Tibullus, Elegiae

Siquis et inprudens adspexerit, occulat ille

And if anyone sees [us] unawares, let him keep it hidden

Perque deos omnes se meminisse neget:

and deny by all the gods that he remembers:

Nam fuerit quicumque loquax, is sanguine natam,

for whoever is talkative, he will learn that she was born of blood,

Is Venerem e rapido sentiet esse mari.

he will learn that Venus [came] from the raging sea.

Nec tamen huic credet coniunx tuus, ut mihi verax

Yet your husband will not believe him, as a truthful

Pollicita est magico saga ministerio.

witch has promised me by her magic service.

Hanc ego de caelo ducentem sidera vidi,

I have seen her drawing stars down from the sky;

Fluminis haec rapidi carmine vertit iter,

she turns the course of a swift river with a spell;

Haec cantu finditque solum Manesque sepulcris

she with her chant splits the ground, and lures the shades from their tombs

Elicit et tepido devocat ossa rogo;

and calls the bones down from the warm pyre;

Iam tenet infernas magico stridore catervas,

now she holds the hellish throngs with magic shrieking,

Iam iubet adspersas lacte referre pedem.

now she orders them, sprinkled with milk, to turn back.

Cum libet, haec tristi depellit nubila caelo,

When she pleases, she drives the clouds from the gloomy sky;

Cum libet, aestivo convocat orbe nives.

when she pleases, she summons snow in a summer world.

Sola tenere malas Medeae dicitur herbas,

She alone is said to possess Medea’s evil herbs,

Sola feros Hecates perdomuisse canes.

she alone to have tamed the fierce hounds of Hecate.

Haec mihi conposuit cantus, quis fallere posses:

She composed for me chants by which you could deceive:

Ter cane, ter dictis despue carminibus.

sing them three times, and when the spells are spoken, spit three times.

Ille nihil poterit de nobis credere cuiquam,

He will not be able to believe anyone about us,

Non sibi, si in molli viderit ipse toro.

not even himself, if he sees [us] himself on the soft couch.

Tu tamen abstineas aliis: nam cetera cernet

But you, keep away from others: for everything else

Omnia, de me uno sentiet ipse nihil.

he will see; about me alone he will perceive nothing.

Quid, credam? nempe haec eadem se dixit amores

What? Should I believe it? Why, this same woman said that my love

Cantibus aut herbis solvere posse meos,

she could dissolve with chants or herbs,

Et me lustravit taedis, et nocte serena

and she purified me with torches, and on a clear night

Concidit ad magicos hostia pulla deos.

a dark victim fell to the magic gods.

Non ego, totus abesset amor, sed mutuus esset,

I was not praying that love be wholly gone, but that it be mutual,

Orabam, nec te posse carere velim.

nor would I wish to be able to do without you.

Ferreus ille fuit, qui, te cum posset habere,

He was made of iron who, when he could have had you,

Maluerit praedas stultus et arma sequi.

preferred, the fool, to go after plunder and arms.

At mihi contingat patrios celebrare Penates

But may it be granted me to honour my fathers’ Penates

Reddereque antiquo menstrua tura Lari.

and to render the monthly incense to the ancient Lar.

Quam bene Saturno vivebant rege, priusquam

How well they lived when Saturn was king, before

Tellus in longas est patefacta vias!

the earth was opened up into long roads!

Nondum caeruleas pinus contempserat undas,

Not yet had the pine scorned the blue waves

Effusum ventis praebueratque sinum,

and offered a spread sail to the winds,

Nec vagus ignotis repetens conpendia terris

nor had the roving sailor, seeking profit in unknown lands,

Presserat externa navita merce ratem.

loaded his ship with foreign goods.

Illo non validus subiit iuga tempore taurus,

In that age the strong bull did not go under the yoke,

Non domito frenos ore momordit equus,

the horse did not champ the bit with tamed mouth,

Non domus ulla fores habuit, non fixus in agris,

no house had doors, no stone was fixed in the fields

Qui regeret certis finibus arva, lapis.

to rule the plough-lands with sure boundaries.

Parce tamen, per te furtivi foedera lecti,

Yet be merciful, by the pacts of our secret bed,

Per venerem quaeso conpositumque caput.

by Venus, I beg, and by your head laid beside mine.

Ille ego, cum tristi morbo defessa iaceres,

I am the one who, when you lay worn out by grim sickness,

Te dicor votis eripuisse meis,

am said to have snatched you away by my vows,

Ipseque te circum lustravi sulphure puro,

and I myself purified you all round with pure sulphur,

Carmine cum magico praecinuisset anus;

after an old woman had first chanted a magic spell;

Ipse procuravi, ne possent saeva nocere

I myself took care that cruel dreams could not

Somnia, ter sancta deveneranda mola;

harm you, dreams to be averted three times with holy meal;

Ipse ego velatus filo tunicisque solutis

I myself, veiled with a fillet and with loosened tunic,

Vota novem Triviae nocte silente dedi.

made nine vows to Trivia in the silent night.

Omnia persolvi: fruitur nunc alter amore,

I paid them all: now another enjoys your love,

Et precibus felix utitur ille meis.

and, lucky man, he reaps the profit of my prayers.

Saepe aliam tenui, sed iam cum gaudia adirem,

Often I held another, but just as I was approaching the joys,

Admonuit dominae deseruitque Venus.

Venus reminded me of my mistress and deserted me.

Tunc me discedens devotum femina dixit

Then the woman, leaving, said I was bewitched,

Et pudet et narrat scire nefanda meam.

and — it shames me — tells that my girl knows unspeakable things.

Non facit hoc verbis, facie tenerisque lacertis

She does not do this with words: with her face and tender arms

Devovet et flavis nostra puella comis.

and her golden hair my girl bewitches [me].

Talis ad Haemonium Nereis Pelea quondam

Such was the Nereid who once, to Haemonian Peleus,

Vecta est frenato caerula pisce Thetis.

was carried, blue Thetis, on a bridled fish.

Haec nocuere mihi, quod adest huic dives amator;

These things have harmed me: that a rich lover is at hand for her;

Venit in exitium callida lena meum.

a cunning bawd has come for my ruin.

Sanguineas edat illa dapes atque ore cruento

May she eat bloody meals and with gory mouth

Tristia cum multo pocula felle bibat;

drink bitter cups mixed with much gall;

Hanc volitent animae circum sua fata querentes

may souls flit round her bewailing their fates,

Semper et e tectis strix violenta canat;

and may the fierce screech owl sing always from the roofs;

Ipsa fame stimulante furens herbasque sepulcris

may she herself, raging under the goad of hunger, seek herbs on graves

Quaerat et a saevis ossa relicta lupis,

and bones left behind by savage wolves,

Currat et inguinibus nudis ululetque per urbes,

may she run with bare groin and howl through the cities,

Post agat e triviis aspera turba canum.

and a rough pack of dogs from the crossroads drive her on behind.

Eveniet: dat signa deus; sunt numina amanti,

It will come to pass: the god gives signs; lovers have their divinities,

Saevit et iniusta lege relicta Venus.

and Venus, deserted on unjust terms, rages.

At tu quam primum sagae praecepta rapacis

But you, as soon as you can, the teachings of the grasping witch

Desere, nam donis vincitur omnis amor.

abandon, for every love is won by gifts.

Pauper erit praesto semper, te pauper adibit

The poor man will always be at your side; the poor man will approach you

Primus et in tenero fixus erit latere,

first and will cling to your tender side,

Illa placet, quamvis inculto venerit ore

She pleases, though she has come with unadorned face

Nec nitidum tarda compserit arte caput.

and has not dressed her shining hair with lingering art.

Num te carminibus, num te pallentibus herbis

Has some old woman, with spells, with pale herbs,

Devovit tacito tempore noctis anus?

bewitched you in the silent time of night?

Cantus vicinis fruges traducit ab agris,

Song draws crops away from neighbouring fields,

Cantus et iratae detinet anguis iter,

song halts the path of the angry snake,

Cantus et e curru Lunam deducere temptat

song tries to draw the Moon down from her chariot,

Et faceret, si non aera repulsa sonent.

and would do it, if struck bronzes did not ring out.

Quid queror heu misero carmen nocuisse, quid herbas?

Why, alas, do I complain that a spell has harmed the poor wretch, why [blame] herbs?

Forma nihil magicis utitur auxiliis:

Beauty has no use for magic aids:

Sed corpus tetigisse nocet, sed longa dedisse

what does the harm is to have touched her body, to have given long

Oscula, sed femori conseruisse femur.

kisses, to have pressed thigh against thigh.