Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, Hercules Oetaeus

quicquid dolorem pascit, hoc nimium puta.

Whatever feeds grief, think it too much.

Nvt.

Nurse.

Amorne clari fugit Alcidae tibi?

Has your love for glorious Alcides fled from you?

Dei.

Deianira.

Non fugit, altrix, remanet et penitus sedet

It has not fled, nurse; it stays, and sits deep,

fixus medullis, crede; sed magnus dolor

fixed in my marrow, believe me; but a great pain

iratus amor est.

is love enraged.

Nvt.

Nurse.

Artibus magicis fere

By magic arts, as a rule,

coniugia nuptae precibus admixtis ligant.

wives bind their marriages, with prayers mixed in.

vernare iussi frigore in medio nemus

I have ordered a grove to break into spring in the midst of the cold,

missumque fulmen stare; concussi fretum

and a hurled thunderbolt to stand still; I have stirred up the strait

cessante Tento, turbidum explicui mare

when the wind was dropping; I have smoothed out a troubled sea,

et sicca tellus fontibus patuit novis;

and the dry earth has opened with new springs;

habuere motum saxa. discussi fores

rocks have moved. I have shattered the doors

umbrasque Ditis, et mea iussi prece

and the darkness of Dis, and, commanded by my prayer,

manes locuntur. tacuit infernus canis;

the dead speak. The hound of the underworld has fallen silent;

nox media solem vidit et noctem dies:

midnight has seen the sun, and day the night:

mare terra caelum et Tartarus servit mihi

sea, earth, sky and Tartarus serve me,

nihilque leges ad meos cantus tenet:

and nothing keeps its laws against my chants:

flectemus illum, carmina invenient iter.

we will bend him; my spells will find a way.

Dei.

Deianira.

Quas Pontus herbas generat aut quas Thessala

What herbs Pontus produces, or what Thessalian

sub rupe Pindus alit: ubi inveniam malum

Pindus nurtures beneath its crag: where shall I find a bane

cui cedat ille? carmine in terras mago

to which he would yield? Though by a magic chant to earth

descendat astris Luna desertis licet

the Moon should come down, deserting the stars,

et bruma messes videat et cantu fugax

and winter see harvests, and at a chant the fleeting

stet deprehensum fulmen et versa vice

thunderbolt stand caught, and, the order reversed,

medius coactis ferveat stellis dies:

midday blaze with the stars crowded in:

non flectet illum.

it will not bend him.

Nvt.

Nurse.

Vicit et superos Amor.

Love has conquered even the gods above.