Lydians, who observed spring only when Dionysus happened to be present. Anticipating that the recipient may laugh and call him a sophist, he insists he cannot help admiring what is beautiful and asks not to be made to represent in writing the grief that comes from silence.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 87 (Greek)

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