
Amour de soymesme.
LXXI.
Pourquoy te plaisoit tant, ô Narcisse, ta forme,
Puis qu’en fleur tout soudain il faut qu’on te transforme?[1]
Souvent l’amour de soy les gents doctes transporte,
Nul bien il ne leur fait, ains blasme il leur apporte:
Link to an image of this page [P3r p229]
Car au lieu d’insister en la methode ancienne,
Chacun embrasse & suit la fantasie sienne.
Commentaires.
Nous sommes appris par cest embleme, que l’a-
mour de soymesme est tresdangereux. Ceste philautie
nous rend enflés, envieux, audacieux, faineants, &
nous entretient en nostre ignorance. Celuy qui se louë
soymesme, n’est pas bien veu de ses voisins. Ce vice
sied mal en un chacun, mais principalement aux
nourrissons des Muses.
1. For the story of Narcissus, see Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3.344ff. On the flower, see Pliny, Natural History, 21.75.128: “there are two kinds of narcissus... The leafy one ... makes the head thick and is called narcissus from narce (‘numbness’), not from the boy in the story.” (cf. ‘narcotic’).
Related Emblems
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- arm held downwards [31A2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown (+ men's clothes) [41D211(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gear for legs and feet (+ men's clothes) [41D233(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of birds [25F31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of plants (herbs) [25G13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of trees [25G11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head bent forward; bowing [31A244] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking downwards [31B6212] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Narcissus, gazing in a fountain, falls in love with his own reflection; possibly the nymph Echo peeps at the scene [95A(NARCISSUS)21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- spring, source of river or stream [25H211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees (+ stem, trunk) [25G3(+21)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- youth, adolescent [31D12] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Fantasy, Caprice; 'Capriccio' (Ripa) [52A44] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52AA51(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Narcissism (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56F241(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- scholar, philosopher [49C30] Search | Browse Iconclass
Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.