Tibullus: TIBVLLI ALIORVMQUE CARMINVM LIBRI TRES

Martis Romani festae uenere kalendae
    - exoriens nostris hic fuit annus auis -
et uaga nunc certa discurrunt undique pompa
    perque uias urbis munera perque domos.
Dicite, Pierides, quonam donetur honore               5
    seu mea, seu fallor, cara Neaera tamen.
Carmine formosae, pretio capiuntur auare:
    gaudeat, ut digna est, uersibus illa meis.

The festive Kalends of Roman Mars have come
    - the rising bird was an auspice for our year -
and now a roving yet appointed procession runs everywhere,
    through the city’s streets and through the homes the offerings.
Tell, Pierides, with what honor she is endowed,               5
    whether mine, or—if I am mistaken—yet dear Neaera nonetheless.
By song the beautiful are captured; by a price the avaricious are captured:
    let her rejoice, as she is worthy, in my verses.

Lutea sed niueum inuoluat membrana libellum,
    pumex et canas tondeat ante comas,               10
summaque praetexat tenuis fastigia chartae
    indicet ut nomen littera facta tuum,
atque inter geminas pingantur cornua frontes:
    sic etenim comptum mittere oportet opus.
Per uos, auctores huius mihi carminis, oro               15

But let a yellow membrane wrap the snowy little book,
    and let pumice shear its hoary locks beforehand,               10
and let a fine border fringe the top edges of the paper
    so that a fashioned letter may indicate your name,
and let the horns be painted between the twin fronts:
    for thus, indeed, adorned, it is right to send the work.
Through you, authors of this my song, I pray               15

    Castaliamque umbram Pieriosque lacus,
ite domum cultumque illi donate libellum,
    sicut erit: nullus defluat inde color.
Illa mihi referet, si nostri mutua cura est,
    an minor, an toto pectore deciderim.               20
Sed primum meritam larga donate salute
    atque haec submisso dicite uerba sono:
"Haec tibi uir quondam, nunc frater, casta Neaera,
    mittit et accipias munera parua rogat,
teque suis iurat caram magis esse medullis,               25
    siue sibi coniunx siue futura soror;
sed potius coniunx: huius spem nominis illi
    auferet extincto pallida Ditis aqua."

    and the Castalian shade and the Pierian lakes,
go to her home and give to her the adorned little-book,
    just as it will be: let no color flow off from it.
She will report back to me, if there is a mutual care of us,
    whether it is less, or whether I have fallen from her whole breast.               20
But first give a lavish, deserved greeting,
    and say these words in a subdued tone:
“These things to you, husband once, now brother, chaste Neaera,
    he sends, and he asks that you accept the small gifts,
and he swears that you are dearer to his very marrow,               25
    whether as his spouse or as a future sister;
but rather spouse: the pale water of Dis will carry off from him
    the hope of this name, when his life has been quenched.”

Qui primus caram iuueni carumque puellae
    eripuit iuuenem, ferreus ille fuit;
durus et ille fuit, qui tantum ferre dolorem,
    uiuere et erepta coniuge qui potuit.
Non ego firmus in hoc, non haec patientia nostro               5
    ingenio: frangit fortia corda dolor;
nec mihi uera loqui pudor est uitaeque fateri,
    tot mala perpessae, taedia nata meae.
Ergo cum tenuem fuero mutatus in umbram
    candidaque ossa supra nigra fauilla teget,               10
ante meum ueniat longos incompta capillos
    et fleat ante meum maesta Neaera rogum;
sed ueniat carae matris comitata dolore:
    maereat haec genero, maereat illa uiro.
Praefatae ante meos manes animamque precatae               15

Whoever first tore from a youth his dear girl, and from a girl her dear youth,
    snatched away the young man—he was iron;
hard too was he who could bear so great a dolor,
    and could live with his spouse torn away.
I am not firm for this, nor is such patientia in my nature: pain breaks strong hearts;               5
    nor do I feel shame to speak truths and to confess of my life,
which, having endured so many evils, has borne wearinesses born to my life.
Therefore, when I shall have been changed into a thin umbra
    and black cinders will cover above my white bones,               10
let Neaera, mournful, come before my pyre with long hair unkempt,
    and let her weep before my pyre;
but let her come accompanied by the grief of her dear mother:
    let this one mourn a son-in-law, let that one mourn a husband.
Having pre-spoken before my Manes and, having prayed to my spirit,               15

    perfusaeque pias ante liquore manus,
pars quae sola mei superabit corporis, ossa
    incinctae nigra candida ueste legent
et primum annoso spargent collecta lyaeo,
    mox etiam niueo lacte parent,               20
post haec carbaseis umorem tollere uelis
    atque in marmorea ponere sicca domo.
Illic quas mittit diues Panchaia merces
    Eoique Arabes, diues et Assyria,
et nostri memores lacrimae fundantur eodem:               25
    sic ego componi uersus in ossa uelim.
Sed tristem mortis demonstret littera causam
    atque haec in celebri carmina fronte notet:
               LYGDAMVS HIC SITVS EST: DOLOR HVIC ET CVRA NEAERAE,
                   CONIVGIS EREPTAE, CAVSA PERIRE FVIT               30

    and their pious hands first bathed with liquid,
the part which alone will survive of my body, the bones,
    girded with black garment, will gather the white bones,
and first they will sprinkle the gathered [bones] with aged Lyaeus,
    then also with snowy milk they will propitiate,               20
after these things to remove the moisture with linen veils
    and to place them dry in a marble house.
There the merchandise which wealthy Panchaia sends
    and the Eastern Arabs, and wealthy Assyria,
and tears mindful of me be poured there likewise:               25
    thus would I wish to be composed, turned into bones.
But let the inscription show the sad cause of death
    and let it mark these verses on the renowned front:
               LYGDAMUS LIES HERE: GRIEF AND CARE FOR NEAERA,
                   HIS WIFE TAKEN AWAY, WERE THE CAUSE FOR HIM TO PERISH               30

III

Quid prodest caelum uotis implesse, Neaera,
    blandaque cum multa tura dedisse prece,
non ut marmorei prodirem e limine tecti,
    insignis clara conspicuusque domo,
aut ut multa mei renouarent iugera tauri               5
    et magnas messes terra benigna daret,
sed tecum ut longae sociarem gaudia uitae
    inque tuo caderet nostra senecta sinu,
tum cum permenso defunctus tempore lucis
    nudus Lethaea cogerer ire rate?               10
Nam graue quid prodest pondus mihi diuitis auri,
    aruaque si findant pinguia mille boues?
Quidue domus prodest Phrygiis innixa columnis,
    Taenare siue tuis, siue Caryste tuis,
et nemora in domibus sacros imitantia lucos               15

What profit is it to have filled heaven with vows, Neaera,
    and to have given incense with much a blandishing prayer,
not that I might step forth from the threshold of a marble house,
    distinguished, illustrious, and conspicuous by a famous home,
or that many bulls might renew my acres,               5
    and the benign earth might give great harvests,
but that with you I might ally the joys of a long life
    and that our old age might sink in your bosom,
then, when, the time of light traversed and discharged,
    naked I should be forced to go in the Lethaean skiff?               10
For what does the heavy weight of rich gold profit me,
    even if a thousand oxen cleave the fat fields?
Or what does a house, leaning on Phrygian columns, profit,
    with your Taenarian, or with your Carystian (marbles),
and groves within houses imitating sacred groves?               15

    aurataeque trabes marmoreumque solum?
Quidue in Erythraeo legitur quae litore concha
    tinctaque Sidonio murice lana iuuat,
et quae praeterea populus miratur? In illis
    inuidia est: falso plurima uulgus amat.               20
Non opibus mentes hominum curaeque leuantur
    nec Fortuna sua tempora lege regit.

    and gilded beams and a marble floor?
What too does the shell that is gathered on the Erythraean shore
    and wool dyed with Sidonian murex profit/please,
and what besides does the populace marvel at? In these things
    there is envy: the crowd loves very many things falsely.               20
Not by riches are the minds and cares of men lifted,
    nor does Fortune rule her seasons by law.

Sit mihi paupertas tecum iucunda, Neaera:
    at sine te regum munera nulla uolo.
O niueam quae te poterit mihi reddere lucem!               25
    O mihi felicem terque quaterque diem!
At si, pro dulci reditu quaecumque uouentur,
    audiat auersa non meus aure deus,
nec me regna iuuant nec Lydius aurifer amnis
    nec quas terrarum sustinet orbis opes.               30

Let poverty be pleasant to me with you, Neaera:
    but without you I want none of kings’ gifts.
O snow-bright light that could restore you to me!               25
    O for me a happy day, thrice and four times!
But if, for your sweet return, whatever things are vowed,
    my god should not hear, with averted ear,
neither do kingdoms delight me nor the Lydian gold-bearing river,
    nor the riches which the world sustains.               30

Haec alii cupiant; liceat mihi paupere cultu
    securo cara coniuge posse frui.
Adsis et timidis faueas, Saturnia, uotis,
    et faueas concha, Cypria, uecta tua.
Aut si fata negant reditum tristesque sorores,               35
    stamina quae ducunt quaeque futura neunt,
me uocet in uastos amnes nigramque paludem
    diues in ignaua luridus Orcus aqua.

Let others desire these things; may it be permitted me, with poor array,
    secure, to be able to enjoy my dear consort.
Be present and favor my timid vows, Saturnia,
    and do you too, Cyprian, borne by your conch, favor them.
Or if the fates deny the return and the sad sisters,               35
    who draw the threads and who spin what is to be,
let lurid Orcus, rich in sluggish water, call me into vast rivers
    and the black marsh.

Di meliora ferant, nec sint mihi somnia uera,
    quae tulit hesterna pessima nocte quies.
Ite procul uani falsique auertite uisus,
    desinite in nobis quaerere uelle fidem.
Diui uera monent, uenturae nuntia sortis               5
    uera monent Tuscis exta probata uiris;
somnia fallaci ludunt temeraria nocte
    et pauidas mentes falsa timere iubent;
et natum in curas hominum genus omina noctis
    farre pio placant et saliente sale!               10
Et tamen, utcumque est, siue illi uera moneri,
    mendaci somno credere siue uolent,
efficiat uanos noctis Lucina timores
    et frustra inmeritum pertimuisse uelit,
si mea nec turpi mens est obnoxia facto               15

May the gods bear better things, and let the dreams not be true for me
    which sleep brought on that worst night, yesterday.
Go far away, empty and false apparitions, avert your sights,
    cease from seeking to win credence from me.
The divine ones warn true things; as messengers of the lot to come               5
    the entrails, approved by Tuscan men, truly warn;
rash dreams play in the deceitful night
    and bid fearful minds to fear false things;
and the race of men, born into cares, the omens of the night
    they appease with pious grain and with leaping salt!               10
And yet, however it is, whether they will that truths be foreshown,
    or that one believe a mendacious sleep,
let Lucina make the fears of the night vain
    and be willing that I have trembled undeservedly in vain,
if my mind is not liable to a base deed.               15

    nec laesit magnos impia lingua deos.
Iam Nox aetherium nigris emensa quadrigis
    mundum cacruleo lauerat amne rotas,
nec me sopierat menti deus utilis aegrae:
    Somnus sollicitas deficit ante domos.               20
Tandem, cum summo Phoebus prospexit ab ortu,
    pressit languentis lumina sera quies.
Hic iuuenis casta redimitus tempora lauro
    est uisus nostra ponere sede pedem.

    nor has an impious tongue harmed the great gods.
Now Night, having traversed the aetherial world with black four-horse chariots,
    had washed her wheels in the cerulean stream,
nor had the god helpful to a sick mind lulled me to sleep:
    Sleep fails anxious homes beforehand.               20
At length, when Phoebus looked out from the utmost East,
    late rest pressed my languishing eyes.
Here a young man, his temples wreathed with chaste laurel,
    seemed to set his foot in our seat.

Non illo quicquam formosius ulla priorum               25
    aetas, heroum nec tulit ulla domus.
Intonsi crines longa ceruice fluebant,
    stillabat Syrio myrtea rore coma.
Candor erat qualem praefert Latonia Luna,
    et color in niueo corpore purpureus,               30

Nothing more beautiful than him did any of the former               25
    ages, nor did any house of heroes bring forth one.
Unshorn locks flowed along the long nape,
    his hair dripped with Syrian myrtle-dew.
There was a radiance such as Latonian Luna displays,
    and a purpureous hue in the snow-white body,               30

ut iuueni primum uirgo deducta marito
    inficitur teneras ore rubente genas,
et cum contexunt amarantis alba puellae
    lilia et autumno candida mala rubent.
Ima uidebatur talis inludere palla:               35
    namque haec in nitido corpore uestis erat.
Artis opus rarae, fulgens testudine et auro
    pendebat laeua garrula parte lyra.
Hanc primum ueniens plectro modulatus eburno
    felices cantus ore sonante dedit;               40
sed postquam fuerant digiti cum uoce locuti,
    edidit haec dulci tristia uerba modo:
"Salue, cura deum: casto nam rite poetae
    Phoebusque et Bacchus Pieridesque fauent;
sed proles Semelae Bacchus doctaeque sorores               45

as when a maiden, first led to a husband,
    dyes her tender cheeks with a reddening face,
and when girls weave together the white lilies
    of amaranth, and in autumn white apples grow red.
Such a lower mantle seemed to sport;                35
    for this garment was upon his gleaming body.
A work of rare art, a lyre shining with tortoise-shell and gold
    was hanging, talkative, on his left side.
Upon it, as he came, having modulated with an ivory plectrum,
    he gave forth happy songs from a resounding mouth;                40
but after his fingers had spoken together with his voice,
    he uttered these sad words in a sweet mode:
"Hail, darling of the gods: for to the chaste poet, duly,
    Phoebus and Bacchus and the Pierides show favor;
but Bacchus, offspring of Semele, and the learned sisters                45

    dicere non norunt quid ferat hora sequens;
at mihi fatorum leges aeuisque futuri
    euentura pater posse uidere dedit;
quare ego quae dico non fallax accipe uates
    quodque deus uero Cynthius ore feram.               50
Tantum cara tibi quantum nec filia matri,
    quantum nec cupido bella puella uiro,
pro qua sollicitas caelestia numina uotis,
    quae tibi securos non sinit ire dies
et, cum te fusco Somnus uelauit amictu,               55
    uanum nocturnis fallit imaginibus,
carminibus celebrata tuis formosa Neaera
    alterius mauultl esse puella uiri,
diuersasque suas agitat mens impia curas,
    nec gaudet casta nupta Neaera domo.               60

    they do not know how to say what the next hour brings;
but to me my father has given to be able to see the laws of the fates and the things to come of future ages;
    therefore receive what I say—I no deceitful vates—and what with a true mouth
and as the Cynthian god I shall proclaim.               50
So dear to you as neither a daughter to a mother,
    nor a fair girl to a desirous man,
for whom you make the heavenly numina anxious with vows,
    who does not allow your days to go untroubled,
and, when Sleep has veiled you with his dusky mantle,               55
    beguiles you vainly with nocturnal images—
the beautiful Neaera, celebrated by your songs,
    prefers to be the girl of another man;
and her impious mind agitates its diverse cares,
    nor does Neaera, a chaste bride, rejoice in the home.               60

A crudele genus nec fidum femina nomen!
A pereat, didicit fallere si qua uirum!
Sed flecti poterit: mens est mutabilis illis;
tu modo cum multa bracchia tende fide.

Ah, cruel race, and the name “woman” not faithful!
Ah, let her perish, if any has learned to deceive a man!
But she can be bent: the mind is mutable in them;
only do you stretch forth your arms with much faith.

Saeuus Amor docuit ualidos temptare labores,               65
    saeuus Amor docuit uerbera posse pati.
Me quondam Admeti niueas pauisse iuuencas
    non est in uanum fabula ficta iocum;
tunc ego nec cithara poteram gaudere sonora
    nec similes chordis reddere uoce sonos,               70
sed perlucenti cantum meditabar auena
    ille ego Latonae filius atque Iouis.
Nescis quid sit amor, iuuenis, si ferre recusas
    immitem dominam coniugiumque ferum.

Savage Love taught to attempt mighty labors,               65
    Savage Love taught to be able to endure lashes.
That I once pastured Admetus’s snowy heifers
    is not a fable feigned for empty jest;
then I could neither rejoice in the sonorous cithara
    nor render with my voice sounds akin to the strings,               70
but on a pellucid reed I practiced song—
    I, that son of Latona and of Jove.
You do not know what love is, young man, if you refuse to bear
    a pitiless mistress and a fierce conjugal yoke.

Ergo ne dubita blandas adhibere querellas: 75

Therefore do not hesitate to employ charming complaints: 75

    uincuntur molli pectora dura prece.
Quod si uera canunt sacris oracula templis,
    haec illi nostro nomine dicta refer:
hoc tibi conigium promittit Delius ipse;
    felix hoc, alium desine uelle uirum."               80
Dixit, et ignauus defluxit corpore somnus.
    A ego ne possim tanta uidere mala!

    hard hearts are conquered by a soft prayer.
If the oracles in sacred temples sing true,
    refer these things to her, spoken in our name:
the Delian himself promises this conjugal union to you;
    happy in this, cease to wish for another man."               80
He spoke, and sluggish sleep slipped down from his body.
    Ah, may I not be able to behold such great ills!

Nec tibi crediderim uotis contraria uota
    nec tantum crimen pectore inesse tuo:
nam te nec uasti genuerunt aequora ponti               85
    nec flammam uoluens ore Chimaera fero
nec canis anguinea redimitus terga caterua,
    cui tres sunt linguae tergeminumque caput,
Scyllaque uirgineam canibus succincta figuram,
    nec te conceptam saeua leaena tulit,               90

Nor would I believe you to have vows contrary to your vows
    nor that so great a crime is lodged in your breast:
for neither did the level waters of the vast deep beget you               85
    nor the fierce Chimaera, rolling flame from her mouth,
nor the hound wreathed about his back with a snaky throng,
    who has three tongues and a threefold head,
and Scylla, girt with dogs about a maidenly form,
    nor did a savage lioness bear you, once conceived,               90

barbara nec Scythiae tellus horrendaue Syrtis,
    sed culta et duris non habitanda domus
et longe ante alias omnes mitissima mater
    isque pater quo non alter amabilior.
Haec deus in melius crudelia somnia uertat               95
    et iubeat tepidos inrita ferre Notos.

neither a barbarian land of Scythia nor the horrendous Syrtis,
    but a cultivated home and a house not to be inhabited by the harsh,
and a mother gentlest by far before all others,
    and such a father than whom no other is more amiable.
May a god turn these cruel dreams into better things,               95
    and bid the tepid South Winds carry them off made void.

Vos tenet, Etruscis manat quae fontibus unda,
    unda sub aestiuum non adeunda Canem,
nunc autem sacris Baiarum proxima lymphis,
    cum se purpureo uere remittit humus.
At mihi Persephone nigram denuntiat horam:               5
    immerito iuueni parce nocere, dea.
Non ego temptauit nulli temeranda uirorum
    audax laudandae sacra docere deae,
nec mea mortiferis infecit pocula sucis
    dextera nec cuiquam trita uenena dedit,               10
nec nos sacrilegos templis admouimus ignes,
    nec cor sollicitant facta nefanda meum,
nec nos insanae meditantes iurgia mentis
    impia in aduersos soluimus ora deos.
Et nondum cani nigros laesere capillos,               15

You are held by the wave which flows from Etruscan springs,
    a wave not to be approached under the estival Dog-star,
now, however, near the sacred lymphs of Baiae,
    when the earth relaxes itself in purple spring.
But to me Persephone announces the black hour:               5
    spare to harm an undeserving youth, goddess.
I did not, daring, attempt to teach to any of men
    the sacred rites of the praiseworthy goddess, not to be tampered with,
nor did my right hand stain cups with death-bearing juices,
    nor did it give to anyone ground poisons,               10
nor did we bring sacrilegious fires to the temples,
    nor do unspeakable deeds trouble my heart,
nor we, devising quarrels of a mad mind,
    have let loose impious mouths against gods adverse.
And not yet have gray hairs harmed my black locks,               15

    nec uenit tardo curua senecta pede:
natalem primo nostrum uidere parentes,
    cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.
Quid fraudare iuuat uitem crescentibus uuis
    et modo nata mala uellere poma manu?               20
Parcite, pallentes undas quicumque tenetis
    duraque sortiti tertia regna dei.
Elysios olim liceat cognoscere campos
    Lethaeamque ratem Cimmeriosque lacus,
cum mea rugosa pallebunt ora senecta               25
    et referam pueris tempora prisca senex.

    nor has bent senescence come with a slow foot:
my parents saw my first natal day,
    when by an equal fate each consul fell.
What joy to defraud the vine of its growing grapes
    and to pluck with the hand apples just now born?               20
Spare me, you pale ones, whoever hold the waters
    and who, having drawn lots, possess the hard third realms of the god.
May it someday be permitted to come to know the Elysian fields
    and the Lethean raft and the Cimmerian lakes,
when my wrinkled face will grow pale with senescence               25
    and, an old man, I shall recount to boys the ancient times.

Atque utinam uano nequiquam terrear aestu!
Languent ter quinos sed mea membra dies.
At uobis Tuscae celebrantur numina lymphae
et facilis lenta pellitur unda manu. 30

And would that I were terrified in vain by a groundless fever!
But my limbs languish for fifteen days.
But for you, Tuscan waters, the numina are celebrated,
and the sluggish wave is easily set in motion by the hand. 30

Viuite felices, memores et uiuite nostri,
siue erimus seu nos fata fuisse uelint.
Interea nigras pecudes promittite Diti
et niuei lactis pocula mixta mero.

Live happy, remembering, and live mindful of us,
whether we shall be, or the Fates should wish us to have been.
Meanwhile promise black sheep to Dis,
and cups of snowy milk mixed with wine.

Candide Liber, ades - sic sit tibi mystica uitis
    semper, sic hedera tempora uincta feras -
aufer et, ipse, meum, pariter medicande, dolorem:
    saepe tuo cecidit munere uictus amor.
Care puer, madeant generoso pocula baccho,               5
    et nobis prona funde Falerna manu.
Ite procul durum curae genus, ite labores;
    fulserit hic niueis Delius alitibus.

Fair Liber, be present—so may the mystic vine be ever yours, so may you bear your temples bound with ivy—remove, you yourself, my pain, you who are to be my healer as well: often Love has fallen, conquered, by your gift. Dear boy, let the cups be soaked with generous Bacchus,               5
    and for us pour out Falernian with a ready hand. Go far away, you hard brood of cares, go, labors;
    here may the Delian shine with snow-white birds.

Vos modo proposito dulces faueatis amici,
    neue neget quisquam me duce se comitem,               10
aut si quis uini certamen mite recusat,
    fallat eum tecto cara puella dolo.
Ille facit dites animos deus, ille ferocem
    contundit et dominae misit in arbitrium,
Armenias tigres et fuluas ille leaenas               15

Only do you, sweet friends, favor the proposed plan,
    nor let anyone, with me as leader, refuse to be a companion;               10
or if anyone declines the gentle contest of wine,
    let a dear girl beguile him by a covert stratagem. He, that god, makes spirits rich, he
    beats down the fierce mood and has sent [us] into a mistress’s arbitration,
Armenian tigers and tawny lionesses he               15

    uicit et indomitis mollia corda dedit.
Haec Amor et maiora ualet; sed poscite Bacchi
    munera: quem uestrum pocula sicca iuuant?
Conuenit ex aequo nec toruus Liber in illis
    qui se quique una uina iocosa colunt,               20
nunc uenit iratus nimium nimiumque seueris:
    qui timet irati numina magna, bibat.

    he has conquered and has given soft hearts to the untamed.
These things Love avails, and greater; but ask for the gifts of Bacchus—
    whom of you do dry cups please?
He suits equally, nor is grim Liber among those
    who, each and all together, cultivate themselves with jocose wines,               20
now he comes irate at the too, too severe:
    let him drink who fears the great numina of the irate one.

Quales his poenas qualis quantusque minetur,
    Cadmeae matris praeda cruenta docet.
Sed procul a nobis hic sit timor, illaque, si qua est,               25
    quid ualeat laesi sentiat ira dei.
Quid precor a demens?

What punishments like these, of what kind and how great he threatens,
    the bloody prey of the Cadmean mother teaches.
But let this fear be far from us, and let that woman, if there is any,               25
    feel what the wrath of an offended god may avail.
What do I pray, out of my mind?

Venti temeraria uota,
aeriae et nubes diripienda ferant.
Quamuis nulla mei superest tibi cura, Neaera,
sis felix et sint candida fata tua. 30

Let the winds bear off the temerarious vows,
and let the airy clouds carry them to be torn apart.
Although no care of me remains to you, Neaera,
be happy, and let your fates be fair. 30

At nos securae reddamus tempora mensae:
    uenit post multos una serena dies.
Ei mihi, difficile est imitari gaudia falsa,
    difficile est tristi fingere mente iocum,
nec bene mendaci risus componitur ore,               35
    nec bene sollicitis ebria uerba sonant.
Quid queror infelix?

But let us restore the hours to a secure table:
    after many, one serene day comes.
Ah me, it is difficult to imitate false joys,
    it is difficult to feign jest with a sad mind,
nor is laughter well composed on a mendacious mouth,               35
    nor do inebriate words sound well to the solicitous.
Why do I, unhappy, complain?

Turpes discedite curae:
    odit Lanaeus tristia uerba pater.
Gnosia, Theseae quondam periuria linguae
    fleuisti ignoto sola relicta mari:               40
sic cecinit pro te doctus, Minoi, Catullus
    ingrati referens impia facta uiri.
Vos ego nunc moneo: felix, quicumque dolore
    alterius disces posse cauere tuos.

Base cares, depart:
    Father Lyaeus hates sad words. Gnosian maid, once you wept the perjuries of Theseus’s tongue,
    left alone, abandoned on an unknown sea:               40
thus the learned Catullus sang for you, O Minoan,
    recounting the impious deeds of the ungrateful man. You I now warn: happy, whoever learns from another’s pain
    to be able to guard against your own.

Nec uos aut capiant pendentia bracchia collo 45

Nor let hanging arms seize your neck 45

    aut fallat blanda sordida lingua fide;
etsi perque suos fallax iurauit ocellos
    Iononemque suam perque suam Venerem,
nulla fides inerit: periuria ridet amantum
    Iuppiter et uentos inrita ferre iubet.               50
Ergo quid totiens fallacis uerba puellae
    conqueror? Ite a me, seria uerba, precor.
Quam uellem tecum longas requiescere noctes
    et tecum longos peruigilare dies,
perfida nec merito nobis inimica merenti,               55
    perfida, sed, quamuis perfida, cara tamen!

    or let a coaxing, sordid tongue deceive good faith;
even if the deceitful one has sworn by her own little eyes
    and by her own Juno and by her own Venus,
no trust will be in it: Jupiter laughs at the perjuries of lovers
    and bids the winds to bear things made void.               50
Therefore why do I so often complain of the words of a deceitful girl?
    Go from me, serious words, I pray.
How I would wish to rest with you through long nights
    and to keep vigil with you through long days,
faithless one, and to me who merits [you], not justly inimical,               55
    faithless—yet, although faithless, dear nonetheless!

Naida Bacchus amat: cessas, o lente minister?
Temperet annosum Marcia lympha merum.
Non ego, si fugit nostrae conuiuia mensae
ignotum cupiens uana puella torum, 60

Bacchus loves the Naiad: do you delay, O slow minister?
Let Marcian water temper the aged unmixed wine.
Not I, if she flees the convivial feasts of our table
a vain girl desiring an unknown bed, 60

sollicitus repetam tota suspiria nocte.
Tu, puer, i, liquidum fortius adde merum.
Iam dudum Syrio madefactus tempora nardo
debueram sertis implicuisse comas.

anxious I shall repeat my sighs the whole night.
You, boy, go, add the pure wine more strong.
By now long since my temples, soaked with Syrian nard,
I ought to have entwined my locks with garlands.

VII

Panegyricus Messallae
Te, Messalla, canam, quamquam me cognita uirtus
terret; ut infirmae nequeant subsistere uires,
incipiam tamen, ac meritas si carmina laudes
deficiant, - humilis tantis sim conditor actis
nec tua praeter te chartis intexere quisquam               5
facta queat, dictis ut non maiora supersint, -
est nobis uoluisse satis; nec munera parua
respueris: etiam Phoebo gratissima dona
Cres tulit, et cunctis Baccho iucundior hospes
Icarus, ut puro testantur sidera caelo               10
Erigoneque Canisque, neget ne longior aetas;
quin etiam Alcides, deus ascensurus Olympum,
laeta Molorcheis posuit uestigia tectis,
paruaque caelestis placauit mica, nec illis
semper inaurato taurus cadit hostia cornu.               15

Panegyric of Messalla
You, Messalla, I shall sing, although your known virtue
frightens me; since weak forces cannot stand firm,
I shall begin nevertheless, and if my songs should fail the merited praises—
let me be a lowly founder for such great deeds, and let no one besides you
be able to weave your deeds into pages, so that things not greater than words remain—               5
it is enough for us to have willed; nor reject small gifts:
even a Cretan brought most pleasing gifts to Phoebus,
and Icarus, a more welcome guest to Bacchus than all,
as the stars in the clear sky and Erigone and the Dog attest,
lest a longer age deny it; nay even Alcides, a god about to ascend Olympus,               10
set glad footsteps in Molorchus’s house,
and with a small morsel appeased the heavenly one, nor for them
does the bull as a victim always fall with gilded horn.               15

Hic quoque sit gratus paruus labor, ut tibi possim
inde alios alioque memor componere uersus.
Alter dicat opus magni mirabile mundi,
qualis in immenso desederit aere tellus,
qualis et in curuum pontus confluxerit orbem,               20
et uagus, e terris qua surgere nititur, aer,
huic et contextus passim fluat igneus aether,
pendentique super claudantur ut omnia caelo;
at quodcumque meae poterunt audere camenae,
seu tibi par poterunt seu, quod spes abnuit, ultra               25
siue minus ( certeque canent minus), omne uouemus
hoc tibi, nec tanto careat mihi carmine charta.
Nam quamquam antiquae gentis superant tibi laudes,
non tua maiorum contenta est gloria fama
nec quaeris quid quaque index sub imagine dicat,               30

Here too let a small labor be welcome, so that I may be able for you from here to compose other verses, mindful and in another vein.
Let another tell the marvelous opus of the great world,
how the earth has settled in the immense air,
and how the sea has flowed together into the curved orb,               20
and the wandering air, from the lands whence it strives to rise,
and how the fiery aether, woven through, flows everywhere for this,
and how, above, all things are enclosed by the pendent sky;
but whatever my Camenae shall be able to dare,
whether they can be equal to you or—what hope refuses—beyond,               25
or less (and surely they will sing less), we vow all this to you, nor let my page be without so great a song.
For although the praises of an ancient clan are abundant for you,
your fame is not content with the glory of your ancestors
nor do you inquire what each caption says beneath each image,               30

sed generis priscos contendis uincere honores,
quam tibi maiores maius decus ipse futuris:
at tua non titulus capiet sub nomine facta,
aeterno sed erunt tibi magna uolumina uersu,
conuenientque tuas cupidi componere laudes               35
undique quique canent uincto pede quique soluto;
quis potius, certamen erit: sim uictor in illis,
ut nostrum tantis inscribam nomen in actis.
Nam quis te maiora gerit castrisue foroue?
Nec tamen hic aut hic tibi laus maiorue minorue,               40
iusta pari premitur ueluti cum pondere libra,
prona nec hac plus parte sedet nec surgit ab illa,
qualis, inaequatum si quando onus urget utrimque,
instabilis natat alterno depressior orbe.
Nam seu diuersi fremat inconstantia uulgi,               45

but you contend to conquer the ancient honors of your lineage, so that, rather than your elders being a greater glory to you, you yourself will be to those to come: but a mere title under your name will not contain your deeds, rather there shall be for you great volumes in eternal verse, and from everywhere they will convene, eager to compose your lauds, both those who will sing with a bound foot and those with a loosened; 35
there will be rivalry as to who rather; may I be victor among them, so that I may inscribe our name upon such great acts. For who conducts greater things than you, either in the camps or in the forum? Nor, however, is your praise greater or lesser here or there; the just balance is pressed with an equal weight, nor does it sit more inclined on this side nor rise from that, not like, whenever an unequal load presses on either side, the unsteady scale floats, lower by the alternate pan. For whether the inconstancy of a divided crowd roars, 45

non alius sedare queat; seu iudicis ira
sit placanda, tuis poterit mitescere uerbis.
Non Pylos aut Ithace tantos genuisse feruntur
Nestora uel paruae magnum decus urbis Vlixem,
uixerit ille senex quamuis, dum terna per orbem               50
saecula fertilibus Titan decurreret horis,
ille per ignotas audax errauerit urbes,
qua maris extremis tellus includitur undis:
nam Ciconumque manus aduersis reppulit armis,
nec ualuit lotos coeptos auertere cursus,               55
cessit et Aetnaeae Neptunius incola rupis
uicta Maroneo foedatus lumina baccho;
uexit et Aeolios placidum per Nerea uentos,
incultos adiit Laestrygonas Antiphatenque,
nobilis Artacie gelida quos inrigat unda;               60

no other could soothe; if a judge’s wrath must be placated, it will be able to grow mild by your words.
Not Pylos nor Ithaca are reported to have begotten such great men—Nestor or Ulysses, the great glory of a small city—,
though that old man might have lived on while Titan ran through three ages around the world with his fruitful hours,               50
and that one wandered, bold, through unknown cities, where the land is enclosed by the farthest waves of the sea:
for he drove back the bands of the Ciconians with opposing arms,
nor could the lotus turn aside the undertaken courses,               55
and the Neptunian dweller of the Aetnaean crag yielded,
his eyes conquered and defiled by Maronian wine;
and he was borne by Aeolian winds, placid, over Nereus,
he approached the uncultivated Laestrygones and Antiphates,
whom the chilly wave of noble Artacia waters.               60

solum nec doctae uerterunt pocula Circes,
quamuis illa foret Solis genus, apta uel herbis
aptaque uel cantu ueteres mutare figuras;
Cimmerion etiam obscuras accessit ad arces,
quis numquam candente dies apparuit ortu,               65
seu supra terras Phoebus seu curreret infra;
uidit ut inferno Plutonis subdita regno
magna deum proles leuibus discurreret umbris,
praeteriitque cita Sirenum litora puppi;
illum inter geminae nantem confinia mortis               70
nec Scyllae saeuo conterruit impetus ore,
cum canibus rabidas inter fera serperet undas,
nec uiolenta suo consumpsit more Charybdis,
uel si sublimis fluctu consurgeret imo,
uel si interrupto nudaret gurgite pontum.               75

nor did the learned cups of Circe transform him, alone,
although she was of the stock of the Sun, apt either by herbs
or apt by song to change ancient shapes;
he even approached the obscure citadels of the Cimmerians,
to which day never appeared with a blazing rising,               65
whether Phoebus were running above the lands or below;
he saw how the great progeny of the gods, subjected to Pluto’s infernal realm,
ran to and fro in light shades,
and he passed by the Sirens’ shores with a swift ship’s stern;
him, swimming between the twin confines of death,               70
the onrush of Scylla with savage mouth did not terrify,
when with her dogs she, a wild thing, slithered among the raging waves,
nor did violent Charybdis consume him in her own wont,
whether she should rise on high from the deepest billow,
or, the whirlpool broken asunder, lay bare the sea.               75

Non uiolata uagi sileantur pascua Solis,
non amor et fecunda Atlantidos arua Calypsus,
finis et erroris miseri Phaeacia tellus.
Atque haec seu nostras inter sunt cognita terras,
fabula siue nouum dedit his erroribus orbem,               80
sit labor illius, tua dum facundia maior.
Iam te non alius belli tenet aptius artes,
qua deceat tutam castris praeducere fossam,
qualiter aduersos hosti defigere ceruos,
quemue locum ducto melius sit claudere uallo,               85
fontis ubi dulces erumpat terra liquores,
ut facilisque tuis aditus sit et arduus hosti,
laudis ut adsiduo uigeat certamine miles,
quis tardamue sudem melius celeremue sagittam
iecerit aut lento perfregerit obuia pilo,               90

Let the violated pastures of the wandering Sun not be hushed,
nor the love and the fertile fields of the Atlantid, Calypso,
and the Phaeacian land, the end of wretched wandering.
And whether these things are known among our lands,
or whether fable has given to these wanderings a new orb,               80
let that be his labor, while your facundity is greater.
Now no one else more aptly masters the arts of war than you,
where it is fitting to lead a protecting trench before the camp,
how to plant “stags” (chevaux-de-frise) against the foe,
and what place it is better to close with a drawn rampart,               85
where the earth bursts forth the sweet waters of a spring,
so that access be easy for yours and arduous for the enemy,
so that the soldier may flourish by an assiduous contest of praise,
who has cast better the sluggish stake or the swift arrow,
or has shattered what meets him with a pliant pilum,               90

aut quis equum celeremue arto compescere freno
possit et effusas tardo permittere habenas
inque uicem modo directo contendere passu,
seu libeat, curuo breuius conuertere gyro,
quis parma, seu dextra uelit seu laeua, tueri,               95
siue hac siue illac ueniat grauis impetus hastae
amplior aut signata cita loca tangere funda.
Iam simul audacis uenient certamina Martis
aduersisque parent acies concurrere signis,
tum tibi non desit faciem componere pugnae,               100
seu sit opus quadratum acies consistat in agmen,
rectus ut aequatis decurrat frontibus ordo,
seu libeat duplicem seiunctim cernere martem,
dexter uti laeuum teneat dextrumque sinister
miles sitque duplex gemini uictoria casus.               105

or who can restrain a horse with a tight bridle
and with a slow rein allow the loosened reins to flow,
and in turn now press on with a direct pace,
or, if it please, turn more shortly in a curved gyre,
who can guard with the buckler, whether with the right hand or the left,               95
whether the heavy onrush of a spear come this way or that,
or with a swift sling touch marked places farther off.
Now, as soon as the contests of audacious Mars arrive
and the battle-lines prepare to clash with opposing standards,
then let it not fail you to compose the face of battle,               100
whether the need be for a squared formation and the line take its stand in a column,
so that a straight order may run on with leveled fronts,
or if it please to discern a double war in separate array,
so that the right may hold the enemy’s left and the left the right,
and let the victory be twin with a double issue of the twin event.               105

At non per dubias errant mea carmina laudes:
nam bellis experta cano. Testis mihi uictae
fortis Iapydiae miles, testis quoque fallax
Pannonius, gelidas passim disiectus in Alpes,
testis Arupinis et pauper natus in aruis,               110
quem si quis uideat uetus ut non fregerit aetas,
terna minus Pyliae miretur saecula famae:
namque senex longae peragit dum tempora uitae,               112b
centum fecundos Titan renouauerit annos,
ipse tamen uelox celerem super edere corpus
audet equum ualidisque sedet moderator habenis.               115
Te duce non alias conuersus terga Domator
libera Romanae subiecit colla catenae.
Nec tamen his contentus eris: maiora peractis
instant, compertum est ueracibus ut mihi signis,
quis Amythaonius nequeat certare Melampus.               120

But my songs’ praises do not stray through doubtful paths:
for I sing things tried in wars. Witness for me is the soldier
of brave, conquered Iapydia; witness too the treacherous
Pannonian, scattered everywhere into the icy Alps;
witness the man born poor in the Arpinate fields,               110
whom, if anyone should see—how old age has not broken him—
he would marvel the less at the three ages of Pylian fame:
for the old man, while he passes the spans of a long life,               112b
will have seen the Titan renew a hundred fruitful years;
yet he himself, swift, dares to set his swift body upon a horse
and sits a ruler with stout reins. With you as leader, at no other time did the Horse-Tamer,
turned in flight, bow his free neck beneath the Roman chain.
Nor yet will you be content with these: greater things, after those achieved,
press on—it has been ascertained for me by veracious signs—
with which Amythaonian Melampus could not contend.               120

Nam modo fulgentem Tyrio subtegmine uestem
indueras oriente die duce fertilis anni,
splendidior liquidis cum Sol caput extulit undis
et fera discordes tenuerunt flamina uenti,
curua nec adsuetos egerunt flumina cursus,               125
quin rapidum placidis etiam mare constitit undis,
ulla nec aerias uolucris perlabitur auras
nec quadrupes densas depascitur aspera siluas,
quin largita tuis sunt muta silentia uotis.
Iuppiter ipse leui uectus per inania curru               130
adfuit et caelo uicinum liquit Olympum
intentaque tuis precibus se praebuit aure
cunctaque ueraci capite adnuit: additus aris
laetior eluxit structos super ignis aceruos.
Quin hortante deo magnis insistere rebus               135

For just now you had put on a garment gleaming with Tyrian weft,
at the day’s rising, leader of the fertile year,
brighter when the Sun lifted his head from the limpid waves
and the wild winds held their discordant blasts,
nor did the curved rivers drive their accustomed courses,               125
nay, even the rapid sea stood still with placid waves,
nor does any bird glide through the aerial breezes
nor does any quadruped graze the dense, rugged woods,
nay, mute silences have been lavished to your vows.
Jupiter himself, borne in a light chariot through the void,               130
was present and left Olympus neighboring the sky
and offered an ear intent to your prayers,
and nodded assent to all things with a truthful head: added to the altars
a gladder fire shone out above the piled heaps.
Nay, with the god encouraging, to take one’s stand upon great endeavors               135

incipe; non idem tibi sint aliisque triumphi:
non te uicino remorabitur obuia marte
Gallia nec latis audax Hispania terris
nec fera Theraeo tellus obsessa colono,
nec qua uel Nilus uel regia lympha Choaspes 140
profluit aut rapidus, Cyri dementia, Gyndes,
aret Araccaeis aut unda Oroatia campis,
nec qua regna uago Tomyris finiuit Araxe,
impia nec saeuis celebrans conuiuia mensis
ultima uicinus Phoebo tenet arua Padaeus, 145
quaque Hebrus Tanaisque Getas rigat atque Magynos.
Quid moror? Oceanus ponto qua continet orbem,
nulla tibi aduersis regio sese offeret armis.

begin; let your triumphs not be the same for you as for others:
nor will warfare meeting you at close hand delay you,
neither Gaul nor bold Spain with its broad lands,
nor the wild land beset by the Theraean colonist,
nor where either the Nile or the royal water Choaspes 140
flows forth, or the swift Gyndes, the madness of Cyrus,
or where the Oroatian wave parches the Araccaean fields,
nor where Tomyris bounded realms with the wandering Araxes,
nor does the Padaeus, neighbor to Phoebus, holding the farthest fields,
celebrating impious banquets on savage tables, possess the plains; 145
and where the Hebrus and the Tanais irrigate the Getae and the Magyni.
Why do I delay? Where Ocean with the deep encloses the orb,
no region will present itself to you with opposing arms.

Te manet inuictus Romano marte Britannus
teque interiecto mundi pars altera sole. 150

You are awaited by the Briton unconquered by Roman warfare
and by the other part of the world, with the sun interposed between. 150

Nam circumfuso consistit in aere tellus
et quinque in partes toto disponitur orbe.
Atque duae gelido uastantur frigore semper:
illic et densa tellus absconditur umbra,
et nulla incepto perlabitur unda liquore,               155
sed durata riget densam in glaciemque niuemque,
quippe ubi non umquam Titan super egerit ortus.
At media est Phoebi semper subiecta calori,
seu propior terris aestiuum fertur in orbem
seu celer hibernas properat decurrere luces;               160
non igitur presso tellus exsurgit aratro,
nec frugem segetes praebent neque pabula terrae;
non illic colit arua deus, Bacchusue Ceresue,
nulla nec exustas habitant animalia partes.
Fertilis hanc inter posita est interque rigentes               165

For the earth stands in the surrounding air
and is arranged into five parts in the whole orb.
And two are ever laid waste by gelid cold:
there too the earth is hidden by dense shadow,
and no wave glides in liquid moisture,               155
but, hardened, it is stiff into dense ice and snow,
since there the Titan has never driven his risings above.
But the middle is always subject to Phoebus’s heat,
whether, nearer to the lands, he is borne in his estival orbit
or swift he hastens to run down the hibernal lights;               160
therefore the earth does not rise under the pressed plow,
nor do the grain-fields offer fruit nor the lands fodder;
not there does a god till the fields, either Bacchus or Ceres,
nor do any animals inhabit the burnt regions.
The fertile [zone] is placed between this and between the rigid ones               165

nostraque et huic aduersa solo pars altera nostro,
quas similis utrimque tenens uicinia caeli
temperat, alter et alterius uires necat aer;
hinc placidus nobis per tempora uertitur annus,
hinc et colla iugo didicit submittere taurus 170
et lenta excelsos uitis conscendere ramos,
tondeturque seges maturos annua partus,
et ferro tellus, pontus confinditur aere,
quin etiam structis exsurgunt oppida muris.
Ergo ubi per claros ierint tua facta triumphos, 175
solus utroque idem diceris magnus in orbe.
Non ego sum satis ad tantae praeconia laudis,
ipse mihi non si praescribat carmina Phoebus.

and our region and the other part opposite to this our soil,
which the similar vicinity of the sky, holding on both sides, tempers,
and the air of the one kills the forces of the other;
hence for us the placid year turns through its seasons,
hence too the bull has learned to lower his neck to the yoke, 170
and the pliant vine to climb lofty branches,
and the crop is shorn, its annual offspring ripe,
and the earth by iron, the sea is cleft by bronze,
nay even towns rise up with walls constructed.
Therefore, when your deeds shall have gone through illustrious triumphs, 175
you alone will be said the same, great, in both orbs.
I am not sufficient for the proclamations of so great praise,
not even if Phoebus himself should dictate songs to me.

Est tibi, qui possit magnis se accingere rebus,
Valgius: aeterno propior non alter Homero. 180

You have Valgius, who can gird himself for great enterprises;
no other is nearer to eternal Homer. 180

Languida non noster peragit labor otia, quamuis
Fortuna, ut mos est illi, me aduersa fatiget.
Nam mihi, cum magnis opibus domus alta niteret,
cui fuerant flaui ditantes ordine sulci
horrea fecundas ad deficientia messis,               185
cuique pecus denso pascebant agmine colles,
et domino satis et nimium furique lupoque,
nunc desiderium superest: nam cura nouatur,
cum memor ante actos semper dolor admonet annos.
Sed licet asperiora cadant spolierque relictis,               190
non te deficient nostrae memorare camenae.
Nec solum tibi Pierii tribuentur honores:
pro te uel rapidas ausim maris ire per undas,
aduersis hiberna licet tumeant freta uentis,
pro te uel densis solus subsistere turmis               195

My labor does not spend languid leisure, although Fortune, as is her custom, wearies me with adversity.
For me, when my high house shone with great resources,
whose golden furrows, enriching in their ranks, had made the granaries wealthy up to the very waning of the harvest,               185
and whose flocks grazed the hills in dense array,
enough and more than enough both for the master and for the thief and the wolf,
now longing remains: for care is renewed,
as mindful pain always reminds me of years previously spent.
But although harsher things may befall and I be despoiled of what remains,               190
my Camenae will not fail to commemorate you.
Nor will Pierian honors be granted to you alone:
for you I would even dare to go over the swift waves of the sea,
although the winter seas swell with adverse winds,
for you I would even stand my ground alone against dense battalions.               195

uel paruum Aetnaeae corpus committere flammae.
Sum quodcumque, tuum est. Nostri si paruula cura
sit tibi, quanta libet, si sit modo, non mihi regna
Lydia, non magni potior sit fama Gylippi,
posse Meleteas nec mallem uincere chartas. 200
Quod tibi si uersus noster, totusue minusue,
uel bene sit notus, summo uel inerret in ore,
nulla mihi statuunt finem te fata canendi.

or to commit even my small body to the Aetnaean flame.
Whatever I am, it is yours. If you have even a little care
for me—let it be as great as you please, only let it be—then not the realms
of Lydia, not the fame of great Gylippus would be preferable to me,
nor would I rather be able to vanquish the Meletean pages. 200
But if to you our verse, whether whole or in part,
either be well known, or should creep onto the lips of the foremost,
the fates set no limit for me of singing you.

Quin etiam mea tunc tumulus cum texerit ossa,
seu matura dies celerem properat mihi mortem, 205
longa manet seu uita, tamen, mutata figura
seu me finget equum rigidos percurrere campos
doctum seu tardi pecoris sim gloria taurus
siue ego per liquidum uolucris uehar aera pennis,
quandocumque hominem me longa receperit aetas, 210

Nay even then, when a tomb has covered my bones,
whether a mature day hastens swift death for me, 205
or a long life remains, nevertheless, my form changed,
whether it will fashion me a horse to run through the hard fields,
or I be the glory, a bull trained, of the slow herd,
or whether I, winged, be borne through the liquid air on pinions,
whenever a long age shall take me back as a man, 210

inceptis de te subtexam carmina chartis.

I will interweave songs about you into the pages I have begun.

De Sulpici Incerti Auctoris Elegiae

On the Elegies of Sulpicia, by an Uncertain Author

VIII

Sulpicia est tibi culta tuis, Mars magne, kalendis;
    spectatum e caelo, si sapis, ipse ueni;
hoc Venus ignoscet; at tu, uiolente, caueto
    ne tibi miranti turpiter arma cadant:
illius ex oculis, cum uult exurere diuos,               5
    accendit geminas lampadas acer Amor.
Illam, quidquid agit, quoquo uestigia mouit,
    componit furtim subsequiturque Decor;
seu soluit crines, fusis decet esse capillis:
    seu composit, comptis est ueneranda comis.               10
Vrit, seu Tyria uoluit procedere palla:
    urit, seu niuea candida ueste uenit.
Talis in aeterno felix Vertumnus Olympo
    mille habet ornatus, mille decenter habet.

Sulpicia is adorned for you on your own Kalends, great Mars;
    come yourself from heaven to see, if you are wise;
this Venus will pardon; but you, violent one, beware
    lest, as you marvel, your arms fall shamefully:
from her eyes, when she wishes to burn the gods,               5
    keen Love lights twin lamps.
As for her, whatever she does, wherever she has moved her steps,
    Grace covertly arranges and follows her;
whether she loosens her tresses, it befits that the hair be let down:
    or if she arranges them, with combed locks she is venerable.               10
She burns, whether she has wished to go forth in a Tyrian mantle:
    she burns, whether she comes in a snowy, shining garment.
Such, in eternal Olympus, happy Vertumnus
    has a thousand adornments, a thousand he wears becomingly.

Sola puellarum digna est cui mollia caris 15

She alone of maidens is worthy, for whom soft things suit the dear 15

    uellera det sucis bis madefacta Tyros,
possideatque, metit quidquid bene olentibus aruis
    cultor odoratae diues Arabs segetis,
et quascumque niger rubro de litore gemmas
    proximus Eois colligit Indus aquis.               20
Hanc uos, Pierides, festis cantate kalendis,
    et testudinea Phoebe superbe lyra.
Hoc sollemne sacrum multos haec sumet in annos:
    dignior est uestro nulla puella choro.

    let Tyre give fleeces twice-soaked with its juices,
and let the rich Arab, cultivator of fragrant grain, possess whatever he reaps from the well-smelling fields,
    and whatever gems the dark Indian, nearest to the Eoian waters, gathers from the red shore.               20
Her do you, Pierides, sing on the festive Kalends,
    and you, Phoebus, proudly with the tortoise-shell lyre.
This solemn sacred rite this woman will assume for many years:
    no girl is more worthy of your chorus.

Parce meo iuueni, seu quis bona pascua campi
    seu colis umbrosi deuia montis aper,
neu tibi sit duros acuisse in proelia dentes;
    incolumem custos hunc mihi seruet Amor.
Sed procul abducit uenandi Delia cura:               5
    o pereant siluae deficiantque canes!
Quis furor est, quae mens, densos indagine colles
    claudentem teneras laedere uelle manus?

Spare my young man, whether some creature haunts the good pastures of the plain
    or you, boar, inhabit the byways of the umbrageous mountain,
nor let it be your part to have whetted your hard teeth for battle;
    let Love, as guardian, keep this one unharmed for me.
But the Delian care for hunting leads him far away:               5
    O let the woods perish and let the hounds fail!
What madness is this, what mind, to wish to wound the tender hands
    of one who with the toils is closing in the crowded hills?

Quidue iuuat furtim latebras intrare ferarum
    candidaque hamatis crura notare rubis?               10
Sed tamen, ut tecum liceat, Cerinthe, uagari,
    ipsa ego per montes retia torta feram,
ipsa ego uelocis quaeram uestigia cerui
    et demam celeri ferrea uincla cani.
Tunc mihi, tunc placeant siluae, si, lux mea, tecum               15

Or what good is it to slip by stealth into the lairs of wild beasts,
    and to mark fair legs with hooked brambles?               10
But yet, so that it may be permitted to roam with you, Cerinthus,
    I myself will carry twisted, woven nets through the mountains,
I myself will seek the footprints of the swift stag,
    and I will remove the iron bonds from the swift hound.
Then, then let the woods please me, if, my light, with you               15

    arguar ante ipsas concubuisse plagas:
tunc ueniat licet ad casses, inlaesus abibit,
    ne ueneris cupidae gaudia turbet, aper.
Nunc sine me sit nulla Venus, sed lege Dianae,
    caste puer, casta retia tange manu:               20
et, quaecumque meo furtim subrepit amori,
    incidat in saeuas diripienda feras.
At tu uenandi studium concede parenti,
    et celer in nostros ipse recurre sinus.

    let me be accused of having lain together before the snares themselves:
then let him come to the nets, he will go away unhurt,
    lest the boar disturb the joys of Venus eager for love.
now let there be no Venus without me, but by the law of Diana,
    chaste boy, touch the chaste nets with a chaste hand:               20
and whoever stealthily creeps into my love,
    let her fall among savage beasts to be torn to pieces.
but you yield the zeal of hunting to your parent,
    and swiftly yourself run back into my bosom.

Huc ades et tenerae morbos expelle puellae,
    huc ades, intonsa Phoebe superbe coma;
crede mihi, propera, nec te iam, Phoebe, pigebit
    formosae medicas applicuisse manus.
Effice ne macies pallentes occupet artus,               5
    neu notet informis candida membra color,
et quodcumque mali est et quidquid triste timemus,
    in pelagus rapidis euehat amnis aquis.
Sancte, ueni, tecumque feras, quicumque sapores,
    quicumque et cantus corpora fessa leuant;               10
neu iuuenem torque, metuit qui fata puellae
    uotaque pro domina uix numeranda facit;
interdum uouet, interdum, quod langueat illa,
    dicit in aeternos aspera uerba deos.
Pone metum, Cerinthe: deus non laedit amantes;               15

Come hither and drive out the illnesses of the tender girl,
    come hither, Phoebus, proud with unshorn hair;
believe me, hasten, nor will you now, Phoebus, regret
    to have applied healing hands to a beautiful woman.
Bring it about that wasting not seize her pallid limbs,               5
    nor let a formless color mark her white limbs,
and whatever of evil there is and whatever sad thing we fear,
    let a river with swift waters carry out into the sea.
Holy one, come, and bring with you whatever savors,
    and whatever songs lighten weary bodies;               10
and do not torture the young man, who fears the fate of the girl
    and makes vows on behalf of his mistress scarcely to be counted;
sometimes he vows, sometimes, because she languishes,
    he speaks harsh words against the eternal gods.
Lay aside fear, Cerinthus: the god does not harm lovers;               15

    tu modo semper ama: salua puella tibi est;
nil opus est fletu: lacrimis erit aptius uti,               21
    si quando fuerit tristior illa tibi.               22
At nunc tota tua est, te solum candida secum               17

    only keep on loving: your girl is safe for you;
there is no need of weeping: it will be more fitting to make use of tears,               21
    if ever she should be more downcast for you.               22
But now she is entirely yours; the fair one has only you with her               17

    cogitat, et frustra credula turba sedet.
Phoebe, faue: laus magna tibi tribuetur in uno
    corpore seruato restituisse duos.               20
Iam celeber, iam laetus eris, cum debita reddet               23
    certatim sanctis laetus uterque focis;
tunc te felicem dicet pia turba deorum,               25

    she muses, and the credulous throng sits in vain.
Phoebe, show favor: great laud will be attributed to you for having
    restored two, with one body preserved.               20
Already celebrated, already glad you will be, when he will render the dues               23
    vying, each glad, to the sacred hearths;
then the pious throng will call you happy among the gods,               25

optabunt artes et sibi quisque tuas.

they will desire your arts, and each person will wish them for himself.

Qui mihi te, Cerinthe, dies dedit, hic mihi sanctus
    atque inter festos semper habendus erit:
te nascente nouum Parcae cecinere puellis
    seruitium et dederunt regna superba tibi.
Vror ego ante alias: iuuat hoc, Cerinthe, quod uror,               5
    si tibi de nobis mutuus ignis adest;
mutuus adsit amor, per te dulcissima furta
    perque tuos oculos per Geniumque rogo.
Mane Geni, cape tura libens uotisque faueto,
    si modo, cum de me cogitat, ille calet.               10
Quod si forte alios iam nunc suspiret amores,
    tunc precor infidos, sancte, relinque focos.

The day that gave you to me, Cerinthus, shall be sacred to me,
    and always to be counted among feast days:
at your birth the Parcae sang a new servitude for girls
    and gave proud kingdoms to you.
I burn more than others: it delights me, Cerinthus, that I burn,               5
    if there is in you a mutual fire for me;
let mutual love be present—I beg it by you, by the sweetest thefts,
    by your eyes, and by your Genius.
Stay, Genius, take incense gladly and favor my vows,
    if only, when he thinks of me, he burns.               10
But if by chance he already now sighs for other loves,
    then, holy one, I pray, leave the faithless hearths.

Nec tu sis iniusta, Venus: uel seruiat aeque
uinctus uterque tibi uel mea uincla leua;
sed potius ualida teneamur uterque catena, 15

Nor be you unjust, Venus: let each, bound, serve you equally,
or alleviate my bonds;
but rather let us both be held by a strong chain, 15

    nulla queat posthac quam soluisse dies.
Optat idem iuuenis quod nos, sed tectius optat:
    nam pudet haec illum dicere uerba palam.
At tu, Natalis, quoniam deus omnia sentis,
    adnue: quid refert, clamne palamne roget?               20

    that no day hereafter may be able to have unloosed it.
The same young man opts for what we do, but he opts for it more covertly:
    for it shames him to say these words openly.
But you, Birthday, since you, a god, sense all things,
    assent: what does it matter, whether he asks secretly or openly?               20

XII

Natalis Iuno, sanctos cape turis aceruos,
    quos tibi dat tenera docta puella manu;
tota tibi est hodie, tibi se laetissima compsit,
    staret ut ante tuos conspicienda focos.
Illa quidem ornandi causas tibi, diua, relegat;               5
    est tamen, occulte cui placuisse uelit.
At tu, sancta, faue, neu quis diuellat amantes,
    sed iuueni, quaeso, mutua uincla para.

Natal Juno, take the sacred heaps of incense,
    which to you the tender learned girl gives with her hand;
she is wholly yours today, for you she has most happily adorned herself,
    so that she might stand before your hearths to be beheld.
She indeed relegates to you, goddess, the reasons for adorning;               5
    nevertheless there is one whom she would wish to have pleased, secretly.
But you, holy one, favor, and let no one sunder the lovers,
    but for the youth, I pray, prepare mutual bonds.

Sic bene compones: ullae non ille puellae
    seruire aut cuiquam dignior illa uiro.               10
Nec possit cupidos uigilans deprendere custos
    fallendique uias mille ministret Amor.
Adnue purpureaque ueni perlucida palla:
    ter tibi fit libo, ter, dea casta, mero;
praecipit et natae mater studiosa, quod optat:               15

Thus you will compose them well: for serving any girl no one is more worthy than he,
    nor is she more worthy of any man.               10
Nor could the watchful guard catch the desirous lovers,
    and Love will provide a thousand ways of deceiving.
Assent, and come in a translucent purple mantle:
    thrice for you a libum-cake is made, thrice, chaste goddess, with pure wine;
and the mother, zealous, enjoins upon her daughter what she desires:               15

    illa aliud tacita iam sua mente rogat;
uritur, ut celeres urunt altaria flammae,
    nec, liceat quamuis, sana fuisse uelit.
Sis iuueni grata ac, ueniet cum proximus annus,
    hic idem uotis iam uetus exstet amor.               20

    she now asks something else tacitly in her own mind;
she burns, as swift flames burn the altars,
    nor, although it be permitted, would she wish to have been sane.
Be pleasing to the youth and, when the next year comes,
    may this same love, now old, stand forth in answer to vows.               20

Sulpiciae Elegidia

The Little Elegies of Sulpicia

XIII

Tandem uenit amor, qualem texisse pudori
    quam nudasse alicui sit mihi fama magis.
Exorata meis illum Cytherea Camenis
    attulit in nostrum deposuitque sinum.
Exsoluit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret,               5
    dicetur si quis non habuisse sua.

At last Love has come, such a one as it would be more to my repute to have veiled for modesty
    than to have laid bare to anyone. The Cytherean, won over by my own Muses,
brought him and laid him down in my bosom.
    Venus has fulfilled her promises: let him recount my joys,               5
    whoever will be said not to have had his own.

Non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis,
ne legat id nemo quam meus ante, uelim,
sed peccasse iuuat, uultus componere famae
taedet: cum digno digna fuisse ferar. 10

I would not wish to entrust anything to sealed tablets,
lest anyone other than my own man read it first,
but it gladdens me to have sinned; I am weary of composing a visage for fame:
let me be reported to have been, a worthy woman with a worthy man. 10

XIV

Inuisus natalis adest, qui rure molesto
et sine Cerintho tristis agendus erit.
Dulcius urbe quid est? An uilla sit apta puellae
atque Arretino frigidus amnis agro?

The hateful natal day is here, which in the troublesome countryside
and without Cerinthus will have to be spent, sad.
What is sweeter than the city? Or is a villa apt for a girl
and a cold river in the Arretine field?

Iam, nimium Messalla mei studiose, quiescas;               5
    non tempestiuae saepe, propinque, uiae.
Hic animum sensusque meos abducta relinquo
    arbitrio, quamuis non sinis esse, meo.

Now, Messalla, too studious of me, be at rest;               5
    the journeys are often untimely, kinsman.
Here I leave my mind and my senses, with her carried off,
    to my own discretion, although you do not allow it to be mine.

Scis iter ex animo sublatum triste puellae?
Natali Romae iam licet esse tuo.
Omnibus ille dies nobis natalis agatur,
qui nec opinanti nunc tibi forte uenit.

Do you know the sad journey has been lifted from my girl’s heart?
On your natal day it is now permitted to be at Rome.
Let that day be celebrated as a natal day for us all,
which now by chance comes to you, not expecting it.

XVI

Gratum est, securus multum quod iam tibi de me
    permittis, subito ne male inepta cadam.
Sit tibi cura togae potior pressumque quasillo
    scortum quam Serui filia Sulpicia:
solliciti sunt pro nobis, quibus illa dolori est               5
ne cedam ignoto maxima causa toro.

It is welcome, that you, quite care-free, now entrust much about me,
    so that I may not suddenly fall awkwardly amiss.
Let the care of the toga be weightier for you, and a prostitute pressed by a work-basket,
    rather than Sulpicia, daughter of Servius:
they are anxious on my behalf, for whom that is a grief—               5
lest I yield to an unknown bed, the greatest cause.

XVII

Estne tibi, Cerinthe, tuae pia cura puellae,
    quod mea nunc uexat corpora fessa calor?
A ego non aliter tristes euincere morbos
    optarim, quam te si quoque uelle putem.
At mihi quid prosit morbos euincere, si tu               5
    nostra potes lento pectore ferre mala?

Is there for you, Cerinthus, a devoted care for your girl,
    that a fever now vexes my weary body?
Ah, I would not otherwise wish to vanquish the gloomy, morbid illnesses
    than if I should think that you too wish it.
But what would it profit me to vanquish the illnesses, if you               5
    can bear our ills with a sluggish heart?

XVIII

Ne tibi sim, mea lux, aeque iam feruida cura
    ac uideor paucos ante fuisse dies,
si quicquam tota commisi stulta iuuenta
    cuius me fatear paenituisse magis,
hesterna quam te solum quod nocte reliqui,               5
    ardorem cupiens dissimulare meum.

Let me not be to you, my light, now an equally fervid care
    as I seemed to have been a few days before,
if I committed anything in my whole foolish youth
    of which I would confess to have repented more,
than that I left you alone last night,               5
    desiring to dissimulate my ardor.

Incerti Auctoris

Of an Uncertain Author

XIX

Nulla tuum nobis subducet femina lectum:
    hoc primum iuncta est foedere nostra uenus.
Tu mihi sola places, nec iam te praeter in urbe
    formosa est oculis ulla puella meis.
Atque utinam posses uni mihi bella uideri!               5
    Displiceas aliis: sic ego tutus ero.

No woman will take your bed from me:
    first, by this covenant, our Venus has been joined.
You alone please me, nor now, besides you, in the city
    is any girl beautiful to my eyes.
And would that you could seem fair to me alone!               5
    May you displease others: thus I shall be safe.

Nil opus inuidia est, procul absit gloria uulgi:
    qui sapit, in tacito gaudeat ille sinu.
Sic ego secretis possum bene uiuere siluis,
    qua nulla humano sit uia trita pede.               10
Tu mihi curarum requies, tu nocte uel atra
    lumen, et in solis tu mihi turba locis.
Nunc licet e caelo mittatur amica Tibullo,
    mittetur frustra deficietque Venus;
hoc tibi sancta tuae Iunonis numina iuro,               15

No need is there of envy; far be the glory of the crowd:
    let him who is wise rejoice in a quiet bosom.
Thus I can live well in secret woods,
    where no path is worn by a human foot.               10
You are for me a rest from cares, you, even in black night,
    a light, and in lonely places you are for me a crowd.
Now, even if a beloved be sent to Tibullus from heaven,
    she will be sent in vain, and Venus will fail;
this I swear to you by the holy numina of your Juno,               15

quae sola ante alios est mihi magna deos.
Quid facio demens? Heu!

which alone before the others is to me great among the gods.
What am I doing, out of my mind? Alas!

heu! mea pignora cedo;
    iuraui stulte: proderat iste timor.
Nunc tu fortis eris, nunc tu me audacius ures:
    hoc peperit misero garrula lingua malum.               20
Iam faciam quodcumque uoles, tuus usque manebo,
    nec fugiam notae seruitium dominae,
sed Veneris sanctae considam uinctus ad aras:
    haec notat iniustos supplicibusque fauet.

alas! I cede my pledges;
    I swore foolishly: that fear was advantageous.
Now you will be brave, now you will scorch me more audaciously:
    this garrulous tongue has begotten this evil for wretched me.               20
Now I will do whatever you wish, I will remain yours always,
    nor will I flee the servitude of a familiar mistress,
but, bound, I will sit down at the altars of holy Venus:
    she marks the unjust and favors suppliants.

Rumor ait crebro nostram peccare puellam
nunc ego me surdis auribus esse uelim.
Crimina non haec sunt nostro sine facta dolore:
quid miserum torques, rumor acerbe? Tace.

Rumor says repeatedly that my girl is sinning;
now I would wish myself to have deaf ears.
These crimes are not committed without my pain:
why do you torture the wretch, bitter rumor? Be silent.

Domiti Marsi

OF DOMITIUS MARSUS

Te quoque Vergilio comitem non aequa, Tibulle,
Mors iuvenem campos misit ad Elysios
ne foret aut elegis molles qui fleret amores
aut caneret forti regia bella pede.

You too, Tibullus, companion to Vergil,
unfair Death has sent, a youth, to the Elysian fields,
lest there should be one who in elegies would weep soft loves
or who would sing regal wars with a strong foot.