Part 6

Against us Mavors is girded with the fatal sword; against us the lance is directed by the invincible hand of Pallas; against us the flexible bow of Apollo is bent; against us the lofty right hand of Jove wields the lightnings. The offended Gods of heaven fear to hurt the fair; and they spontaneously dread those who dread them not. And who, then, would take care to place the frankincense in his devotion upon the altars? At least, there ought to be more spirit in men. Jupiter, with his fires, hurls at the groves [555] and the towers, and yet he forbids his weapons, thus darted, to strike the perjured female. Many a one has deserved to be struck. The unfortunate Semele [556] perished by the flames; that punishment was found for her by her own compliant disposition. But if she had betaken herself off, on the approach of her lover, his father would not have had for Bacchus the duties of a mother to perform.

Why do I complain, and why blame all the heavens? The Gods have eyes as well as we; the Gods have hearts as well. Were I a Divinity myself, I would allow a woman with impunity to swear falsely by my Godhead. I myself would swear that the fair ever swear the truth; and I would not be pronounced one of the morose Divinities. Still, do you, fair one, use their favour with more moderation, or, at least, do have some regard [557] for my eyes.

ELEGY IV.

_He tells a jealous husband, who watches his wife, that the greater his precautions, the greater are the temptations to sin._

|Cruel husband, by setting a guard over the charming fair, thou dost avail nothing; by her own feelings must each be kept. If, all apprehensions removed, any woman is chaste, she, in fact, is chaste; she who sins not, because she cannot, _still_ sins. [558] However well you may have guarded the person, the mind is still unchaste; and, unless it chooses, it cannot be constrained. You cannot confine the mind, should you lock up every thing; when all is closed, the unchaste one will be within. The one who can sin, errs less frequently; the very opportunity makes the impulse to wantonness to be the less powerful. Be persuaded by me, and leave off instigating to criminality by constraint; by indulgence thou mayst restrain it much more effectually.

I have sometimes seen the horse, struggling against his reins, rush on like lightning with his resisting mouth. Soon as ever he felt that rein was given, he stopped, and the loosened bridle lay upon his flowing mane. We are ever striving for what is forbidden, and are desiring what is denied us; even so does the sick man hanker after the water that is forbidden him. Argus used to carry a hundred eyes in his forehead, a hundred in his neck; [559] and these Love alone many a time evaded. Danaë, who, a maid, had been placed in the chamber which was to last for ever with its stone and its iron, [560] became a mother. Penelope, although she was without a keeper, amid so many youthful suitors, remained undefiled.

Whatever is hoarded up, we long for it the more, and the very pains invite the thief; few care for what another giants.

Not through her beauty is she captivating, but through the fondness of her husband; people suppose it to be something unusual which has so captivated thee. Suppose she is not chaste whom her husband is guarding, but faithless; she is beloved; but this apprehension itself causes her value, rather than her beauty. Be indignant if thou dost please; forbidden pleasures delight me: if any woman can only say, "I am afraid, that woman alone pleases me. Nor yet is it legal [561] to confine a free-born woman; let these fears harass the bodies of those from foreign parts. That the keeper, forsooth, may be able to say, 'I caused it she must be chaste for the credit of thy slave. He is too much of a churl whom a faithless wife injures, and is not sufficiently acquainted with the ways of the City; in which Romulus, the son of Ilia, and Remus, the son of Ilia, both begotten by Mars, were not born without a crime being committed. Why didst thou choose a beauty for thyself, if she was not pleasing unless chaste? Those two qualities [562] cannot by any means be united.'"

If thou art wise, show indulgence to thy spouse, and lay aside thy morose looks; and assert not the rights of a severe husband. Show courtesy, too, to the friends thy wife shall find thee, and many a one will she find. 'Tis thus that great credit accrues at a very small outlay of labour. Thus wilt thou be able always to take part in the festivities of the young men, and to see many a thing at home, [563] which you have not presented to her.

ELEGY V.

_A vision, and its explanation._

|Twas night, and sleep weighed down my wearied eyes. Such a vision as this terrified my mind.

Beneath a sunny hill, a grove was standing, thick set with holm oaks; and in its branches lurked full many a bird. A level spot there was beneath, most verdant with the grassy mead, moistened with the drops of the gently trickling stream. Beneath the foliage of the trees, I was seeking shelter from the heat; still, under the foliage of the trees it was hot. Lo! seeking for the grass mingled with the variegated flowers, a white cow was standing before my eyes; more white than the snows at the moment when they have just fallen, which, time has not yet turned into flowing water. More white than the milk which is white with its bubbling foam, [564] and at that moment leaves the ewe when milked. [565] A bull there was, her companion, he, in his happiness, eas her mate; and with his own one he pressed the tender grass. While he was lying, and slowly ruminating upon the grass chewed once again; and once again was feeding on the food eaten by him before; he seemed, as sleep took away his strength, to lay his horned head upon the ground that supported it. Hither came a crow, gliding through the air on light wings; and chattering, took her seat upon the green sward; and thrice with her annoying beak did she peck at the breast of the snow-white cow; and with her bill she took away the white hair. Having remained awhile, she left the spot and the bull; but black envy was in the breast of the cow. And when she saw the bulls afar browsing upon the pastures (bulls were browsing afar upon the verdant pastures), thither did she betake herself, and she mingled among those herds, and sought out a spot of more fertile grass.

"Come, tell me, whoever thou art, thou interpreter of the dreams of the night, what (if it has any truth) this vision means." Thus said I: thus spoke the interpreter of the dreams of the night, as he weighed in his mind each particular that was seen; "The heat which thou didst wish to avoid beneath the rustling leaves, but didst but poorly avoid, was that of Love. The cow is thy mistress; that complexion is suited to the fair. Thou wast the male, and the bull with the fitting mate. Inasmuch as the crow pecked at her breast with her sharp beak; an old hag of a procuress [566] will tempt the affections of thy mistress. In that, after hesitating long, his heifer left the bull, thou wilt be left to be chilled in a deserted couch. Envy and the black spots below the front of her breast, show that she is not free from the reproach of inconstancy."

Thus spoke the interpreter; the blood retreated from my chilled face; and profound night stood before my eyes.

ELEGY VI.

_He addresses a river which has obstructed his passage while he is going to his mistress._

|River that hast [567] thy slimy banks planted with reeds, to my mistress I am hastening; stay thy waters for a moment. No bridges hast thou, nor yet a hollow boat [568] to carry one over without the stroke of the oar, by means of the rope thrown across. Thou wast a small stream, I recollect; and I did not hesitate to pass across thee; and the surface of thy waves then hardly reached to my ancles. Now, from the opposite mountain [569] thou dost rush, the snows being melted, and in thy turbid stream thou dost pour thy muddied waters. What avails it me thus to have hastened? What to have given so little time to rest? What to have made the night all one with the day? 569*

If still I must be standing here; if, by no contrivance, thy opposite banks are granted to be trodden by my foot.

Now do I long for the wings which the hero, the son of Danaë, [570] possessed, when he bore away the head, thickset with the dreadful serpents; now do I wish for the chariot, [571] from which the seed of Ceres first came, thrown upon the uncultivated ground. Of the wondrous fictions of the ancient poets do I speak; no time has produced, nor does produce, nor will produce these wonders. Rather, do thou, stream that dost overflow thy wide banks, flow within thy limits, then for ever mayst thou run on. Torrent, thou wilt not, believe me, be able to endure the reproaches, if perchance I should be mentioned as detained by thee in my love.

Rivers ought rather to aid youths in their loves; rivers themselves have experienced what love is. Inachus [572] is said to have flowed pale with love for Melie, [573] the Bithynian Nymph, and to have warmed throughout his cold fords. Not yet was Troy besieged for twice five years, when, Xanthus, Neæra attracted thy eyes. Besides; did not enduring love for the Arcadian maid force Alpheus [574] to run through various lands? They say, too, that thou, Peneus, didst conceal, in the lands of the Phthiotians, Creüsa, [575] already betrothed to Xanthus. Why should I mention Asopus, whom Thebe, beloved by Mars, [576] received, Thebe, destined to be the parent of five daughters? Should I ask of Achelous, "Where now are thy horns?" thou wouldst complain that they were broken away by the wrathful hand of Hercules. [577] Not of such value was Calydon, [578] nor of such value was the whole of Ætolia; still, of such value was Deianira alone. The enriching Nile, that flows through his seven mouths, who so well conceals the native spot [579] of waters so vast, is said not to have been able to overpower by his stream the flame that was kindled by Evadne, the daughter of Asopus. [580] Enipeus, dried up, [581] that he might be enabled to embrace the daughter of Salmoneus, bade his waters to depart; his waters, so ordered, did depart.

Nor do I pass thee by, who as thou dost roll amid the hollow rocks, foaming, dost water the fields of Argive Tibur [582] whom Ilia [583] captivated, although she was unsightly in her garb, bearing the marks of her nails on her locks, the marks of her nails on her cheeks. Bewailing both the crimes of her uncle, and the fault of Mars, she was wandering along the solitary spots with naked feet. Her the impetuous stream beheld from his rapid waves, and raised his hoarse mouth from the midst of his fords, and thus he said: "Why, in sorrow, art thou pacing my banks, Ilia, the descendant of Laomedon [584] of Ida? Whither have gone thy vestments? Why wandering thus alone? And why does no white fillet [585] bind thy hair tied up? Why weepest thou, and why spoil thy eyes wet with tears? And why beat thy open breast with frenzied hand? That man has both flints and ore of iron in his breast, who, unconcerned, beholds the tears on thy delicate face. Ilia, lay aside thy fears; my palace shall be opened unto thee; the streams, too, shall obey thee; Ilia, lay aside thy fears. Among a hundred Nymphs or more, thou shalt hold the sway; for a hundred or more does my stream contain. Only, descendant of Troy, despise me not, I pray; gifts more abundant than my promises shalt thou receive."

_Thus_ he said; she casting on the ground her modest eyes, as she wept, besprinkled her warm breast with her tears. Thrice did she attempt to fly; thrice did she stop short at the deep waves, as fear deprived her of the power of running. Still, at last, as with hostile fingers she tore her hair, with quivering lips she uttered these bitter words; "Oh! would that my bones had been gathered up, and hidden in the tomb of my fathers, while yet they could be gathered, belonging to me a virgin! Why now, am I courted [586] for any nuptials, a Vestal disgraced, and to be driven from the altars of Ilium? Why do I hesitate? See! by the fingers of the multitude am I pointed at as unchaste. Let this disgrace be ended, which marks my features."

Thus far _did she speak_, and before her swollen eyes she extended her robe; and so, in her despair, did she throw herself [587] into the rapid waters. The flowing stream is said to have placed his hands beneath her breast, and to have conferred on her the privilege of his nuptial couch.

'Tis worthy of belief, too, that thou hast been inflamed _with love_ for some maiden; but the groves and woods conceal thy failings.

While I have been talking, it has become more swollen with its extending waves, and the deep channel contains not the rushing waters. What, furious torrent, hast thou against me? Why thus delay our mutual transports? Why, churlish river, interrupt the journey once commenced? What if thou didst flow according to some fixed rule, [588] a river of some note? What if thy fame was mighty throughout the earth? But no name hast thou collected from the exhausted rivulets; thou hast no springs, no certain abode hast thou. In place of spring, thou hast rain and melted snow; resources which the sluggish winter supplies to thee. Either in muddy guise, in winter time, thou dost speed onward in thy course; or filled with dust, thou dost pass over the parched ground. What thirsty traveller has been able to drink of thee then? Who has said, with grateful lips, "Mayst thou flow on for ever?"

_Onward_ thou dost run, injurious to the flocks, [589] still more injurious to the fields. Perhaps these _mischiefs may move_ others; my own evils move me. And, oh shocking! did I in my madness relate to this stream the loves of the rivers? I am ashamed unworthily to have pronounced names so great. Gazing on I know not what, could I speak of the rivers [590] Acheloüs and Inachus, and could I, Nile, talk of thy name? But for thy deserts, torrent far from clear, I wish that for thee there may be scorching heat, and winter always dry.

ELEGY VII.

```At non formosa est, at non bene culta puella;

````At, puto, non votis sæpe petita meis.

```Hanc tamen in nullos tenui male languidus usus,

````Sed jacui pigro crimen onusque toro.

```Nec potui cupiens, pariter cupiente puella,

````Inguinis effoeti parte juvante frui.

```Ilia quidem nostro subjecit ebumea collo

````Brachia, Sithonia candidiora nive;

```Osculaque inseruit cupidæ lactantia linguæ,

````Lascivum femori Supposuitque femur;

```Et mihi blanditias dixit, Dominumque vocavit,

````Et quæ præterea publica verba juvant.

```Tacta tamen veluti gelidâ mea membra cicutâ,

````Segnia propositum destituere suum.

```Truncus iners jacui, species, et inutile pondus:

````Nec satis exactum est, corpus an umbra forem,

```Quæ mihi ventura est, (siquidem ventura), senectus,

````Cum desit numeris ipsa juventa suis?

```Ah pudet annorum! quo me juvenemque virumque,

````Nec juvenem, nec me sensit arnica virum.

```Sic flammas aditura pias æterna sacerdos

````Surgit, et a caro fratre verenda soror.

```At nuper bis flava Chlide, ter Candida Pitho,

````Ter Libas officio continuata meo.

```Exigere a nobis angustâ nocte Corinnam,

````Me memini numéros sustinuisse uovem.

```Num mea Thessalico languent tlevota veneno Co

````rpora? num misero carmen et herba nocent?

```Sagave Puniceâ defixit nomina cerâ,

````Et medium tenues in jecur egit acus?

```Carmine læsa Ceres sterüem vanescit in herbam:

````Deficiunt læsæ carmine fontis aquæ:

```Ilicibus glandes, cantataque vitibus uva

````Decidit; et nullo poma movente fluunt.

```Quid vetat et nervos magicas torpere per arteg

````Forsitan impatiens sit latus inde meum.

```Hue pudor accessit: facti pudor ipse nocebat

````Ille fuit vitii causa secunda mei.

```At qualem vidi tantum tetigique puellam,

````Sic etiam tunicâ tangitur ipsa sua.

```Illius ad tactum Pylius juvenescere possit,

````Tithonusque annis fortior esse suis.=

```Hæc mihi contigerat; scd vir non contigit illi.

````Quas nunc concipiam per nova vota preces?

```Credo etiam magnos, quo sum tam turpiter usus,

````Muneris oblati pcenituisse Deos.

```Optabam certe recipi; sum nempe receptus:

````Oscula ferre; tuii: proximus esse; fui.

```Quo mihi fortunæ tantum? quo régna sine usu?

````Quid, nisi possedi dives avarus opes?

```Sic aret mediis taciti vulgator in undis;

````Pomaque, quæ nullo tempore tangat, habet.

```A tenerâ quisquam sic surgit mane puellâ,

```Protinus ut sanctos possit adiré Deos.

```Sed non blanda, puto, non optima perdidit in me

````Oscula, non omni sohcitavit ope.

```Ilia graves potuit quercus, adamantaque durum,

````Surdaque blanditiis saxa movere suis.

```Digna movere fuit certe vivosque virosque;

````Sed neque turn vixi, nec vir, ut ante, fui.

```Quid juvet, ad surdas si cantet Phemius aures?

````Quid miserum Thamyran picta tabeba juvet?7`

```At quæ non tacitâ formavi gaudia mente!

````Quos ego non finxi disposuique modos!

```Nostra tamen jacuere, velut præmortua, membra

````Turpiter, hesternâ languidiora rosâ.

```Quæ nunc ecce rigent intempestiva, valentque;

````Nunc opus exposcunt, mihtiamque suam.

```Quin istic pudibunda jaces, pars pessima nostri?

````Sic sum polhcitis captus et ante tuis.

```Tu dominam falbs; per te deprensus inermis

````Tristia cum magno damna pudore tub.

```Hanc etiam non est mea dedignata puella

````Molbter admotâ sobcitare manu.

```Sed postquam nullas consurgere posse per artes,

````Immemoremque sui procubuisse videt;

```Quid me ludis? ait; quis te, male sane, jubebat

````Invxtum nostro ponere membra toro?

```Aut te trajectis Ææa venefica lanis

````Devovet, aut abo lassus amore venis.

```Nec mora; desiluit tunicâ velata recinctâ:

````Et decuit nudos proripuisse pedes.

```Neve suæ possent intactam scire ministrae,

````Dedecus hoc sumtâ dissimulavit aquâ.

ELEGY VIII.

_He laments that he is not received by his mistress, and complains that she gives the preference to a wealthy rival._

|And does any one still venerate the liberal arts, or suppose that soft verses have any merit? Genius once was more precious than gold; but now, to be possessed of nought is the height of ignorance. After my poems [591] have proved very pleasing to my mistress, it is not allowed me to go where it has been allowed my books. When she has much bepraised me, her door is shut on him who is praised; talented _though I be_, I disgracefully wander up and down.

Behold! a Knight gorged with blood, lately enriched, his wealth acquired [592] through his wounds, [593] is preferred before myself. And can you, my life, enfold him in your charming arms? Can you, my life, rush into his embrace? If you know it not, that head used to wear a helmet; that side which is so at your service, was girded with a sword. That left hand, which thus late [594] the golden ring so badly suits, used to bear the shield; touch his right, it has been stained with blood. And can you touch that right hand, by which some person has met his death? Alas! where is that tenderness of heart of yours? Look at his scars, the traces of his former fights; whatever he possesses, by that body was it acquired. [595] Perhaps, too, he will tell how often he has stabbed a man; covetous one, will you touch the hand that confesses this? I, unstained, the priest of the Muses and of Phoebus, am he who is singing his bootless song before your obdurate doors.

Learn, you who are wise, not what we idlers know, but how to follow the anxious troops, and the ruthless camp; instead of good verses hold sway over [596] the first rank; through this, Homer, hadst thou wished it, she might have proved kind to thee. Jupiter, well aware that nothing is more potent than gold, was himself the reward of the ravished damsel. [597] So long as the bribe was wanting, the father was obdurate, she herself prudish, the door-posts bound with brass, the tower made of iron; but after the knowing seducer resorted to presents, [598] she herself opened her lap; and, requested to surrender, she did surrender.

But when the aged Saturn held the realms of the heavens, the ground kept all money deep in its recesses. To the shades below had he removed brass and silver, and, together with gold, the weight of iron; and no ingots were there _in those times_. But she used to give what was better, corn without the crooked plough-share, apples too, and honey found in the hollow oak. And no one used with sturdy plough to cleave the soil; with no boundaries [599] did the surveyor mark out the ground. The oars dipped down did not skim the upturned waves; then was the shore [601] the limit of the paths of men. Human nature, against thyself hast thou been so clever; and for thy own destruction too ingenious. To what purpose surround cities with turreted fortifications? [602] To what purpose turn hostile hands to arms? What hast thou to do with the sea? With the earth thou mightst have been content. Why not seek the heavens [603] as well, for a third realm? To the heavens, too, dost thou aspire, so far as thou mayst. Quirinus, Liber, and Alcides, and Caesar but recently, [604] have their temples.

Instead of corn, we dig the solid gold from the earth; the soldier possesses riches acquired by blood. To the poor is the Senate-house [605] shut; wealth alone confers honours; [606] hence, the judge so grave; hence the knight so proud. Let them possess it all; let the field of Mars [607] and the Forum [608] obey them; let these administer peace and cruel warfare. Only, in their greediness, let them not tear away my mistress; and 'tis enough, so they but allow something to belong to the poor.

But now-a-days, he that is able to give away plenty, rules it _over a woman_ like a slave, even should she equal the prudish Sabine dames. The keeper is in my way; with regard to me, [609] she dreads her husband. If I were to make presents, both of them would entirely disappear from the house. Oh! if any God is the avenger of the neglected lover, may he change riches, so ill-gotten, into dust.

ELEGY IX.

_He laments the death of the Poet Tibullus._

|If his mother has lamented Memnon, his mother Achilles, and if sad deaths influence the great Goddesses; plaintive Elegy, unbind thy sorrowing tresses; alas! too nearly will thy name be derived from fact! The Poet of thy own inspiration, [610] Tibullus, thy glory, is burning, a lifeless body, on the erected pile. [611] Lo! the son of Venus bears both his quiver inverted, and his bow broken, and his torch without a flame; behold how wretched with drooping wings he goes: and how he beats his naked breast with cruel hand. His locks dishevelled about his neck receive his tears, and his mouth resounds with sobs that convulse his body. 'Twas thus, beauteous Iulus, they say that thou didst go forth from thy abode, at the funeral of his brother Æneas. Not less was Venus afflicted when Tibullus died, than when the cruel boar [612] tore the groin of the youth.