you is Iope, with you snowy Tyro, with you Europe and impious Pasiphae, and all the beauties that Troy and Achaea bore of old, Troy the fallen realm of Phoebus and the old man Priam. And all the fair, that Rome may rank with these, have perished: all these the greedy pyre hath taken for its own. Neither beauty nor fortune abideth everlastingly for any; sooner or later death awaiteth all. 59 Since then, light of mine eyes, thou hast escaped from mighty peril, render Diana the dance thou owest for offering; and as is due, keep vigil in honour of her who, once a heifer, is now a goddess, and on my behalf pay her ten nights of worship. XXIX YESTERNIGHT, light of mine eyes, when I wandered heavy with wine and with never a servant's hand to lead me home, a crowd of tiny boys met me; how many I know not, for fear forbade me count them. Some carried little torches and others arrows, while some seemed even to make ready fetters for me. Yet naked were they all. Then one that was more wanton than the rest cried :"Seize him, for ye know him well of old. This is he that the angry woman delivered He spake, and straightway a noose was about my head. Another then bade them thrust me into their midst, while a third cried: "Perish the man that deems us not divine! Whole hours hath she waited to us. haec te non meritum totas exspectat in horas: sed quos ipse suis fecit Amor manibus. parcite iam, fratres, iam certos spondet amores; et iam ad mandatam venimus ecce domum.' 20 atque ita me in tectum duxerunt rursus amicae : 1 "I nunc et noctes disce manere domi." XXIXA 2 MANE erat, et volui, si sola quiesceret illa, visere: at in lecto Cynthia sola fuit. obstipui non illa mihi formosior umquam visa, neque ostrina cum fuit in tunica, ibat et hinc castae narratum somnia Vestae, neu sibi neve mihi quae nocitura forent : talis visa mihi somno dimissa recenti. heu quantum per se candida forma valet ! "Quid? 3 tu matutinus," ait "speculator amicae, me similem vestris moribus esse putas ? non ego tam facilis: sat erit mihi cognitus unus, vel tu vel si quis verior esse potest. apparent non ulla toro vestigia presso, signa volutantis 4 nec iacuisse duos. 1 in tectum duxerunt . . duxerunt . . . amictu NFL. 3 quid : quod NFL. 30 amicae G. Fischer: in lecto 2 Separated by Guyetus. 4 volutantis L: voluntatis NF. thee, though little thou deservest it, while thou, fool, didst seek another's door. When she has loosened the strings of her nightcap of Sidonian purple and turns on thee her slumber-laden eyes, then will sweet odours breathe upon thee such as the herbs of Araby ne'er gave, but Love himself made with his own hands. Spare him now, brothers; now he pledges that his love shall be true: and lo! we have come to the house whither we were bidden." Thus did they lead me back to my mistress' house. "Go now," they cried, "and learn to stay at home of nights." XXIXA "TWAS morn and I wished to see if alone she took her rest, and behold Cynthia was in her bed alone. I stood amazed; for never seemed she to mine eyes more fair, not even when, clad in purple tunic, she went to lay her dreams before chaste Vesta, for fear some ill might threaten herself and me. So seemed she to me, as she woke from her fresh slumber. Ah, how great is the power of beauty unadorned! "What!" quoth she, "thou that spiest thus early on thy mistress, deemst thou that my ways are like to thine? I am not so fickle: 'tis enough for me to know one lover such as thee, or one perchance of truer love than thine. There are no signs of impress on the couch, the marks of lovers taking their delight, no signs that two have lain therein. See! from my aspice ut in toto nullus mihi corpore surgat spiritus admisso notus adulterio." dixit, et opposita propellens savia dextra prosilit in laxa nixa pedem solea. sic ego tam sancti custos retrudor1 amoris : ex illo felix nox 2 mihi nulla fuit. 40 XXX undas 19 NVNC tu, dure,3 paras Phrygias nunc ire per usque nec tibi si Persei moverit ala pedes; vel si te sectae rapiant talaribus aurae, nil tibi Mercurii proderit alta via. instat semper Amor supra caput, instat amanti, et gravis ipse super libera colla sedet. excubat ille acer custos et tollere numquam te patietur humo lumina capta semel. et iam si pecces, deus exorabilis ille est, si modo praesentes viderit esse preces. 1 custos 5: custode NL: custodis F. reludor N: rector FL. 3 dure cod. vet. Beroaldi: dura FL: 20 21 22 1 10 retrudor Postgate : 2 nox 5: non NFL. non tamen immerito N. bosom springs no deep-drawn breath, that, as thou knowest, might tell thee that I had been untrue.” She spake, and with her right hand resisted and thrust away my kisses, and leapt forth from the bed, loose slippers on her feet. So was I rebuffed, that sought to watch o'er her, that kept her love so pure; since then no happy night has e'er been mine. XXX HARD-HEARTED, dost thou now make ready to cross the Phrygian waves, and on shipboard seek the shores of the Hyrcanian sea? [to sprinkle our common household gods with mutual slaughter and bring dread prizes to the home of thy fathers?]1 1 Whither fliest thou, mad heart? There is no escape. Fly as far as Tanais; Love will hunt thee down. Thou shalt not escape, though thou be borne aloft on the back of Pegasus, nor though the pinions of Perseus wing thy feet. Or should the cloven breezes sweep thee along on feathered sandals, yet will the lofty path of Mercury avail thee naught. Love swoops ever above thy head; Love swoops down upon the lover, and sits a heavy burden on the neck that once was free. He is a watcher that slumbers not nor sleeps, nor ever will he suffer thee to raise thine eyes from off the ground when once he has enslaved them; and yet shouldst thou go astray, he is a god whom prayers may appease, if he but see that they are prompt to 1 19, 20 placed before 1, 2 by Housman; the same critic marks 21, 22 as alien to the context, and suggests that they should follow I. XXII. 8. |