Contemporary: Alexander Smarius

Qualis in ostrina surrexit lactea concha,
    aequoris e spumis vix ubi nata Venus,
qualis, ut egrediens lymphas conspecta Minerva est,
    territa deprenso dicitur esse viro,
nec minus insontem puerum Diana videntem
    qualis lauta sacris obstupefecit aquis,
talis visa mihi solio festina relicto
    incertos soleis subdere Laura pedes,
vesper ut aestivus calido mihi suasit amanti
    tempore non pacto noctis adire meam;
sic obmutuerat subito clamore profuso
    impulsae sonitus carmine mixtus aquae.
Membraque dum rapto velat modo cognita panno,
    prosilit ardenti nudus in ore rubor.
Et quamvis speculum formam post terga referret
    nesciaque arcanum proderet ipsa sui
frigus et exsereret tumidas sub veste papillas
    latius et panno staret utrimque femur,
nil aliud tamen attonitus spectare volebam
    has quam suspensas sollicitasque genas:
non secus experta rubuit vehementer ut ira,
    lumina non aliter fixa tenebat humo,
quam mihi contrito faceret convicia pacto,
    qui possem castam sic temerare fidem.

Such as from a purple shell the milky conch arose,
    from the foam of the sea where Venus was scarcely born,
such as, as she stepped out, Minerva was seen in the waters,
    said to be terrified when seized by a man,
nor less did Diana, beholding the innocent boy,
    as one washed in sacred waters, stand astonied,
so did Laura seem to me, hastening from her throne left behind,
    to slip uncertain sandals beneath her feet,
as the summer evening to my warm-loving heart persuaded
    that in no set time of night should I approach my own;
thus suddenly was she silenced by a sudden outpouring of cry
    and the sound of water blended with song. While her limbs     a burning blush sprang naked to her mouth.
And though the mirror reflected her shape from behind
    and she herself, unknowing, revealed not the secret of herself,
she chilled and pushed forth her breasts swollen beneath her dress
    and stood with thigh revealed on either side by the cloth,
yet astonished I wished to look at nothing else
    than those cheeks suspended and full of solicitude:
no differently she blushed, as one tested by fierce anger,
    her eyes no otherwise kept fixed upon the ground,
than one who to me would make insults with a broken pact,
    who thus could so profanely defile a chaste faith.

Et timui posthac ne se mihi dura negaret
    neve foret latebris semper iniqua meis:
donec compresso risu direxit ocellos
    blanda mihi posito sponte pudore suo.
Credo, non umquam veniet mihi dulcior hora
    nec magis ancipiti gaudia mixta metu.

And I feared thereafter lest she sternly deny herself to me
    or be ever hostile in her hiding-places from me:
until with a suppressed laugh she lifted her little eyes
    having put aside her winning modesty of her own accord toward me. I think no hour will ever come more sweet to me
    nor joys more mixed with ambiguous fear.

II Basium Matutinum

2 Morning Kiss

Mane erat et gravibus lecti dum strata premebam
    artubus, in somni limine lentus eram.
Pars vigilare mei voluit, pars altera fugit
    fortior et nondum prompta diurna pati;
lectus et hesternos quoniam spirabat amores,
    non ego desidiam depositurus eram.
Ore repente meo permulsus tactibus udis
    excitor: arrident nota labella mihi.

It was morning, and while I pressed the bed-clothes with heavy limbs
    I was sluggish on the threshold of sleep.
Part wished to keep watch of me, another part fled
    stronger and not yet ready to endure the day;
for the bed was breathing with yesterday's loves,
    I was not about to lay aside my sloth.
Suddenly, soothed upon my mouth by wet touches
    I am roused: familiar little lips smile on me.

Qualis ab Aurora velamine tingitur aer,
talis in his labiis visus inesse rubor,
qualis et arentem recreat ros almus agellum,
talis Laura meam lavit ab ore sitim.
'Sicine te dormire iuvat? Num somnia mavis?

Qualis ab Aurora velamine tingitur aer,
    such as the air is tinged by Aurora’s veil,
talis in his labiis visus inesse rubor,
    such a redness seemed to be in these lips,
qualis et arentem recreat ros almus agellum,
    such as the kindly dew revives the parchèd little field,
talis Laura meam lavit ab ore sitim.
'Sicine te dormire iuvat? Num somnia mavis?'

Surge' ait 'et dominae, languide, munus obi!'
Quid me surgere vult? Iuxta mox ipsa iacebat,
et nova nos monuit bella movere dies.
Quam mea flammiferis haeserunt labra labellis!

"Rise," she said, "and go to your mistress, languid one, do her service!"
Why does she want me to rise? She herself was soon lying beside me,
and the new day warned us to set the fresh wars in motion.
How my lips clung to her flame-bearing little lips!

    Qualiter increpuit muta per ora iocus!
Qualis anhela fuit, suspiria qualia duxit:
    vertit in elicitas mox sua iussa preces.
Sic memor officii calida sub veste manebam
    impiger et placito munere dignus eram.

    How a mute jest reproved through my lips!
What panting she was, what sort of sighs she drew:
    soon she turned her summoned commands into prayers.
Thus, mindful of duty, I remained warm beneath my garment,
    active and worthy of the pleasing service.

III Morae Encomium

3. Encomium of Delay

Desine; (vix potui) paulatim (dicere) perge,
    perge, sed ante Venus quam venit, adde moram.
Dum licet inter nos Venerem compescere, nobis
    corpus utrumque novo ferveat igne diu.
Lux mea, cessemus: patitur si frena voluptas
    quamvis exiguo tempore, maior erit.

Stop; (I could scarcely) proceed to speak gradually,
    proceed, but before Venus comes, add a delay.
While it is permitted between us to restrain Venus, for us
    let each body burn long with a new fire.
My light, let us cease: if pleasure allows the reins,
    even for a little time, the restraint will be the greater.

Perge, resume viam mecum, mea vita, supino -
    desine, namque morae, sentio, tempus adest.
Pallas ut erupit patrium caput, addidit ipsam
    se dea discesso grata dolore deis.
At nos cum Venus exanimos spumosa reliquit,
    nil superest nobis, nam semel orta perit.

Proceed, take up the road with me, my life, supine -
    cease, for the time for delays, I feel, is at hand.
When Pallas burst from her father's head, the goddess herself added
    that by her departure she was pleasing to the gods with sorrow.
But when Venus left us breathless, foaming, nothing remains for us,
    for what once has risen perishes.

Ergo, ne locus effugii sit, desine motum -
    perge, Venus trepidum neve relaxet opus.
Ei mihi, mox nimium numen nos vincet anhelos,
    mox poterit praeceps rumpere frena furor:
ultima nunc manibus iungamus basia nexis,
    donec in exitium nos violenta trahit.

Therefore, lest there be a place of escape, cease movement -
    go on, let not Venus relax the trembling work.
Alas for me, soon too great a numen will overpower us, panting,
    soon headlong furor will be able to break the reins:
let us now join our final kisses with hands bound together,
    until violent love drags us into destruction.

IV Vincula Amoris

4 Bonds of Love

'Quid cupidae mihi, lente, parum blandiris amicae?'
Ausa mihi es largo dicere, vita, viro.
Iam te solliciti fallunt, ingrata, labores?
Ergo disce novos nunc in amore modos.

'Why, slow one, do you, desirous, flatter me too little, O mistress?'
You have dared to speak boldly to me, O life, about a man.
Are the labors of the anxious deceiving you now, ungrateful one?
Therefore learn now new modes in love.

Considam: constringe meos post terga lacertos,
    ne moveam et sedi crura tenenda liga.
Altera me Siren cieas lasciva loquendo,
    quid valeant vatem verba, magistra, doce.
Aspice iam trepidum, propius gradiaris anhelum,
    ebrius olfaciam corpus ut omne tuum.

Let me sit: bind my arms behind my back,
    lest I move, and bind my legs that must be kept on the seat.
Make me another Siren by wanton speech,
    teach me, mistress, what words the poet's voice can effect.
Mark me now trembling, step nearer, panting,
    drunk, I may scent your whole body.

Basia dein simules ardenti pressa datura,
    proxima sed remove labra repente labris.
Non magis esuriens fallacibus ille sub uvis
    stabat et intactas Tantalus inter aquas.
Talia si sat passus ero sine fine per horas,
    vincula si tandem solveris arta mea,
lux mea, crede mihi: tunc mox satiata dolebis
    me querulam nimium saepe vocasse pigrum,
languida tunc rauca poteris vix voce precari:
    'Blanditias nimias desine, parce, fuge!'

Then you would pretend to give kisses pressed on a burning mouth,
    but draw away the nearest lips suddenly from my lips.
No more hungry than he who stood under deceptive grapes,
    Tantalus among untouched waters.
If I endure such things long enough through endless hours,
    if at last my tight bonds are loosened,
my light, trust me: then soon, sated, you will grieve
    that I, too often, called you a querulous sluggard,
then with a faint, hoarse voice you will scarcely be able to pray:
    'Cease excessive flatteries, spare me, begone!'

V Rara Ratio

5 Rare Reason

Blanda loqui Lalage si vult, balbutit: amandum
    quod decus esse puto, dedecus illa vocat.
Si putat esse catum, dicit me balba cacatum,
    nec tamen adsidue dicere falsa solet:
dicere nam dominam mihi cum conata futuram,
    fata fututuram est, vera locuta mihi.

If Lalage wishes to speak blandly, she stammers: 'lovely'—what I judge to be decus—she calls dedecus.
If she thinks it to be catum, she calls me, stammering, cacatum,
yet she is not wont continually to speak falsehoods: for when, trying, she called herself to be my mistress futuram,
fate has said fututuram, and has spoken truth to me.

VI Ad dominam

6 To the mistress

Corpore non gracili nostro crispoque capillo,
    vita, tibi quotiens ipse videbar Amor.
Qualis et ipsa mihi certa es Venus, omnibus autem
    nota pudicitia - falsa Minerva mihi!
Nunc, quia diva mea es, mihi vis Iovis esse marita
    et cogor nullo iurgia iure pati.

With a body not slender and with my crisped hair,
    O life, how often did I myself seem to you to be Love. As you yourself are to me a sure Venus, and moreover
    chastity is known to all — a false Minerva to me!
Now, because you are my goddess, you would be Jupiter’s wife for me
    and I am compelled to endure quarrels by no lawful right.

Num tibi spes triplex, o lux mea, nox mea, pomi?
Alter Alexander deliget haud aliter.
Quare de labris ridentibus accipe fructus
dulcia et abiecto tela dolore mea.

Have you, O my light, my night, a threefold hope of the fruit?
Another Alexander will choose no otherwise.
Therefore from your laughing lips accept sweet fruits
and my darts, thrown aside in my pain.

VII Anus et tamen . . .

7 Old woman and yet . . .

Laura suum metuit ne sim spreturus amorem,
    in me perfidiae crimina vana parat,
prima simul fronti vestigia panderit aetas:
    anxia sic speculi se terit ante vitrum.
Tam levis ista tibi constans mea cura videtur,
    ut longaeva mihi copula rupta foret?
Baucida non alia voluit mutare Philemon,
    sed magis aetatis dura tulere pares,
non vel adulterio teneros quae cesserat annos
    Tyndarida Atridae displicuisse ferunt,
me quoque fata prius rapient quam taedia norim,
    quamquam non erimus qui sumus, ardor erit.

Laura fears that I may be one to spurn her love,
    against me she prepares vain charges of perfidy,
at first age will at once lay open traces upon the brow:
    thus anxiously she rubs herself before the mirror. Tam levis ista tibi constans mea cura videtur,
    ut longaeva mihi copula rupta foret? Baucida non alia voluit mutare Philemon,
    but peers more harshly bore the rigors of age, they say; not even because she had yielded her tender years to adultery
    did the Tyndarid displease the son of Atreus, they report; the fates will seize me too before I know weariness,
    and although we will not be what we are, there will be ardor.

Si nudo crispos mutarit frigore crines,
    sive senecta meum texerit alba caput,
sive ducem baculum titubantia crura sequentur,
    pectus et insolitum tussis acerba premet,
cum fugiet merito visum me quaeque puella
    (pars melior nostri sit modo sospes adhuc),
tunc etiam ante fores (licet et patefeceris) exul
    blanda tibi rauca carmina voce canam,
tunc etiam mea labra tuis rugosa labellis
    adiungam et tremula blandiar usque manu.
Te licet imminuant praesentis damna figurae,
    et licet ostendat tempus in ore notas,
turpia me pariter tunc et formosa latebunt:
    lumina defuerint, acria ut ante, diu.
Dum modo tu non me contemnas ipsa senilem,
    cura senectutis non erit ulla mihi.

If naked with cold my crisped hair should turn white,
    or old age should weave my head with white,
or a guiding staff should follow my tottering legs,
    and my chest and a harsh, unusual cough press sore,
when every girl will rightly flee from seeing me
    (provided the better part of us be as yet safe),
then even before your doors (although you have opened them) exul
    I will sing to you with a flattering, hoarse voice sweet songs,
then also my lips to your wrinkled little lips
    I will join, and with a trembling hand I will flatter continually.
Though the harms of present appearance may threaten you,
    and though time may show its marks on your face,
ugly things and fair alike then will hide me:
    my eyes will have failed, no longer keen as before, for long.
So long as you yourself do not despise me as senile,
    there will be no care of old age for me.

VIII Vigilia

8th Watch

Bacchus alit Venerem, Venerem sed crapula pellit.
Hoc docuit stolidum torva puella suum.
Non, non illa fuit vanis offensa cachinnis,
oscula non anima fugit olente mea.

Bacchus feeds Venus, but drunkenness drives Venus away.
This the stern girl taught her foolish one.
Not, not was she offended by vain cachinnations,
kisses did not flee from my breath that smelled of me.

Nec fastidivit blandas balbasque loquelas
    nec vetuit quae plus quam decet ausa manus.
Verum ignota meam deduxit culpa puellam:
    somnus discidii causa sonorus erat.
Principio modica verti me voce rogavit
    indulsique soni nescius ipse mei.

Nor did she scorn bland and stammering speeches,
    nor forbid the hand that had dared more than was proper.
But an unknown fault led my girl away from me:
    sleep was a resounding cause of the separation.
At first she, having turned, asked me in a soft voice
    and, indulgent to the sounds, I myself unaware.

Postquam iussa meum rupere silentia somnum,
    obsequio dominae non minus aptus eram.
Mox tamen impatiens detracto tegmine coepit
    vix vigilem insuetis increpitare minis:
'Quid numerem claros inter suspiria ronchos?
    Quae te raucisonum bestia cepit atrox?

After orders broke the silence of my sleep,
    I was no less ready in obedience to my mistress.
Soon, however, impatient, with the covering drawn back she began
    to rebuke the scarcely wakeful with threats unaccustomed:
'Why should I reckon clear notes among hoarse sighs?
    What cruel beast of hoarse-voiced ones has seized you?'

Non ita sus grunnire solet, non tigris iniqua,
    vel tibi clarisoni cederet ira Iovis!
Aspice ut abrepti restinguant lumina somni
    oraque maturus pallida languor aret.'
Dixit et e lecto nixa me volvere dextra
    ausa erat, et thalamum dura negare suum.
Sic vigilem a domina paries seiungit amantem
    securaque potest illa quiete frui.

A sow is not wont to grunt thus, nor would an unequal tigress
    even yield to you, resounding, the anger of Jove!
See how the stolen lights of sleep are quenched
    and how, in due time, pale languor dries the features.'
She spoke, and leaning from the bed with her right hand
    she had dared to roll me away, and the hard woman to deny her bedchamber.
Thus a wall sundered the wakeful lover from his mistress
    and she could enjoy secure quiet.