Every man shall find his own desire; there is no one thing which pleases all: one man gathers thorns and another roses.
74 Poet. Lat. Min. iv, ed. Baehrens.Inveniet quod quisque velit: non omnibus unum estquod placet: hic spinas colligit, ille rosas.
Now autumn had brought its chill shades, and Phoebus was looking winterwards with cooler reins. Now the plane-tree had begun to shed down her leaves, now the young shoots had withered on the vine, and she had begun to number her grapes: the whole promise of the year was standing before our eyes.
75 P.L.M.Iam nunc algentes autumnus fecerat umbrasatque hiemem tepidis spectabat Phoebus habenis,iam platanus iactare comas, iam coeperat uvasadnumerare suas defecto palmite vitis:ante oculos stabat quidquid promiserat annus.
It was fear first created gods in the world, when the lightning fell from high heaven, and the ramparts of the world were rent with flame, and Athos was smitten and blazed. Soon 'twas Phoebus sank to earth, after he had traversed earth from his rising; the Moon grew old and once more renewed her glory; next the starry signs were spread through the firmament, and the year divided into changing seasons. The folly spread, and soon vain superstition bade the labourer yield to Ceres the harvest's chosen firstfruits, and garland Bacchus with the fruitful vine, and made Pales to rejoice in the shepherd's work; Neptune swims deepplunged beneath all the waters of the world, Pallas watches over shops, and the man who wins his prayer or has betrayed the world for gold now strives greedily to create gods of his own.
76 P.L.M.Primus in orbe deos fecit timor, ardua caelofulmina cum caderent discussaque moenia flammisatque ictus flagraret Athos; mox Phoebus ab ortulustrata deuectus humo, Lunaeque senectuset reparatus honos; hinc signa effusa per orbemet permutatis disiunctus mensibus annus.Profecit vitium iamque error iussit inanisagricolas primos Cereri dare messis honores,palmitibus plenis Bacchum vincire, Palemquepastorum gaudere manu; natat obrutus omnisNeptunus demersus aqua; Pallasque tabernasvindicat; et voti reus et qui vendidit orbem,iam sibi quisque deos avido certamine fingit.
I would not always steep my head with the same sweet nard, nor strive to win my stomach with familiar wine. The bull loves to change his valley-pasture, and the wild beast maintains his zest by change of food. Even to be bathed in the light of day is pleasant only because the night-hour races back with altered steeds.
77 P.L.M.Nolo ego semper idem capiti suffundere costumnec noto stomachum conciliare mero.Taurus amat gramen mutata carpere valleet fera mutatis sustinet ora cibis.Ipsa dies ideo nos grato perluit haustu,quod permutatis hora recurrit equis.
A wife is a burden imposed by law, and should be loved like one's fortune. But I do not wish to love even my fortune for ever.
78 P.L.M.Uxor, legis onus, debet quasi census amari.nec censum vellem semper amare meum.
Leave thine home, O youth, and seek out alien shores: a larger range of life is ordained for thee. Yield not to misfortune; the far-off Danube shall know thee, the cold North-wind, and the untroubled kingdoms of Canopus, and the men who gaze on the new birth of Phoebus or upon his setting: he that disembarks on distant sands, becomes thereby the greater man.
79 P.L.M.Linque tuas sedes alienaque litora quaere,O iuvenis: maior rerum tibi nascitur ordo.Ne succumbe malis: te noverit ultimus Hister,te Boreas gelidus securaque regna Canopi,quique renascentem Phoebum cernuntque cadentem:maior in externas fit qui descendit harenas.
For there is naught that may not serve the need of mortal men, and in adversity despised things help us. So when a ship sinks, yellow gold weighs down its possessor, while a flimsy oar bears up the shipwrecked body. When the trumpets sound, the savage's knife stands drawn at the rich man's throat; the poor man's rags wear the amulet of safety.
80 P.L.M.Nam nihil est, quod non mortalibus afferat usum;rebus in adversis quae iacuere iuvant.Sic rate demersa fulvum deponderat aurum,remorum levitas naufraga membra vehit.Cum sonuere tubae, iugulo stat divite ferrumbarbaricum: tenuis praebia pannus habet.
My little house is covered by a roof that fears no harm, and the grape swollen with wine hangs from the fruitful elm. The boughs yield cherries, the orchards ruddy apples, and the trees sacred to Pallas break under the wealth of their branches. And now where the smooth soil drinks from the runnels of the spring, Corycian kale springs up for me and creeping mallows, and the poppy with promise of untroubled sleep. Moreover, if my pleasure is to lay snares for birds, or if I choose rather to entrap the timid deer, or draw out the quivering fish on slender line, so much deceit is all that is known to my humble fields. Go, then, and barter the hours of flying life for rich banquets. My prayer is that since at the last the same end waits for me, it may find me here, here call me to account for the time that I have spent.
81 P.L.M.Parvula securo tegitur mihi culmine sedesuvaque plena mero fecunda pendet ab ulmo.Dant rami cerasos, dant mala rubentia silvae,Palladiumque nemus pingui se vertice frangit.Iam qua diductos potat levis area fontes,Corycium milli surgit olus maluaeque supinaeet non sollicitos missura papavera somnos.Praeterea sive alitibus contexere fraudemseu magis imbelles libuit circumdare cervosaut tereti lino pavidum subducere piscem,hos tantum novere dolos mea sordida rura.I nunc et vitae fugientis tempora vendedivitibus cenis. Me si manet exitus idem,hic precor inveniat consumptaque tempora poscat.
Is it not enough that mad youth engulfs us, and our good name is sunk in reproach and sweeps us astray? Behold! even bondmen and the rabble that is kindred to the mire wanton amid our gathered hoards! The low slave enjoys the treasure of a kingdom, and the thrall's room shames Vesta and the cottage of Romulus. So goodness lies obscured in the deep mud, and the fleet of the unrighteous carries snowy sails.
82 P.L.M.Non satis est quod nos mergit furiosa iuventustransversosque rapit fama sepulta probris?En etiamfamuli cognataque faece catervainter conrasas luxuriantur opes.Vilis servus habet regni bona, cellaque captideridet Vestam Romuleamque casam.Idcirco virtus medio iacet obruta caeno,nequitiae classes candida vela ferunt.
So, too, the body will shut in the belly's wind, which, when it labours to come forth again from its deep dungeon, prizes forth a way by sharp blows: and there is no end to the cold shiver which rules the cramped frame, till a warm sweat bedews and loosens the body.
83 P.L.M.Sic et membra solent auras includere ventris,quae penitus mersae cum rursus abire laborant,verberibus rimantur iter; nec desinit antefrigidus, adstrictis qui regnat in ossibus, horrorquam tepidus laxo manavit corpore sudor.
O sea-shore and sea more sweet to me than life! Happy am I who may come at once to the lands I love. O beauteous day! In this country long ago I used to rouse the Naiads with my hands' alternate stroke. Here is the fountain's pool, there the sea washes up its weeds: here is a sure haven for quiet love. I have had life in full; for never can harder fortune take away what was given us in time overpast.
84 P.L.M.O litus vita mihi dulcius, o mare! felixcui licet ad terras ire subinde meas!O formosa dies! hoc quondam rure solebamNaiadas alterna sollicitare manu!Hic fontis lacus est, illic sinus egerit algas:haec statio est tacitis fida cupidinibus.Pervixi; neque enim fortuna malignior unquameripiet nobis quod prior hora dedit.
With these words he tore the white hair from his trembling head, and rent his cheeks; his eyes filled with tears, and as the impetuous river sweeps down the valleys when the cold snow has perished, and the gentle south-wind will not suffer the ice to live on the unfettered earth, so was his face wet with a full stream, and his heart rang with the troubled murmur of deep groaning.
85 P.L.M.Haec ait et tremulo deduxit vertice canosconsecuitque genas; oculis nec defuit imber,sed qualis rapitur per vallis improbus amnis,cum gelidae periere nives et languidus austernon patitur glaciem resoluta vivere terra,gurgite sic pleno facies manavit et altoinsonuit gemitu turbato murmure pectus.
For sooner will men hold fire in their mouths than keep a secret. Whatever you let escape you in your hall flows forth and beats at city walls in sudden rumours. Nor is the breach of faith the end. The work of betrayal issues forth with increase, and strives to add weight to the report. So was it that the greedy slave, who feared to unlock his knowledge, dug in the ground and betrayed the secret of the king's hidden ears. For the earth brought forth sounds, and the whispering reeds sang how Midas was even such an one as the tell-tale had revealed.
86 P.L.M.Nam citius flammas mortales ore tenebuntquam secreta tegant. Quicquid dimittis in aula,effluit et subitis rumoribus oppida pulsat.Nec satis est vulgasse fidem. Cumulatius exitproditionis opus famamque onerare laborat.Sic commissa verens avidus reserare ministerfodit humum regisque latentes prodidit aures.Concepit nam terra sonos calamique loquentesincinuere Midam, qualem narraverat index.
There sea and sky struggle and buffet each other, here the tiny stream runs through smooth and smiling country. There the sailor laments for his sunken ship, here the shepherd dips his flock in the gentle river. There death confronts and chokes the vast gape of greed, here the earth laughs to lie low before the curved sickle. There, with water everywhere, dry thirst burns the throat, here kisses are given in plenty to faithless man. Let Ulysses go sail and weary the waters in beggar's rags: the chaste Penelope dwells on land.
87 P.L.M.Illic alternis depugnat pontus et aer,hic rivo tenui pervia ridet humus.Illic demersas complorat navita puppes,hic pastor miti perluit amne pecus.Illic immanes mors obdita solvit hiatus,hic gaudet curva falce recisa Ceres.Illic inter aquas urit sitis arida fauces,hic data periuro basia multa viro.Naviget et fluctus lasset mendicus Vlixes,in terris vivet candida Penelope.
The man that would not haste to die, nor force the Fates to snap the tender threads with impetuous hand, should know only this much of the sea's anger. Lo! where the tide flows back, and the wave bathes his feet without peril! Lo! where the mussel is thrown up among the green sea-weed, and the hoarse whorl of the slippery shell is rolled along! Lo! where the wave turns the sands to rush back in the eddy, there pebbles of many a hue appear on the wave-worn floor. Let the man who may have these things under his feet, play safely on the shore, and count this alone to be the sea.
88 P.L.M.Qui nolit properare mori nec cogere fatamollia praecipiti rumpere fila manu,hactenus irarum mare noverit. Ecce refusogurgite securos obluit unda pedes.Ecce inter virides iactatur mytilus algaset rauco trahitur lubrica concha sinu.Ecce recurrentes qua versat fluctus arenas,discolor attrita calculus exit humo.Haec quisquis calcare potest, in litore tutoludat et hoc solum iudicet esse mare.
Outward beauty is not enough, and the woman who would appear fair must not be content with any common manner. Words, wit, play, sweet talk and laughter, surpass the work of too simple nature. For all expense of art seasons beauty, and naked loveliness is wasted all in vain, if it have not the will to please.
89 P.L.M.Non est forma satis nec quae vult bella videridebet vulgari more placere sibi.Dicta, sales, lusus, sermonis gratia, risusvincunt naturae candidioris opus.Condit enim formam quicquid consumitur artis,et nisi velle subest, gratia nuda perit.
So, contrary to the known operations of nature, the raven lays her eggs when the crops are ripe. So the she-bear shapes her cubs with her tongue, and the fish is ignorant of love's embrace, yet brings forth young. So the tortoise, sacred to Phoebus, delivered by the will of mother Lucina, hatches her eggs with the warmth of her nostrils. So the bee, begotten without wedlock from the woven cells, throbs with life and fills her camp with bold soldiery. The strength of nature lies not in holding on one even way, but she loves to change the fashion of her laws.
90 P.L.M.Sic contra rerum naturae munera notaecorvus maturis frugibus ova refert.Sic format lingua fetum cum protulit ursaet piscis nullo iunctus amore parit.Sic Phoebea chelys nutu resoluta parentisLucinae tepidis naribus ova fovet.Sic sine concubitu textis apis excita cerisfervet et audaci milite castra replet.Non uno contenta valet natura tenore,sed permutatas gaudet habere vices.
My birthplace was India's glowing shore, where the day returns in brilliance with fiery orb. Here I was born amid the worship of the gods, and exchanged my barbaric speech for the Latin tongue. O healer of Delphi, now dismiss thy swans; here is a voice more worthy to dwell within thy temple.
91 P.L.M.Indica purpureo genuit me litore tellus,candidus accenso qua redit orbe dies.Hic ego divinos inter generatus honoresmutavi Latio barbara verba sono.Iam dimitte tuos, Paean o Delphice, cycnos:dignior haec vox est, quae tua templa colat.
The sailor, naked from the shipwreck, seeks out a comrade stricken by the same blow to whom he may bewail his fate. The farmer who has lost his crops and the whole year's fruits in the hail, weeps his sad lot on a bosom wounded like his own. Death draws the unhappy together; bereaved parents utter their groans with one voice, and the moment makes them equal. We too will strike the stars with words in unison; the saying is that prayers travel more strongly when united.
92 P.L.M.Naufragus eiecta nudus rate quaerit eodempercussum telo, cui sua fata fleat.Grandine qui segetes et totum perdidit annum,in simili deflet tristia fata sinu.Funera conciliant miseros, orbique parentesconiungunt gemitus et facit hora pares.Nos quoque confusis feriemus sidera verbis;fama est coniunctas fortius ire preces.
You send me golden apples, my sweet Martia, and you send me the fruit of the shaggy chestnut. Believe me, I would love them all; but should you choose rather to come in person, lovely girl, you would beautify your gift. Come, if you will, and lay sour apples to my tongue, the sharp flavour will be like honey as I bite. But if you feign you will not come, dearest, send kisses with the apples; then gladly will I devour them.
93 P.L.M.Aurea mala mihi, dulcis mea Martia, mittis,mittis et hirsutae munera castaneae.Omnia grata putem, sed si magis ipsa venireornares donum, pulcra puella, tuum.Tu licet apportes stringentia mala palatum,tristia mandenti est melleus ore sapor.At si dissimulas, multum mihi cara, venire,oscula cum pomis mitte; vorabo libens.
If you are sister to Phoebus, Delia, I entrust my petition to you, that you may carry to your brother the words of my prayer. “God of Delphi, I have built for you a temple of Sicilian marble, and have given you fair words of song from a slender pipe of reed. Now if you hear us, Apollo, and are indeed divine, tell me where a man who has no money is to find it.”
94 P.L.M.Si Phoebi soror es, mando tibi, Delia, causam,scilicet ut fratri quae peto verba feras:“Marmore Sicanio struxi tibi, Delphice, templumet levibus calamis candida verba dedi.Nunc si nos audis atque es divinus, Apollo,dic mihi, qui nummos non habet, unde petat.”
Honest Heaven ordained that all things which can end our wretched complaints should be ready to hand. Common green herbs and the berries that grow on rough brambles allay the gnawing hunger of the belly. A fool is he who goes thirsty with a river close by, and shivers in the east wind while a blazing fire roars on the warm hearth. The law sits armed by the threshold of a wanton bride; the girl who lies on a lawful bed knows no fear. The wealth of nature gives us enough for our fill: that which unbridled vanity teaches us to pursue has no end to it.
95 P.L.M.Omnia quae miseras possunt finire querellas,in promptu voluit candidus esse deus.Vile holus et duris haerentia mora rubetispungentis stomachi composuere famem.Flumine vicino stultus sitit, et riget eurocum calidus tepido consonat igne focus.Lex armata sedet circum fera limina nuptae:nil metuit licito fusa puella toro.Quod satiare potest dives natura ministrat;quod docet infrenis gloria fine caret.
Doves have made a nest in the soldier's helmet: see how Venus loveth Mars.
96 P.L.M.Militis in galea nidum fecere columbae:apparet Marti quam sit amica Venus.
The Jew may worship his pig-god and clamour in the ears of high heaven, but unless he also cuts back his foreskin with the knife, he shall go forth from the holy city cast forth from the people, and transgress the sabbath by breaking the law of fasting.
97 P.L.M.Iudaeus licet et porcinum numen adoretet caeli summas advocet auriculas,ni tamen et ferro succiderit inguinis oramet nisi nodatum solverit arte caput,exemptus populo sacra migrabit ab urbeet non ieiuna sabbata lege premet.
This is the one nobility and proof of honourable estate, that a man's hands have shown no fear.
98 P.L.M.Una est nobilitas argumentumque colorisingenui timidas non habuisse manus.
At rest in bed, I had scarce begun to enjoy the first silence of night, and to give up my conquered eyes to sleep, when fierce Love took hold of me and drew me up by the hair, and tore me, bidding me watch till day. “Ah, my slave,” he said, “thou lover of a thousand girls, canst thou lie alone here, alone, oh hard of heart?” I leaped up, and with bare feet and disordered raiment started on every path and found a way by none. Now I run, now to move is weariness: I repent of turning back, and am ashamed to halt in the midst of the road. Lo, the voices of men and the roar of the streets, the singing of birds and the faithful company of watchdogs are all silent. I alone of all men dread both sleep and my bed, and follow thy command, great Lord of desire.
99 P.L.M.Lecto compositus vix prima silentia noctiscarpebam et somno lumina victa dabam,cum me savus Amor prensat sursumque capillisexcitat et lacerum pervigilare iubet.Tu famulus meus, inquit, “ames cum mille puellas,solus, io, solus, dure, iacere potes?”Exsilio et pedibus nudis tunicaque solutaomne iter ingredior, nullum iter expedio.Nunc propero, nunc ire piget, rursumque redirepaenitet, et pudor est stare via media.Ecce tacent voces hominum strepitusque viarumet volucrum cantus fidaque turba canum;solus ego ex cunctis paveo somnumque torumque,et sequor imperium, magne Cupido, tuum.
Long may that night be dearto us, Nealce, that first laid you to rest upon my heart. Dear be the bed and the genius of the couch, and the silent lamp that saw you come softly to do our pleasure. Come, then, let us endure though we have grown older, and employ the years which a brief delay will blot out. It is lawful and right to prolong an old love: grant that what we began in haste may not hastily be ended.
100 P.L.M.Sit nox illa diu nobis dilecta, Nealce,quae te prima meo pectore composuit:sit torus et lecti genius secretaque lampas,quis tenera in nostrum veneris arbitrium.Ergo age duremus, quamvis adoleverit aetas,utamurque annis quos mora parva teret.Fas et iura sinunt veteres extendere amores;fac cito quod coeptum est, non cito desinere.
The pleasure of the act of love is gross and brief, and love once consummated brings loathing after it. Let us then not rush blindly thither straightway like lustful beasts, for love sickens and the flame dies down; but even so, even so, let us keep eternal holi day, and lie with thy lips to mine. No toil is here and no shame: in this, delight has been, and is, and long shall be; in this there is no diminution, but a beginning everlastingly.
101 P.L.M.Foeda est in coitu et brevis voluptaset taedet Veneris statim peractae.Non ergo ut pecudes libidinosaecaeci protinus irruamus illuc(nam languescit amor peritque flamma);sed sic sic sine fine feriatiet tecum iaceamus osculantes.Hic nullus labor est ruborque nullus:hoc iuvit, iuvat et diu iuvabit;hoc non deficit incipitque semper.
To love and accuse at one time were a labour Hercules himself could scarce have borne.
102 P.L.M.Accusare et amare tempore unoipsi vix fuit Herculi ferendum.
Our eyes deceive us, and our wandering senses weigh down our reason and tell us falsehoods. For the tower which stands almost four-square has its corners blunted at a distance and becomes rounded. The full stomach turns from the honey of Hybla, and the nose often hates the scent of cinnamon. One thing could not please us more or less than another, unless the senses strove in set conflict with wavering balance.
120 P.L.M.Fallunt nos oculi vagique sensusoppressa ratione mentiuntur.Nam turris prope quae quadrata surgit,detritis procul angulis rotatur.Hyblaeum refugit satur liquoremet naris casiam frequenter odit.Hoc illo magis aut minus placerenon posset nisi lite destinatapugnarent dubio tenore sensus.
It is not the shrines of the gods, nor the powers of the air, that send the dreams which mock the mind with flitting shadows; each man makes dreams for himself. For when rest lies about the limbs subdued by sleep, and the mind plays with no weight upon it, it pursues in the darkness whatever was its task by daylight. The man who makes towns tremble in war, and overwhelms unhappy cities in flame, sees arms, and routed hosts, and the deaths of kings, and plains streaming with outpoured blood. They whose life is to plead cases have statutes and the courts before their eyes, and look with terror upon the judgement-seat surrounded by a throng. The miser hides his gains and discovers buried treasure. The hunter shakes the woods with his pack. The sailor snatches his shipwrecked bark from the waves, or grips it in death-agony. The woman writes to her lover, the adulteress yields herself: and the dog follows the tracks of the hare as he sleeps. The wounds of the unhappy endure into the night-season.
121 P.L.M.Somnia quae mentes ludunt volitantibus umbris,non delubra deum nec ab aethere numina mittunt,sed sibi quisque facit. Nam cum prostrata soporeurget membra quies et mens sine pondere ludit,quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit. Oppida belloqui quatit et flammis miserandas eruit urbes,tela videt versasque acies et funera regumatque exundantes profuso sanguine campos.Qui causas orare solent, legesque forumqueet pavidi cernunt inclusum chorte tribunal.Condit avarus opes defossumque invenit aurum.Venator saltus canibus quatit. Eripit undisaut premit eversam periturus navita puppem.Scribit amatori meretrix, dat adultera munus:et canis in somnis leporis vestigia lustrat.In noctis spatium miserorum vulnera durant.