---
title: "Heroides · Epistulae Heroidum"
author: "Ovid"
translator: "Perseus Digital Library"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 7 of 7
url: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-heroides/7/
cite: "Ovid, tr. Perseus Digital Library, Heroides · Epistulae Heroidum, section 7. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-heroides/7/"
---

# Heroides · Epistulae Heroidum

*Ovid, tr. Perseus Digital Library*

Letters from the abandoned heroines of myth: Penelope, Dido, Medea, Ariadne, Sappho.

> Latin: ed. Rudolf Ehwald, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0959.phi002, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Perseus Digital Library, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0959.phi002.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (line numbers), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 7. Lines 3158–378

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-heroides/7/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-heroides/7/#p-N

[¶0] Let us then, setting out from opposite shores, meet in the midst of the sea, and snatch the mutual kisses upon the surface of the waves. Let us then each return home; a small enjoyment indeed, but still better than none! How could I wish that powerful shame, which obliges us thus to conceal our love, would yield to desire, or trembling love give way to the dictates of fame! Honor and passion (things alas! incompatible) combat each other. Which shall I follow, or where end my suspense? On one side is decency, on the other pleasure. Jason of Thessaly, soon after entering Colchis, bore away Medea in his nimble bark. When the faithless Trojan had once arrived at Lacedæmon, he quickly returned triumphant with his prey. As often as you grasp the object of your love, you abandon her; and swim even then when it is dangerous for ships to cut the liquid way. But yet remember, O daring youth, who have so often braved the swelling waves, that you so despise the threatening deep, as not to venture rashly in times of danger. Ships, formed with exquisite art, are often mastered by the foaming sea: can your feeble arms cut the deep like laboring oars? You, Leander, fondly spring forward to swim, an attempt that startles

> Latin: Seducit terras haec brevis unda duas.
Te decet aut magnas magnum iactare carinas,
Aut etiam totis classibus esse trucem;
Turpe deo pelagi iuvenem terrere natantem,
Gloriaque est stagno quolibet ista minor.
Nobilis ille quidem est et clarus origine, sed non
A tibi suspecto ducit Ulixe genus.
Da veniam servaque duos! natat ille, sed isdem
Corpus Leandri, spes mea pendet aquis.
Sternuit en lumen! — posito nam scribimus illo —
Sternuit et nobis prospera signa dedit.
Ecce, merum nutrix faustos instillat in ignes,
'Cras' que 'erimus plures,' inquit, et ipsa bibit.
Effice nos plures, evicta per aequora lapsus,
O penitus toto corde recepte mihi!
In tua castra redi, socii desertor amoris;
Ponuntur medio cur mea membra toro?
Quod timeas, non est! auso Venus ipsa favebit,
Sternet et aequoreas aequore nata vias.
Ire libet medias ipsi mihi saepe per undas,
Sed solet hoc maribus tutius esse fretum.

[¶1] the daring mariner; this is their last resource when compelled by shipwreck. Alas, how unhappy! I want to dissuade you from what I yet carnestly wish, and pray you may be bolder than my own admonitions allow: yet so that you may still come safe, and clasp my exulting shoulders with your wearied arms, often plunged in the foaming waves. But as often as I turn my eyes towards the blue extent of the sea, I know not what coldness spreads over my panting breast. Nor am I less disturbed by the vision of last night, although expiated by many sacred rites. For about the approach of morning, when the taper gave a faint and glimmering light (at the time when dreams are usually accounted true), my fingers, deadened with sleep, had dropped the lengthening threads, and my neck was gently reclined on the barren ridge. Here I espied a dolphin glide through the raging waves: I saw it a real spectre, and no deluding phantom; which, after being dashed by the waves upon the bubbling sand, was at once abandoned byits element and life. Whatever it may portend, I am full of fears. Despise not the ominous dream, nor trust your limbs but to a calm unruffled sea. If you are regardless of yourself, yet think of

> Latin: Nam cur hac vectis Phrixo Phrixique sorore
Sola dedit vastis femina nomen aquis?
Forsitan ad reditum metuas ne tempora desint,
Aut gemini nequeas ferre laboris onus.
At nos diversi medium coeamus in aequor
Obviaque in summis oscula demus aquis,
Atque ita quisque suas iterum redeamus ad urbes;
Exiguum, sed plus quam nihil illud erit!
Vel pudor hic utinam, qui nos clam cogit amare,
Vel timidus famae cedere vellet amor!
Nunc, male res iunctae, calor et reverentia pugnant.
Quid sequar, in dubio est; haec decet, ille iuvat.
Ut semel intravit Colchos Pagasaeus Iason,
Inpositam celeri Phasida puppe tulit;
Ut semel Idaeus Lacedaemona venit adulter,
Cum praeda rediit protinus ille sua.
Tu quam saepe petis, quod amas, tam saepe relinquis,
Et quotiens grave sit puppibus ire, natas.

[¶2] your dearer half, who will never be able to survive your untimely fate. But I hope for a sudden calm to the troubled waves; then plunge with safety, and glide along the level tides. Meantime, as the threatening waves forbid your desired course, let this epistle soften the hated delays.

> Latin: Sic tamen, o iuvenis tumidarum victor aquarum,
Sic facito spernas, ut vereare, fretum!
Arte laboratae merguntur ab aequore naves;
Tu tua plus remis bracchia posse putas?
Quod cupis, hoc nautae metuunt, Leandre, natare;

[¶3] BANISH all fear: you shall not here again swear in favor of your lover; it is enough that you have once solemnly vowed yourself to me. Read: so may that painful illness which spreads over all your joints, and racks my soul with a

> Latin: Exitus hic fractis puppibus esse solet.
Me miseram! cupio non persuadere, quod hortor,
Sisque, precor, monitis fortior ipse meis —
Dummodo pervenias excussaque saepe per undas
Inicias umeris bracchia lassa meis!

[¶4] thousand fears, leave every affected part. Why does the blush kindle in your check? For I fancy I see your color change, as in the temple of Diana. I demand nothing criminal; I only ask that affinity and allegiance which you promised in the temple of Diana; I love you as a lawful husband, not an infamous adulterer. Ah! only repeat to yourself those binding words, which the unthinking fruit thrown by my hands presented to your chaste eyes. There you will find yourself to be bound by that vow, which I could wish you had rather remembered than the Goddess. But now I tremble even for that, while this hope has already gathered strength, and my flame increases every moment. For that love, which was always violent, is now increased by tedious delays, and by the hope you have cherished in my breast. You gave me hope; my love rested upon this foundation; nor can you deny a thing that was done in the presence of the Goddess. She was present, and overheard your vow; and her statue was seen to give a nod of approbation. I allow you to accuse me of having deceived you by an artful management, if, at the same time, you own it was love that prompted me to the ingenious deceit. What did all my artifice

> Latin: Sed mihi, caeruleas quotiens obvertor ad undas,
Nescio quo pavidum frigore pectus hebet.
Nec minus hesternae confundor imagine noctis,
Quamvis est sacris illa piata meis.
Namque sub aurora, iam dormitante lucerna,
Somnia quo cerni tempore vera solent,
Stamina de digitis cecidere sopore remissis,
Collaque pulvino nostra ferenda dedi.
Hic ego ventosas nantem delphina per undas
Cernere non dubia sum mihi visa fide,
Quem postquam bibulis inlisit fluctus harenis,
Unda simul miserum vitaque deseruit.
Quidquid id est, timeo; nec tu mea somnia ride
Nec nisi tranquillo bracchia crede mari!
Si tibi non parcis, dilectae parce puellae,
Quae numquam nisi te sospite sospes ero!
Spes tamen est fractis vicinae pacis in undis;
Tu placidas toto pectore finde vias!

[¶5] aim at, but to be joined to you alone? What you complain of, should render me rahter doubly dear to you. My ingenuity came neither from nature, nor from long practice; it is only you, dear girl, that can make me thus inventive. Love, fertile in expedients, turnished the form of words by which I bound you so close to myself; it indeed I really bound you. I inscribed a marriage-contract in words dictated by him; it was by following his suggestions, that I became so expert in the law. Let this stratagem then bear the name of fraud; let me be called cunning and deceitful, if it can be called a fraud to aim at the possession of what we love. See! I write a second time, and send you my prayers and entreaties. This too, no doubt, is a fraud; you have in this also a ground

> Latin: Interea nanti, quoniam freta pervia non sunt,
Leniat invisas littera missa moras.
[Accipe, Cydippe, despecti nomen Aconti,]
[Illius, in pomo qui tibi verba dedit. ]
Pone metum! nihil hic iterum iurabis amanti;
Promissam satis est te semel esse mihi.
Perlege! discedat sic corpore languor ab isto,
Quod meus est ulla parte dolere dolor!
Quid pudor ante subit? nam, sicut in aede Dianae,
Suspicor ingenuas erubuisse genas.
Coniugium pactamque fidem, non crimina posco;
Debitus ut coniunx, non ut adulter amo.
Verba licet repetas, quae demptus ab arbore fetus
Pertulit ad castas me iaciente manus;

[¶6] of complaint. If it is a crime to love, I own it, and must still be guilty without end. I must still pursue you, should even you yourself avoid my cager hopes. Others have carried away by force the virgin whom they loved; and can it be a crime in me to write a few words with artifice? How earnestly do I wish I could bind you by a thousand other ties, that no liberty might remain to plight your faith to another! A thousand stratagems are still left: I struggle hard to mount the difficult steep; nor will my ardent flame leave any expedient unessayed. It is uncertain, perhaps, whether you can be gained; but assuredly you shall. True; the event belongs to Heaven; still you shall be mine. Should you escape some, it will be impossible to elude all my snares; Love has spread more than you are well aware of. If artifice be unsuccessful, recourse must be had to violence, and you shall be borne by force into the arms of your eager admirer. I am none of those who blame the brave attempt of Paris, or of any who have shewn themselves men of steadiness and courage. I also will

> Latin: Invenies illic, id te spondere, quod opto
Te potius, virgo, quam meminisse deam.
Nunc quoque avemus idem, sed idem tamen acrius illud;
Adsumpsit vires auctaque flamma mora est,
Quique fuit numquam parvus, nunc tempore longo
Et spe, quam dederas tu mihi, crevit amor.
Spem mihi tu dederas, meus hic tibi credidit ardor.
Non potes hoc factum teste negare dea.
Adfuit et, praesens ut erat, tua verba notavit
Et visa est mota dicta tulisse coma.
Deceptam dicas nostra te fraude licebit,
Dum fraudis nostrae causa feratur amor.
Fraus mea quid petiit, nisi uti tibi iungerer, unum?
Id te, quod quereris, conciliare potest.
Non ego natura nec sum tam callidus usu;
Sollertem tu me, crede, puella, facis.

[¶7] — But I am silent. Were death to be the punishment of the daring rape, yet that is still less than to be deprived of you. Were you moderately fair, you would be pursued with a moderate impatience; but a form so enchanting, makes us rash and resolute. You and your deluding eyes do ail this; those eyes that eclipse the sparkling stars, and have raised the flame that rages in my breast. Why lay you not the blame upon your golden locks and ivory neck, and those fair hands, which, Oh how happy, were they fondly circled round my neck? Why not upon your comely looks, and that enchanting face, where modesty shines without rusticity; your feet, which I can scarcely imagine are equaled by those of Thetis? Where I able to commend the rest also, I should be much happier; nor do I question that the whole frame is uniformly beautiful.

> Latin: Te mihi conpositis — siquid tamen egimus — a me
Adstrinxit verbis ingeniosus Amor.
Dictatis ab eo feci sponsalia verbis,
Consultoque fui iuris Amore vafer.
Sit fraus huic facto nomen, dicarque dolosus,
Si tamen est, quod ames, velle tenere dolus!
En, iterum scribo mittoque rogantia verba!
Altera fraus haec est, quodque queraris habes.
Si noceo, quod amo, fateor, sine fine nocebo,
Teque, peti caveas tu licet, usque petam.
Per gladios alii placitas rapuere puellas;
Scripta mihi caute littera crimen erit?
Di faciant, possim plures inponere nodos,
Ut tua sit nulla libera parte fides!

[¶8] What wonder then, if, overruled by so many powerful charms, I was anxious to have your promise, as a pledge of your love? Let it be so then; provided you are forced to own that you are deceived. I shall grant likewise that you

> Latin: Mille doli restant — clivo sudamus in imo;
Ardor inexpertum nil sinet esse meus.
Sit dubium, possisne capi; captabere certe.
Exitus in dis est, sed capiere tamen.

[¶9] were deceived by my address. Let me bear the envy; but let not the sufferer go without his reward. Why do I not reap the harvest of so great a crime? Telamon forced away Hesione, and Achilles Briseis: each captive followed her conqueror. Blame me as much as you will; I allow you even to be angry with me, if, though angry, I may be yet permitted to call you mine. I, who have raised this storm, will do all in my power to appease it; let me only have some opportunity of softening and quieting your resentment. Let me stand before you drowned in tears, and second my tears with the language they will naturally dictate; and, as is usual with slaves when they are afraid of the whip, let me clasp my suppliant hands round your knees. You seem not to know the right you have over me; summon me before you: why am I accused in my absence? Command me to appear in the right of one that has been long my mistress. Though full of resentment you tear my hair, and disfigure my face with your nails, I will patiently suffer all. I may indeed perhaps be apprehensive that those fair hands may be hurt in taking revenge. It will be needless to secure me with chains and fetters: love is a bond that will retain me beyond the power of an escape. When your resentment is fully satiated, you will be forced to sax, How patiently he loves! When you observe me submissively endure all, surely you cannot avoid saying, Who serves so well, let him continue to serve. Now I am accused in my absence; and my cause, though highly just, is lost for want of an advocate. But if it be allowed that the words I wrote, induced by love, are an injury, you have cause of complaint only against me.

> Latin: Ut partem effugias, non omnia retia falles,
Quae tibi, quam credis, plura tetendit Amor.
Si non proficient artes, veniemus ad arma,
Inque tui cupido rapta ferere sinu.
Non sum, qui soleam Paridis reprehendere factum,
Nec quemquam, qui vir, posset ut esse, fuit.
Nos quoque — sed taceo! mors huius poena rapinae
Ut sit, erit, quam te non habuisse, minor.
Aut esses formosa minus, peterere modeste;
Audaces facie cogimur esse tua.
Tu facis hoc oculique tui, quibus ignea cedunt
Sidera, qui flammae causa fuere meae;
Hoc faciunt flavi crines et eburnea cervix,
Quaeque, precor, veniant in mea colla manus,
Et decor et vultus sine rusticitate pudentes,
Et, Thetidis qualis vix rear esse, pedes.
Cetera si possem laudare, beatior essem,
Nec dubito, totum quin sibi par sit opus.
Hac ego conpulsus, non est mirabile, forma
Si pignus volui vocis habere tuae.
Denique, dum captam tu te cogare fateri,
Insidiis esto capta puella meis.
Invidiam patiar; passo sua praemia dentur.
Cur suus a tanto crimine fructus abest?
Hesionen Telamon, Briseida cepit Achilles;
Utraque victorem nempe secuta virum.
Quamlibet accuses et sis irata licebit,
Irata liceat dum mihi posse frui.

[¶10] Does Diana also deserve to be deceived? If you will not perform the promise made to me, perform your promise to the Goddess. She was present, and saw your blushes on finding yourself deceived; she treasured up your words with a recollective car. May all the omens vanish in air: yet it is certain that no one takes a severer revenge, when (which Heaven forbid should be your case) she thinks the homage due to her neglected. As an instance of this, the Calydonian boar may be mentioned; for we know that a mother was found more barbarous towards her son, than even the savage beast. Other examples may be found in Actæon, who appeared a savage to those very dogs, with which he had formerly hunted down savages; and in that haughty mother turned into a stone, who now stands disconsolate in the Mygdonian plains. Alas! Cydippe, I am afraid to speak the truth, lest you should think I admonish you falsely for

> Latin: Idem, qui facimus, factam tenuabimus iram,
Copia placandi sit modo parva tui.
Ante tuos liceat flentem consistere vultus
Et liceat lacrimis addere verba suis,
Utque solent famuli, cum verbera saeva verentur,
Tendere submissas ad tua crura manus!
Ignoras tua iura; voca! cur arguor absens?
Iamdudum dominae more venire iube.
Ipsa meos scindas licet imperiosa capillos,
Oraque sint digitis livida nostra tuis.
Omnia perpetiar; tantum fortasse timebo,
Corpore laedatur ne manus ista meo.
Sed neque conpedibus nec me conpesce catenis —
Servabor firmo vinctus amore tui!
Cum bene se quantumque voles satiaverit ira,
Ipsa tibi dices: 'quam patienter amat!'

[¶11] my own sake. Yet I must speak: it is on this account (believe me) that you are so often seized with sickness, when preparing to wed. Diana herself wishes you guiltless, and strives to hinder you from running into perjury; she desires, that, with faith unstained, you may avoid giving offence. Hence, as often as you are in danger of being perfidious, the Goddess prevents the fatal crime. Cease then to provoke the deadly bow of the implacable Goddess; she may yet be softened, if you will not obstinately persist. Forbear, amiable nymph, to enfecble your tender limbs by preying fevers; preserve that blooming face for the sake of Acontius; preserve those enchanting looks formed to raise a flame in my breast, and the lively bloom that varies your snow-white face. If any enemy interpose to obstruct my happiness, may he feel the same torments under which I languish, when sickness threatens you.

> Latin: Ipsa tibi dices, ubi videris omnia ferri:
'Tam bene qui servit, serviat iste mihi!'
Nunc reus infelix absens agor, et mea, cum sit
Optima, non ullo causa tuente perit.
Hoc quoque — quantumvis sit scriptum iniuria nostrum,
Quod de me solo, nempe, queraris, habes.
Non meruit falli mecum quoque Delia; si non
Vis mihi promissum reddere, redde deae.
Adfuit et vidit, cum tu decepta rubebas,
Et vocem memori condidit aure tuam.
Omina re careant! nihil est violentius illa,
Cum sua, quod nolim, numina laesa videt.
Testis erit Calydonis aper, sic saevus, ut illo
Sit magis in natum saeva reperta parens.

[¶12] I am equally upon the rack whether I hear of your intended marriage or illness; nor is it easy to determine which apprehension gives most anxiety. Sometimes I am distracted to think that I should be the unhappy cause of your grief, and fear that my innocent artifice may have fatal effects. Grant, Heaven, that Cydippe's perjurics may be upon the head of her lover, and that the punishment may be transferred to me alone. Yet always restless till I know how it is with you, I creep silently to your gate full of anxiety. There whispering privately to some one of the slaves, I enquire whether you have been relieved by gentle slumbers, or refreshing food.

> Latin: Testis et Actaeon, quondam fera creditus illis,
Ipse dedit leto cum quibus ante feras;
Quaeque superba parens saxo per corpus oborto
Nunc quoque Mygdonia flebilis adstat humo.
Ei mihi! Cydippe, timeo tibi dicere verum,
Ne videar causa falsa monere mea;
Dicendum tamen est. hoc est, mihi crede, quod aegra
Ipso nubendi tempore saepe iaces.
Consulit ipsa tibi, neu sis periura, laborat,
Et salvam salva te cupit esse fide.
Inde fit ut, quotiens existere perfida temptas,
Peccatum totiens corrigat illa tuum.

[¶13] O were I blest, as the physician, to reach out the cordial draughts, press your soft hand or lean gently upon the bed! But how hard, and yet more than wretched is my fate; to be thus banished from your presence, while he whom most I fear sits perhaps close by you. Hated alike by the Gods and me, he is yet allowed gently to squeeze your hand, and lean over your fading cheeks. Fond of every pretence to feed the beating vein, he slides his daring hand along your snowy arm, hides it in your bosom, and snatches the fragrant kisses, a roward too great for his officious care. What right have you to reap the harvest of my bliss? Or how are you empowered to encroach upon another's bounds? I hat bosom is mine; you basely rob na or my kisses. Take off your hand from a body promised to me. Traitor, take off your hands; you touch a bosom that will soon be mine; in doing this hereafter, you will become an intamous adulterer Choose from among others, where no prior right is claimed; for know, that another lore commands that breast: nor trust to my testimony; read the form by which she engaged herself; and, to prevent a possibility of deceit, make even Cydippe repeat the binding vow. Again then I say, Depart from another's bed. What brings you here? He gone; this bed is already possessed: for, even if it be allowed that you also have a promise of the beauteous prize, yet the justice of your claim comes-far short of mine.

> Latin: Parce movere feros animosae virginis arcus;
Mitis adhuc fieri, si patiare, potest.
Parce, precor, teneros corrumpere febribus artus;
Servetur facies ista fruenda mihi.
Serventur vultus ad nostra incendia nati,
Quique subest niveo lenis in ore rubor.
Hostibus et siquis, ne fias nostra, repugnat,
Sic sit ut invalida te solet esse mihi!
Torqueor ex aequo vel te nubente vel aegra
Dicere nec possum, quid minus ipse velim;
Maceror interdum, quod sim tibi causa dolendi
Teque mea laedi calliditate puto.
In caput ut nostrum dominae periuria quaeso
Eveniant; poena tuta sit illa mea!
Ne tamen ignorem, quid agas, ad limina crebro
Anxius huc illuc dissimulanter eo;
Subsequor ancillam furtim famulumque, requirens
Profuerint somni quid tibi quidve cibi.
Me miserum, quod non medicorum iussa ministro,
Effingoque manus, adsideoque toro!
Et rursus miserum, quod me procul inde remoto,
Quem minime vellem, forsitan alter adest!

[¶14] I rely upon a promise made by herself you claim the promise of a father. Surely she is to herself in a degree nearer than that of father. Her father barely promised; she hath vowed herself to her lover: he called men to witness, but she bound herself in the presence of a Geddess. He fears a breach of promise, she dreads the guilt of perjury: can you doubt, after this, which has the juster ground of concern? In fine, that you may be the better able to compare the danger on both sides, reflect only upon the events that threaten each; he enjoys perfect health, she lies in hazard of her life. We also enter the lists unequally matched; neither our hopes nor our fears are alike. You unconcernedly solicit the fair; to me a repulse is more insupportable than death. I am at present deeply enamored of what you perhaps may love some time hence. If you have any regard to right and justice, you ought frankly to yield to my superior flame. And now, when he inhumanly contends in an unrighteous cause, be attentive, Cydippe, to the counsel my epistle gives you. It is he that brings on your present iliness, and makes you suspected by Diana; forbid him therefore, it you are wise, any more to appreach your gate. It is your compliance in this case, that subjects you to these painful calamities of life. Why is not he who occasions all these disasters punished in your stead? Banish him only from you, nor show an affection to one disapproved by the Goddess; you will instantly recover your health, and restore me to myself and happiness. Banish therefore fear, amiable maid; you shall enjoy an established health; only neglect not the temple, conscious to your sacred vow. The heavenly powers are not appeased by slaughtered beasts; truth only, and a faithful regard to our vows, can avert their anger.

> Latin: Ille manus istas effingit, et adsidet aegrae
Invisus superis cum superisque mihi,
Dumque suo temptat salientem pollice venam,
Candida per causam bracchia saepe tenet,
Contrectatque sinus, et forsitan oscula iungit.
Officio merces plenior ista suo est!
Quis tibi permisit nostras praecerpere messes?
Ad saepem alterius quis tibi fecit iter?
Iste sinus meus est! mea turpiter oscula sumis!
A mihi promisso corpore tolle manus!
Inprobe, tolle manus! quam tangis, nostra futura est;
Postmodo si facies istud, adulter eris.
Elige de vacuis quam non sibi vindicet alter;
Si nescis, dominum res habet ista suum.
Nec mihi credideris — recitetur formula pacti;
Neu falsam dicas esse, fac ipsa legat!
Alterius thalamo, tibi nos, tibi dicimus, exi!
Quid facis hic? exi! non vacat iste torus!
Nam quod habes et tu gemini verba altera pacti,
Non erit idcirco par tua causa meae.
Haec mihi se pepigit, pater hanc tibi, primus ab illa;
Sed propior certe quam pater ipsa sibi est.
Promisit pater hanc, haec se iuravit amanti;
Ille homines, haec est testificata deam.
Hic metuit mendax, haec et periura vocari;
An dubitas, hic sit maior an ille metus?
Denique, ut amborum conferre pericula possis,
Respice ad eventus — haec cubat, ille valet.
Nos quoque dissimili certamina mente subimus;
Nec spes par nobis nec timor aequus adest.

[¶15] Let others to recover health run through fire and sword: let them hope for relief from bitter draughts. You have no need of these: avoid only the guilt of perjury, perform the promised vow, and preserve both yourself and me. The not knowing that you were in fault, will excuse what is past; the form by which you bound yourself may have slipped out of your mind. But now you are fully admonished, both by my words, and those fetters, which, as often as you endeavour to break from them, bind you the faster. But could you get happily clear of even these, still remember that you must invoke her aid in

> Latin: Tu petis ex tuto; gravior mihi morte repulsa est,
Idque ego iam, quod tu forsan amabis, amo.
Si tibi iustitiae, si recti cura fuisset,
Cedere debueras ignibus ipse meis.
Nunc, quoniam ferus hic pro causa pugnat iniqua,
Ad quid, Cydippe, littera nostra redit?
Hic facit ut iaceas et sis suspecta Dianae;
Hunc tu, si sapias, limen adire vetes.
Hoc faciente subis tam saeva pericula vitae —
Atque utinam pro te, qui movet illa, cadat!

[¶16] the pressing hours of child-bed. She will attend; and, calling to mind the promise you made, enquire to what husband the birth belongs. If then you make a vow for your recovery, the Goddess will disregard it, knowing you to be false; if you confirm it by an oath, she still knows you can forget your engagements to the Gods themselves. I am not so much concerned for my own fate: a still greater care burthens my mind, and fills me with fear and anxiety for your life. Why do your trembling parents mourn your doubtful fate, while you keep them in ignorance of your daring crime? And why are they kept in ignorance? It is proper that you disclose all to your mother. There is nothing, Cydippe, of which you need be ashamed. Repeat all to her in order; say that I first saw you as you were engaged in the solemnities of the buskined Goddess. Tell her that, as soon as I saw you, (if perhaps you gave any attention to what I then did,) my eyes were immoveably fixed upon every limb and feature; that, while I was thus lost in admiration, (the sure sign of a growing love,) my cloak insensibly dropped from my shoulders; and that afterwards you perceived an apple, uncertain whence, come rolling towards you, but cunningly marked with ensnaring words; which, as they were read in the sacred presence of Diana, made the Goddess a witness that your faith is tied down to me.

> Latin: Quem si reppuleris, nec, quem dea damnat, amaris,
Tu tunc continuo, certe ego salvus ero.
Siste metum, virgo! stabili potiere salute,
Fac modo polliciti conscia templa colas;
Non bove mactato caelestia numina gaudent,
Sed, quae praestanda est et sine teste, fide.
Ut valeant aliae, ferrum patiuntur et ignes,
Fert aliis tristem sucus amarus opem.
Nil opus est istis; tantum periuria vita
Teque simul serva meque datamque fidem!
Praeteritae veniam dabit ignorantia culpae —
Exciderant animo foedera lecta tuo.
Admonita es modo voce mea cum casibus istis,
Quos, quotiens temptas fallere, ferre soles.
His quoque vitatis in partu nempe rogabis,
Ut tibi luciferas adferat illa manus?
Audiet et repetens quae sunt audita requiret,
Iste tibi de quo coniuge partus eat.
Promittes votum — scit te promittere falso;
Iurabis — scit te fallere posse deos!
Non agitur de me; cura maiore laboro.
Anxia sunt causa pectora nostra tua.

[¶17] But that she may not be ignorant of what was contained in the writing, repeat to her the words you at that time read in the temple. Marry without hesitation, will she say, the youth to whom the gracious Gods have joined you: let him only be my son-in-law, whom you have solemnly sworn to accept in that character. Whoever he may be, as he has already made himself agreeable to Diana, he is agreeable also to me. Such will be your mother's behaviour, if she really acts the part of a mother to you. Yet you may admonish her to enquire who and what I am; nor will she find the Goddess to have been wholly regardless of your happiness. An isle, by name Ceos, formerly ennobled by the Corycian nymphs, is surrounded by the Ægean sea. This is my native country: and, if you are pleased with illustrious names, my ancestors will not fall below your hopes. I have also riches; my morals are without reproach; and, if no other recommendations existed, love makes you mine by the justest claim. You might even be pleased with such a husband, had no vow passed your lips; such an one might be acceptable, did no prior engagement intervene. These words the illustrious huntress dictated to me in my sleep; these too wakeful love commanded me boldly to write. I am already deeply wounded by Cupid's darts; it is yours, fair nymph, to beware of being pierced by the

> Latin: Cur modo te dubiam pavidi flevere parentes,
Ignaros culpae quos facis esse tuae?
Et cur ignorent? matri licet omnia narres.
Nil tua, Cydippe, facta ruboris habent.
Ordine fac referas ut sis mihi cognita primum
Sacra pharetratae dum facit ipsa deae;
Ut te conspecta subito, si forte notasti,
Restiterim fixis in tua membra genis;
Et, te dum nimium miror, nota certa furoris,
Deciderint umero pallia lapsa meo;
Postmodo nescio qua venisse volubile malum,
Verba ferens doctis insidiosa notis,
Quod quia sit lectum sancta praesente Diana,
Esse tuam vinctam numine teste fidem
Ne tamen ignoret, scripti sententia quae sit,
Lecta tibi quondam nunc quoque verba refer.
'Nube, precor,' dicet, 'cui te bona numina iungunt;
Quem fore iurasti, sit gener ille mihi.
Quisquis is est, placeat, quoniam placet ante Dianae!'
Talis erit mater, si modo mater erit.
Sed tamen ut quaerat quis sim qualisque, videto.
Inveniet vobis consuluisse deam.

[¶18] arrows of Diana. Our welfare is inseparable; have compassion both on me and yourself. Why do you delay the only cure that remains for both? If I should accomplish this object, I will, when the sacred solemnity begins, and Delos is sprinkledwith votive blood, consecrate a golden image of the happy apple, and upon it inscribe our fates in the following distich:

> Latin: Insula, Coryciis quondam celeberrima nymphis,
Cingitur Aegaeo, nomine Cea, mari.
Illa mihi patria est; nec, si generosa probatis
Nomina, despectis arguor ortus avis.
Sunt et opes nobis, sunt et sine crimine mores;
Amplius utque nihil, me tibi iungit Amor.

[¶19] "Acontius proclaims, by the consecrated image of this apple, that the inscription engraven upon it, was fulfilled to his desire."

> Latin: Appeteres talem vel non iurata maritum;
Iuratae vel non talis habendus eram.

[¶20] But not to fatigue you, already too much exhausted by a long epistle, and to end all in the usual terms of concluding, Farewell.

> Latin: Haec tibi me in somnis iaculatrix scribere Phoebe;
Haec tibi me vigilem scribere iussit Amor;

[¶21] I READ over your letter in silent fear, nor suffered so much as a murmur to escape me, lest my tongue might rashly swear by some of the gods. I even think you would have ensnared me again, but that, as you own yourself, you knew it was enough I was once promised to you. Nor would I have read it over, but from a fear that my obstinacy might have encreased the anger of the too cruel goddess. Although I forget nothing to appease her, and adore her with the smoke of pious incense, yet the partial Goddess still remains your friend; and, according to your own wish, leaves no room to doubt, that the injury with which you are threatened is the cause of her resentment. Scarcely was she so favorable to her own Hippolytus.

> Latin: E quibus alterius mihi iam nocuere sagittae,
Alterius noceant ne tibi tela, cave!
Iuncta salus nostra est — miserere meique tuique;
Quid dubitas unam ferre duobus opem?
Quod si contigerit, cum iam data signa sonabunt,
Tinctaque votivo sanguine Delos erit,
Aurea ponetur mali felicis imago,
Causaque versiculis scripta duobus erit:
Effigie pomi testatur Acontius huius
Quae fuerint in eo scripta fuisse rata.
Longior infirmum ne lasset epistula corpus
Clausaque consueto sit sibi fine: vale!

[¶22] It is surely more proper for a virgin, not to shorten a virgin's years: I am afraid she has only allotted a few to fulfil my fate. For the wasting illness remains; the cause lies hidden; and I languish without hope of relief from the physician. You can scarcely conceive how thin and feeble I am, when I write you this, or with what difficulty I support my wasted limbs in the bed. I am also full of apprehensions, that some beside my faithful nurse may know of our thus conversing with each other. She always sits by the door, and, that I may write to you with the greater security, tells every one who enquires after me, that I am asleep. But when sleep, the best pretence in the world for long privacy, ceases to be a plausible excuse for the tedious retirement, and when she observes persons coming, to whom she can hardly with a good countenance deny admittance, she coughs, and warns me of the danger by some known sign.

> Latin: [Littera pervenit tua, quo consuevit, Aconti,]
[Et paene est oculis insidiate meis. ]
Pertimui, scriptumque tuum sine murmure legi,
Iuraret ne quos inscia lingua deos.
Et, puto, captasses iterum, nisi, ut ipse fateris,
Promissam scires me satis esse semel.
Nec lectura fui, sed, si tibi dura fuissem,
Aucta foret saevae forsitan ira deae.
Omnia cum faciam, cum dem pia tura Dianae,
Illa tamen iusta plus tibi parte favet,
Utque cupis credi, memori te vindicat ira;
Talis in Hippolyto vix fuit illa suo.
At melius virgo favisset virginis annis,
Quos vereor paucos ne velit esse mihi.
Languor enim causis non apparentibus haeret;
Adiuvor et nulla fessa medentis ope.

[¶23] Intent as I am, I leave the half-written words, and slip the well-dissembled epistle into my beating bosom. I take it out thence when alone; and it again fatigues my moving fingers. Judge only yourself what pain and anxiety it costs me. And yet (to be honest) let me die if you deserve it; but I am kind beyond what is due, or even what you could in reason expect. Have I then, on your account, so often hazarded my life? Have I suffered, and do I still suffer the punishment of your too successful artifice? Is this the fruit I reap from a beauty that made you an admirer? And must I pay so dearly for appearing agreeable to you? Had it been my good fortune to seam ugly, how happily might I have escaped this train of disasters! Now, because I am admired, I groan in anguish; now I am undone by your rival contentious, and perish by the wounds I receive from my own beauty. For while you refuse to yield, and he imagines himself in no respect your inferior, each stands an invincible obstacle to the other's desires. I, in the mean time, am tossed like an uncertain ship, driven by a strong North-wind to the open sea, but forcibly kept back by the tide and waves. When now the nuptial day, so earnestly wished by my dear parents, is at hand, a burning fever spreads over all my joints; and, at the very time

> Latin: Quam tibi nunc gracilem vix haec rescribere quamque
Pallida vix cubito membra levare putas?
Nunc timor accedit, ne quis nisi conscia nutrix
Colloquii nobis sentiat esse vices.
Ante fores sedet haec quid agamque rogantibus intus,
Ut possim tuto scribere, 'dormit,' ait.
Mox, ubi, secreti longi causa optima, somnus
Credibilis tarda desinit esse mora,
Iamque venire videt quos non admittere durum est,
Excreat et dicta dat mihi signa nota.
Sicut erant, properans verba inperfecta relinquo,
Et tegitur trepido littera coepta sinu.
Inde meos digitos iterum repetita fatigat;
Quantus sis nobis adspicis ipse labor.
Quo peream si dignus eras, ut vera loquamur;
Sed melior iusto quamque mereris ego.
Ergo te propter totiens incerta salutis
Commentis poenas doque dedique tuis?
Haec nobis formae te laudatore superbae
Contingit merces? et placuisse nocet?
Si tibi deformis, quod mallem, visa fuissem,
Culpatum nulla corpus egeret ope;

[¶24] appointed for the threatening solemnity, stern Proserpine knocks hideous at the palace gate. I blush; and, though conscious of no crime, dread that I may be thought to have in some respect merited the wrath of Heaven.

> Latin: Nunc laudata gemo, nunc me certamine vestro
Perditis, et proprio vulneror ipsa bono.
Dum neque tu cedis, nec se putat ille secundum,
Tu votis obstas illius, ille tuis.

[¶25] Some imagine that my illness is merely from chance; others pretend that the present nuptials are not favored by the Gods. Nor think that you have wholly escaped censure on this occasion; for many believe it brought on by your dark contrivances. The cause is unknown: my sufferings appear to all. You, banishing peace, are engaged in restless opposition: I bear the punishment of all. It is now indeed my desire that you continue to deceive me in the manner usual to you: for what will you do in your hatred, if, where you love, you create so much mischief? If you thus bring misery upon every thing you love, it will be wise in you to love your enemy. Pray make it your wish that I may be

> Latin: Ipsa velut navis iactor quam certus in altum
Propellit Boreas, aestus et unda refert,
Cumque dies caris optata parentibus instat,
Inmodicus pariter corporis ardor adest —
Ei mihi, coniugii tempus crudelis ad ipsum
Persephone nostras pulsat acerba fores!
Iam pudet, et timeo, quamvis mihi conscia non sim,
Offensos videar ne meruisse deos.
Accidere haec aliquis casu contendit, at alter
Acceptum superis hunc negat esse virum;

[¶26] undone; for this only, I find, can save me. Either you have lost all regard for the girl you so much loved and coveted, in thus cruelly suffering her to perish by an undeserved fate: or, if you in vain supplicate the unrelenting Goddess in my behalf, why do you boast of her concern for you? It is evident that you have no farther power with her. Choose which you will. If you are not inclined to mitigate the Goddess, this is being forgetful of me; if you cannot, she has then abandoned you. Oh! I could wish that Delos, surrounded by the Ægean sea, had remained ever unknown to me, or at least had not been visited by me at that time. The ship that carried me, sailed through an inauspicious sea; and in an unhappy hour I entered upon the intended voyage. With what foot did I first set out? With what step did I leave the gate of my father's house, or touch the painted texture of the nimble bark? Twice our sails drove

> Latin: Neve nihil credas in te quoque dicere famam,
Facta veneficiis pars putat ista tuis.
Causa latet, mala nostra patent; vos pace movetis
Aspera submota proelia, plector ego!
Dic age nunc, solitoque tibi ne decipe more:
Quid facies odio, sic ubi amore noces?
Si laedis, quod amas, hostem sapienter amabis —
Me, precor, ut serves, perdere, dire, velis!
Aut tibi iam nulla est speratae cura puellae,
Quam ferus indigna tabe perire sinis,
Aut, dea si frustra pro me tibi saeva rogatur,
Qua mihi te iactes, gratia nulla tua est.
Elige, quid fingas: non vis placare Dianam —
Inmemor es nostri; non potes — illa tui est!
Vel numquam mallem vel non mihi tempore in illo
Esset in Aegaeis cognita Delos aquis!

[¶27] us back, swelled by adverse winds. Adverse did I say? far from it: that indeed was the favorable gale. That, I say, was the favorable gale, which retarded my unhappy steps, and struggled to prevent an ill fated voyage. How I wish that it had continued obstinately to oppose the spreading sails! But it is ridiculous to complain of the inconstancy of the wind. Attracted by the fame of the place, I was eager to come within sight of Delos, and seemed to traverse the deep with languid pace. How often did I chide the oars, as slow in bearing us along? How often complain that our sails were not stretched by the stinted blasts? And now I had passed Mycone, Tenos, and Andros, and bright Delos was within view; which I no sooner saw, that I cried out, Why does the island seem to fly me? Do you, as in time past, fluctuate in the vast ocean? Nor reached I land till towards the close of day, when Phœbus was preparing to unharness his purple horses. When these had been recalled to their accustomed way, my mother gave orders to dress my flowing locks. She

> Latin: Tunc mea difficili deducta est aequore navis,
Et fuit ad coeptas hora sinistra vias.
Quo pede processi! quo me pede limine movi!
Picta citae tetigi quo pede texta ratis!
Bis tamen adverso redierunt carbasa vento —
Mentior, a demens! ille secundus erat!
Ille secundus erat qui me referebat euntem,
Quique parum felix inpediebat iter.
Atque utinam constans contra mea vela fuisset —
Sed stultum est venti de levitate queri.
Mota loci fama properabam visere Delon
Et facere ignava puppe videbar iter.
Quam saepe ut tardis feci convicia remis,
Questaque sum vento lintea parca dari!
Et iam transieram Myconon, iam Tenon et Andron,
Inque meis oculis candida Delos erat;

[¶28] adorned my fingers with gems, and my tresses with braids of gold, and threw over my shoulders the embroidered robe. We then walked towards the temple, and offered frankincense and wine to the guardian deities of the island. While my mother was engaged in sprinkling the altars with votive blood, and throwing the sacred entrails upon the smoking fuel, my officious nurse led me through the several courts of the temple, and we traversed the sacred place with wandering steps. Sometimes I walked under magnificent porticoes, sometimes admired the rich gifts of kings, and the finished statues that adorned every part. I admired too the famous altar made of innumerable horns wonderfully derfully joined together, and the tree that supported the pregnant Goddess; with whatever other curiosities (for I cannot now recollect them, nor am I inclined to mention all I then saw) Delos boasts.

> Latin: Quam procul ut vidi, 'quid me fugis, insula,' dixi,
'Laberis in magno numquid, ut ante, mari?'
Institeram terrae, cum iam prope luce peracta
Demere purpureis sol iuga vellet equis.
Quos idem solitos postquam revocavit ad ortus,
Comuntur nostrae matre iubente comae.
Ipsa dedit gemmas digitis et crinibus aurum,
Et vestes umeris induit ipsa meis.
Protinus egressae superis, quibus insula sacra est,
Flava salutatis tura merumque damus;
Dumque parens aras votivo sanguine tingit,
Sectaque fumosis ingerit exta focis,
Sedula me nutrix altas quoque ducit in aedes,
Erramusque vago per loca sacra pede.
Et modo porticibus spatior modo munera regum
Miror et in cunctis stantia signa locis;

[¶29] While I was thus busy in viewing every thing, you, Acontius, by chance espied me; and my simplicity made me seem fit to be ensnared. I returned to the temple of Diana, placed high on rising steps. What place should yield a surer defence from harm than this?

> Latin: Miror et innumeris structam de cornibus aram,
Et de qua pariens arbore nixa dea est,
Et quae praeterea — neque enim meminive libetve
Quidquid ibi vidi dicere — Delos habet.

[¶30] The apple, with the insidious lines, is thrown at my feet. Ah me! I had almost sworn to you a second time. My nurse first took it up; and wondering what it might be, desired me to read it. I read, too successful poet, your ensnaring words. At the name of wedlock, overwhelmed with shame, I felt a blush spread over all my face: my eyes remained fixed upon my bosom, those eyes which had been so subservient to your deceitful aims. Traitor, why do you triumph? What glory will this add to your name? Or where can be the praise, to have deluded an unsuspecting maid? I did not stand fenced with a buckler, and armed with an Amazonian axe, like Penthesilea when she traversed the Ilian plains. No girdle adorned with studs of gold, as that gained from Hippolyte, remains the prize of your victory. What cause of boasting that I was deceived by your well-framed words, or that an unthinking imprudent girl should fall into the cunning snare? Cydippe was deceived by an apple; it was an apple that deceived also Atalanta. You are now be-

> Latin: Forsitan haec spectans a te spectabar, Aconti,
Visaque simplicitas est mea posse capi.
In templum redeo gradibus sublime Dianae —
Tutior hoc ecquis debuit esse locus?
Mittitur ante pedes malum cum carmine tali —
Ei mihi, iuravi nunc quoque paene tibi!
Sustulit hoc nutrix mirataque 'perlege!' dixit.
Insidias legi, magne poeta, tuas!
Nomine coniugii dicto confusa pudore,
Sensi me totis erubuisse genis,
Luminaque in gremio veluti defixa tenebam —
Lumina propositi facta ministra tui.
Inprobe, quid gaudes? aut quae tibi gloria parta est?
Quidve vir elusa virgine laudis habes?
Non ego constiteram sumpta peltata securi,
Qualis in Iliaco Penthesilea solo;
Nullus Amazonio caelatus balteus auro,
Sicut ab Hippolyte, praeda relata tibi est.

[¶31] come a second Hippomenes. Doubtless it had been better (if urged by the little boy, who, you say, wounds with I know not what dangerous arrows), according to the rule inviolable with men of honor, not to debase your hope by fraud. I ought to have been openly solicited, not artfully circumvented. Why did you not think of asking me in marriage, and urging those considerations that might have made you appear worthy of being solicited by me? Why did you prefer deceit to persuasion, if the knowlege of your rank was sufficient to have gained me? What advantage can you expect from the form of the oath you tendered, or my tongue's invoking the present Goddess? It is the mind that swears; but no oath binds me there. It is that only can give authority to what we say. Design, and a soul conscious of its own views, can alone give validity to an oath; nor can any chains bind us, but those of the judgment. If my consent accompanied the promise I made to be joined to you in wedlock, you are at liberty to insist upon the rights of a nuptial bed: but if all amounted only to a few sounds, without will or meaning, it is in vain to depend upon words destitute of validity. I took no oath, I barely read a form; nor was that a

> Latin: Verba quid exultas tua si mihi verba dederunt,
Sumque parum prudens capta puella dolis?
Cydippen pomum, pomum Schoeneida cepit;
Tu nunc Hippomenes scilicet alter eris!
At fuerat melius, si te puer iste tenebat,
Quem tu nescio quas dicis habere faces,
More bonis solito spem non corrumpere fraude;
Exoranda tibi, non capienda fui!
Cur, me cum peteres, ea non profitenda putabas,
Propter quae nobis ipse petendus eras?
Cogere cur potius quam persuadere volebas,
Si poteram audita condicione capi?
Quid tibi nunc prodest iurandi formula iuris
Linguaque praesentem testificata deam?
Quae iurat, mens est. sed nil iuravimus illa;
Illa fidem dictis addere sola potest.
Consilium prudensque animi sententia iurat,
Et nisi iudicii vincula nulla valent.
Si tibi coniugium volui promittere nostrum,
Exige polliciti debita iura tori;

[¶32] decent way of choosing a husband. Endeavour by the same artifice to deceive others; let the apple be followed by an epistle; if a promise thus made binds, make over to yourself the large possessions of the rich. Make kings swear that they will resign to you their dominions, and artfully secure whatever on earth is to your liking. Believe me, this would make you more considerable than even Diana herself, if every letter you write commands the care of so powerful a Goddess.

> Latin: Sed si nil dedimus praeter sine pectore vocem,
Verba suis frustra viribus orba tenes.
Non ego iuravi — legi iurantia verba;
Vir mihi non isto more legendus eras.
Decipe sic alias — succedat epistula pomo!
Si valet hoc, magnas ditibus aufer opes;
Fac iurent reges sua se tibi regna daturos,
Sitque tuum toto quidquid in orbe placet!

[¶33] And yet, after all I have said, after this peremptory refusal to be yours, and fully weighing the case of my extorted promise, I must own that I still dread the wrath of avenging Diana, and suspect that the present calamity comes from her hand. For why, as oft as the nuptial rites are to be solemnised, do the languid joints of the bride sink under a load of sickness? Thrice glad Hymen approaching the sacred altars fled: thrice he turned away frighted from my chamber-door. The lamps too, thrice filled up by the wearied hand, are with difficulty lighted; scarcely are they to be lighted up by the flaming torch. Ointments often distil upon his hair crowned with garlands; and his mantle, of bright saffron dye, sweeps the ground. But no sooner did he reach our gates, than nought was to be seen but tears, a dread of my approaching fate, and every thing the reverse of his joyful rites. Instantly he tears the crown from

> Latin: Maior es hoc ipsa multum, mihi crede, Diana,
Si tua tam praesens littera numen habet.
Cum tamen haec dixi, cum me tibi firma negavi,
Cum bene promissi causa peracta mei est,
Confiteor, timeo saevae Latoidos iram
Et corpus laedi suspicor inde meum.
Nam quare, quotiens socialia sacra parantur,
Nupturae totiens languida membra cadunt?
Ter mihi iam veniens positas Hymenaeus ad aras
Fugit, et a thalami limine terga dedit,
Vixque manu pigra totiens infusa resurgunt
Lumina, vix moto corripit igne faces.
Saepe coronatis stillant unguenta capillis
Et trahitur multo splendida palla croco.

[¶34] his mournful forehead, and wipes the rich essence from his flowing tresses. He is ashamed to appear joyful in so disconsolate a crowd; and the red that was in his mantle, mounts into his face. But my limbs are wasted by the raging heat of a fever, and the coverings seem to press upon me with double weight. I see my parents weeping over me with earnest looks; and, instead of the nuptial, am threatened with the funeral torch. Compassionate my sufferings, O Goddess that delightest in the painted bow; and grant me relief by the healthrestoring aid of your brother. It is a reproach upon you, that he should ward off the causes of death, while you bear the blame of my untimely fate. Did I ever, as you bathed in a shady fountain, impertinently gaze at you in your retirement? Did I neglect to offer sacrifice to you alone of all the heavenly powers? Or did my mother ever treat Latona with contempt? I have offended in nothing but reading what led me into an unwilling perjury, and understanding too well the force of those ensnaring lines. But do you also, Acontius, if

> Latin: Cum tetigit limen, lacrimas mortisque timorem
Cernit et a cultu multa remota suo,
Et pudet in tristi laetum consurgere turba,
Quique erat in palla, transit in ora rubor.
Proicit ipse sua deductas fronte coronas,
Spissaque de nitidis tergit amoma comis;
At mihi, vae miserae! torrentur febribus artus
Et gravius iusto pallia pondus habent,
Nostraque plorantes video super ora parentes,
Et face pro thalami fax mihi mortis adest.
Parce laboranti, picta dea laeta pharetra,
Daque salutiferam iam mihi fratris opem.
Turpe tibi est, illum causas depellere leti,
Te contra titulum mortis habere meae.
Numquid, in umbroso cum velles fonte lavari,
Inprudens vultus ad tua labra tuli,
Praeteriive tuas de tot caelestibus aras,
Ave mea spreta est vestra parente parens?

[¶35] the love you pretend is not mere dissimulation, offer incense for me; and let the hands that have done me so much hurt, be now employed for my relief. Why does the Goddess, so much incensed that the maid promised to your embrace brace has not yet fulfilled her vow, herself obstruct the execution of that promise? Every thing is to be hoped from the living. Why does the cruel Goddess threaten to take away my life, and blast all your promising hopes? Nor would I have you imagine that he to whom I am destined for a wife, is suffered to cherish my sickly limbs with his gentle hand. He sits indeed at my bed-side, for that is allowed him; but he at the same time remembers that mine is the bed of a virgin. Besides, he seems to be sensible of my coldness; for tears often fall from him, without any apparent cause. He caresses me with less boldness, and seldom snatches kisses: when he calls me his dear, it is with a faltering tongue.

> Latin: Nil ego peccavi, nisi quod periuria legi
Inque parum fausto carmine docta fui.
Tu quoque pro nobis, si non mentiris amorem,
Tura feras; prosint, quae nocuere, manus!
Cur, qui succenses quod adhuc tibi pacta puella
Non tua sit, fieri ne tua possit, agis?
Omnia de viva tibi sunt speranda; quid aufert
Saeva mihi vitam, spem tibi diva mei?
Nec tu credideris illum, cui destinor uxor,
Aegra superposita membra fovere manu.
Adsidet ille quidem, quantum permittitur, ipse
Sed meminit nostrum virginis esse torum.
Iam quoque nescio quid de me sensisse videtur;
Nam lacrimae causa saepe latente cadunt,
Et minus audacter blanditur et oscula rara
Applicat et timido me vocat ore suam.

[¶36] Nor do I wonder that he perceives my repugnance to his addresses, when I myself have betrayed it by manifest sings. If he approaches the bed, I turn upon my other side. I refuse to speak, and close my eyes, as if inclined to sleep; or, if he offers to touch me with his hand, reject it with some warmth. He groans and sighs within himself; and, though far from deserving such usage, observes me cold and averse to him. Ah me, how you rejoice! what pleasure this confession gives you! How silly to own thus frankly my

> Latin: Nec miror sensisse, notis cum prodar apertis;
In dextrum versor, cum venit ille, latus,
Nec loquor, et tecto simulatur lumine somnus,
Captantem tactus reicioque manum.
Ingemit et tacito suspirat pectore, meque
Offensam, quamvis non mereatur, habet.
Ei mihi, quod gaudes, et te iuvat ista voluntas!
Ei mihi, quod sensus sum tibi fassa meos!

[¶37] thoughts of him! If I were to speak like myself, you, who contrived these snares for me, were far more deserving of my disdain. You write for leave to visit me in my present illness. You are far from me; and yet, distant as you are, you wound deeply. I wondered with myself how you came to be named Acontius; but find now that you can dart wounds from far. It is certain that I have not yet recovered from this wound, pierced from far by your letter, as by a javelin. But to what end should you come here? To see my feeble body, the double trophy of your ingenuity? I am wasted to a skeleton, my color is become pale, such as I remember to have observed in the apple you threw at me. My fair cheeks are no more adorned with a becoming red, but have rather the appearance of newly-polished marble; or silver at a feast, when deadened by the chillness of water. Were you to see me now, you would deny me to be the same with her you first saw, nor think me worthy to be sought by so

> Latin: At mihi siqua foret, tu nostra iustius ira,
Qui mihi tendebas retia, dignus eras.
Scribis, ut invalidum liceat tibi visere corpus.
Es procul a nobis, et tamen inde noces.
Mirabar quare tibi nomen Acontius esset;
Quod faciat longe vulnus, acumen habes.
Certe ego convalui nondum de vulnere tali,
Ut iaculo scriptis eminus icta tuis.
Quid tamen huc venias? sane miserabile corpus,
Ingenii videas magna tropaea tui!
Concidimus macie; color est sine sanguine, qualem
In pomo refero mente fuisse tuo,
Candida nec mixto sublucent ora rubore.
Forma novi talis marmoris esse solet;
Argenti color est inter convivia talis,
Quod tactum gelidae frigore pallet aquae.

[¶38] many artifices. You would gladly release me from the promise I made of being joined to you for ever, and wish that the Goddess herself might also cease to exact the performance. Perhaps too you might endeavour to make me swear the contrary of my former oath, and throw at me another form of words, to be in like manner read over. Yet I could wish that according to your request you might see me, and learn the feeble condition of one whom you wish for your bride. Had you a heart, Acontius, more hard than steel, yet you could not forbear addressing the Gods in my behalf. But not to keep you ignorant of the only means left to restore me to my health, recourse has been had to the God who predicts futurity at Delphi. He also, as fame reports, complains of broken vows. This a God, this a poet, this even my own lines proclaim. But nothing of that kind is wanting to give force to your wishes. Whence all this favor to you? unless perhaps you have found the secret to bind the Gods themselves by a new form of words. If you thus find the Gods propitious, it is fit that I submit to their will, and, as they have made you their choice, make you also mine. I have already acquainted my mother with the vow into which you artfully betrayed me; keeping my eyes, full of shame, fixed all the time upon the ground. The rest must be left to your care: it is even more than becomes a virgin, that I have thus ventured to make known my sentiments to you by a letter. My feeble fingers are now sufficiently tired by the pen, and my sickly hand is unable to bear longer fatigue. What remains for me to write, but that it is now my wish to be for ever thine? Farewell.

> Latin: Si me nunc videas, visam prius esse negabis,
'Arte nec est,' dices, 'ista petita mea,'
Promissique fidem, ne sim tibi iuncta, remittes,
Et cupies illud non meminisse deam.
Forsitan et facies iurem ut contraria rursus,
Quaeque legam mittes altera verba mihi.
Sed tamen adsideas utinam, quod et ipse rogabas,
Et videas sponsae languida membra tuae!
Durius ut ferro iam sit tibi pectus, Aconti,
Tu veniam nostris vocibus ipse petas.
Ne tamen ignores ope qua revalescere possim,
Quaeritur a Delphis fata canente deo.
Is quoque nescio quam, nunc ut vaga fama susurrat,
Neclectam queritur teste sorore fidem.
Hoc deus, hoc vates, hoc edita carmina dicunt —
A! desunt voto numina nulla tuo!
Unde tibi favor hic? nisi si nova forte reperta est
Quae capiat magnos littera lecta deos.
Teque tenente deos numen sequor ipsa deorum,
Doque libens victas in tua vota manus;
Fassaque sum matri deceptae foedera linguae
Lumina fixa tenens plena pudoris humo.
Cetera cura tua est; plus hoc quoque virgine factum,
Non timuit tecum quod mea charta loqui.
Iam satis invalidos calamo lassavimus artus,
Et manus officium longius aegra negat.
Quid, nisi, quod cupio me iam coniungere tecum,
Restat, ut adscribat littera nostra: Vale?