Sextus Propertius was a Roman elegiac poet of the Augustan age, best known for his four books of Elegiae, which explore themes of erotic passion, myth, and Roman history. He was a contemporary of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, and is considered one of the four canonical Roman elegists alongside Tibullus, Ovid, and the earlier Gallus. His intensely personal and allusive verse established him as one of the most technically ambitious poets of the Latin literary tradition.

When and where did Propertius live?

Propertius was born around 50–45 BCE, most likely in Assisium (modern Assisi) in Umbria, a region of central Italy. He died sometime around 15–2 BCE, though the precise date of his death is unknown. He spent much of his adult life in Rome, where he moved to pursue his literary career and where he became part of the circle of the wealthy patron Gaius Maecenas.

What genre or literary tradition did Propertius work in?

Propertius composed exclusively in the genre of Latin love elegy, a form characterized by the elegiac couplet—alternating hexameter and pentameter lines—and by the poet's subjective, often anguished exploration of romantic devotion. The genre, which was pioneered in Latin by Cornelius Gallus in the 40s BCE, drew on Hellenistic Greek models including the epigrams of Callimachus and the erotic poetry of Philetas of Cos. Propertius himself explicitly claimed Callimachus and Philetas as his primary literary forebears, notably in Elegiae 3.1 and 3.3.

What did Propertius write?

Propertius wrote four books of Elegiae, comprising approximately ninety-two poems in elegiac couplets. Book 1, sometimes called the Monobiblos, was published around 28 BCE and focuses almost entirely on his passion for a woman he calls Cynthia. Books 2 and 3, published in the mid-20s BCE, continue the Cynthia narrative while also incorporating literary-programmatic and political themes. Book 4, published around 16 BCE, is his most ambitious collection, blending Roman aetiological mythology in the manner of Callimachus with the now-concluded Cynthia affair.

Who and what influenced Propertius?

Propertius's primary acknowledged influences were the Hellenistic Greek poets Callimachus of Cyrene and Philetas of Cos, whose learned, allusive, and formally refined style he consciously imitated and adapted. Among Latin predecessors, the elegist Cornelius Gallus was decisive in establishing the conventions of the genre, while Catullus's intensely personal lyric poetry provided an important emotional and stylistic model. Propertius also engaged deeply with the Homeric epics and the mythological tradition, deploying mythological exempla throughout his elegies to illuminate and amplify his erotic themes.

What shaped Propertius' life and career?

The disruptions of the late Roman Republic profoundly shaped Propertius's outlook: his family appears to have suffered land confiscations during the Perusine War of 41–40 BCE, an experience he alludes to in Elegiae 1.21 and 1.22. His literary career was greatly advanced by the patronage of Gaius Maecenas, the powerful cultural arbiter who also supported Virgil and Horace, though Propertius showed a characteristic independence in repeatedly deflecting pressure to write epic glorifying Augustus. The figure of Cynthia—conventionally identified with a real woman named Hostia—dominated his first three books and provided the central autobiographical and artistic impetus of his work.

What is Propertius' legacy in Western literature?

Propertius exerted a significant influence on later Latin poets, most notably Ovid, whose Amores and Ars Amatoria engage directly with the elegiac conventions that Propertius helped define. In the modern era, his work inspired Ezra Pound's celebrated Homage to Sextus Propertius (1919), a creative reimagining that brought him to wide Anglophone attention. Propertius is also valued by classical scholars for the mythological density and textual difficulty of his verse, and Book 4 in particular is recognized as a foundational text in the study of Roman aetiological and antiquarian poetry.

What genre is Propertius' Elegies?

Propertius' Elegies belong to the genre of Latin love elegy, a highly formalized poetic form written in elegiac couplets — alternating dactylic hexameter and pentameter lines. The genre, cultivated in Rome during the late first century BC, focuses on erotic obsession, the suffering of the lover, and the poet's enslavement to a mistress, drawing on Hellenistic Greek models such as Callimachus and Philetas of Cos.

When was Propertius' Elegies written?

Propertius composed his four books of Elegies between approximately 28 BC and 16 BC. Book 1, known as the Monobiblos, was published around 28 BC, while Books 2 and 3 followed in the early 20s BC, and Book 4 appeared around 16 BC. These dates place the work firmly within the Augustan Age, the literary golden era patronized by Gaius Maecenas.

What is Propertius' Elegies about?

The Elegies are primarily concerned with the poet's passionate and tormented love affair with a woman he calls Cynthia, identified by ancient sources with a real woman named Hostia. The poems trace the full arc of the relationship — infatuation, jealousy, separation, betrayal, and eventual disillusionment — while also touching on themes of poetic vocation, Roman mythology, and Augustan society. Book 4 broadens the scope to include aetiological poems explaining Roman religious and topographical traditions.

What are the central themes of Propertius' Elegies?

The dominant themes are erotic subjugation (servitium amoris), in which the poet casts himself as a slave to Cynthia's power, and the tension between love and civic duty in Augustan Rome. Recusatio — the poet's refusal to write epic in favor of erotic verse — is a recurring motif, as Propertius explicitly declines to celebrate military and political achievements. Additional themes include death and the afterlife, Roman antiquarianism, and the immortalizing power of poetry.

What is the structure and form of Propertius' Elegies?

The Elegies are organized into four books containing a total of approximately 92 poems of varying length, all composed in elegiac couplets. Book 1, the Monobiblos, consists of 22 poems focused almost exclusively on Cynthia and circulated as an independent collection. Books 2 and 3 expand the thematic range while maintaining the Cynthia cycle, and Book 4 is the most architecturally ambitious, pairing aetiological Roman poems with a final, striking elegy in which the ghost of Cynthia addresses the poet.

What was the political and historical context of Propertius' Elegies?

Propertius wrote during the Principate of Augustus (27 BC–14 AD), a period of enforced political stability following the devastating civil wars that had torn the Roman Republic apart. He was a member of the literary circle of Gaius Maecenas, Augustus' chief cultural minister, alongside Virgil and Horace. Despite this patronage, Propertius maintained an oblique relationship with Augustan ideology, using erotic elegy partly as a means of resisting imperial demands for patriotic epic and moral verse.

What are the defining literary features and style of Propertius' Elegies?

Propertius' style is notoriously dense, allusive, and difficult, characterized by abrupt transitions, compressed mythological exempla, and a highly mannered obscurity that ancient critics and modern scholars alike have found challenging. He draws extensively on Hellenistic Greek poetry, particularly Callimachus' aesthetic of doctrina (learned refinement) and brevitas (conciseness). His imagery is vivid and emotionally intense, and he uses mythological comparisons not merely as ornament but as structural arguments within individual poems.

What did Propertius' Elegies contribute to literary tradition?

Propertius established several conventions of Latin love elegy that became canonical: the use of a single pseudonymous mistress as the organizing figure of a poetry book, the sustained trope of the lover as enslaved soldier of love (militia amoris), and the bold assertion of poetry's supremacy over military glory. His claim in Elegies 3.1 that 'Callimachus will live, and Cos will speak the poems of Philetas' positioned him as the Roman heir to the Hellenistic tradition. His Book 4 pioneered the fusion of personal elegy with antiquarian Roman mythology, anticipating Ovid's Fasti.

How has Propertius' Elegies influenced later literature and culture?

Propertius was a significant influence on Ovid, whose Amores and Heroides develop the elegiac conventions Propertius refined, and his aetiological experiments in Book 4 are a direct precursor to Ovid's Fasti. In the Renaissance, humanists including Petrarch and later Goethe engaged with Propertian models; Goethe's Roman Elegies (1788) explicitly revives the Propertian love elegy in German. In modern literature, Ezra Pound's Homage to Sextus Propertius (1919) is a landmark creative translation that used the Roman poet to comment on World War I-era imperialism.

Who are the key figures in Propertius' Elegies?

The central figure is Cynthia, the poet's beloved mistress, whose pseudonym was chosen for its metrical elegance and its association with Apollo Cynthius, god of poetry; she is identified by the ancient commentator Apuleius as a real woman named Hostia. Gaius Maecenas, to whom several poems are addressed, appears as a powerful literary patron whom Propertius courts while deflecting his requests for more patriotic verse. The ghost of Cornelius Gallus, the founder of Latin love elegy who died in 26 BC, haunts the tradition Propertius inherits, and the shade of Cynthia herself becomes a dramatic speaker in the memorable final elegy of Book 4 (4.7).

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Elegies

Book 3

Propertius

1

Callimachī Mānēs et Cōī sacra Philītae,

in vestrum, quaesō, mē sinite īre nemus.

prīmus ego ingredior pūrō dē fonte sacerdōs

Ītala per Grāiōs orgia ferre chorōs.

dīcite, quō pariter carmen tenuāstis in antrō

quōve pede ingressī? quamve bibistis aquam?

āh valeat, Phoebum quīcumque morātur in armīs!

exāctus tenuī pūmice versus eat,

quō mē Fāma levat terrā sublīmis, et ā mē

nāta corōnātīs Mūsa triumphat equīs,

et mēcum in currū parvī vectantur Amōrēs,

scrīptōrumque meās turba secūta rotās.

quid frūstrā immissīs mēcum certātis habēnīs?

nōn datur ad Mūsās currere lāta via.

multī, Rōma, tuās laudēs annālibus addent,

quī fīnem imperiī Bactra futūra canent.

sed, quod pāce legās, opus hoc dē monte Sorōrum

dētulit intāctā pāgina nostra viā.

mollia, Pēgasides, date vestrō serta poētae:

nōn faciet capitī dūra corōna meō.

at mihi quod vīvō dētrāxerit invida turba,

post obitum duplicī faenore reddet Honōs;

omnia post obitum fingit majōra vetustās:

majus ab exsequiīs nōmen in ōra venit.

nam quis equō pulsās abiēgnō nōsceret arcēs,

flūminaque Haemoniō comminus īsse virō,

Īdaeum Simoenta Jovis cum prōle Scamandrō,

Hectora per campōs ter maculāsse rotās?

Dēiphobumque Helenumque et Pūlydamantis in armīs

quālemcumque Parim vix sua nōsset humus.

exiguō sermōne forēs nunc, Īlion, et tū

Trōja bis Oetaeī nūmine capta deī.

nec nōn ille tuī cāsūs memorātor Homērus

posteritāte suum crēscere sēnsit opus;

mēque inter sērōs laudābit Rōma nepōtēs:

illum post cinerēs auguror ipse diem.

nē mea contemptō lapis indicet ossa sepulcrō

prōvīsum est Lyciō vōta probante deō.

2

Carminis intereā nostrī redeāmus in orbem,

gaudeat ut solitō tācta puella sonō.

Orphea dēlēnīsse ferās et concita dīcunt

flūmina Thrēiciā sustinuisse lyrā;

saxa Cithaerōnis Thēbānam agitāta per artem

sponte suā in mūrī membra coīsse ferunt;

quīn etiam, Polyphēme, ferā Galatēa sub Aetnā

ad tua rōrantīs carmina flexit equōs:

mīrēmur, nōbīs et Bacchō et Apolline dextrō,

turba puellārum sī mea verba colit?

quod nōn Taenariīs domus est mihi fulta columnīs,

nec camera aurātās inter eburna trabēs,

nec mea Phaeācās aequant pōmāria silvās,

nōn operōsa rigat Marcius antra liquor;

at Mūsae comitēs et carmina cāra legentī,

nec dēfessa chorīs Calliopēa meīs.

fortūnāta, meō sī qua es celebrāta libellō!

carmina erunt fōrmae tot monumenta tuae.

nam neque pȳramidum sūmptūs ad sīdera ductī,

nec Jovis Ēlēī caelum imitāta domus,

nec Mausōlēī dīves fortūna sepulcrī

mortis ab extrēmā condiciōne vacant.

aut illīs flamma aut imber subdūcet honōrēs,

annōrum aut tacitō pondere victa ruent.

at nōn ingeniō quaesītum nōmen ab aevō

excidet: ingeniō stat sine morte decus.

3

Vīsus eram mollī recubāns Helicōnis in umbrā,

Bellerophontēī quā fluit ūmor equī,

rēgēs, Alba, tuōs et rēgum facta tuōrum,

tantum operis, nervīs hīscere posse meīs;

parvaque jam magnīs admōram fontibus ōra

(unde pater sitiēns Ennius ante bibit,

et cecinit Curiōs frātrēs et Horātia pīla,

rēgiaque Aemiliā vecta tropaea rate,

victrīcīsque morās Fabiī pugnamque sinistram

Cannēnsem et versōs ad pia vōta deōs,

Hannibalemque Larēs Rōmānā sēde fugantīs,

ānseris et tūtum vōce fuisse Jovem),

cum mē Castaliā speculāns ex arbore Phoebus

sīc ait aurātā nīxus ad antra lyrā:

'quid tibi cum tālī, dēmēns, est flūmine? quis tē

carminis hērōī tangere jussit opus?

nōn hinc ūlla tibī spēranda est fāma, Propertī:

mollia sunt parvīs prāta terenda rotīs;

ut tuus in scamnō jactētur saepe libellus,

quem legat exspectāns sōla puella virum.

cūr tua praescrīptōs ēvecta est pāgina gȳrōs?

nōn est ingeniī cumba gravanda tuī.

alter rēmus aquās alter tibi rādat harēnās,

tūtus eris: mediō maxima turba marī est.'

dīxerat, et plēctrō sēdem mihi mōnstrat eburnō,

quō nova muscōsō sēmita facta solō est.

hīc erat affīxīs viridis spēlunca lapillīs,

pendēbantque cavīs tympana pūmicibus,

orgia Mūsārum et Sīlēnī patris imāgō

fictilis et calamī, Pān Tegeaee, tuī;

et Veneris dominae volucrēs, mea turba, columbae

tingunt Gorgoneō pūnica rōstra lacū;

dīversaeque novem sortītae jūra Puellae

exercent tenerās in sua dōna manūs:

haec hederās legit in thyrsōs, haec carmina nervīs

aptat, at illa manū tēxit utrāque rosam.

100

ē quārum numerō mē contigit ūna deārum

101

(ut reor ā faciē, Calliopēa fuit):

102

'contentus niveīs semper vectābere cycnīs,

103

nec tē fortis equī dūcet ad arma sonus.

104

nīl tibi sit raucō praecōnia classica cornū

105

flāre, nec Āonium tingere Mārte nemus;

106

aut quibus in campīs Mariānō proelia signō

107

stent et Teutonicās Rōma refringat opēs,

108

barbarus aut Suēbō perfūsus sanguine Rhēnus

109

saucia maerentī corpora vectet aquā.

110

quippe corōnātōs aliēnum ad līmen amantēs

111

nocturnaeque canēs ēbria signa morae,

112

ut per tē clausās sciat excantāre puellās,

113

quī volet austērōs arte ferīre virōs.'

114

tālia Calliopē, lymphīsque ā fonte petītīs

115

ōra Philītēā nostra rigāvit aquā.

116

4

Arma deus Caesar dītēs meditātur ad Indōs,

117

et freta gemmiferī findere classe maris.

118

magna, Quirīs, mercēs: parat ultima terra triumphōs;

119

Tigris et Euphrātēs sub tua jūra fluent;

120

sēra, sed Ausoniīs veniet prōvincia virgīs;

121

assuēscent Latiō Partha tropaea Jovī.

122

īte agite, expertae bellō, date lintea, prōrae,

123

et solitum, armigerī, dūcite mūnus, equī!

124

ōmina fausta canō. Crassōs clādemque piāte!

125

īte et Rōmānae cōnsulite historiae!

126

Mārs pater, et sacrae fātālia lūmina Vestae,

127

ante meōs obitūs sit precor illa diēs,

128

quā videam spoliīs onerātōs Caesaris axēs,

129

et subter captōs arma sedēre ducēs,

130

tēla fugācis equī et brācātī mīlitis arcūs,

131

ad vulgī plausūs saepe resistere equōs,

132

inque sinū cārae nīxus spectāre puellae

133

incipiam et titulīs oppida capta legam!

134

ipsa tuam servā prōlem, Venus: hoc sit in aevum,

135

cernis ab Aenēā quod superesse caput.

136

praeda sit haec illīs, quōrum meruēre labōrēs:

137

mē sat erit Sacrā plaudere posse Viā.

138

5

Pācis Amor deus est, pācem venerāmur amantēs:

139

sat mihi cum dominā proelia dūra meā.

140

nec mihi mīlle jugīs Campānia pinguis arātur,

141

nec bibit ē gemmā dīvite nostra sitis,

142

nec tamen invīsō pectus mihi carpitur aurō,

143

nec mixta aera parō clāde, Corinthe, tuā.

144

ō prīma īnfēlīx fingentī terra Promētheō!

145

ille parum cautē pectoris ēgit opus.

146

corpora dispōnēns mentem nōn vīdit in artō:

147

rēcta animī prīmum dēbuit esse via.

148

nunc maris in tantum ventō jactāmur, et hostem

149

quaerimus, atque armīs nectimus arma nova.

150

haud ūllās portābis opēs Acherontis ad undās:

151

nūdus in īnfernā, stulte, vehēre rate.

152

victor cum victō pariter miscētur in umbrīs:

153

cōnsule cum Mariō, capte Jugurtha, sedēs.

154

Lȳdus Dūlichiō nōn distat Croesus ab Īrō:

155

optima mors, carptā quae venit ante diē.

156

mē juvat in prīmā coluisse Helicōna juventā

157

Mūsārumque chorīs implicuisse manūs;

158

mē juvat et multō mentem vincīre Lyaeō,

159

et caput in vērnā semper habēre rosā.

160

atque ubi jam Venerem gravis intercēperit aetās,

161

sparserit et nigrās alba senecta comās,

162

tum mihi nātūrae libeat perdiscere mōrēs,

163

quis deus hanc mundī temperet arte domum,

164

quā venit exoriēns, quā dēficit, unde coāctīs

165

cornibus in plēnum mēnstrua lūna redit,

166

unde salō superant ventī, quid flāmine captet

167

Eurus, et in nūbēs unde perennis aqua;

168

sit ventūra diēs mundī quae subruat arcēs,

169

purpureus pluviās cūr bibit arcus aquās,

170

aut cūr Perrhaebī tremuēre cacūmina Pindī,

171

sōlis et ātrātīs lūxerit orbis equīs,

172

cūr sērus versāre bovēs et plaustra Boōtēs,

173

Plēiadum spissō cūr coit igne chorus,

174

curve suōs fīnēs altum nōn exeat aequor,

175

plēnus et in partēs quattuor annus eat;

176

sub terrīs sint jūra deum et tormenta reōrum,

177

num rota, num scopulī, num sitis inter aquās,

178

aut Alcmaeoniae furiae aut jējūnia Phīneī,

179

Tīsiphonēs ātrō sī furit angue caput,

180

num tribus īnfernum cūstōdit faucibus antrum

181

Cerberus, et Tityō jūgera pauca novem,

182

an ficta in miserās dēscendit fābula gentēs,

183

et timor haud ultrā quam rogus esse potest.

184

exitus hic vītae superet mihi: vōs, quibus arma

185

grāta magis, Crassī signa referte domum.

186

6

Dīc mihi dē nostrā quae senstī vēra puellā:

187

sīc tibi sint dominae, Lygdame, dēmpta juga.

188

omnis enim dēbet sine vānō nūntius esse,

189

majōremque metū servus habēre fidem.

190

nunc mihi, sī qua tenēs, ab orīgine dīcere prīmā

191

incipe: suspēnsīs auribus ista bibam.

192

num mē laetitiā tumefactum fallis inānī,

193

haec referēns, quae mē crēdere velle putās?

194

sīcin eram incōmptīs vīdistī flēre capillīs?

195

illius ex oculīs multa cadēbat aqua?

196

nec speculum in strātō vīdistī, Lygdame, lectō,

197

scrīniaque ad lectī clausa jacēre pedēs,

198

ac maestam tenerīs vestem pendēre lacertīs?

199

ōrnābat niveās nūllane gemma manūs?

200

trīstis erat domus, et trīstēs sua pēnsa ministrae

201

carpēbant, mediō nēbat et ipsa locō,

202

ūmidaque impressā siccābat lūmina lānā,

203

rettulit et querulō jūrgia nostra sonō?

204

'haec tē teste mihī prōmissa est, Lygdame, mercēs?

205

est poena et servō rumpere teste fidem.

206

ille potest nūllō miseram mē linquere factō,

207

et quālem nōlō dīcere habēre domī?

208

gaudet mē vacuō sōlam tābēscere lectō?

209

sī placet, īnsultet, Lygdame, morte meā.

210

nōn mē mōribus illa, sed herbīs improba vīcit

211

stāmineā rhombī dūcitur ille rotā.

212

illum turgentis sanie portenta rubētae

213

et lēcta exsūctīs anguibus ossa trahunt,

214

et strigis inventae per busta jacentia plūmae,

215

cīnctaque fūnestō lānea vitta torō.

216

sī nōn vāna canunt mea somnia, Lygdame, testor,

217

poena erit ante meōs sēra sed ampla pedēs;

218

putris et in vacuō texētur arānea lectō:

219

noctibus illōrum dormiet ipsa Venus.'

220

quae tibi sī vērīs animīs est questa puella,

221

hāc eadem rūrsus, Lygdame, curre viā,

222

et mea cum multīs lacrimīs mandāta reportā,

223

īram, nōn fraudēs esse in amōre meō,

224

mē quoque cōnsimilī impositum torquērier ignī:

225

jūrābō bis sex integer esse diēs.

226

quod mihi sī ē tantō fēlīx concordia bellō

227

exstiterit, per mē, Lygdame, līber eris.

228

7

Ergō sollicitae tū causa, pecūnia, vītae!

229

per tē immātūrum mortis adīmus iter;

230

tū vitiīs hominum crūdēlia pābula praebēs;

231

sēmina cūrārum dē capite orta tuō.

232

tū Paetum ad Phariōs tendentem lintea portūs

233

obruis īnsānō terque quaterque marī.

234

nam dum tē sequitur, prīmō miser excidit aevō

235

et nova longinquīs piscibus ēsca natat.

236

quod sī contentus patriō bove verteret agrōs,

237

verbaque dūxisset pondus habēre mea,

238

vīveret ante suōs dulcis convīva Penātēs,

239

pauper, at in terrā nīl nisi flēret opēs.

240

nōluit hoc Paetus, strīdōrem audīre procellae

241

et dūrō tenerās laedere fūne manūs,

242

sed thyiō thalamō aut Ōrīcīā terebinthō

243

effultum plūmā versicolōre caput.

244

hunc parvō ferrī vīdit nox improba lignō,

245

et miser invīsam trāxit hiātus aquam;

246

huic flūctus vīvō rādīcitus abstulit unguēs:

247

Paetus ut occideret, tot coiēre mala.

248

flēns tamen extrēmīs dedit haec mandāta querēlīs

249

cum moribunda niger clauderet ōra liquor:

250

'dī maris Aegaeī quōs sunt penes aequora, ventī,

251

et quaecumque meum dēgravat unda caput,

252

quō rapitis miserōs prīmae lānūginis annōs?

253

attulimus longās in freta vestra comās.

254

āh miser alcyonum scopulīs afflīgar acūtīs!

255

in mē caeruleō fuscina sūmpta deō est.

256

at saltem Ītaliae regiōnibus ēvehat aestus:

257

hoc dē mē sat erit sī modo mātris erit.'

258

subtrahit haec fantem tortā vertīgine flūctus;

259

ultima quae Paetō vōxque diēsque fuit.

260

Paete, quid aetātem numerās? quid cāra natantī

261

māter in ōre tibī est? nōn habet unda deōs.

262

et māter nōn jūsta piae dare dēbita terrae

263

nec pote cognātōs inter humāre rogōs,

264

sed tua nunc volucrēs astant super ossa marīnae,

265

nunc tibi prō tumulō Carpathium omne mare est.

266

īnfēlīx Aquilō, raptae timor Ōrīthyiae,

267

quae spolia ex illō tanta fuēre tibi?

268

aut quidnam frāctā gaudēs, Neptūne, carīnā?

269

portābat sānctōs alveus ille virōs.

270

ō centum aequoreae Nēreō genitōre puellae,

271

et tū, māternō tācta dolōre, Theti;

272

vōs decuit lassō suppōnere bracchia mentō:

273

nōn poterat vestrās ille gravāre manūs.

274

reddite corpus, aquae! posita est in gurgite vīta;

275

Paetum sponte tuā, vīlis harēna, tegās;

276

et quotiēns Paetī trānsībit nauta sepulcrum,

277

dīcat 'et audācī tū timor esse potes.'

278

īte, ratēs curvāte et lētī texite causās:

279

ista per hūmānās mors venit ācta manūs.

280

terra parum fuerat fātīs, adjēcimus undās:

281

fortūnae miserās auximus arte viās.

282

ancora tē teneat, quem nōn tenuēre penātēs?

283

quid meritum dīcās, cui sua terra parum est?

284

ventōrum est, quodcumque parās: haud ūlla carīna

285

cōnsenuit, fallit portus et ipse fidem.

286

nam tibi nocturnīs ad saxa ligāta procellīs

287

omnia dētrītō vincula fūne cadunt.

288

sunt Agamemnoniās testantia lītora cūrās,

289

quae notat Argynnī poena Athamantiadae.

290

[hōc juvene āmissō classem nōn solvit Atrīdēs,

291

prō quā mactāta est Īphigenīa morā.]

292

nātūra īnsidiāns pontum substrāvit avārīs:

293

ut tibi succēdat, vix semel esse potest.

294

saxa triumphālīs frēgēre Caphērea puppēs,

295

naufraga cum vastō Graecia tracta salō est.

296

paulātim socium jactūram flēvit Ulixēs,

297

in mare cui solitī nōn valuēre dolī.

298

at tū, saeve Aquilō, numquam mea vēla vidēbis:

299

ante forēs dominae condar oportet iners.

300

8

Dulcis ad hesternās fuerat mihi rixa lucernās

301

vōcis et īnsānae tot maledicta tuae.

302

tū vērō nostrōs audāx invāde capillōs

303

et mea fōrmōsīs unguibus ōra notā,

304

tū minitāre oculōs subjectā exūrere flammā,

305

fac mea rescissō pectora nūda sinū!

306

cum furibunda merō mēnsam prōpellis et in mē

307

prōicis īnsānā cymbia plēna manū,

308

nīmīrum vērī dantur mihi signa calōris:

309

nam sine amōre gravī fēmina nūlla dolet.

310

quae mulier rabidā jactat convīcia linguā,

311

haec Veneris magnae volvitur ante pedēs.

312

cūstōdum grege seu circā sē stīpat euntem,

313

seu sequitur mediās, maenas ut icta, viās,

314

seu timidam crēbrō dēmentia somnia terrent,

315

seu miseram in tabulā picta puella movet,

316

hīs ego tormentīs animī sum vērus haruspex,

317

hās didicī certō saepe in amōre notās.

318

nōn est certa fidēs, quam nōn in jūrgia vertās:

319

hostibus ēveniat lenta puella meīs.

320

in morsō aequālēs videant mea vulnera collō:

321

mē doceat līvor mēcum habuisse meam.

322

aut in amōre dolēre volō aut audīre dolentem,

323

sīve meās lacrimās sīve vidēre tuās,

324

tēcta superciliīs sī quandō verba remittis,

325

aut tua cum digitīs scrīpta silenda notās.

326

ōdī ego quōs numquam pungunt suspīria somnōs:

327

semper in īrātā pallidus esse velim.

328

dulcior ignis erat Paridī, cum Grāia per arma

329

Tȳnaridī poterat gaudia ferre suae:

330

dum vincunt Danaī, dum restat barbarus Hector,

331

ille Helenae in gremiō maxima bella gerit.

332

aut tēcum aut prō tē mihi cum rīvālibus arma

333

semper erunt: in tē pāx mihi nūlla placet.

334

gaudē, quod nūlla est aequē fōrmōsa: dolērēs,

335

sī qua foret: nunc sīs jūre superba licet.

336

at tibi, quī nostrō nexistī rētia lectō,

337

sit socer aeternum nec sine mātre domus!

338

cui nunc sī qua data est fūrandae cōpia noctis,

339

offēnsa illa mihī, nōn tibi amīca, dedit.

340

9

Maecēnās, eques Etrūscō dē sanguine rēgum,

341

intrā fortūnam quī cupis esse tuam,

342

quid mē scrībendī tam vastum mittis in aequor?

343

nōn sunt apta meae grandia vēla ratī.

344

turpe est, quod nequeās, capitī committere pondus

345

et pressum īnflexō mox dare terga genū.

346

omnia nōn pariter rērum sunt omnibus apta,

347

palma nec ex aequō dūcitur ūlla jugō.

348

glōria Lȳsippō est animōsa effingere signa;

349

exāctīs Calamis sē mihi jactat equīs;

350

in Veneris tabulā summam sibi poscit Apellēs;

351

Parrhasius parvā vindicat arte locum;

352

argūmenta magis sunt Mentoris addita fōrmae;

353

at Myos exiguum flectit acanthus iter;

354

Phīdiacus signō sē Juppiter ōrnat eburnō;

355

Praxitelēn propriā vēndit ab urbe lapis.

356

est quibus Ēlēae concurrit palma quadrīgae,

357

est quibus in celerīs glōria nāta pedēs;

358

hic satus ad pācem, hic castrēnsibus ūtilis armīs:

359

nātūrae sequitur sēmina quisque suae.

360

at tua, Maecēnās, vītae praecepta recēpī,

361

cōgor et exemplīs tē superāre tuīs.

362

cum tibi Rōmānō dominās in honōre secūrēs

363

et liceat mediō pōnere jūra forō;

364

vel tibi Mēdōrum pugnācīs īre per hastās,

365

atque onerāre tuam fīxa per arma domum;

366

et tibi ad effectum vīrēs det Caesar, et omnī

367

tempore tam facilēs īnsinuentur opēs;

368

parcis et in tenuīs humilem tē colligis umbrās:

369

vēlōrum plēnōs subtrahis ipse sinūs.

370

crēde mihī, magnōs aequābunt ista Camillōs

371

jūdicia, et veniēs tū quoque in ōra virum.

372

nōn ego vēliferā tumidum mare findo carīnā:

373

tōta sub exiguō flūmine nostra mora est.

374

nōn flēbō in cinerēs arcem sēdisse paternōs

375

Cadmī, nec semper proelia clāde parī;

376

nec referam Scaeās et Pergama, Apollinis arcēs,

377

et Danaum decimō vēre redīsse ratēs,

378

moenia cum Grāiō Neptūnia pressit arātrō

379

victor Palladiae ligneus artis equus.

380

inter Callimachī sat erit placuisse libellōs

381

et cecinisse modīs, Cōe poēta, tuīs.

382

haec ūrant puerōs, haec ūrant scrīpta puellās

383

mēque deum clāment et mihi sacra ferant!

384

tē duce vel Jovis arma canam caelōque mitem

385

Coeum et Phlegraeīs Eurymedonta jugīs;

386

ēductōsque parēs silvestrī ex ūbere rēgēs,

387

ōrdiar et caesō moenia firma Remō,

388

celsaque Rōmānīs dēcerpta palātia taurīs,

389

crēscet et ingenium sub tua jussa meum;

390

prōsequar et currūs utrōque ab lītore ovantīs,

391

Parthōrum astūtae tēla remissa fugae,

392

claustraque Pēlūsī Rōmānō subruta ferrō,

393

Antōnīque gravīs in sua fāta manūs.

394

mollia tū coeptae fautor cape lōra juventae,

395

dexteraque immissīs dā mihi signa rotīs.

396

hoc mihi, Maecēnās, laudis concēdis, et ā te est

397

quod ferar in partīs ipse fuisse tuās.

398

10

Mīrābar, quidnam vīsissent māne Camēnae,

399

ante meum stantēs sōle rubente torum.

400

nātālis nostrae signum mīsēre puellae

401

et manibus faustōs ter crepuēre sonōs.

402

trānseat hic sine nūbe diēs, stent āere ventī,

403

pōnat et in siccō molliter unda minās.

404

aspiciam nūllōs hodiernā lūce dolentīs,

405

et Niobae lacrimās supprimat ipse lapis;

406

alcyonum positīs requiēscant ōra querēlīs;

407

increpet absūmptum nec sua māter Ityn.

408

tūque, ō cāra mihī, fēlīcibus ēdita pennīs,

409

surge et poscentīs jūsta precāre deōs.

410

at prīmum pūrā somnum tibi discute lymphā,

411

et nitidās pressō pollice finge comās;

412

dein quā prīmum oculōs cēpistī veste Propertī

413

indue, nec vacuum flōre relinque caput;

414

et pete, quā pollēs, ut sit tibi fōrma perennis,

415

inque meum semper stent tua rēgna caput.

416

inde corōnātās ubi tūre piāveris ārās,

417

lūxerit et tōtā flamma secunda domō,

418

sit mēnsae ratiō, noxque inter pōcula currat,

419

et crocinō nārēs murreus ungat onyx.

420

tībia continuīs succumbat rauca chorēīs,

421

et sint nēquitiae lībera verba tuae,

422

dulciaque ingrātōs adimant convīvia somnōs;

423

pūblica vīcīnae perstrepat aura viae:

424

sit sors et nōbīs tālōrum interprete jactū,

425

quem gravius pennīs verberet ille puer.

426

cum fuerit multīs exācta trientibus hōra,

427

noctis et īnstituet sacra ministra Venus,

428

annua solvāmus thalamō sollemnia nostrō,

429

nātālisque tuī sīc peragāmus iter.

430

11

Quid mīrāre, meam sī versat fēmina vītam

431

et trahit addictum sub sua jūra virum,

432

crīminaque ignāvī capitis mihi turpia fingis,

433

quod nequeam frāctō rumpere vincla jugō?

434

ventōrum melius praesāgit nāvita mōrem,

435

vulneribus didicit mīles habēre metum.

436

ista ego praeteritā jactāvī verba juventā:

437

tū nunc exemplō disce timēre meō.

438

Colchis flagrantīs adamantina sub juga taurōs

439

ēgit et armigerā proelia sēvit humō,

440

cūstōdisque ferōs clausit serpentis hiātūs,

441

īret ut Aesoniās aurea lāna domōs.

442

ausa ferōx ab equō quondam oppugnāre sagittīs

443

Maeōtis Danaum Penthesilēa ratēs;

444

aurea cui postquam nūdāvit cassida frontem,

445

vīcit victōrem candida fōrma virum.

446

Omphalē in tantum fōrmae prōcessit honōrem,

447

Lȳdia Gȳgaeō tīncta puella lacū,

448

ut, quī pācātō statuisset in orbe columnās,

449

tam dūrā traheret mollia pēnsa manū.

450

Persārum statuit Babylōna Semīramis urbem,

451

ut solidum coctō tolleret aggere opus,

452

et duo in adversum mittī per moenia currūs

453

nec possent tāctō stringere ab axe latus;

454

dūxit et Euphrātēn medium, quam condidit, arcis,

455

jussit et imperiō subdere Bactra caput.

456

nam quid ego hērōas, quid raptem in crīmina dīvōs?

457

Juppiter īnfāmat sēque suamque domum.

458

quid, modo quae nostrīs opprobria nexerit armīs,

459

et, famulōs inter fēmina trīta suōs,

460

conjugiī obscēnī pretium Rōmāna poposcit

461

moenia et addictōs in sua rēgna Patrēs?

462

noxia Alexandrīa, dolīs aptissima tellūs,

463

et totiēns nostrō Memphi cruenta malō,

464

trīs ubi Pompējō dētrāxit harēna triumphōs,

465

tollet nūlla diēs hanc tibi, Rōma, notam.

466

īssent Phlegraeō melius tibi fūnera campō,

467

vel tua sī socerō colla datūrus erās.

468

scīlicet incestī meretrīx rēgīna Canōpī,

469

ūna Philippēō sanguine adusta nota,

470

ausa Jovī nostrō lātrantem oppōnere Anūbim,

471

et Tiberim Nīlī cōgere ferre minās,

472

Rōmānamque tubam crepitantī pellere sīstrō,

473

bāridos et contīs rōstra Liburna sequī,

474

foedaque Tarpējō cōnōpia tendere saxō,

475

jūra dare et statuās inter et arma Marī!

476

quid nunc Tarquiniī frāctās juvat esse secūrēs,

477

nōmine quem similī vīta superba notat,

478

sī mulier patienda fuit? cane, Rōma, triumphum

479

et longum Augustō salva precāre diem!

480

fūgistī tamen in timidī vaga flūmina Nīlī:

481

accēpēre tuae Rōmula vincla manūs.

482

bracchia spectāstī sacrīs admorsa colubrīs,

483

et trahere occultum membra sopōris iter.

484

'Nōn hōc, Rōma, fuī tantō tibi cīve verenda!'

485

dīxit et assiduō lingua sepulta merō.

486

septem urbs alta jugīs, tōtō quae praesidet orbī,

487

fēmineās timuit territa Marte minās.

488

haec dī condiderunt, haec dī quoque moenia servant:

489

vix timeat salvō Caesare Rōma Jovem.

490

nunc ubi Scīpiadae classēs, ubi signa Camillī,

491

aut modo Pompējā, Bospore, capta manū?

492

Hannibalis spolia et victī monumenta Syphācis,

493

et Pyrrhī ad nostrōs glōria frācta pedēs?

494

Curtius explētīs statuit monumenta lacūnīs,

495

admissō Decius proelia rūpit equō,

496

Coclitis abscissōs testātur sēmita pontēs,

497

est cui cognōmen corvus habēre dedit:

498

Leucadius versās aciēs memorābit Apollō:

499

tantī operis bellum sustulit ūna diēs.

500

at tū, sīve petēs portūs seu, nāvita, linquēs,

501

Caesaris in tōtō sis memor Īoniō.

502

12

Postume, plōrantem potuistī linquere Gallam,

503

mīles et Augustī fortia signa sequī?

504

tantīne ūlla fuit spoliātī glōria Parthī,

505

nē facerēs Gallā multa rogante tuā?

506

sī fās est, omnēs pariter pereātis avārī,

507

et quisquis fīdō praetulit arma torō!

508

tū tamen injectā tēctus, vēsāne, lacernā

509

pōtābis galeā fessus Araxis aquam.

510

illa quidem intereā fāmā tābēscet inānī,

511

haec tua nē virtūs fīat amāra tibi,

512

nēve tuā Mēdae laetentur caede sagittae,

513

ferreus armātō neu cataphractus equō,

514

nēve aliquid dē tē flendum referātur in urnā:

515

sīc redeunt, illīs quī cecidēre locīs.

516

ter quater in castā fēlīx, ō Postume, Gallā!

517

mōribus hīs aliā conjuge dignus erās.

518

quid faciet nūllō mūnīta puella timōre,

519

cum sit luxuriae Rōma magistra suae?

520

sed sēcūrus eās: Gallam non mūnera vincent,

521

dūritiaeque tuae nōn erit illa memor.

522

nam quōcumque diē salvum tē fāta remittent,

523

pendēbit collō Galla pudīca tuō.

524

Postumus alter erit mīrandā conjuge Ulixēs:

525

nōn illī longae tot nocuēre morae,

526

castra decem annōrum, et Ciconum mors, Ismara capta,

527

exustaeque tuae nox, Polyphēme, genae,

528

et Circae fraudēs, lōtosque herbaeque tenācēs,

529

Scyllaque et alternās scissa Charybdis aquās,

530

Lampetiēs Ithacīs veribus mūgīsse juvencōs

531

(pāverat hōs Phoebō fīlia Lampetiē),

532

et thalamum Aeaeae flentis fūgisse puellae,

533

totque hiemis noctēs totque natāsse diēs,

534

nigrantīsque domōs animārum intrāsse silentum,

535

Sīrēnum surdō rēmige adīsse lacūs,

536

et veterēs arcūs lētō renovāsse procōrum,

537

errōrisque suī sīc statuisse modum.

538

nec frūstrā, quia casta domī persēderat uxor.

539

vincit Pēnelopēs Aelia Galla fidem.

540

13

Quaeritis, unde avidīs nox sit pretiōsa puellīs,

541

et Venere exhaustae damna querantur opēs.

542

certa quidem tantīs causa et manifēsta ruīnīs:

543

luxuriae nimium lībera facta via est.

544

Inda cavīs aurum mittit formīca metallīs,

545

et venit ē Rubrō concha Erycīna salō,

546

et Tyros ostrīnōs praebet Cadmēa colōrēs,

547

cinnamon et multī pistor odōris Arabs.

548

haec etiam clausās expugnant arma pudīcās

549

quaeque gerunt fastūs, Īcariōti, tuōs.

550

mātrōna incēdit cēnsūs indūta nepōtum

551

et spolia opprobriī nostra per ōra trahit.

552

nūlla est poscendī, nūlla est reverentia dandī,

553

aut sī qua est, pretiō tollitur ipsa mora.

554

fēlīx Ēōīs lēx fūneris ūna marītīs,

555

quōs Aurōra suīs rubra colōrat equīs!

556

namque ubi mortiferō jacta est fax ultima lectō,

557

uxōrum fūsīs stat pia turba comīs,

558

et certāmen habent lētī, quae vīva sequātur

559

conjugium: pudor est nōn licuisse morī.

560

ārdent victrīcēs et flammae pectora praebent,

561

impōnuntque suīs ōra perusta virīs.

562

hoc genus īnfīdum nūptārum, hīc nūlla puella

563

nec fīda Euadnē nec pia Pēnelope.

564

fēlīx agrestum quondam pācāta juventūs,

565

dīvitiae quōrum messis et arbor erant!

566

illīs mūnus erat dēcussa Cydōnia rāmō,

567

et dare pūniceīs plēna canistra rubīs,

568

nunc violās tondēre manū, nunc mixta referre

569

līlia vīmineōs lūcida per calathōs,

570

et portāre suīs vestītās frondibus ūvās

571

aut variam plūmae versicolōris avem.

572

hīs tum blanditiīs fūrtīva per antra puellae

573

ōscula silvicolīs ēmpta dedēre virīs.

574

hinnuleī pellis strātōs operībat amantēs,

575

altaque nātīvō crēverat herba torō,

576

pīnus et incumbēns laetās circumdabat umbrās;

577

nec fuerat nūdās poena vidēre deās.

578

corniger Arcadiī vacuam pāstōris in aulam

579

dux ariēs saturās ipse redūxit ovēs;

580

dīque deaeque omnēs, quibus est tūtēla per agrōs,

581

praebēbant vestrī verba benigna focī:

582

'et leporem, quīcumque venīs, vēnāberis, hospes,

583

et sī forte meō trāmite quaeris avem:

584

et mē Pāna tibī comitem dē rūpe vocātō,

585

sīve petēs calamō praemia, sīve cane.'

586

at nunc dēsertīs cessant sacrāria lūcīs:

587

aurum omnēs victā jam pietāte colunt.

588

aurō pulsa fidēs, aurō vēnālia jūra,

589

aurum lēx sequitur, mox sine lēge pudor.

590

torrida sacrilegum testantur līmina Brennum,

591

dum petit intōnsī Pȳthia rēgna deī:

592

at mox laurigerō concussus vertice dīrās

593

Gallica Parnāsus sparsit in arma nivēs.

594

tē scelus acceptō Thrācis Polymēstoris aurō

595

nūtrit in hospitiō nōn, Polydōre, piō.

596

tū quoque ut aurātōs gererēs, Eriphȳla, lacertōs,

597

dēlāpsīs nusquam est Amphiarāus equīs.

598

prōloquar (atque utinam patriae sim vērus haruspex!):

599

frangitur ipsa suīs Rōma superba bonīs.

600

certa loquor, sed nūlla fidēs; neque vīlia quondam

601

vērāx Pergameīs maenas habenda malī:

602

sōla Parim Phrygiae fātum compōnere, sōla

603

fallācem Trōjae serpere dīxit equum.

604

ille furor patriae fuit ūtilis, ille parentī:

605

experta est vērōs irrita lingua deōs.

606

14

Multa tuae, Spartē, mīrāmur jūra palaestrae,

607

sed mage virgineī tot bona gymnasiī,

608

quod nōn īnfāmīs exercet corpore lūdōs

609

inter luctantīs nūda puella virōs,

610

cum pila vēlōcīs fallit per bracchia jactūs,

611

increpat et versī clāvis adunca trochī,

612

pulverulentaque ad extrēmās stat fēmina mētās,

613

et patitur dūrō vulnera pancratiō:

614

nunc ligat ad caestum gaudentia bracchia lorīs,

615

missile nunc discī pondus in orbe rotat,

616

et modo Tāygetī, crīnīs aspersa pruīnā,

617

sectātur patriōs per juga longa canēs:

618

gȳrum pulsat equīs, niveum latus ēnse revincit,

619

virgineumque cavō prōtegit aere caput,

620

quālis Amāzonidum nūdātīs bellica mammīs

621

Thermōdontiacīs turba lavātur aquīs;

622

quālis et Eurōtae Pollūx et Castor harēnīs,

623

hic victor pugnīs, ille futūrus equīs,

624

inter quōs Helenē nūdīs capere arma papillīs

625

fertur nec frātrēs ērubuisse deōs.

626

lēx igitur Spartāna vetat sēcēdere amantēs,

627

et licet in triviīs ad latus esse suae,

628

nec timor aut ūlla est clausae tūtēla puellae,

629

nec gravis austērī poena cavenda virī.

630

nūllō praemissō dē rēbus tūte loquāris

631

ipse tuīs: longae nūlla repulsa morae.

632

nec Tyriae vestēs errantia lūmina fallunt,

633

est neque odōrātae cūra molesta comae.

634

at nostra ingentī vādit circumdata turbā,

635

nec digitum angusta est īnseruisse via;

636

nec quae sit faciēs nec quae sint verba rogandī

637

inveniās: caecum versat amātor iter.

638

quod sī jūra forēs pugnāsque imitāta Lacōnum,

639

cārior hōc essēs tū mihi, Rōma, bonō.

640

15

Sīc ego nōn ūllōs jam nōrim in amōre tumultūs

641

nec veniat sine tē nox vigilanda mihi,

642

fābula nūlla tuās dē nōbīs concitet aurēs;

643

tē sōlam et lignīs fūneris ustus amem.

644

ut mihi praetextī pudor est relevātus amictūs

645

et data lībertās nōscere amōris iter,

646

illa rudīs animōs per noctēs cōnscia prīmās

647

imbuit, heu nūllīs capta Lycinna datīs!

648

tertius (haud multō minus est) cum dūcitur annus,

649

vix meminī nōbīs verba coīsse decem.

650

cūncta tuus sepelīvit amor, nec fēmina post tē

651

ūlla dedit collō dulcia vincla meō.

652

at tū nōn meritam parcās vexāre Lycinnam:

653

nescit vestra ruēns īra referre pedem.

654

testis erit Dircē tam vānō crīmine saeva,

655

Nycteos Antiopēn accubuisse Lycō.

656

āh quotiēns pulchrōs vulsit rēgīna capillōs,

657

molliaque immītīs fīxit in ōra manūs!

658

āh quotiēns famulam pēnsīs onerāvit inīquīs,

659

et caput in dūrā pōnere jussit humō!

660

saepe illam immundīs passa est habitāre tenebrīs,

661

vīlem jējūnae saepe negāvit aquam.

662

Juppiter, Antiopae nusquam succurris habentī

663

tot mala? corrumpit dūra catēna manūs.

664

sī deus es, tibi turpe tuam servīre puellam:

665

invocet Antiopē quem nisi vīncta Jovem?

666

sōla tamen, quaecumque aderant in corpore vīrēs,

667

rēgālīs manicās rūpit utrāque manū.

668

inde Cithaerōnis timidō pede currit in arcēs.

669

nox erat, et sparsō trīste cubīle gelū.

670

saepe vagō Āsōpī sonitū permōta fluentis

671

crēdēbat dominae pōne venīre pedēs.

672

et dūrum Zēthum et lacrimīs Amphiona mollem

673

experta est stabulīs māter abācta suīs.

674

ac velutī, magnōs cum pōnunt aequora mōtūs,

675

Eurus et adversus dēsinit īre Notō,

676

lītore sollicitō sonitus rārēscit harēnae,

677

sīc cadit īnflexō lāpsa puella genū.

678

sēra, tamen pietās: nātīs est cognitus error.

679

digne Jovis nātōs quī tueāre senex,

680

tū reddis puerīs mātrem; puerīque trahendam

681

vīnxērunt Dircēn sub trucis ōra bovis.

682

Antiopē, cognōsce Jovem: tibi glōria Dircē

683

dūcitur in multīs mortem habitūra locīs.

684

prāta cruentantur Zēthī, victorque canēbat

685

paeāna Amphīōn rūpe, Aracynthe, tuā.

686

16

Nox media, et dominae mihi vēnit epistula nostrae:

687

Tībure mē missā jussit adesse morā,

688

candida quā geminās ostendunt culmina turrēs,

689

et cadit in patulōs nympha Aniēna lacūs.

690

quid faciam? obductīs committam mēne tenebrīs

691

ut timeam audācīs in mea membra manūs?

692

at sī distulerō haec nostrō mandāta timōre,

693

nocturnō flētus saevior hoste mihi.

694

peccāram semel, et tōtum sum pulsus in annum:

695

in mē mānsuētās nōn habet illa manūs.

696

nec tamen est quisquam, sacrōs quī laedat amantēs:

697

Scīrōnis mediās hīs licet īre viās.

698

quisquis amātor erit, Scythicīs licet ambulet ōrīs,

699

nēmo adeō ut feriat barbarus esse volet.

700

sanguine tam parvō quis enim spargātur amantis

701

improbus, et cujus sit comes ipsa Venus?

702

lūna ministrat iter, dēmōnstrant astra salebrās,

703

ipse Amor accēnsās praecutit ante facēs,

704

saeva canum rabiēs morsūs āvertit hiantīs:

705

huic generī quōvīs tempore tūta via est.

706

quod sī certa meōs sequerentur fūnera cursūs,

707

tālī mors pretiō vel sit emenda mihi.

708

afferet haec unguenta mihī sertīsque sepulcrum

709

ōrnābit cūstōs ad mea busta sedēns.

710

dī faciant, mea nē terrā locet ossa frequentī

711

quā facit assiduō trāmite vulgus iter!

712

post mortem tumulī sīc īnfāmantur amantum.

713

mē tegat arboreā dēvia terra comā,

714

aut humer ignōtae cumulīs vāllātus harēnae:

715

nōn juvat in mediā nōmen habēre viā.

716

17

Nunc, ō Bacche, tuīs humilēs advolvimur ārīs:

717

dā mihi pācātō vela secunda, pater.

718

tū potes īnsānae Veneris compescere fastūs,

719

cūrārumque tuō fit medicīna merō.

720

per tē junguntur, per tē solvuntur amantēs:

721

tū vitium ex animō dīlue, Bacche, meō.

722

tē quoque enim nōn esse rudem testātur in astrīs

723

lyncibus ad caelum vecta Ariadna tuīs.

724

hoc mihi, quod veterēs cūstōdit in ossibus ignēs,

725

fūnera sānābunt aut tua vīna malum.

726

semper enim vacuōs nox sōbria torquet amantēs;

727

spēsque timorque animōs versat utrōque modō.

728

quod sī, Bacche, tuīs per fervida tempora dōnīs

729

accersītus erit somnus in ossa mea,

730

ipse seram vītēs pangamque ex ordine collēs,

731

quōs carpant nūllae mē vigilante ferae.

732

dum modo purpureō spūment mihi dōlia mustō,

733

et nova pressantīs inquinet ūva pedēs,

734

quod superest vītae per tē et tua cornua vīvam,

735

virtūtisque tuae, Bacche, poēta ferar.

736

dīcam ego māternōs Aetnaeō fulmine partūs,

737

Indica Nȳsaeīs arma fugāta chorīs,

738

vēsānumque novā nēquīquam in vīte Lycūrgum,

739

Pentheos in triplicīs fūnera rapta gregēs,

740

curvaque Tyrrhēnōs delphinum corpora nautās

741

in vada pampineā dēsiluisse ratē,

742

et tibi per mediam bene olentia flūmina Dīam,

743

unde tuum pōtant Naxia turba merum.

744

candida laxātīs onerātō colla corymbīs

745

cinget Bassaricās Lȳdia mitra comās,

746

lēvis odōrātō cervīx mānābit olīvō,

747

et feriēs nūdōs veste fluente pedēs.

748

mollia Dircaeae pulsābunt tympana Thēbae,

749

capripedēs calamō Pānes hiante canent,

750

vertice turrigerō juxtā dea magna Cybēbē

751

tundet ad Īdaeōs cymbala rauca chorōs.

752

ante forēs templī, crātēre antistes et aurō

753

lībātum fundēns in tua sacra merum,

754

haec ego nōn humilī referam memoranda coturnō,

755

quālis Pindaricō spīritus ōre tonat:

756

tū modo servitiō vacuum mē siste superbō,

757

atque hōc sollicitum vince sopōre caput.

758

18

Clausus ab umbrōsō quā tundit pontus Avernō

759

fūmida Bājārum stāgna tepentis aquae,

760

quā jacet et Trōjae tubicen Mīsēnus harēnā,

761

et sonat Herculeō strūcta labōre via;

762

hīc ubi, mortālīs dexter cum quaereret urbēs,

763

cymbala Thēbānō concrepuēre deō.

764

at nunc invīsae magnō cum crīmine Bājae,

765

quis deus in vestrā cōnstitit hostis aquā?

766

Mārcellus Stygiās vultum dēmīsit in undās,

767

errat et īnfernō spīritus ille lacū.

768

quid genus aut virtūs aut optima prōfuit illī

769

māter, et amplexum Caesaris esse focōs?

770

aut modo tam plēnō fluitantia vēla theātrō,

771

et per māternās ōmina fēsta manūs?

772

occidit, et miserō steterat vīcēsimus annus:

773

tot bona tam parvō clausit in orbe diēs.

774

ī nunc, tolle animōs et tēcum finge triumphōs,

775

stantiaque in plausum tōta theātra juvent;

776

Attalicās superā vestēs, atque ostra smaragdīs

777

gemmea sint Indīs: ignibus ista dabis.

778

sed tamen hūc omnēs, hūc prīmus et ultimus ōrdō:

779

est mala, sed cūnctīs ista terenda via est.

780

exōranda canis tria sunt lātrantia colla,

781

scandenda est torvī pūblica cumba senis.

782

nec fōrma aeternum aut cuiquam est fortūna perennis:

783

longius aut propius mors sua quemque manet.

784

ille licet ferrō cautus sē condat et aere,

785

mors tamen inclūsum prōtrahit inde caput.

786

Nirea nōn faciēs, nōn vīs exēmit Achillem,

787

Croesum aut, Pactōlī quās parit ūmor, opēs.

788

at tibi nauta, piās hominum quō trāicit umbrās,

789

hūc animae portet corpus ināne tuae:

790

quā Siculae victor tellūris Claudius et quā

791

Caesar, ab hūmānā cessit in astra viā.

792

19

Obicitur totiēns ā tē mihi nostra libīdō:

793

crēde mihī, vōbīs imperat ista magis.

794

vōs, ubi contemptī rūpistis frēna pudōris,

795

nescītis captae mentis habēre modum.

796

flamma per incēnsās citius sedētur aristās,

797

flūminaque ad fontis sint reditūra caput,

798

et placidum Syrtēs portum et bona lītora nautīs

799

praebeat hospitiō saeva Malēa suō,

800

quam possit vestrōs quisquam reprehendere cursūs

801

et rabidae stimulōs frangere nēquitiae.

802

testis, Crētaeī fastūs quae passa juvencī

803

induit abjēgnae cornua falsa bovis;

804

testis Thessalicō flagrāns Salmōnis Enīpeō,

805

quae voluit liquidō tōta subīre deō.

806

crīmen et illa fuit, patriā succēnsa senectā

807

arboris in frondēs condita Myrrha novae.

808

nam quid Mēdēae referam, quō tempore mātris

809

īram nātōrum caede piāvit amor?

810

quidve Clytaemēstrae, propter quam tōta Mycēnīs

811

īnfāmis stuprō stat Pelopēa domus?

812

tūque, ō, Mīnōā vēnumdata, Scylla, figūrā

813

tondēs purpureā rēgna paterna comā.

814

hanc igitur dōtem virgō dēsponderat hostī!

815

Nīse, tuās portās fraude reclūsit amor.

816

at vōs, innūptae, fēlīcius ūrite taedās:

817

pendet Crētaeā tracta puella rate.

818

nōn tamen immeritō Mīnōs sedet arbiter Orcī:

819

victor erat quamvīs, aequus in hoste fuit.

820

20

Crēdis eum jam posse tuae meminisse figūrae,

821

vīdistī ā lectō quem dare vēla tuō?

822

dūrus, quī lucrō potuit mūtāre puellam!

823

tantīne, ut lacrimēs, Āfrica tōta fuit?

824

at tū stulta adeō es? tū fingis inānia verba:

825

forsitan ille aliō pectus amōre terat.

826

est tibi fōrma potēns, sunt castae Palladis artēs,

827

splendidaque ā doctō fāma refulget avō,

828

fortūnāta domus, modo sit tibi fīdus amīcus.

829

fīdus erō: in nostrōs curre, puella, torōs!

830

tū quoque, quī aestīvōs spatiōsius exigis ignēs,

831

Phoebe, morātūrae contrahe lūcis iter.

832

nox mihi prīma venit! prīmae dā tempora noctī!

833

longius in prīmō, Lūna, morāre torō.

834

quam multae ante meīs cēdent sermōnibus hōrae

835

dulcia quam nōbīs concitet arma Venus!

836

foedera sunt pōnenda prius signandaque jūra

837

et scrībenda mihī lēx in amōre novō.

838

haec Amor ipse suō cōnstringet pignora signō:

839

testis sīdereae torta corōna deae.

840

namque ubi nōn certō vincītur foedere lectus,

841

nōn habet ultōrēs nox vigilanda deōs,

842

et quibus imposuit, solvit mox vincla libīdō:

843

contineant nōbīs ōmina prīma fidem.

844

ergō, quī tāctīs haec foedera rūperit ārīs,

845

pollueritque novō sacra marīta torō,

846

illī sint quīcumque solent in amōre dolōrēs,

847

et caput argūtae praebeat historiae,

848

nec flentī dominae patefiant nocte fenestrae:

849

semper amet, frūctū semper amōris egēns.

850

21

Magnum iter ad doctās proficīscī cōgor Athēnās

851

ut mē longa gravī solvat amōre via.

852

crēscit enim assiduē spectandō cūra puellae:

853

ipse alimenta sibī maxima praebet amor.

854

omnia sunt temptāta mihī, quācumque fugārī

855

posset: at ex omnī mē premit ipse deus.

856

vix tamen aut semel admittit, cum saepe negārit:

857

seu venit, extrēmō dormit amicta torō.

858

ūnum erit auxilium: mūtātīs Cynthia terrīs

859

quantum oculīs, animō tam procul ībit amor.

860

nunc agite, ō sociī, prōpellite in aequora nāvem,

861

rēmōrumque parēs dūcite sorte vicēs,

862

jungiteque extrēmō fēlīcia lintea mālō:

863

jam liquidum nautīs aura secundat iter.

864

Rōmānae turrēs et vōs valeātis, amīcī,

865

quāliscumque mihī tūque, puella, valē!

866

ergō ego nunc rudis Hadriacī vehar aequoris hospes,

867

cōgar et undisonōs nunc prece adīre deōs.

868

deinde per Īonium vectus cum fessa Lechaeō

869

sēdārit placidā vela phasēlus aquā,

870

quod superest, sufferre, pedēs, properāte labōrem,

871

Isthmos quā terrīs arcet utrumque mare.

872

inde ubi Pīraeī capient mē lītora portūs,

873

scandam ego Thēsēae bracchia longa viae.

874

illīc vel stadiīs animum ēmendāre Platōnis

875

incipiam aut hortīs, docte Epicūre, tuīs;

876

persequar aut studium linguae, Dēmosthenis arma,

877

lībābōque tuōs, culte Medre, salēs;

878

aut certē tabulae capient mea lūmina pictae,

879

sīve ebore exāctae, seu magis aere, manūs.

880

et spatia annōrum et longa intervālla profundī

881

lenībunt tacitō vulnera nostra sinū:

882

seu moriar, fātō, nōn turpī frāctus amōre;

883

atque erit illa mihī mortis honesta diēs.

884

22

Frīgida tam multōs placuit tibi Cȳzicus annōs,

885

Tulle, Propontiacā quā fluit isthmos aquā,

886

Dindymis et sacrā fabricāta in vīte Cybēbē,

887

raptōrisque tulit quae via Dītis equōs?

888

sī tē forte juvant Hellēs Athamantidos urbēs,

889

nec dēsīderiō, Tulle, movēre meō,

890

sī tibi olōrigerī vīsenda est ōra Caystrī,

891

et quae septēnās temperat unda viās;

892

tū licet aspiciās caelum omne Atlanta gerentem,

893

sectaque Persēā Phorcidos ōra manū,

894

Gēryonis stabula et luctantum in pulvere signa

895

Herculis Antaeīque, Hesperidumque chorōs;

896

tūque tuō Colchum prōpellās rēmige Phasim,

897

Pēliacaeque trabis tōtum iter ipse legās,

898

quā rudis Argōā natat inter saxa columbā

899

in faciem prōrae pīnus adācta novae:

900

omnia Rōmānae cēdent mīrācula terrae.

901

nātūra hīc posuit, quidquid ubīque fuit.

902

armīs apta magis tellūs quam commoda noxae:

903

Fāmam, Rōma, tuae nōn pudet historiae.

904

nam quantum ferrō tantum pietāte potentēs

905

stāmus: victrīcīs temperat īra manūs.

906

hīc, Aniō Tīburne, fluis, Clītumnus ab Umbrō

907

trāmite, et aeternum Marcius ūmor opus,

908

Albānus lacus et foliīs Nemorēnsis abundāns,

909

pōtaque Pollūcis nympha salūbris equō.

910

at nōn squāmōsō lābuntur ventre cerastae,

911

Ītala portentīs nec furit unda novīs;

912

nōn hīc Andromedae resonant prō mātre catēnae,

913

nec tremis Ausoniās, Phoebe fugāte, dapēs,

914

nec cuiquam absentēs ārsērunt in caput ignēs

915

exitium nātō mātre movente suō;

916

Penthea nōn saevae vētur in arbore Bacchae,

917

nec solvit Danaās subdita cerva ratēs;

918

cornua nec valuit curvāre in paelice Jūnō

919

aut faciem turpī dēdecorāre bove;

920

arboreāsque crucēs Sinis, et nōn hospita Grāīs

921

saxa, et curtātās in fera fāta trabēs.

922

haec tibi, Tulle, parēns, haec est pulcherrima sēdēs,

923

hīc tibi prō dignā gente petendus honōs,

924

hīc tibi ad ēloquium cīvēs, hīc ampla nepōtum

925

spēs et ventūrae conjugis aptus amor.

926

23

Ergō tam doctae nōbīs periēre tabellae,

927

scrīpta quibus pariter tot periēre bona!

928

hās quondam nostrīs manibus dētrīverat ūsus,

929

quī nōn signātās jussit habēre fidem.

930

illae jam sine mē nōrant plācāre puellās,

931

et quaedam sine mē verba diserta loquī.

932

nōn illās fīxum cārās effēcerat aurum:

933

vulgārī buxō sordida cēra fuit.

934

quālēscumque mihī semper mānsēre fidēlēs,

935

semper et effectūs prōmeruēre bonōs.

936

forsitan haec illīs fuerunt mandāta tabellīs:

937

'īrāscor, quoniam es, lente, morātus herī.

938

an tibi nescio quae vīsa est fōrmōsior? an tū

939

nōn bona dē nōbīs crīmina ficta jacis?'

940

aut dīxit: 'veniēs hodiē, cessābimus ūnā:

941

hospitium tōtā nocte parāvit Amor,'

942

et quaecumque volēns reperit nōn stulta puella

943

garrula, cum blandīs dīcitur hōra dolīs.

944

mē miserum, hīs aliquis ratiōnem scrībit avārus

945

et pōnit dūrās inter ephemeridas!

946

quās sī quis mihi rettulerit, dōnābitur aurō:

947

quis pro dīvitiīs ligna retenta velit

948

ī puer, et citus haec aliquā prōpōne columnā,

949

et dominum Ēsquiliīs scrībe habitāre tuum.

950

24

Falsa est ista tuae, mulier, fīdūcia fōrmae,

951

ōlim oculīs nimium facta superba meīs.

952

noster amor tālīs tribuit tibi, Cynthia, laudēs:

953

versibus īnsignem tē pudet esse meīs.

954

mixtam tē variā laudāvī saepe figūrā,

955

ut, quod nōn essēs, esse putāret amor;

956

et color est totiēns roseō collātus Eōō,

957

cum tibi quaesītus candor in ōre foret:

958

quod mihi nōn patriī poterant āvertere amīcī,

959

ēluere aut vastō Thessala sāga marī,

960

hoc ego, nōn ferrō, nōn igne coāctus, at ipsā

961

naufragus Aegaeā (vēra fatēbor) aquā.

962

correptus saevō Veneris torrēbar aēnō;

963

vīnctus eram versās in mea terga manūs.

964

ecce corōnātae portum tetigēre carīnae,

965

trājectae Syrtēs, ancora jacta mihi est.

966

nunc dēmum vastō fessī resipīscimus aestū,

967

vulneraque ad sānum nunc coiēre mea.

968

Mēns Bona, sī qua dea es, tua mē in sacrāria dōnō!

969

exciderunt surdō tot mea vōta Jovī.

970

25

Rīsus eram positīs inter convīvia mēnsīs,

971

et dē mē poterat quīlibet esse loquāx.

972

quīnque tibi potuī servīre fidēliter annōs:

973

ungue meam morsō saepe querēre fidem.

974

nīl moveor lacrimīs: istā sum captus ab arte;

975

semper ab īnsidiīs, Cynthia, flēre solēs.

976

flēbō ego discēdēns, sed flētum injūria vincit:

977

tū bene conveniēns nōn sinis īre jugum.

978

līmina jam nostrīs valeant lacrimantia verbīs,

979

nec tamen īrātā jānua frācta manū.

980

at tē cēlātīs aetās gravis urgeat annīs,

981

et veniat fōrmae rūga sinistra tuae!

982

vellere tum cupiās albōs ā stirpe capillōs,

983

jam speculō rūgās increpitante tibi,

984

exclūsa inque vicem fastūs patiāre superbōs,

985

et quae fēcistī facta querāris anus!

986

hās tibi fātālīs cecinit mea pāgina dīrās:

987

ēventum fōrmae disce timēre tuae!

988