Ovid: HEROIDES

Mittit et optat amans, quo mittitur, ire salutem
     Haemonis Haemonio Laodamia viro.
Aulide te fama est vento retinente morari:
     a! me cum fugeres, hic ubi ventus erat?
tum freta debuerant vestris obsistere remis;
     illud erat saevis utile tempus aquis.

The lover sends, and wishes the greeting to go where it is sent
     Laodamia of Haemonia to her Haemonian husband.
At Aulis, rumor has it that, the wind restraining you, you linger;
     ah! when you were fleeing me, where was this wind?
then the straits ought to have stood against your oars;
     that was the useful time for savage waters.

oscula plura viro mandataque plura dedissem
     et sunt quae volui dicere multa tibi.
raptus es hinc praeceps et qui tua vela vocaret,
     quem cuperent nautae, non ego, ventus erat.
ventus erat nautis aptus, non aptus amanti;
     solvor ab amplexu, Protesilae, tuo
linguaque mandantis verba inperfecta reliquit;
     vix illud potui dicere triste "vale."
Incubuit Boreas abreptaque vela tetendit,
     iamque meus longe Protesilaus erat.

I would have given more kisses to my man and more mandates besides,
     and there are many things which I wished to say to you.
You were snatched headlong from here, and the one to call your sails—
     the wind the sailors desired, not I—was there.
The wind was apt for sailors, not apt for a lover;
     I am loosed from your embrace, Protesilaus,
and my tongue, while giving mandates, left the words unfinished;
     hardly could I say that sad “farewell.”
Boreas bore down and stretched the snatched sails,
     and now my Protesilaus was far away.

dum potui spectare virum, spectare iuvabat
     sumque tuos oculos usque secuta meis;
ut te non poteram, poteram tua vela videre,
     vela diu vultus detinuere meos.
at postquam nec te nec vela fugacia vidi,
     et quod spectarem, nil nisi pontus erat,
lux quoque tecum abiit, tenebrisque exanguis obortis
     succiduo dicor procubuisse genu.
vix socer Iphiclus, vix me grandaevus Acastus,
     vix mater gelida maesta refecit aqua.

while I could gaze upon the man, to gaze gave delight
     and I kept following your eyes with mine;
when I could not see you, I could see your sails,
     the sails long detained my gaze.
but after I saw neither you nor the fugitive sails,
     and there was nothing for me to look at but the sea,
the light too went away with you, and, bloodless with darkness arisen,
     I am said to have fallen forward with my knee giving way.
hardly my father-in-law Iphiclus, hardly aged Acastus,
     hardly did my mournful mother restore me with gelid water.

officium fecere pium, sed inutile nobis:
     indignor miserae non licuisse mori.
Ut rediit animus, pariter rediere dolores;
     pectora legitimus casta momordit amor.
nec mihi pectendos cura est praebere capillos
     nec libet aurata corpora veste tegi.

They did a pious duty, but useless to me:
     I, wretched, am indignant that it was not permitted to die.
When my spirit returned, together the pains returned;
     my breast was bitten by legitimate, chaste love.
nor do I care to offer my hair for combing,
     nor does it please me to have my body covered with a golden garment.

ut quas pampinea tetigisse Bicorniger hasta
     creditur, huc illuc, qua furor egit, eo.
conveniunt matres Phylleides et mihi clamant:
     "Indue regales, Laodamia, sinus!"
scilicet ipsa geram saturatas murice lanas,
     bella sub Iliacis moenibus ille gerat?
ipsa comas pectar? galea caput ille premetur?

as those whom the Two-Horned One is believed to have touched with the vine-leafy spear,
     I go hither and thither, where frenzy has driven, I go.
the Phylacian mothers gather and shout to me:
     "Put on royal folds, Laodamia!"
surely I myself shall wear wools saturated with murex-purple,
     while he wages wars beneath the Iliac walls?
shall I myself comb my tresses? will his head be pressed by a helmet?

     ipsa novas vestes, dura vir arma ferat?
qua possum, squalore tuos imitata labores
     dicar et haec belli tempora tristis agam.
Dyspari Priamide, damno formose tuorum,
     tam sis hostis iners quam malus hospes eras!

     Shall I myself wear new garments, while my husband bears hard arms?
In whatever way I can, by squalor imitating your labors
     I may be said, and sad I will pass these times of war.
Priamid ill-matched to Paris, handsome to the damage of your own people,
     may you be as inert an enemy as you were a bad guest!

aut te Taenariae faciem culpasse maritae
aut illi vellem displicuisse tuam.
tu, qui pro rapta nimium, Menelae, laboras,
ei mihi! quam multis flebilis ultor eris.

or that you had found fault with the face of the Taenarian wife,
or that yours had displeased her.
you, Menelaus, who toil too much on behalf of the stolen one—
ah me! to how many you will be a mournful avenger.

di, precor, a nobis omen removete sinistrum
     et sua det reduci vir meus arma Iovi!
sed timeo, quotiens subiit miserabile bellum;
     more nivis lacrimae sole madentis eunt.
Ilion et Tenedos Simoisque et Xanthus et Ide
     nomina sunt ipso paene timenda sono.

gods, I pray, remove from us the sinister omen
     and let my husband give his own arms to Jupiter Redux!
but I fear, whenever the miserable war comes to mind;
     tears flow in the manner of snow made wet by the sun.
Ilion and Tenedos and Simois and Xanthus and Ida
     are names almost to be feared in the very sound.

nec rapere ausurus, nisi se defendere posset,
     hospes erat: vires noverat ille suas.
venerat, ut fama est, multo spectabilis auro
     quique suo Phrygias corpore ferret opes,
classe virisque potens, per quae fera bella geruntur—
     et sequitur regni pars quota quemque sui?
his ego te victam, consors Ledaea gemellis,
     suspicor, haec Danais posse nocere puto.

nor would he have dared to snatch, unless he could defend himself,
     he was a guest: he knew his own forces.
he had come, as the report goes, remarkable with much gold,
     one who bore Phrygian wealth upon his very body,
powerful in fleet and in men, by which fierce wars are waged—
     and what portion of his realm follows each man?
by these I suspect you, Ledaean sharer with the Twins,
     to have been overcome; I think these things can harm the Danaans.

Hectora nescio quem timeo; Paris Hectora dixit
     ferrea sanguinea bella movere manu;
Hectora, quisquis is est, si sum tibi cara, caveto:
     signatum memori pectore nomen habe!
hunc ubi vitaris, alios vitare memento
     et multos illic Hectoras esse puta
et facito ut dicas, quotiens pugnare parabis:
     "parcere me iussit Laodamia sibi.
si cadere Argolico fas est sub milite Troiam,
     te quoque non ullum vulnus habente cadat.

I fear some Hector I do not know; Paris said that Hector
     stirs iron, blood-stained wars with his hand;
Hector—whoever he is—beware him, if I am dear to you:
     have the name signed in your mindful breast!
When you have avoided this man, remember to avoid others,
     and suppose that there are many Hectors there;
and see that you say, whenever you prepare to fight:
     "Laodamia ordered me to spare herself."
If it is right that Troy fall beneath Argolic soldiery,
     let it fall with you also having no wound.

pugnet et adversos tendat Menelaus in hostes,
     hostibus e mediis nupta petenda viro est.
causa tua est dispar: tu tantum vivere pugna,
     inque pios dominae posse redire sinus!
Parcite, Dardanidae, de tot, precor, hostibus uni,
     ne meus ex illo corpore sanguis eat!

let Menelaus fight and press toward the opposing enemies,
     from the midst of the enemies the bride is to be sought by her husband.
your cause is disparate: you, fight only to live,
     and to be able to return into the pious bosom of your mistress!
Spare, Dardanians, of so many enemies, I pray, this one,
     lest my blood go forth from that body!

non est quem deceat nudo concurrere ferro
saevaque in oppositos pectora ferre viros.
fortius ille potest multo, quam pugnat, amare.
bella gerant alii; Protesilaus amet!

he is not one whom it befits to clash with naked iron
and to bear a savage breast against opposing men.
he can far more strongly love than he can fight.
let others wage wars; let Protesilaus love!

Nunc fateor: volui revocare, animusque ferebat;
     substitit auspicii lingua timore mali.
cum foribus velles ad Troiam exire paternis,
     pes tuus offenso limine signa dedit.
ut vidi, ingemui, tacitoque in pectore dixi:
     "signa reversuri sint, precor, ista viri!"
haec tibi nunc refero, ne sis animosus in armis.

Now I confess: I wished to call you back, and my spirit was bearing me;
     my tongue, an auspice, halted through fear of ill.
when you wished to go out to Troy from your paternal doors,
     your foot gave signs, with the threshold struck against.
as I saw, I groaned, and in my silent breast I said:
     "let those be, I pray, signs of a man about to return!"
these things I now report to you, lest you be high-spirited in arms.

     fac, meus in ventos hic timor omnis eat!
Sors quoque nescio quem fato designat iniquo,
     qui primus Danaum Troada tangat humum:
infelix, quae prima virum lugebit ademptum!
     di faciant, ne tu strenuus esse velis!

     see to it that all this fear of mine goes to the winds!
The Lot too designates I know not whom to an iniquitous fate,
     who first of the Danaans should touch the soil of the Troad:
unhappy she who first will mourn her man taken away!
     may the gods bring it to pass that you do not wish to be strenuous!

inter mille rates tua sit millensima puppis
iamque fatigatas ultima verset aquas!
hoc quoque praemoneo: de nave novissimus exi!
non est, quo properas, terra paterna tibi.

among a thousand ships let yours be the thousandth vessel
and now, as the last, let it churn the fatigued waters!
this too I forewarn: from the ship go out last!
the land to which you hasten is not a paternal land for you.

cum venies, remoque move veloque carinam
     inque tuo celerem litore siste gradum!
Sive latet Phoebus seu terris altior exstat,
     tu mihi luce celer, tu mihi nocte venis:
nocte tamen quam luce magis. nox grata puellis,
     quarum suppositus colla lacertus habet.

when you come, move the keel with oar and with sail
     and on your own shore set your swift step!
whether Phoebus lies hidden or stands higher above the lands,
     you come to me swift by day, you come to me by night:
by night, however, more than by day. night is welcome to maidens,
     whose necks an arm placed beneath holds.

aucupor in lecto mendaces caelibe somnos;
dum careo veris gaudia falsa iuvant.
Sed tua cur nobis pallens occurrit imago?
cur venit a labris multa querela tuis?

I hunt in a celibate bed for mendacious dreams;
while I lack the true, false joys help.
But why does your pallid image meet me?
why does much complaint come from your lips?

excutior somno simulacraque noctis adoro;
     nulla caret fumo Thessalis ara meo:
tura damus lacrimamque super, qua sparsa relucet,
     ut solet adfuso surgere flamma mero.
quando ego te reducem cupidis amplexa lacertis
     languida laetitia solvar ab ipsa mea?
quando erit, ut lecto mecum bene iunctus in uno
     militiae referas splendida facta tuae?

I am shaken from sleep, and I adore the images of night;
     no Thessalian altar is without my smoke:
we offer incense, and a tear upon it, by which, when sprinkled, it shines back,
     as a flame is wont to rise when pure wine has been poured on.
when shall I, clasping you returned with eager arms,
     languid, be dissolved by my very joy?
when will it be, that, well joined with me in one bed,
     you relate the splendid deeds of your military service?

quae mihi dum referes, quamvis audire iuvabit,
     multa tamen capies oscula, multa dabis.
semper in his apte narrantia verba resistunt;
     promptior est dulci lingua refecta mora.
Sed cum Troia subit, subeunt ventique fretumque;
     spes bona sollicito victa timore cadit.

which while you recount to me, although it will delight me to hear,
     yet you will take many kisses, many you will give.
ever in these, words that aptly narrate come to a halt;
     the tongue, refreshed by a sweet delay, is more prompt.
But when Troy rises, the winds and the sea rise as well;
     good hope falls, conquered by anxious fear.

hoc quoque, quod venti prohibent exire carinas,
me movet: invitis ire paratis aquis.
quis velit in patriam vento prohibente reverti?
a patria pelago vela vetante datis!

This also, that the winds prohibit the keels to go forth,
moves me: to go with the waters unwilling, though you are prepared.
Who would wish to revert to the fatherland, the wind prohibiting?
from the fatherland, the deep forbidding, you set your sails!

ipse suam non praebet iter Neptunus ad urbem.
quo ruitis? vestras quisque redite domos!

Neptune does not provide his own route to the city.
Where are you rushing? Each of you, return to your homes!

quo ruitis, Danai? ventos audite vetantes!
non subiti casus—numinis ista mora est.

whither do you rush, Danaans? hear the forbidding winds!
no sudden chance—this is the delay of a divinity.

quid petitur tanto nisi turpis adultera bello?
dum licet, Inachiae vertite vela rates!
sed quid ago?

What is sought by so great a war except a foul adulteress?
while it is permitted, turn your sails, ships, toward Inachian land!
but what am I doing?

revoco? revocaminis omen abesto
     blandaque compositas aura secundet aquas!
Troasin invideo, quae si lacrimosa suorum
     funera conspicient, nec procul hostis erit;
ipsa suis manibus forti nova nupta marito
     imponet galeam Dardanaque arma dabit;
arma dabit, dumque arma dabit, simul oscula sumet—
     hoc genus officii dulce duobus erit—
producetque virum dabit et mandata reverti
     et dicet: "referas ista fac arma Iovi!"
ille ferens dominae mandata recentia secum
     pugnabit caute respicietque domum.

Do I call you back? Let the omen of recall be absent
     and may a coaxing breeze second the composed waters!
I envy the Trojan women, who, if they behold the tearful
     funerals of their own, the enemy will not be far;
the new bride with her own hands will set the helmet upon her brave husband
     and will give Dardanian arms;
she will give arms, and while she gives the arms, at the same time she will take kisses—
     this kind of office will be sweet to the two—
and she will lead her man forth and will give mandates to return
     and will say: "See that you bring those back—make the arms to Jove!"
he, bearing his lady’s fresh mandates with him,
     will fight cautiously and will look back toward home.

exuet haec reduci clipeum galeamque resolvet
     excipietque suo corpora lassa sinu.
Nos sumus incertae, nos anxius omnia cogit,
     quae possunt fieri, facta putare timor.
dum tamen arma geres diverso miles in orbe,
     quae referat vultus est mihi cera tuos:
illi blanditias, illi tibi debita verba
     dicimus, amplexus accipit illa meos.

she will strip off the shield from the returning man and unloose the helmet,
     and she will receive your weary limbs into her own bosom.
We are uncertain; anxious fear drives us to think
     that whatever can be done has already been done.
Yet while you, a soldier, bear arms in a different orb,
     I have wax to bring back your visage:
to it I speak blandishments, to it I say the words owed to you,
     and it receives my embraces.

crede mihi, plus est, quam quod videatur, imago;
     adde sonum cerae, Protesilaus erit.
hanc specto teneoque sinu pro coniuge vero
     et tamquam possit verba referre, queror.
Per reditus corpusque tuum, mea numina, iuro
     perque pares animi coniugiique faces
perque quod ut videam canis albere capillis,
     quod tecum possis ipse referre, caput,
me tibi venturam comitem, quocumque vocaris,
     sive—quod heu!

believe me, the image is more than it seems;
     add a voice to the wax, and it will be Protesilaus.
this I gaze upon and hold in my bosom instead of a true spouse,
     and as though it could return words, I make my complaint.
By your returns and your body, my divinities, I swear,
     and by the equal torches of mind and of wedlock,
and by that, that I may see you whiten with gray hairs—
     the head which you yourself can bring back with you—,
that I will come to you as companion, wherever you are summoned,
     whether—alas!

timeo—sive superstes eris.
ultima mandato claudetur epistula parvo:
si tibi cura mei, sit tibi cura tui!

I fear—whether you will survive.
the epistle will be closed with a small mandate at the end:
if you have care for me, have care for yourself!