Ovid: ARS AMATORIA

Dicite 'io Paean!' et 'io' bis dicite 'Paean!'
     Decidit in casses praeda petita meos;
Laetus amans donat viridi mea carmina palma,
     Praelata Ascraeo Maeonioque seni.
Talis ab armiferis Priameius hospes Amyclis

Say 'io Paean!' and say 'io' twice, 'Paean!'
     The sought prey has fallen into my snares;
The joyful lover bestows on my songs the green palm,
     preferred before the Ascraean and the Maeonian old man.
Such, from arms-bearing Amyclae, was the Priamian guest

     Candida cum rapta coniuge vela dedit;
Talis erat qui te curru victore ferebat,
     Vecta peregrinis Hippodamia rotis.
Quid properas, iuvenis? mediis tua pinus in undis
     Navigat, et longe quem peto portus abest.

     With his abducted consort he set white sails;
Such was he who bore you in a victorious chariot,
     Hippodamia, carried on foreign wheels.
Why do you hasten, young man? In the midst of the waves your pine
     Navigates, and the port I seek is far away.

Non satis est venisse tibi me vate puellam:
     Arte mea capta est, arte tenenda mea est.
Nec minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta tueri:
     Casus inest illic; hoc erit artis opus.
Nunc mihi, siquando, puer et Cytherea, favete,

It is not enough that the girl has come to you with me as your poet:
     by my art she was captured; by my art she must be held.
Nor is it a lesser virtue to protect what has been acquired than to seek it:
     there is chance in that; this will be the work of art.
Now for me, if ever, Boy and Cytherea, show favor,

     Nunc Erato, nam tu nomen amoris habes.
Magna paro, quas possit Amor remanere per artes,
     Dicere, tam vasto pervagus orbe puer.
Et levis est, et habet geminas, quibus avolet, alas:
     Difficile est illis inposuisse modum.

     Now, Erato—for you bear the name of Love.
I am preparing great things: to tell by what arts Love may remain,
     the Boy, roaming through so vast an orb.
And he is light, and he has twin wings with which he flies off:
     It is difficult to impose a measure upon them.

Hospitis effugio praestruxerat omnia Minos:
     Audacem pinnis repperit ille viam.
Daedalus ut clausit conceptum crimine matris
     Semibovemque virum semivirumque bovem,
'Sit modus exilio,' dixit 'iustissime Minos:

Minos had prearranged everything against the guest’s escape:
     he found a daring way with wings.
When Daedalus enclosed the one conceived by the mother’s crime,
     a half-bovine man and a half-man bovine,
“Let there be a limit to exile,” he said, “most just Minos:”

     Accipiat cineres terra paterna meos.
Et quoniam in patria, fatis agitatus iniquis,
     Vivere non potui, da mihi posse mori.
Da reditum puero, senis est si gratia vilis:
     Si non vis puero parcere, parce seni.'

     Let the paternal earth receive my ashes.
And since in my fatherland, driven by iniquitous fates,
     I could not live, grant me to be able to die.
Grant return to the boy, if the grace of an old man is cheap;
     If you do not wish to spare the boy, spare the old man.'

Dixerat haec; sed et haec et multo plura licebat
     Dicere: regressus non dabat ille viro.
Quod simul ut sensit, 'nunc, nunc, o Daedale,' dixit:
     'Materiam, qua sis ingeniosus, habes.
Possidet et terras et possidet aequora Minos:

He had said these things; but both these and much more might be said:     he gave no return to the man.
And as soon as he sensed this, “now, now, O Daedalus,” he said:
     “You have material in which you may be ingenious.
Minos possesses both the lands and he possesses the waters:

     Nec tellus nostrae nec patet unda fugae.
Restat iter caeli: caelo temptabimus ire.
     Da veniam coepto, Iupiter alte, meo:
Non ego sidereas adfecto tangere sedes:
     Qua fugiam dominum, nulla, nisi ista, via est.

     Nor earth nor wave lies open for our flight.
The path of heaven remains: we will attempt to go through the sky.
     Grant pardon to my undertaking, Jupiter on high:
I do not aspire to touch the sidereal seats:
     By which I might flee my master, no way exists, unless that one.

Per Styga detur iter, Stygias transnabimus undas;
     Sunt mihi naturae iura novanda meae.'
Ingenium mala saepe movent: quis crederet umquam
     Aerias hominem carpere posse vias?
Remigium volucrum disponit in ordine pinnas,

Let a way be granted through Styx; we shall swim across the Stygian waves;
     The laws of my nature must be renewed for me.'
Troubles often move ingenuity: who would ever believe
     that a human could take the aerial ways?
He arranges in order the feathers, the oarage of birds,

     Et leve per lini vincula nectit opus,
Imaque pars ceris adstringitur igne solutis,
     Finitusque novae iam labor artis erat.
Tractabat ceramque puer pinnasque renidens,
     Nescius haec umeris arma parata suis.

     And he binds the light work with flaxen bonds,
And the lower part is fastened with wax loosened by fire,
     And now the labor of the new art was finished.
The boy, beaming, was handling both the wax and the feathers,
     Unaware that these arms were prepared for his own shoulders.

Cui pater 'his' inquit 'patria est adeunda carinis,
     Hac nobis Minos effugiendus ope.
Aera non potuit Minos, alia omnia clausit;
     Quem licet, inventis aera rumpe meis.
Sed tibi non virgo Tegeaea comesque Bootae

To whom the father says, 'by these keels the fatherland is to be approached,
     By this aid Minos must be escaped by us.
Minos could not [control] the air; he shut all other things;
     Do you, whatever he may [do], cleave the air with my inventions.
But for you neither the Tegean virgin nor the companion of Bootes

     Ensiger Orion aspiciendus erit:
Me pinnis sectare datis; ego praevius ibo:
     Sit tua cura sequi; me duce tutus eris.
Nam sive aetherias vicino sole per auras
     Ibimus, impatiens cera caloris erit:

     The sword-bearing Orion must be looked upon:
Follow me with the wings given; I will go ahead as guide:
     Let it be your care to follow; with me as leader you will be safe.
For whether we go through the ethereal auras near the sun,
     the wax will be impatient of the heat:

Sive humiles propiore freto iactabimus alas,
     Mobilis aequoreis pinna madescet aquis.
Inter utrumque vola; ventos quoque, nate, timeto,
     Quaque ferent aurae, vela secunda dato.'
Dum monet, aptat opus puero, monstratque moveri,

Or if we shall beat our wings low, nearer the sea,
     the mobile pinion will grow wet with sea-waters.
Fly between either; fear also, my son, the winds,
     and wherever the breezes bear, give your sails to the following wind.'
While he admonishes, he fits the work to the boy, and shows how to move,

     Erudit infirmas ut sua mater aves.
Inde sibi factas umeris accommodat alas,
     Perque novum timide corpora librat iter.
Iamque volaturus parvo dedit oscula nato,
     Nec patriae lacrimas continuere genae.

     He trains the feeble birds as their mother does.
Then he accommodates to his shoulders the wings fashioned for himself,
     and through the novel path he timidly poises their bodies.
And now, about to take flight, he gave kisses to his little son,
     nor did his cheeks contain the tears for his fatherland.

Monte minor collis, campis erat altior aequis:
     Hinc data sunt miserae corpora bina fugae.
Et movet ipse suas, et nati respicit alas
     Daedalus, et cursus sustinet usque suos.
Iamque novum delectat iter, positoque timore

A hill, lesser than a mountain, was higher than the level fields:
     From here two bodies were given to the wretched flight.
And he himself moves his own, and looks back at his son’s wings
     Daedalus, and he keeps up his own course all the way.
And now the new path delights, and, with fear set aside

     Icarus audaci fortius arte volat.
Hos aliquis, tremula dum captat arundine pisces,
     Vidit, et inceptum dextra reliquit opus.
Iam Samos a laeva (fuerant Naxosque relictae
     Et Paros et Clario Delos amata deo)

     Icarus flies more boldly by audacious art.
These someone, while he catches fishes with a trembling reed,
     saw, and with his right hand left the begun work.
Now Samos was on the left (and Naxos had been left behind
     and Paros and Delos, beloved by the Clarian god)

Dextra Lebinthos erat silvisque umbrosa Calymne
     Cinctaque piscosis Astypalaea vadis,
Cum puer, incautis nimium temerarius annis,
     Altius egit iter, deseruitque patrem.
Vincla labant, et cera deo propiore liquescit,

To the right was Lebinthos, and Calymne shaded with woods
     and Astypalaea girdled with fish-filled shallows,
When the boy, too rash in his incautious years,
     drove his course higher, and deserted his father.
The fastenings waver, and the wax, with the nearer god, melts,

     Nec tenues ventos brachia mota tenent.
Territus a summo despexit in aequora caelo:
     Nox oculis pavido venit oborta metu.
Tabuerant cerae: nudos quatit ille lacertos,
     Et trepidat nec, quo sustineatur, habet.

     Nor do the tenuous winds sustain his moving arms.
Frightened, he looked down upon the level waters from the summit of the sky:
     Night, risen, came over his eyes in panic-stricken fear.
The wax had melted: he shakes his bare upper arms,
     and he trembles, nor has he anything whereby he may be sustained.

Decidit, atque cadens 'pater, o pater, auferor!' inquit,
     Clauserunt virides ora loquentis aquae.
At pater infelix, nec iam pater, 'Icare!' clamat,
     'Icare,' clamat 'ubi es, quoque sub axe volas?'
'Icare' clamabat, pinnas aspexit in undis.

He fell, and as he fell he said, 'father, o father, I am borne away!',
     the green waters closed the mouth of the one speaking.
But the unhappy father, now no longer a father, cries, 'Icarus!',
     'Icarus,' he cries, 'where are you, and under what axis do you fly?'
'Icarus,' he kept crying; he beheld the feathers on the waves.

     Ossa tegit tellus: aequora nomen habent.
Non potuit Minos hominis conpescere pinnas;
     Ipse deum volucrem detinuisse paro.
Fallitur, Haemonias siquis decurrit ad artes,
     Datque quod a teneri fronte revellit equi.

     The earth covers the bones: the seas hold the name.
Minos could not restrain the wings of the man;
     I myself intend to detain the winged god.
He is deceived, if anyone resorts to Haemonian arts,
     and gives what he plucks from the forehead of a tender horse.

100

Non facient, ut vivat amor, Medeides herbae
     Mixtaque cum magicis nenia Marsa sonis.
Phasias Aesoniden, Circe tenuisset Ulixem,
     Si modo servari carmine posset amor.
Nec data profuerint pallentia philtra puellis:

Medean herbs will not make love live,
     and the Marsian incantation mixed with magic sounds.
The Phasian woman would have held the Aesonid, Circe would have kept Ulysses,
     if only love could be preserved by a charm.
Nor will the pale philtres given to girls have profited:

105

     Philtra nocent animis, vimque furoris habent.
Sit procul omne nefas; ut ameris, amabilis esto:
     Quod tibi non facies solave forma dabit:
Sis licet antiquo Nireus adamatus Homero,
     Naiadumque tener crimine raptus Hylas,

     Philters harm the minds, and have the force of madness.
Let every nefariousness be far away; that you may be loved, be lovable:
     What neither face nor form alone will give you:
Even if you should be Nireus, beloved by ancient Homer,
     and tender Hylas, rapt by the crime of the Naiads,

110

Ut dominam teneas, nec te mirere relictum,
     Ingenii dotes corporis adde bonis.
Forma bonum fragile est, quantumque accedit ad annos
     Fit minor, et spatio carpitur ipsa suo.
Nec violae semper nec hiantia lilia florent,

So that you may hold your mistress, and not marvel to find yourself left behind,
     add the endowments of wit to the goods of the body.
Beauty is a fragile good, and the more it advances toward years
     it grows less, and is itself consumed by its own span.
Nor do violets always, nor wide-gaping lilies, bloom,

115

     Et riget amissa spina relicta rosa.
Et tibi iam venient cani, formose, capilli,
     Iam venient rugae, quae tibi corpus arent.
Iam molire animum, qui duret, et adstrue formae:
     Solus ad extremos permanet ille rogos.

     And the thorn grows rigid, the rose left behind.
And already gray hairs will come to you, handsome one,
     Already wrinkles will come, which parch your body.
Now fashion a spirit that endures, and add to your form:
     He alone persists to the utmost funeral pyres.

120

Nec levis ingenuas pectus coluisse per artes
     Cura sit et linguas edidicisse duas.
Non formosus erat, sed erat facundus Ulixes,
     Et tamen aequoreas torsit amore deas.
A quotiens illum doluit properare Calypso,

Nor let it be a slight Care to have cultivated the breast through the liberal arts,
     and to have thoroughly learned two tongues.
He was not handsome, but Ulysses was eloquent,
     and yet he tormented sea goddesses with love.
Ah, how often did Calypso grieve at his hastening!

125

     Remigioque aptas esse negavit aquas!
Haec Troiae casus iterumque iterumque rogabat:
     Ille referre aliter saepe solebat idem.
Litore constiterant: illic quoque pulchra Calypso
     Exigit Odrysii fata cruenta ducis.

     And she denied that the waters were fit for rowing!
These things—the fall of Troy—she asked again and again:
     He was often wont to relate the same thing otherwise.
They had halted on the shore: there too fair Calypso
     Exacts the bloody fates of the Odrysian leader.

130

Ille levi virga (virgam nam forte tenebat)
     Quod rogat, in spisso litore pingit opus.
'Haec' inquit 'Troia est' (muros in litore fecit):
     'Hic tibi sit Simois; haec mea castra puta.
Campus erat' (campumque facit), 'quem caede Dolonis

He with a light rod (for by chance he was holding a rod)
     What is asked, he paints the work upon the compact shore.
'This,' he says, 'is Troy' (he made walls on the shore):
     'Here for you let the Simois be; reckon these my camp.
There was a plain' (and he makes a plain), 'which by the slaughter of Dolon

135

     Sparsimus, Haemonios dum vigil optat equos.
Illic Sithonii fuerant tentoria Rhesi:
     Hac ego sum captis nocte revectus equis.'
Pluraque pingebat, subitus cum Pergama fluctus
     Abstulit et Rhesi cum duce castra suo.

     We sprinkled it with the slaughter of Dolon, while the wakeful one longs for the Haemonian horses.
There were the tents of Sithonian Rhesus there:
     By this way I was borne back at night with the captured horses.'
And he was drawing more, when a sudden wave carried off Pergama
     and Rhesus’s camp with its leader.

140

Tum dea 'quas' inquit 'fidas tibi credis ituro,
     Perdiderint undae nomina quanta, vides?'
Ergo age, fallaci timide confide figurae,
     Quisquis es, aut aliquid corpore pluris habe.
Dextera praecipue capit indulgentia mentes;

Then the goddess says, 'Those whom you believe faithful to you as you are about to go,
     do you see how many great names the waves have destroyed?'
Therefore come, timidly trust in a fallacious appearance,
     whoever you are, have something of more value than your body.
The right hand’s indulgence especially captures minds;

145

     Asperitas odium saevaque bella movet.
Odimus accipitrem, quia vivit semper in armis,
     Et pavidum solitos in pecus ire lupos.
At caret insidiis hominum, quia mitis, hirundo,
     Quasque colat turres, Chaonis ales habet.

     Harshness stirs up hatred and savage wars.
We hate the hawk, because he lives always in arms,
     and the wolves accustomed to go into the timorous flock.
But the swallow, because gentle, is free from the snares of men,
     and the Chaonian bird has whatever towers she may inhabit.

150

Este procul, lites et amarae proelia linguae:
     Dulcibus est verbis mollis alendus amor.
Lite fugent nuptaeque viros nuptasque mariti,
     Inque vicem credant res sibi semper agi;
Hoc decet uxores; dos est uxoria lites:

Be far away, quarrels and bitter battles of the tongue:
     With sweet words soft love must be nourished.
By quarrel let wives drive away husbands, and husbands drive away wives,
     and in turn let each believe the matter is always being done on their own behalf;
This befits wives; a wife's dowry is quarrels:

155

     Audiat optatos semper amica sonos.
Non legis iussu lectum venistis in unum:
     Fungitur in vobis munere legis amor.
Blanditias molles auremque iuvantia verba
     Adfer, ut adventu laeta sit illa tuo.

     Let the beloved always hear the desired sounds.
You did not come into one bed by the order of the law:
     Love performs, for you, the office of the law.
Bring soft blandishments and words that please the ear
     so that she may be glad at your advent.

160

Non ego divitibus venio praeceptor amandi:
     Nil opus est illi, qui dabit, arte mea;
Secum habet ingenium, qui, cum libet, 'accipe' dicit;
     Cedimus: inventis plus placet ille meis.
Pauperibus vates ego sum, quia pauper amavi;

I do not come to the wealthy as a preceptor of loving:
     There is no need for that man, who will give, of my art;
He has ingenuity with him, who, whenever it pleases, says, 'accept!';
     We yield: he pleases more than my inventions.
I am a vatic poet for the poor, because poor I have loved;

165

     Cum dare non possem munera, verba dabam.
Pauper amet caute: timeat maledicere pauper,
     Multaque divitibus non patienda ferat.
Me memini iratum dominae turbasse capillos:
     Haec mihi quam multos abstulit ira dies!

     Since I could not give gifts, I gave words.
Let the poor man love cautiously: let the poor man fear to speak ill,
     and let him bear many things not to be borne by the rich.
I remember that, in my ire, I disheveled my mistress’s hair:
     How many days this ire took from me!

170

Nec puto, nec sensi tunicam laniasse; sed ipsa
     Dixerat, et pretio est illa redempta meo.
At vos, si sapitis, vestri peccata magistri
     Effugite, et culpae damna timete meae.
Proelia cum Parthis, cum culta pax sit amica,

I neither think, nor did I sense, that I had torn the tunic; but she herself
     had said so, and that garment was redeemed at my price.
But you, if you are wise, escape the sins of your teacher,
     and fear the damages of my fault.
Battles with the Parthians, while cultivated peace is amicable,

175

     Et iocus, et causas quicquid amoris habet.
Si nec blanda satis, nec erit tibi comis amanti,
     Perfer et obdura: postmodo mitis erit.
Flectitur obsequio curvatus ab arbore ramus:
     Frangis, si vires experiere tuas.

     Both jest, and whatever causes love has.
If she be neither bland enough nor gracious to you, a lover,
     Endure and be obdurate: afterward she will be gentle.
A branch is bent by compliance, bowed away from the tree:
     You break it, if you test your forces.

180

Obsequio tranantur aquae: nec vincere possis
     Flumina, si contra, quam rapit unda, nates.
Obsequium tigresque domat Numidasque leones;
     Rustica paulatim taurus aratra subit.
Quid fuit asperius Nonacrina Atalanta?

By compliance the waters are crossed; nor can you conquer
     rivers, if you swim against where the wave carries.
Compliance tames even tigers and Numidian lions;
     the rustic bull gradually submits to the ploughs.
What was harsher than Nonacrian Atalanta?

185

     Succubuit meritis trux tamen illa viri.
Saepe suos casus nec mitia facta puellae
     Flesse sub arboribus Milaniona ferunt;
Saepe tulit iusso fallacia retia collo,
     Saepe fera torvos cuspide fixit apros:

     Yet that truculent girl succumbed to the man’s merits.
They report that Milanion often wept beneath the trees
     over his misfortunes and the not gentle deeds of the girl;
Often, when ordered, he carried the fallacious nets on his neck,
     Often he fixed grim boars with his spear-point:

190

Sensit et Hylaei contentum saucius arcum:
     Sed tamen hoc arcu notior alter erat.
Non te Maenalias armatum scandere silvas,
     Nec iubeo collo retia ferre tuo:
Pectora nec missis iubeo praebere sagittis;

Hylaeus too, wounded, felt the drawn bow:
     But yet by this bow another was more noted.
I do not bid you, armed, to climb the Maenalian forests,
     nor do I order you to carry nets upon your neck:
nor do I bid you to offer your breast to loosed arrows;

195

     Artis erunt cauto mollia iussa meae.
Cede repugnanti: cedendo victor abibis:
     Fac modo, quas partes illa iubebit, agas.
Arguet, arguito; quicquid probat illa, probato;
     Quod dicet, dicas; quod negat illa, neges.

     The commands of my art will be gentle for the cautious.
Yield to one resisting: by yielding you will go away the victor:
     Only do the parts which she bids you to play.
She will find fault; find fault; whatever she approves, approve;
     What she says, say; what she denies, deny.

200

Riserit, adride; si flebit, flere memento;
     Imponat leges vultibus illa tuis.
Seu ludet, numerosque manu iactabit eburnos,
     Tu male iactato, tu male iacta dato:
Seu iacies talos, victam ne poena sequatur,

Should she have laughed, smile back; if she weeps, remember to weep;
     Let her impose laws upon your countenance.
Whether she plays, and with her hand will toss the ivory numbers,
     You, when the throw is poor, you, give poor throws:
Or if you cast knucklebones, let no penalty follow the vanquished,

205

     Damnosi facito stent tibi saepe canes:
Sive latrocinii sub imagine calculus ibit,
     Fac pereat vitreo miles ab hoste tuus.
Ipse tene distenta suis umbracula virgis,
     Ipse fac in turba, qua venit illa, locum.

     See to it that the ruinous “dogs” often stand for you:
Or if the counter will go under the image of latrociny,
     See to it that your soldier perish by a glassy enemy.
Yourself hold the umbrella stretched out by its own rods,
     Yourself make room in the crowd, where she comes.

210

Nec dubita tereti scamnum producere lecto,
     Et tenero soleam deme vel adde pedi.
Saepe etiam dominae, quamvis horrebis et ipse,
     Algenti manus est calfacienda sinu.
Nec tibi turpe puta (quamvis sit turpe, placebit),

Nor hesitate to draw forth a stool for the polished couch,
     And from the tender foot remove or add the sandal.
Often even for the mistress, although you yourself will shudder,
     Her cold hand must be warmed in your bosom.
Nor think it shameful (although it is shameful, it will please),

215

     Ingenua speculum sustinuisse manu.
Ille, fatigata praebendo monstra noverca
     Qui meruit caelum, quod prior ipse tulit,
Inter Ioniacas calathum tenuisse puellas
     Creditur, et lanas excoluisse rudes.

     A freeborn maiden has held a mirror in her hand.
He, by presenting monsters to his wearied stepmother,
     merited heaven, which he himself earlier bore,
is believed to have held a basket among Ionian girls
     and to have refined raw wool.

220

Paruit imperio dominae Tirynthius heros:
     I nunc et dubita ferre, quod ille tulit.
Iussus adesse foro, iussa maturius hora
     Fac semper venias, nec nisi serus abi.
Occurras aliquo, tibi dixerit: omnia differ,

The Tirynthian hero obeyed his mistress’s command:
     Go now and hesitate to bear what he bore.
When bidden to be present at the forum, earlier than the appointed hour
     see that you always come, and depart only late.
If you should meet someone, should she say to you, “Put everything off,”

225

     Curre, nec inceptum turba moretur iter.
Nocte domum repetens epulis perfuncta redibit:
     Tum quoque pro servo, si vocat illa, veni.
Rure erit, et dicet 'venias': Amor odit inertes:
     Si rota defuerit, tu pede carpe viam.                230
Nec grave te tempus sitiensque Canicula tardet,
     Nec via per iactas candida facta nives.

     Run, and let not the crowd delay the begun journey.
At night, returning home, having finished with banquets, she will return:
     Then too, come as a slave, if she calls.
She will be in the countryside, and will say 'come': Love hates the inert:
     If the wheel is lacking, seize the road by foot.                230
Nor let the season and the thirsting Dog-star delay you,
     Nor the road made white through scattered snows.

Militiae species amor est; discedite, segnes:
Non sunt haec timidis signa tuenda viris.
Nox et hiems longaeque viae saevique dolores

Love is a species of military service; depart, sluggards:
These standards are not to be guarded by timid men.
Night and winter and long roads and savage pains

235

     Mollibus his castris et labor omnis inest.
Saepe feres imbrem caelesti nube solutum,
     Frigidus et nuda saepe iacebis humo.
Cynthius Admeti vaccas pavisse Pheraei
     Fertur, et in parva delituisse casa.

     In these soft encampments too every labor is present.
Often you will bear a shower loosed from a celestial cloud,
     and, cold, you will often lie on the bare ground.
Cynthian Apollo is said to have pastured the cows of Admetus of Pherae,
     and to have hidden in a small cottage.

240

Quod Phoebum decuit, quem non decet? exue fastus,
     Curam mansuri quisquis amoris habes.
Si tibi per tutum planumque negabitur ire,
     Atque erit opposita ianua fulta sera,
At tu per praeceps tecto delabere aperto:

What befitted Phoebus, whom does it not befit? doff your haughtiness,
     whoever has the care of a love that is to endure.
If it is denied you to go by the safe and level way,
     and the door, set against you, will be braced with a bolt,
But you, headlong, slip down from the opened roof:

245

     Det quoque furtivas alta fenestra vias.
Laeta erit, et causam tibi se sciet esse pericli;
     Hoc dominae certi pignus amoris erit.
Saepe tua poteras, Leandre, carere puella:
     Transnabas, animum nosset ut illa tuum.

     Let the high window also grant furtive ways.
She will be glad, and she will know herself to be for you the cause of peril;
     This will be for the mistress a pledge of certain love.
Often you could, Leander, do without your girl:
     You swam across, that she might know your mind.

250

Nec pudor ancillas, ut quaeque erit ordine prima,
     Nec tibi sit servos demeruisse pudor.
Nomine quemque suo (nulla est iactura) saluta,
     Iunge tuis humiles, ambitiose, manus.
Sed tamen et servo (levis est inpensa) roganti

Let there be no shame at the handmaids, whichever shall be first in order,
     Nor let it be a shame for you to have won favor with the slaves.
Salute each by his own name (there is no loss),
     Join the humble hands to your own, ambitious one.
But yet even to a slave (the expense is light) asking

255

     Porrige Fortunae munera parva die:
Porrige et ancillae, qua poenas luce pependit
     Lusa maritali Gallica veste manus.
Fac plebem, mihi crede, tuam; sit semper in illa
     Ianitor et thalami qui iacet ante fores.

     Proffer to Fortune small gifts on her day:
Proffer also to the maid, on the day when her hand paid penalties
     tricked by the marital Gallic garment.
Make the plebs, believe me, yours; let there always be in it
     the janitor and he of the bedchamber who lies before the doors.

260

Nec dominam iubeo pretioso munere dones:
     Parva, sed e parvis callidus apta dato.
Dum bene dives ager, cum rami pondere nutant,
     Adferat in calatho rustica dona puer.
Rure suburbano poteris tibi dicere missa,

Nor do I bid you to present your lady with a precious gift:
     Small things, but from small things, being shrewd, give what is apt.
While the field is truly rich, when the branches nod with weight,
     let a boy bring rustic gifts in a basket.
You will be able to say they were sent to you from a suburban countryside farm,

265

     Illa vel in Sacra sint licet empta via.
Adferat aut uvas, aut quas Amaryllis amabat++
     At nunc castaneas non amat illa nuces.
Quin etiam turdoque licet missaque columba
     Te memorem dominae testificere tuae.

     Let them even be bought on the Sacred Way.
Let him bring either grapes, or those which Amaryllis loved++
     But now she does not love chestnuts.
Nay, even by a thrush and a dove you have sent
     you may testify that you are mindful of your mistress.

270

Turpiter his emitur spes mortis et orba senectus.
A, pereant, per quos munera crimen habent!
Quid tibi praecipiam teneros quoque mittere versus?

Shamefully by these are bought the hope of death and a bereft old age.
Ah, let them perish, through whom gifts become a crime!
What should I prescribe to you—to send tender verses as well?

Ei mihi, non multum carmen honoris habet.
Carmina laudantur, sed munera magna petuntur:

Ah me, the poem does not have much honor.
Poems are lauded, but great gifts are sought:

275

     Dummodo sit dives, barbarus ipse placet.
Aurea sunt vere nunc saecula: plurimus auro
     Venit honos: auro conciliatur amor.
Ipse licet venias Musis comitatus, Homere,
     Si nihil attuleris, ibis, Homere, foras.

     So long as he is rich, even a barbarian himself pleases.
Golden are truly now the ages: the most honor
     comes by gold; by gold love is conciliated.
Even if you yourself should come accompanied by the Muses, Homer,
     if you bring nothing, you will go out, Homer.

280

Sunt tamen et doctae, rarissima turba, puellae;
     Altera non doctae turba, sed esse volunt.
Utraque laudetur per carmina: carmina lector
     Commendet dulci qualiacumque sono;
His ergo aut illis vigilatum carmen in ipsas

There are, however, learned girls too, a most rare crowd;
     The other a crowd not learned, but they wish to be.
Let each be praised through poems: reader,
     let the reader commend the poems, whatever their kind, with a sweet sound;
Therefore, for these or for those, a vigil-crafted song upon those very ones

285

     Forsitan exigui muneris instar erit.
At quod eris per te facturus, et utile credis,
     Id tua te facito semper amica roget.
Libertas alicui fuerit promissa tuorum:
     Hanc tamen a domina fac petat ille tua:

     Perhaps it will be the token of a slight gift.
But what you intend to do on your own, and deem useful,
     See to it that your girlfriend always asks you for that.
Liberty shall have been promised to someone of your household:
     Nevertheless have him seek this from your mistress:

290

Si poenam servo, si vincula saeva remittis,
     Quod facturus eras, debeat illa tibi:
Utilitas tua sit, titulus donetur amicae:
     Perde nihil, partes illa potentis agat.
Sed te, cuicumque est retinendae cura puellae,

If you remit punishment to a slave, if you release savage chains,
     what you were about to do, let her owe to you:
Let the benefit be yours, let the credit be bestowed on the mistress:
     lose nothing; let her play the part of the powerful.
But you, whoever has the concern of retaining the girl,

295

Attonitum forma fac putet esse sua.
Sive erit in Tyriis, Tyrios laudabis amictus:
Sive erit in Cois, Coa decere puta.
Aurata est?

Make her think you are thunderstruck by her beauty.
Whether she is in Tyrian, you will praise Tyrian garments:
Whether she is in Coan, think Coan attire to be becoming. Is she gilded?

ipso tibi sit pretiosior auro;
Gausapa si sumpsit, gausapa sumpta proba.

let her be to you more precious than the gold itself;
Gausapa if she has donned, approve the gausapa donned.

300

Astiterit tunicata, 'moves incendia' clama,
     Sed timida, caveat frigora, voce roga.
Conpositum discrimen erit, discrimina lauda:
     Torserit igne comam, torte capille, place.
Brachia saltantis, vocem mirare canentis,

If the tunic-clad woman has taken her stand, shout, 'you set fires ablaze,'
     but timidly, with cautious voice, ask that she beware the cold.
When the parting is arranged, praise the partings:
     if she has twisted her hair by fire, 'twisted-haired one, be pleasing.'
Admire the arms of the dancer, the voice of the singer,

305

     Et, quod desierit, verba querentis habe.
Ipsos concubitus, ipsum venerere licebit
     Quod iuvat, et quae dat gaudia voce notes.
Ut fuerit torva violentior illa Medusa,
     Fiet amatori lenis et aequa suo.

     And have words complaining that she has stopped.
You may venerate the couplings themselves, the act itself,
     and with your voice note what pleases, and what joys it gives.
Even if she has been more violent than grim Medusa,
     she will become lenient and fair to her lover.

310

Tantum, ne pateas verbis simulator in illis,
     Effice, nec vultu destrue dicta tuo.
Si latet, ars prodest: adfert deprensa pudorem,
     Atque adimit merito tempus in omne fidem.
Saepe sub autumnum, cum formosissimus annus,

Only, see to it that you do not betray yourself as a dissembler in those words,
     bring it about, and do not with your face destroy your words.
If it lies hidden, the art profits: when caught it brings shame,
     and deservedly it takes away trust for all time.
Often under autumn, when the year is most beautiful,

315

     Plenaque purpureo subrubet uva mero,
Cum modo frigoribus premimur, modo solvimur aestu,
     Aere non certo, corpora languor habet.
Illa quidem valeat; sed si male firma cubarit,
     Et vitium caeli senserit aegra sui,

     And the full grape reddens with purple wine,
When now we are pressed by frigidity, now we are loosened by heat,
     In an uncertain air, languor holds the bodies.
Let her indeed be well; but if, not firm, she has lain abed,
     And, ailing, has sensed the defect of her own climate,

320

Tunc amor et pietas tua sit manifesta puellae,
     Tum sere, quod plena postmodo falce metas.
Nec tibi morosi veniant fastidia morbi,
     Perque tuas fiant, quae sinet ipsa, manus.
Et videat flentem, nec taedeat oscula ferre,

Then let your love and piety be made manifest to the girl,
     Then sow what thereafter you will reap with a full sickle.
Nor let the fastidiousness of a morose malady come to you,
     And let the things which she herself will allow be done through your hands.
And let her see you weeping, nor let it be tedious to bring kisses,

325

     Et sicco lacrimas conbibat ore tuas.
Multa vove, sed cuncta palam; quotiesque libebit,
     Quae referas illi, somnia laeta vide.
Et veniat, quae lustret anus lectumque locumque,
     Praeferat et tremula sulpur et ova manu.

     And with a dry mouth let him drink down your tears.
Vow many things, but all openly; and as often as it shall please,
     see happy dreams which you may relate to her.
And let there come an old woman who may lustrate both the bed and the place,
     and let her bear before both sulphur and eggs with a trembling hand.

330

Omnibus his inerunt gratae vestigia curae:
     In tabulas multis haec via fecit iter.
Nec tamen officiis odium quaeratur ab aegra:
     Sit suus in blanda sedulitate modus:
Neve cibo prohibe, nec amari pocula suci

In all these there will be the traces of welcome care:
     This route has made its way onto the tablets for many.
And yet let not odium be sought from the ailing woman by your kind offices:
     Let there be a proper measure in winning sedulity:
And neither prohibit her from food, nor the cups of bitter juice

335

     Porrige: rivalis misceat illa tuus.
Sed non cui dederas a litore carbasa vento,
     Utendum, medio cum potiere freto.
Dum novus errat amor, vires sibi colligat usu:
     Si bene nutrieris, tempore firmus erit.

     Proffer them: let your rival mix those.
But do not, to the wind to which from the shore you had given your canvas,
     use another, when you gain the mid-sea.
While love is new and wandering, let it gather vigor for itself by use:
     If you have nourished it well, in time it will be firm.

340

Quem taurum metuis, vitulum mulcere solebas:
     Sub qua nunc recubas arbore, virga fuit:
Nascitur exiguus, sed opes adquirit eundo,
     Quaque venit, multas accipit amnis aquas.
Fac tibi consuescat: nil adsuetudine maius:

The bull you fear, you used to stroke as a calf:
     The tree under which you now recline was once a twig:
It is born small, but acquires opulence by going,
     And wherever it comes, the river receives many waters.
Make it become accustomed to you: nothing greater than habituation:

345

     Quam tu dum capias, taedia nulla fuge.
Te semper videat, tibi semper praebeat aures;
     Exhibeat vultus noxque diesque tuos.
Cum tibi maior erit fiducia, posse requiri,
     Cum procul absenti cura futurus eris,

     While you are trying to capture her, shun no tedium.
Let her always see you; let her always lend you her ears;
     Let night and day exhibit your face.
When a greater confidence will be yours—that you can be missed—,
     when, far away, absent, you will be a care,

350

Da requiem: requietus ager bene credita reddit,
     Terraque caelestes arida sorbet aquas.
Phyllida Demophoon praesens moderatius ussit:
     Exarsit velis acrius illa datis.
Penelopen absens sollers torquebat Ulixes;

Give respite: a rested field returns well what was entrusted,
     and the dry earth swallows the celestial waters.
Demophoon, present, scorched Phyllis more moderately:
     she flared up more fiercely with the sails given.
Clever Ulysses, absent, was tormenting Penelope;

355

     Phylacides aberat, Laodamia, tuus.
Sed mora tuta brevis: lentescunt tempore curae,
     Vanescitque absens et novus intrat amor.
Dum Menelaus abest, Helene, ne sola iaceret,
     Hospitis est tepido nocte recepta sinu.

     Phylacides was away, Laodamia, your own.
But a brief delay is safe: cares grow slack with time,
     and the absent love vanishes and a new love enters.
While Menelaus was away, Helen, lest she lie alone,
     she was received into the warm bosom of a guest by night.

360

Quis stupor hic, Menelae, fuit? tu solus abibas,
Isdem sub tectis hospes et uxor erant.
Accipitri timidas credis, furiose, columbas?

What stupor was this, Menelaus? you alone were departing,
Under the same roof the guest and your wife were.
Do you entrust timid doves to a hawk, madman?

Plenum montano credis ovile lupo?
Nil Helene peccat, nihil hic committit adulter:

Do you entrust the full sheepfold to a mountain wolf?
Helen sins nothing, the adulterer commits nothing here:

365

Quod tu, quod faceret quilibet, ille facit.
Cogis adulterium dando tempusque locumque;
Quid nisi consilio est usa puella tuo?
Quid faciat?

What you—what anyone would do—he does.
You compel adultery by giving both time and place;
What has the girl used except your counsel?
What is she to do?

vir abest, et adest non rusticus hospes,
Et timet in vacuo sola cubare toro.

the husband is away, and a guest not rustic is present,
And she fears to lie alone on an empty bed.

370

Viderit Atrides: Helenen ego crimine solvo:
     Usa est humani commoditate viri.
Sed neque fulvus aper media tam saevus in ira est,
     Fulmineo rabidos cum rotat ore canes,
Nec lea, cum catulis lactentibus ubera praebet,

Let the Atride see to it: I absolve Helen of the charge:
     She availed herself of the convenience of a human husband.
But neither is the tawny boar so savage in the midst of wrath,
     when with a lightning-like mouth he whirls the rabid dogs,
Nor the lioness, when she offers her teats to her suckling cubs,

375

     Nec brevis ignaro vipera laesa pede,
Femina quam socii deprensa paelice lecti:
     Ardet et in vultu pignora mentis habet.
In ferrum flammasque ruit, positoque decore
     Fertur, ut Aonii cornibus icta dei.

     Nor is a viper, wounded by an unknowing foot, any slight thing,
A woman caught with the concubine of the shared bed:
     She burns, and in her face she bears the tokens of her mind.
She rushes upon iron and flames, and, her comeliness set aside,
     She is carried, as if smitten by the horns of the Aonian god.

380

Coniugis admissum violataque iura marita est
     Barbara per natos Phasias ulta suos.
Altera dira parens haec est, quam cernis, hirundo:
     Aspice, signatum sanguine pectus habet.
Hoc bene compositos, hoc firmos solvit amores;

The offense of her husband and the violated marital rights the barbarian Phasian woman avenged through her own sons.
The other dire parent is this, the swallow you behold:
Behold, it has a breast marked with blood.
This undoes well-composed loves, this loosens firm loves;

385

Crimina sunt cautis ista timenda viris.
Nec mea vos uni damnat censura puellae:
Di melius! vix hoc nupta tenere potest.

These crimes are to be feared by cautious men.
Nor does my censure condemn you to a single girl:
Gods, better! scarcely can a wedded woman keep to this.

Ludite, sed furto celetur culpa modesto:
Gloria peccati nulla petenda sui est.

Play, but let the fault be concealed by modest stealth:
No glory for the sin itself is to be sought.

390

Nec dederis munus, cognosse quod altera possit,
     Nec sint nequitiae tempora certa tuae.
Et, ne te capiat latebris sibi femina notis,
     Non uno est omnis convenienda loco;
Et quotiens scribes, totas prius ipse tabellas

Nor should you give a gift which another woman could come to know,
     Nor let there be fixed times for your wantonness.
And, lest a woman catch you in hiding-places known to herself,
     Do not be to be met in a single place;
And as often as you write, first yourself the whole tablets

395

     Inspice: plus multae, quam sibi missa, legunt.
Laesa Venus iusta arma movet, telumque remittit,
     Et, modo quod questa est, ipse querare, facit.
Dum fuit Atrides una contentus, et illa
     Casta fuit: vitio est improba facta viri.

     Look: many women read more than what was sent to them.
Offended Venus stirs just arms, and sends the missile back,
     and makes it that you yourself complain of what she just now complained of.
While Atrides was content with one, and she
     was chaste: by the man’s fault she was made shameless.

400

Audierat laurumque manu vittasque ferentem
     Pro nata Chrysen non valuisse sua:
Audierat, Lyrnesi, tuos, abducta, dolores,
     Bellaque per turpis longius isse moras.
Haec tamen audierat: Priameida viderat ipsa:

She had heard that, carrying laurel and fillets in his hand,
     Chryses, for his daughter, had not prevailed with his own emblems:
She had heard, O Lyrnessus, your sorrows, once abducted,
     and that the wars had gone on longer through shameful delays.
These things, however, she had heard: she herself had seen the son of Priam:

405

     Victor erat praedae praeda pudenda suae.
Inde Thyestiaden animo thalamoque recepit,
     Et male peccantem Tyndaris ulta virum.
Quae bene celaris, siqua tamen acta patebunt,
     Illa, licet pateant, tu tamen usque nega.

     The victor was the shameful prey of his own prey.
Then she received the Thyestiad into her mind and bedchamber,
     and the Tyndarid, having avenged herself on her badly-sinning husband.
What things you hide well—if any deeds nevertheless shall come to light—
     those, though they be laid open, you still ever deny.

410

Tum neque subiectus, solito nec blandior esto:
     Haec animi multum signa nocentis habent:
Sed lateri ne parce tuo: pax omnis in uno est;
     Concubitu prior est infitianda venus.
Sunt, qui praecipiant herbas, satureia, nocentes

Then be neither submissive, nor more bland than usual:
     These bear greatly the marks of a guilty mind:
But do not spare your own side: all peace is in one;
     In concubitus, venus is to be denied first.
There are those who prescribe herbs—satureia—harmful

415

     Sumere; iudiciis ista venena meis;
Aut piper urticae mordacis semine miscent,
     Tritaque in annoso flava pyrethra mero;
Sed dea non patitur sic ad sua gaudia cogi,
     Colle sub umbroso quam tenet altus Eryx.

     to take; in my judgment these are poisons;
Or they mix pepper with the seed of the mordacious nettle,
     and yellow pyrethrum ground in aged wine;
But the goddess does not allow thus to be coerced to her joys,
     whom lofty Eryx holds beneath its shady hill.

420

Candidus, Alcathoi qui mittitur urbe Pelasga,
     Bulbus et, ex horto quae venit, herba salax
Ovaque sumantur, sumantur Hymettia mella,
     Quasque tulit folio pinus acuta nuces.
Docta, quid ad magicas, Erato, deverteris artes?

The white bulb, which is sent from the Pelasgian city of Alcathous,
     and, from the garden, the salacious herb;
and let eggs be taken, let Hymettian honey be taken,
     and the nuts which the sharp pine has borne in its leaf.
Learned one, Erato, why do you turn aside to magical arts?

425

     Interior curru meta terenda meo est.
Qui modo celabas monitu tua crimina nostro,
     Flecte iter, et monitu detege furta meo.
Nec levitas culpanda mea est: non semper eodem
     Impositos vento panda carina vehit.

     The inner turning-post must be worn down by my chariot.
You who just now were concealing your crimes at my monition,
     Bend your course, and at my monition uncover your thefts.
Nor is my levity to be blamed: not always with the same
     wind does the curved keel carry those set on board.

430

Nam modo Threicio Borea, modo currimus Euro,
     Saepe tument Zephyro lintea, saepe Noto.
Aspice, ut in curru modo det fluitantia rector
     Lora, modo admissos arte retentet equos.
Sunt quibus ingrate timida indulgentia servit,

For now with Thracian Boreas, now we run with Eurus,
     Often the sails swell with Zephyr, often with Notus.
Look how, in the chariot, now the driver gives loose the flowing reins,
     now with art he holds back the unleashed horses.
There are those for whom timid indulgence serves thanklessly,

435

     Et, si nulla subest aemula, languet amor.
Luxuriant animi rebus plerumque secundis,
     Nec facile est aequa commoda mente pati.
Ut levis absumptis paulatim viribus ignis
     Ipse latet, summo canet in igne cinis,

     And, if no rival is present, love grows languid.
Minds luxuriate for the most part in favorable circumstances,
     nor is it easy to endure advantages with an even mind.
As a light fire, its strength gradually consumed,
     hides itself, the ash will be white on the surface of the fire,

440

Sed tamen extinctas admoto sulpure flammas
     Invenit, et lumen, quod fuit ante, redit:
Sic, ubi pigra situ securaque pectora torpent,
     Acribus est stimulis eliciendus amor.
Fac timeat de te, tepidamque recalface mentem:

But yet, with sulfur brought near, he finds the extinguished flames
     and the light, which was before, returns:
Thus, when hearts sluggish from disuse and secure grow torpid,
     love must be elicited by sharp stimuli.
Make her fear about you, and rewarm the tepid mind:

445

     Palleat indicio criminis illa tui;
O quater et quotiens numero conprendere non est
     Felicem, de quo laesa puella dolet:
Quae, simul invitas crimen pervenit ad aures,
     Excidit, et miserae voxque colorque fugit.

     Let her grow pale at the indication of your crime;
O four times and as often as it cannot be comprehended by number,
     happy the man, about whom the offended girl sorrows:
Who, as soon as the charge reaches her unwilling ears,
     falls away, and from the wretched one both voice and color flee.

450

Ille ego sim, cuius laniet furiosa capillos:
     Ille ego sim, teneras cui petat ungue genas,
Quem videat lacrimans, quem torvis spectet ocellis,
     Quo sine non possit vivere, posse velit.
Si spatium quaeras, breve sit, quo laesa queratur,

Let me be he, whose locks the furious one may lacerate:
     let me be he, at whose tender cheeks she may aim with her nail,
whom she may see in tears, whom she may regard with grim little eyes,
     without whom she could not live, yet would wish to be able.
If you seek an interval, let it be brief, in which, aggrieved, she may complain,

455

     Ne lenta vires colligat ira mora;
Candida iamdudum cingantur colla lacertis,
     Inque tuos flens est accipienda sinus.
Oscula da flenti, Veneris da gaudia flenti,
     Pax erit: hoc uno solvitur ira modo.

     Lest anger gather strength from a lingering delay;
Let the fair neck be straightway encircled with your arms,
     and weeping she must be received into your embrace.
Give kisses to the weeping one, give the joys of Venus to the weeping one,
     There will be peace: in this one way anger is dissolved.

460

Cum bene saevierit, cum certa videbitur hostis,
     Tum pete concubitus foedera, mitis erit.
Illic depositis habitat Concordia telis:
     Illo, crede mihi, Gratia nata loco est.
Quae modo pugnarunt, iungunt sua rostra columbae,

When she has raged enough, when the enemy will seem certain,
     then seek the treaties of coupling; she will be mild.
There, with weapons laid aside, Concord dwells:
     in that place, believe me, Grace was born.
The doves that just now fought join their beaks,

465

     Quarum blanditias verbaque murmur habet.
Prima fuit rerum confusa sine ordine moles,
     Unaque erat facies sidera, terra, fretum;
Mox caelum impositum terris, humus aequore cincta est
     Inque suas partes cessit inane chaos;

     whose murmur holds their blandishments and words.
At first there was a confused mass of things without order,
     and there was one aspect—stars, earth, and sea;
Soon the heaven was set upon the lands, the ground was girdled by the level sea,
     and into its own parts the empty Chaos withdrew;

470

Silva feras, volucres aer accepit habendas,
     In liquida, pisces, delituistis aqua.
Tum genus humanum solis errabat in agris,
     Idque merae vires et rude corpus erat;
Silva domus fuerat, cibus herba, cubilia frondes:

The forest received the wild beasts to be harbored, the air took the birds to be kept,
     In the liquid water, fishes, you hid yourselves.
Then the human race was wandering in the lonely fields,
     and it was mere might and a rude body;
The forest had been home, food the herb, couches the leaves:

475

     Iamque diu nulli cognitus alter erat.
Blanda truces animos fertur mollisse voluptas:
     Constiterant uno femina virque loco;
Quid facerent, ipsi nullo didicere magistro:
     Arte Venus nulla dulce peregit opus.

     And for a long time each was unknown to the other.
Blandishing voluptuousness is said to have softened savage spirits:
     The woman and the man had stood in one place;
What they should do, they themselves learned with no teacher:
     By no art did Venus complete the sweet work.

480

Ales habet, quod amet; cum quo sua gaudia iungat,
     Invenit in media femina piscis aqua;
Cerva parem sequitur, serpens serpente tenetur,
     Haeret adulterio cum cane nexa canis;
Laeta salitur ovis: tauro quoque laeta iuvenca est:

The bird has what it may love; with whom to join its joys,
     The female fish finds [a mate] in mid-water;
The hind follows a peer, the serpent is held by a serpent,
     The bitch clings, bound in adultery, with the dog;
The ewe is leapt upon, glad: the heifer too is glad with the bull:

485

     Sustinet inmundum sima capella marem;
In furias agitantur equae, spatioque remota
     Per loca dividuos amne sequuntur equos.
Ergo age et iratae medicamina fortia praebe:
     Illa feri requiem sola doloris habent:

     The snub-nosed she-goat sustains the unclean male;
Into furies the mares are driven, and, though space separates,
     Across places they follow the horses divided by a river.
Therefore come, and provide strong medicaments for the enraged:
     Those alone have respite from savage pain:

490

Illa Machaonios superant medicamina sucos:
     His, ubi peccaris, restituendus eris.
Haec ego cum canerem, subito manifestus Apollo
     Movit inauratae pollice fila lyrae.
In manibus laurus, sacris inducta capillis

Those remedies surpass Machaonian juices:
     By these, when you have erred, you will be restored.
As I was singing these things, suddenly manifest Apollo
     moved with his thumb the strings of his gilded lyre.
In his hands laurel, wreathed upon his sacred hair

495

     Laurus erat; vates ille videndus adit.
Is mihi 'Lascivi' dixit 'praeceptor Amoris,
     Duc, age, discipulos ad mea templa tuos,
Est ubi diversum fama celebrata per orbem
     Littera, cognosci quae sibi quemque iubet.

     It was laurel; that seer, to be beheld, approaches.
He said to me, 'Preceptor of Lascivious Love,
     Lead, come, your disciples to my temples,
There is where a Letter, celebrated by fame through the orb,
     in a diverse tongue, bids that each be known to himself.'

500

Qui sibi notus erit, solus sapienter amabit,
     Atque opus ad vires exiget omne suas.
Cui faciem natura dedit, spectetur ab illa:
     Cui color est, umero saepe patente cubet:
Qui sermone placet, taciturna silentia vitet:

He who is known to himself, he alone will love wisely,
     And will exact every work according to his own powers.
To whom Nature has given a face, let him be looked at for it:
     He who has color, let him often recline with shoulder laid open:
He who pleases by discourse, let him avoid taciturn silences:

505

     Qui canit arte, canat; qui bibit arte, bibat.
Sed neque declament medio sermone diserti,
     Nec sua non sanus scripta poeta legat!'
Sic monuit Phoebus: Phoebo parete monenti;
     Certa dei sacro est huius in ore fides.

     Let him who sings with art, sing; let him who drinks with art, drink.
But let not the eloquent declaim in the midst of conversation,
     Nor let a poet, not sane, read his own writings!'
Thus Phoebus admonished: obey Phoebus as he admonishes;
     Sure is the trust of the god in this sacred mouth.

510

Ad propiora vocor. Quisquis sapienter amabit
     Vincet, et e nostra, quod petet, arte feret.
Credita non semper sulci cum faenore reddunt,
     Nec semper dubias adiuvat aura rates;
Quod iuvat, exiguum, plus est, quod laedat amantes;

I am called to matters closer at hand. Whoever will love wisely
     will conquer, and from our art he will bear away what he seeks.
Things entrusted to the furrow do not always return with interest,
     nor does the breeze always aid doubtful ships;
what helps is meager; there is more that harms lovers.

515

     Proponant animo multa ferenda suo.
Quot lepores in Atho, quot apes pascuntur in Hybla,
     Caerula quot bacas Palladis arbor habet,
Litore quot conchae, tot sunt in amore dolores;
     Quae patimur, multo spicula felle madent.

     Let them set before their mind many things to be borne.
As many hares on Athos, as many bees are pastured in Hybla,
     As many cerulean berries as the tree of Pallas has,
As many shells on the shore, so many are the pains in love;
     The darts we suffer are soaked with much gall.

520

Dicta erit isse foras: intus fortasse videre est:
     Isse foras, et te falsa videre puta.
Clausa tibi fuerit promissa ianua nocte:
     Perfer et inmunda ponere corpus humo.
Forsitan et vultu mendax ancilla superbo

It will be said she has gone out; perhaps she is to be seen inside:
     Gone out—suppose that you have seen falsely.
The door promised to you for the night will have been closed:
     Endure, and set your body upon unclean earth.
Perhaps too a lying maidservant with a proud countenance

525

     Dicet 'quid nostras obsidet iste fores?'
Postibus et durae supplex blandire puellae,
     Et capiti demptas in fore pone rosas.
Cum volet, accedes: cum te vitabit, abibis;
     Dedecet ingenuos taedia ferre sui.

     She will say, 'Why does that fellow besiege our doors?'
As a suppliant, coax the doorposts and the hard-hearted girl,
     and place on the door the roses removed from your head.
When she wishes, you will approach; when she shuns you, you will depart;
     it is unbecoming for the freeborn to inflict weariness of themselves.

530

'Effugere hunc non est' quare tibi possit amica
Dicere? non omni tempore sensus obest.
Nec maledicta puta, nec verbera ferre puellae
Turpe, nec ad teneros oscula ferre pedes.

'There is no escaping this one'—why can your mistress say this to you?
Good sense is not a hindrance at every time.
Nor think it shameful to bear a girl’s curses or blows,
nor to carry kisses to her tender feet.

Quid moror in parvis? Animus maioribus instat;

Why do I linger on small things? My spirit presses on to greater matters;

535

     Magna canam: toto pectore, vulgus, ades.
Ardua molimur, sed nulla, nisi ardua, virtus:
     Difficilis nostra poscitur arte labor.
Rivalem patienter habe, victoria tecum
     Stabit: eris magni victor in arce Iovis.

     I will sing great things: with my whole breast, crowd, attend.
We undertake the arduous; but no virtue, unless arduous, is virtue:
     A difficult labor is required by our art.
Bear a rival patiently, victory with you
     Will stand: you will be victor in the citadel of great Jove.

540

Haec tibi non hominem, sed quercus crede Pelasgas
     Dicere: nil istis ars mea maius habet.
Innuet illa, feras; scribet, ne tange tabellas:
     Unde volet, veniat; quoque libebit, eat.
Hoc in legitima praestant uxore mariti,

Believe that these things are spoken to you not by a man, but by the Pelasgian oaks:
     my art has nothing greater than these.
If she will make a sign, you should comply; she will write, “do not touch the tablets”:
     let her come from where she will; and let her go where she will please.
In this husbands prove themselves with a legitimate wife,

545

Cum, tener, ad partes tu quoque, somne, venis.
Hac ego, confiteor, non sum perfectus in arte;
Quid faciam? monitis sum minor ipse meis.

When, tender Sleep, you too come to your part.
In this art I, I confess, am not perfect;
What am I to do? I myself am lesser than my own monitions.

Mene palam nostrae det quisquam signa puellae,
Et patiar, nec me quo libet ira ferat?

Me—shall anyone openly give signs to my girl,
And shall I suffer it, nor let anger carry me wherever it will?

550

Oscula vir dederat, memini, suus: oscula questus
     Sum data; barbaria noster abundat amor.
Non semel hoc vitium nocuit mihi: doctior ille,
     Quo veniunt alii conciliante viri.
Sed melius nescisse fuit: sine furta tegantur,

Her own husband had given kisses, I remember; I complained that kisses had been given; our love abounds in barbarity.
Not once only has this vice harmed me: that one is more learned,
by whose conciliation other men come.
But it had been better not to have known: allow the thefts to be covered,

555

     Ne fugiat ficto fassus ab ore pudor.
Quo magis, o iuvenes, deprendere parcite vestras:
     Peccent, peccantes verba dedisse putent.
Crescit amor prensis; ubi par fortuna duorum est,
     In causa damni perstat uterque sui.

     Lest confessed modesty take flight from a feigned mouth.
For which reason, O young men, refrain the more from catching your women:
     Let them sin; let them, while sinning, think they have given you words.
Love grows for the ones caught; when the fortune of the two is equal,
     each persists in the cause of his own loss.

560

Fabula narratur toto notissima caelo,
     Mulciberis capti Marsque Venusque dolis.
Mars pater, insano Veneris turbatus amore,
     De duce terribili factus amator erat.
Nec Venus oranti (neque enim dea mollior ulla est)

A fable is recounted, most notorious through the whole heaven,
     by Mulciber’s wiles Mars and Venus were captured.
Father Mars, perturbed by Venus’s insane love,
     from a terrible leader had been made a lover.
Nor did Venus to the suppliant (for indeed no goddess is softer)

565

     Rustica Gradivo difficilisque fuit.
A, quotiens lasciva pedes risisse mariti
     Dicitur, et duras igne vel arte manus.
Marte palam simul est Vulcanum imitata, decebat,
     Multaque cum forma gratia mixta fuit.

     A rustic woman was difficult for Gradivus.
Ah, how often the lascivious wife is said to have laughed at her husband's feet
     and at the hands hardened by fire or by craft.
Openly with Mars at the same time she imitated Vulcan; it was becoming,
     and much grace was mixed with her beauty.

570

Sed bene concubitus primos celare solebant.
Plena verecundi culpa pudoris erat.
Indicio Solis (quis Solem fallere possit?)
Cognita Vulcano coniugis acta suae.

But they used to conceal well their first couplings.
The fault was full of bashful modesty.
By the indication of Sol (who could deceive Sol?)
the acts of his own spouse were known to Vulcan.

Quam mala, Sol, exempla moves! Pete munus ab ipsa

What bad examples you stir up, Sun! Seek a gift from her herself

575

     Et tibi, si taceas, quod dare possit, habet.
Mulciber obscuros lectum circaque superque
     Disponit laqueos: lumina fallit opus.
Fingit iter Lemnon; veniunt ad foedus amantes:
     Impliciti laqueis nudus uterque iacent.

     And for you, if you keep silent, she has what she can give.
Mulciber both around and above the bed
     arranges snares: the work deceives the eyes.
He feigns a journey to Lemnos; the lovers come to the compact:
     Entangled in the snares, each lies nude.

580

Convocat ille deos; praebent spectacula capti:
     Vix lacrimas Venerem continuisse putant.
Non vultus texisse suos, non denique possunt
     Partibus obscenis opposuisse manus.
Hic aliquis ridens 'in me, fortissime Mavors,

He calls together the gods; the captured provide a spectacle:
     They think that Venus scarcely kept back tears.
They cannot have veiled their faces, nor, in the end, can they
     have set their hands in opposition to the obscene parts.
Here someone, laughing, says, 'upon me, most valiant Mavors,'

585

     Si tibi sunt oneri, vincula transfer!' ait.
Vix precibus, Neptune, tuis captiva resolvit
     Corpora: Mars Thracen occupat, illa Paphon.
Hoc tibi pro facto, Vulcane: quod ante tegebant,
     Liberius faciunt, ut pudor omnis abest:

     'If they are a burden to you, transfer the chains!' he says.
Hardly at your prayers, Neptune, did he release the captive bodies:
     Mars takes Thrace, she Paphos.
This to you in return for the deed, Vulcan: what before they covered,
     they do more freely, since all shame is absent:

590

Saepe tamen demens stulte fecisse fateris,
     Teque ferunt artis paenituisse tuae.
Hoc vetiti vos este; vetat deprensa Dione
     Insidias illas, quas tulit ipsa, dare.
Nec vos rivali laqueos disponite, nec vos

Often, however, out of your mind, you confess to have acted foolishly,
     and they report that you have repented of your art.
In this be forbidden; Dione, having been caught, forbids
     those ambushes to be given which she herself endured.
Nor arrange snares for a rival, nor you

595

     Excipite arcana verba notata manu.
Ista viri captent, si iam captanda putabunt,
     Quos faciet iustos ignis et unda viros.
En, iterum testor: nihil hic, nisi lege remissum
     Luditur: in nostris instita nulla iocis.

     Catch the secret words signaled by the hand.
Let men pursue those, if they will now deem them worth catching,
     whom fire and water will make just men.
Look, I attest again: here nothing is played save what is remitted by law;
     in our jests there is no matron’s hem.

600

Quis Cereris ritus ausit vulgare profanis,
     Magnaque Threicia sacra reperta Samo?
Exigua est virtus praestare silentia rebus:
     At contra gravis est culpa tacenda loqui.
O bene, quod frustra captatis arbore pomis

Who would dare to vulgarize the rites of Ceres to the profane,
     and the great Thracian sacred rites discovered in Samothrace?
It is a meager virtue to furnish silence to matters;
     but conversely it is a grave fault to speak what should be kept silent.
O well, that the apples on the tree are grasped at in vain

605

     Garrulus in media Tantalus aret aqua!
Praecipue Cytherea iubet sua sacra taceri:
     Admoneo, veniat nequis ad illa loquax.
Condita si non sunt Veneris mysteria cistis,
     Nec cava vesanis ictibus aera sonant,

     Garrulous Tantalus thirsts in the midst of water!
Cytherea especially bids that her sacred rites be kept in silence:
     I admonish, let no one come to them loquacious.
If the mysteries of Venus are not stowed in cists,
     nor do hollow bronzes sound with mad blows,

610

At sic inter nos medio versantur in usu,
     Se tamen inter nos ut latuisse velint.
Ipsa Venus pubem, quotiens velamina ponit,
     Protegitur laeva semireducta manu.
In medio passimque coit pecus: hoc quoque viso

But thus among us they are engaged in ordinary use,
     yet they would wish that they themselves had lain hidden among us.
Venus herself, whenever she sets aside her veils,
     is protected by a left hand, half-retracted.
In the midst and everywhere the herd mates: at the sight of this as well

615

     Avertit vultus nempe puella suos.
Conveniunt thalami furtis et ianua nostris,
     Parsque sub iniecta veste pudenda latet:
Et si non tenebras, ad quiddam nubis opacae
     Quaerimus, atque aliquid luce patente minus.

     Indeed the girl averts her face.
Bedchambers and the doorway are fitting for our thefts,
     and a part of the pudenda lies hidden beneath a thrown-over garment:
And if not darkness, for something of an opaque cloud
     we seek, and something less with the light patent.

620

Tum quoque, cum solem nondum prohibebat et imbrem
     Tegula, sed quercus tecta cibumque dabat,
In nemore atque antris, non sub Iove, iuncta voluptas;
     Tanta rudi populo cura pudoris erat.
At nunc nocturnis titulos inponimus actis,

Then too, when a tile did not yet keep off sun and rain
     but the oak gave roofs and food,
In the grove and in caves, not under Jove, conjugal delight;
     So great was the care of modesty in the rude people.
But now we set titles upon nocturnal deeds,

625

     Atque emitur magno nil, nisi posse loqui!
Scilicet excuties omnes, ubi quaeque, puellas,
     Cuilibet ut dicas 'haec quoque nostra fuit,'
Nec desint, quas tu digitis ostendere possis?
     Ut quamque adtigeris, fabula turpis erit?

     And nothing is bought at a great price, except to be able to speak!
Of course you will shake out all the girls, where each one,
     so that you may say to anyone, 'this one too was ours,'
and will there not be those whom you can point out with your fingers?
     So that as to whichever one you have touched, there will be a shameful tale?

630

Parva queror: fingunt quidam, quae vera negarent,
     Et nulli non se concubuisse ferunt.
Corpora si nequeunt, quae possunt, nomina tangunt,
     Famaque non tacto corpore crimen habet.
I nunc, claude fores, custos odiose puellae,

I complain of small things: some fabricate what, if true, they would deny,
     and they claim to have lain with everyone.
If they cannot touch bodies, they touch what they can—names,
     and rumor holds a crime though the body is not touched.
Go now, shut the doors, hateful guardian of the girl,

635

     Et centum duris postibus obde seras!
Quid tuti superest, cum nominis extat adulter,
     Et credi quod non contigit esse, cupit?
Nos etiam veros parce profitemur amores,
     Tectaque sunt solida mystica furta fide.                640
Parcite praecipue vitia exprobrare puellis,
     Utile quae multis dissimulasse fuit.

     And bar with a hundred bolts the hard doorposts!
What of safety remains, when an adulterer exists in name,
     and desires that what did not befall be believed to have been?
We too sparingly profess true loves,
     and clandestine thefts are covered by solid fidelity.                640
Spare especially to reproach vices to girls,
     a thing which to many it has been useful to dissimulate.

Nec suus Andromedae color est obiectus ab illo,
Mobilis in gemino cui pede pinna fuit.
Omnibus Andromache visa est spatiosior aequo:

Nor was Andromeda’s own complexion cast up as a reproach by him,
to whom a mobile pinion was on each foot.
To everyone Andromache seemed more spacious than was fair:

645

     Unus, qui modicam diceret, Hector erat.
Quod male fers, adsuesce, feres bene; multa vetustus
     Leniet, incipiens omnia sentit amor.
Dum novus in viridi coalescit cortice ramus,
     Concutiat tenerum quaelibet aura, cadet:

     Hector was the one man who would call her moderate in measure.
Accustom yourself to what you bear badly; you will bear it well; old time will soften much,
     love at its beginning feels everything.
While a new branch coalesces in the green bark,
     let any breeze shake the tender branch, it will fall:

650

Mox eadem ventis, spatio durata, resistet,
     Firmaque adoptivas arbor habebit opes.
Eximit ipsa dies omnes e corpore mendas,
     Quodque fuit vitium, desinit esse mora.
Ferre novae nares taurorum terga recusant:

Soon the same, hardened by time, will withstand the winds,
     And the tree will have firm adoptive powers.
Time itself removes all blemishes from the body,
     And what was a vice ceases to be through delay.
New nostrils refuse to endure the hides of bulls:

655

     Adsiduo domitas tempore fallit odor.
Nominibus mollire licet mala: fusca vocetur,
     Nigrior Illyrica cui pice sanguis erit:
Si straba, sit Veneri similis: si rava, Minervae:
     Sit gracilis, macie quae male viva sua est;

     An assiduous odor deceives those tamed by time.
It is permitted to soften evils by names: let her be called “dusky,”
     she whose complexion will be blacker than Illyrian pitch;
If she is cross-eyed, let her be like Venus; if gray-eyed, like Minerva;
     let her be “slender,” she who is scarcely alive with her leanness;

660

Dic habilem, quaecumque brevis, quae turgida, plenam,
     Et lateat vitium proximitate boni.
Nec quotus annus eat, nec quo sit nata, require,
     Consule, quae rigidus munera Censor habet:
Praecipue si flore caret, meliusque peractum

Call habile whatever is short; call full whatever is turgid,
     and let the flaw be hidden by the proximity of a good.
Do not inquire how many years go by, nor in what year she was born,
     consult what prerogatives the rigid Censor has:
Especially if she lacks the bloom, and the better is over

665

     Tempus, et albentes iam legit illa comas.
Utilis, o iuvenes, aut haec, aut serior aetas:
     Iste feret segetes, iste serendus ager.
Dum vires annique sinunt, tolerate labores:
     Iam veniet tacito curva senecta pede.                670
Aut mare remigiis, aut vomere findite terras,
     Aut fera belligeras addite in arma manus,
Aut latus et vires operamque adferte puellis:
     Hoc quoque militia est, hoc quoque quaerit opes.

     Time—and already she gathers the whitening hairs.
Useful, O youths, is either this, or a later age:
     That will bear harvests; that is the field to be sown.
While strength and years allow, endure labors:
     Soon will curved old age come with silent foot.                670
Either cleave the sea with oars, or with the plough cleave the lands,
     Or add your fierce hands to warlike arms,
Or bring your side and your strength and your service to the girls:
     This too is military service; this too seeks wealth.

Adde, quod est illis operum prudentia maior,

Add that their prudence in works is greater,

675

     Solus et artifices qui facit, usus adest:
Illae munditiis annorum damna rependunt,
     Et faciunt cura, ne videantur anus.
Utque velis, venerem iungunt per mille figuras:
     Invenit plures nulla tabella modos.

     And use alone, which even makes artificers, is at hand:
They repay the damages of years by their refinements,
     And by care they contrive not to seem old women.
And, as you wish, they join in Venus through a thousand figures:
     No little tablet finds more modes.

680

Illis sentitur non inritata voluptas:
     Quod iuvet, ex aequo femina virque ferant.
Odi concubitus, qui non utrumque resolvunt;
     Hoc est, cur pueri tangar amore minus.
Odi quae praebet, quia sit praebere necesse,

For them, pleasure is felt ungoaded:
     Let woman and man alike bear what delights.
I hate couplings that do not unloose both;
     This is why I am touched less by love of boys.
I hate her who offers, because it is necessary to offer,

685

     Siccaque de lana cogitat ipsa sua.
Quae datur officio, non est mihi grata voluptas:
     Officium faciat nulla puella mihi.
Me voces audire iuvat sua gaudia fassas,
     Quaeque morer meme sustineamque rogent.

     And she herself thinks about her own dry wool.
Pleasure that is given by duty is not pleasing to me:
     Let no girl perform duty for me.
It delights me to hear voices confessing their joys,
     and that they ask that I tarry and hold myself back.

690

Aspiciam dominae victos amentis ocellos:
     Langueat, et tangi se vetet illa diu.
Haec bona non primae tribuit natura iuventae,
     Quae cito post septem lustra venire solent.
Qui properant, nova musta bibant: mihi fundat avitum

I shall look upon my lady’s little frenzied eyes subdued:
     let her grow languid, and for a long time forbid herself to be touched.
Nature does not bestow these goods upon the earliest youth,
     which are wont to come quickly after seven lustra.
Let those who hurry drink new must; for me let her pour the ancestral vintage

695

     Consulibus priscis condita testa merum.
Nec platanus, nisi sera, potest obsistere Phoebo,
     Et laedunt nudos prata novella pedes.
Scilicet Hermionen Helenae praeponere posses,
     Et melior Gorge, quam sua mater, erat?

     Pure wine laid down in an earthen jar in the days of ancient consuls.
Nor can the plane-tree, unless late, stand against Phoebus,
     And the newly-sprung meadows wound bare feet.
Surely you could prefer Hermione to Helen,
     And was Gorge better than her own mother?

700

At venerem quicumque voles adtingere seram,
     Si modo duraris, praemia digna feres.
Conscius, ecce, duos accepit lectus amantes:
     Ad thalami clausas, Musa, resiste fores.
Sponte sua sine te celeberrima verba loquentur,

But if you wish to attain Venus late,     if only you endure, you will carry off worthy prizes.
Conscious, behold, the bed has received two lovers:     At the closed doors of the bridal chamber, Muse, hold back.
Of their own accord, without you, the most celebrated words will speak.

705

     Nec manus in lecto laeva iacebit iners.
Invenient digiti, quod agant in partibus illis,
     In quibus occulte spicula tingit Amor.
Fecit in Andromache prius hoc fortissimus Hector,
     Nec solum bellis utilis ille fuit.

     Nor will the left hand lie inert on the bed.
The fingers will find what they may do in those parts,
     in which Love secretly dips his darts.
The very brave Hector did this before with Andromache,
     nor was he useful only in wars.

710

Fecit et in capta Lyrneside magnus Achilles,
     Cum premeret mollem lassus ab hoste torum.
Illis te manibus tangi, Brisei, sinebas,
     Imbutae Phrygia quae nece semper erant.
An fuit hoc ipsum, quod te, lasciva, iuvaret,

Great Achilles did this too in captured Lyrnesus,
     when, weary from the foe, he pressed the soft couch.
You allowed yourself, Briseis, to be touched by those hands,
     which were always steeped in Phrygian slaughter.
Or was it this very thing, wanton one, that delighted you,

715

     Ad tua victrices membra venire manus?
Crede mihi, non est veneris properanda voluptas,
     Sed sensim tarda prolicienda mora.
Cum loca reppereris, quae tangi femina gaudet,
     Non obstet, tangas quo minus illa, pudor.

     that the conquering hands should come to your limbs?
Believe me, the pleasure of Venus is not to be hurried,
     but little by little a slow delay must be drawn out.
When you have found the places which a woman delights to have touched,
     let modesty not obstruct, so that you touch them the less.

720

Aspicies oculos tremulo fulgore micantes,
     Ut sol a liquida saepe refulget aqua.
Accedent questus, accedet amabile murmur,
     Et dulces gemitus aptaque verba ioco.
Sed neque tu dominam velis maioribus usus

You will behold eyes glittering with a tremulous gleam,
     as the sun often refulges from liquid water.
There will come complaints, there will come an amiable murmur,
     and sweet sighs and words apt to jest.
But neither should you wish to be using greater measures upon your mistress

725

     Desere, nec cursus anteat illa tuos;
Ad metam properate simul: tum plena voluptas,
     Cum pariter victi femina virque iacent.
Hic tibi versandus tenor est, cum libera dantur
     Otia, furtivum nec timor urget opus.

     Desist, and let her not outpace your courses;
Hasten together to the goal: then pleasure is full,
     When woman and man lie equally conquered.
This is the tenor for you to keep to, when free
     Leisures are granted, and fear does not press the furtive work.

730

Cum mora non tuta est, totis incumbere remis
     Utile, et admisso subdere calcar equo.
Finis adest operi: palmam date, grata iuventus,
     Sertaque odoratae myrtea ferte comae.
Quantus apud Danaos Podalirius arte medendi,

When delay is not safe, it is useful to press with all the oars,
     and to set the spur beneath the horse at full run.
The end is at hand for the work: give the palm, gracious youth,
     and bring myrtle garlands for the fragrant hair.
How great among the Danaans was Podalirius in the art of healing,

735

     Aeacides dextra, pectore Nestor erat,
Quantus erat Calchas extis, Telamonius armis,
     Automedon curru, tantus amator ego.
Me vatem celebrate, viri, mihi dicite laudes,
     Cantetur toto nomen in orbe meum.

     As great as the Aeacid in his right hand, and Nestor in his breast,
As great as Calchas in entrails, the Telamonian in arms,
     Automedon in the chariot, so great a lover am I.
Celebrate me, a vates, men; speak praises to me,
     Let my name be sung through the whole orb.

740

Arma dedi vobis: dederat Vulcanus Achilli;
     Vincite muneribus, vicit ut ille, datis.
Sed quicumque meo superarit Amazona ferro,
     Inscribat spoliis 'Naso magister erat.'
Ecce, rogant tenerae, sibi dem praecepta, puellae:

I have given you arms: Vulcan had given them to Achilles;
     Conquer with gifts, as he, with gifts given, conquered.
But whoever shall have overcome an Amazon with my steel,
     let him inscribe upon the spoils, 'Naso was the master.'
Behold, the tender girls ask that I give precepts to themselves, the maidens:

745

Vos eritis chartae proxima cura meae!

You will be the next care of my page!