And, to go farther back still, a certain Theodulus, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Zeno (474-91) wrote a poem of nine hundred lines on Bernard’s own theme, De Contemptu Mundi, in the same metre:
“Pauper amabalis et venerabilis est benedictus
Dives inutilis insatiabilis, est maledictus.
Qui bona negligit et mala diligit intrat abyssum;
Nulla pecunia, nulla potentia liberat ipsum.”
A glance will show the nature of this trouble which the patient Bernard encountered. Take the two lines:
“Hora novíssima, tempora péssima sunt, vigilémus!
Ecce minaciter, imminet árbiter, ille suprémus.”
That is:
“These are the látter times,