TRANSLATIONS FROM CATULLUS. Carm. 70. Dicebas quondam, &c. TO LESBIA. THOU told'st me, in our days of love, That, ev'n to share the couch of Jove, How purely wert thou worshipp'd then! That flattering dream, alas, is o'er ; I know thee now-and though these eyes Doat on thee wildly as before, Yet, even in doating, I despise. With all thy craft, such spells adorn thee, That passion even outlives esteem, And I, at once, adore—and scorn thee. Carm. 11. Pauca nunciate meæ puellæ. Comrades and friends! with whom, where'er Tell her from fool to fool to run, Where'er her vain caprice may call; Of all her dupes not loving one, Bid her forget-what now is past — Our once dear love, whose ruin lies Like a fair flower, the meadow's last, Which feels the ploughshare's edge, and dies! Carm. 29. Peninsularum Sirmio, insularumque Ocelle. SWEET Sirmio! thou, the very eye Of all peninsulas and isles, That in our lakes of silver lie, Or sleep, enwreath'd by Neptune's smiles How gladly back to thee I fly! Still doubting, asking-can it be That I have left Bithynia's sky, Oh! what is happier than to find Our hearts at ease, our perils past; When, anxious long, the lighten'd mind Lays down its load of care at last: When, tired with toil o'er land and deep, Of our own home, and sink to sleep This, this it is, that pays alone The ills of all life's former track. · Shine out, my beautiful, my own Sweet Sirmio, greet thy master back. And thou, fair Lake, whose water quaffs The light of heav'n like Lydia's sea, Rejoice, rejoice-let all that laughs Abroad, at home, laugh out for me! O quid solutis est beatius curis, TIBULLUS TO SULPICIA. Nulla tuum nobis subducet femina lectum, &c. &c. Lib. iv. Carm. 13. "NEVER shall woman's smile have power When Love first gave thee to my arms. And still alone thou charm'st my sight- Would thou wert fair for only me, And could'st no heart but mine allure! — To all men else unpleasing be, So shall I feel my prize secure.* * Displiceas aliis, sic ego tutus ero. |