Ovid: HEROIDES

Hospita, Demophoon, tua te Rhodopeia Phyllis
     ultra promissum tempus abesse queror.
cornua cum lunae pleno semel orbe coissent,
     litoribus nostris ancora pacta tua est—
luna quater latuit, toto quater orbe recrevit;

As your hostess, Demophoon, your Rhodopean Phyllis
     complains that you are away beyond the promised time.
when the horns of the moon had come together in a single full orb,
     your anchor was pledged to our shores—
the moon has four times hidden, four times been renewed in her entire orb;

     nec vehit Actaeas Sithonis unda rates.
tempora si numeres—bene quae numeramus amantes—
     non venit ante suam nostra querela diem.
Spes quoque lenta fuit; tarde, quae credita laedunt,
     credimus.

     nor does the wave of Sithon carry Actaean ships.
if you number the times—which we lovers number well—
     my complaint did not come before its own day.
Hope too was slow; late do we believe those things which, when believed, wound,
     we believe.

invita nunc es amante nocens.

now, unwilling, you are injurious to your lover.

saepe fui mendax pro te mihi, saepe putavi
     alba procellosos vela referre Notos.
Thesea devovi, quia te dimittere nollet;
     nec tenuit cursus forsitan ille tuos.
interdum timui, ne, dum vada tendis ad Hebri,

often I was mendacious to myself for you, often I supposed
     that white sails were bringing back the stormy South Winds.
I cursed Theseus, because he would not let you depart;
     nor perhaps did that man check your courses.
at times I feared, lest, while you aim for the shallows of the Hebrus,

     mersa foret cana naufraga puppis aqua.
saepe deos supplex, ut tu, scelerate, valeres,
     cum prece turicremis sum venerata sacris;
saepe, videns ventos caelo pelagoque faventes,
     ipsa mihi dixi: 'si valet ille, venit.'

     that the ship, shipwrecked, might have been submerged by the hoary water.
often, as a suppliant to the gods, that you, wicked man, might be well,
     with prayer I have venerated with incense-burning sacred rites;
often, seeing winds favorable in sky and sea,
     I myself said to myself: 'if he is well, he is coming.'

denique fidus amor, quidquid properantibus obstat,
     finxit, et ad causas ingeniosa fui.
at tu lentus abes; nec te iurata reducunt
     numina, nec nostro motus amore redis.
Demophoon, ventis et verba et vela dedisti;

in the end faithful love, whatever stands in the way to the hastening,
     imagined, and I was ingenious at finding causes.
but you, slow, are away; nor do the sworn divinities lead you back,
     nor, moved by my love, do you return.
Demophoon, to the winds you have given both words and sails.

vela queror reditu, verba carere fide.
Dic mihi, quid feci, nisi non sapienter amavi?
crimine te potui demeruisse meo.

I complain that the sails lack return, that the words lack faith.
Tell me, what have I done, except that I loved not wisely?
by my crime I could have deserved to lose you.

unum in me scelus est, quod te, scelerate, recepi;
sed scelus hoc meriti pondus et instar habet.

one crime is in me: that I took you back, you criminal;
but this crime has the weight and the semblance of merit.

iura fidesque ubi nunc, commissaque dextera dextrae,
     quique erat in falso plurimus ore deus?
promissus socios ubi nunc Hymenaeus in annos,
     qui mihi coniugii sponsor et obses erat?
per mare, quod totum ventis agitatur et undis,

Where now are the oaths and good faith, and the right hand committed to the right hand,
     and the god whose name was most upon your lying lips?
Where now is Hymenaeus, promised as a companion for years,
     who was to me the sponsor and hostage of marriage?
across the sea, which as a whole is agitated by winds and waves,

     per quod nempe ieras, per quod iturus eras,
perque tuum mihi iurasti—nisi fictus et ille est—
     concita qui ventis aequora mulcet, avum,
per Venerem nimiumque mihi facientia tela—
     altera tela arcus, altera tela faces—

     by which indeed you had gone, by which you were about to go,
and by your grandsire—you swore to me by him, unless even he is feigned—
     who soothes the seas stirred by the winds,
by Venus and the weapons that work too much for me—
     the one weapons the bow, the other weapons the torches—

Iunonemque, toris quae praesidet alma maritis,
     et per taediferae mystica sacra deae.
si de tot laesis sua numina quisque deorum
     vindicet, in poenas non satis unus eris.
Ah, laceras etiam puppes furiosa refeci—

and Juno, who presides, kindly, over marriage-beds,
     and by the mystic rites of the torch-bearing goddess.
if, for so many wronged, each of the gods should vindicate his own divinity,
     you alone will not be sufficient for the penalties.
Ah, in my frenzy I even refitted the torn ships—

ut, qua desererer, firma carina foret!—
remigiumque dedi, quod me fugiturus haberes.
heu! patior telis vulnera facta meis!

so that the keel, by which I would be deserted, might be firm!—
and I even gave a rowing-crew, which you, about to flee me, might have.
alas! I suffer wounds made by my own weapons!

credidimus blandis, quorum tibi copia, verbis;
credidimus generi nominibusque tuis;

we believed the blandishing words, of which you have a copious supply;
we believed in your lineage and your names;

credidimus lacrimis—an et hae simulare docentur?
hae quoque habent artes, quaque iubentur, eunt?
dis quoque credidimus.

we believed in tears—are even these taught to simulate?
do these too have arts, and go where they are bidden?
we believed the gods as well.

quo iam tot pignora nobis?
parte satis potui qualibet inde capi.
Nec moveor, quod te iuvi portuque locoque—

to what end now so many pledges between us?
by any part thereof I could sufficiently have been captivated.
Nor am I moved, that I aided you with harbor and place—

     debuit haec meriti summa fuisse mei!
turpiter hospitium lecto cumulasse iugali
     paenitet, et lateri conseruisse latus.
quae fuit ante illam, mallem suprema fuisset
     nox mihi, dum potui Phyllis honesta mori.

     this ought to have been the sum of my merit!
shamefully I regret having heaped hospitality upon the nuptial bed,
     and to have conjoined side to side.
the night which was before that, I would rather had been my last night
     for me, while I could die an honorable Phyllis.

speravi melius, quia me meruisse putavi;
quaecumque ex merito spes venit, aequa venit.
Fallere credentem non est operosa puellam
gloria. simplicitas digna favore fuit.

I hoped for better, because I thought that I had merited it;
whatever hope comes from merit, comes justly.
To deceive a credulous girl is no laborious glory.
simplicity was worthy of favor.

sum decepta tuis et amans et femina verbis.

I have been deceived by your words, both a lover and a woman.

     di faciant, laudis summa sit ista tuae!
inter et Aegidas, media statuaris in urbe,
     magnificus titulis stet pater ante suis.
cum fuerit Sciron lectus torvusque Procrustes
     et Sinis et tauri mixtaque forma viri

     may the gods grant, let that be the summit of your praise!
and among the Aegids, may you be set up in the middle of the city,
     let the father stand magnificent before his own titles.
when Sciron has been read and grim Procrustes
     and Sinis and the bull and the mixed form of a man

et domitae bello Thebae fusique bimembres
     et pulsata nigri regia caeca dei—
hoc tua post illos titulo signetur imago:
     hic est, cuius amans hospita capta dolo est.
de tanta rerum turba factisque parentis

and Thebes subdued in war and the biform ones laid low
     and the palace of the blind black god beaten—
let your image after those be marked with a title:
     this is he, whose loving hostess was captured by trick.
out of so great a crowd of things and the deeds of your father

     sedit in ingenio Cressa relicta tuo.
quod solum excusat, solum miraris in illo;
     heredem patriae, perfide, fraudis agis.
illa—nec invideo—fruitur meliore marito
     inque capistratis tigribus alta sedet;

     the Cretan girl, left behind, relied on your ingenuity.
that which alone excuses it, that alone you marvel at in him;
     faithless one, you make him the heir of his fatherland’s fraud.
she—nor do I envy—enjoys a better husband
     and sits high upon haltered tigers;

at mea despecti fugiunt conubia Thraces,
     quod ferar externum praeposuisse meis.
atque aliquis 'iam nunc doctas eat,' inquit, 'Athenas;
     armiferam Thracen qui regat, alter erit.
exitus acta probat.' careat successibus, opto,

but the Thracians, feeling despised, flee my marriages,
     because I am said to have preferred a foreigner to my own.
and someone says, 'Right now let him go to learned Athens;
     there will be another to rule arms-bearing Thrace.
the outcome proves the deeds.' may he lack successes, I wish,

     quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putat!
at si nostra tuo spumescant aequora remo,
     iam mihi, iam dicar consuluisse meis—
sed neque consului, nec te mea regia tanget
     fessaque Bistonia membra lavabis aqua!

     whoever thinks deeds are to be noted from the event!
but if our waters should foam under your oar,
     now I, now I would be said to have consulted for mine—
but I have neither consulted, nor will my royal house touch you
     and you will bathe your weary limbs in Bistonian water!

Illa meis oculis species abeuntis inhaeret,
     cum premeret portus classis itura meos.
ausus es amplecti colloque infusus amantis
     oscula per longas iungere pressa moras
cumque tuis lacrimis lacrimas confundere nostras,

That aspect of you departing adheres to my eyes,
     when the fleet, about to go, was pressing my harbors.
you dared to embrace and, poured upon the neck of your lover,
     to join kisses, pressed through long delays,
and to confound our tears with your tears,

     quodque foret velis aura secunda, queri
et mihi discedens suprema dicere voce:
     'Phylli, fac expectes Demophoonta tuum!'
Expectem, qui me numquam visurus abisti?
     expectem pelago vela negata meo?

     and to complain that there would be a favorable breeze for your sails,
and, departing, to say to me with your last words:
     'Phyllis, see that you wait for your Demophoon!'
Am I to wait—for you, who have gone away never to see me?
     am I to wait for sails denied to my sea?

100

et tamen expecto—redeas modo serus amanti,
     ut tua sit solo tempore lapsa fides!
Quid precor infelix? te iam tenet altera coniunx
     forsitan et, nobis qui male favit, amor;
iamque tibi excidimus, nullam, puto, Phyllida nosti.

and yet I wait—only return, though late, to your lover,
     so that your faith may have lapsed in time alone!
What do I, unhappy, pray? now another consort holds you,
     perhaps too Love, who has favored us ill;
and now I have slipped from your mind; you, I think, know no Phyllis.

105

     ei mihi! si, quae sim Phyllis et unde, rogas—
quae tibi, Demophoon, longis erroribus acto
     Threicios portus hospitiumque dedi,
cuius opes auxere meae, cui dives egenti
     munera multa dedi, multa datura fui;

     alas for me! if you ask who I, Phyllis, am and whence—
who to you, Demophoon, when you were driven by long wanderings,
     I gave the Thracian ports and hospitality,
whose resources my own augmented, to whom, I wealthy,
     to the needy, I gave many gifts, and was going to give many more;

110

quae tibi subieci latissima regna Lycurgi,
     nomine femineo vix satis apta regi,
qua patet umbrosum Rhodope glacialis ad Haemum,
     et sacer admissas exigit Hebrus aquas,
cui mea virginitas avibus libata sinistris

who for you subjected the very broad realms of Lycurgus,
     hardly sufficiently apt to be ruled under a feminine name,
where it lies open from shady Rhodope to glacial Haemus,
     and the sacred Hebrus discharges the waters it has admitted,
to whom my virginity was offered with sinister left-hand birds

115

     castaque fallaci zona recincta manu!
pronuba Tisiphone thalamis ululavit in illis,
     et cecinit maestum devia carmen avis;
adfuit Allecto brevibus torquata colubris,
     suntque sepulcrali lumina mota face!

     and my chaste girdle unbound by a deceitful hand!
as pronuba Tisiphone ululated in those marriage chambers,
     and a bird that strays sang a mournful song;
Allecto was present, wreathed with short serpents,
     and the lamps were moved by a sepulchral torch!

120

Maesta tamen scopulos fruticosaque litora calco
     quaeque patent oculis litora lata meis.
sive die laxatur humus, seu frigida lucent
     sidera, prospicio, quis freta ventus agat;
et quaecumque procul venientia lintea vidi,

Yet mournful I tread the cliffs and the shrubby shores
     and the broad shores that lie open to my eyes.
whether by day the ground is loosened, or the cold shine
     stars, I look out to see by what wind the seas are driven;
and whatever sails coming from afar I have seen,

125

     protinus illa meos auguror esse deos.
in freta procurro, vix me retinentibus undis,
     mobile qua primas porrigit aequor aquas.
quo magis accedunt, minus et minus utilis adsto;
     linquor et ancillis excipienda cado.

     straightway I augur those to be my gods.
I run forward into the straits, with the waves scarcely holding me back,
     where the shifting sea stretches out its first waters.
The more they draw near, the less and less of use do I stand;
     I melt away and fall, to be caught by my handmaids.

130

Est sinus, adductos modice falcatus in arcus;
     ultima praerupta cornua mole rigent.
hinc mihi suppositas inmittere corpus in undas
     mens fuit; et, quoniam fallere pergis, erit.
ad tua me fluctus proiectam litora portent,

There is a bay, modestly sickle-shaped, drawn into arcs;
     its farthest horns grow rigid with a precipitous mass.
From here my mind was to send my body into the waves set beneath;
     and, since you persist in deceiving, it shall be.
Let the waves carry me, cast forth, to your shores,

135

     occurramque oculis intumulata tuis!
duritia ferrum ut superes adamantaque teque,
     'non tibi sic,' dices, 'Phylli, sequendus eram!'
saepe venenorum sitis est mihi; saepe cruenta
     traiectam gladio morte perire iuvat.

     and I will meet your eyes, unburied!
hardness, such that you surpass iron and adamants—and even yourself—,
     'not thus by you,' you will say, 'Phyllis, was I to be followed!'
often I have a thirst for poisons; often a blood-stained
     death, pierced by the sword, it pleases me to perish by.

140

colla quoque, infidis quia se nectenda lacertis
praebuerunt, laqueis inplicuisse iuvat.
stat nece matura tenerum pensare pudorem.
in necis electu parva futura mora est.

the neck too, since it offered itself to be bound by faithless arms,
it pleases to have entangled with nooses.
It stands fixed to compensate tender modesty with a timely death.
in the choice of death there will be little delay.

Inscribere meo causa invidiosa sepulcro.

To inscribe upon my tomb an invidious charge.

145

aut hoc aut simili carmine notus eris:
phyllida demophoon leto dedit hospes amantem;
ille necis causam praebuit, ipsa manum.

either by this or by a similar song you will be known:
phyllis, the guest demophoon gave, a lover, to lethal death;
he supplied the cause of the killing, she the hand.