Campion: Elegies

Ver anni lunaeque fuit: pars verna diei;
    verque erat aetatis dulce, Sybilla, tuae.
carpentem vernos niveo te pollice flores
     ut vidi, dixi, "tu dea veris eris."
et vocalis "eris" blanditaque reddidit Eccho;

It was the spring of the year and of the moon; the vernal part of the day;
    and spring too was the sweet season of your age, Sybilla.
as I saw you plucking vernal flowers with a snow-white thumb
     I said, "you will be the goddess of spring."
and vocal "you will be" flattering Echo returned;

5
     allusit votis mimica nympha meis.
vixdum nata mihi simulat suspiria, formam
     quae dum specto tuam plurima cudit Amor.
si taceo, tacet illa; tacentem spiritus urit:
     si loquor, offendor garrulitate deae.

5
     the mimic nymph dallied with my vows.
scarcely yet born, she simulates my sighs for me; the form
     which, while I gaze upon your form, Love mints in very many.
if I am silent, she is silent; my spirit, being silent, burns:
     if I speak, I am offended by the goddess’s garrulity.

10
veris amica Venus fetas quoque sanguine venas
     incendit flammis insidiosa suis.
nec minus hac immitis Amor sua spicula nostro
     pectore crudeli fixit acuta manu.
"heu miser," exclamo, "causa non laedor ab una;"

10
spring-friendly Venus too the veins teeming with blood
     inflames with her own flames, insidious.
nor less than this has pitiless Amor his little-darts
     fixed in our breast with a sharp hand.
"alas, wretch that I am," I exclaim, "I am not wounded by a single cause;"

15
     "una," Eccho resonat; "quam, rogo, diva, refers?
anne Sybillam?" "illam," respondit: sentio vatem
     mox ego veridicam fatidicamque nimis:
nam perii, et verno quae coepit tempore flamma,
     iam mihi non ullo frigore ponet hyems.

15
     "one," Echo resounds; "which one, I ask, goddess, do you mean?
     or the Sibyl?" "that one," she replied: I perceive the prophetess
     soon veridical and too fatidic:
     for I am undone, and the flame which began in the springtime
     now for me winter will not with any cold lay it down.

II.

Cum speciosa mihi mellitaque verba dedisti,
     despectisque aliis primus et unus eram:
mene tuos posuisse sinu refovente calores
     vana putas? an sic foemina nota mihi?
errabas. fateor, veros non sensimus ignes,

When you gave to me specious and honeyed words,
    and with the others despised, I was first and only:
do you think it vain that I have laid your heats in a rewarming bosom,
    or is a woman thus known to me?
you were in error. I confess, we did not feel true fires,

5
     nec mihi mutandus tam cito crescit amor.
nos elephantinos nutrimus pectore foetus,
     qui bene robusti secula multa vident,
dum tua diversis varie mens rapta procellis
     nescit in assueto littore stare diu;

5
     nor does a love to be changed grow so quickly for me.
we nurture elephantine offspring in the breast,
     who, quite robust, live to see many ages,
while your mind, snatched variously by diverse storms,
     does not know how to stand long on the accustomed shore;

10
qui mihi te pactam vidit per foedera sacra,
     cum rediit, vidit foedera nulla dies.
Ottale, successor meus, haud invisa tenere
     per me regna potes, non diuturna tamen.
si promissa semel constaret semper amanti,

10
who saw you pledged to me by sacred covenants,
     when it returned, the day saw no covenants.
Ottale, my successor, you can hold the realms, not unwelcome, through me,
     yet not for long.
if what is promised once to a lover would always stand firm,

15
     non cuperet tua nunc esse, sed esse mea.
pacta prius nostris penitus complexibus haesit,
     illius illecebrans gratia nota mihi est;
nota sed ante aliis, mecum quos expulit omnes,
     teque eadem quae nos, Ottale, damna manent.

15
     she would not now desire to be yours, but to be mine.
once pledged, she clung deep to our embraces,
     her alluring grace is known to me;
known, but earlier, to others, whom, along with me, she expelled, all of them,
     and the same damages as for us, Ottalus, await you.

20
nec tibi proficiet quod sis formosus, habendi
     foemina non semper pendet ab ore viri.
carbones aliquae, vel si quid tetrius illis,
     deliciis spretis, saepe vorare solent,
vidi ego quae cinerem lingua glutiret avara,

20
nor will it profit you that you are handsome, to be had—
     a woman does not always depend on a man's face.
charcoals are some, or if anything more grim than those,
     with delights spurned, they often are wont to devour,
I myself have seen one who with a greedy tongue gulped down ash,

25
"iamque in amaritie quam mihi suavis!" ait.
multa suis mulier sentit contraria votis,
prendere quae nemo prae levitate potest.
Ottale, nullus eris si tu sincerus amator.

25
"and now in bitterness, how sweet to me!" she says.
many things a woman feels contrary to her own wishes,
whom no one can grasp on account of her levity.
Ottale, you will be nothing if you are a sincere lover.

ni malus et fallax, Ottale, nullus eris.

unless evil and deceitful, Ottale, you will be nothing.

30
nam quis eam teneat, cuius levis ante recurrit
sidere quam firmo pectore possit amor?

30
for who could hold her, whose fickleness returns with the star before
love can take hold in a firm breast?

III. (1619 only)

3. (1619 only)

Ni bene cognosses, melius me nemo meorum,
     hoc condonassem nunc ego, Calve, tibi.
nec mihi dum constat satis hoc quo nomine signem;
     erroremne tuum, stultitiamne vocem.
irascor veteri, quod me magis urit, amico;

If you had not known me well—no one of my own knows me better—
     I would now have condoned this to you, Calvus.
nor is it yet sufficiently settled for me by what name I should sign this;
     whether I should call it your error, or call it stupidity.
I grow irate with an old friend—which burns me the more;

5
     nec nos vulgari foedere iunxit amor.
ira loqui cogit quam vellem durius in te;
     es nimis incautus; nec tibi, Calve, sapis;
formosam qui cum dominam sine teste teneres,
     raro qua, fateor, pulchrior esse solet;

5
     nor did love unite us by a vulgar federal bond.
anger compels me to speak more harshly against you than I would wish;
     you are too incautious; nor are you, Calve, wise for yourself;
you who, when you were holding your beautiful mistress without a witness,
     rarely, I confess, is there one more beautiful;

10
quaeque tuis multo tibi charior esset ocellis,
pro qua vovisses forsan, amice, mori:
hanc mihi, quemque adeo nosti, tu credere bardus
ut velles? talem siccine, crude, mihi?
quid facerem?

10
and she who would be by much dearer to you than your little eyes,
for whom you would perhaps have vowed, friend, to die:
her to me—me, whom you know so well—were you, so dull, willing to entrust
thus? such a one in this way, you cruel man, to me?
what was I to do?

quis vel potuit minus? illico captus

who even could have done less? immediately captured

15
     ostendo ingenium, nec bene sanus amo.
muneribus tento, cunctaque Cupidinis arte,
     qua non est, et scis, notior ulla mihi.
vici, et iam (testis mihi sit chorus omnis Amorum)
     osculor invitus, quod tua sola foret.

15
     I display my ingenuity, and I love not quite sane.
I try with gifts, and with every art of Cupid,
     than which, and you know it, none is better known to me.
I have conquered, and now (let the whole chorus of Cupids be my witness)
     I kiss, unwilling, what would be yours alone.

20
ista voluptatem mihi scrupulus abstulit omnem,
et summe iratus tunc tibi, Calve, fui,
quod tua culpa minus fidum te fecit amico;
qua nisi te purges, non cadet ira mihi.

20
that scruple removed all pleasure from me,
and I was supremely irate then at you, Calve,
because your fault made you less faithful to your friend;
unless you purge yourself of this, my ire will not fall.

IV.

Ille miser facilis cui nemo invidit amores
     felle metuque nimis qui sine tutus amat;
noctes atque dies cui prona inservit amica,
     officiis, regno, et nomine pulsa suis.
nam quis te dominam post tot servilia dicet?

That miserable, facile one, whose loves no one has envied,
    who, without bile and fear, loves all too safely;
to whom a prone girlfriend serves nights and days,
    driven from her own offices, dominion, and name.
for who will call you mistress after so many servilities?

5
     ora quis ignavae victa stupebit iners?
imperet, et iubeat quae se constanter amari
     expetit; utcunque est, obsequium omne nocet.
qua (bene quod sperabat) amantes reppulit arte
     Penelope, docta scilicet usa mora,

5
     What sluggard will gape at the vanquished pleadings of a lazy girl?
Let her command, and let her order, she who seeks to be loved constantly;
     however it be, all obsequiousness harms.
By this art (with the good outcome she hoped for) Penelope repelled her lovers,
     clearly learned, employing delay,

10
hac magis incendit, cupidosque potentius ussit;
     deceptamque sua risit ab arte Deus.
nec minus ipsa dolos persensit callida, vinci
     fraude sua voluit, dissimulare tamen:
discite, formosae, non indulgere beatis,

10
by this she inflamed more, and more powerfully singed the desirous;
     and God laughed that she was deceived by her own art.
nor the less did she herself, cunning, perceive the deceits, to be conquered
     by her own fraud she wished, yet to dissemble:
learn, beautiful ones, not to indulge the fortunate,

15
     fletibus assuescat siquis amare velit.
nec tristes lachrimae, cita nec suspiria desint,
     audiat et dominae dicta superba tremens:
sit tamen irarum modus, haud illaeta labore
     nox fessum reparet, pacificusque torus;

15
     let him grow accustomed to tears, if anyone wishes to love.
nec tristes lachrimae, cita nec suspiria desint,
     and let him, trembling, hear the mistress’s proud words:
sit tamen irarum modus, haud illaeta labore
     let night restore the weary one, and a peaceful couch;

20
quaeque minas misero iactarunt pulchra labella
     mordeat, et victor pectora dura premat;
tum leviter niveis incumbens ore mamillis
     sanguineam exugat dente labroque notam:
sic velut acer eques per pascua laeta triumphet,

20
and the fair little lips which hurled threats at the poor wretch
     let him bite, and as victor let him press the unyielding bosom;
then, leaning lightly with his mouth upon the snow-white little breasts,
     let him suck out the blood-red mark with tooth and lip:
so, like a keen horseman, let him triumph through the glad pastures,

25
     femina iam partes sola ferentis agat.
sed simul orta dies perverterit otia noctis,
     cum veste antiquos induat illa animos:
iamque assurgenti speculumque togamque ministret,
     praestet aquam manibus, calceolumque pedi.

25
     let the woman now alone play the part of the bearer.
but as soon as the risen day overturns the leisure of night,
     when with her dress she puts on her former spirits:
and now to the one rising let her hand the mirror and the toga,
     let her provide water for the hands, and the little shoe for the foot.

30
postilla assideat, fessus si forte videtur;
     sin minus, actutum proiiciendus erit.
custos regni amor est; dominantes servat amores
     saevitia, et nullo iure inhibente metus.
odi quod nimium possim, truculenta sit opto,

30
afterwards let her sit by, if perchance he seems weary;
     if not, he must be cast out immediately.
love is the guardian of the realm; savagery preserves loves that dominate,
     and fear, with no law inhibiting it.
I hate what I might be able to master too much; I desire her to be truculent,

35
     dum mea formosa est, dummodo grata mihi.
turbato quot apes furem sectantur ab alveo,
     tot mihi rivales displicuisse velim.
dulce nec invitam foret eripuisse puellam
     e medio iuvenum triste minante choro,

35
     so long as mine is beautiful, provided that she is pleasing to me.
as many bees as, when the hive is disturbed, pursue the thief,
     so many rivals would I wish to have displeased me.
nor would it be not-sweet to have snatched a girl not unwilling
     from the midst of a chorus of youths grimly threatening,

40
multorumque oculis pariter votisque placentem
     posse per amplexus applicuisse mihi.
Spartanae nomen tantum famamque secutus
     primus apud Graios ausus amare Paris;
quodque vir ille palam, timide petiere Pelasgi,

40
and one pleasing equally to the eyes and desires of many
     to have been able through embraces to draw close to me.
pursuing only the name and fame of the Spartan woman
     Paris, first among the Greeks, dared to love;
and what that man did openly, the Pelasgians sought timidly,

45
     crimine utrique pares, unus adulter erat.
quove animo Troiae portas subiisse putatis
     cum rapta insignem coniuge Priamidem?
aurato curru rex, et regina volentes
     accurrunt; fratres, ecce, vehuntur equis;

45
     in the crime both were equal; only one was an adulterer.
     with what spirit do you think the Priamid entered the gates of Troy
     with his rapt spouse? in a gilded chariot the king and queen, willing,
     run up; look, his brothers are borne on horses;

50
et populus circum, iuvenesque patresque, globantur,
     aemula spectatum multa puella venit.
unam omnes Helenam spectant, gratantur ovantes
     omnes uni Helenae; sed Paris ipse sibi.
illi vel fratres talem invidere, sed illi

50
and the people around, both youths and fathers, cluster together,
     a rival maiden comes to spectate much.
all spectate the one Helen, rejoicing they congratulate
     all the one Helen; but Paris himself to himself.
to that one even her brothers envied such a one, but to that one

55
     suave fuit, quod res invidiosa fuit.
o foelix cui per tantos nupsisse tumultus
     contigit, et dignum bello habuisse torum.
ut tam pulchra meis cadant quoque praemia coeptis,
     optarem pugnas et tua fata, Pari.

55
     it was sweet, that the matter was an envy-stirring one.
o happy he to whom it befell to have wed amid such great tumults
     and to have had a marriage-bed worthy of war.
that such fair prizes may also fall to my undertakings,
     I would opt for battles and your fates, Paris.

Prima suis, Fanni, formosis profuit aetas,
     solaque de facie rustica pugna fuit;
donec vis formae succrevit, viribus aurum,
     quo sine nunc vires, et bona forma iacet.
ergo sapis triplici nummos qui congeris arca:

The first age, Fannius, profited your beauties,
    and the only battle was over a rustic face;
until the force of form increased, with gold added to its forces,
    without which now both strength and good form lie low.
therefore you are wise, you who heap up coins in a triple coffer:

5
     semper quod dones, quodque supersit habes.
ultro te iuvenes, ultro petiere puellae,
     rivales de te diraque bella movent.
at non arenti color est tibi laetior arvo,
     labra sed incultis asperiora rubis.

5
     you always have something to give, and you have what is left over besides.
unasked, youths sought you; unasked, girls sought you,
     rivals set in motion dire wars over you.
but your color is not brighter than an arid field,
     but your lips are rougher than uncultivated brambles.

10
vel nulli, vel sunt atri rubigine dentes,
     iamque anima ipsa Stygem et busta senilis olet.
forsitan ingenium quod amabile ducis amantes;
     hei mihi, quod nimium hest haec quoque causa levis!
sit tamen ampla satis per se; tibi nulla fuisset,

10
or there are none, or your teeth are black with rust,
     and now the very breath smells of Styx and the funeral pyres of the aged.
perhaps you reckon that your talent, which is lovable, draws lovers;
     alas for me, that this too is an all too light cause!
yet let it be ample enough in itself; for you there would have been none,

15
qui nihilo plus quam magna crumena sapis.
ceu lepidus coleris tamen et formosus, Adoni,
nec fugit amplexus lauta puella tuos.
nonnullae accedunt quas tu, furiose, repellis;
pulsisque, ut par est, lacrima crebra cadit.

15
who are no wiser than a great purse.
yet you are courted as charming and fair, Adonis,
nor does the elegant girl flee your embraces.
some come near whom you, madman, drive away;
and, once they’re driven off, as is fitting, thick tears fall.

20
o foelix, si non odiosa podagra gravaret,
     nervus et effetus, membraque inepta senis,
si non ingratae Veneris funesta puellae
     supplicia afflictus pesque manusque daret!
te tamen haud ulli possunt arcere dolores

20
o happy one, if odious podagra did not weigh you down,
     the nerve effete, and the inept limbs of an old man,
if the deadly girl of ungrateful Venus did not, you afflicted,
     make both foot and hand give torments!
yet no dolors at all can restrain you

25
cum petit amplexus foemina cara tuos.
plurima possit amor; verum si olfecerit aurum
mulcebit barbam Mellia nostra tuam.

25
when a dear woman seeks your embraces.
love can accomplish very many things; but if she has caught the scent of gold
our Mellia will stroke your beard.

VI.

Caspia, tot poenas meruit patientia nostra?
culpa erat insistens primo in amore fides?
mene fugis quod iussa feram?

Caspia, has our patience deserved so many penalties?
was it a fault, the fidelity insisting on my first love?
do you flee me because I shall bear the orders?

quod fortis amator
non succumbo malis quae dare multa potes?
Troile, non illud nocuit tibi, Cressis acerbas

why is it that, as a brave lover,
I do not succumb to the evils which you can give in great number?
Troilus, that did not harm you, Cressid’s bitter

5
     eripuit tandem commiserata moras,
non illud solis in terris questa puella est
     dum rapit infidum mobilis aura virum,
saepe alios levitas, sed nos constantia laedit;
     supplicium pietas et benefacta timent.

5
     at last, commiserating, she snatched away the delays,
she is not the only girl on earth who has complained of that
     while the fickle breeze snatches away the faithless man,
often levity harms others, but constancy harms us;
     piety and benefactions fear punishment.

10
forsan erit miserorum aliquis gravis ultor amantum,
     cui longa poenas pro feritate dabis.
ah memini ignoto languentia membra dolore,
     et speciem ereptam pene fuisse tibi;
more meo lacrimans aderam, fidusque minister,

10
perhaps there will be some grave avenger of the wretched lovers,
     to whom you will pay long penalties for your ferocity.
ah, I remember limbs languishing with an unknown pain,
     and that your semblance had almost been snatched away from you;
according to my custom I was present, weeping, and a faithful minister,

15
     tum mihi facta malis lenior ipsa tuis;
protinus insensum tibi supplex invoco numen,
     et subita ex votis est revocata salus.
tanti erit in nostro semel ingemuisse furore,
     tanta erat in propriis pax aliena malis.

15
     then you yourself, made gentler to me by your misfortunes;
straightway, as a suppliant, I invoke for you the unfeeling numen,
     and sudden deliverance was called back by vows.
it will be worth so much to have groaned once in our fury,
     so great was an alien peace amid my own evils.

20
quid precibus valeam tua pectora ferrea norunt,
     et nossent melius, sed mea fata vetant.
multa tamen cupiam pro te discrimina inire,
     multa iube, dulcis nam labor omnis erit.
dulcis erit, sed erit labor; heu miserere laboris;

20
how far by prayers I may prevail upon your iron-hard heart you know,
     and would know it better, but my fates forbid.
yet I would desire to enter many perils for you,
     command many things; for every labor will be sweet.
sweet it will be, yet it will be labor; alas, pity the labor;

25
     noster ab hac nimium parte laborat amor.
saevitiam natura feris, sed moribus apta
     corpora, et arma manu, fronte, vel ore dedit;
humana includi formoso pectore corda
     iussit, in hac specie quaeritur unus amor.

25
     our love on this side labors too much.
savagery to wild beasts did nature give, but bodies suited to their manners,
     and arms in hand, brow, or mouth she gave;
she ordered that human hearts be enclosed in a beautiful breast,
     in this appearance one love is sought.

30
quo speciosa magis tanto tu mitior esses:
     me miserum! tanto saevior ira tua est.
ingentesque animos assumis conscia formae,
     virtutes novit foemina quaeque suas.
si lubet accedat reliquis clementia, palmam

30
the more beautiful, so much the gentler you would be:
     woe is me! by so much the fiercer is your wrath.
and, conscious of your form, you assume enormous spirits,
     each woman knows her own virtues.
if it pleases, let clemency be added to the rest, the palm

35
ut sine rivali me tribuente feras.
dotibus ingenii superas et corporis omnes,
hoc uno vinci nomine turpe puta.

35
so that, with me granting it, you may bear the palm without a rival.
by the endowments of intellect and of body you surpass all,
think it shameful to be conquered in this one name.

VII.

Tene ego desererem? mater velut anxia natum,
unanimem aut fratrem prodere chara soror?
delerem ex animo tam suaves immemor horas?

Would I desert you? as an anxious mother her son,
or would a dear sister betray her unanimous brother?
Should I, unmindful, erase from my mind such sweet hours?

delicias, lusus, basia docta, iocos?
desine iam teneros fletu corrumpere ocellos;

delights, pastimes, learned kisses, jests?
cease now to spoil your tender little eyes with weeping;

5
     ante calor flammis excidet, unda mari,
et prius a domina discendent sidera luna,
     quam te destituat, me violante, fides.
ista manus nobis aequalia foedera sanxit,
     quam tu nunc lachrimis suspiciosa lavas.

5
     sooner will heat fall away from flames, a wave from the sea,
and sooner will the stars depart from their mistress, the Moon,
     than faith leave you, with me the violator.
that hand of yours has sanctioned for us equal pacts,
     which you now, suspicious, wash with tears.

10
semper habes aliquid querelo sub corde timoris,
     foemineo multi sunt in amore metus.
saepe mihi Thesei memoras fugientia vela,
     utque erat indigno Dido cremata rogo.
neglectis quaecunque solent miserisque nocere,

10
you always have some querulous fear beneath your heart,
     there are many fears in feminine love.
you often remind me of Theseus’s fleeing sails,
     and how Dido was burned on an unworthy pyre.
whatever things are wont to harm the neglected and the wretched,

15
haec tua sed nondum pectora laesa dolent.
quid feci? mea tu, cum non sint, crimina ploras;
hocne fides?

15
but these your hearts, not yet wounded, ache.
what have I done? you bewail my crimes, though they are not;
is this faith?

mores hoc meruere mei?
forte licet miseras fiducia fallat amantes,
plus illa insanus possit obesse metus.

Have my morals deserved this?
perhaps, although confidence may deceive wretched lovers,
yet that mad fear may be able to do more harm.

20
lugubri exemplo Cephali sat fabula nota est,
ne nimium ex Procri sit tibi, nostra, cave.

20
the fable of Cephalus is enough known as a lugubrious example,
beware, my own, lest Procris be too much for you.

VIII.

Parce, puer Veneris, parce, imperiose Cupido,
     iam nimis intentas vertis in ora faces:
ah pudet, abiectus cecidi, miserere iacentis;
     quem modo laesisti, nunc tueare, timor.
"rusticus ille prior fuit, ingratusque puellae,

Spare me, boy of Venus, spare me, imperious Cupid,
     already you turn too-intent torches upon my face:
ah, I am ashamed; cast down, I have fallen—pity the one lying;
     him whom you just now wounded, now protect, Fear.
"he was rustic before, and ungrateful to the girl,

5
     hic tamen ingenue signa fatentis habet."
vixdum prima diem reserarant lumina solis,
     sum thalamum sibi, pulchra Sybilla, tuum.
horrida rura virum, sed non metuenda, tenebant;
     tutum rivali fecit in urbe locum.

5
     yet this one nevertheless has the signs of one ingenuously confessing."
scarcely had the first lights of the sun unbarred the day,
     he took your bridal-chamber for himself, fair Sybilla.
the rough fields held the man, yet not to be feared;
     he made a safe place for a rival in the city.

10
ipsa etiam speciosa toro sed sola recumbens
adventum primo visa probare meum.
dissumulans sic fata. "quid hoc?

10
she herself too, beauteous, reclining on the couch but alone
seemed at first to approve my advent.
dissimulating, thus she spoke: "What is this?

absente marito
ad nuptae iuvenem stare cubile decet."
ast ego, virgineum diffundens ore ruborem,

with the husband absent
it befits a youth to stand by the bed of a married woman."
but I, diffusing a virginal blush over my face,

15
     respondi blandus quae mihi iussit Amor.
longa dehinc variis teritur sermonibus hora
     dum votis obstat sola ministra meis:
optabam tacitus, licet haud inamabilis esset,
     membra feris miserae diripienda dari.

15
     I replied coaxingly what Love ordered me.
a long hour thereafter is worn away with varied conversations
     while the lone handmaid stands in the way of my vows:
silently I was wishing, though she was by no means unlovely,
     that the limbs of the wretched girl be given to wild beasts to be torn to pieces.

20
discedant famulae, quoties locus aptus amori,
     nec domina sistant vel revocante gradus;
adversatur herae si quae crudelis amanti est,
     invidiamque sibi diraque bella parit.
iamne vacat monstrare aliis praecepta pudoris

20
let the handmaids depart, whenever the place is apt for love,
     nor should they halt their steps, even if the mistress calls them back;
if any is cruel to the lover, she opposes her mistress,
     and for herself she engenders ill-will and dire wars.
Now, is there leisure to show to others the precepts of modesty

25
     cum reus indictae rusticitatis agar?
forte ministra moras, sed quas abitura, trahebat,
     mansit et illa diu ut posset abesse diu.
sed nec eat prorsus, iusta illam causa morata est,
     quae discedenti tum mihi nulla foret.

25
     while I am arraigned as the defendant of indicted rusticity?
by chance the ministress drew out delays—but such as, being about to depart, she drew—
     she too stayed long, that she might be able to be away long.
but let her not go off altogether; a just cause detained her,
     which, for me when she departed, then would be none.

30
verbis affari, nudos spectare lacertos,
caetera ne liceant, haec quoque pondus habent.
dum velut iratae cupio non esse molestus,
in me odia incendi credulitate mea.
tu tamen hanc veniam vati concede, Cupido,

30
to address with words, to gaze upon bare upper-arms,
even if the other things be not permitted, these too carry weight.
while, as if to one angry, I wish not to be troublesome,
I believe that hatreds are being kindled against me by my credulity.
yet grant this pardon to the poet, Cupid,

35
     perque tuas iuro, flammea tela, faces
nulla leves posthac conatus verba repellent;
     cassibus exibit foemina nulla meis.
candida seu nigra est, mollis seu dura, pudica
     sive levis, iuevenis sive adeo illa senex;

35
     and by your flaming darts, your torches, I swear
no light words hereafter will repel my attempts;
     no female will get out of my nets.
whether she is fair or dark, soft or hard, modest
     or light, whether young or even that one old;

40
qualiscunque datur, modo sit formosa, rogare
     non metuam, et longa sollicitare prece.
quae nolit, poterit satis illa negare petenti;
     quae velit, illa tamen saepe petita, velit.
nolit, sive velit, semper repetenda puella est;

40
of whatever sort she is given, provided she be comely, to ask
     I shall not fear, and to solicit with a long prayer.
she who does not wish, that one will be able enough to refuse the petitioner;
     she who does wish, let her, however, often besought, be willing.
whether she be unwilling or willing, the girl is always to be solicited again;

45
     hoc ferri grate munus utrique solet.
si perversa, tamen formam placuisse iuvabit;
     si cupida, optato convenit apta viro.
annuit, et vultu probat haec ridente Cupido,
     iamque nova incedo mactus amator ope;

45
     this service is wont to be borne gratefully by both.
if she is perverse, nevertheless it will please that her form has pleased;
     if desirous, she is apt to the desired man.
Cupid nods assent, and with a smiling countenance approves these things,
     and now I advance, a lover, augmented by new aid;

50
indico tamen hoc vobis, mala turba, puellae,
cum peto vos, culpam ne memorate meam.

50
yet I indicate this to you, bad mob of the girl,
when I petition you, do not make mention of my culpability.

IX.

Ergo meam ducet? deducet ab urbe puellam
cui rutilo sordent ora perusta cane?
Mellea iamne meo valedicere possit amori,
urbeque posthabita vilia rura colet?

So will he take mine? Will he lead the girl down from the city
whose face grows dingy, scorched by the ruddy Dog-star?
Can she already bid farewell to my honeyed love,
and, the city set aside, will she cultivate the vile countryside?

anne fides, sensusque simul periere? sequetur         5
        post tot formosos illa senile iugum?
"pauperis uxor sim potius quam regis amica,"
     sic ais; ah stulte relligiosa sapis!

or have fidelity and sense together perished? will she follow         5
        after so many handsome men the senile yoke?
"let me be the wife of a poor man rather than a king’s mistress,"
     so you say; ah, foolish one, you savor of religiosity!

verum habeas; quid enim tibi, perfida, tristius optem
quam tali dignam concubuisse viro?

have it then; for what, perfidious one, should I wish sadder for you
than to have lain, worthy of such a man, with such a man?

10
utrique et similes parias; patris exprimat ora
     progenies; mores ingeniumque tuum.
vitam igitur nobis pingui de rure maritus
     eripiet, miserae perfugiumque animae?
tam tristes taedas peterit nox ulla videre?

10
and to both alike may you bear [children]; let the progeny express the father's face,
     and your character and genius.
will a husband from the rich countryside, then, snatch away life from me
     and the refuge of a wretched soul?
will any night seek to see such sad wedding torches?

15
        Endimeoneis raptave Luna genis?
igneus horrentes inducat turbo procellas,
     et rapiat flores aura prophana sacros;
Tartareique canes diros ululent Hymenaeos,
     praedicat lites scissaque flamma facum.

15
        or has the Moon been abducted to Endymionian cheeks?
let a fiery whirlwind bring on bristling storms,
     and let a profane breeze snatch sacred flowers;
and let the Tartarean hounds howl dire Hymenaeals,
     the split flame of the torches foretells quarrels.

20
strataque cum lecti genialis sponsa recludit
     per totum videat serpere monstra torum.
vos parvique Lares, nocturni et ridiculi dii,
     terrea Pigmaeo gens oriunda Obera,
raso qui capitis, cilii, mentique capillo

20
and when the bride opens the coverlets of the nuptial bed,
     may she see monsters creep across the whole couch.
you, and the little Lares, nocturnal and ridiculous gods,
     earth-born race sprung from a Pygmy, Obera,
who with the hair of head, eyelash, and chin shaved

25
     luditis indignos, turba iocosa, viros:
raptaque per somnum vihitis qui corpora, et altis
     fossis aut undo ponitis illa lacu:
confluite huc, vestro nimium res digna cachinno est.
     eia agite, o lepidi, protinus ite, Lares,

25
     you make sport of men unworthy, jocose crowd:
and you carry off bodies snatched through sleep, and in deep
     ditches or you set them in a wavy lake:
flow together hither; the affair is too worthy of your cachinnation.
     hey, come on, O charming ones, go forth at once, Lares,

30
pulchramque informi positam cum coniuge sponsam
     eripite, haud ullo conspiciente dolos;
amplexumque meos cum se sperabit amores,
     stramineam pupam brahcia dura ferant,
aut tritum teneat carioso pene Priapum,

30
and snatch away the beautiful bride set with her ill-formed spouse,
     with no one perceiving the trickery;
and when she will hope for my embrace, my loves,
     let her stiff arms carry a straw doll,
or let her hold a rubbed-down Priapus with a carious penis,

35
     praeclare ut miseram rideat omnis ager;
fabula nec toto crebrescat notior orbe,
     huic cedant claudi probra venusta dei;
ipseque nescierim, quamvis dolor intus et ira
     aestuet, in risus solvar an in lachrimas.

35
     right splendidly, so that all the countryside may laugh at the wretched woman;
nor let the fable grow more notorious through the whole orb,
     to this let the charming reproaches of the lame god yield;
and I myself should not know, although pain and anger within
     seethe, whether I should be dissolved into laughter or into tears.

10.

Illa mihi merito nox est infausta notanda,
     quam votum veneri sprevit amica torum.
sic promissa fides? reditum sic ausa pacisci
     improba deque meo vix revocanda sinu?
credideram, persuasit Amor, suasere tenenti

That night for me must deservedly be noted as inauspicious,
    on which my mistress spurned the bed vowed to Venus.
Is this the promised faith? did you thus dare to bargain for a return,
    shameless, and scarcely to be called back from my bosom?
I had believed—Love persuaded—; they counseled the one holding on

5
     quae mihi discedens oscula longa dedit.
ergo vigil, tacitusque tori de parte cubavi,
     esset ut infidae foedifragaeque locus.
adieci porrho plumas et lintea struxi,
     mollius ut tenerum poneret illa latus:

5
     who, departing, gave me long kisses.
therefore, awake, and silent I lay down on my side of the bed,
     so that there might be a place for the faithless and treaty‑breaking one.
furthermore I added feathers and arranged the linens,
     so that she might lay her tender flank more softly:

10
nulla venit, quamvis visa est mihi saepe venire;
     quae cupidos oculos falleret umbra fuit.
audito quoties dicebam murmure laetus
     "iam venit!" extendo brachia, nulla venit.
me strepitu latebrosa attentum bestia lusit,

10
she did not come, although she seemed to me often to come;
     it was a shadow that would deceive my desirous eyes.
as often as, upon hearing a murmur, I said, happy,
     "now she comes!" I extend my arms—no one came.
a lurking beast, with its noise, played me, attentive, for a fool,

15
     spemque avido ventis mota fenestra dedit.
sic desiderio tandem languere medulla
     coepit, inasssuetis ignibus hausta fuit.
iamque erat ut cuperem gelida de rupe, Prometheu,
     expectare tuas, vulnere crudus, aves.

15
     and the window, moved by the winds, gave hope to my avid heart.
thus with desire my marrow at last began to languish,
     it was drained by unaccustomed fires.
and now it was that I desired, from the icy crag, Prometheus,
     to await your birds, raw with the wound.

20
at quanto levior iam tum mihi poena fuisset
     captasse impasti ludicra poma senis.
ecquis erit miser? inveniat quam possit amare,
        quam cupide indicta nocte manere velit.
me videat quisquis sponsae periuria nescit;

20
but how much lighter even then would the penalty have been for me
     to have tried to snatch the playful apples of the unfed old man.
will there be any wretch? let him find someone whom he can love,
        how eagerly he would wish to remain on an unannounced night.
let him look at me, whoever does not know a bride’s perjuries;

25
     en lachrimis oculi lividaque ora tument,
insomnique horrent artus, dum forsitan illa
     immemor, et dulci victa sopore, iacet.
nec metuit promissa; fidem nam perdidit et me;
     nec timuit, quorum est numine abusa, deos.

25
     lo, my eyes swell with tears, and my livid features swell,
insomnia makes my limbs bristle, while perhaps she
     unmindful, and overcome by sweet sleep, lies;
nor does she fear her promises; for she has lost both faith and me;
     nor did she fear the gods, whose numen she has abused.

30
conventum in silvis statuit Babilonia Thisbe
     cum iuvene ardenti, sed prior ipsa venit:
cumqeu viro periit, qui si potuisset abesse,
     haud scio nox miserae tristior utra foret.
non iter in silvas, nec erat tibi cura cavendi

30
Babylonian Thisbe set a rendezvous in the woods
     with the ardent youth, but she herself came earlier:
and she perished with the man, who, if he had been able to be absent,
     I do not know which night would have been sadder for the wretched girl.
no journey into the woods, nor had you a care for being on guard

35
custodes, potuit tota patere domus,
si velles saltem, si non periura fuisses,
basia si veri signa caloris erant.
nam quid detinuit? famulis pax una: quid ergo?

35
the warders—the whole house could have stood open,
if you had at least willed it, if you had not been perjured,
if the kisses were signs of true heat.
for what held you back? just one peace with the servants: what then?

sex septemve gradus? ianua aperta? torus,

six or seven steps? an open door? the couch,

40
et qui te misere remoratus quaerat in illo?
     haeccine tam fuerat triste subire tibi?
quam vellem causam vel inanem fingere posses,
     invito ut faceres ista coacta metu:
sed nihil occurrit, res est indigna, nefasque;

40
and who, having pitiably detained you, would seek you therein?
     was this then so grievous for you to undergo?
how I wish you could feign even an empty pretext,
     so that, unwilling, you would do those things, compelled by fear:
but nothing occurs; the matter is unworthy, and nefarious;

45
impia, fecisti dirum in amore scelus,
quod nullis poterit precibus lachrimisve piari,
ni mihi sex noctes sacrificare velis.

45
impious one, you have done a dire crime in love,
which can be expiated by no prayers nor tears,
unless you are willing to sacrifice six nights to me.

XI.

11.

Qui sapit ignotas timeat spectare puellas;
     hinc iuvenum atque senum maxima turba petit.
incautos novitate rapit non optuma forma,
     quemque semel prendit non cito solvit Amor.
quod pulchrum varium est; species non una probatur,

He who is wise should fear to gaze upon unknown girls;
     hence the greatest throng of youths and of old men makes for them.
a not-best form snatches the incautious by novelty,
     and whom Love once seizes, he does not quickly loose.
what is beautiful is various; not a single species is approved,

5
     nec tabulis eadem conspicienda Venus.
sive lepos oculis, in vultu seu rosa fulget,
     compositis membris si decor aptus inest,
gratia sive pedes, leviter seu brachia motat,
     undique spectanti retia tendit Amor.

5
     nor is the same Venus to be beheld on tablets.
whether charm is in the eyes, or a rose gleams in the countenance,
     if an apt decor is present in well-composed limbs,
whether grace moves her feet, or she lightly moves her arms,
     Love stretches his nets on every side for the spectator.

10
distineat iuvenem neque pompa, nec aurea vestis,
     nec picti currus, mormoreaeve fores:
raro urbem solus provecta nocta pererret,
     nox tenebris fieri multa proterva sinit;
siqua die placita est, noctu pulcherrima fiet:

10
let neither pomp, nor a golden vestment, detain the young man,
     nor painted chariots, nor marmoreal doors:
let him rarely traverse the city alone with night advanced,
     night in its shadows allows many wanton things to happen;
if any girl has pleased by day, by night she will become most beautiful:

15
adde merum, Phaedram possit amare gener.
haec ego: cum contra est telis facibusque minatus,
ni silieam, triplex pectore vulnus Amor.

15
add pure wine, and a son-in-law could love Phaedra.
haec ego: when, in return, Love, menacing with weapons and with torches,
unless I keep silent, threatened a triple wound in my breast.

XII

Qui gerit auspiciis res et, nisi consulat exta,
     nil agit, hic subitos nescit abire dies.
suspiciosa mora est, fortuna irridet inertes,
     omnia praecipiti dans redimensque manu.
dum Menelaus abest, Helenen Priameius urget,

He who conducts affairs by auspices and, unless he consults the entrails, does nothing—such a man does not know how to let sudden days go by.
Delay is suspicious; Fortune mocks the inert, giving and taking back all things with a headlong hand.
while Menelaus is away, the Priam-blooded presses Helen,

5
     urgentique aderant numina Fors et Amor.
Herus aeque omnes voluere cubilia, solus
     Laeander Cypria sed duce victor amat.
solus congreditur dubia sub luce puellam
     defessam sacris anti ministeriis.

5
     and, as he pressed on, the numina Fortune and Amor were at hand.
Eros and all alike desired the couches, but he alone—
     Leander, with the Cyprian as guide—loves as victor.
he alone comes to congress with the girl under doubtful light,
     wearied from earlier sacred ministrations.

10
saepe opportune cadit importuna voluntas,
     insperataque sors ad cita vota venit.
parva sed immemoris sponsi cunctatio Thisben
     seque per umbrosum praecipitavit iter.
una dies aufert quod secula nulla resolvent,

10
often an inopportune desire falls opportunely,
     and unhoped-for fortune comes to swift vows.
but the slight cunctation of her forgetful fiancé precipitated Thisbe
     and she precipitated herself through the umbrageous path.
one day carries off what no ages will resolve,

15
     secula quod dederint nulla, dat una dies.
mane rosas si non decerpis, vespere lapsas
     aspiecies spinis succubuisse suis.
dum iuvat, et fas est, praesentibus utere; totum
     incertum est quod erit; quid fuit, invalidum.

15
     what no ages will have granted, a single day gives.
if in the morning you do not pluck the roses, in the evening, fallen,
     you will behold them to have succumbed to their own thorns.
while it delights, and is licit, use the present things; all
     that will be is uncertain; what has been, invalid.

XIII.

13.

AD EDOARDUM MYCHELBURNUM DE OBITU SORORIS

TO EDWARD MYCHELBURN ON THE DEATH OF HIS SISTER

Ergone perpetuos dabit umbra sororia fletus?
inque fugam molles ossea forma deas?
sic, Edoarde, situ ferali horrenda Thalia
antiquosque sales deliciasque abiget?

Will then the sisterly shade give perpetual tears?
and will an osseous form put the soft goddesses to flight?
thus, Edoarde, will Thalia, dreadful with funereal mould,
drive away antique sallies and delights?

carmina nequaquam tangunt funebria manes.

funereal songs by no means touch the Manes.

5
     impetrabilior saxa ad acuta canas.
parce piam cruciare animam; si chara sorori
     exstinctae superest, ne sit iniqua tibi.
aspice, distortis elegeia lassa capillis
     procubuit, lachrymis arida facta suis;

5
     stones would be more persuadable; go sing to the sharp rocks.
spare to cruciate the pious soul; if aught dear to your extinguished sister
     survives, let it not be iniquitous to you.
behold, Elegy, weary, with hair distorted,
     has fallen forward, made arid by her own tears;

10
ecce, premit, frustraque oculos exsolvit inanes:
     prodiga quod sparsim fudit, egena sitit.
sic proiecta graves Istri glacialis ad undas
     dicitur emeritum deposuisse caput.
sic exhausta sacri vatis lugubre canendo

10
behold, she presses, and in vain unseals her empty eyes:
     prodigal, for what she has scatteredly poured out, in indigence she thirsts.
thus, cast down toward the heavy waves of the glacial Ister,
     she is said to have laid down her spent head.
thus, exhausted by mournfully singing of the sacred seer

15
     exilium, et tardos ad meliora deos.
iam satis est, Edoarde, tui miserere, deaeque;
     fessa dea est nimium sollicitata diu.
assueti redeant animi, solatia, lusus;
     exuat atratam vestra Thalia togam.

15
     exile, and gods tardy toward better things.
now it is enough, Edward, have mercy on yourself, and on the goddess;
     the goddess is weary, too long solicited.
let the accustomed spirits return, the consolations, the play;
     may your Thalia shed her black toga.

20
nec te detineat formae pereuntis imago;
     ad manes abiit non reditura soror.
neve recorderis quae verba novissima dixit;
     praesidio illa minus proficiente iuvant.
verba dolorem acuunt, solvunt oblivia curas,

20
nor let the image of a perishing beauty detain you;
     to the Manes your sister has gone, not to return.
and do not recall the last words she spoke;
     they help less, the protection being less effective.
words whet grief, they dissolve forgetfulness, unloose cares,

25
     immemores animos cura dolorque fugit.
sed tua si pietas monitis parere recusat,
     aegraque mens constans in feritate sua est,
nulla sit in terris regio, non ora, nec aetas
     inscia ploratus, insatiate, tui.

25
     care and dolor flee forgetful minds.
but if your piety refuses to obey admonitions,
     and your ailing mind is constant in its own ferity,
let there be no region on the earth, not shores, nor age
     unaware of your weeping, insatiate one.

30
non Hyades tantum celebrent fulgentia coelo
     sidera, fraternus quas reparavit amor,
quantum fama tuas lacrhimas, obitusque sororis;
     o bene defleto funere digna soror!
et, tibi, si placet hoc, indulge, Edoarde, dolori;

30
let not the Hyades be celebrated so much by the stars shining in heaven
     whom fraternal love restored,
as much as fame celebrates your tears, and the obit of your sister;
     O sister worthy of a well-wept funeral!
and, for yourself, if this pleases, indulge, Edward, your grief;

35
singultuque gravem pectore pasce animum.
tristitiam levat ipsa dies; gaudebit et ultro
ascitis tandem mens vegetare iocis.

35
and with sobbing feed your spirit, heavy in your breast.
the day itself alleviates sadness; will rejoice even of its own accord
the mind, at last, to be invigorated by jests adopted.

XIV. (1595 only)

14. (1595 only)

Ite procul tetrici, moneo, procul ite severi,
ludit censuras pagina nostra graves.
ite senes, nisi forte aliquis torpente medulla
carminibus flammas credit inesse meis.
aptior ad teneros lusus florentor aetas;

Go far away, grim ones, I warn, go far away, severe ones,
our page plays with grave censures.
go, old men, unless perhaps someone with a torpid marrow
believes flames to inhere in my songs.
a more flourishing age is apter for tender jests;

5
     vel iuvenis, vel me docta puella legat.
et vatem celebrant Bruti de nomine primum
     qui molles elegos et sua furta canat.
probro nec semper fax sit tua, Phoebe, remota
     fervet ab innato flamma calore magis.

5
     let either a youth, or a learned girl, read me.
and the Brutuses, from the name, first celebrate the bard
     who may sing soft elegies and his own thefts.
nor let your torch, Phoebe, always be removed as a disgrace;
     the flame seethes the more from inborn heat.

10
nobis egelidas Neptunus molliit auras
     qui fovet amplexu litora lata suo.
et nos Phoebus amat, quantumque hieme abdicat, ardens
     tanto plus facili conspicit ore pater.
quid sacras memorem nymphis habilantibus undas,

10
Neptune has softened for us the tepid breezes
     he who cherishes with his own embrace the broad shores.
And Phoebus loves us too; and as much as he withdraws in winter,
     by so much the father, burning, gazes with a more benign countenance.
why should I recount the sacred waves, serviceable to the nymphs,

15
     sive tuas, Thamesis, sive, Sabrina, tuas?
mille etiam Charites silveis, totidemque Napaeae,
     tot Veneres, tot eunt indigenae deae.
ut taceam musas, toto quas orbe silentes
     Chaucerus mira fecerat arte loqui.

15
     whether yours, Thames, or yours, Sabrina?
a thousand Charites also in the woods, and just as many Napaeae,
     so many Venuses, so many native goddesses go.
not to mention the Muses, whom, silent in the whole world,
     Chaucer by wondrous art had made to speak.

20
ille Palaemonios varie depinxit amores,
     infidamque viro Chressida Dardanio.
prodigiosa illo dictante canebat arator
     ludicra, decertans cum molitore faber.
sic peregrinantum ritus perstringit aniles,

20
he variously depicted the Palamonian loves,
     and Cressida unfaithful to her Dardanian man.
with him dictating, the plowman sang prodigious
     ludicra, the smith contending with the miller.
thus he skims the old-womanish rites of pilgrims,

25
     rivalemque dei devovet usque papam.
quis deus, o vates magnis erepte tenebris,
     admovit capiti lumina tanta tuo?
fabula nec vulgi, nec te Romana fefellit
     pompa, nec Ausonii picta theatra lupi.

25
     and he incessantly devotes to destruction the pope, rival of God.
what god, O vates, snatched from great darkness,
     has brought such great lights to your head?
neither the tale of the crowd, nor has the Roman pomp deceived you,
     nor the painted theaters of the Ausonian wolf.

30
imperio titubante novos sibi finxit honores
     queis mundi dominos callida Roma tenet.
iuris sola sui gentes procul Anglia ridet
     tendentes Latio libera colla iugo.
sacra libertate dea regnante potimur,

30
with the empire staggering she fashioned new honors for herself
    by which cunning Rome holds the lords of the world.
England, far off, alone in her own right, laughs at the nations
    that stretch their free necks to the Latian yoke.
we enjoy sacred Liberty, with the goddess reigning,

35
     quae dare iam nobis otia sola potest.
omnia nnc pacem, montesque urbesque fatentur,
     cum Venere et nudo qui pede saltat Amor.
pacis amans deus est, quamvis fera bella Cupido
     corde gerens nostro semper ad arma vocat.

35
     she who alone can now grant us leisure.
all things now acknowledge peace, both mountains and cities,
     with Venus and Love, who dances with a bare foot.
he is a lover of peace, a god, although Cupid
     bearing fierce wars in our heart, always calls to arms.

40
alme puer, teneris adsit tua gratia musis,
paces suve deae, seu tua bella canunt.

40
bounteous boy, let your grace be present to the tender Muses,
whether they sing the peace of the goddess, or your wars.

XV. (1595 only)

15. (1595 only)

DE MELLEA LUSUS

A JEST ABOUT MELLEA

Pulchra roseta inter mea Mellea pulchrior illis
dum legit umbroso mollia fraga solo,
venit Amor, qui iam pharetra positisque sagittis
gestitat ignivomo ferra forata cavo.
pulvis agit sine voce pilas ubi concipit ignem,

Among my beautiful rose-beds my Mellea, more beautiful than they,
while she gathers soft strawberries from the shady soil,
Love came, who now, his quiver and arrows set aside,
brandishes irons bored with a fire-vomiting hollow.
the powder, when it conceives fire, drives the balls voicelessly,

5
et nivis in tacito pulvere candor inest.
audax o nimium puer! o versute Cupido!

5
and the whiteness of snow is present in the silent powder.
O too audacious boy! O wily Cupid!

tu ne ferebaris caecus? at ipse vides,
argutoque minax intendis acumine ferrum.
intueror, licet hac fronde latere velis.

Were you not said to be blind? but you yourself see,
and, menacing, you aim the steel with a keen point.
I behold you, even if you wish to hide beneath this frond.

10
erubuit deprensus Amor, risuque fugavit
mollitiem, et dixit "tu mihi miles eris.
si confirmandus de more poposceris aurum,
aurea virgo tibi haec oscula quinque dabit.
post illa ut nostris possit succedere castris,

10
Amor, caught, blushed, and with a laugh dispelled
softness, and said: "you will be a soldier for me.
if, to be confirmed by custom, you will have demanded gold,
the golden virgin will give you these five kisses.
after those, so that she may be able to enter our camp,

15
aurea iam de te basia quinque feret."
"immo etiam de me centum, vel millia centum,
et placeas mage si prodigus esse velis."
dixi, aufugit Amor, pictasque reverberat alas,
nos veriti numen mutua labra damus.

15
she will now bear from you five golden kisses."
"nay, even from me a hundred, or a hundred thousand,
and you would please more if you should wish to be prodigal."
i said it; Love fled, and beats back his painted wings, we, in awe of the numen, give mutual lips.

20
gessimus acre dehinc ductore Cupidine bellum,
et reparat nova nos in nova bella dies.

20
thereafter we waged a keen war with Cupid as our leader,
and a new day repairs us into new wars.

XVI. (1595 only)

16. (1595 only)

CASPIA POTITUS LAETATUR

HAVING GAINED POSSESSION OF CASPIA, HE REJOICES

Quos cupiam laetus? quos alloquar? anne deorum
formosorum aliquem noster adibit amor?

Whom should I desire, joyful? whom should I address? or will our love
approach some one of the beautiful gods?

tutius an manes tacitasque exoscitet umbras?
sors erit invidiae facta beata nimis.
tum neque Shora suos audebit prodere lusus,

or more safely would he conjure up the Manes and the silent shades?
the lot will be made too blessed for envy.
then neither will Shora dare to disclose his own jests,

5
errore implexos nec Rosimunda lares.
nocte immortalem me Caspia reddidit una,
tanta extirpabit gaudia nulla dies.
quas ego, quam cupide vidi tetigique papillas!

5
nor Rosimunda’s Lares entangled by error.
in a single night Caspia made me immortal,
no day will extirpate such joys.
what breasts I saw and touched, how eagerly!

quam formosa inter brachia molle latus!

how beautiful between the arms the soft flank!

10
qualia inhaerenti spiravit basia labro!
     qualia - sed castis non referenda viris!
delitias tantas miratus et ipse Cupido est,
     quasque dedit nobis optat habere vices.
iniectis igitur miser asservare lacertis

10
what kisses she breathed upon my clinging lip!
     what kisses—but not to be recounted to chaste men!
even Cupid himself marveled at such delights,
     and he longs to have in turn the reciprocities which she granted to us.
therefore, a wretch, with my arms thrown around, to keep her guarded

15
     cogor, pectoribusque insinuare meis.
sed miserum iuvat esse diu, sed saepius illo
     rivalem cupiam posse timere loco.
quae mihi per longos venit exorata labores,
     non nisi per magnos est retinenda metus.

15
     i am compelled, and to insinuate her into my breast.
but it pleases me to be wretched for a long time, but more often than that
     i would wish a rival to be able to fear that place.
she who has come to me, won by long labors and entreaty,
     is to be retained only through great fears.

20
nox est, si moriar, satis haec mihi sola beato;
si vivo, non sunt millia mille satis.

20
it is night; if I should die, this alone suffices for me, blessed;
if I live, not even a thousand thousands suffice.

XVII. (1595 only)

17. (1595 only)

AD AMICOS CUM AEGROTARET

TO FRIENDS WHEN HE WAS ILL

Aeger eram, non uva meos lenire dolores,
     nec condita modis mille operosa Ceres,
non dulces potuere ioci, comitumve lepores;
     ex angore animi mens hebetata fuit.
deciderat manibus lyra, nec suspiria crebris

I was sick; not even the grape could soothe my dolors,
    nor could toilsome Ceres, prepared in a thousand modes,
not the sweet jests, nor the charms of companions, could avail;
    from the anguish of spirit the mind was dulled.
the lyre had fallen from my hands, nor did frequent sighs

5
        exitibus numeros sustinuere suos.
horrebam procul obscurae confinia noctis,
     nec lassos artus mollia fulcra iuvant.
illaetos querimur tarde proserpere soles,
     noxque die gravior fit mihi, nocte dies.

5
        by out-breaths the numbers sustained their own measures.
i shuddered, from afar, at the borders of shadowy night,
     nor do soft supports help the weary limbs.
we complain that cheerless suns creep forward slowly,
     and night becomes heavier to me than day, and by night the day.

10
excutiunt placidos insomnia dira sopores,
     somnia non ullam post habitura fidem.
in me saepe ruunt armatis agmina turmis,
     sulphureisque boant aenea monstra cavis.
hispidus hinc serpens inter deserta relicto

10
dire insomnias shake off my placid slumbers,
     dreams destined thereafter to have no faith.
upon me there often rush battle-lines in armed squadrons,
     and brazen monsters bellow from sulphurous hollows.
from here a bristly serpent among the deserts, left behind

15
     fit mihi, vel frendens obvius ore leo.
et quae nulla aetas tulerit portenta videmus,
     excurrit vario flexilis orbe timor.
iam iam lapsuras capiti impendere ruinas
     suspicor, aut tremulo sub pede sidit humus.

15
     it befalls me, or a lion, gnashing, meets me head-on.
and we behold portents which no age has borne,
     a flexible terror runs out in a various orbit.
now, now ruins about to collapse hang over my head
     I suspect, or the ground subsides beneath my tremulous foot.

20
iam mare, iam ventos metuo, saxa aspera terrent,
     antennas video fractaque transtra ratis.
amisos etiam comites in littore flemus,
     et cadit ex oculis lachrima vera meis.
te modo spectabam tumidas, Hatecliffe, per undas

20
now I fear the sea, now the winds; the rough rocks terrify me,
     I see the antennas and the broken thwarts of the raft.
we weep even for companions lost on the shore,
     and a true tear falls from my eyes.
just now I was gazing at you through the swollen waves, Hatecliffe

25
     aegre versantem brachia fessa salo.
iamque tuos, Stanforde, tuos, Thurbarne, volutos
     exanimes artus per vada summa lego.
collectos manibus moerens amplector, et omnis
     flebilibus resonat quaestibus ora meis.

25
     with difficulty plying your weary arms in the brine.
and now your, Stanford, your, Thurbarn, exanimate limbs
     rolled through the very shallows I gather up.
gathered with my hands I, mourning, embrace them, and all
     the shore resounds with my tearful lamentations.

30
si mihi displiceant somni mirabile non est,
     quos misere afflictos tam ferus horror habet.
nec minus illepide nocturnis territa visis
     mens vigilans toto somniat illa die.
sed vos o chari multum valeatis amici,

30
If dreams displease me, it is no marvel,
     which so fierce a horror holds miserably afflicted.
nor less inelegantly, frightened by nocturnal visions,
     the waking mind dreams those things all the day.
but you, O dear friends, may you fare very well,

35
     differor externis dum miser ipse locis.
invidiosa via est quae nos disiungit amantes,
     nec sociis socio iam licet esse mihi.
verum vos video absentes et somnio, somnis
     anxia turba meis non onerosa tamen.

35
     I am borne apart to foreign places while I myself am wretched.
An odious road it is which disjoins us lovers,
     nor is it now permitted for me, a comrade, to be with my comrades.
But I see you, though absent, and I dream; to my dreams
     an anxious throng, yet not burdensome, nevertheless.

40
vestra vel in somnis lachrimavi funera, flentes
vos quoque si moriar tymbon adite meum.

40
I have wept your funerals even in dreams, weeping
you too, if I die, go to my tomb.

XVIII. (1595 only)

18. (1595 only)

Postquam Vulcanus Veneris nudaret amores
     fertur frons tenerae diriguisse deae;
fracto dedidicit stupra occultare pudore,
     iamque odit fabricas conditor ipse suas.
"ah Venus," exclamat, spumosa fusior unda

After Vulcan laid bare the loves of Venus
     it is said the brow of the tender goddess grew rigid;
with shame broken, she unlearned to conceal her debaucheries,
     and now the founder himself hates his own contrivances.
"ah Venus," he exclaims, more molten than the foamy wave

5
     quae non nuptibiles undique miscet aquaa:
nos coniunxit Hymen, nos festa corona derorum,
     nos Charites, tua nos non violanda fides.
cur non alternos simul exercemus amores?
     hostibus externis cur mea regna patent?

5
     who does not everywhere mingle nuptial waters?
Hymen joined us, the festal corona of the gods,
     the Charites joined us, your faith not to be violated.
why do we not at the same time exercise alternate loves?
     why do my realms lie open to external enemies?

10
sanguineam ex acie referens Mars horridus hastam
     ibit in amplexus, o Cytherea, tuos?
proditione illam victor possidereit arcem
     quam mihi connubii iure remisit Hymen?
dispeream si non pereat male perditus ille

10
grim Mars, bringing back from the battle-line a blood-stained spear,
     will go into your embraces, O Cytherea?
by treachery will the victor possess that citadel
     which Hymen has remitted to me by the connubial right?
let me perish if that man, lost to perdition, does not perish miserably

15
     qui iacit in nostras nubila nigra faces."
protinus induitur monichorum more cucullum,
     et cadit a fusco vertice rasa coma.
candorem vultu simulat germanaque claustra
     ingreditur simplex, quam minimeque malus.

15
     who casts black clouds upon our bridal torches."
straightway he puts on a cowl in the manner of monks,
     and shorn hair falls from his dusky crown.
he feigns pallor in his face and the sisterly cloisters
     he enters, simple and as little wicked as possible.

20
insidias intus struit, inconcessa recludens
     arcana, Aetnaeo sacraque operta cavo.
fulmina syderei Iovis arma micantia, et altos
     quod superos tonitru Tartaraque ima quatit,
amens committit miseris mortalibus, amens

20
within he lays snares, unclosing the unconceded arcana,
     the sacred things covered in the Aetnaean cave.
the lightning-bolts, the gleaming arms of sidereal Jove, and the thunder
     that shakes the gods above and the deepest Tartarus,
mindless he commits to wretched mortals, mindless

25
     sulphureoque ardens igne odioque deus.
"et quid Thracis," ait, "clipeusve vel hasta iuvabit
     inter fulminei concita tela Iovis?"
ecce Neapolitas Galli obsidione recingunt
     arces, haec Marti suaserit arma Venus,

25
     and the god burning with sulfurous fire and with hatred.
"and what will the shield or even the spear of the Thracian avail," he says,
     "amid the driven missiles of thunderous Jove?"
behold, the Gauls re-gird with siege the Neapolitan citadels,
     these arms Venus has counseled to Mars,

30
quos mollis comitatur Amor; sed ut inclita cernunt
     fulmina, et aeratos igne volare globos,
stragibus hinc atque hinc diris, foedoque cruore
     interpidus totos sparsit adulter agros.
insidias risit dea coniugis, atque superbum

30
whom soft Love accompanies; but as they behold the famed
     thunderbolts, and brazen balls flying with fire,
with dire slaughters here and there, and with foul gore
     the intrepid adulterer spattered all the fields.
the goddess laughed at the snares of her spouse, and the proud

35
     candido amatorem suscipit apta sinu.
infremuit Lemni pater, eque voragine fumos
     colligit Aetnaea tartareaque Styge.
hos consopitis aspergat, fata vetabant
     tangere foelices spurca venena deos.

35
     apt with a white bosom, she receives her lover.
the Lemnian father roared, and from the chasm the smokes
     he gathers, Aetnaean and from the Tartarean Styx.
that he might sprinkle these upon the deep-sleeping, the Fates forbade
     the filthy poisons to touch the felicitous gods.

40
aere sed laeso feriunt contagia Gallos,
     atque Neapolita coepit in urbe lues,
quam vitare satis poterat nec foemina, nec vir,
     dum redit in seriem transitione malum.
debuerat saltem formosis parcere, at illis

40
but, with the air harmed, contagions strike the Gauls,
     and in the Neapolitan city a pestilence began,
which neither woman nor man could sufficiently avoid,
     as by transmission the evil returned into a chain.
it ought at least to have spared the beautiful, but those

45
     et color et vires interiere simul.
respexit tandem Venus, et miserata puellas
     corticibus sacris nigra venena fugat.
restauratque toris vires, membrisque colorem,
     lacteolumque genis purpureumque decus.

45
     and both color and strength perished together.
At length Venus took notice, and, pitying the girls,
     with sacred bark she drives out the black venoms.
and she restores on the couches their strength, and to their members their color,
     and a milky and a purple adornment to their cheeks.

50
ergo ubi nec cessisse dolos, nec viribus aequum
vidit se Marti qui paret arma faber
obticet, indulgens Veneri et rivalis amori,
si decuma obtingant nox sibi, laetus habet.

50
therefore, when the smith who furnishes arms to Mars saw that neither the stratagems had yielded, nor that he was equal in strength,
he falls silent, indulging Venus and his rival’s love,
if the tenth night should fall to his lot, he counts himself happy.