"Think, while there's time, again and yet again."[21]
S. Augustine. And I likewise from the lips of Terence will give you my reply—
"What in itself contains no rule or reason,
By rule or reason you can never hold."[22]
Petrarch. What is to be done, then? Am I to despair?
S. Augustine. That is the last thing in the world to do. However, let me briefly tell you the remedy I propose. You know that on this subject there are not only special treatises compiled by philosophers of eminence, but that some of the most famous poets have written on it whole books.
It would be almost an insult to point out which they are, above all, to you who are a past-master in the whole field, or to offer any advice as to reading them; but perhaps I might say a word without offence to suggest in what way their study might be applied for your own welfare.
First, then, notice what is said by Cicero—
"Some think that an old love can best be driven out by
a new, as one nail is by another."[23]
And Ovid agrees, giving this general rule—
"Old love affairs must always yield to new."[24]