Ovid: ARS AMATORIA

Arma dedi Danais in Amazonas; arma supersunt,
     Quae tibi dem et turmae, Penthesilea, tuae.
Ite in bella pares; vincant, quibus alma Dione
     Faverit et toto qui volat orbe puer.
Non erat armatis aequum concurrere nudas;

I have given arms to the Danaans against the Amazons; arms remain,
     which I may give to you and to your troop, Penthesilea.
Go into wars as equals; let them win, those whom kindly Dione
     shall have favored, and the boy who flies through the whole world.
It was not just for the armed to clash with the naked;

     Sic etiam vobis vincere turpe, viri.
Dixerit e multis aliquis 'quid virus in angues
     Adicis, et rabidae tradis ovile lupae?'
Parcite paucarum diffundere crimen in omnes;
     Spectetur meritis quaeque puella suis.

     Thus even for you, men, it is shameful to conquer.
Let someone among the many say, 'Why do you add poison to snakes
     and hand the sheepfold over to a rabid she-wolf?'
Refrain from spreading the crime of a few upon all;
     Let each girl be judged by her own merits.

Si minor Atrides Helenen, Helenesque sororem
     Quo premat Atrides crimine maior habet,
Si scelere Oeclides Talaioniae Eriphylae
     Vivus et in vivis ad Styga venit equis,
Est pia Penelope lustris errante duobus

If the younger Atrides has Helen, and the elder Atrides has a charge with which to press Helen’s sister,
if by the crime of Talaionian Eriphyle Oeclides came alive, and with living horses, to the Styx,
pious Penelope is, with her husband wandering for two lustrums

     Et totidem lustris bella gerente viro.
Respice Phylaciden et quae comes isse marito
     Fertur et ante annos occubuisse suos.
Fata Pheretiadae coniunx Pagasaea redemit:
     Proque viro est uxor funere lata viri.

     And with just as many lustrums the man waging war.
Look to the Phylacides and to her who is said to have gone as a companion to her husband
     and to have met death before her years.
The Pagasaean spouse redeemed the Fates of the son of Pheres:
     and in place of the husband the wife was borne to the husband’s funeral.

'Accipe me, Capaneu! cineres miscebimus' inquit
     Iphias, in medios desiluitque rogos.
Ipsa quoque et cultu est et nomine femina Virtus:
     Non mirum, populo si placet illa suo.
Nec tamen hae mentes nostra poscuntur ab arte:

'Receive me, Capaneus! we shall mingle our ashes,' she said,
     Iphias, and leapt down into the midst of the pyres.
Virtue herself too is a woman both in attire and in name:
     no wonder, if she pleases her own people.
Nor yet are such minds demanded by our art:

     Conveniunt cumbae vela minora meae.
Nil nisi lascivi per me discuntur amores;
     Femina praecipiam quo sit amanda modo.
Femina nec flammas nec saevos excutit arcus;
     Parcius haec video tela nocere viris.

     Smaller sails suit my skiff.
Nothing except lascivious loves are learned through me;
     I will prescribe by what manner a woman is to be loved.
A woman shakes off neither the flames nor the savage bows;
     I see these weapons harm men more sparingly.

Saepe viri fallunt: tenerae non saepe puellae,
     Paucaque, si quaeras, crimina fraudis habent.
Phasida iam matrem fallax dimisit Iason:
     Venit in Aesonios altera nupta sinus.
Quantum in te, Theseu, volucres Ariadna marinas

Often men deceive; tender girls do not often deceive,
     and, if you inquire, they have few crimes of fraud.
The Phasian mother the fallacious Jason has now dismissed:
     another wedded bride has come into Aesonian bosoms.
How much, because of you, Theseus, did Ariadne cry to the swift marine waves

     Pavit, in ignoto sola relicta loco!
Quaere, novem cur una viae dicantur, et audi
     Depositis silvas Phyllida flesse comis.
Et famam pietatis habet, tamen hospes et ensem
     Praebuit et causam mortis, Elissa, tuae.

     She grew pale, left alone in an unknown place!
Ask why a single road is called Nine Ways, and hear
     that Phyllis wept in the woods with her tresses let down.
And he has the fame of piety; yet the guest both
     supplied the sword and the cause of your death, Elissa.

Quid vos perdiderit, dicam? nescistis amare:
Defuit ars vobis; arte perennat amor.
Nunc quoque nescirent: sed me Cytherea docere
Iussit, et ante oculos constitit ipsa meos.

What has ruined you, shall I tell? you did not know how to love:
Art was lacking to you; by art love is perennial.
Even now they would not know: but Cytherea ordered me to teach,
and she herself stood before my eyes.

Tum mihi 'Quid miserae' dixit 'meruere puellae?

Then to me she said, 'What have the wretched maidens merited?'

     Traditur armatis vulgus inerme viris.
Illos artifices gemini fecere libelli:
     Haec quoque pars monitis erudienda tuis.
Probra Therapnaeae qui dixerat ante maritae,
     Mox cecinit laudes prosperiore lyra.

     The unarmed multitude is handed over to armed men.
Those men the twin little books made into artificers:
     This part too must be educated by your monitions.
He who before had spoken reproaches of the Therapnaean wife,
     Soon sang praises with a more prosperous lyre.

Si bene te novi (cultas ne laede puellas!)
     Gratia, dum vives, ista petenda tibi est.'
Dixit, et e myrto (myrto nam vincta capillos
     Constiterat) folium granaque pauca dedit;
Sensimus acceptis numen quoque: purior aether

If I know you well (do not injure cultivated girls!)
     Grace—while you live—must be sought by you.'
She spoke, and from myrtle (for with myrtle bound upon her hair
     she had taken her stand) she gave a leaf and a few berries;
We sensed, upon receiving them, the numen as well: the ether was purer

     Fulsit, et e toto pectore cessit onus.
Dum facit ingenium, petite hinc praecepta, puellae,
     Quas pudor et leges et sua iura sinunt.
Venturae memores iam nunc estote senectae:
     Sic nullum vobis tempus abibit iners.

     It gleamed, and from my whole breast the burden departed.
While my talent is at work, seek from here precepts, girls,
     which modesty and the laws and your own rights allow.
Be mindful now already of coming old age:
     Thus no time will pass for you idle.

Dum licet, et vernos etiamnum educitis annos,
     Ludite: eunt anni more fluentis aquae;
Nec quae praeteriit, iterum revocabitur unda,
     Nec quae praeteriit, hora redire potest.
Utendum est aetate: cito pede labitur aetas,

While it is permitted, and you are even now bringing up your vernal years,
     Play: the years go in the manner of fluent water;
Nor will the wave which has gone by be called back again,
     Nor can the hour which has gone by return.
Use must be made of age: with a swift foot time slips away,

     Nec bona tam sequitur, quam bona prima fuit.
Hos ego, qui canent, frutices violaria vidi:
     Hac mihi de spina grata corona data est.
Tempus erit, quo tu, quae nunc excludis amantes,
     Frigida deserta nocte iacebis anus,

     Nor is the good that follows as good as the first good was.
I, who sing, have seen these shrubs as beds of violets:
     From this thorn a welcome crown was given to me.
There will be a time when you, who now shut out lovers,
     will lie, cold, an old woman, in a deserted night,

Nec tua frangetur nocturna ianua rixa,
     Sparsa nec invenies limina mane rosa.
Quam cito (me miserum!) laxantur corpora rugis,
     Et perit in nitido qui fuit ore color.
Quasque fuisse tibi canas a virgine iuras,

Nor will your door be broken by a nocturnal quarrel,
     nor will you find your thresholds in the morning strewn with rose.
How quickly (wretched me!) bodies grow lax with wrinkles,
     and the color which was upon the shining face perishes.
And the gray hairs which you swear were yours even as a virgin,

     Spargentur subito per caput omne comae.
Anguibus exuitur tenui cum pelle vetustas,
     Nec faciunt cervos cornua iacta senes:
Nostra sine auxilio fugiunt bona; carpite florem,
     Qui, nisi carptus erit, turpiter ipse cadet.

     Your locks will suddenly be sprinkled over your whole head.
Old age is shed with a thin skin by snakes,
     Nor do cast horns make stags old:
Our goods flee without aid; pluck the flower,
     Which, unless it is plucked, will disgracefully fall of itself.

Adde, quod et partus faciunt breviora iuventae
     Tempora: continua messe senescit ager.
Latmius Endymion non est tibi, Luna, rubori,
     Nec Cephalus roseae praeda pudenda deae.
Ut Veneri, quem luget adhuc, donetur Adonis:

Add, too, that births make the times of youth briefer,
     the field grows old with an unbroken harvest.
Latmian Endymion is no cause for blush to you, Luna,
     nor is Cephalus a shameful prey for the rosy goddess.
As for Venus, let Adonis, whom she still mourns, be bestowed upon her.

Unde habet Aenean Harmoniamque suos?
Ite per exemplum, genus o mortale, dearum,
Gaudia nec cupidis vestra negate viris.
Ut iam decipiant, quid perditis?

Whence has she Aeneas, and her very own Harmonia?
Go by the example, O mortal race, of the goddesses,
and do not deny your joys to desirous men.
Granted that they may deceive, what do you lose?

omnia constant;
Mille licet sumant, deperit inde nihil.

All remains constant;
Though they may take a thousand, from it nothing is lost.

Conteritur ferrum, silices tenuantur ab usu:
Sufficit et damni pars caret illa metu.
Quis vetet adposito lumen de lumine sumi?
Quisve cavo vastas in mare servet aquas?

Iron is worn down, flints are thinned by use:
It suffices, and that share is free from fear of loss.
Who forbids that light be taken from light set beside it?
Or who would keep the vast waters of the sea in a hollow?

Et tamen ulla viro mulier 'non expedit' inquit?

And yet does any woman say to a man “it is not expedient”?

     Quid, nisi quam sumes, dic mihi, perdis aquam?
Nec vos prostituit mea vox, sed vana timere
     Damna vetat: damnis munera vestra carent.
Sed me flaminibus venti maioris iturum,
     Dum sumus in portu, provehat aura levis.

     What, tell me, do you lose, unless the water which you will take up?
Nor does my voice expose you, but it forbids fearing vain losses:
     your gifts lack losses.
But me, about to go by the blasts of a greater wind,
     while we are in port, let a light breeze carry forward.

100

Ordior a cultu; cultis bene Liber ab uvis
     Provenit, et culto stat seges alta solo.
Forma dei munus: forma quota quaeque superbit?
     Pars vestrum tali munere magna caret.
Cura dabit faciem; facies neglecta peribit,

I begin from cultivation; from well-tended grapes Liber comes forth
     and on cultivated soil the tall crop stands.
Form is the god’s gift: in form what quota does each one boast?
     A great part of you lack such a gift.
Care will give a face; a face neglected will perish,

105

     Idaliae similis sit licet illa deae.
Corpora si veteres non sic coluere puellae,
     Nec veteres cultos sic habuere viros;
Si fuit Andromache tunicas induta valentes,
     Quid mirum? duri militis uxor erat.

     Even if she be like the Idalian goddess.
If the girls of old did not cultivate their bodies in this way,
     nor did the ancients have men thus cultivated;
If Andromache was clothed in stout tunics,
     what wonder? She was the wife of a hard soldier.

110

Scilicet Aiaci coniunx ornata venires,
     Cui tegumen septem terga fuere boum?
Simplicitas rudis ante fuit: nunc aurea Roma est,
     Et domiti magnas possidet orbis opes.
Aspice quae nunc sunt Capitolia, quaeque fuerunt:

Surely you would come adorned as the spouse of Ajax,
     for whom the covering was the seven hides of oxen?
Unpolished simplicity was once before: now Rome is golden,
     and she possesses the great opulence of the subdued orb.
Behold what the Capitoline is now, and what it was:

115

     Alterius dices illa fuisse Iovis.
Curia, concilio quae nunc dignissima tanto,
     De stipula Tatio regna tenente fuit.
Quae nunc sub Phoebo ducibusque Palatia fulgent,
     Quid nisi araturis pascua bubus erant?

     You will say those were of another Jove.
The Curia, which now is most worthy of so great a council,
     was of straw while Tatius held the rule.
The Palatine, which now shines under Phoebus and the leaders,
     what were they if not pastures for oxen about to plow?

120

Prisca iuvent alios: ego me nunc denique natum
     Gratulor: haec aetas moribus apta meis.
Non quia nunc terrae lentum subducitur aurum,
     Lectaque diverso litore concha venit:
Nec quia decrescunt effosso marmore montes,

Let ancient times delight others: I now at last deem myself born;
     I congratulate myself: this age is apt to my morals.
Not because now the earth’s ductile gold is drawn off,
     and the shell gathered from a different shore comes:
Nor because the mountains decrease with marble excavated,

125

     Nec quia caeruleae mole fugantur aquae:
Sed quia cultus adest, nec nostros mansit in annos
     Rusticitas, priscis illa superstes avis.
Vos quoque nec caris aures onerate lapillis,
     Quos legit in viridi decolor Indus aqua,

     Nor because the cerulean waters are put to flight by a mole:
But because culture is present, nor has rusticity remained into our years
     that rusticity surviving among our ancient grandsires.
     You too do not burden your ears with dear little stones,
     which the swarthy Indian gathers from the green water,

130

Nec prodite graves insuto vestibus auro,
     Per quas nos petitis, saepe fugatis, opes.
Munditiis capimur: non sint sine lege capilli:
     Admotae formam dantque negantque manus.
Nec genus ornatus unum est: quod quamque decebit

Nor go forth burdened with heavy gold sewn into your garments,
     the wealth by which you seek us, often putting us to flight.
We are captured by neatness: let the hair not be without rule:
     applied hands both give and take away form.
Nor is there a single kind of adornment: that which will befit each

135

     Eligat, et speculum consulate ante suum.
Longa probat facies capitis discrimina puri:
     Sic erat ornatis Laodamia comis.
Exiguum summa nodum sibi fronte relinqui,
     Ut pateant aures, ora rotunda volunt.                140
Alterius crines umero iactentur utroque:
     Talis es adsumpta, Phoebe canore, lyra.

     Let her choose, and consult her own mirror beforehand.
A long visage approves the partings of the pure head:
     Thus was Laodamia, with her locks adorned.
A small knot to be left for herself at the top of the brow,
     so that the ears may lie open, round faces desire.                140
Let another’s tresses be tossed upon either shoulder:
     Such you are, Phoebus, with the lyre taken up in song.

Altera succinctae religetur more Dianae,
Ut solet, attonitas cum petit illa feras.
Huic decet inflatos laxe iacuisse capillos:

Another should be bound after the manner of girded Diana,
as she is wont when she seeks the astonished wild beasts.
For this one it is fitting that the puffed (inflated) hair lie laxly:

145

     Illa sit adstrictis impedienda comis;
Hanc placet ornari testudine Cyllenea:
     Sustineat similes fluctibus illa sinus.
Sed neque ramosa numerabis in ilice glandes,
     Nec quot apes Hyblae, nec quot in Alpe ferae,

     Let that one be impeded with tresses drawn tight;
This one it pleases to be adorned with Cyllenian tortoise-shell:
     Let that one sustain folds like to billows.
But you will neither number the acorns on the branched ilex,
     Nor how many bees of Hybla, nor how many wild beasts in the Alp,

150

Nec mihi tot positus numero conprendere fas est:
     Adicit ornatus proxima quaeque dies.
Et neglecta decet multas coma; saepe iacere
     Hesternam credas; illa repexa modo est.
Ars casum simulat; sic capta vidit ut urbe

Nor is it lawful for me to comprehend by number so many arrangements:
     Each successive day adds adornments.
And neglected hair befits many; often you would think it
     to be yesterday’s; it has just now been re-combed.
Art simulates accident; thus, as with a captured city

155

     Alcides Iolen, 'hanc ego' dixit 'amo.'
Talem te Bacchus Satyris clamantibus euhoe
     Sustulit in currus, Cnosi relicta, suos.
O quantum indulget vestro natura decori,
     Quarum sunt multis damna pianda modis!

     Alcides, at Iole: 'her,' he said, 'I love.'
Such did Bacchus, with Satyrs crying Evoe,
     lift you into his chariot, Cnossus left behind.
O how much Nature indulges your comeliness,
     whose damages must be atoned for in many modes!

160

Nos male detegimur, raptique aetate capilli,
     Ut Borea frondes excutiente, cadunt.
Femina canitiem Germanis inficit herbis,
     Et melior vero quaeritur arte color:
Femina procedit densissima crinibus emptis,

We are badly laid bare, and our hairs, snatched by age,
     as, with Boreas shaking the leaves, they fall.
A woman dyes her grayness with German herbs,
     and a color better than the true is sought by art:
A woman goes forth very thick with purchased hair,

165

Proque suis alios efficit aere suos.
Nec rubor est emisse; palam venire videmus
Herculis ante oculos virgineumque chorum.
Quid de veste loquar?

And in place of her own she makes others her own with money.
Nor is there blush in having bought; openly we see [it] to be sold
before the eyes of Hercules and the virgin chorus.
What shall I say about the garment?

Nec vos, segmenta, requiro
Nec te, quae Tyrio murice, lana, rubes.

Nor you, segments, do I seek
Nor you, wool, which redden with Tyrian murex.

170

Cum tot prodierint pretio leviore colores,
     Quis furor est census corpore ferre suos!
Aeris, ecce, color, tum cum sine nubibus aer,
     Nec tepidus pluvias concitat auster aquas:
Ecce, tibi similis, quae quondam Phrixon et Hellen

Since so many colors have come forth at a lighter price,
     what madness it is to carry one’s estate on the body!
Behold, the color of the air, when the air is without clouds,
     and the tepid Auster does not stir the rainy waters:
Behold, like to you, that which once carried Phrixus and Helle

175

     Diceris Inois eripuisse dolis;
Hic undas imitatur, habet quoque nomen ab undis:
     Crediderim nymphas hac ego veste tegi.
Ille crocum simulat: croceo velatur amictu,
     Roscida luciferos cum dea iungit equos:

     You are said to have snatched away from Ino by wiles;
This one imitates the waves, and also has a name from the waves:
     I could believe nymphs to be covered with this vestment.
That one simulates crocus: he is veiled with a saffron amict,
     when the dewy goddess yokes the light-bearing horses:

180

Hic Paphias myrtos, hic purpureas amethystos,
     Albentesve rosas, Threiciamve gruem;
Nec glandes, Amarylli, tuae, nec amygdala desunt;
     Et sua velleribus nomina cera dedit.
Quot nova terra parit flores, cum vere tepenti

Here the Paphian myrtles, here the purple amethysts,
     or gleaming-white roses, or the Thracian crane;
Nor are your acorns lacking, Amaryllis, nor almonds;
     and wax has assigned to the fleeces their own names.
As many flowers as the fresh earth brings forth, when in tepid spring

185

     Vitis agit gemmas pigraque fugit hiemps,
Lana tot aut plures sucos bibit; elige certos:
     Nam non conveniens omnibus omnis erit.
Pulla decent niveas: Briseida pulla decebant:
     Cum rapta est, pulla tum quoque veste fuit.

     The vine sets buds, and sluggish winter flees,
Wool drinks in so many juices or more; choose certain ones:
     For not everything will be becoming to everyone.
Dark hues befit snow-white complexions: dark garments befitted Briseis:
     When she was seized, then too she was in a dark garment.

190

Alba decent fuscas: albis, Cephei, placebas:
     Sic tibi vestitae pressa Seriphos erat.
Quam paene admonui, ne trux caper iret in alas,
     Neve forent duris aspera crura pilis!
Sed non Caucasea doceo de rupe puellas,

Whites befit dusky women: in whites, daughter of Cepheus, you were pleasing:
     Thus for you, so clothed, Seriphos was pressed down.
How nearly I admonished, lest a fierce billy-goat go into the armpits,
     and lest the legs be rough with harsh hairs!
But I do not teach girls from the Caucasian crag,

195

     Quaeque bibant undas, Myse Caice, tuas.
Quid si praecipiam ne fuscet inertia dentes,
     Oraque suscepta mane laventur aqua?
Scitis et inducta candorem quaerere creta:
     Sanguine quae vero non rubet, arte rubet.

     And let them drink your waves, Mysian Caycus.
What if I should prescribe that inertia not darken the teeth,
     and that the mouths be washed with water taken up in the morning?
And you know to seek candor with chalk applied:
     she who does not redden with true blood, reddens by art.

200

Arte supercilii confinia nuda repletis,
     Parvaque sinceras velat aluta genas.
Nec pudor est oculos tenui signare favilla,
     Vel prope te nato, lucide Cydne, croco.
Est mihi, quo dixi vestrae medicamina formae,

By art you fill the bare borders of the eyebrow,
     and a small aluta veils the pure cheeks.
Nor is there shame to mark the eyes with fine ash,
     or with crocus born near you, bright Cydnus.
I have, as I said, medicaments for your beauty,

205

     Parvus, sed cura grande, libellus, opus;
Hinc quoque praesidium laesae petitote figurae;
     Non est pro vestris ars mea rebus iners.
Non tamen expositas mensa deprendat amator
     Pyxidas: ars faciem dissimulata iuvat.

     Small, but by care great, little book, a work;
From here too seek protection for a marred figure;
     My art is not inert for your affairs.
Yet let not a lover detect, set out on the table,
     the caskets: art, when concealed, helps the face.

210

Quem non offendat toto faex inlita vultu,
     Cum fluit in tepidos pondere lapsa sinus?
Oesypa quid redolent? quamvis mittatur Athenis
     Demptus ab inmundo vellere sucus ovis.
Nec coram mixtas cervae sumpsisse medullas,

Whom does it not offend, dregs smeared on the whole face,
     when, slipping by its weight, it flows into warm bosoms?
What are they redolent of? although there be sent from Athens
     the extract taken from the unclean fleece of a sheep.
Nor to have taken, before one’s eyes, the mixed marrows of a hind,

215

     Nec coram dentes defricuisse probem;
Ista dabunt formam, sed erunt deformia visu:
     Multaque, dum fiunt, turpia, facta placent;
Quae nunc nomen habent operosi signa Myronis
     Pondus iners quondam duraque massa fuit;                220
Anulus ut fiat, primo conliditur aurum;
     Quas geritis vestis, sordida lana fuit;
Cum fieret, lapis asper erat: nunc, nobile signum,
     Nuda Venus madidas exprimit imbre comas.
Tu quoque dum coleris, nos te dormire putemus;

     Nor would I approve of having scrubbed your teeth in public;
These will give form, yet will be deformed to the view:
     And many things, while they are being made, are unsightly; once made, they please;
The statues which now bear the name of painstaking Myron
     were once an inert weight and a hard mass;                220
That a ring may be made, first the gold is hammered;
     The garments which you wear were sordid wool;
When it was being made, it was a rough stone: now, a noble statue,
     Naked Venus presses out her locks, dripping with the shower.
You too, while you are being groomed, let us suppose you are sleeping;

225

Aptius a summa conspiciere manu.
Cur mihi nota tuo causa est candoris in ore?
Claude forem thalami!

More aptly are you seen after the finishing hand.
Why is the cause of the whiteness in your face known to me?
Close the door of the bedchamber!

quid rude prodis opus?
Multa viros nescire decet; pars maxima rerum
Offendat, si non interiora tegas.

Why do you produce a rough work?
It befits men to be ignorant of many things; the greatest part of things
would offend, if you do not cover the interior parts.

230

Aurea quae splendent ornato signa theatro,
     Inspice, contemnes: brattea ligna tegit;
Sed neque ad illa licet populo, nisi facta, venire,
     Nec nisi summotis forma paranda viris.
At non pectendos coram praebere capillos,

The golden statues that shine in the adorned theater,
     Inspect them; you will contemn them: gold leaf covers the wood;
But neither is it permitted for the people to come to them unless finished,
     Nor is beauty to be prepared except with the men removed.
But do not proffer hair to be combed in public view,

235

     Ut iaceant fusi per tua terga, veto.
Illo praecipue ne sis morosa caveto
     Tempore, nec lapsas saepe resolve comas.
Tuta sit ornatrix; odi, quae sauciat ora
     Unguibus et rapta brachia figit acu.

     I forbid that they lie spread over your back.
Especially beware not to be morose at that time,
     nor too often unloose your slipped-down tresses.
Let the hairdresser be harmless; I hate the kind who wounds the face
     with her nails and with a snatched pin pierces the arms.

240

Devovet, ut tangit, dominae caput illa, simulque
     Plorat in invisas sanguinolenta comas.
Quae male crinita est, custodem in limine ponat,
     Orneturve Bonae semper in aede deae.
Dictus eram subito cuidam venisse puellae:

She, as she touches it, devotes the mistress’s head, and at the same time
     she weeps over the hated locks, blood-stained.
She who is ill-coiffed should set a guardian on the threshold,
     or else be adorned always in the shrine of the Good Goddess.
I was said to have suddenly come to a certain girl:

245

     Turbida perversas induit illa comas.
Hostibus eveniat tam foedi causa pudoris,
     Inque nurus Parthas dedecus illud eat.
Turpe pecus mutilum, turpis sine gramine campus,
     Et sine fronde frutex, et sine crine caput.                250
Non mihi venistis, Semele Ledeve, docendae,
     Perque fretum falso, Sidoni, vecta bove,
Aut Helene, quam non stulte, Menelae, reposcis,
     Tu quoque non stulte, Troice raptor, habes.

     Agitated, she dons those awry tresses.
May such a cause of so foul a shame befall our enemies,
     and let that disgrace go among the Parthian brides.
A shameful herd is mutilated, shameful a field without grass,
     and a shrub without frond, and a head without hair.                250
You have not come to me, Semele and Leda, to be taught,
     and you, Sidonian girl, carried across the strait by a false bull,
or Helen, whom not foolishly, Menelaus, you demand back,
     and you too, not foolishly, Trojan ravisher, have her.

Turba docenda venit, pulchrae turpesque puellae:

A crowd to be taught comes, both beautiful and ugly girls:

255

     Pluraque sunt semper deteriora bonis.
Formosae non artis opem praeceptaque quaerunt:
     Est illis sua dos, forma sine arte potens;
Cum mare compositum est, securus navita cessat:
     Cum tumet, auxiliis adsidet ille suis.

     And the greater number are always inferior to the good.
The beautiful do not seek the aid of art and precepts:
     They have their own dowry—beauty, potent without art;
When the sea is composed, the sailor rests secure:
     When it swells, he sits by his aids.

260

Rara tamen mendo facies caret: occule mendas,
     Quaque potes vitium corporis abde tui.
Si brevis es, sedeas, ne stans videare sedere:
     Inque tuo iaceas quantulacumque toro;
Hic quoque, ne possit fieri mensura cubantis,

Rare, however, is the face that is free from blemish: conceal the blemishes,
     And wherever you can, hide the defect of your body.
If you are short, sit, lest standing you seem to be sitting;
     And lie upon your own couch, however small it is;
Here too, so that the measure of the one reclining cannot be made,

265

     Iniecta lateant fac tibi veste pedes.
Quae nimium gracilis, pleno velamina filo
     Sumat, et ex umeris laxus amictus eat.
Pallida purpureis spargat sua corpora virgis,
     Nigrior ad Pharii confuge piscis opem.

     See to it that your feet lie hidden by a garment thrown on.
She who is too slender, let her take veils with full thread,
     and let a loose wrap go from her shoulders.
Let the pale sprinkle her body with purple rods,
     the darker, take refuge in the aid of the Pharian fish.

270

Pes malus in nivea semper celetur aluta:
     Arida nec vinclis crura resolve suis.
Conveniunt tenues scapulis analemptrides altis:
     Angustum circa fascia pectus eat.
Exiguo signet gestu, quodcumque loquetur,

A bad foot should always be concealed in snow-white soft leather:
     nor should dry shins be loosed from their own bindings.
Slim shoulder-straps suit high shoulders:
     let a fascia go around the narrow breast.
Let her seal, with a small gesture, whatever she may speak,

275

     Cui digiti pingues et scaber unguis erit.
Cui gravis oris odor numquam ieiuna loquatur,
     Et semper spatio distet ab ore viri.
Si niger aut ingens aut non erit ordine natus
     Dens tibi, ridendo maxima damna feres.                280
Quis credat?

     She who has plump fingers and a scabby nail.
She for whom a grave odor of the mouth is present, let her never speak when fasting,
     and let her always be distant by a space from a man’s mouth.
If a tooth for you is black or huge or not born in order,
     by laughing you will bear the greatest damages.                280
Who would believe it?

discunt etiam ridere puellae,
     Quaeritur aque illis hac quoque parte decor.
Sint modici rictus, parvaeque utrimque lacunae,
     Et summos dentes ima labella tegant.
Nec sua perpetuo contendant ilia risu,

girls also learn to laugh,
     And beauty too is sought for them in this part as well.
Let the grins be moderate, and small lacunae (dimples) on both sides,
     And let the little lower lip cover the upper teeth.
Nor let their sides strain with perpetual laughter,

285

     Sed leve nescio quid femineumque sonent.
Est, quae perverso distorqueat ora cachinno:
     Risu concussa est altera, flere putes.
Illa sonat raucum quiddam atque inamabile ridet,
     Ut rudit a scabra turpis asella mola.

     But let them utter something light and feminine.
There is one who twists her features with a perverse cachinnation:
     Another is shaken with laughter; you would think she weeps.
That one utters something raucous and laughs unamiably,
     As an ugly little she-ass brays at a rough millstone.

290

Quo non ars penetrat? discunt lacrimare decenter,
     Quoque volunt plorant tempore, quoque modo.
Quid, cum legitima fraudatur littera voce,
     Blaesaque fit iusso lingua coacta sono?
In vitio decor est: quaerunt male reddere verba;

Whither does art not penetrate? they learn to weep decently,
     And at whatever time they wish they wail, and in whatever manner.
What, when the legitimate letter is cheated of its voice,
     and the tongue, forced to a commanded sound, becomes lisping?
In a fault there is decorum: they seek to render words badly;

295

     Discunt posse minus, quam potuere, loqui.
Omnibus his, quoniam prosunt, inpendite curam:
     Discite femineo corpora ferre gradu.
Est et in incessu pars non temnenda decoris:
     Allicit ignotos ille fugatque viros.

     They learn to be able to speak less than they could.
Expend care on all these things, since they are beneficial:
     Learn to carry your bodies with a feminine gait.
There is also in the gait a not-to-be-despised part of decor:
     That allures unknown men and also puts them to flight.

300

Haec movet arte latus, tunicisque fluentibus auras
     Accipit, expensos fertque superba pedes:
Illa velut coniunx Umbri rubicunda mariti
     Ambulat, ingentes varica fertque gradus.
Sed sit, ut in multis, modus hic quoque: rusticus alter

She moves her flank with art, and with flowing tunics she catches the breezes,
     and bears her feet proudly, well-poised:
That one, like the ruddy consort of an Umbrian husband,
     walks, and carries huge steps with legs astride.
But let there be, as in many things, a measure here too: the latter is rustic

305

     Motus, concesso mollior alter erit.
Pars umeri tamen ima tui, pars summa lacerti
     Nuda sit, a laeva conspicienda manu.
Hoc vos praecipue, niveae, decet: hoc ubi vidi,
     Oscula ferre umero, qua patet usque, libet.                310
Monstra maris Sirenes erant, quae voce canora
     Quamlibet admissas detinuere rates.

     Motion—the one is rustic; granted, the other will be softer.
Yet let the lowest part of your shoulder, the uppermost part of the upper arm,
     be bare, to be seen on the left hand.
This especially befits you, snow-white ones: when I have seen this,
     I am moved to bring kisses to the shoulder, all along where it lies open.                310
The monsters of the sea were the Sirens, who with canorous voice
     detained ships, however much urged on.

His sua Sisyphides auditis paene resolvit
Corpora, nam sociis inlita cera fuit.
Res est blanda canor: discant cantare puellae:

At these heard, the Sisyphid almost unloosed his own body,
for wax had been smeared upon his comrades.
Song is a blandishment: let girls learn to sing:

315

     Pro facie multis vox sua lena fuit.
Et modo marmoreis referant audita theatris,
     Et modo Niliacis carmina lusa modis.
Nec plectrum dextra, citharam tenuisse sinistra
     Nesciat arbitrio femina docta meo.

     In place of looks, for many their own voice has been a bawd.
And now let them recount, in marble theaters, things heard,
     and now songs played in Nilotic modes.
Nor let a woman taught by my guidance be ignorant
     of the plectrum in the right, the cithara in the left.

320

Saxa ferasque lyra movit Rhodopeius Orpheus,
     Tartareosque lacus tergeminumque canem.
Saxa tuo cantu, vindex iustissime matris,
     Fecerunt muros officiosa novos.
Quamvis mutus erat, voci favisse putatur

Rhodopeian Orpheus moved stones and wild beasts with his lyre,
     and the Tartarean lakes and the three-headed dog.
The stones by your song, most just avenger of your mother,
     obligingly made new walls.
Although he was mute, he is thought to have favored the voice

325

     Piscis, Arioniae fabula nota lyrae.
Disce etiam duplici genialia nablia palma
     Verrere: conveniunt dulcibus illa iocis.
Sit tibi Callimachi, sit Coi nota poetae,
     Sit quoque vinosi Teia Musa senis;

     Fish, the well-known tale of the Arionian lyre.
Learn also to sweep the genial nablia with a double palm
     to sweep: those suit sweet jests.
Let Callimachus be known to you, let the Coan poet be known,
     and let the Teian Muse of the vinous old man as well;

330

Nota sit et Sappho (quid enim lascivius illa?),
     Cuive pater vafri luditur arte Getae.
Et teneri possis carmen legisse Properti,
     Sive aliquid Galli, sive, Tibulle, tuum:
Dictaque Varroni fulvis insignia villis

Let Sappho too be known (for what is more lascivious than she?),
     and he whose father is played with by the art of the crafty Geta.
And you may be able to have read the poem of tender Propertius,
     whether something of Gallus, or, Tibullus, of yours:
and the dicta for Varro, distinguished with fulvous nap.

335

     Vellera, germanae, Phrixe, querenda tuae:
Et profugum Aenean, altae primordia Romae,
     Quo nullum Latio clarius extat opus.
Forsitan et nostrum nomen miscebitur istis,
     Nec mea Lethaeis scripta dabuntur aquis:

     The fleeces, Phrixus, for your sister to lament:
And the fugitive Aeneas, the beginnings of lofty Rome,
     than which no work stands out more illustrious in Latium.
Perhaps even our name will be mingled with those,
     Nor will my writings be given to the Lethean waters:

340

Atque aliquis dicet 'nostri lege culta magistri
     Carmina, quis partes instruit ille duas:
Deve tribus libris, titulus quos signat Amorum,
     Elige, quod docili molliter ore legas:
Vel tibi composita cantetur Epistola voce:

And someone will say, 'read the cultured songs of our master,
     by which he instructs those two parts:
Or from the three books which the title Amores designates,
     choose what you may gently read with a docile mouth:
Or let an Epistle be sung to you with a composed voice:'

345

     Ignotum hoc aliis ille novavit opus.'
O ita, Phoebe, velis! ita vos, pia numina vatum,
     Insignis cornu Bacche, novemque deae!
Quis dubitet, quin scire velim saltare puellam,
     Ut moveat posito brachia iussa mero?

     'This work unknown to others he innovated.'
O may you so will it, Phoebus! so you too, pious numina of bards,
     Bacchus distinguished by the horn, and you nine goddesses!
Who would doubt that I would wish a girl to know how to dance,
     so that, with the unmixed wine set down, she may move her arms as ordered?

350

Artifices lateris, scenae spectacula, amantur:
     Tantum mobilitas illa decoris habet.
Parva monere pudet, talorum dicere iactus
     Ut sciat, et vires, tessera missa, tuas:
Et modo tres iactet numeros, modo cogitet, apte

Artificers of the hip, the stage’s spectacles, are beloved:
     so much that mobility has of grace.
I am ashamed to advise small things, to tell the throws of knucklebones,
     so that she may know, when the die is cast, your strengths as well:
and now let her throw three numbers, now let her consider, aptly

355

     Quam subeat partem callida, quamque vocet.
Cautaque non stulte latronum proelia ludat,
     Unus cum gemino calculus hoste perit,
Bellatorque sua prensus sine compare bellat,
     Aemulus et coeptum saepe recurrit iter.

     Which part the clever one should enter, and which she should call.
Cautiously too let her not foolishly play the brigands’ battles (latrunculi),
     when a single counter perishes, hemmed by a double enemy,
and the warrior, caught without his own mate, wages war without a companion,
     and the rival often runs back to the path he began.

360

Reticuloque pilae leves fundantur aperto,
     Nec, nisi quam tolles, ulla movenda pila est.
Est genus, in totidem tenui ratione redactum
     Scriptula, quot menses lubricus annus habet:
Parva tabella capit ternos utrimque lapillos,

And into the open netting light balls are cast,
     Nor is any ball to be moved, except the one you will lift.
There is a kind, reduced by a subtle rationale into just as many
     little scripts as the slippery year has months:
A small tablet holds three little stones on each side,

365

     In qua vicisse est continuasse suos.
Mille facesse iocos; turpe est nescire puellam
     Ludere: ludendo saepe paratur amor.
Sed minimus labor est sapienter iactibus uti:
     Maius opus mores composuisse suos.

     In which winning is to have made your own continuous in a row.
Make a thousand jests; it is disgraceful for a girl not to know how to play:
     by playing love is often prepared.
But the least labor is to use the throws wisely:
     the greater task is to have composed one’s own manners.

370

Tum sumus incauti, studioque aperimur in ipso,
     Nudaque per lusus pectora nostra patent;
Ira subit, deforme malum, lucrique cupido,
     Iurgiaque et rixae sollicitusque dolor:
Crimina dicuntur, resonat clamoribus aether,

Then we are incautious, and in the very zeal we are laid open,
     and through play our breasts lie naked;
Rage arises, a deformed ill, and cupidity of lucre,
     and wranglings and brawls and anxious pain:
Accusations are uttered, the aether resounds with clamors,

375

     Invocat iratos et sibi quisque deos:
Nulla fides, tabulaeque novae per vota petuntur;
     Et lacrimis vidi saepe madere genas.
Iuppiter a vobis tam turpia crimina pellat,
     In quibus est ulli cura placere viro.

     Each one invokes the angry gods for himself:
No faith, and new tablets are sought through vows;
     And I have often seen cheeks be wet with tears.
May Jupiter drive from you such foul crimes,
     among which is any care to please a man.

380

Hos ignava iocos tribuit natura puellis;
     Materia ludunt uberiore viri.
Sunt illis celeresque pilae iaculumque trochique
     Armaque et in gyros ire coactus equus.
Nec vos Campus habet, nec vos gelidissima Virgo,

Nature has bestowed these lazy games on girls;
     men play with more abundant material.
For them there are swift balls and the javelin and hoops,
     and arms and the horse compelled to go into gyres.
Nor does the Campus hold you, nor the most chilly Virgo,

385

     Nec Tuscus placida devehit amnis aqua.
At licet et prodest Pompeias ire per umbras,
     Virginis aetheriis cum caput ardet equis;
Visite laurigero sacrata Palatia Phoebo:
     Ille Paraetonicas mersit in alta rates;

     Nor does the Tuscan river convey you down with placid water.
But it is permitted and it profits to go through Pompeian shades,
     when the Virgin’s head burns with aetherial horses;
Visit the Palatine, sacred to laurel-bearing Phoebus:
     He immersed the Paraetonic vessels in the deep;

390

Quaeque soror coniunxque ducis monimenta pararunt,
     Navalique gener cinctus honore caput;
Visite turicremas vaccae Memphitidos aras,
     Visite conspicuis terna theatra locis;
Spectentur tepido maculosae sanguine harenae,

And the monuments which the sister and the spouse of the leader have prepared,
     and the son-in-law, his head encircled with the naval honor;
Visit the incense-burning altars of the Memphite cow,
     Visit the three theaters in conspicuous places;
Let the arenas, stained with warm blood, be beheld,

395

     Metaque ferventi circueunda rota.
Quod latet, ignotum est: ignoti nulla cupido:
     Fructus abest, facies cum bona teste caret.
Tu licet et Thamyram superes et Amoebea cantu,
     Non erit ignotae gratia magna lyrae.

     And the turning-post to be circled by the seething wheel.
What lies hidden is unknown: of the unknown there is no desire:
     The fruit is absent, when the appearance lacks a good witness.
Though you surpass both Thamyras and Amoebaeus in song,
     There will not be great favor for an unknown lyre.

400

Si Venerem Cous nusquam posuisset Apelles,
     Mersa sub aequoreis illa lateret aquis.
Quid petitur sacris, nisi tantum fama, poetis?
     Hoc votum nostri summa laboris habet.
Cura deum fuerant olim regumque poetae:

If Apelles had nowhere set up the Coan Venus,
     Submerged, she would lie hidden beneath the sea-waters.
What is sought for sacred poets, save only fame?
     This vow holds the sum of our labor.
Poets were once the care of the gods and of kings:

405

     Praemiaque antiqui magna tulere chori.
Sanctaque maiestas et erat venerabile nomen
     Vatibus, et largae saepe dabantur opes.
Ennius emeruit, Calabris in montibus ortus,
     Contiguus poni, Scipio magne, tibi.

     And great prizes the ancient chorus carried off.
And sacred majesty and a venerable name
     to bards, and bountiful wealth was often given.
Ennius merited it, born in the Calabrian mountains,
     to be set contiguous to you, great Scipio.

410

Nunc ederae sine honore iacent, operataque doctis
     Cura vigil Musis nomen inertis habet.
Sed famae vigilare iuvat: quis nosset Homerum,
     Ilias aeternum si latuisset opus?
Quis Danaen nosset, si semper clusa fuisset,

Now ivy lies without honor, and wakeful Care, toiling for the learned Muses,
     bears the name of inertness.
But to keep vigil for fame delights: who would have known Homer,
     if the Iliad, the eternal work, had lain hidden?
Who would have known Danae, if she had always been shut in,

415

Inque sua turri perlatuisset anus?
Utilis est vobis, formosae, turba, puellae.
Saepe vagos ultra limina ferte pedes.

And would the old woman have lain completely hidden in her own tower?
A crowd is useful to you, fair girls.
Often carry your wandering feet beyond the thresholds.

Ad multas lupa tendit oves, praedetur ut unam,
Et Iovis in multas devolat ales aves.

To many sheep the she-wolf tends, that she may prey upon one,
And Jove’s bird flies down upon many birds.

420

Se quoque det populo mulier speciosa videndam:
     Quem trahat, e multis forsitan unus erit.
Omnibus illa locis maneat studiosa placendi,
     Et curam tota mente decoris agat.
Casus ubique valet; semper tibi pendeat hamus:

Let the beautiful woman also give herself to the people to be seen:
     Whom she draws, perhaps out of many there will be one.
In all places let her remain studious of pleasing,
     And let her with her whole mind pursue the care of comeliness.
Chance prevails everywhere; let a hook always hang for you:

425

     Quo minime credas gurgite, piscis erit.
Saepe canes frustra nemorosis montibus errant,
     Inque plagam nullo cervus agente venit.
Quid minus Andromedae fuerat sperare revinctae,
     Quam lacrimas ulli posse placere suas?

     In the whirlpool where you would least believe, there will be a fish.
Often the hounds wander in vain on the nemorous mountains,
     And into the net the stag comes with no one driving him.
What less had there been for bound Andromeda to hope,
     than that her tears could please anyone?

430

Funere saepe viri vir quaeritur; ire solutis
     Crinibus et fletus non tenuisse decet.
Sed vitate viros cultum formamque professos,
     Quique suas ponunt in statione comas.
Quae vobis dicunt, dixerunt mille puellis:

Often at a man’s funeral a man is sought; to go with loosened
     hair and not to have restrained tears is becoming.
But avoid men who profess grooming and form,
     and who set their own locks in their station.
What they say to you, they have said to a thousand girls:

435

     Errat et in nulla sede moratur amor.
Femina quid faciat, cum sit vir levior ipsa,
     Forsitan et plures possit habere viros?
Vix mihi credetis, sed credite: Troia maneret,
     Praeceptis Priamo si foret usa satae.

     Love errs and in no seat does it linger.
What is a woman to do, when the man is lighter than herself,
     Perhaps she too might be able to have more men?
You will hardly believe me, but believe: Troy would remain,
     if the precepts of the daughter of Priam had been used.

440

Sunt qui mendaci specie grassentur amoris,
     Perque aditus talis lucra pudenda petant.
Nec coma vos fallat liquido nitidissima nardo,
     Nec brevis in rugas lingula pressa suas:
Nec toga decipiat filo tenuissima, nec si

There are those who prowl under the guise of mendacious love,
     and through such approaches seek shameful lucre.
Nor let hair, most gleaming with liquid nard, deceive you,
     nor the little shoe-tongue pressed into its own wrinkles:
Nor let the toga, thinnest in its thread, deceive you, nor if

445

     Anulus in digitis alter et alter erit.
Forsitan ex horum numero cultissimus ille
     Fur sit, et uratur vestis amore tuae.
'Redde meum!' clamant spoliatae saepe puellae,
     'Redde meum!' toto voce boante foro.

     There will be one ring and another on his fingers.
Perhaps from the number of these, that most polished fellow
     is a thief, and your dress is scorched by love of you.
'Give me back my own!' often cry despoiled girls,
     'Give me back my own!' with a bellowing voice through the whole forum.

450

Has, Venus, e templis multo radiantibus auro
     Lenta vides lites Appiadesque tuae.
Sunt quoque non dubia quaedam mala nomina fama:
     Deceptae multi crimen amantis habent.
Discite ab alterius vestras timuisse querellis;

These, Venus, from temples radiant with much gold
     You see—slow lawsuits—and your Appiads.
There are also certain bad names by no doubtful report:
     Many a deceived girl has an accusation against her lover.
Learn from another’s complaints to have feared for your own;

455

     Ianua fallaci ne sit aperta viro.
Parcite, Cecropides, iuranti credere Theseo:
     Quos faciet testes, fecit et ante, deos.
Et tibi, Demophoon, Thesei criminis heres,
     Phyllide decepta nulla relicta fides.

     Let the door not be open to a deceitful man.
Spare yourselves, Cecropids, from believing a swearing Theseus:
     The gods whom he will make witnesses, he has made before as well.
And you too, Demophoon, heir of Theseus’s crime,
     with Phyllis deceived, no faith was left behind.

460

Si bene promittent, totidem promittite verbis:
     Si dederint, et vos gaudia pacta date.
Illa potest vigiles flammas extinguere Vestae,
     Et rapere e templis, Inachi, sacra tuis,
Et dare mixta viro tritis aconita cicutis,

If they promise well, promise with just so many words:
     If they give, you too give the bargained joys.
She can extinguish Vesta’s watchful flames,
     And snatch the sacred things from your temples, Inachus,
And give to a man aconites mixed with ground hemlocks,

465

     Accepto venerem munere siqua negat.
Fert animus propius consistere: supprime habenas,
     Musa, nec admissis excutiare rotis.
Verba vadum temptent abiegnis scripta tabellis:
     Accipiat missas apta ministra notas.

     If any woman, having received the gift, denies Venus.
My spirit carries me to take a nearer stand: check the reins,
     Muse, and do not jolt along with the wheels at full gallop.
Let words, written on fir-wood tablets, test the ford:
     Let a fitting handmaid receive the sent notes.

470

Inspice: quodque leges, ex ipsis collige verbis,
     Fingat, an ex animo sollicitusque roget.
Postque brevem rescribe moram: mora semper amantes
     Incitat, exiguum si modo tempus habet.
Sed neque te facilem iuveni promitte roganti,

Inspect: and whatever you will read, collect from the very words themselves,
     whether he feigns, or asks from the heart and solicitous.
And after a brief delay write back: delay always incites lovers
     if only it has a scant span of time.
But nor promise yourself easy to the youth who is asking,

475

     Nec tamen e duro quod petit ille nega.
Fac timeat speretque simul, quotiensque remittes,
     Spesque magis veniat certa minorque metus.
Munda, sed e medio consuetaque verba, puellae,
     Scribite: sermonis publica forma placet;

     Nor yet refuse, out of hardness, what he asks.
Make him fear and hope at once; and whenever you send back a reply,
     let hope come more certain and fear be less.
Clean, yet words from the common and accustomed sort, girls,
     write: the public form of discourse pleases;

480

A! quotiens dubius scriptis exarsit amator,
     Et nocuit formae barbara lingua bonae!
Sed quoniam, quamvis vittae careatis honore,
     Est vobis vestros fallere cura viros,
Ancillae puerique manu perarate tabellas,

Ah! how often has a wavering lover flared up at writings,
     and a barbarous tongue has harmed goodly form!
But since, although you lack the honor of the fillet,
     it is your care to deceive your own men,
have little tablets inscribed by the hand of a handmaid and a boy,

485

Pignora nec iuveni credite vestra novo.
Perfidus ille quidem, qui talia pignora servat,

Do not entrust your pledges to a new youth.
Perfidious indeed is he who preserves such pledges,

489

Sed tamen Aetnaei fulminis instar habent.
Vidi ego pallentes isto terrore puellas

But yet they have the likeness of the Aetnaean thunderbolt.
I myself have seen girls pale with that terror

487

Servitium miseras tempus in omne pati.
Iudice me fraus est concessa repellere fraudem,

To endure servitude for all time is miserable.
In my judgment, fraud is conceded to repel fraud,

491

     Armaque in armatos sumere iura sinunt.
Ducere consuescat multas manus una figuras,
     (A! pereant, per quos ista monenda mihi)
Nec nisi deletis tutum rescribere ceris,

     And the laws permit taking up arms against the armed.
Let one hand be accustomed to draw many figures,
     (Ah! let them perish, on whose account these things must be mentioned by me)
Nor is it safe to write back unless the wax has been erased,

495

     Ne teneat geminas una tabella manus.
Femina dicatur scribenti semper amator:
     Illa sit in vestris, qui fuit ille, notis.
Si licet a parvis animum ad maiora referre,
     Plenaque curvato pandere vela sinu,

     Let not a single tablet hold both hands.
Let the woman be called “lover” by the writer always;
     let her be in your marks what that man was.
If it is permitted to carry back the mind from small things to greater,
     and to spread full sails with a curving bosom,

500

Pertinet ad faciem rabidos compescere mores:
     Candida pax homines, trux decet ira feras.
Ora tument ira: nigrescunt sanguine venae:
     Lumina Gorgoneo saevius igne micant.
'I procul hinc,' dixit 'non es mihi, tibia, tanti,'

It pertains to the face to restrain rabid manners:
     candid peace befits human beings, grim wrath befits wild beasts.
Faces swell with anger: the veins blacken with blood:
     the eyes flash more savagely than Gorgonian fire.
“Go far from here,” he said, “you are not, pipe, worth so much to me,”

505

     Ut vidit vultus Pallas in amne suos.
Vos quoque si media speculum spectetis in ira,
     Cognoscat faciem vix satis ulla suam.
Nec minus in vultu damnosa superbia vestro:
     Comibus est oculis alliciendus amor.

     As Pallas saw her features in the river.
You too, if you look at a mirror in the midst of anger,
     scarcely will any woman quite recognize her own face.
No less damaging on your visage is superbia (pride):
     love is to be allured by kindly eyes.

510

Odimus inmodicos (experto credite) fastus:
     Saepe tacens odii semina vultus habet.
Spectantem specta, ridenti mollia ride:
     Innuet, acceptas tu quoque redde notas.
Sic ubi prolusit, rudibus puer ille relictis

We hate immoderate haughtiness (believe the experienced one):
     Often a silent face holds the seeds of hatred.
Look at the one looking; to one smiling, smile softly:
     If he makes a sign, you too return the signs you have received.
Thus, when he has practiced, that boy, his wooden practice-swords left aside

515

     Spicula de pharetra promit acuta sua.
Odimus et maestas: Tecmessam diligat Aiax;
     Nos hilarem populum femina laeta capit.
Numquam ego te, Andromache, nec te, Tecmessa, rogarem,
     Ut mea de vobis altera amica foret.

     He draws the sharp darts from his quiver.
We also hate the melancholy: let Ajax love Tecmessa;
     A joyful woman captivates us, a cheerful populace.
Never would I, Andromache, nor you, Tecmessa, ask,
     that one of you might be my mistress.

520

Credere vix videor, cum cogar credere partu,
     Vos ego cum vestris concubuisse viris.
Scilicet Aiaci mulier maestissima dixit
     'Lux mea' quaeque solent verba iuvare viros?
Quis vetat a magnis ad res exempla minores

I scarcely seem able to believe, when I am compelled to believe by childbirth,
     that you have lain with your own husbands.
Surely the most sorrowful woman said to Ajax
     'My light,' and the other words that are wont to gratify men?
Who forbids from great matters to draw examples for lesser things

525

     Sumere, nec nomen pertimuisse ducis?
Dux bonus huic centum commisit vite regendos,
     Huic equites, illi signa tuenda dedit:
Vos quoque, de nobis quem quisque erit aptus ad usum,
     Inspicite, et certo ponite quemque loco.

     to assume, and not to have feared the name of leader?
A good leader entrusted to this man a hundred to be ruled by the vine-staff,
     to this one he gave the cavalry, to that one the standards to be guarded:
You too, of us, inspect who will be apt for use,
     and place each in his certain station.

530

Munera det dives: ius qui profitebitur, adsit:
     Facundus causam saepe clientis agat:
Carmina qui facimus, mittamus carmina tantum:
     Hic chorus ante alios aptus amare sumus.
Nos facimus placitae late praeconia formae:

Let the rich man give gifts; let him who will profess the law be present:
     let the facund (eloquent) man often plead the client’s cause:
We who make songs, let us send only songs:
     this chorus, before others, we are apt to love.
We make far-and-wide proclamations of pleasing beauty:

535

     Nomen habet Nemesis, Cynthia nomen habet:
Vesper et Eoae novere Lycorida terrae:
     Et multi, quae sit nostra Corinna, rogant.
Adde, quod insidiae sacris a vatibus absunt,
     Et facit ad mores ars quoque nostra suos.

     Nemesis has a name, Cynthia has a name:
Vesper and the Eoan lands have known Lycoris:
     And many ask who our Corinna may be.
Add, too, that plots are absent from sacred bards,
     and our art also suits its own manners.

540

Nec nos ambitio, nec amor nos tangit habendi:
     Contempto colitur lectus et umbra foro.
Sed facile haeremus, validoque perurimur aestu,
     Et nimium certa scimus amare fide.
Scilicet ingenium placida mollitur ab arte,

Neither does ambition touch us, nor the love of possessing touches us:
     with the forum contemned, the couch and the shade are cultivated.
But we cleave easily, and we are seared through by a mighty heat,
     and we know to love with a too sure fidelity.
Surely the genius is softened by a placid art,

545

     Et studio mores convenienter eunt.
Vatibus Aoniis faciles estote, puellae:
     Numen inest illis, Pieridesque favent.
Est deus in nobis, et sunt commercia caeli:
     Sedibus aetheriis spiritus ille venit.

     And with zeal the mores go congruently.
Be facile to the Aonian bards, girls:
     A numen is in them, and the Pierides favor.
There is a god in us, and there are commerces of heaven:
     From aetherial seats that spirit comes.

550

A doctis pretium scelus est sperare poetis;
     Me miserum! scelus hoc nulla puella timet.
Dissimulate tamen, nec prima fronte rapaces
     Este: novus viso casse resistet amans.
Sed neque vector equum, qui nuper sensit habenas,

For learned poets, it is a crime to hope for a price;
     Alas for me! no girl fears this crime.
Yet dissemble, nevertheless, and do not be rapacious at the first glance:
     A new lover, at the sight of the snare, will resist.
But neither does a rider the horse, who has but now felt the reins,

555

     Comparibus frenis artificemque reget,
Nec stabiles animos annis viridemque iuventam
     Ut capias, idem limes agendus erit.
Hic rudis et castris nunc primum notus Amoris,
     Qui tetigit thalamos praeda novella tuos,

     With equal reins, and as an artificer, he will guide;
Nor the stable minds by years and the green youth
     in order that you may capture them, the same line must be driven.
Here is one untrained and now for the first time known to Love’s camps,
     who, a novel prey, has touched your bridal-chambers,

560

Te solam norit, tibi semper inhaereat uni:
     Cingenda est altis saepibus ista seges.
Effuge rivalem: vinces, dum sola tenebis;
     Non bene cum sociis regna Venusque manent.
Ille vetus miles sensim et sapienter amabit,

Let him know you alone; let him always adhere to you alone:
     That crop must be encircled with tall hedges.
Flee the rival: you will prevail, so long as you alone hold him;
     Kingdoms and Venus do not endure well with partners.
That veteran soldier will love little by little and wisely,

565

     Multaque tironi non patienda feret:
Nec franget postes, nec saevis ignibus uret,
     Nec dominae teneras adpetet ungue genas,
Nec scindet tunicasve suas tunicasve puellae,
     Nec raptus flendi causa capillus erit.

     And he will bear many things not to be borne by a tyro:
Nor will he break doorposts, nor burn with savage fires,
     Nor will he assail the mistress’s tender cheeks with his nail,
Nor will he tear either his own tunics or the girl’s tunics,
     Nor will hair, snatched out, be a cause for weeping.

570

Ista decent pueros aetate et amore calentes;
     Hic fera composita vulnera mente feret.
Ignibus heu lentis uretur, ut umida faena,
     Ut modo montanis silva recisa iugis.
Certior hic amor est: brevis et fecundior ille;

Those things befit boys hot with age and love;
     This one will bear wild wounds with a composed mind.
By slow fires, alas, he will be burned, like damp hay,
     Like a wood just cut from the mountain ridges.
This love is more sure; that one briefer and more fecund;

575

     Quae fugiunt, celeri carpite poma manu.
Omnia tradantur: portas reseravimus hosti;
     Et sit in infida proditione fides.
Quod datur ex facili, longum male nutrit amorem:
     Miscenda est laetis rara repulsa iocis.

     Pluck the fruits that flee, with a swift hand.
Let everything be delivered up: we have unbarred the gates to the enemy;
     And let there be faith in unfaithful treachery.
What is given with ease badly nourishes long love:
     A rare repulse must be mixed into joyful jests.

580

Ante fores iaceat, 'crudelis ianua!' dicat,
     Multaque summisse, multa minanter agat.
Dulcia non ferimus: suco renovemur amaro;
     Saepe perit ventis obruta cumba suis;
Hoc est, uxores quod non patiatur amari:

Let him lie before the doors, let him say, 'cruel doorway!'
     And let him do many things submissively, many menacingly.
We do not endure the sweet: let us be renovated by bitter sap;
     Often a skiff perishes, overwhelmed by its own winds;
This is why wives are not suffered to be loved:

585

     Conveniunt illas, cum voluere, viri;
Adde forem, et duro dicat tibi ianitor ore
     'Non potes,' exclusum te quoque tanget amor.
Ponite iam gladios hebetes: pugnetur acutis;
     Nec dubito, telis quin petar ipse meis.

     Men convene with them whenever they have wished;
Add the doorway, and the janitor with harsh mouth says to you
     'You cannot,'—love, excluded, will touch you too.
Put down now the blunt swords: let the fighting be with sharp;
     Nor do I doubt but that I myself shall be assailed by my own weapons.

590

Dum cadit in laqueos captus quoque nuper amator,
     Solum se thalamos speret habere tuos.
Postmodo rivalem partitaque foedera lecti
     Sentiat: has artes tolle, senescet amor.
Tum bene fortis equus reserato carcere currit,

While the lover too, recently captured, falls into snares,
     let him hope that he alone may have your bedchambers.
Afterward let him feel a rival and the bed’s shared compacts;
     take away these arts—love will grow old.
Then the well-strong horse runs, the starting-gate unbarred,

595

     Cum quos praetereat quosque sequatur habet.
Quamlibet extinctos iniuria suscitat ignes:
     En, ego (confiteor!) non nisi laesus amo.
Causa tamen nimium non sit manifesta doloris,
     Pluraque sollicitus, quam sciet, esse putet.

     when he has both those to pass by and those to pursue.
Injury rekindles fires, however extinguished:
     See, I (I confess!) do not love unless I am hurt.
Yet let the cause of the pain not be too manifest,
     and, anxious, let her suppose there are more things than she will know.

600

Incitat et ficti tristis custodia servi,
     Et nimium duri cura molesta viri.
Quae venit ex tuto, minus est accepta voluptas:
     Ut sis liberior Thaide, finge metus.
Cum melius foribus possis, admitte fenestra,

Even the grim custody of a feigned slave incites,
     and the vexatious care of an all-too-hard husband.
Pleasure that comes from safety is less acceptable:
     to be freer, Thais, feign fears.
Though you could do better by the doors, admit by the window,

605

     Inque tuo vultu signa timentis habe.
Callida prosiliat dicatque ancilla 'perimus!'
     Tu iuvenem trepidum quolibet abde loco.
Admiscenda tamen venus est secura timori,
     Ne tanti noctes non putet esse tuas.

     And on your visage have the signs of one fearing.
Let a clever handmaid leap forth and say, 'we are undone!'
     You hide the trembling youth in any place.
Yet care-free Venus must be admixed to fear,
     Lest he think your nights are not worth so much.

610

Qua vafer eludi possit ratione maritus,
     Quaque vigil custos, praeteriturus eram.
Nupta virum timeat: rata sit custodia nuptae;
     Hoc decet, hoc leges iusque pudorque iubent.
Te quoque servari, modo quam vindicta redemit,

By what method a crafty husband can be eluded,
     and how the vigilant guard (I was going to pass this by).
Let the wedded woman fear her man: let the custody of the bride be ratified;
     this is fitting; this the laws and Right and modesty command.
That you too be kept under guard, whom the vindicta has only just redeemed,

615

Quis ferat? Ut fallas, ad mea sacra veni!
Tot licet observent (adsit modo certa voluntas),
Quot fuerant Argo lumina, verba dabis.

Who would bear it? So that you may deceive, come to my rites!
Though as many may observe (provided only a sure will be present),
as many eyes as Argus had, you will give words.

Scilicet obstabit custos, ne scribere possis,
Sumendae detur cum tibi tempus aquae?

Surely the custodian will stand in the way, so that you cannot write,
when a time for taking water is granted to you?

620

Conscia cum possit scriptas portare tabellas,
     Quas tegat in tepido fascia lata sinu?
Cum possit sura chartas celare ligatas,
     Et vincto blandas sub pede ferre notas?
Caverit haec custos, pro charta conscia tergum

Since the confidante can carry written tablets,
     which a broad fascia can cover in her warm bosom?
Since a calf can conceal papers that are tied,
     and with a bound foot carry coaxing notes beneath the foot?
The guard will beware of this; in place of paper—the confidante’s back

625

     Praebeat, inque suo corpore verba ferat.
Tuta quoque est fallitque oculos e lacte recenti
     Littera: carbonis pulvere tange, leges.
Fallet et umiduli quae fiet acumine lini,
     Ut ferat occultas pura tabella notas.

     Let her offer it, and carry the words upon her own body.
Safe too, and it deceives the eyes, is a letter made from fresh milk:
     touch it with the powder of charcoal, you will read.
It will also deceive, that which will be made with the point of slightly damp flax,
     so that a clean tablet may bear hidden notes.

630

Adfuit Acrisio servandae cura puellae:
     Hunc tamen illa suo crimine fecit avum.
Quid faciat custos, cum sint tot in urbe theatra,
     Cum spectet iunctos illa libenter equos,
Cum sedeat Phariae sistris operata iuvencae,

There was present to Acrisius a care for preserving the girl:
     yet she made him a grandfather by her own crime.
What is a custodian to do, when there are so many theaters in the city,
     when she gladly watches the yoked horses,
when she sits busied with the sistra of the Pharian heifer,

635

     Quoque sui comites ire vetantur, eat,
Cum fuget a templis oculos Bona Diva virorum,
     Praeterquam siquos illa venire iubet?
Cum, custode foris tunicas servante puellae,
     Celent furtivos balnea multa iocos,

     Let her go even where her own companions are forbidden to go,
When the Good Goddess drives the eyes of men from her temples,
     Except if she orders any to come?
When, with a guard outside watching over the girl’s tunics,
     The baths conceal many furtive jests,

640

Cum, quotiens opus est, fallax aegrotet amica,
     Et cedat lecto quamlibet aegra suo,
Nomine cum doceat, quid agamus, adultera clavis,
     Quasque petas non det ianua sola vias?
Fallitur et multo custodis cura Lyaeo,

When, whenever there is need, the deceitful mistress plays at being sick,
     and, however ailing, yields to her own bed,
When the adulterous key instructs, by its name, what we should do,
     and does not the door alone give the ways you should pursue?
The watchman’s care too is deceived by much Lyaeus,

645

     Illa vel Hispano lecta sit uva iugo;
Sunt quoque, quae faciant altos medicamina somnos,
     Victaque Lethaea lumina nocte premant;
Nec male deliciis odiosum conscia tardis
     Detinet, et longa iungitur ipsa mora.

     Let it even be a grape gathered from a Spanish ridge;
There are also medicaments which make deep slumbers,
     and press down the eyes with Lethean night, once conquered;
Nor amiss the confidante, privy to slow delights,
     detains the odious one, and she herself is joined to a long delay.

650

Quid iuvat ambages praeceptaque parva movere,
     Cum minimo custos munere possit emi?
Munera, crede mihi, capiunt hominesque deosque:
     Placatur donis Iuppiter ipse datis.
Quid sapiens faciet, stultus cum munere gaudet?

What good is it to stir up circumlocutions and little precepts,
     when the guard can be bought with the smallest gift?
Gifts, believe me, win over both men and gods:
     Jupiter himself is appeased by gifts once given.
What will the wise man do, when the fool rejoices in a gift?

655

     Ipse quoque accepto munere mutus erit.
Sed semel est custos longum redimendus in aevum:
     Saepe dabit, dederit quas semel ille manus.
Questus eram, memini, metuendos esse sodales:
     Non tangit solos ista querella viros.

     He too, once he has received a gift, will be mute.
But the doorkeeper must be bought off once for a long time:
     He will often yield, those hands which once he has yielded.
I had complained, I remember, that comrades are to be feared:
     That complaint does not touch men alone.

660

Credula si fueris, aliae tua gaudia carpent,
     Et lepus hic aliis exagitatus erit.
Haec quoque, quae praebet lectum studiosa locumque
     Crede mihi, mecum non semel illa fuit.
Nec nimium vobis formosa ancilla ministret:

If you are credulous, others will pluck your joys,
     And this hare will be harried by others.
This one too, who, zealous, provides the couch and the place
     Believe me, that one has been with me not once.
Nor let a too-beautiful maidservant minister to you:

665

Saepe vicem dominae praebuit illa mihi.
Quo feror insanus? quid aperto pectore in hostem
Mittor, et indicio prodor ab ipse meo?

Often she provided the mistress’s place for me.
Where am I borne, insane? why, with my breast laid open, against an enemy
am I sent, and betrayed by my own evidence?

Non avis aucupibus monstrat, qua parte petatur:
Non docet infestos currere cerva canes.

A bird does not demonstrate to bird-catchers from which quarter it should be sought:
Nor does the hind instruct the hostile hounds to run.

670

Viderit utilitas: ego coepta fideliter edam:
     Lemniasin gladios in mea fata dabo.
Efficite (et facile est), ut nos credamus amari:
     Prona venit cupidis in sua vota fides.
Spectet amabilius iuvenem, suspiret ab imo

Let utility see to it: I will faithfully publish what I have begun:
     I will give Lemnian swords over to my own fate.
Bring it about (and it is easy) that we believe we are loved:
     pliant trust comes, inclined, to the eager, toward their own wishes.
Let her look more lovably upon the young man, let her sigh from the depths

675

     Femina, tam sero cur veniatque roget:
Accedant lacrimae, dolor et de paelice fictus,
     Et laniet digitis illius ora suis:
Iamdudum persuasus erit; miserebitur ultro,
     Et dicet 'cura carpitur ista mei.'

     Let the woman ask why he comes so late:
Let tears be added, and a grief feigned about a mistress,
     And let her tear with her fingers that woman’s face:
Forthwith he will be persuaded; he will pity her unbidden,
     And he will say 'that girl is being consumed by care for me.'

680

Praecipue si cultus erit speculoque placebit,
     Posse suo tangi credet amore deas.
Sed te, quaecumque est, moderate iniuria turbet,
     Nec sis audita paelice mentis inops.
Nec cito credideris: quantum cito credere laedat,

Especially if she is in finery and will please herself in the mirror,
     she will believe that even goddesses can be touched by her own love.
But let the injury, whatever it is, trouble you with moderation,
     and do not, on hearing of a mistress, be bereft of mind.
Nor should you quickly believe: how much it harms to believe quickly,

685

     Exemplum vobis non leve Procris erit.
Est prope purpureos colles florentis Hymetti
     Fons sacer et viridi caespite mollis humus:
Silva nemus non alta facit; tegit arbutus herbam,
     Ros maris et lauri nigraque myrtus olent:

     Procris will be no light example for you.
There is near the purple hills of blooming Hymettus
     a sacred spring and ground soft with green turf:
a wood makes a low grove; the arbutus covers the grass,
     rosemary and laurel and black myrtle are fragrant:

690

Nec densum foliis buxum fragilesque myricae,
     Nec tenues cytisi cultaque pinus abest.
Lenibus inpulsae zephyris auraque salubri
     Tot generum frondes herbaque summa tremit.
Grata quies Cephalo: famulis canibusque relictis

Nor the boxwood dense with leaves nor the fragile tamarisks,
     Nor are the slender cytisi and the cultivated pine lacking.
Driven by gentle Zephyrs and by the salubrious air
     the leaves of so many kinds and the topmost grass quiver.
Welcome rest for Cephalus: with servants and dogs left behind

695

     Lassus in hac iuvenis saepe resedit humo,
'Quae' que 'meos releves aestus,' cantare solebat
     'Accipienda sinu, mobilis aura, veni.'
Coniugis ad timidas aliquis male sedulus aures
     Auditos memori detulit ore sonos;

     Weary, the youth often sat upon this ground,
'And you who relieve my ardors,' he used to sing
     'To be received in my bosom, mobile Aura, come.'
To the timid ears of his wife someone, ill-sedulous,
     bore the sounds he had heard, with a mindful mouth;

700

Procris ut accepit nomen, quasi paelicis, Aurae,
     Excidit, et subito muta dolore fuit;
Palluit, ut serae lectis de vite racemis
     Pallescunt frondes, quas nova laesit hiemps,
Quaeque suos curvant matura cydonia ramos,

When Procris received the name, as though of a paramour, Aura,
     she swooned, and suddenly was mute with grief;
She grew pale, as the late clusters picked from the vine
     grow pale the leaves which the new winter has hurt,
and the ripe Cydonian quinces that bend their own branches,

705

     Cornaque adhuc nostris non satis apta cibis.
Ut rediit animus, tenues a pectore vestes
     Rumpit, et indignas sauciat ungue genas;
Nec mora, per medias passis furibunda capillis
     Evolat, ut thyrso concita Baccha, vias.

     and cornels still not sufficiently apt to our fare.
When her spirit returned, the thin garments from her breast
     she rips, and with her nail wounds her cheeks undeserving;
No delay: through the midst, with hair disheveled, frenzied,
     she flies out, like a Bacchant roused by the thyrsus, the streets.

710

Ut prope perventum, comites in valle relinquit,
     Ipsa nemus tacito clam pede fortis init.
Quid tibi mentis erat, cum sic male sana lateres,
     Procri? quis adtoniti pectoris ardor erat?
Iam iam venturam, quaecumque erat Aura, putabas

When she had come near, she leaves her companions in the valley,
     she herself, brave, enters the grove with silent, secret step.
What had you in mind, as you, so unsound in mind, were hiding,
     Procris? what ardor of an astonished heart was there?
Now, now you thought that Aura, whatever she was, would be coming

715

     Scilicet, atque oculis probra videnda tuis.
Nunc venisse piget (neque enim deprendere velles),
     Nunc iuvat: incertus pectora versat amor.
Credere quae iubeant, locus est et nomen et index,
     Et quia mens semper quod timet, esse putat.

     Surely—disgraces to be seen by your eyes.
Now you regret having come (for you would not wish to catch her),
     Now it pleases: uncertain love tosses the heart.
There are the place, and the name, and the index that bid belief,
     And because the mind always thinks that what it fears exists.

720

Vidit ut oppressa vestigia corporis herba,
     Pulsantur trepidi corde micante sinus.
Iamque dies medius tenues contraxerat umbras,
     Inque pari spatio vesper et ortus erant:
Ecce, redit Cephalus silvis, Cyllenia proles,

She saw how the grass, pressed down, bore the footprints of a body,
     Her trembling bosom’s folds are pulsed by a flickering heart.
And now the mid-day had contracted the slender shadows,
     and evening and sunrise were in an equal span:
Lo, Cephalus returns from the woods, the Cyllenian offspring,

725

     Oraque fontana fervida pulsat aqua.
Anxia, Procri, lates: solitas iacet ille per herbas,
     Et 'zephyri molles auraque' dixit 'ades!'
Ut patuit miserae iucundus nominis error,
     Et mens et rediit verus in ora color.

     and he dashes his burning face with fountain water.
Anxious, Procris, you hide: he lies upon the accustomed grasses,
     and said, 'soft Zephyrs and Aura, come!'
As soon as to the wretched woman the pleasant error of the name became clear,
     both her mind and her true color returned to her face.

730

Surgit, et oppositas agitato corpore frondes
     Movit, in amplexus uxor itura viri:
Ille feram movisse ratus, iuvenaliter artus
     Corripit, in dextra tela fuere manu.
Quid facis, infelix? non est fera, supprime tela!

She rises, and the opposing fronds with her agitated body
     Moved, into her husband’s embraces the wife, about to go:
He, thinking a wild beast had moved, in youthful fashion his limbs
     Snatches up; in his right hand the weapons were.
What are you doing, unlucky one? It is not a wild beast, suppress your weapons!

735

Me miserum! iaculo fixa puella tuo est.
'Ei mihi!' conclamat 'fixisti pectus amicum.

Wretched me! the girl is pierced by your javelin.
'Ah me!' he cries out, 'you have pierced a friend's breast.'

Hic locus a Cephalo vulnera semper habet.
Ante diem morior, sed nulla paelice laesa:
Hoc faciet positae te mihi, terra, levem.

This place always bears wounds from Cephalus.
I die before my day, yet injured by no rival-mistress:
This will make you, earth, light to me as I am laid.

740

Nomine suspectas iam spiritus exit in auras:
     Labor, eo, cara lumina conde manu!'
Ille sinu dominae morientia corpora maesto
     Sustinet, et lacrimis vulnera saeva lavat:
Exit, et incauto paulatim pectore lapsus

Her spirit now goes out into the breezes suspect by that name:
     I falter, I go; close, with your hand, my dear lights!'
He sustains in his mistress’s sad bosom the dying limbs,
     and with tears he washes the cruel wounds:
She goes out, and, slipping little by little from his unsuspecting breast

745

     Excipitur miseri spiritus ore viri.
Sed repetamus opus: mihi nudis rebus eundum est,
     Ut tangat portus fessa carina suos.
Sollicite expectas, dum te in convivia ducam,
     Et quaeris monitus hac quoque parte meos.

     The spirit of the wretched one is received by the man’s mouth.
But let us resume the work: I must proceed to bare things,
     So that the weary keel may touch its own harbors.
Anxiously you await, till I lead you into banquets,
     And you ask my monitions in this part too.

750

Sera veni, positaque decens incede lucerna:
     Grata mora venies; maxima lena mora est.
Etsi turpis eris, formosa videbere potis,
     Et latebras vitiis nox dabit ipsa tuis.
Carpe cibos digitis: est quiddam gestus edendi:

Come late, and advance becomingly, the lamp having been set down:
     You will come a welcome delay; delay is the greatest procuress.
Even if you are ugly, you will be able to seem beautiful,
     and night itself will give hiding-places to your faults.
Seize the food with your fingers: there is a certain something in the gesture of eating:

755

     Ora nec immunda tota perungue manu.
Neve domi praesume dapes, sed desine citra
     Quam capis; es paulo quam potes esse minus;
Priamides Helenen avide si spectet edentem,
     Oderit, et dicat 'stulta rapina mea est.'

     Do not with an unclean hand anoint your whole face.
Nor anticipate the feast at home, but stop short
     of what you take; eat a little less than you can;
If the son of Priam were to behold Helen eating greedily,
     he would hate her, and say, 'my rapine is foolish.'

760

Aptius est, deceatque magis potare puellas:
     Cum Veneris puero non male, Bacche, facis.
Hoc quoque, qua patiens caput est, animusque pedesque
     Constant: nec, quae sunt singula, bina vide.
Turpe iacens mulier multo madefacta Lyaeo:

It is more apt, and would be more becoming, for girls to drink:
     With the boy of Venus you do not do badly, Bacchus.
This too—so far as the head is tolerant, and the mind and the feet
     stand firm: and do not see double the things that are single.
Disgraceful is a woman lying, drenched with much Lyaeus:

765

     Digna est concubitus quoslibet illa pati.
Nec somnis posita tutum succumbere mensa:
     Per somnos fieri multa pudenda solent.
Ulteriora pudet docuisse: sed alma Dione
     'Praecipue nostrum est, quod pudet' inquit 'opus.'

     She deserves to suffer whatever coitus.
Nor is it safe to succumb to sleep when the table has been put aside:
     Through sleep many shameful things are wont to be done.
I am ashamed to have taught further matters: but kindly Dione
     'That which is shameful is especially our work,' she says.

770

Nota sibi sit quaeque: modos a corpore certos
     Sumite: non omnes una figura decet.
Quae facie praesignis erit, resupina iaceto:
     Spectentur tergo, quis sua terga placent.
Milanion umeris Atalantes crura ferebat:

Let each woman be known to herself: certain modes from the body
     Take: not one figure befits all.
She who is preeminent in face, lie supine:
     Let those whose backs please be looked at from the back.
Milanion bore Atalanta’s legs upon his shoulders:

775

     Si bona sunt, hoc sunt accipienda modo.
Parva vehatur equo: quod erat longissima, numquam
     Thebais Hectoreo nupta resedit equo.
Strata premat genibus, paulum cervice reflexa,
     Femina per longum conspicienda latus.

If they are good, they are to be accepted in this manner.
Let the small woman be carried on the horse: she who was very tall, the Theban woman wedded to Hector, never sat on a horse.
Let her press the bedding with her knees, her neck slightly bent back,
a woman to be looked upon along her long side.

780

Cui femur est iuvenale, carent quoque pectora menda,
     Stet vir, in obliquo fusa sit ipsa toro.
Nec tibi turpe puta crinem, ut Phylleia mater,
     Solvere, et effusis colla reflecte comis.
Tu quoque, cui rugis uterum Lucina notavit,

She whose thigh is youthful, and whose breasts also are free from blemish,
     let the man stand; let her herself be outpoured on an oblique couch.
Nor think it shameful to loosen your hair, like the Phylleian mother,
     loosen it, and with your tresses effused, bend back your neck.
You too, whose womb Lucina has marked with wrinkles,

785

     Ut celer aversis utere Parthus equis.
Mille modi veneris; simplex minimique laboris,
     Cum iacet in dextrum semisupina latus.
Sed neque Phoebei tripodes nec corniger Ammon
     Vera magis vobis, quam mea Musa, canet:

     As the swift Parthian uses his horses with his face turned backward.
A thousand modes of Venus; a simple one and of the least labor,
     when she lies half-supine on her right side.
But neither the Phoebean tripods nor horn-bearing Ammon
     will sing truer things for you than my Muse:

790

Siqua fides arti, quam longo fecimus usu,
     Credite: praestabunt carmina nostra fidem.
Sentiat ex imis venerem resoluta medullis
     Femina, et ex aequo res iuvet illa duos.
Nec blandae voces iucundaque murmura cessent,

If there is any faith in the art, which we have made by long use,
     Believe: our songs will furnish credence.
Let the woman, relaxed, feel Venus from her inmost marrows,
     and let that affair equally help the two.
Nor let coaxing voices and pleasant murmurs cease,

795

     Nec taceant mediis improba verba iocis.
Tu quoque, cui veneris sensum natura negavit,
     Dulcia mendaci gaudia finge sono.
Infelix, cui torpet hebes locus ille, puella,
     Quo pariter debent femina virque frui.

     Nor let shameless words be silent amid the jests.
You too, to whom nature has denied the sense of Venus,
     Feign sweet joys with a mendacious sound.
Unlucky girl, for whom that place is torpid and dull,
     where woman and man alike ought to enjoy.

800

Tantum, cum finges, ne sis manifesta, caveto:
     Effice per motum luminaque ipsa fidem.
Quam iuvet, et voces et anhelitus arguat oris;
     A! pudet, arcanas pars habet ista notas.
Gaudia post Veneris quae poscet munus amantem,

Only, when you feign, beware of being manifest:
     Establish credence by motion and by the eyes themselves.
Let both voices and the pantings of the mouth declare how it delights;
     Ah! it shames me; that part has arcane notes.
The joys which, after the service of Venus, will demand a gift from the lover,

805

     Illa suas nolet pondus habere preces.
Nec lucem in thalamos totis admitte fenestris;
     Aptius in vestro corpore multa latent.
Lusus habet finem: cygnis descendere tempus,
     Duxerunt collo qui iuga nostra suo.

     Let her not want her own prayers to carry weight.
Nor admit light into the bedchambers through all the windows;
     More aptly many things lie hidden in your body.
The play has an end: it is time to dismount from the swans,
     who have drawn our yokes by their own necks.

810

Ut quondam iuvenes, ita nunc, mea turba, puellae
Inscribant spoliis 'Naso magister erat.'

As once the youths, so now, my throng, the girls,
let them inscribe upon their spoils, 'Naso was the master.'