by Tibullus
Abstineas, Mors atra, precor: non hic mihi mater 5
Quae legat in maestos ossa perusta sinus,
Non soror, Assyrios cineri quae dedat odores
Et fleat effusis ante sepulcra comis,
Delia non usquam; quae me cum mitteret urbe,
Dicitur ante omnes consuluisse deos. 10
Illa sacras pueri sortes ter sustulit: illi
Rettulit e trinis omina certa puer.
1 WITHOUT me will ye go, Messalla, across the Aegean wave, yet thinking, oh, I pray, both chief and staff of me. Phaeacia holds me back, sick in a foreign land. Keep off thy greedy hands, I pray, black Death. (The general sense is given. The Latin is corrupt.) Black Death, I pray thee keep them off. No mother have I here to gather the burned bones to her grieving bosom; no sister to lavish Assyrian perfumes on my ashes and weep with hair dishevelled by my tomb. Nor any Delia, who, ere from the city she let me go, inquired, they say, of every god. From the boy’s hands thrice did she lift a sacred lot, and from the three did the boy make answer to her that all was sure.
Cuncta dabant reditus: tamen est deterrita numquam,
Quin fleret nostras respiceretque vias.
Ipse ego solator, cum iam mandata dedissem, 15
Quaerebam tardas anxius usque moras.
Aut ego sum causatus aves aut omina dira,
Saturni sacram me tenuisse diem.
O quotiens ingressus iter mihi tristia dixi
Offensum in porta signa dedisse pedem! 20
Audeat invito ne quis discedere Amore,
13 All promised a return; yet did nothing stay her from looking back in tears and terror on my journey. Yea, even I her comforter, after I had given my parting charge, sought still in my disquiet for reasons to linger and delay. Either birds or words of evil omen were my pretexts, or there was the holy day of Saturn to detain me. How often, when my foot was on the road, said I that, stumbling at the gate, it had warned me of disaster! Let no man venture to depart when Love says nay; else shall he learn that a god forbade his going.
Aut sciat egressum se prohibente deo.
Quid tua nunc Isis mihi, Delia, quid mihi prosunt
Illa tua totiens aera repulsa manu,
Quidve, pie dum sacra colis, pureque lavari 25
Te — memini — et puro secubuisse toro?
23 What help is there now for me in thy Isis, Delia? what help in the bronze that was clashed so often in thy hands? Or what avails it that in thy dutiful observance of her rites, as I remember well, thou didst bathe in clean water and sleep apart in a clean bed?
Nunc, dea, nunc succurre mihi — nam posse mederi
Picta docet templis multa tabella tuis — ,
Ut mea votivas persolvens Delia voces
Ante sacras lino tecta fores sedeat 30
Bisque die resoluta comas tibi dicere laudes
Insignis turba debeat in Pharia.
At mihi contingat patrios celebrare Penates
Reddereque antiquo menstrua tura Lari.
27 Now aid me, goddess, now — that thou canst heal saith a crowd of painted panels (Pictures on slabs of wood, representing the cures.) in thy temples — that my Delia may pay the nightly vigils of her vow, sitting all swathed in linen before thy holy door, and twice in the day be bound to chaunt thy praise with loosened tresses for all to mark amid the Pharian throng. And be it mine many times to stand before the shrine of my sires’ Penates and offer incense, as the months come round, to the old Lar of my home.
Quam bene Saturno vivebant rege, priusquam 35
Tellus in longas est patefacta vias!
Nondum caeruleas pinus contempserat undas,
Effusum ventis praebueratque sinum,
Nec vagus ignotis repetens conpendia terris
Presserat externa navita merce ratem. 40
Illo non validus subiit iuga tempore taurus,
Non domito frenos ore momordit equus,
Non domus ulla fores habuit, non fixus in agris,
Qui regeret certis finibus arva, lapis.
Ipsae mella dabant quercus, ultroque ferebant 45
Obvia securis ubera lactis oves.
Non acies, non ira fuit, non bella, nec ensem
Inmiti saevus duxerat arte faber.
Nunc Iove sub domino caedes et vulnera semper,
Nunc mare, nunc leti mille repente viae. 50
35 How well lived folk in olden days when Saturn was the king, before the earth was opened out for distant travel! Not as yet had the pine-tree learned to swim the blue sea wave or surrendered the spreading sail to belly before the wind; nor, seeking gain in unknown lands, had the vagrant seaman loaded his bark with foreign wares. That was a time when the sturdy bull had not bent his neck to the yoke, nor the tamed horse champed the bit. No house had doors; no stone was planted on the land to set fixed boundaries to men’s estates. The very oaks gave honey; and with milky udders came the ewes unbidden to meet the careless swain. Then were no marshalled hosts, no lust of blood, no battles; no swords had been forged by the cruel armourer’s ruthless skill. But now that Jupiter is lord, there are wounds and carnage without cease; now the sea slays, and a thousand ways of sudden death.
Parce, pater. timidum non me periuria terrent,
Non dicta in sanctos inpia verba deos.
Quodsi fatales iam nunc explevimus annos,
Fac lapis inscriptis stet super ossa notis:
‘Hic iacet inmiti consumptus morte Tibullus, 55
Messallam terra dum sequiturque mari.’
51 Spare me, Sire. No broken oaths make me to fear and tremble, no wicked speech against the holy gods. But if even now I have fulfilled my destined span, let a stone be set above my bones, graven with this legend:
HERE LIES TIBULLUS, RAVISHED BY DEATH’S HAND, MESSALLA COMRADING O’ER SEA AND LAND.
Sed me, quod facilis tenero sum semper Amori,
Ipsa Venus campos ducet in Elysios.
Hic choreae cantusque vigent, passimque vagantes
Dulce sonant tenui gutture carmen aves, 60
Fert casiam non culta seges, totosque per agros
Floret odoratis terra benigna rosis;
Ac iuvenum series teneris inmixta puellis
Ludit, et adsidue proelia miscet Amor.
Illic est, cuicumque rapax mors venit amanti, 65
Et gerit insigni myrtea serta coma.
57 But me, for I have been ever pliable to gentle Love, shall Venus’ self escort to the Elysian fields. There never flags the dance. The birds fly here and there, fluting sweet carols from their slender throats. Untilled the field bears cassia, and through all the land with scented roses blooms the kindly earth. Troops of young men meet in sport with gentle maidens, and Love never lets his warfare cease. There are all, on whom Death swooped because of love; on their hair are myrtle garlands for all to see.
At scelerata iacet sedes in nocte profunda
Abdita, quam circum flumina nigra sonant:
Tisiphoneque inpexa feros pro crinibus angues
Saevit, et huc illuc inpia turba fugit. 70
Tum niger in porta serpentum Cerberus ore
Stridet et aeratas excubat ante fores.
Illic Iunonem temptare Ixionis ausi
Versantur celeri noxia membra rota,
Porrectusque novem Tityos per iugera terrae 75
Adsiduas atro viscere pascit aves.
Tantalus est illic, et circum stagna, sed acrem
Iam iam poturi deserit unda sitim,
Et Danai proles, Veneris quod numina laesit,
In cava Lethaeas dolia portat aquas. 80
Illic sit, quicumque meos violavit amores,
Optavit lentas et mihi militias.
67 But the Wicked Place lies buried in the gulf of night; and round it black rivers roar. There storms Tisiphone, wild snakes her unkempt hair; and this way and that way flees the godless crowd. Then at the gate upon black Cerberus hiss his wide-mouthed snakes as he keeps his sentry-watch before the doors of bronze. There is Ixion, who dared to off
er force to Juno: on the swift wheel whirl his guilty limbs. And there is Tityos stretched over nine roods of land; on his black vitals feed the birds that never tire. There too is Tantalus, and pools around him; but on the instant, ere he drinks, the wave flies from his raging thirst. And the offspring of Danaus for slighting the godhead of Venus carry the waters of Lethe into leaking butts. There let all be who have profaned my love and who have wished me lingering campaigns.
At tu casta precor maneas, sanctique pudoris
Adsideat custos sedula semper anus.
Haec tibi fabellas referat positaque lucerna 85
Deducat plena stamina longa colu,
At circa gravibus pensis adfixa puella
Paulatim somno fessa remittat opus.
Tum veniam subito, nec quisquam nuntiet ante,
Sed videar caelo missus adesse tibi. 90
Tunc mihi, qualis eris, longos turbata capillos,
Obvia nudato, Delia, curre pede.
Hoc precor, hunc illum nobis Aurora nitentem
Luciferum roseis candida portet equis.
83 But thou, I pray, continue chaste. Let the aged dame sit ever by thy side to keep thy honour true. She shall tell thee stories when the lamp is in its place, as she draws the long yarn from the loaded distaff, while all around the maids bend over the toilsome task till sleep steals upon them and the work drops from the tired hand. Then of a sudden let me come, and no one bring the news of me; but may I seem to have come from heaven to thy side. Then, just as thou art, with long hair all disordered and feet unsandalled, run to meet me, Delia. For this I pray; thus may that radiant Day-star bless my sight, home by the rosy horses of the shining Dawn.
IV
To Priapus
‘Sic umbrosa tibi contingant tecta, Priape,
Ne capiti soles, ne noceantque nives:
Quae tua formosos cepit sollertia? certe
Non tibi barba nitet, non tibi culta coma est,
Nudus et hibernae producis frigora brumae, 5
Nudus et aestivi tempora sicca Canis.’
1 “PRIAPUS, tell me — so may the sheltering shade be thine, nor thy head be harmed by sun or snows — what cunning of thine captures the handsome lads? Sure thou hast no glossy beard nor well-kept hair. Naked thou art all through the cold of stormy winter, naked through the parching season of the Dog-star’s heats.”
Sic ego; tum Bacchi respondit rustica proles
Armatus curva sic mihi falce deus:
7 Thus I; and thus to me replied the country child or Bacchus, the god armed with the curving billhook:
‘O fuge te tenerae puerorum credere turbae,
Nam causam iusti semper amoris habent. 10
Hic placet, angustis quod equom conpescit habenis,
Hic placidam niveo pectore pellit aquam,
Hic, quia fortis adest audacia, cepit; at illi
Virgineus teneras stat pudor ante genas.
9 “O beware of trusting thyself to the gentle band of boys; for they furnish always some valid ground for love. One pleases, for he keeps a tight hand on his horse’s rein; another drives the calm water before a breast of snow. This one takes you with his brave assurance, that one by the maiden shame that guards his cheeks.
Sed ne te capiant, primo si forte negabit, 15
Taedia: paulatim sub iuga colla dabit.
Longa dies homini docuit parere leones,
Longa dies molli saxa peredit aqua;
Annus in apricis maturat collibus uvas,
Annus agit certa lucida signa vice. 20
15 “Perchance at first he will refuse thee; but let not this dishearten thee. Little by little his neck will pass beneath the yoke. Length of time teaches lions to submit to man; with length of time weak water eats through rock. The year’s flight ripens the grapes on the sunny hillside; the year’s flight carries the radiant signs along their round of change.
Nec iurare time: Veneris periuria venti
Inrita per terras et freta summa ferunt.
Gratia magna Iovi: vetuit pater ipse valere,
Iurasset cupide quicquid ineptus amor,
Perque suas inpune sinit Dictynna sagittas 25
Adfirmes crines perque Minerva suos.
21 “Be not afraid to swear. Null and void are the perjuries of love; the winds bear them overland and the face of the sea. Great thanks to Jove! The Sire himself has decreed no oath should stand that love has taken in the folly of desire. Dictynna too allows thee to assever by her arrows, and Minerva by her hair.
At si tardus eris, errabis: transiet aetas.
Quam cito non segnis stat remeatque dies,
Quam cito purpureos deperdit terra colores,
Quam cito formosas populus alta comas! 30
Quam iacet, infirmae venere ubi fata senectae,
Qui prior Eleo est carcere missus equos!
Vidi iam iuvenem, premeret cum serior aetas,
Maerentem stultos praeteriisse dies.
Crudeles divi! serpens novus exuit annos, 35
Formae non ullam fata dedere moram.
Solis aeterna est Baccho Phoeboque iuventas,
Nam decet intonsus crinis utrumque deum.
27 “But if thou art slow, thou wilt be lost. Youth fleets how quickly! Time stands not idle, nor returns. How quickly does the earth lose its purple hues! how quickly the tall poplar its beauteous leaves! How neglected is the horse, when the lot of weak age overtakes him, that once shot free from the barriers of Elis! I have seen a young man on whom later years were closing round mourning for his folly in the days that had fled. Cruel gods! The snake sheds his years, and is young: but the Fates grant no respite to beauty. Only Bacchus and Phoebus have youth everlasting; of either god are unshorn tresses the glory.
Tu, puero quodcumque tuo temptare libebit,
Cedas: obsequio plurima vincet amor. 40
Neu comes ire neges, quamvis via longa paretur
Et Canis arenti torreat arva siti,
Quamvis praetexens picta ferrugine caelum
Venturam anticipet imbrifer arcus aquam.
Vel si caeruleas puppi volet ire per undas, 45
Ipse levem remo per freta pelle ratem.
Nec te paeniteat duros subiisse labores
Aut opera insuetas adteruisse manus,
Nec, velit insidiis altas si claudere valles,
Dum placeas, umeri retia ferre negent. 50
Si volet arma, levi temptabis ludere dextra:
Saepe dabis nudum, vincat ut ille, latus.
39 “Do thou yield to thy lad in aught that he is minded to attempt: love wins most by compliance. Nor refuse to go with him, though far be his purposed journey and the Dog-star bake the land with parching drought, though, fringing the sky with hues of purple, the rain-charged bow threaten the coming storm. Should he wish to fly over the blue waves in a boat, take the oar thyself and drive the light bark through the sea. Nor grieve to undergo rough labour or if thy hands are chafed by tasks to which they are strange. If round the deep glen he would place the ambush, then, so thou canst pleasure him, let thy shoulders not refuse to bear the hunting nets. If he would fence, thou wilt try thy light hand at the sport, and often leave thy side unguarded, that he may win.
Tum tibi mitis erit, rapias tum cara licebit
Oscula: pugnabit, sed tamen apta dabit.
Rapta dabit primo, post adferet ipse roganti, 55
Post etiam collo se inplicuisse velit.
53 “Then will he be gentle with thee; then thou mayst snatch the precious kiss: he will struggle, but let thee snatch it. He will let thee snatch at first; but later will he bring it for the asking, and presently even he will be fain to hang upon thy neck.
Heu male nunc artes miseras haec saecula tractant:
Iam tener adsuevit munera velle puer.
At tu, qui venerem docuisti vendere primus,
Quisquis es, infelix urgeat ossa lapis. 60
57 “But now, alas! our perverse age plies wretched crafts. Now gentle lads have learned to look for gifts. Whoeve
r thou art that first didst teach the sale of love, may an unhallowed stone weigh heavy on thy bones.
Pieridas, pueri, doctos et amate poetas,
Aurea nec superent munera Pieridas.
Carmine purpurea est Nisi coma: carmina ni sint,
Ex umero Pelopis non nituisset ebur.
Quem referent Musae, vivet, dum robora tellus, 65
Dum caelum stellas, dum vehet amnis aquas.
At qui non audit Musas, qui vendit amorem,
Idaeae currus ille sequatur Opis
Et tercentenas erroribus expleat urbes
Et secet ad Phrygios vilia membra modos. 70
Blanditiis volt esse locum Venus ipsa: querelis
Supplicibus, miseris fletibus illa favet.’
61 “Love the Pierid maidens, lads, and gifted poets; to no golden presents let the Pierian maids succumb. Verse keeps the lock of Nisus (The father of Scylla, whom she betrayed to Minos by severing his purple lock.) purple. Were verses not, no ivory would have shone on Pelops’ shoulder. He whom the Muses tell of shall live, while earth bears oaks, sky stars, and rivers water. But he who has no ear for the Muses, who sells his love — let him follow the car of Ops of Ida and traverse, a vagabond, three hundred towns and slash the parts he slights to Phrygian measures. Venus herself allows love’s blandishments their play. She sides with piteous weeping and suppliant complaints.”
Haec mihi, quae canerem Titio, deus edidit ore,
Sed Titium coniunx haec meminisse vetat.
Pareat ille suae; vos me celebrate magistrum, 75
Quos male habet multa callidus arte puer.
Gloria cuique sua est: me, qui spernentur, amantes
Consultent: cunctis ianua nostra patet.
Tempus erit, cum me Veneris praecepta ferentem
Deducat iuvenum sedula turba senem. 80
73 These things did the god’s voice utter for me to sing to Titius; but them doth Titius’ wife forbid him to remember. So let him listen to his dear; but do ye throng to my school whom some crafty lad with many wiles treats ill. Each of us has his proper glory. Let slighted lovers seek advice from me; to all my doors are open. A time shall come when round the master of the lore of Venus shall crowd the attentive young and take the old man home.
Heu heu quam Marathus lento me torquet amore!
Deficiunt artes, deficiuntque doli.
Parce, puer, quaeso, ne turpis fabula fiam,