only I see thee, this penalty is my joy. But be thou mindful, for
thy vows do I yearn; I have thee in my heart, have me in thy
heart too.

This is more tender in feeling than any poem by Catullus or Tibullus.
We can only explain it by two facts--the deepening of the inner life
through Christianity (we almost hear Christ's words about the 'great
sinner'), and the intimate friendship which Fortunatus enjoyed with a
German lady, who may justly be called the noblest and purest figure
of her time in Franconia.

This was Radegunde, the unhappy daughter of a Thuringian king, who
first saw her father's kingdom lost, and then, fleeing from the
cruelty of her husband, the bloodstained Chlotaire, took the veil in
Poitiers and founded a convent, of which she made Agnes, a noble
Franconian lady, the abbess. When Fortunatus visited the place, these
ladies became his devoted friends, and he remained there as a priest
until the death of Radegunde. His poems to them, which were often
letters and notes written off-hand, are full of affection and
gratitude (he was, by the way, a gourmet, and the ladies made
allowance for this weakness in dainty gifts), and form an enduring
witness of a pure and most touching friendship. They contain many
pretty sketches of Nature and delicate offerings of flowers. In one
he said: 'If the season brought white lilies or blossomed in red
roses, I would send them to you, but now you must be content with
purple violets for a greeting'; and in another, because gold and
purple are not allowable, he sends her flowers, that she may have
'her gold in crocuses, her purple in violets, and they may adorn her
hair with even greater delight than she draws from their fragrance.'
Once, when following pious custom, she had withdrawn into her cell,