Delphi Complete Works of Tibullus

by Tibullus

  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

  A crudele genus nec fidum femina nomen!

  A pereat, didicit fallere si qua uirum!

  43 “Hail to thee, favourite of the gods — for to a holy poet Phoebus, Bacchus, and the Pierid maids are fitly friends. But Bacchus, offspring of Semele, and the lettered sisters have no skill to say what future hours shall bring. But to me my Sire has granted the power to see the laws of Fate and what shall issue in the time to come. Wherefore hearken to what I say, no seer untrustworthy, and learn how true are accounted the utterances of Cynthus’ god. She who is as precious to thee as is no daughter to her mother nor maiden fair to her yearning husband, for whom thy prayers give the powers of heaven no rest, who never lets thy day pass without misgiving, and when Sleep has wrapped thee in his dusky robe baffles and mocks thee with her semblances in the night, the beautiful Neaera whom thy songs have made renowned, prefers to be the girl of another man. Her unnatural heart pursues an alien fancy of its own, and Neaera delights not to be a wife in a virtuous home. O cruel sex! Woman a treacherous race! Away with her who has learned to play her husband false!

  Sed flecti poterit: mens est mutabilis illis;

  tu modo cum multa bracchia tende fide.

  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.

  Ergo ne dubita blandas adhibere querellas: 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

  63 “But she maybe turned: their minds are changeable: but thou must stretch thy hands to her with much beseeching. Tyrant Love has schooled us to engage in stubborn labours, tyrant Love to endure the lash. It is no story made for idle merriment that once I fed the snow-white kine of Admetus. Then could I take no pleasure in the lyre’s loud tones nor my voice sing back in accord to its strings, but on the unstopped reeds I practised, I, Latona’s son and Jove’s. Young sir, thou knowest not what is love if thou dost shrink to bear with a cruel mistress and ungentle wife. So doubt not to use the gentle arts of complaining: soft pleadings make the hard heart melt. If oracles in holy temples utter truth, then give her this message in my name: This is the mate that the Delian himself awards to thee. Happy in him, cease to desire another man.”

  Dixit, et ignauus defluxit corpore somnus.

  A ego ne possim tanta uidere mala!

  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

  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.

  81 He said, and from my limbs slipped off the lethargy of sleep. Ah, may I never live to see such woe! I could not think that thou hast hopes thus crossing hopes, or that sin so great is harboured in thy breast. For thou wast not sprung from the waste sea’s fields, or from Chimaera rolling flames from savage jaws, or from the dog with three tongues and a triple head and back by a snaky troop encircled, or Scylla with a girdle of hounds about her woman’s body. No cruel lioness conceived and bore thee, nor the barbarous land of Scythia or the fearful Syrtis, but a humane home where the ungentle might not dwell and a mother far kinder than all her sex, and a sire than whom is none more lovable.

  Haec deus in melius crudelia somnia uertat 95

  et iubeat tepidos inrita ferre Notos.

  95 May a god turn this cruel dream to good, or bid the hot South Wind carry it away without fulfilment!

  V

  Lygdamus Sick to his Friends

  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

  1 YE, my friends, stay by the stream that flows from Etruscan source, stream not to be approached in the Dog-star’s heat, but now second only to the holy waters of Baiae when the ground loosens in bright-hued spring. But I have warning from Persephone that the black hour is nigh.

  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.

  6 Harm me not, goddess; I am young and have done no wrong. I have not sought in recklessness to make known the rites of the goddess whom folk call Good, which no male must profane. My hand has infused no deadly juices in men’s cups or pounded poison for the lips of any one. Nor have I sacrilegiously set fire to temples, nor is my conscience vexed by horrid crime, nor from the pent-up bitterness of a frantic soul have I let my blaspheming tongue wag in the very face of heaven.

  Et nondum cani nigros laesere capillos, 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.

  15 Neither as yet has my black hair been harmed by grey, nor bowed age come to me on halting feet. My parents first beheld my birthday when both the consuls fell by the self-same fate. What gain is it to rob a vine of growing grapes or to pluck the fruit just formed with brutal hand? Spare me, ye gods in whose sway are the wan waters and the stern realms, allotted to you third. Let the hour be far off when my eyes shall see the Elysian plains, the barque of Lethe, and the Cimmerian pools, when my cheeks are sallow with wrinkled age and the old man tells the boys of the days gone by.

  Atque utinam uano nequiquam terrear aestu!

  Languent ter quinos sed mea membra dies.

  27 And would it were no real fever, but some vain alarm! But for thrice five days their strength has left my limbs.

  At uobis Tuscae celebrantur numina lymphae

  et facilis lenta pellitur unda manu. 30

  Viuite fel
ices, memores et uiuite nostri,

  siue erimus seu nos fata fuisse uelint.

  Interea nigras pecudes promittite Diti

  et niuei lactis pocula mixta mero.

  29 But ye, my friends, resort to the haunts of Tuscan water sprites, and the stream parts lightly to the strokes of your leisurely arms. May ye live happy and with thoughts of me, whether I am here or destiny choose that I be no more. Meantime do ye promise black sheep to Dis and cups of snow-white milk mingled with wine

  VI

  Lygdamus at the Feast

  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.

  1 FAIR Liber, come to me; so mayst thou ever have thy mystic vine, so bear the ivy bound about thy brows. And do thou take away my pain with healing chalice. Oft has Love fallen, vanquished by thy bounty. Dear lad, let the cups be flooded with noble wine; slant the hand that pours out our Falernian.

  Ite procul durum curae genus, ite labores;

  fulserit hic niueis Delius alitibus.

  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

  uicit et indomitis mollia corda dedit.

  Haec Amor et maiora ualet; sed poscite Bacchi

  munera: quem uestrum pocula sicca iuuant?

  7 Go, far away go, toils and troubles, heartless tribe. Here let the Delian shine with his birds of snow. Only, dear friends, ye must approve my project, and none refuse his company if I lead the way. Or if any shrinks from wine’s gentle bouts, let his dear lass play him false with covert treachery. Our god softens the heart, he crushes the proud spirits and sends them under the strict yoke of a mistress. He vanquishes the Armenian tiger and the tawny lioness and puts a tame heart in the tameless. These things, and greater, can Love do. But do ye call for the gifts of Bacchus. For which of you have chill draughts charms?

  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.

  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? Venti temeraria uota,

  aeriae et nubes diripienda ferant.

  Quamuis nulla mei superest tibi cura, Neaera,

  sis felix et sint candida fata tua. 30

  At nos securae reddamus tempora mensae:

  uenit post multos una serena dies.

  19 A mate and equal, with no front of menace, doth Liber show himself to such as pay their court to him and joyous wine at once; while without bound or measure runs his wrath against the austere. Whoso fears a mighty god in anger, let him drink. For such what chastisement he threatens, what and how great the threatener the bloody quarry of the Theban mother shows us well. But far from us be this terror; let her feel all the anger of an outraged god. Ah, what is this mad prayer? May the winds and clouds of heaven bear off and scatter all ways the reckless wish! And, Neaera, though no thought of me survives in thy breast, mayst thou be happy and thy lot be bright. But let us devote these moments to the cheering board. After many days a cloudless one has come.

  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? 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.

  Nec uos aut capiant pendentia bracchia collo 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!

  33 Ah me! mock joys are hard to make; ’tis hard to feign merriment when the heart is sad. Ill is it to force a false smile to the face; ill is it when tipsy accents are heard from the distressed. Unhappy, what is this complaining? Away, ye ugly cares! Father Lenaeus loathes the language of sorrow. In old times, maid of Cnossos, thou wast left alone to mourn the perjuries of Theseus’ tongue to an alien sea. So for thee, daughter of Minos, did accomplished Catullus sing, recounting the wicked doings of thy ingrate husband. And so I now warn you, friends. Fortunate wilt thou be who art taught by another’s suffering to avoid thy own. Be not ye deceived by arms flung round your necks, or cheated by a knavish tongue with wheedling prayers. Though the beguiler swear by her eyes, by her Juno, by her Venus, there will be no truth in her words. Jupiter laughs at the false oaths of lovers, and bids the winds carry them off without fulfilment. Then why do I complain so oft of the words of a faithless girl? Away from me, I pray, all serious talk! How I could wish to pass with thee long nights of rest and spend with thee long waking days, maid faithless, and for no fault of mine — faithless, but, though faithless, beloved still.

  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

  sollicitus repetam tota suspiria nocte.

  Tu, puer, i, liquidum fortius adde merum.

  Iam dudum Syrio madefactus tempora nardo

  debueram sertis implicuisse comas.

  57 Bacchus loves the Naiad. Dost thou lag, my slow attendant? Let Marcian water temper our ancient wine. If a trustless girl, in her yearning for a stranger’s arms, has fled the entertainment of my table, shall I be sighing in distress the whole night through? Not I. Come, boy, and without faltering pour in the bright wine. Long ago should I have drenched my brows with nard of Syria and twined a garland in my hair.

  VII

  Panegyricus Messallae

  VII

  EULOGY OF MESSALLA

  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

  Hic quoque sit gratus paruus labor, ut tibi possim

  inde alios alioque memor componere uersus.

  1 MESSALLA, I will sing of thee albeit the knowledge of thy worth affrights me. Though my feeble powers may not bear the strain, still will I make beginning: and, if my verse fall short of thy meed of praise and I am but a poor chronicler for deeds so great, and if none but thyself can so embroider the page with thy achievements that what is left is not greater than what is recounted, it is enough for me to have shown the will. And do not thou reject the humble offering. Even to Phoebus did the Cretan bring gifts most welcome, and to Bacchus was Icarus a host more pleasing than all besides, as stars in the clear sky witness, Erigone and the Hound, lest a distant age deny the tale. Nay, more: Alcides, who was to mount a god to Olympus, gladly set foot in the dwelling of Molorchus. A few grains [of salt] appease the powers above; nor do they always claim as their victim a bull with gilded horns. So may this humble effort prove welcome also, that thereafter the memory may give me strength to make yet other and yet other verses in thy honour.

  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

  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.

  18 Let another tell of the great world’s wondrous fabric, how the Earth sank down in the measureless Air and how the Sea streamed over the round globe; and how, where the shifting Air strives to rise from the Earth, conjoined to it closely far and wide undulates the fiery Ether, and how all is shut in above by the hanging Firmament. All efforts of my muses’ daring, whether they can reach thy level or whether (but this Hope grants not) they rise above it or they fall below (and below it surely will they fall), I dedicate to thee; nor must a name so great be wanting to my page. For though thou hast distinctions abundant in thy ancient family, thy thirst for fame is not to be sated with the renown of ancestors, nor dost thou ask what saith the scroll beneath each mask; but thou strivest to surpass the olden honours of thy line, thyself a greater lustre to posterity than ancestry to thee. For thy exploits no legend underneath a name has room. Thou shalt have great rolls of immortal verse; and, in eagerness to write thy praises, all will assemble who compose in rhythm, whether bound or free. They will strive who shall be first. May I be the conqueror among them all, that I may write my name above the great story of those deeds.