Ovid: HEROIDES

Accipe, Cydippe, despecti nomen Aconti—
illius in pomo qui tibi verba dedit.
Pone metum! nihil hic iterum iurabis amanti;
promissam satis est te semel esse mihi.

Receive, Cydippe, the name of despised Acontius—
of him who on the apple gave words to you.
Lay down fear! here you will swear nothing again to your lover;
it is enough that you have been once promised to me.

perlege! discedat sic corpore languor ab isto,
quod meus est ulla parte dolere dolor!

read it through! let languor thus depart from that body,
since my dolor is to ache in any part!

quid pudor ante subit? nam, sicut in aede Dianae
suspicor ingenuas erubuisse genas.
coniugium pactamque fidem, non crimina posco;
debitus ut coniunx, non ut adulter amo.

What modesty comes upon you beforehand? for, just as in the temple of Diana
I suspect your freeborn cheeks have blushed.
I ask for conjugal union and pledged faith, not crimes;
I love as a husband due, not as an adulterer.

verba licet repetas, quae demptus ab arbore fetus
     pertulit ad castas me iaciente manus;
invenies illic id te spondere, quod opto
     te potius, virgo, quam meminisse deam.
nunc quoque idem (timeo), sed idem tamen acrius illud;
     adsumpsit vires auctaque flamma mora est,
quique fuit numquam parvus, nunc tempore longo
     et spe, quam dederas tu mihi, crevit amor.
spem mihi tu dederas; meus hic tibi credidit ardor.

you may repeat the words which the fruit removed from the tree
     bore to my chaste hands as I was casting up my hands;
you will find there that you pledged that which I desire—
     you, maiden, rather than the goddess, to remember.
now also the same (I fear), yet that same thing is keener;
     it has assumed strength, and the flame has been augmented by delay,
and the love which was never small, now with long time
     and with the hope which you had given to me, has grown.
you had given hope to me; this my ardor trusted in you.

     non potes hoc factum teste negare dea.
adfuit et praesens, ut erat, tua verba notavit
     et visa est mota dicta tulisse coma.
deceptam dicas nostra te fraude licebit,
     dum fraudis nostrae causa feratur amor.

     You cannot deny this deed, with the goddess as witness.
She was there and present, as she indeed was, and she marked your words,
     and her hair, moved, seemed to have borne the words.
You may say that you were deceived by our fraud,
     so long as love is alleged as the cause of our fraud.

fraus mea quid petiit, nisi uti tibi iungerer uni?
id me, quod quereris, conciliare potest.
non ego natura nec sum tam callidus usu;
sollertem tu me, crede, puella, facis.

What did my fraud seek, except that I might be joined to you alone?
That, which you complain of, can conciliate me to you.
I am not by nature, nor am I so crafty by use;
believe it, girl, you make me skillful.

te mihi compositis, siquid tamen egimus, a me
     adstrinxit verbis ingeniosus Amor.
dictatis ab eo feci sponsalia verbis
     consultoque fui iuris Amore vafer.
sit fraus huic facto nomen, dicarque dolosus,
     si tamen est, quod ames, velle tenere dolus.

you to me, with words composed by me, if indeed we have accomplished anything,
     ingenious Love has bound with words.
with words dictated by him I made sponsal vows
     and, wily, I was counseled in jurisprudence by Love.
let “fraud” be the name for this deed, and let me be called crafty,
     if however it is guile to wish to keep what you love.

en, iterum scribo mittoque rogantia verba!
altera fraus haec est, quodque queraris habes.
si noceo, quod amo, fateor, sine fine nocebo,
teque, peti caveas tu licet, usque petam.

Lo, again I write and send words that beg!
this is a second fraud, and you have what to complain of.
If I do harm because I love, I confess it: without end I shall do harm,
and you, though you may beware of being sought, I will seek always.

per gladios alii placitas rapuere puellas;
     scripta mihi caute littera crimen erit?
di faciant, possim plures imponere nodos,
     ut tua sit nulla libera parte fides.
mille doli restant, clivo sudamus in imo;
     ardor inexpertum nil sinet esse meus.

by swords others have snatched the desired girls;
     will a letter written cautiously by me be a crime?
may the gods bring it about that I can impose more knots,
     so that your fidelity may be free in no part.
a thousand tricks remain; we are sweating on the lowest slope;
     my ardor will allow nothing to be untried.

sit dubium, possisne capi; captabere certe.
exitus in dis est, sed capiere tamen.
ut partem effugias, non omnia retia falles,
quae tibi, quam credis, plura tetendit Amor.

let it be doubtful whether you can be taken; you will certainly be hunted.
the outcome is with the gods, but you will be captured nonetheless.
granted that you escape a part, you will not deceive all the nets,
which Love has stretched for you in greater number than you believe.

si non proficient artes, veniemus ad arma,
inque tui cupido rapta ferere sinu.
non sum qui soleam Paridis reprehendere factum
nec quemquam, qui vir, posset ut esse, fuit.
nos quoque—sed taceo.

if the arts do not profit, we will come to arms,
and bear you, seized, into my eager bosom.
I am not one who is wont to reprehend the deed of Paris,
nor anyone, who being a man, could be as he was.
we too—but I am silent.

mors huius poena rapinae
     ut sit, erit quam te non habuisse minor.
aut esses formosa minus, peterere modeste;
     audaces facie cogimur esse tua.
tu facis hoc oculique tui, quibus ignea cedunt
     sidera, qui flammae causa fuere meae;
hoc faciunt flavi crines et eburnea cervix
     quaeque, precor, veniant in mea colla manus
et decor et vultus sine rusticitate pudentes
     et, Thetidis qualis vix rear esse, pedes.

let death be the penalty of this rapine—
     be it so; it will be less than not having had you.
or were you less beautiful, you would be sought modestly;
     we are compelled to be audacious by your face.
you do this, and your eyes, before which fiery
     stars yield, which were the cause of my flame;
this is done by your golden tresses and your ivory neck,
     and the hands which, I pray, may come upon my neck;
and your grace, and a countenance modest without rusticity,
     and feet such as I scarcely think Thetis has.

cetera si possem laudare, beatior essem,
     nec dubito, totum quin sibi par sit opus.
hac ego compulsus, non est mirabile, forma,
     si pignus volui vocis habere tuae.
denique, dum captam tu te cogare fateri,
     insidiis esto capta puella meis.

If I could praise the rest, I would be more blessed,
     nor do I doubt that the whole work is on a par with itself.
Compelled by this, Beauty, it is not marvelous
     if I wished to have a pledge of your voice.
Finally, until you are forced to confess yourself captured,
     be captured by my snares, girl.

invidiam patiar; passo sua praemia dentur.
cur suus a tanto crimine fructus abest?
Hesionen Telamon, Briseida cepit Achilles;
utraque victorem nempe secuta virum.

I shall endure envy; let his own rewards be given to the one who has endured.
why is his own fruit absent from so great a crime?
Telamon seized Hesione, Achilles seized Briseis;
each, to be sure, followed her victor.

quamlibet accuses et sis irata licebit,
     irata liceat dum mihi posse frui.
idem qui facimus, factam tenuabimus iram,
     copia placandi sit modo parva tui.
ante tuos liceat flentem consistere vultus
     et liceat lacrimis addere verba suis
utque solent famuli, cum verbera saeva verentur,
     tendere submissas ad tua crura manus!

however much you may accuse and be angry, it shall be permitted,
     angry, let it be permitted so long as I can enjoy.
the very thing we do will attenuate the anger once made,
     only let there be a small opportunity of placating you.
let it be permitted, weeping, to stand before your face
     and let it be permitted to add words to my tears,
and as servants are wont, when they dread savage lashes,
     to stretch submissive hands toward your legs!

ignoras tua iura; voca! cur arguor absens?
iamdudum dominae more venire iube.

You ignore your rights; summon me! Why am I arraigned while absent?
By now, in a mistress’s manner, order me to come.

ipsa meos scindas licet imperiosa capillos
     oraque sint digitis livida nostra tuis.
omnia perpetiar; tantum fortasse timebo,
     corpore laedatur ne manus ista meo.
sed neque conpedibus nec me conpesce catenis;
     servabor firmo vinctus amore tui.

though you yourself, imperious, may tear my hair
     and let my face be livid from your fingers.
I will endure all things; only perhaps I shall fear,
     lest that hand be injured upon my body.
but neither with shackles nor restrain me with chains;
     I shall be preserved, bound by your firm love.

cum bene se quantumque volet satiaverit ira,
     ipsa tibi dices: 'quam patienter amat!'
ipsa tibi dices, ubi videris omnia ferre:
     'tam bene qui servit, serviat iste mihi!'
nunc reus infelix absens agor, et mea, cum sit
     optima, non ullo causa tuente perit.
hoc quoque quod tum vis, sit scriptum iniuria nostrum,
     quod de me solo nempe queraris, habes.
non meruit falli mecum quoque Delia; si non
     vis mihi promissum reddere, redde deae.

when anger has well, and as much as it will, satiated itself,
     you yourself will say to yourself: 'how patiently he loves!'
you yourself will say to yourself, when you see him bear all things:
     'he who serves so well—let that man serve me!'
now I, an unlucky defendant, am prosecuted absent, and my case, though it is
     best, perishes with no cause-defender.
let this too, which just now you wish, be written as our injury—
     that you complain of me alone, you have.
Delia too did not deserve to be deceived with me; if you do not
     wish to render the promised thing to me, render it to the goddess.

adfuit et vidit, cum tu decepta rubebas,
et vocem memori condidit aure tuam.
omina re careant! nihil est violentius illa,
cum sua, quod nolim, numina laesa videt.

She was present and saw, when you, deceived, were blushing,
and she stored your voice in her remembering ear.
May the omens lack fulfillment in reality!
nothing is more violent than she, when she sees, which I would not wish, her own numina injured.

testis erit Calydonis aper sic saevus, ut illo
     sit magis in natum saeva reperta parens.
testis et Actaeon, quondam fera creditus illis,
     ipse dedit leto cum quibus ante feras;
quaeque superba parens saxo per corpus oborto
     nunc quoque Mygdonia flebilis adstat humo.
ei mihi!

the Calydonian boar will be witness, so savage, that a mother was found more savage than that one against her son.
     witness too Actaeon, once by them believed a wild beast,
     he himself gave himself over to death with those with whom before he used to give wild beasts;
and the proud mother, with a rock sprung up through her body,
     even now Mygdonian, tearful, stands upon the ground.
ah me!

Cydippe, timeo tibi dicere verum,
     ne videar causa falsa monere mea;
dicendum tamen est. hoc est, mihi crede, quod aegra
     ipso nubendi tempore saepe iaces.
consulit ipsa tibi, neu sis periura, laborat,
     et salvam salva te cupit esse fide.

Cydippe, I fear to speak the truth to you,
     lest I seem to admonish for my own false cause;
yet it must be said. This is, trust me, why, sick,
     you often lie abed at the very time of marrying.
She herself looks out for you, and labors that you not be perjured,
     and she desires you to be safe, with your faith kept safe.

inde fit, ut, quotiens existere perfida temptas,
     peccatum totiens corrigat illa tuum.
parce movere feros animosae virginis arcus;
     mitis adhuc fieri, si patiare, potest.
parce, precor, teneros corrumpere febribus artus;
     servetur facies ista fruenda mihi.

thence it happens that, as often as you attempt to show yourself perfidious,
     so often does she correct your sin.
spare from stirring the fierce bows of the high-spirited virgin;
     she can still become mild, if you will allow it.
spare, I pray, from corrupting your tender limbs with fevers;
     let that face be kept, to be enjoyed by me.

serventur vultus ad nostra incendia nati,
     quique subest niveo lenis in ore rubor.
hostibus et siquis, ne fias nostra, repugnat,
     sic sit ut invalida te solet esse mihi.
torqueor ex aequo vel te nubente vel aegra
     dicere nec possum, quid minus ipse velim;
maceror interdum, quod sim tibi causa dolendi
     teque mea laedi calliditate puto.

let the looks, born for our incendia, be preserved,
     and the gentle rubor that lies beneath the snow-white face.
and if any enemy repugns, lest you become ours,
     so may he be as invalida as you are wont to be to me.
I am tormented equally whether you marry or are sick,
     nor can I say what I myself would wish less;
I am worn away at times, because I am to you a cause of grieving,
     and I think that you are harmed by my cunning.

in caput ut nostrum dominae periuria, quaeso,
     eveniant; poena tuta sit illa mea!
ne tamen ignorem, quid agas, ad limina crebro
     anxius huc illuc dissimulanter eo;
subsequor ancillam furtim famulumque requirens,
     profuerint somni quid tibi quidve cibi.
me miserum, quod non medicorum iussa ministro
     effingoque manus insideoque toro!

may the perjuries of my mistress, I pray, fall upon my head,
     let them come; let that punishment be safe for me!
yet, lest I be ignorant what you are doing, to the threshold frequently
     anxious I go this way and that covertly;
I follow the maid stealthily and inquire of the house-servant,
     what profit sleep has brought to you or food.
wretched me, that I do not minister the physicians’ orders
     and I train my hands and sit by the bed!

et rursus miserum, quod me procul inde remoto,
     quem minime vellem, forsitan alter adest.
ille manus istas effingit et adsidet aegrae
     invisus superis cum superisque mihi,
dumque suo temptat salientem pollice venam,
     candida per causam bracchia saepe tenet
contrectatque sinus et forsitan oscula iungit;
     officio merces plenior ista suo est.
quis tibi permisit nostras praecerpere messes?

and again I am wretched, that I, removed far from there,
     perhaps another is present, whom I would least wish.
he imitates those hands and sits by the ailing woman,
     hateful to the gods above and to me as well,
and while he tests the leaping vein with his own thumb,
     he often holds the fair arms on that pretext,
and fondles the bosom and perhaps even joins kisses;
     that reward is fuller than his office.
who permitted you to pre-harvest our harvests?

ad saepem alterius quis tibi fecit iter?
iste sinus meus est! mea turpiter oscula sumis!

to another’s hedge, who made the path for you?
that bosom is mine! you shamefully take my kisses!

a mihi promisso corpore tolle manus!
improbe, tolle manus! quam tangis, nostra futura est;
postmodo si facies istud, adulter eris.

ah, take your hands from the body promised to me!
shameless man, take your hands away! she whom you touch will be mine;
hereafter, if you do that, you will be an adulterer.

elige de vacuis quam non sibi vindicet alter;
si nescis: dominum res habet ista suum.
nec mihi credideris: recitetur formula pacti;
neu falsam dicas esse, fac ipsa legat.
alterius thalamo tibi nos, tibi dicimus exi!

choose among the vacant ones one whom another does not claim for himself;
if you do not know: that matter has its own master.
nor should you believe me: let the formula of the pact be recited;
and lest you say it is false, have her herself read it.
from another man’s bridal chamber we say to you—yes, to you—get out!

quid facis hic? exi! non vacat iste torus.

what are you doing here? go out! that couch is not vacant.

nam quod habes et tu gemini verba altera pacti,
     non erit idcirco par tua causa meae.
haec mihi se pepigit, pater hanc tibi, primus ab illa;
     sed propior certe quam pater ipsa sibi est.
promisit pater hanc, haec se iuravit amanti;
     ille homines, haec est testificata deam.

for as to your having, too, the second terms of a twin pact,
     your case will not therefore be equal to mine.
she pledged herself to me; her father pledged her to you—without her;
     but she herself is surely nearer to herself than her father is.
the father promised her; she swore herself to her lover;
     he called men as witnesses, she has testified a goddess.

hic metuit mendax, haec et periura vocari;
     an dubitas, hic sit maior an ille metus?
denique ut amborum conferre pericula possis,
     respice ad eventus: haec cubat, ille valet.
nos quoque dissimili certamina mente subimus;
     nec spes par nobis nec timor aequus adest.

this man fears to be called mendacious, this woman too to be called perjured;
     or do you doubt whether this fear is greater or that one?
finally, so that you may be able to confer the perils of both,
     look to the outcomes: she lies abed, he is hale.
we too enter upon contests with a dissimilar mind;
     neither is hope equal for us, nor is an equal fear present.

tu petis ex tuto; gravior mihi morte repulsa est,
     idque ego iam, quod tu forsan amabis, amo.
si tibi iustitiae, si recti cura fuisset,
     cedere debueras ignibus ipse meis.
nunc, quoniam ferus hic pro causa pugnat iniqua,
     ad quid, Cydippe, littera nostra redit.

you petition from a place of safety; a repulse is heavier to me than death,
     and that thing I already love which you perhaps will love.
if a care for justice, if for the right, had been yours,
     you yourself ought to have yielded to my fires.
now, since this savage fights for an unjust cause,
     to what, Cydippe, does our letter return?

hic facit ut iaceas et sis suspecta Dianae;
     hunc tu, si sapias, limen adire vetes.
hoc faciente subis tam saeva pericula vitae,
     atque utinam pro te, qui movet illa, cadat!
quem si reppuleris nec, quem dea damnat, amaris,
     tu tunc continuo, certe ego salvus ero.

this fellow makes it that you lie ill and are suspect to Diana;
     him you, if you are wise, should forbid to approach your threshold.
with this one doing it you undergo such savage perils of life,
     and would that, for you, he who moves them might fall!
whom if you drive back, and you are not loved by him whom the goddess condemns,
     you then immediately—surely I shall be safe.

siste metum, virgo! stabili potiere salute,
     fac modo polliciti conscia templa colas;
non bove mactato caelestia numina gaudent,
     sed, quae praestanda est et sine teste, fide.
ut valeant aliae, ferrum patiuntur et ignes,
     fert aliis tristem sucus amarus opem.

Stay your fear, maiden! you will obtain a steady safety,
     only see to it that, conscious of the promise, you frequent the temples;
the celestial numina do not rejoice in a bull having been sacrificed,
     but in faith, which must be rendered even without a witness.
so that others may be well, they endure iron and fires,
     to others the bitter juice brings grim aid.

nil opus est istis; tantum periuria vita
     teque simul serva meque datamque fidem!
praeteritae veniam dabit ignorantia culpae:
     exciderant animo foedera lecta tuo.
admonita es modo voce mea, modo casibus istis,
     quos, quotiens temptas fallere, ferre soles.

there is no need of those; only, my life, from perjuries
     save yourself and me and the pledged faith!
ignorance will grant pardon for the past fault:
     the covenants read had slipped from your mind.
you have been admonished now by my voice, now by these happenings,
     which you are wont to bear as often as you attempt to deceive.

his quoque vitatis in partu nempe rogabis,
ut tibi luciferas adferat illa manus?
audiet et repetens quae sunt audita requiret,
iste tibi de quo coniuge partus eat.
promittes votum; scit te promittere falso.

these too avoided, in childbirth will you indeed ask,
that she bring to you those light-bringing hands?
she will hear, and repeating what has been heard will inquire,
by which spouse this birth proceeds for you.
you will promise a vow; she knows you to promise falsely.

iurabis; scit te fallere posse deos.
non agitur de me; cura maiore laboro.
anxia sunt causa pectora nostra tua.

You will swear; she knows that you can deceive the gods.
It is not a matter of me; I labor under a greater care.
Our hearts are anxious on your account.

cur modo te dubiam pavidi flevere parentes,
ignaros culpae quos facis esse tuae?
et cur ignorent? matri licet omnia narres.

why have your fearful parents just now wept for you,
whom you make to be ignorant of your own fault?
and why should they be ignorant? you may tell everything to your mother.

     nil tua, Cydippe, facta ruboris habent.
ordine fac referas ut sis mihi cognita primum
     sacra pharetratae dum facit ipsa deae;
ut te conspecta subito, si forte notasti,
     restiterim fixis in tua membra genis;
et te dum nimium miror, nota certa furoris,
     deciderint umero pallia lapsa meo;
postmodo nescio qua venisse volubile malum
     verba ferens doctis insidiosa notis;
quod quia sit lectum sancta praesente Diana
     esse tuam vinctam numine teste fidem.
ne tamen ignoret, scripti sententia quae sit,
     lecta tibi quondam nunc quoque verba refer.

     nothing in your deeds, Cydippe, has any blush of shame.
set forth in order how you first became known to me,
     while you yourself was performing the rites of the quiver-bearing goddess;
how, once you were beheld suddenly, if by chance you noticed,
     I stood still, with my gaze fixed upon your limbs;
and while I marvel at you too much—a sure token of frenzy—
     the mantles, having slipped, fell from my shoulder;
afterwards a rolling evil came, I know not by what means,
     bringing words insidious with learned letters;
and because it was read with holy Diana present,
     your pledged faith is bound, with the numen as witness.
lest, however, she be unaware what the sense of the writing is,
     repeat now too the words once read to you.

'nube, precor' dicet 'cui te bona numina iungunt;
     quem fore iurasti, sit gener ille mihi.
quisquis is est, placeat, quoniam placet ante Dianae.'
     talis erit mater, si modo mater erit.
sed tamen ut quaerat quis sim qualisque; videto:
     inveniet vobis consuluisse deam.

'Marry, I pray,' she will say, 'him to whom the good numina join you;
     whom you swore would be—let that man be my son-in-law.
Whoever he is, let him be pleasing, since he pleases Diana beforehand.'
     Such will your mother be, if only she will be a mother.
But yet, so that she may ask who I am and of what sort; see to it:
     she will find that the goddess has taken counsel for you two.

insula Coryciis quondam celeberrima nymphis
     cingitur Aegaeo, nomine Cea, mari.
illa mihi patria est; nec, si generosa probatis
     nomina, despectis arguor ortus avis.
sunt et opes nobis, sunt et sine crimine mores;
     amplius utque nihil, me tibi iungit Amor.

an island once most celebrated for the Corycian nymphs
     is girdled by the Aegean sea, Cea by name.
that is my fatherland; nor, if you approve well-born names,
     am I arraigned as sprung from despised ancestors.
we have wealth too, and morals without reproach;
     and, more—and so that nothing is lacking—Love joins me to you.

appeteres talem vel non iurata maritum;
     iuratae vel non talis habendus erat.
haec tibi me in somnis iaculatrix scribere Phoebe;
     haec tibi me vigilem scribere iussit Amor;
e quibus alterius mihi iam nocuere sagittae,
     alterius noceant ne tibi tela, cave!
iuncta salus nostra est—miserere meique tuique:
     quid dubitas unam ferre duobus opem?

you would seek such a husband even if you had not sworn;
     and, having sworn, no other kind ought to be had.
the dart-throwing Phoebe bade me write these things to you in dreams;
     Love bade me, awake, write these things to you;
of these two, the arrows of the latter have already harmed me,
     beware lest the weapons of the other harm you!
our safety is joined—pity both me and yourself:
     why do you hesitate to bring one aid to two?

quod si contigerit, cum iam data signa sonabunt,
     tinctaque votivo sanguine Delos erit,
aurea ponetur mali felicis imago,
     causaque versiculis scripta duobus erit:
"effigie pomi testatur acontius huius
     quae fuerint in eo scripta fuisse rata."
longior infirmum ne lasset epistula corpus
     clausaque consueto sit sibi fine: vale!

but if this shall happen, when now the given signals will sound,
     and Delos will be tinged with votive blood,
a golden effigy of the fortunate apple will be set up,
     and the cause will be written in two little verses:
"by the effigy of this apple Acontius attests
     that the things which were written on it have been ratified."
lest a longer epistle weary the frail body,
     and let it be closed with its accustomed end: farewell!