Now Io Paean sing! now wreaths prepare!And with repeated Ios fill the air:The prey is fall'n in my successful toils,My artful nets inclose the lovely spoils.My numbers now, ye smiling lovers, crown,And make your poet deathless in renown:With lasting fame my verse shall be enroll'd,And I preferr'd to all the bards of old.Thus Paris from the warlike Spartans boreTheir ravish'd bride to Ida's distant shore.Victorious Pelops thus in triumph droveThe vanquish'd maid, and thus enjoy'd his love.Stay, eager youth! your bark's but under sail;The distant port requires a prosp'rous gale.'Tis not enough the yielding beauty's found,And with my aid your artful passion crown'd;The conquests our successful conduct gain'd,With art must be secur'd, by arts maintain'd.The glory's more to guard than win the prize,There all the toil and threatening danger lies.If ever, Cupid, now indulgent prove;O Venus! aid, thou charming queen of love!Kind Erato, let thy auspicious nameInspire the work, and raise my gen'rous flame.The labour's great! a method I designFor love, and will the fetter'd god confine;The god that roves the spacious world around,In ev'ry clime, and distant region found;Active and light, his wings elude our guard,And to confine a deity is hard.
Dicite 'io Paean!' et 'io' bis dicite 'Paean!'Decidit in casses praeda petita meos;Laetus amans donat viridi mea carmina palma,Praelata Ascraeo Maeonioque seni.Talis ab armiferis Priameïus hospes AmyclisCandida cum rapta coniuge vela dedit;Talis erat qui te curru victore ferebat,Vecta peregrinis Hippodamia rotis.Quid properas, iuvenis? mediis tua pinus in undisNavigat, et longe quem peto portus abest.Non satis est venisse tibi me vate puellam:Arte mea capta est, arte tenenda mea est.Nec minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta tueri:Casus inest illic; hoc erit artis opus.Nunc mihi, siquando, puer et Cytherea, favete,Nunc Erato, nam tu nomen amoris habes.Magna paro, quas possit Amor remanere per artes,Dicere, tam vasto pervagus orbe puer.Et levis est, et habet geminas, quibus avolet, alas:Difficile est illis inposuisse modum.
His guest from flight Minos inclos'd around,Yet he with wings a daring passage found.Thus Daedalus her offspring first confin'd;Who, with a bull, in lewd embraces join'd:Her teeming womb the horrid crime confess'd;Big with a human bull, half man half beast.Said he, " Just Minos, best of human kind,Thy mercy let a prostrate exile find:By fates compell'd my native shores to fly,Permit me, where I durst not live, to die,Enlarge my son, if you neglect my tears,And show compassion to his blooming years:Let not the youth a long confinement mourn,Oh, free the son, or let his sire return!"Thus he implor'd, but still implor'd in vain,Nor could the freedom that he sought, obtain.Convinc'd at length; " Now, Daedalus," he cried,"Here's subject for thy art that's yet untried.Minos the earth commands, and guards the sea,No pass the land affords, the deep no way:Heav'n's only free, we'll heav'n's auspicious heightAttempt to pass, where kinder fates invite;Favor, ye powers above, my daring flight!"Misfortunes oft prove to inventions kind,Instruct our wit, and aid the lab'ring mind:For who can credit men, in wild despair,Should force a passage thro' the yielding air?Feathers for wings design'd the artists chose,And bound with thread his forming pinions close;With temper'd wax the pointed end he wrought,And to perfection his new labors brought.The finish'd wings his smiling offspring views,Admires the work, not conscious of their use:To whom the father said, "Observe aright,Observe, my son, these instruments of flight.In vain the tyrant our escape retards,The heavens he cannot, all but heav'n he guards:Tho' earth and seas elude a father's care,These wings shall waft us through the spacious air.Nor shall my son celestial signs survey,Far from the radient virgin take your way;Or where Bootes the chill'd north commands,And with his fau chion dread Orion stands:I'll go before, me still retain in sight,Where'er I lead securely make your flight.For should we upward soar too near the sun,Dissolv'd with heat the liquid wax will run;Or near the seas an humbler flight maintain,Our plumes will suffer by the streaming main.A medium keep, the winds observe aright;The winds will aid your advantageous flight."He caution'd thus, and thus inform'd him long,As careful birds instruct their tender young;The spreading wings then to his shoulders bound,His body pois'd, and rais'd him from the ground.Prepar'd for flight, his aged arms embraceThe tender youth, whilst tears o'erflow his face.A hill there was, from whence the anxious pairEssay'd their wings, and forth they launch'd air;Now his expanded plumes the artist plies,Regards his son, and leads along the skies;Pleas'd with the novelty of flight, the boyBounds in the air, and upward springs with joy.The angler views them from the distant strand,And quits the labors of his trembling hand;Samos they past, and Naxos in their flight,And Delos, with Apollo's presence bright.Now on their right Lebintho's shores they found,For fruitful lakes and shady groves renown'd.When the aspiring boy forgot his fears,Rash with hot youth and unexperienc'd years;Upwards he soar'd, maintain'd a lofty stroke,And his directing father's way forsook.The wax, of heat impatient, melted run,Nor could his wings sustain the blaze of sun.From heaven he views the fatal depths below,Whilst killing fears prevent the distant blow.His struggling arms now no resistance find,Nor poise the body nor receive the wind.Falling, his father he implores in vain,To aid his flight, and sinking limbs sustain;His name invokes, till the expiring soundFar in the floods with Icarus was drown'd.The parent mourns, a parent now no more,And seeks the absent youth on ev'ry shore;"Where's my lov'd son, my Icarus?" he cries,"Say in what distant region of the skies,Or faithless clime the youthful wand'rer flies;"Then view'd his pinions scatter'd o'er the stream.The shore his bones received, the waves his name.Minos with walls attempted to detainHis flying guests, but did attempt in vain;Yet the wing'd god shall to our rules submit,And Cupid yield to more prevailing wit.
Hospitis effugio praestruxerat omnia Minos:Audacem pinnis repperit ille viam.Daedalus ut clausit conceptum crimine matrisSemibovemque virum semivirumque bovem,'Sit modus exilio,' dixit 'iustissime Minos:Accipiat cineres terra paterna meos.Et quoniam in patria, fatis agitatus iniquis,Vivere non potui, da mihi posse mori.Da reditum puero, senis est si gratia vilis:Si non vis puero parcere, parce seni.'Dixerat haec; sed et haec et multo plura licebatDicere: regressus non dabat ille viro.Quod simul ut sensit, 'nunc, nunc, o Daedale,' dixit:'Materiam, qua sis ingeniosus, habes.Possidet et terras et possidet aequora Minos:Nec tellus nostrae nec patet unda fugae.Restat iter caeli: caelo temptabimus ire.Da veniam coepto, Iupiter alte, meo:Non ego sidereas adfecto tangere sedes:Qua fugiam dominum, nulla, nisi ista, via est.Per Styga detur iter, Stygias transnabimus undas;Sunt mihi naturae iura novanda meae.'Ingenium mala saepe movent: quis crederet umquamAërias hominem carpere posse vias?Remigium volucrum disponit in ordine pinnas,Et leve per lini vincula nectit opus,Imaque pars ceris adstringitur igne solutis,Finitusque novae iam labor artis erat.Tractabat ceramque puer pinnasque renidens,Nescius haec umeris arma parata suis.Cui pater 'his' inquit 'patria est adeunda carinis,Hac nobis Minos effugiendus ope.Aëra non potuit Minos, alia omnia clausit;Quem licet, inventis aëra rumpe meis.Sed tibi non virgo Tegeaea comesque BootaeEnsiger Orion aspiciendus erit:Me pinnis sectare datis; ego praevius ibo:Sit tua cura sequi; me duce tutus eris.Nam sive aetherias vicino sole per aurasIbimus, impatiens cera caloris erit:Sive humiles propiore freto iactabimus alas,Mobilis aequoreis pinna madescet aquis.Inter utrumque vola; ventos quoque, nate, timeto,Quaque ferent aurae, vela secunda dato.'Dum monet, aptat opus puero, monstratque moveri,Erudit infirmas ut sua mater aves.Inde sibi factas umeris accommodat alas,Perque novum timide corpora librat iter.Iamque volaturus parvo dedit oscula nato,Nec patriae lacrimas continuere genae.Monte minor collis, campis erat altior aequis:Hinc data sunt miserae corpora bina fugae.Et movet ipse suas, et nati respicit alasDaedalus, et cursus sustinet usque suos.Iamque novum delectat iter, positoque timoreIcarus audaci fortius arte volat.Hos aliquis, tremula dum captat arundine pisces,Vidit, et inceptum dextra reliquit opus.Iam Samos a laeva (fuerant Naxosque relictaeEt Paros et Clario Delos amata deo)Dextra Lebinthos erat silvisque umbrosa CalymneCinctaque piscosis Astypalaea vadis,Cum puer, incautis nimium temerarius annis,Altius egit iter, deseruitque patrem.Vincla labant, et cera deo propiore liquescit,Nec tenues ventos brachia mota tenent.Territus a summo despexit in aequora caelo:Nox oculis pavido venit oborta metu.Tabuerant cerae: nudos quatit ille lacertos,Et trepidat nec, quo sustineatur, habet.Decidit, atque cadens 'pater, o pater, auferor!' inquit,Clauserunt virides ora loquentis aquae.At pater infelix, nec iam pater, 'Icare!' clamat,'Icare,' clamat 'ubi es, quoque sub axe volas?''Icare' clamabat, pinnas aspexit in undis.Ossa tegit tellus: aequora nomen habent.Non potuit Minos hominis conpescere pinnas;Ipse deum volucrem detinuisse paro.
Thessalian arts in vain rash lovers use,In vain with drugs the scornful maid abuse;The skilfull'st potions ineffectual prove.Useless are magic remedies in love;Could charms prevail, Circe had prov'd her art,And fond Medea fix'd her Jason's heart;Nor tempt with philters the disdainful dame;They rage inspire, create a frantic flame:Abstain from guilt, all vicious arts remove,And make your passion worthy of her love.Distrust your empty form and boasted face,The nymph engage a thousand nobler ways;To fix her vanquish'd heart entirely thine,Accomplish'd graces to your native join.Beauty's but frail, a charm that soon decays,Its lustre fades as rolling years increase,And age still triumphs o'er the ruin'd face.This truth the fair but short liv'd-lily shows,And prickles that survive the faded rose.Learn, lovely boy, be with instruction wise!Beauty and youth misspent are past advice.Then cultivate thy mind with wit and fame,Those lasting charms survive the funeral flame.With arts and sciences your breast improve,Of high import are languages in love:The fam'd Ulysses was not fair nor young,But eloquent and charming with his tongue:And yet with him contented beauties strove,And ev'ry sea-nymph sought the hero's love.Calypso mourn'd when he forsook her shores,And with fond waves detain'd his hasty oars,Oft she enquir'd of ruin'd Ilium's fate,Making him oft the wondrous tale relate;Which with such grace his florid tongue could frame,The story still was new, tho' still the same.Now standing on the shores, " Again declare,"Calypso cried, "your fam'd exploits in war."lie with a wand, a slender wand he bore,Delineates ev'ry action on the shore."Here's Troy," says he, then draws the walls in sand."There Simois flows, here my battalions stand.A field there was," and then describes the field,"Where Dolon, with rewards deceiv'd, we kill'd.Just thus entrench'd imagine Rhesus lies,And here we make his warlike steeds our prize."Much he describ'd, when a destructive waveWash'd off the slender Troy, and rolling gaveTo Rhesus and his tents one common grave.Long with delight his charming tongue she heard,The well-rais'd passion in her looks appear'd:The goddess weeps to view his spreading sails,So much a soldier with the sex prevails.Distrust thy form, fond youth, and learn to know,There's more requir'd in love than empty show.With just disdain she treats the haughty mind,'Tis complaisance that makes a beauty kind.The hawk we hate that always lives in arms,The raging wolf that ev'ry flock alarms:But the mild swallow none with toils infest,And none the soft Chaonian birds molest.Debates avoid, and rude contention shun;A woman's with submissive language won.Let the wife rail, and injur'd husband swear,Such freedoms are allow'd the married pair;Discord and strife to nuptial beds belong,The portion justifies a clam'rous tongue.With tender vows the yielding maid endear,And let her only sighs and wishes hear;Contrive with words and actions to delight,Still charm her ear, and still oblige her sight.
Fallitur, Haemonias siquis decurrit ad artes,Datque quod a teneri fronte revellit equi.Non facient, ut vivat amor, Medeïdes herbaeMixtaque cum magicis nenia Marsa sonis.Phasias Aesoniden, Circe tenuisset Ulixem,Si modo servari carmine posset amor.Nec data profuerint pallentia philtra puellis:Philtra nocent animis, vimque furoris habent.Sit procul omne nefas; ut ameris, amabilis esto:Quod tibi non facies solave forma dabit:Sis licet antiquo Nireus adamatus Homero,Naïadumque tener crimine raptus Hylas,Ut dominam teneas, nec te mirere relictum,Ingenii dotes corporis adde bonis.Forma bonum fragile est, quantumque accedit ad annosFit minor, et spatio carpitur ipsa suo.Nec violae semper nec hiantia lilia florent,Et riget amissa spina relicta rosa.Et tibi iam venient cani, formose, capilli,Iam venient rugae, quae tibi corpus arent.Iam molire animum, qui duret, et adstrue formae:Solus ad extremos permanet ille rogos.Nec levis ingenuas pectus coluisse per artesCura sit et linguas edidicisse duas.Non formosus erat, sed erat facundus Ulixes,Et tamen aequoreas torsit amore deas.A quotiens illum doluit properare Calypso,Remigioque aptas esse negavit aquas!Haec Troiae casus iterumque iterumque rogabat:Ille referre aliter saepe solebat idem.Litore constiterant: illic quoque pulchra CalypsoExigit Odrysii fata cruenta ducis.Ille levi virga (virgam nam forte tenebat)Quod rogat, in spisso litore pingit opus.'Haec' inquit 'Troia est' (muros in litore fecit):'Hic tibi sit Simois; haec mea castra puta.Campus erat' (campumque facit), 'quem caede DolonisSparsimus, Haemonios dum vigil optat equos.Illic Sithonii fuerant tentoria Rhesi:Hac ego sum captis nocte revectus equis.'Pluraque pingebat, subitus cum Pergama fluctusAbstulit et Rhesi cum duce castra suo.Tum dea 'quas' inquit 'fidas tibi credis ituro,Perdiderint undae nomina quanta, vides?'Ergo age, fallaci timide confide figurae,Quisquis es, aut aliquid corpore pluris habe.Dextera praecipue capit indulgentia mentes;Asperitas odium saevaque bella movet.Odimus accipitrem, quia vivit semper in armis,Et pavidum solitos in pecus ire lupos.At caret insidiis hominum, quia mitis, hirundo,Quasque colat turres, Chaonis ales habet.Este procul, lites et amarae proelia linguae:Dulcibus est verbis mollis alendus amor.Lite fugent nuptaeque viros nuptasque mariti,Inque vicem credant res sibi semper agi;Hoc decet uxores; dos est uxoria lites:Audiat optatos semper amica sonos.Non legis iussu lectum venistis in unum:Fungitur in vobis munere legis amor.Blanditias molles auremque iuvantia verbaAdfer, ut adventu laeta sit illa tuo.
I no instructions to the rich impart,He needs not, that presents, my useless art:The giving lover's handsome, valiant, wise,His happy fortune is above advice.And, wanting wealth, with melting language move,His honour storms a stubborn damsel's door;I'm cautious to affront, because I'm poor.With pleasing arts I court, with arts possess;Or if I'm bounteous, 'tis in promises.Enrag'd, I ruffl'd once Corinna's hair,Long was I banish'd by the injur'd fair;Long mournful nights for this consum'd alone,Nor could my tears the furious maid atone.Weeping, she vow'd, a suit of point I tore;Falsely she vow'd, but I must purchase more.Make not your guilty master's crime your own,But by my punishment my error shun.Indecent fury from her sight remove,No passion let your mistress know, but love.Yet if the haughty nymph's unkind, and coy,Or shuns your sight; have patience, and enjoy.By slow degrees we bend the stubborn bough;What force resists, with art will pliant grow.In vain we stem a torrent's rapid force,But swim with ease, complying with its course.By gentler arts we savage beasts reclaim,And lions, bulls, and furious tigers tame.Fiercely Atlanta o er the forest rov'd,Cruel and wild, and yet at last she lov'd.Melanion long deplor'd his hopeless flame,And weeping, in the woods pursu'd the scornful dame.On his submissive neck her toils he wore,And with his mistress chased the dreadful boar.Arm'd to the woods I bid you not repair,Nor follow over hills the savage fair:My soft injunctions less severe you'll find,Easy to learn, and fram'd to ev'ry mind.Her wishes never, nor her will withstand;Submit, you conquer; serve, and you'll command.Her words approve, deny what she denies,Like where she likes, and where she scorns, despise.Laugh when she smiles; when sad, dissolve in tears;Let ev'ry gesture sympathize with hers.If she delights, as women will, in play,Her stakes return, your ready losings pay.When she's at cards, or rattling dice she throws,Connive at cheats, and generously lose.A smiling winner let the nymph remain,Let your pleas'd mistress every conquest gain.In heat, with an umbrella ready stand;When walking, offer your officious hand.Her trembling hands, tho' you sustain the cold.Cherish, and to your warmer bosom hold.Think no inferior office a disgrace,No action that a mistress gains is base.The hero that eluded Juno's spite,And every monster overcame in fight;That pass'd so many bloody labours o'er,And well deserv'd that heav'n whose weight he bore;Amidst Ionian damsels carding stands,And grasps the distaff in obedient hands;In all commands the haughty dame obeys:And who disdains to act like Hercules?If she's at law, be sure commend the laws;Solicit with the judge, or plead her cause.With patience at the assignation wait;Early appear, attend her coming late.Whene'er she wants a messenger, away,And her commands with flying feet obey.When late from supper she's returning home,And calls her servant, as a servant come.She for the country's air retires from towns;You want a coach or horse, why foot it down:Let not the sultry season of the year,The falling snows, or constant rains deter.Love is a warfare, and ignoble slothSeems equally contemptible in both:In both are watchings, duels, anxious cares,The soldier thus, and thus the lover fares;With rain he's drench'd, with piercing tempests shakes,And on the colder earth his lodging takes.Fame says that Phoebus kept Admetus' herd,And coarsely in an humble cottage far'd;No servile offices the god denied:Learn this ye lovers, and renounce your pride.
Non ego divitibus venio praeceptor amandi:Nil opus est illi, qui dabit, arte mea;Secum habet ingenium, qui, cum libet, 'accipe' dicit;Cedimus: inventis plus placet ille meis.Pauperibus vates ego sum, quia pauper amavi;Cum dare non possem munera, verba dabam.Pauper amet caute: timeat maledicere pauper,Multaque divitibus non patienda ferat.Me memini iratum dominae turbasse capillos:Haec mihi quam multos abstulit ira dies!Nec puto, nec sensi tunicam laniasse; sed ipsaDixerat, et pretio est illa redempta meo.At vos, si sapitis, vestri peccata magistriEffugite, et culpae damna timete meae.Proelia cum Parthis, cum culta pax sit amica,Et iocus, et causas quicquid amoris habet.Si nec blanda satis, nec erit tibi comis amanti,Perfer et obdura: postmodo mitis erit.Flectitur obsequio curvatus ab arbore ramus:Frangis, si vires experiere tuas.Obsequio tranantur aquae: nec vincere possisFlumina, si contra, quam rapit unda, nates.Obsequium tigresque domat Numidasque leones;Rustica paulatim taurus aratra subit.Quid fuit asperius Nonacrina Atalanta?Succubuit meritis trux tamen illa viri.Saepe suos casus nec mitia facta puellaeFlesse sub arboribus Milaniona ferunt;Saepe tulit iusso fallacia retia collo,Saepe fera torvos cuspide fixit apros:Sensit et Hylaei contentum saucius arcum:Sed tamen hoc arcu notior alter erat.Non te Maenalias armatum scandere silvas,Nec iubeo collo retia ferre tuo:Pectora nec missis iubeo praebere sagittis;Artis erunt cauto mollia iussa meae.Cede repugnanti: cedendo victor abibis:Fac modo, quas partes illa iubebit, agas.Arguet, arguito; quicquid probat illa, probato;Quod dicet, dicas; quod negat illa, neges.Riserit, adride; si flebit, flere memento;Imponat leges vultibus illa tuis.Seu ludet, numerosque manu iactabit eburnos,Tu male iactato, tu male iacta dato:Seu iacies talos, victam ne poena sequatur,Damnosi facito stent tibi saepe canes:Sive latrocinii sub imagine calculus ibit,Fac pereat vitreo miles ab hoste tuus.Ipse tene distenta suis umbracula virgis,Ipse fac in turba, qua venit illa, locum.Nec dubita tereti scamnum producere lecto,Et tenero soleam deme vel adde pedi.Saepe etiam dominae, quamvis horrebis et ipse,Algenti manus est calfacienda sinu.Nec tibi turpe puta (quamvis sit turpe, placebit),Ingenua speculum sustinuisse manu.Ille, fatigata praebendo monstra novercaQui meruit caelum, quod prior ipse tulit,Inter Ioniacas calathum tenuisse puellasCreditur, et lanas excoluisse rudes.Paruit imperio dominae Tirynthius heros:I nunc et dubita ferre, quod ille tulit.Iussus adesse foro, iussa maturius horaFac semper venias, nec nisi serus abi.Occurras aliquo, tibi dixerit: omnia differ,Curre, nec inceptum turba moretur iter.Nocte domum repetens epulis perfuncta redibit:Tum quoque pro servo, si vocat illa, veni.Rure erit, et dicet 'venias': Amor odit inertes:Si rota defuerit, tu pede carpe viam.Nec grave te tempus sitiensque Canicula tardet,Nec via per iactas candida facta nives.Militiae species amor est; discedite, segnes:Non sunt haec timidis signa tuenda viris.Nox et hiems longaeque viae saevique doloresMollibus his castris et labor omnis inest.Saepe feres imbrem caelesti nube solutum,Frigidus et nuda saepe iacebis humo.Cynthius Admeti vaccas pavisse PheraeiFertur, et in parva delituisse casa.Quod Phoebum decuit, quem non decet? exue fastus,Curam mansuri quisquis amoris habes.
When all access is to your mistress hard,When ev'ry door's secur'd, and window barr'd,The roof untile, some desp'rate passage find;You cannot be too bold to make her kind:Oh, how she'll clasp you when the dangers o'er,And value your deserving passion more.Thus thro' the boisterous seas Leander mov'd,Not to possess, but show how much he lov'd.Nor blushing think how low you condescendTo court her maids, and make each slave your friend;Each by their names familiarly salute,And beg them to promote your am'rous suit.Perhaps a bribe's requir'd; your bounty show,And from your slender fortunes part below.A double bribe the chambermaid secures,And when the fav'rite's gain'd, the fair is yours.She'll add, to everything you do, a grace,And watch the wanton hours, and time her praise.When servants merry make, and feast, and play,Then give her something to keep holiday.Retain them ev'ry one, the porter most,And her who nightly guards the happy coastI no profuse nor costly gifts commend,But choose and time it well, whate'er you send.Provide the product of the early year,And let your boy the rural present bear;Tell her 'twas fresh, and from your manor brought,Tho' stale, and in the suburb market bought:The first ripe cluster let your mistress eat,With chesnut, melons, or fair peaches, treat;Some larger fish, or choicer fowl, present;They recommend your passion where they're sent.'Tis with these arts the childless miser's caught,Thus future legacies are basely bought;But may his name with infamy be curst,That practis'd them on love, and women first.In tender sonnets most your flame rehearse,But who, alas! of late are mov'd by verse?Women a wealthy treating fool admire,Applaud your wit,-but costly gifts require.This is the golden age, all worship gold;Honours are purchas'd, love and beauty sold.Should Homer come with his harmonious train,And not present, Homer's turn'd out again.Some of the sex have sense, their number's small,Most ignorant, yet vain pretenders all:Flatter alike, smooth empty stanzas send,They seldom sense, but sound and rhyme commend.Should you with art compose each polish'd line,And make her, like your numbers, all divine,Yet she'll a treat or worthless toy preferTo all the immortal poet's boasted care.
Si tibi per tutum planumque negabitur ire,Atque erit opposita ianua fulta sera,At tu per praeceps tecto delabere aperto:Det quoque furtivas alta fenestra vias.Laeta erit, et causam tibi se sciet esse pericli;Hoc dominae certi pignus amoris erit.Saepe tua poteras, Leandre, carere puella:Transnabas, animum nosset ut illa tuum.Nec pudor ancillas, ut quaeque erit ordine prima,Nec tibi sit servos demeruisse pudor.Nomine quemque suo (nulla est iactura) saluta,Iunge tuis humiles, ambitiose, manus.Sed tamen et servo (levis est inpensa) rogantiPorrige Fortunae munera parva die:Porrige et ancillae, qua poenas luce pependitLusa maritali Gallica veste manus.Fac plebem, mihi crede, tuam; sit semper in illaIanitor et thalami qui iacet ante fores.Nec dominam iubeo pretioso munere dones:Parva, sed e parvis callidus apta dato.Dum bene dives ager, cum rami pondere nutant,Adferat in calatho rustica dona puer.Rure suburbano poteris tibi dicere missa,Illa vel in Sacra sint licet empta via.Adferat aut uvas, aut quas Amaryllis amabat —At nunc castaneas non amat illa nuces.Quin etiam turdoque licet missaque columbaTe memorem dominae testificere tuae.Turpiter his emitur spes mortis et orba senectus.A, pereant, per quos munera crimen habent!Quid tibi praecipiam teneros quoque mittere versus?Ei mihi, non multum carmen honoris habet.Carmina laudantur, sed munera magna petuntur:Dummodo sit dives, barbarus ipse placet.Aurea sunt vere nunc saecula: plurimus auroVenit honos: auro conciliatur amor.Ipse licet venias Musis comitatus, Homere,Si nihil attuleris, ibis, Homere, foras.Sunt tamen et doctae, rarissima turba, puellae;Altera non doctae turba, sed esse volunt.Utraque laudetur per carmina: carmina lectorCommendet dulci qualiacumque sono;His ergo aut illis vigilatum carmen in ipsasForsitan exigui muneris instar erit.
But he that covets to retain her heart,Let him apply his flattery with art;With lasting raptures on her beauty gaze,And make her form the subject of his praise.Purple commend, when she's in purple dress'd;In scarlet, swear she looks in scarlet best;Array'd in gold, her graceful mien adore,Vowing those eyes transcend the sparkling ore.With prudence place each compliment aright;Tho' clad in crape, let homely crape delight.In sorted colours, praise a varied dress;In night-clothes or commode let either please.Or when she combs or when she curls her hair,Commend her curious art and gallant air.Singing, her voice, dancing, her steps, admire;Applaud when she desists, and still desire.Let all her words and actions wonder raise;View her with raptures, and with raptures praiseFierce as Medusa though your mistress prove,These arts will teach the stubborn beauty love.Be cautious lest you overact your part,And temper your hypocrisy with art;Let no false action give your words the lie,For once deceiv'd, she's ever after shy.In Autumn oft, when the luxurious yearPurples the grape, and shows the vintage near;When sultry heats, when colder blasts arise,And bodies languish with inconstant skies;If vitious heav'n infects her tender veins,And in her tainted blood some fever reigns;Then your kind vows, your pious care bestow,The blessings you expect to reap then sow;Think nothing nauseous in her loath'd disease,But with your ready hand contrive to please;Weep in her sight, then fonder kisses give,And let her burning lips your tears receive;Much for her safety vow, but louder speak,Let the nymph hear the lavish vows you make.As health returns, so let your joys appear;Oft smile with hope, and oft confess your fear.This in her breast remains, these pleasing charmsSecure a passage to her grateful arms.Reach nothing nauseous to her taste or sight,Officious only when you most delight.Nor bitter draughts nor hated med'cines give,Let her from rivals what she loaths receive.
At quod eris per te facturus, et utile credis,Id tua te facito semper amica roget.Libertas alicui fuerit promissa tuorum:Hanc tamen a domina fac petat ille tua:Si poenam servo, si vincula saeva remittis,Quod facturus eras, debeat illa tibi:Utilitas tua sit, titulus donetur amicae:Perde nihil, partes illa potentis agat.Sed te, cuicumque est retinendae cura puellae,Attonitum forma fac putet esse sua.Sive erit in Tyriis, Tyrios laudabis amictus:Sive erit in Cois, Coa decere puta.Aurata est? ipso tibi sit pretiosior auro;Gausapa si sumpsit, gausapa sumpta proba.Astiterit tunicata, 'moves incendia' clama,Sed timida, caveat frigora, voce roga.Conpositum discrimen erit, discrimina lauda:Torserit igne comam, torte capille, place.Brachia saltantis, vocem mirare canentis,Et, quod desierit, verba querentis habe.Ipsos concubitus, ipsum venerere licebitQuod iuvat, et quae dat gaudia voce notes.Ut fuerit torva violentior illa Medusa,Fiet amatori lenis et aequa suo.Tantum, ne pateas verbis simulator in illis,Effice, nec vultu destrue dicta tuo.Si latet, ars prodest: adfert deprensa pudorem,Atque adimit merito tempus in omne fidem.Saepe sub autumnum, cum formosissimus annus,Plenaque purpureo subrubet uva mero,Cum modo frigoribus premimur, modo solvimur aestu,Aëre non certo, corpora languor habet.Illa quidem valeat; sed si male firma cubarit,Et vitium caeli senserit aegra sui,Tunc amor et pietas tua sit manifesta puellae,Tum sere, quod plena postmodo falce metas.Nec tibi morosi veniant fastidia morbi,Perque tuas fiant, quae sinet ipsa, manus.Et videat flentem, nec taedeat oscula ferre,Et sicco lacrimas conbibat ore tuas.Multa vove, sed cuncta palam; quotiesque libebit,Quae referas illi, somnia laeta vide.Et veniat, quae lustret anus lectumque locumque,Praeferat et tremula sulpur et ova manu.Omnibus his inerunt gratae vestigia curae:In tabulas multis haec via fecit iter.Nec tamen officiis odium quaeratur ab aegra:Sit suus in blanda sedulitate modus:Neve cibo prohibe, nec amari pocula suciPorrige: rivalis misceat illa tuus.
Those prosperous winds that launch'd our boat from shore,When out at sea assists its course no more:Time will your knowledge in our art improve,Give strength and vigour to your forming love.The dreadful bull was but a calf when young;The lofty oak but from an acorn sprung;From narrow springs the noblest currents flow,But swell their floods, and spread 'em as they go.Be conversant with love, no toils refuse,And conquer all fatigues with frequent use:Still let her hear your sighs, your passion viewAnd night and day the flying maid pursue.Then pause awhile; by fallow fields we gain;A thirsty soil receives the welcome rain.Phyllis was calm while with Demophoon bless'd,His absence wounded most her raging breast:Thus his chaste consort for Ulysses burn'd,And Laodamia thus her absent husband mourn'd,With speed return, you're ruined by delays,Some happy youth may soon supply your place.When Sparta's prince was from his Helen gone,Could Helen be content to lie alone?She in his bed receiv'd her am'rous guest,And nightly clasp'd him to her panting breast.Unthinking cuckold, to a proverb blind!What, trust a beau and a fair wife behind!Let furious hawks thy trembling turtles keep,And to the mountain wolves commit thy sheep:Helen is guiltless, and the lover's crimeBut what yourself would act another time.The youth was pressing, the dull husband gone;Let ev'ry woman make the case her own.Who could a prince, by Venus sent, refuse?The cuckold's negligence is her excuse.
Sed non cui dederas a litore carbasa vento,Utendum, medio cum potiere freto.Dum novus errat amor, vires sibi colligat usu:Si bene nutrieris, tempore firmus erit.Quem taurum metuis, vitulum mulcere solebas:Sub qua nunc recubas arbore, virga fuit:Nascitur exiguus, sed opes adquirit eundo,Quaque venit, multas accipit amnis aquas.Fac tibi consuescat: nil adsuetudine maius:Quam tu dum capias, taedia nulla fuge.Te semper videat, tibi semper praebeat aures;Exhibeat vultus noxque diesque tuos.Cum tibi maior erit fiducia, posse requiri,Cum procul absenti cura futurus eris,Da requiem: requietus ager bene credita reddit,Terraque caelestes arida sorbet aquas.Phyllida Demophoon praesens moderatius ussit:Exarsit velis acrius illa datis.Penelopen absens sollers torquebat Ulixes;Phylacides aberat, Laodamia, tuus.Sed mora tuta brevis: lentescunt tempore curae,Vanescitque absens et novus intrat amor.Dum Menelaus abest, Helene, ne sola iaceret,Hospitis est tepido nocte recepta sinu.Quis stupor hic, Menelaë, fuit? tu solus abibas,Isdem sub tectis hospes et uxor erant.Accipitri timidas credis, furiose, columbas?Plenum montano credis ovile lupo?Nil Helene peccat, nihil hic committit adulter:Quod tu, quod faceret quilibet, ille facit.Cogis adulterium dando tempusque locumque;Quid nisi consilio est usa puella tuo?Quid faciat? vir abest, et adest non rusticus hospes,Et timet in vacuo sola cubare toro.Viderit Atrides: Helenen ego crimine solvo:Usa est humani commoditate viri.
But not the foaming boar whom spears surround,Revenging on the dogs his mortal wound;Nor lioness, whose young receives the breast;Nor viper by unwary footsteps press'd;Nor drunkard by th' Aonian god possess'd,Transcend the woman's rage, by fury led,To find a rival in her injur'd bed.With fire and sword she flies; the frantic dameDisdains the thought of tenderness or shame.Her offspring's blood enrag'd Medea spilt;A cruel mother, for the father's guilt:And Progne's unrelenting fury provesThat dire revenge pursues neglected loves.Where sacred ties of honour are destroy'd,Such errors cautious lovers must avoid.Think not my precepts constancy enjoin;Venus avert! far nobler's my design.At large enjoy, conceal your passion well;Nor use the modish vanity to tell:Avoid presenting of suspected toys,Nor to an hour confine your varied joys;Desert the shades you did frequent before,Nor make them conscious to a new amourThe nymph, when she betrays, disdains your guilt,And by such falsehood taught, she learns to jilt.While with a wife Atrides liv'd content,Their loves were mutual, and she innocent;But when inflam'd with every charming face,Her lewdness still maintain'd an equal pace.Chryses, as fame had told her, pray'd in vain,Nor could by gifts his captive girl obtain;Mournful Briseis, thy complaints she heard,And how his lust the tedious war deferr'd.This tamely heard, but with resentment view'dThe victor by his beauteous slave subdu'd;With rage she saw her own neglected charms,And took Aegisthus to her injur'd arms.To lust and shame by his example led,Who durst so openly profane her bed.
Sed neque fulvus aper media tam saevus in ira est,Fulmineo rabidos cum rotat ore canes,Nec lea, cum catulis lactentibus ubera praebet,Nec brevis ignaro vipera laesa pede,Femina quam socii deprensa paelice lecti:Ardet et in vultu pignora mentis habet.In ferrum flammasque ruit, positoque decoreFertur, ut Aonii cornibus icta dei.Coniugis admissum violataque iura marita estBarbara per natos Phasias ulta suos.Altera dira parens haec est, quam cernis, hirundo:Aspice, signatum sanguine pectus habet.Hoc bene compositos, hoc firmos solvit amores;Crimina sunt cautis ista timenda viris.Nec mea vos uni damnat censura puellae:Di melius! vix hoc nupta tenere potest.Ludite, sed furto celetur culpa modesto:Gloria peccati nulla petenda sui est.Nec dederis munus, cognosse quod altera possit,Nec sint nequitiae tempora certa tuae.Et, ne te capiat latebris sibi femina notis,Non uno est omnis convenienda loco;Et quotiens scribes, totas prius ipse tabellasInspice: plus multae, quam sibi missa, legunt.Laesa Venus iusta arma movet, telumque remittit,Et, modo quod questa est, ipse querare, facit.Dum fuit Atrides una contentus, et illaCasta fuit: vitio est improba facta viri.Audierat laurumque manu vittasque ferentemPro nata Chrysen non valuisse sua:Audierat, Lyrnesi, tuos, abducta, dolores,Bellaque per turpis longius isse moras.Haec tamen audierat: Priameïda viderat ipsa:Victor erat praedae praeda pudenda suae.Inde Thyestiaden animo thalamoque recepit,Et male peccantem Tyndaris ulta virum.