Sonnet XII: That Learned Father


To the Soul

That learned Father, who so firmly proves
The Soul of man immortal and divine,
And doth the several offices define:
Anima – Gives her that name, as she the Body moves;
Amor – Then is she Love, embracing charity;
Animus – Moving a Will in us, it is the Mind
Mens – Retaining knowledge, still the same in kind;
Memoria – As intellectual, it is Memory;
Ratio – In judging, Reason only is her name;
Sensus – In speedy apprehension, it is Sense;
Conscientia – In right or wrong, they call her Conscience;
Spiritus – The Spirit, when it to Godward doth inflame.
These of the Soul the several functions be,
Which my Heart, lighten’d by thy love, doth see.


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Sonnet XII: That Learned Father