---
title: "The Cure for Love · Remedia Amoris"
author: "Ovid"
translator: "Nahum Tate"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/
cite: "Ovid, tr. Nahum Tate, The Cure for Love · Remedia Amoris. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/"
---

# The Cure for Love · Remedia Amoris

*Ovid, tr. Nahum Tate*

Advice on how to fall out of love, from the poet who taught the art of it.

> Latin: ed. Rudolf Ehwald, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0959.phi005, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Nahum Tate, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0959.phi005.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.

## Contents

1. [Lines 1–406](https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/1.md)
2. [Lines 407–814](https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/2.md)

## 1. Lines 1–406

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/1/#p-N

[¶0] The title of this book when Cupid spied,
"Treason! a plot against our state," he cried.
Why should you thus your loyal poet wrong,
Who in your war has serv'd so well and long?
So savage and ill-bred I ne'er can prove,
Like Diomede, to wound the queen of love.
Others by fits have felt your am'rous flame,
I still have been, and still your martyr am;
Rules for your vot'ries I did late impart.
Refining passion, and made love an art.
Nor do I now of that or thee take leave,
Nor does the muse her former web unweave.
Let him who loves, where love success may find,
Spread all his sails before the prosp'rous wind;
But let poor youths who female scorn endure,
And hopeless burn, repair to me for cure:
For why should any worthy youth destroy
Himself, because some worthless nymph is coy?
Love should be nature's friend; let hemp and steel
Hangmen and heroes use, whose trade's to kill.
Where fatal it would prove, let passion cease;
Nor love destroy, who should our race increase.
A child you are, and like a child should play;
And gentle as your years should be your sway.
Keen arrows, and to wound the hardest hearts,
You are permitted-but no mortal darts.
Let your step-father, Mars, on sword and spear,
The crimson stains of cruel conquest wear;
You should your mother's milder laws observe,
Who ne'er did childless parent's curse deserve;
Or if you must employ your wanton pow'r,
Teach youths by night to force their mistress' door:
How lovers safe and secretly may meet,
And subtle wives the cautious husband cheat.
Let now th' excluded youth the gate caress,
A thousand wheedling soothing plaints express;
Then on th' ill-natur'd timber vent his spite,
And to some doleful tune weep out the night.
For tears, not blood, love's altar should require:
Love's torch, design'd to kindle kind desire,
Must seem profan'd to light a fun'ral fire."
Thus I. —— The god his purple wings display'd.
And, "Forward, finish your design," he said.

> Latin: Legerat huius Amor titulum nomenque libelli:
'Bella mihi, video, bella parantur' ait.
'Parce tuum vatem sceleris damnare, Cupido,
Tradita qui toties te duce signa tuli.
Non ego Tydides, a quo tua saucia mater
In liquidum rediit aethera Martis equis.
Saepe tepent alii iuvenes: ego semper amavi,
Et si, quid faciam, nunc quoque, quaeris, amo.
Quin etiam docui, qua posses arte parari,
Et quod nunc ratio est, impetus ante fuit.
Nec te, blande puer, nec nostras prodimus artes,
Nec nova praeteritum Musa retexit opus.
Siquis amat quod amare iuvat, feliciter ardens
Gaudeat, et vento naviget ille suo.
At siquis male fert indignae regna puellae,
Ne pereat, nostrae sentiat artis opem.
Cur aliquis laqueo collum nodatus amator
A trabe sublimi triste pependit onus?
Cur aliquis rigido fodit sua pectora ferro?
Invidiam caedis, pacis amator, habes.
Qui, nisi desierit, misero periturus amore est,
Desinat; et nulli funeris auctor eris.
Et puer es, nec te quicquam nisi ludere oportet:
Lude; decent annos mollia regna tuos.
[Nam poteras uti nudis ad bella sagittis:]
[Sed tua mortifero sanguine tela carent.]
Vitricus et gladiis et acuta dimicet hasta,
Et victor multa caede cruentus eat:
Tu cole maternas, tuto quibus utimur, artes,
Et quarum vitio nulla fit orba parens.
Effice nocturna frangatur ianua rixa,
Et tegat ornatas multa corona fores:
Fac coeant furtim iuvenes timidaeque puellae,
Verbaque dent cauto qualibet arte viro:
Et modo blanditias rigido, modo iurgia posti
Dicat et exclusus flebile cantet amans.
His lacrimis contentus eris sine crimine mortis;
Non tua fax avidos digna subire rogos.'
Haec ego: movit Amor gemmatas aureus alas,
Et mihi 'propositum perfice' dixit 'opus.'

[¶1] To me, ye injured youths, for help repair,
Who hopeless languish for some cruel fair;
I'll now unteach the art I taught before,
The hand that wounded shall your health restore.
One soil can herbs and pois'nous weeds disclose:
The nettle oft is neighbour to the rose.
Such was the cure the Arcadian hero found;
The Pelian spear that wounded, made him sound.
But know, the rules that I to men prescribe,
In like distress may serve the female tribe:
And when beyond your sphere my methods go,
You may, at least, infer what you should do.
When flames beyond their useful bounds aspire,
'Tis charity to quench the threat'ning fire.
Nine visits to the shore poor Phillis made;
Had I advis'd, the tenth she should have paid.
Nor had Demophoon, when return'd from sea,
For his expected bride embraced a tree,
Nor Dido, from her flaming pile, by night,
Discover'd her ungrateful Trojan's flight.
Nor had that mother dire revenge pursu'd,
Who in her offspring's blood her hands imbu'd.
Fair Philomel, preserv'd from Tereus' rape
Her honour she had kept, and he his shape.
Pasiphae ne'er had felt such wild desire,
Nor Phoedra suffered by incestuous fire.
Let me the wanton Paris take in hand,
Helen shall be restor'd, and Troy shall stand.
My wholesome precepts had lewd Scylla read,
The purple lock had grown on Nisus' head.
Learn, youths, from me, to curb the desp'rate force
Of love, and steer, by my advice, your course.
By reading me, you first receiv'd your bane;
Now, for an antidote, read me again:
From scornful beauty's chains I'll set you free,
Consent but you to your own liberty.
Phoebus, thou god of physic and of verse,
Assist the healing numbers I rehearse;
Direct at once my med'cines and my song,
For to thy care both provinces belong.

> Latin: Ad mea, decepti iuvenes, praecepta venite,
Quos suus ex omni parte fefellit amor.
Discite sanari, per quem didicistis amare:
Una manus vobis vulnus opemque feret.
Terra salutares herbas, eademque nocentes
Nutrit, et urticae proxima saepe rosa est;
Vulnus in Herculeo quae quondam fecerat hoste,
Vulneris auxilium Pelias hasta tulit.
Sed quaecumque viris, vobis quoque dicta, puellae,
Credite: diversis partibus arma damus,
E quibus ad vestros siquid non pertinet usus,
Attamen exemplo multa docere potest.
Utile propositum est saevas extinguere flammas,
Nec servum vitii pectus habere sui.
Vixisset Phyllis, si me foret usa magistro,
Et per quod novies, saepius isset iter;
Nec moriens Dido summa vidisset ab arce
Dardanias vento vela dedisse rates;
Nec dolor armasset contra sua viscera matrem,
Quae socii damno sanguinis ulta virum est.
Arte mea Tereus, quamvis Philomela placeret,
Per facinus fieri non meruisset avis.
Da mihi Pasiphaën, iam tauri ponet amorem:
Da Phaedram, Phaedrae turpis abibit amor.
Crede Parim nobis, Helenen Menelaus habebit,
Nec manibus Danais Pergama victa cadent.
Impia si nostros legisset Scylla libellos,
Haesisset capiti purpura, Nise, tuo.
Me duce damnosas, homines, conpescite curas,
Rectaque cum sociis me duce navis eat.
Naso legendus erat tum, cum didicistis amare:
Idem nunc vobis Naso legendus erit.
Publicus assertor dominis suppressa levabo
Pectora: vindictae quisque favete suae.
Te precor incipiens, adsit tua laurea nobis,
Carminis et medicae, Phoebe, repertor opis.
Tu pariter vati, pariter succurre medenti:
Utraque tutelae subdita cura tua est.

[¶2] While the soft passion plays about your heart,
Before the tickling venom turns to smart,
Break then, (for then you may,) the treach'rous dart;
Tear up the seeds of the unrooted ill
While they are weak, and you have pow'r to kill.
Beware delay: the tender-bladed grain,
Shot up to stalk, can stand the wind and rain.
The tree, whose branches now are grown too big
For hands to bend, was set a slender twig;
When planted, to your slightest touch 'twould yield,
But now has fix'd possession of the field.
Consider, ere to love you give the reins,
If she's a mistress worth your future pains.
While yet in breath, ere yet your nerves are broke,
Cast from your gen'rous neck the shameful yoke!
Check love's first symptoms, the weak foe surprise,
Who, once entrench'd, will all your arts despise.
Think, wretch, what you hereafter must endure,
What certain toil, for an uncertain cure.
Slip not one minute; who defers to day,
To-morrow will be harden'd in delay.
'Tis love's old practice still to sooth you on
Till your disease gets strength, and till your
strength is gone.
Rivers small fountains have, and yet we find
Vast seas, of those small fountain'd rivers join'd.
Lock'd up in bark poor Myrrha ne'er had been,
Had she the progress of her crime foreseen;
But pleas'd with the soft kindling of love's fire,
We day by day indulge the fond desire,
Till like a serpent it has eat its way,
And uncontroll'd does on our entrails prey.
Yet if the proper season you have pass'd,
Tho' hard the task, I'll use my skill at last;
Nor see my patient perish by his grief,
Because no sooner call'd to his relief.
When Philoctetes first receiv'd his wound,
The venom'd part cut off, had sav'd the sound;
Yet he, e'en after tedious years of grief,
Was cur'd, and brought the fainting Greeks relief.
Thus I, who charg'd you speedy means to use,
Will none in last extremities refuse.

> Latin: Dum licet, et modici tangunt praecordia motus,
Si piget, in primo limine siste pedem.
Opprime, dum nova sunt, subiti mala semina morbi,
Et tuus incipiens ire resistat equus.
Nam mora dat vires, teneras mora percoquit uvas,
Et validas segetes quae fuit herba, facit.
Quae praebet latas arbor spatiantibus umbras,
Quo posita est primum tempore virga fuit;
Tum poterat manibus summa tellure revelli:
Nunc stat in inmensum viribus aucta suis.
Quale sit id, quod amas, celeri circumspice mente,
Et tua laesuro subtrahe colla iugo.
Principiis obsta; sero medicina paratur,
Cum mala per longas convaluere moras.
Sed propera, nec te venturas differ in horas;
Qui non est hodie, cras minus aptus erit:
Verba dat omnis amor, reperitque alimenta morando;
Optima vindictae proxima quaeque dies.
Flumina pauca vides de magnis fontibus orta:
Plurima collectis multiplicantur aquis.
Si cito sensisses, quantum peccare parares,
Non tegeres vultus cortice, Myrrha, tuos.
Vidi ego, quod fuerat primo sanabile, vulnus
Dilatum longae damna tulisse morae.
Sed quia delectat Veneris decerpere fructum,
Dicimus adsidue 'cras quoque fiet idem.'
Interea tacitae serpunt in viscera flammae,
Et mala radices altius arbor agit.
Si tamen auxilii perierunt tempora primi,
Et vetus in capto pectore sedit amor,
Maius opus superest: sed non, quia serior aegro
Advocor, ille mihi destituendus erit.
Quam laesus fuerat, partem Poeantius heros
Certa debuerat praesecuisse manu;
Post tamen hic multos sanatus creditur annos
Supremam bellis imposuisse manum.
Qui modo nascentes properabam pellere morbos,
Admoveo tardam nunc tibi lentus opem.

[¶3] Or try to quench the kindling flames, or stay
Till the spent fury on itself doth prey.
While in its full career, give scope to rage,
And circumvent the force you can't engage.
What pilot would against the current strive,
When with a side course he may safely drive?
Distemper'd minds, distracted with their grief,
Take all for foes who offer them relief;
But when the first fermenting smart is o'er,
They suffer you to probe the ripen'd sore.
'Tis madness a fond mother to dissuade
From tears, while on his hearse her son is laid;
But when grief's deluge can no higher swell,
Declining sorrow you'll with ease repel.
Cures have their times; the best that can be tried
Inflame the wound, unseasonably applied.
If therefore you expect to find redress,
In the first place take leave of idleness;
'Tis this that kindl'd first your fond desire,
'Tis this brings fuel to the am'rous fire.
Bar idleness, you ruin Cupid's game,
You blunt his arrows, and you quench his flame.
What wine to plain-trees, streams to poplars prove,
Marshes to reeds, is idleness to love.
Mind business, if your passion you'd destroy;
Secure is he, who can himself employ.
Sleep, drinking, gaming, for the foe make way,
And to love's ambuscade the roving heart betray.
The slothful he seeks out and makes his prize.
Surely as he the mall of business flies.
Make business then (no matter what) your care;
Some dear friend's cause may want you at the bar;
Or if your courage tempts you to the field,
Love's wanton arms to rough campaigns will yield.
Parthia fresh work for triumph does afford,
Half conquer'd to your hand by Caesar's sword.
Cupid's and Parthian darts at once o'ercome,
And to your country's gods bring double trophies home.
Your sword as dreadful will to love appear,
As to his mother the Aetolian spear.
Th' adult'rous lust that did Aegisthus seize,
And brought on murder, sprang from wanton ease;
For he the only loiterer remain'd
At home, when Troy's long war the rest had drain'd;
He revell'd then at his luxurious board,
And ne'er embark'd, and ne'er unsheath'd his sword;
But while the Grecians did for glory rove,
He wasted all his idle hours on love.

> Latin: Aut nova, si possis, sedare incendia temptes,
Aut ubi per vires procubuere suas:
Dum furor in cursu est, currenti cede furori;
Difficiles aditus impetus omnis habet.
Stultus, ab obliquo qui cum descendere possit,
Pugnat in adversas ire natator aquas.
Impatiens animus nec adhuc tractabilis artem
Respuit, atque odio verba monentis habet.
Adgrediar melius tum, cum sua vulnera tangi
Iam sinet, et veris vocibus aptus erit.
Quis matrem, nisi mentis inops, in funere nati
Flere vetet? non hoc illa monenda loco est.
Cum dederit lacrimas animumque impleverit aegrum,
Ille dolor verbis emoderandus erit.
Temporis ars medicina fere est: data tempore prosunt,
Et data non apto tempore vina nocent.
Quin etiam accendas vitia inritesque vetando,
Temporibus si non adgrediare suis.
Ergo ubi visus eris nostra medicabilis arte,
Fac monitis fugias otia prima meis.
Haec, ut ames, faciunt; haec, quod fecere, tuentur;
Haec sunt iucundi causa cibusque mali.
Otia si tollas, periere Cupidinis arcus,
Contemptaeque iacent et sine luce faces.
Quam platanus vino gaudet, quam populus unda,
Et quam limosa canna palustris humo,
Tam Venus otia amat; qui finem quaeris amoris,
Cedit amor rebus: res age, tutus eris.
Languor, et inmodici sub nullo vindice somni,
Aleaque, et multo tempora quassa mero
Eripiunt omnes animo sine vulnere nervos:
Adfluit incautis insidiosus Amor.
Desidiam puer ille sequi solet, odit agentes:
Da vacuae menti, quo teneatur, opus.
Sunt fora, sunt leges, sunt, quos tuearis, amici:
Vade per urbanae splendida castra togae.
Vel tu sanguinei iuvenalia munera Martis
Suspice: deliciae iam tibi terga dabunt.
Ecce, fugax Parthus, magni nova causa triumphi,
Iam videt in campis Caesaris arma suis:
Vince Cupidineas pariter Parthasque sagittas,
Et refer ad patrios bina tropaea deos.
Ut semel Aetola Venus est a cuspide laesa,
Mandat amatori bella gerenda suo.
Quaeritur, Aegisthus quare sit factus adulter?
In promptu causa est: desidiosus erat.
Pugnabant alii tardis apud Ilion armis:
Transtulerat vires Graecia tota suas.
Sive operam bellis vellet dare, nulla gerebat:
Sive foro, vacuum litibus Argos erat.
Quod potuit, ne nil illic ageretur, amavit.
Sic venit ille puer, sic puer ille manet.

[¶4] Our country work and tillage can disarm
Your am'rous cares, for ev'ry grief a charm.
Yoke oxen, plough the painful field, you'll find
The wounded earth will cure your love-sick mind.
Then trust your grain to the new-furrow'd soil,
That with large int'rest will requite your toll.
Behold what kind returns your fruit-trees send;
Down to your hand the burden'd branches bend.
Belold a murmuring brook thro' pastures glide,
Behold the grazing sheep on either side;
While in the shade his pipe the shepherd tries,
The watchfull dog his master's cares supplies;
With loud complaints another grove is till'd
Of heifers lowing for their firstlings killd.
What pleasure 'tis with smoke of yew to drive
The mur'ring swarm, and seize the loaden hive.
All seasons friendly to the swain are found;
Autumn withfruit, with harvest summer's crown'd
The spring's adorn'd with flowers to charm the eye
And winter fires the absent sun supply.
At certain times you'll see the vintage full,
And for your wine-press may choice clusters cull;
At certain times your ponderous sheafs may bind,
Yet for the rake leave work enough behind.
In mellow ground, your plants no wat'ring need;
The thirsty you from neighb'ring springs may feed.
Then, grafting, make old stocks sprout fresh and green,
And various fruits in one proud branch be seen.
When once these pleasures have your mind possess'd,
Love soon departs like a neglected guest.
Hunt, if the dull distemper you'd remove;
Diana will too hard for Venus prove.
Thro' all her doubling shifts the hare pursue,
Or spread your toil upon the mountain's brew:
E'en when the stag's at bay provoke his rage,
Or with your spear the foaming boar engage.
Thus tir'd, your rest at night will prove so deep,
Dreams of your mistress ne'er will haunt your sleep.
'Tis easier work, yet 'twill require your care,
The feather'd game with birdlime to ensnare;
Or else for fish your bearded hook to bait,
And for your art's success with patience wait.
Thro' sports like these you'll steal into relief,
And while your time you cozen, cheat your grief.

> Latin: Rura quoque oblectant animos studiumque colendi:
Quaelibet huic curae cedere cura potest.
Colla iube domitos oneri supponere tauros,
Sauciet ut duram vomer aduncus humum:
Obrue versata Cerialia semina terra,
Quae tibi cum multo faenore reddat ager.
Aspice curvatos pomorum pondere ramos,
Ut sua, quod peperit, vix ferat arbor onus;
Aspice labentes iucundo murmure rivos;
Aspice tondentes fertile gramen oves.
Ecce, petunt rupes praeruptaque saxa capellae:
Iam referent haedis ubera plena suis;
Pastor inaequali modulatur harundine carmen,
Nec desunt comites, sedula turba, canes;
Parte sonant alia silvae mugitibus altae,
Et queritur vitulum mater abesse suum.
Quid, cum suppositos fugiunt examina fumos,
Ut relevent dempti vimina curva favi?
Poma dat autumnus: formosa est messibus aestas:
Ver praebet flores: igne levatur hiems.
Temporibus certis maturam rusticus uvam
Deligit, et nudo sub pede musta fluunt;
Temporibus certis desectas alligat herbas,
Et tonsam raro pectine verrit humum.
Ipse potes riguis plantam deponere in hortis,
Ipse potes rivos ducere lenis aquae.
Venerit insitio; fac ramum ramus adoptet,
Stetque peregrinis arbor operta comis.
Cum semel haec animum coepit mulcere voluptas,
Debilibus pinnis inritus exit Amor.
Vel tu venandi studium cole: saepe recessit
Turpiter a Phoebi victa sorore Venus.
Nunc leporem pronum catulo sectare sagaci,
Nunc tua frondosis retia tende iugis,
Aut pavidos terre varia formidine cervos,
Aut cadat adversa cuspide fossus aper.
Nocte fatigatum somnus, non cura puellae,
Excipit et pingui membra quiete levat.
Lenius est studium, studium tamen, alite capta
Aut lino aut calamis praemia parva sequi,
Vel, quae piscis edax avido male devoret ore,
Abdere sub parvis aera recurva cibis.
Aut his aut aliis, donec dediscis amare,
Ipse tibi furtim decipiendus eris.

[¶5] Or travel (tho' you find your fetter strong);
Set out betimes; your journey must be long.
You'll weep at thoughts of her you left behind,
And halting, to return be oft inclin'd.
But how much more unwilling to proceed,
Compel your feet to so much greater speed.
Advance, let nothing interrupt your way,
Nor wind nor weather, nor unlucky day.
Nor count the miles you've past, but what remain;
For loitering nigh no fond pretences feign.
Nor reckon time, nor once look back on Rome,
But fly; and, Parthian like, by flight o'ercome.
You'll call my precepts hard; I grant they are;
But for dear health who would not hardships bear;
When sick, the bitter potion I have ta'en;
And, for the food I've fancied, begg'd in vain.
Both steel and fire you'll patiently endure,
And thirst, more scorching, for your body's cure.
Can you, who thus your earthly part redeem,
For your immortal mind have less esteem?
Yet, for my patient's comfort, I must own,
When this first stage he manfully has run,
The half, the worst half of his task is done.
Gall'd with the yoke, at first the heifer draws;
The curb's first trial frets the courser's jaws.
Perhaps to leave your father's house you'll mourn;
Yet go; and think, when tempted to return,
Your kindred but the false pretence is made;
'Tis absence from your mistress does persuade.
When once set out, diversions you will meet,
Fair country prospects, and companions sweet.
Nor only travel far, but tarry long;
Nor once look homewards while your passion's strong.
Rebellious love, if he perceives you halt,
With greater fury will renew th' assault
Half-famish'd passion will more fiercely prey
And all your labor past be thrown away.

> Latin: Tu tantum quamvis firmis retinebere vinclis,
I procul, et longas carpere perge vias;
Flebis, et occurret desertae nomen amicae,
Stabit et in media pes tibi saepe via:
Sed quanto minus ire voles, magis ire memento;
Perfer, et invitos currere coge pedes.
Nec pluvias opta, nec te peregrina morentur
Sabbata, nec damnis Allia nota suis.
Nec quot transieris et quot tibi, quaere, supersint
Milia; nec, maneas ut prope, finge moras:
Tempora nec numera, nec crebro respice Romam,
Sed fuge: tutus adhuc Parthus ab hoste fuga est.
Dura aliquis praecepta vocet mea; dura fatemur
Esse; sed ut valeas, multa dolenda feres.
Saepe bibi sucos, quamvis invitus, amaros
Aeger, et oranti mensa negata mihi.
Ut corpus redimas, ferrum patieris et ignes,
Arida nec sitiens ora levabis aqua:
Ut valeas animo, quicquam tolerare negabis?
At pretium pars haec corpore maius habet.
Sed tamen est artis tristissima ianua nostrae,
Et labor est unus tempora prima pati.
Aspicis, ut prensos urant iuga prima iuvencos,
Et nova velocem cingula laedat equum?
Forsitan a laribus patriis exire pigebit:
Sed tamen exibis: deinde redire voles;
Nec te Lar patrius, sed amor revocabit amicae,
Praetendens culpae splendida verba tuae.
Cum semel exieris, centum solatia curae
Et rus et comites et via longa dabit.
Nec satis esse putes discedere; lentus abesto,
Dum perdat vires sitque sine igne cinis.
Quod nisi firmata properaris mente reverti,
Inferet arma tibi saeva rebellis Amor.
Quidquid et afueris, avidus sitiensque redibis,
Et spatium damno cesserit omne tuo.

[¶6] You'll think, when thro' Hemonian fields you rove,
That magic arts may yield a cure for love.
Old tales, of witchcraft strange effects rehearse;
The only charm I bring is sacred verse.
By my advice no jargon shall be read,
Nor midnight hag, blaspheming, raise the dead;
No standing crop to other fields shall range,
No sick eclipse the sun's complexion change;
Old Tyber shall his sacred course retain,
And Cynthia, unmolested, gain her wain.
No suffering heart to spells shall be oblig'd.
Nor love resign, by sulphur streams besieg'd.
Think on Medea, of all hopes bereft,
When fled from home, and by her lover left.
And what did Circe's powerful drugs avail,
When she beheld Ulysses under sail?
She tried her magic, charm on charm renew'd;
He with a merry gale his course pursu'd;
No force or skill the fatal dart removes,
She raves to find she loves-but still she loves.
To thousand shapes she could transform mankind,
No means to change her hated self could find.
In these soft terms, to her departing guest,
Her passion (to detain him) was exprest.
"I now no more (as when I first receiv'd
Those hopes and you, by both alike deceiv'd)
Expect that you with me should pass your life,
Nor more ambitious to be made your wife;
(Though sure my pedigree you cannot scorn;
The daughter of the son, a goddess born)
I but intreat you for a time to stay,
And urge, for your own sake, the short delay.
The seas are rough, which you have cause to fear;
Wait but a friendlier season of the year.
What haste? This isle does no new Troy afford,
No second Rhesus to employ your sword.
Love revels here, with peaceful myrtle crown'd,
And mine the only heart that feels a painful wound."
She said-his crew the swelling sails display,
That bear him and her fruitless pray'rs away.
In vain to her enchantments she returns,
Tries all, yet still in hopeless flames she burns.
For Circe's sake, all lovers I advise,
That spells, as senseless things, they would despise.

> Latin: Viderit, Haemoniae siquis mala pabula terrae
Et magicas artes posse iuvare putat.
Ista veneficii vetus est via; noster Apollo
Innocuam sacro carmine monstrat opem.
Me duce non tumulo prodire iubebitur umbra,
Non anus infami carmine rumpet humum;
Non seges ex aliis alios transibit in agros,
Nec subito Phoebi pallidus orbis erit.
Ut solet, aequoreas ibit Tiberinus in undas:
Ut solet, in niveis Luna vehetur equis.
Nulla recantatas deponent pectora curas,
Nec fugiet vivo sulpure victus amor.
Quid te Phasiacae iuverunt gramina terrae,
Cum cuperes patria, Colchi, manere domo?
Quid tibi profuerunt, Circe, Perseïdes herbae,
Cum sua Neritias abstulit aura rates?
Omnia fecisti, ne callidus hospes abiret:
Ille dedit certae lintea plena fugae.
Omnia fecisti, ne te ferus ureret ignis:
Longus in invito pectore sedit amor.
Vertere tu poteras homines in mille figuras,
Non poteras animi vertere iura tui.
Diceris his etiam, cum iam discedere vellet,
Dulichium verbis detinuisse ducem:
'Non ego, quod primo, memini, sperare solebam,
Iam precor, ut coniunx tu meus esse velis;
Et tamen, ut coniunx essem tua, digna videbar,
Quod dea, quod magni filia Solis eram.
Ne properes, oro; spatium pro munere posco:
Quid minus optari per mea vota potest?
Et freta mota vides, et debes illa timere:
Utilior velis postmodo ventus erit.
Quae tibi causa fugae? non hic nova Troia resurgit,
Non aliquis socios rursus ad arma vocat.
Hic amor et pax est, in qua male vulneror una,
Tutaque sub regno terra futura tuo est.'
Illa loquebatur, navem solvebat Ulixes:
Inrita cum velis verba tulere noti.
Ardet et adsuetas Circe decurrit ad artes,
Nec tamen est illis adtenuatus amor.
Ergo quisquis opem nostra tibi poscis ab arte,
Deme veneficiis carminibusque fidem.

[¶7] The benefits of travel I have told,
Which, for sick minds, the best relief I hold.
But if through business you must still remain
In town, and near the author of your pain;
Though 'tis a dangrous neighbourhood, I'll show
What methods there the lover must pursue.
He takes the wisest course, who from his heart
Does by mere force, wrest out the offensive dart:
Resolv'd severely once for all to smart.
A master of such courage I'll admire;
Such patients will no more advice require.
Who wants this resolution to be freed
At once, by slower methods must proceed.
To milder remedies I'll him direct,
Which yet in time, will have the wish'd effect.
Think, till the thought your indignation move,
What damage you've receiv'd by her you love:
How she has drain'd your purse; nor yet content,
'Till your estate's in costly presents spent,
And you have mortgaged your last tenement.
How she did swear, and how she was forsworn;
Not only false, but treated you with scorn:
And, since her avarice has made you poor,
Forc'd you to take your lodgings at her door:
Reserv'd to you, but others she'll caress:
The foreman of a shop shall have access.
Let these reflections on your reason win;
From seeds of anger hatred will begin;
Your rhet'ric on these topics should be spent.
Oh, that your wrongs could make you eloquent!
But grieve, and grief will teach you to enlarge,
And, like an orator, draw up the charge.

> Latin: Si te causa potens domina retinebit in Urbe,
Accipe, consilium quod sit in Urbe meum.
Optimus ille sui vindex, laedentia pectus
Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel.
Sed cui tantum animi est, illum mirabor et ipse,
Et dicam 'monitis non eget iste meis.'
Tu mihi, qui, quod amas, aegre dediscis amare,
Nec potes, et velles posse, docendus eris.
Saepe refer tecum sceleratae facta puellae,
Et pone ante oculos omnia damna tuos.
'Illud et illud habet, nec ea contenta rapina est:
Sub titulum nostros misit avara lares.
Sic mihi iuravit, sic me iurata fefellit,
Ante suas quotiens passa iacere fores!
Diligit ipsa alios, a me fastidit amari;
Institor, heu, noctes, quas mihi non dat, habet!'
Haec tibi per totos inacescant omnia sensus:
Haec refer, hinc odii semina quaere tui.
Atque utinam possis etiam facundus in illis
Esse! dole tantum, sponte disertus eris.

[¶8] A certain nymph did once my heart incline,
Whose humor wholly disagreed with mine;
(I, your physician, my disease confess)
I from my own prescriptions found redress.
Her still I represented to my mind,
With what defects I could suppose or find,
Oh, how ill-shaped her legs, how thick and short!
(Though neater limbs did never nymph support,)
Her arms, said I, how tawny brown they are!
(Though never ivory statue had so fair.)
How low of statue! (yet the nymph was tall)
Oh, for what costly presents will she call!
What change of lovers! - And of all the rest,
I find this thought strike deepest in my breast.
Such thin partitions good and ill divide,
That one for t'other may be misapplied.
E'en truth and your own judgment you must strain,
Those blemishes you cannot find, to feign:
Call her blackmoor, if she's but lovely brown;
Monster, if plump; if slender, skeleton.
Censure her free discourse as confidence;
Her silence, want of breeding and good sense.
Discover her blind side, and put her still
Upon the task which she performs but ill;
To dance, if she has neither shape nor air;
Court her to sing, if she wants voice and ear;
If talking misbecomes her, make her talk;
If walking, then in malice make her walk.
Commend her skill when on the lute she plays,
Till vanity her want of skill betrays.
Take care, if her large breasts offend your eyes,
No dress does that deformity disguise.
Ply her with merry tales of what you will,
To keep her laughing, if her teeth be ill.
Or if blear-eyed, some tragic story find,
Till she has read and wept herself quite blind.
But one effectual method you may take,-
Enter her chamber ere she's well awake:
Her beauty's art, gems, gold, and rich attire,
Make up the pageant you so much admire:
In all that specious figure which you see,
The least, least part of her own self is she;
In vain for her you love, amidst such cost,
You search; the mistress in the dress is lost.
Take her disrob'd, her real self surprise,
I'll trust you then for cure, to your own eyes.
(Yet have I known this very rule to fail,
And beauty most, when stript of art prevail.)
Steal to her closet, her close tiring place,
While she makes up her artificial face.
All colours of the rainbow you'll discern,
Washes and paints, and what you're sick to learn,
I now should treat of what may pall desire,
And quench in love's own element the fire;
For all advantages you ought to make,
And arms from love's own magazine to take:
But modesty forbids at full extent
To prosecute this luscious argument,
Which, to prevent your blushes, I shall leave
For your own fancy better to conceive,
For some of late censoriously accuse
My am'rous liberty and wanton muse.
But envy did the wit of Homer blame,
Malice gave obscure Zoilus a name.
Thus sacrilegious censure would destroy
The pious muse, who did her heart employ
To settle here the banish'd gods of Troy.
But you who at my freedom take offence,
Distinguish right before you speak your sense.
Maeonian strains alone can war resound,
No place is there for love and dalliance found.
The tragic style requires a tale distress'd,
And comedy consists of mirth and jest;
The tender elegy is love's delight,
Which to themselves pleas'd mistresses recite.
Callimachus would do Achilles wrong;
Cydippe were no theme for Homer's song.
What mortal patience could endure to see
Thais presenting chaste Andromache?
Kind Thais (none of Vesta's nuns) supplies
My song; with Thais all my business lies:
The actress, if my muse performs with art,
You must commend, tho' you dislike the part.
Burst envy; I've already got a name,
And, writing more, shall more advance my fame,
Despair not then, for, as I longer live,
Each day fresh fuel for your spleen shall give.
Thus fame's increasing gale bears me on high,
While tir'd and grovelling on the ground you lie.
Soft elegy in such esteem I've plac'd,
Not Virgil more the Epic strain has grac'd.
Censure did us to this digression force;
Now, muse, pursue thy interrupted course.
When first the nymph admits your visit, stay,
And take some other beauty in your way;
More safely thus your passion you may trust,
When you approach her charms with fainter gust;
You'll otherwise misconstrue for delight
The eagerness of your own appetite.
Desire does all; the grotto's cool retreat,
And shady grove, relieve in summer's heat;
Warm fires in winter; thirst makes water sweet.

> Latin: Haeserat in quadam nuper mea cura puella:
Conveniens animo non erat illa meo:
Curabar propriis aeger Podalirius herbis,
Et, fateor, medicus turpiter aeger eram.
Profuit adsidue vitiis insistere amicae,
Idque mihi factum saepe salubre fuit.
'Quam mala' dicebam 'nostrae sunt crura puellae!'
Nec tamen, ut vere confiteamur, erant.
'Brachia quam non sunt nostrae formosa puellae!'
Et tamen, ut vere confiteamur, erant.
'Quam brevis est!' nec erat; 'quam multum poscit amantem!'
Haec odio venit maxima causa meo.
Et mala sunt vicina bonis; errore sub illo
Pro vitio virtus crimina saepe tulit.
Qua potes, in peius dotes deflecte puellae,
Iudiciumque brevi limite falle tuum.
Turgida, si plena est, si fusca est, nigra vocetur:
In gracili macies crimen habere potest.
Et poterit dici petulans, quae rustica non est:
Et poterit dici rustica, siqua proba est.
Quin etiam, quacumque caret tua femina dote,
Hanc moveat, blandis usque precare sonis.
Exige uti cantet, siqua est sine voce puella:
Fac saltet, nescit siqua movere manum.
Barbara sermone est? fac tecum multa loquatur;
Non didicit chordas tangere? posce lyram.
Durius incedit? fac inambulet; omne papillae
Pectus habent? vitium fascia nulla tegat.
Si male dentata est, narra, quod rideat, illi;
Mollibus est oculis? quod fleat illa, refer.
Proderit et subito, cum se non finxerit ulli,
Ad dominam celeres mane tulisse gradus.
Auferimur cultu; gemmis auroque teguntur
Omnia; pars minima est ipsa puella sui.
Saepe ubi sit, quod ames, inter tam multa requiras;
Decipit hac oculos aegide dives Amor.
Improvisus ades, deprendes tutus inermem:
Infelix vitiis excidet illa suis.
Non tamen huic nimium praecepto credere tutum est:
Fallit enim multos forma sine arte decens.
Tum quoque, compositis cum collinet ora venenis,
Ad dominae vultus (nec pudor obstet) eas.
Pyxidas invenies et rerum mille colores,
Et fluere in tepidos oesypa lapsa sinus.
Illa tuas redolent, Phineu, medicamina mensas:
Non semel hinc stomacho nausea facta meo est.
Nunc tibi, quae medio veneris praestemus in usu,
Eloquar: ex omni est parte fugandus amor.
Multa quidem ex illis pudor est mihi dicere; sed tu
Ingenio verbis concipe plura meis.
Nuper enim nostros quidam carpsere libellos,
Quorum censura Musa proterva mea est.
Dummodo sic placeam, dum toto canter in orbe,
Quamlibet impugnent unus et alter opus.
Ingenium magni livor detractat Homeri:
Quisquis es, ex illo, Zoile, nomen habes.
Et tua sacrilegae laniarunt carmina linguae,
Pertulit huc victos quo duce Troia deos.
Summa petit livor; perflant altissima venti:
Summa petunt dextra fulmina missa Iovis.
At tu, quicumque es, quem nostra licentia laedit,
Si sapis, ad numeros exige quidque suos.
Fortia Maeonio gaudent pede bella referri;
Deliciis illic quis locus esse potest?
Grande sonant tragici; tragicos decet ira cothurnos:
Usibus e mediis soccus habendus erit.
Liber in adversos hostes stringatur iambus,
Seu celer, extremum seu trahat ille pedem.
Blanda pharetratos Elegia cantet Amores,
Et levis arbitrio ludat amica suo.
Callimachi numeris non est dicendus Achilles,
Cydippe non est oris, Homere, tui.
Quis feret Andromaches peragentem Thaida partes?
Peccet, in Andromache Thaida quisquis agat.
Thais in arte mea est; lascivia libera nostra est;
Nil mihi cum vitta; Thais in arte mea est.
Si mea materiae respondet Musa iocosae,
Vicimus, et falsi criminis acta rea est.
Rumpere, Livor edax: magnum iam nomen habemus;
Maius erit, tantum quo pede coepit eat.
Sed nimium properas: vivam modo, plura dolebis;
Et capiunt animi carmina multa mei.
Nam iuvat et studium famae mihi crevit honore;
Principio clivi noster anhelat equus.
Tantum se nobis elegi debere fatentur,
Quantum Vergilio nobile debet epos.
Hactenus invidiae respondimus: attrahe lora
Fortius, et gyro curre, poeta, tuo.
Ergo ubi concubitus et opus iuvenale petetur,
Et prope promissae tempora noctis erunt,
Gaudia ne dominae, pleno si corpore sumes,
Te capiant, ineas quamlibet ante velim;
Quamlibet invenias, in qua tua prima voluptas
Desinat: a prima proxima segnis erit.
Sustentata venus gratissima; frigore soles,
Sole iuvant umbrae, grata fit unda siti.

## 2. Lines 407–814

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-remedia-amoris/2/#p-N

[¶0] Now is the time your artifice to try,
Act not so much the lover as the spy;
For vanity makes all the fair presume
There's nothing which their charms can misbecome.
Take this occasion her defects to find,
When you can fix them deeply in your mind;
In the dull minute of your discontents,
(The pensive mood when sated love repents,)
To your sick thoughts her blemishes display,
And, for aversion, by those means make way.
These helps, you'll say, are trivial; I confess,
Singly they are, but join'd will have success.
By one small viper's bite an ox is killed;
The forest-boar by a less dog is held.
Unite my precepts if apart they fail,
And by resistless number you'll prevail.
But different minds for different methods call,
Nor what cures most will have effect on all;
E'en that which makes another's flame expire,
Perhaps may prove but fuel to your fire.
For one disgusted with the nymph's undress,
Grows cold and weary of her warm caress,
Another from his wanton mistress flies,
When he his rival's recent raptures spies,
Like warm desire; and he but little loves,
Whom ev'ry trifle shocks, and nothing moves.
To those I write, for my advice they need,
Whose hardy passion can unbalk'd proceed.
What think you of that lover who could lie
Concealed, to see what custom must deny?
I to no such indecent means direct,
Not to be practis'd tho' of sure effect.

> Latin: Et pudet, et dicam: venerem quoque iunge figura,
Qua minime iungi quamque decere putas.
Nec labor efficere est: rarae sibi vera fatentur,
Et nihil est, quod se dedecuisse putent.
Tunc etiam iubeo totas aperire fenestras,
Turpiaque admisso membra notare die.
At simul ad metas venit finita voluptas,
Lassaque cum tota corpora mente iacent,
Dum piget, et malis nullam tetigisse puellam,
Tacturusque tibi non videare diu,
Tunc animo signa, quaecumque in corpore menda est,
Luminaque in vitiis illius usque tene.
Forsitan haec aliquis (nam sunt quoque) parva vocabit,
Sed, quae non prosunt singula, multa iuvant.
Parva necat morsu spatiosum vipera taurum:
A cane non magno saepe tenetur aper.
Tu tantum numero pugna, praeceptaque in unum
Contrahe: de multis grandis acervus erit.
Sed quoniam totidem mores totidemque figurae,
Non sunt iudiciis omnia danda meis.
Quo tua non possunt offendi pectora facto,
Forsitan hoc alio iudice crimen erit.
Ille quod obscenas in aperto corpore partes
Viderat, in cursu qui fuit, haesit amor:
Ille quod a Veneris rebus surgente puella
Vidit in inmundo signa pudenda toro.
Luditis, o siquos potuerunt ista movere:
Adflarant tepidae pectora vestra faces.
Adtrahat ille puer contentos fortius arcus:
Saucia maiorem turba petetis opem.
Quid, qui clam latuit reddente obscena puella,
Et vidit, quae mos ipse videre vetat?
Di melius, quam nos moneamus talia quemquam!
Ut prosint, non sunt expedienda tamen.

[¶1] If to excess you find your passion rise,
I would at once two mistresses advise:
Divided care will give your mind relief;
What nourish'd one may starve the twins of grief.
Large rivers, drain'd in many streams, grow dry;
Withdraw its fuel, and the flame will die.
What ship can safely with one anchor ride?
With several cables she can brave the tide.
Who can at once two passions entertain,
May free himself at will from either chain.
If treated ill by her whom you adore,
A kinder nymph your freedom must restore.
No sooner Minos did fair Procris view,
But scandal on Pasiphae's fame he threw.
From his first charmer soon Alcmaen fled,
Callirhoe once admitted to his bed.
Oenone still had Paris' mistress been,
Had Paris fairer Helen never seen.
So Progne's beauty, tho' a wife, endear'd
Her Tereus, till Philomel appear'd.
But I too long on dry examples dwell,
Some new desire your former must expel.
A fruitful mother with one child can part,
The rest surviving to support her heart;
But she's impatiently of one bereft,
Who has, alas! no second comfort left.
But lest you think that I new laws decree
(Tho' proud of the invention I could be),
The same long since wise Agamemnon saw;
(What saw he not who held all Greece in awe!)
The beauteous captive to himself he kept;
Her father fondly for his daughter wept.
Why dost thou grieve, old sot? thy daughter's blest!
A royal whore. But, to assuage the pest,
When with his mistress he was forced to part,
The prudent prince ne'er laid the loss to heart.
Achilles keeps as fair a lass as she,
Their form, their very names, almost agree.
"Let him," said he "resign her by consent,
Or he shall feel my kingly power's extent;
If to my subjects this shall give offence,
The name of monarch is a vain pretence.
Rather than reign and have my love confin'd,
My throne shall to Thersites be resign'd."
He said: and, for a charming mistress lost,
Repair'd his sufferings at another's cost.
Do you this royal precedent pursue,
And quench your former passions by a new.

> Latin: Hortor et, ut pariter binas habeatis amicas
(Fortior est, plures siquis habere potest):
Secta bipertito cum mens discurrit utroque,
Alterius vires subtrahit alter amor.
Grandia per multos tenuantur flumina rivos,
Saevaque diducto stipite flamma perit.
Non satis una tenet ceratas ancora puppes,
Nec satis est liquidis unicus hamus aquis:
Qui sibi iam pridem solacia bina paravit,
Iam pridem summa victor in arce fuit.
At tibi, qui fueris dominae male creditus uni,
Nunc saltem novus est inveniendus amor.
Pasiphaës Minos in Procride perdidit ignes:
Cessit ab Idaea coniuge victa prior.
Amphilochi frater ne Phegida semper amaret,
Calliroë fecit parte recepta tori.
Et Parin Oenone summos tenuisset ad annos,
Si non Oebalia paelice laesa foret.
Coniugis Odrysio placuisset forma tyranno:
Sed melior clausae forma sororis erat.
Quid moror exemplis, quorum me turba fatigat?
Successore novo vincitur omnis amor.
Fortius e multis mater desiderat unum,
Quam quem flens clamat 'tu mihi solus eras.'
Ac ne forte putes nova me tibi condere iura
(Atque utinam inventi gloria nostra foret!),
Vidit ut Atrides (quid enim non ille videret,
Cuius in arbitrio Graecia tota fuit?)
Marte suo captam Chryseïda, victor amabat:
At senior stulte flebat ubique pater.
Quid lacrimas, odiose senex? bene convenit illis:
Officio natam laedis, inepte, tuo.
Quam postquam reddi Calchas, ope tutus Achillis,
Iusserat, et patria est illa recepta domo,
'Est' ait Atrides 'illius proxima forma,
Et, si prima sinat syllaba, nomen idem:
Hanc mihi, si sapiat, per se concedat Achilles:
Si minus, imperium sentiat ille meum.
Quod siquis vestrum factum hoc incusat, Achivi,
Est aliquid valida sceptra tenere manu.
Nam si rex ego sum, nec mecum dormiat ulla,
In mea Thersites regna, licebit, eat.'
Dixit, et hanc habuit solacia magna prioris,
Et posita est cura cura repulsa nova.
Ergo adsume novas auctore Agamemnone flammas,
Ut tuus in bivio distineatur amor.

[¶2] If you're a stranger to the sex, enquire
Where you may find a mistress to admire.
To learn their haunts my books of love peruse,
Where from a swarm of beauties you may choose.
But if my precepts have the least pretence
To truth, and if I speak Apollo's sense,
Tho' Aetna's fires within your bosom glow,
Dissemble, and appear more cold than snow.
In spite of torture, still from tears refrain;
Laugh when you have most reason to complain.
Nor do I such severe commands impart,
At once to bid you tear her from your heart:
But counterfeit; you'll prove in the event,
That careless lover whom you represent.
Oft when the merry round I would not keep,
I've seem'd to nod, and, seeming, fall'n asleep.
I've laugh'd at him who fool'd away his heart,
Dissembling passion, till he felt the smart.
Love comes by use; disuse will love expel;
Learn to feign health, and you will soon be well
If she has bid you come, and fix'd the night,
Tho' sure that she to mock you did invite,
Yet go; and if you find the door fast lock'd,
Endure the disappointment; be not shock'd;
Nor curse the gate, nor fond entreaties make,
Nor on the threshold a hard lodging take:
And when you see her next, complaints forbear,
Nor in your looks the least resentment wear.
Her pride will stoop, and give your feign'd neglect
What she denied to your sincere respect.
Nor is't enough your mistress thus to cheat,
You on yourself must put the same deceit:
Acquaint not your own thoughts with the design,
Till the work's done and you have sprung the mire.
For else 'tis odd, but nature in your heart
Will faction raise, and take your mistress' part.
What you propose will soon effected be,
Your progress sure, if made with secrecy.
Conceal your nets; if they are spread in sight,
The bird you meant to take you'll only fright.
Nor suffer her you love, so much to prize
Her charming self, that she may you despise.
Take courage; conscious of your merit seem,
And worthy you'll appear of her esteem.
E'en then when you her door wide open spy,
Nay, tho' called in, yet pass regardless by.
She'll offer you her bed; refuse to take
The favour, or a doubtful answer make.
Let wisdom once but teach you to abstain
From what you wish, you may your wish obtain.
Perhaps at my severe advice you'll start,
But know, I act a reconciler's part.
Diseases in a thousand forms are rang'd;
As tempers vary, med'cines must be chang'd.
Some bodies must a sharp long course endure,
A single drug on others works a cure.
If your soft nature yield to Cupid's stroke,
And strength is wanting to support his yoke,
Forbear against the wind and tide to strive;
Slacken your sail, and with the current drive.
For first the raging thirst in which you fry,
Must be assuag'd, ere other means you try:
Drink freely then: nor can you safely trust
To satisfaction, drink even to disgust.
Visit your mistress, keep her in your sight,
Lock'd up all day, and in your arms all night.
Still sit at board, though appetite decay,
And though you find you could be absent, stay:
Indulge desire, till your desires are cloy'd,
And love by too much plenty is destroy'd.

> Latin: Quaeris, ubi invenias? artes tu perlege nostras:
Plena puellarum iam tibi navis erit.
Quod siquid praecepta valent mea, siquid Apollo
Utile mortales perdocet ore meo,
Quamvis infelix media torreberis Aetna,
Frigidior glacie fac videare tuae:
Et sanum simula, ne, siquid forte dolebis,
Sentiat; et ride, cum tibi flendus eris.
Non ego te iubeo medias abrumpere curas:
Non sunt imperii tam fera iussa mei.
Quod non es, simula, positosque imitare furores:
Sic facies vere, quod meditatus eris.
Saepe ego, ne biberem, volui dormire videri:
Dum videor, somno lumina victa dedi:
Deceptum risi, qui se simularat amare,
In laqueos auceps decideratque suos.
Intrat amor mentes usu, dediscitur usu:
Qui poterit sanum fingere, sanus erit.
Dixerit, ut venias: pacta tibi nocte venito;
Veneris, et fuerit ianua clausa: feres.
Nec dic blanditias, nec fac convicia posti,
Nec latus in duro limine pone tuum.
Postera lux aderit: careant tua verba querellis,
Et nulla in vultu signa dolentis habe.
Iam ponet fastus, cum te languere videbit:
Hoc etiam nostra munus ab arte feres.
Te quoque falle tamen, nec sit tibi finis amandi
Propositus: frenis saepe repugnat equus.
Utilitas lateat; quod non profitebere, fiet:
Quae nimis apparent retia, vitat avis.
Nec sibi tam placeat, nec te contemnere possit;
Sume animos, animis cedat ut illa tuis.
Ianua forte patet? quamvis revocabere, transi.
Est data nox? dubita nocte venire data.
Posse pati facile est, ubi, si patientia desit,
Protinus ex facili gaudia ferre licet.
Et quisquam praecepta potest mea dura vocare?
En, etiam partes conciliantis ago.
Nam quoniam variant animi, variabimus artes;
Mille mali species, mille salutis erunt.
Corpora vix ferro quaedam sanantur acuto:
Auxilium multis sucus et herba fuit.
Mollior es, neque abire potes, vinctusque teneris,
Et tua saevus Amor sub pede colla premit?
Desine luctari: referant tua carbasa venti,
Quaque vocant fluctus, hac tibi remus eat.
Explenda est sitis ista tibi, quo perditus ardes;
Cedimus; e medio iam licet amne bibas:
Sed bibe plus etiam, quam quod praecordia poscunt,
Gutture fac pleno sumpta redundet aqua.
I, fruere usque tua, nullo prohibente, puella:
Illa tibi noctes auferat, illa dies.
Taedia quaere mali: faciunt et taedia finem.
Iam quoque, cum credes posse carere, mane,
Dum bene te cumules et copia tollat amorem,
Et fastidita non iuvet esse domo.

[¶3] Even fear with passion will some minds inspire
Remove distrust, and passion will retire.
Who fears some rival should his mistress gain,
Machaon's skill can scarce relieve his pain.
Since no fond mother for her darling son,
Feels greater pangs, when to the wars he's gone.
Near the Salarian gate a temple's plac'd,
With Erycinian Venus' worship grac'd;
'Tis there Lethaean love cures love's desire,
Bedews his lamps, and water blends with fire;
There sweet forgetfulness griev'd lovers find,
And, injur'd nymphs, whose husbands prove unkind.
There in a vision, (if a vision 'twere)
I heard the Cupid speak, or seem'd to hear.
"0, thou who dost sometimes teach youth to love,
Then rules prescribe their passion to remove:
One powerful precept more let me impart,
Unknown to you a master in the art.
Bid him who loves, and would love's yoke reject,
On his own life's misfortunes oft reflect:
For all have crosses, 'tis the common lot.
Let him, who deeply into debt has got,
Think on a gaol, and how he shall sustain
Confinement, more severe than Cupid's chain.
Let him who serves a rigid father's will
And sees his filial duty treated ill,
(Whate'er success in other things he find)
Keep still his father's angry looks in mind.
Let him who has that double curse of life,
At once a shrew and beggar to his wife,
Instead of gallantry abroad, contrive
Domestic famine from his door to drive,
You that are masters of a gen'rous soil,
Look to your vines, employ your careful toil,
Lest sudden frosts the hopeful vintage spoil.
One has a trading vessel homeward bound;
Let him imagine storms, his ship unsound,
Bulg'd, founder'd, wreck'd, and more, some barb'rous coast
Enrich'd with the dear cargo he has lost.
Fear for your son, who serves in this campaign,
And for your daughter be in greater pain.
For mortifying cares you need not roam,
By thousands they will throng to you at home.
If, Paris, Helen's charms you would abhor,
Behold your brothers weltering in their gore."
Thus spake the god, till from my fancy's view
His youthful form, sleep from my eyes withdrew.
What shall I do, my Palinurus gone,
And left to steer through untried seas alone?

> Latin: Fit quoque longus amor, quem diffidentia nutrit:
Hunc tu si quaeres ponere, pone metum.
Qui timet, ut sua sit, ne quis sibi detrahat illam,
Ille Machaonia vix ope sanus erit.
Plus amat e natis mater plerumque duobus,
Pro cuius reditu, quod gerit arma, timet.
Est prope Collinam templum venerabile portam;
Inposuit templo nomina celsus Eryx:
Est illic Lethaeus Amor, qui pectora sanat,
Inque suas gelidam lampadas addit aquam.
Illic et iuvenes votis oblivia poscunt,
Et siqua est duro capta puella viro.
Is mihi sic dixit (dubito, verusne Cupido,
An somnus fuerit: sed puto, somnus erat)
'O qui sollicitos modo das, modo demis amores,
Adice praeceptis hoc quoque, Naso, tuis.
Ad mala quisque animum referat sua, ponet amorem;
Omnibus illa deus plusve minusve dedit.
Qui Puteal Ianumque timet celeresque Kalendas,
Torqueat hunc aeris mutua summa sui;
Cui durus pater est, ut voto cetera cedant,
Huic pater ante oculos durus habendus erit;
Hic male dotata pauper cum coniuge vivit,
Uxorem fato credat obesse suo.
Est tibi rure bono generosae fertilis uvae
Vinea? ne nascens usta sit uva, time.
Ille habet in reditu navim: mare semper iniquum
Cogitet et damno litora foeda suo.
Filius hunc miles, te filia nubilis angat;
Et quis non causas mille doloris habet?
Ut posses odisse tuam, Pari, funera fratrum
Debueras oculis substituisse tuis.'
Plura loquebatur: placidum puerilis imago
Destituit somnum, si modo somnus erat.
Quid faciam? media navem Palinurus in unda
Deserit; ignotas cogor inire vias.

[¶4] But solitude must never be allow'd;
A lover's ne'er so safe as in a crowd.
For private places private griefs increase;
What haunts you there, in company will cease.
If to the gloomy desert you repair,
Your mistress' angry form will meet you there.
What makes the night less cheerful than the day?
Your griefs are present, and your friends away.
Nor shun discourse, nor make your house a cell;
Despair and darkness still together dwell.
To comfort you some Pylades admit,
Which is of friendship the chief benefit.
To death's cold arms what made poor Phyllis fly?
'Twas less her grief than want of company.
Wild as a bacchanal, her way she took,
With hair dishevell'd, and distracted look;
Far out to sea she cast her prying eyes;
Now stretched upon the sandy beach she lies:
"Faithless Demophoon!" to deaf waves she cried,
While sighs her interrupted words divide,
Hard by a lonesome tree its shadow cast,
As if for solitary mischief plac'd:
'Twas now her ninth sad visit to the shore;
No sail appears, and she'll expect no more:
Her nuptial girdle round her waist was tied,
Just o'er herhead a stretching bough she spied;
She offers, and flies back, dreads what she dares;
And, thus confus'd, the fatal knot prepares.
Now, wretched Phillis, while this deed was done,
I could have wish'd thou hadst not been alone.
Let disappointed lovers warning take
By thee, and never company forsake.

> Latin: Quisquis amas, loca sola nocent, loca sola caveto!
Quo fugis? in populo tutior esse potes.
Non tibi secretis (augent secreta furores)
Est opus: auxilio turba futura tibi est.
Tristis eris, si solus eris, dominaeque relictae
Ante oculos facies stabit, ut ipsa, tuos.
Tristior idcirco nox est quam tempora Phoebi;
Quae relevet luctus, turba sodalis abest.
Nec fuge conloquium, nec sit tibi ianua clausa,
Nec tenebris vultus flebilis abde tuos.
Semper habe Pyladen aliquem, qui curet Oresten:
Hic quoque amicitiae non levis usus erit.
Quid, nisi secretae laeserunt Phyllida silvae?
Certa necis causa est: incomitata fuit.
Ibat, ut Edono referens trieterica Baccho
Ire solet fusis barbara turba comis,
Et modo, qua poterat, longum spectabat in aequor,
Nunc in harenosa lassa iacebat humo.
'Perfide Demophoon!' surdas clamabat ad undas,
Ruptaque singultu verba loquentis erant.
Limes erat tenuis longa subnubilus umbra,
Quo tulit illa suos ad mare saepe pedes.
Nona terebatur miserae via: 'viderit!' inquit,
Et spectat zonam pallida facta suam,
Aspicit et ramos; dubitat, refugitque quod audet
Et timet, et digitos ad sua colla refert.
Sithoni, tum certe vellem non sola fuisses:
Non flesset positis Phyllida silva comis.
Phyllidis exemplo nimium secreta timete,
Laese vir a domina, laesa puella viro.

[¶5] But while society I do prescribe,
I mean not those of your own sighing tribe:
For nothing sure can so injurious be
To one in love, as lovers company.
A patient, who my orders did obey,
And to his cure was in a hopeful way,
By keeping lovers' company one night,
Relaps'd beyond my skill to set him right.
Such dang'rous neighbourhood you must avoid:
A flock's by one contagious sheep destroy'd.
If health you'd keep shun those who are unsound;
By looking on sore eyes, our own we wound;
Dry lands are oft by neighb'ring rivers drown'd.
Love's pest allows no safety but in flight;
And the infected, to infect delight.
Another, who quite through his course had gone,
By living near his mistress was undone.
Rashly his strength, ere well confirm'd, he tries,
Too weak to stand th' encounter of her eyes.
She meets, and conquers with one single view,
And all his fresh-skin'd wounds gush forth anew.
To save your house from neighb'ring fire is hard,
Distance from danger is the surest guard.
Avoid your mistress' walks, and e'en forbear
The civil offices you paid to her.
Change all your measures, new affairs pursue;
Find out, if possible, a world that's new.
A table spread in view gives appetite;
To see a gushing rill does thirst excite.
To leap their females in a neighb'ring plain,
Your bull will break his fence, your steed his rein.
Nor is't enough to quit the nymph, but you
Must to her friends and kindred bid adieu;
Nor to your sight admit the page or maid,
By whom the tender billet doux's convey'd.
And, though impatient, stifle your desire;
Nor of her health, nor what she does enquire.
E'en you who powerful reasons can assign,
That 'twas ill-treatment made your love decline,
Forbear complaints, and no invectives make;
By scornful silence, best revenge you'll take.
Bury your passion in a speechless grave,
Desist from love, but do not say you have.
If over much you boast, the symptom's ill;
Who always cries, "I've done with love," loves still.
To make sure work, quench leisurely the fire;
He's safe, who can by just degrees retire.
A torrent's swift, a stream does gently glide,
But that's a short, and this a lasting tide;
That love must irrecoverably decay,
Which does by atoms waste itself away.

> Latin: Praestiterat iuvenis quidquid mea Musa iubebat,
Inque suae portu paene salutis erat:
Reccidit, ut cupidos inter devenit amantes,
Et, quae condiderat, tela resumpsit Amor.
Siquis amas, nec vis, facito contagia vites;
Haec etiam pecori saepe nocere solent.
Dum spectant laesos oculi, laeduntur et ipsi,
Multaque corporibus transitione nocent.
In loca nonnumquam siccis arentia glebis
De prope currenti flumine manat aqua:
Manat amor tectus, si non ab amante recedas;
Turbaque in hoc omnes ingeniosa sumus.
Alter item iam sanus erat; vicinia laesit:
Occursum dominae non tulit ille suae.
Vulnus in antiquum rediit male firma cicatrix,
Successumque artes non habuere meae.
Proximus a tectis ignis defenditur aegre;
Utile finitimis abstinuisse locis.
Nec quae ferre solet spatiantem porticus illam,
Te ferat, officium neve colatur idem.
Quid iuvat admonitu tepidam recalescere mentem?
Alter, si possis, orbis habendus erit.
Non facile esuriens posita retinebere mensa,
Et multam saliens incitat unda sitim.
Non facile est taurum visa retinere iuvenca,
Fortis equus visae semper adhinnit equae.
Haec ubi praestiteris, ut tandem litora tangas,
Non ipsam satis est deseruisse tibi.
Et soror et mater valeant et conscia nutrix,
Et quisquis dominae pars erit ulla tuae.
Nec veniat servus, nec flens ancillula fictum
Suppliciter dominae nomine dicat 'ave!'
Nec si scire voles, quid agat, tamen, illa, rogabis;
Perfer! erit lucro lingua retenta tuo.
Tu quoque, qui causam finiti reddis amoris,
Deque tua domina multa querenda refers,
Parce queri; melius sic ulciscere tacendo,
Ut desideriis effluat illa tuis.
Et malim taceas quam te desisse loquaris:
Qui nimium multis 'non amo' dicit, amat.
Sed meliore fide paulatim extinguitur ignis
Quam subito; lente desine, tutus eris.
Flumine perpetuo torrens solet altior ire:
Sed tamen haec brevis est, illa perennis aqua.
Fallat, et in tenues evanidus exeat auras,
Perque gradus molles emoriatur amor.

[¶6] Yet, e'en humanity must needs abhor,
That you should hate the nymph you did adore
For he discovers a mere brutal mind,
Whose love to enmity the way can find.
A gentle cure is what I recommend;
For he whose passion can in hatred end,
As soon may to his first desire return;
His fire does still beneath the embers burn.
To see two lovers at outragious odds,
Is scandal and offence to men and gods.
Many have rail'd, and yet been reconcil'd,
That minute they their mistresses revil'd.
Others I've known, who parting without strife,
Have fairly taken leave-but ta'en for life.
A nymph but lately passing in her chair,
Met with her lover (I by chance was there);
He storm'd, and with reproaches fill'd the air.
At last, " Come forth thou harlot, come," he cried
She came; at sight of her his tongue was tied;
The writings in his hand he flings away,
Runs to her arms, and has but pow'r to say,
"You've conquer'd, and no more I'll disobey."
Let her the presents you have sent retain
And to a less prefer the greater gain.
Weigh the advantage by that loss you reap,
And think the purchase of your freedom cheap.
If to her presence you by chance are driven,
Straight recollect the precepts I have given.
Since with your Amazon you must engage,
To whet your courage muster all your rage.
Think on your rival in her chamber kept,
While you, excluded, on her threshold slept.
How falsely she has treated you; and then
More falsely sworn to draw you in again.
Study no dress when she is to be seen,
But wear your garments careless as your mein.
Or, if the sparkish mode your fancy seize,
Take care it be some other nymph to please.
What most retards your cure, I'll now reveal;
And to your own experience dare appeal;
Hoping to be at last belov'd, (though vain
Those hopes) we linger, and indulge our pain.
T' our own defects, through self-opinion, blind,
We wonder how the fair can be unkind.
Ne'er think that what she says or swears is true;
She fears the gods no more than she fears you.
Nor trust her tears, though plenteous tears distil;
Their eyes are disciplin'd to weep at will.
With various arts they storm a lover's mind,
Like some bleak rock expos'd to waves and wind.
Nourish the just resentments in your heart,
But ne'er declare the reason why you part.
For tax'd with crimes, she'll plead her innocence;
And you'll too much incline to her defence.
Contract th' indictment; spinning out the charge,
But shows you'd have her clear herself at large.

> Latin: Sed modo dilectam scelus est odisse puellam:
Exitus ingeniis convenit iste feris.
Non curare sat est: odio qui finit amorem,
Aut amat, aut aegre desinet esse miser.
Turpe vir et mulier, iuncti modo, protinus hostes;
Non illas lites Appias ipsa probat.
Saepe reas faciunt, et amant; ubi nulla simultas
Incidit, admonitu liber aberrat amor.
Forte aderam iuveni; dominam lectica tenebat:
Horrebant saevis omnia verba minis.
Iamque vadaturus 'lectica prodeat' inquit;
Prodierat: visa coniuge mutus erat.
Et manus et manibus duplices cecidere tabellae,
Venit in amplexus, atque 'ita vincis' ait.
Tutius est aptumque magis discedere pace,
Nec petere a thalamis litigiosa fora.
Munera quae dederas, habeat sine lite, iubeto:
Esse solent magno damna minora bono.
Quod si vos aliquis casus conducet in unum,
Mente memor tota quae damus arma, tene.
Nunc opus est armis; hic, o fortissime, pugna:
Vincenda est telo Penthesilea tuo.
Nunc tibi rivalis, nunc durum limen amanti,
Nunc subeant mediis inrita verba deis.
Nec compone comas, quia sis venturus ad illam,
Nec toga sit laxo conspicienda sinu.
Nulla sit, ut placeas alienae cura puellae;
Iam facito e multis una sit illa tibi.
Sed quid praecipue nostris conatibus obstet
Eloquar, exemplo quemque docente suo.
Desinimus tarde, quia nos speramus amari:
Dum sibi quisque placet, credula turba sumus.
At tu nec voces (quid enim fallacius illis?)
Crede, nec aeternos pondus habere deos.
Neve puellarum lacrimis moveare, caveto:
Ut flerent, oculos erudiere suos.
Artibus innumeris mens oppugnatur amantum,
Ut lapis aequoreis undique pulsus aquis.
Nec causas aperi, quare divortia malis:
Nec dic, quid doleas: clam tamen usque dole.
Nec peccata refer, ne diluat: ipse favebis,
Ut melior causa causa sit illa tua.
Qui silet, est firmus; qui dicit multa puellae
Probra, satisfieri postulat ille sibi.

[¶7] Nor yet abruptly should you leave the fair
And, like Ulysses, drive them to despair:
To no such violent methods I'll advise,
Nor aid a lover while his mistress dies.
I mean not Cupid's purple wings to clip,
Nor break his bow, or feather'd arrows strip.
The counsels that I gave are just and true,
Do you as faithfully my rules pursue.
Phoebus, to thee once more for aid I run;
Assist me, as thou hast already done.
He comes, he comes, he'll instantly appear,
His quiver, and his sounding harp I hear,
Both signs most certain that the god is near.
Compare your bastard scarlet with the right,
The difference will appear, though both are bright.
Your charmer so by first rate beauties place,
And her defects by brighter lustre trace.
Pallas was tall and graceful, sternly fair,
And Juno carried a majestic air;
Singly they pleas'd, and by each other charm'd,
But both by Venus' presence were disarm'd.
Nor manhood yet must you so far disgrace
As to become the vassal of a face,
Nor to mere beauty your devotion pay;
Her breeding, humor, and her manners weigh;
But in the scale of an impartial mind,
Or inclination will your judgment blind.

> Latin: Non ego Dulichio furari more sagittas,
Nec raptas ausim tinguere in amne faces:
Nec nos purpureas pueri resecabimus alas,
Nec sacer arte mea laxior arcus erit.
Consilium est, quodcumque cano: parete canenti,
Tuque, favens coeptis, Phoebe saluber, ades.
Phoebus adest: sonuere lyrae, sonuere pharetrae;
Signa deum nosco per sua: Phoebus adest.
Confer Amyclaeis medicatum vellus aënis
Murice cum Tyrio; turpius illud erit:
Vos quoque formosis vestras conferte puellas;
Incipiet dominae quemque pudere suae:
Utraque formosae Paridi potuere videri,
Sed sibi conlatam vicit utramque Venus.
Nec solam faciem, mores quoque confer et artes:
Tantum iudicio ne tuus obsit amor.

[¶8] What more I have to say will lie compris'd
In little room, but must not be despis'd.
Those short receipts have cures on many done,
And of that number, I myself am one.
The letters sent you when your nymph was kind,
Revise not, for they'll shake your constant mind:
But say, when you commit them to the fire,
"Be this the fun'ral pile of my desire;
Perish, my love, in this just flame expire."
Althaea burnt the fatal brand, and knew,
The brand consuming, her own son she slew.
Can you whose kindness had a worse return
Repine, a few deceitful words to burn!
No: make a total sacrifice, nor spare
The very seal that does her image bear.
From all such places too you must remove,
As ever have been conscious to your love.
You'll say, (and grieve to think those joys are fled)
This was th' apartment, this the happy bed!
The dear remembrance will renew desire,
And to fresh blaze blow up the sleeping fire.
The Greeks could wish t' have shun'd th' Eubaean coast,
And vengeful fire by which their fleet was lost.
Wise sailors tack, when Scylla's rock they spy;
So you should from your mistress' dwelling fly,
There stands the rock, on which you split before,
Imagine there you hear Charybdis roar.
But chance itself sometimes may stand your friend,
And give your griefs an unexpected end.
Had Phaedra's wealth to poverty declin'd.
She never for Hippolitus had pin'd.
Or were Medea born a rural maid,
No faithless Jason had implor'd her aid.
But love in pamper'd palaces is bred,
By pleasure and luxurious riches fed.
Not Hecale or Irus could arrive
At Hymen's joys, though long they did survive,
For both were poor: and Cupid still shoots high,
His shafts above the humble cottage fly.
Yet so severe a cure I can't approve,
Or bid you starve yourself, to starve your love.

> Latin: Exiguum est, quod deinde canam; sed profuit illud
Exiguum multis: in quibus ipse fui.
Scripta cave relegas blandae servata puellae:
Constantes animos scripta relecta movent.
Omnia pone feros (pones invitus) in ignes,
Et dic 'ardoris sit rogus iste mei.'
Thestias absentem succendit stipite natum:
Tu timide flammae perfida verba dabis?
Si potes, et ceras remove: quid imagine muta
Carperis? hoc periit Laodamia modo.
Et loca saepe nocent; fugito loca conscia vestri
Concubitus; causas illa doloris habent.
'Hic fuit, hic cubuit; thalamo dormivimus illo:
Hic mihi lasciva gaudia nocte dedit.'
Admonitu refricatur amor, vulnusque novatum
Scinditur: infirmis culpa pusilla nocet.
Ut, paene extinctum cinerem si sulpure tangas,
Vivet et e minimo maximus ignis erit,
Sic, nisi vitaris quidquid renovabit amorem,
Flamma redardescet, quae modo nulla fuit.
Argolides cuperent fugisse Capherea puppes,
Teque, senex, luctus ignibus ulte tuos.
Praeterita cautus Niseïde navita gaudet:
Tu loca, quae nimium grata fuere, cave.
Haec tibi sint Syrtes: haec Acroceraunia vita:
Hic vomit epotas dira Charybdis aquas.
Sunt quae non possunt aliquo cogente iuberi,
Saepe tamen casu facta iuvare solent.
Perdat opes Phaedra, parces, Neptune, nepoti,
Nec faciet pavidos taurus avitus equos.
Cnosida fecisses inopem, sapienter amasset:
Divitiis alitur luxuriosus amor.
Cur nemo est, Hecalen, nulla est, quae ceperit Iron?
Nempe quod alter egens, altera pauper erat.
Non habet, unde suum paupertas pascat amorem:
Non tamen hoc tanti est, pauper ut esse velis.

[¶9] But ne'er frequent the wanton theatre,
Where vain desires in all their pomp appear;
From music, dancing, and an am'rous part,
Perform'd to th' life, how can you guard your heart?
Against myself I frank confession make;
Into your hands no am'rous poet take,
Whose Syren muses draw the list'ning throng,
And charm them into ruin by their song.
Callimachus first from your sight remove.
Banish Philetas next; they're friends to love.
How oft have Sappho's odes set me one fire!
Who can contain, that hears Anacreon's lyre?
Who reads Tibullus must his passion feel;
Propertius can dissolve a heart of steel:
Nor Gallus fails the coldest breast to warm;
And e'en my muse has found the art to charm.
But if Apollo, who conducts my song,
Secure me in this point from guessing wrong,
The pain with which most sensibly you're griev'd,
Is on th' account of jealousy conceiv'd.
No fear of rivals must your heart torment:
For true, or false, yet for your own content,
At least persuade yourself that you have none,
And that the harmless creature sleeps alone.
Orestes ne'er could find his nymph had charms,
Till he beheld her in another's arms.
Why, Menelaus, dost thou now take on?
In Crete you long could sauntering stay alone;
Your Helen's absence ne'er disturb'd your rest:
No sooner fled she with her Trojan guest,
The royal cuckold raves, and he must make
A ten years' war, to fetch the harlot back.
'Twas on this score the fierce Achilles wept;
With Agamemnon his Briseis slept.
Good cause to weep, the maiden toy was got,
Or great Alcides was a sov'reign sot.
His game of love were Ovid to have play'd,
The poet had the better hero made.
At last, with gifts he did the loss restore,
And that she was untouch'd profoundly swore,
Swore by his sceptre; — nor can that seem odd;
He knew his sceptre but a wooden god.

> Latin: At tanti tibi sit non indulgere theatris,
Dum bene de vacuo pectore cedat amor.
Enervant animos citharae lotosque lyraeque
Et vox et numeris brachia mota suis.
Illic adsidue ficti saltantur amantes:
Quod caveas, actor, quam iuvet, arte docet.
Eloquar invitus: teneros ne tange poetas!
Summoveo dotes impius ipse meas.
Callimachum fugito: non est inimicus Amori:
Et cum Callimacho tu quoque, Coë, noces.
Me certe Sappho meliorem fecit amicae,
Nec rigidos mores Teïa Musa dedit.
Carmina quis potuit tuto legisse Tibulli,
Vel tua, cuius opus Cynthia sola fuit?
Quis poterit lecto durus discedere Gallo?
Et mea nescio quid carmina tale sonant.
Quod nisi dux operis vatem frustratur Apollo,
Aemulus est nostri maxima causa mali:
At tu rivalem noli tibi fingere quemquam,
Inque suo solam crede iacere toro.
Acrius Hermionen ideo dilexit Orestes,
Esse quod alterius coeperat illa viri.
Quid, Menelae, doles? ibas sine coniuge Creten,
Et poteras nupta lentus abesse tua.
Ut Paris hanc rapuit, nunc demum uxore carere
Non potes: alterius crevit amore tuus.
Hoc et in abducta Briseide flebat Achilles,
Illam Plisthenio gaudia ferre viro;
Nec frustra flebat, mihi credite: fecit Atrides,
Quod si non faceret, turpiter esset iners.
Certe ego fecissem, nec sum sapientior illo:
Invidiae fructus maximus ille fuit.
Nam sibi quod numquam tactam Briseida iurat
Per sceptrum, sceptrum non putat esse deos.

[¶10] Oh, could you once arrive but to the pow'r
As unconcern'd, to pass your mistress' door!
Strongly resolve, though ne'er so loath to stir,
For now's the time to stretch with whip and spur.
Think there's the Syren's den, the deadly bay,
Make all the sail you can and scud away.
Your fond resentment quit, and condescend
To take your very rival for your friend.
Salute him kindly, though with deep regret;
Embrace him, I'll pronounce your cure complete.
Now to perform a true physician's part,
And show I'm perfect master of my art;
I will prescribe what diet you should use,
What food you ought to take, and what refuse.
Mushrooms of ev'ry sort provoke desire,
Salacious rockets set your veins on fire;
The plant I recommend is wholesome rue,
It clears the sight and does the blood subdue:
But, in a word, of all the herbs that grow,
Take only such as keep the body low.
If my opinion you would have of wine,
It quenches love, and does to love incline.
A little breath of wind but fans the fire,
Whose flame will in a greater blast expire.
In wine you must no moderation keep;
You must not drink at all; or drink so deep,
So large a dose, as puts your cares to sleep.
Now to our port we are arriv'd; bring down
The jolly wreath, our weary barque to crown.
Your grief redrest, and now a happy throng,
Ye nymphs and youths applaud my healing song.

> Latin: Di faciant, possis dominae transire relictae
Limina, proposito sufficiantque pedes.
Et poteris; modo velle tene: nunc fortiter ire,
Nunc opus est celeri subdere calcar equo.
Illo Lotophagos, illo Sirenas in antro
Esse puta; remis adice vela tuis.
Hunc quoque, quo quondam nimium rivale dolebas,
Vellem desineres hostis habere loco.
At certe, quamvis odio remanente, saluta;
Oscula cum poteris iam dare, sanus eris.
Ecce, cibos etiam, medicinae fungar ut omni
Munere, quos fugias quosque sequare, dabo.
Daunius, an Libycis bulbus tibi missus ab oris,
An veniat Megaris, noxius omnis erit.
Nec minus erucas aptum vitare salaces,
Et quicquid Veneri corpora nostra parat.
Utilius sumas acuentes lumina rutas,
Et quidquid Veneri corpora nostra negat.
Quid tibi praecipiam de Bacchi munere, quaeris?
Spe brevius monitis expediere meis.
Vina parant animum Veneri, nisi plurima sumas
Et stupeant multo corda sepulta mero.
Nutritur vento, vento restinguitur ignis:
Lenis alit flammas, grandior aura necat.
Aut nulla ebrietas, aut tanta sit, ut tibi curas
Eripiat; siqua est inter utrumque, nocet.
Hoc opus exegi: fessae date serta carinae;
Contigimus portus, quo mihi cursus erat.
Postmodo reddetis sacro pia vota poetae,
Carmine sanati femina virque meo.