Elegy V. He Upbraids His Mistress Whom He : ELEGY V: HE UPBRAIDS HIS MISTRESS WHOM HE HIS DETECTED ACTING FALSELY TOWARDS HIM. AWAY with thee, Cupid and thy quiver! Love's not such a priceless thing that I should so often and so desperately long for death. Aye, for death I long, when I bethink me of thy perfidy, thou thankless girl, born...
Elegy Iv. Ovid, His Mistress And Her Husb : p. 7 ELEGY IV: OVID, HIS MISTRESS AND HER HUSBAND ARE ALL BIDDEN TO THE SAME SUPPER. HE GIVES HIS MISTRESS, A CODE BY WHICH THEY CAN TESTIFY THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, BENEATH HER HUSBAND'S VERY EYES. YOUR husband will be at our supper. May that supper be his last. So I shall only be looking on my...
The Art Of Love. Book Iii : p. 150 p. 151 p. 152 p. 153 THE ART OF LOVE BOOK III I HAVE just armed the Greeks against the Amazons; now, Penthesilea, it remains for me to arm thee against the Greeks, thee and thy valiant troop. Fight with equal resources and let the victory go to he side favoured by beloved Dione and the boy...
Elegy Iv. He Urges A Husband Not To Keep : ELEGY IV HE URGES A HUSBAND NOT TO KEEP SO STRICT A WATCH ON HIS WIFE. IMPOSSIBLE man, you have set someone to watch the doings of your young wife. It is quite useless. A woman's only armour is her virtue. She alone is chaste who is not kept Chaste by fear. She who sins not because she must not...
Elegy Xiii. He Entreats The Dawn To Hasten : ELEGY XIII: HE ENTREATS THE DAWN TO HASTEN NOT HER COMING. O, over the Ocean doth she come, from the arms of her aged husband. Over the waves she cometh, the bright goddess whose car brings back the day. O beautiful Aurora, whither dost thou hasten? Stay, O stay thy flight. So, yearly, may...
Elegy Ii. The Triumph Of Love : ELEGY II: THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE. WHO is it that can tell me why my bed seems so is hard and why the bedclothes will not stay upon it? Wherefore has this night--and oh, how long it was!--dragged on, bringing no sleep to my eyes? Why are my weary limbs visited with restlessness and pain? If it were...
The Art Of Beauty : p. 210 p. 211 p. 212 p. 213 THE ART OF BEAUTY NOW learn, my dears, the art of beautifying your faces; learn by what means you can retain your charms. Cultivation makes the sterile ground bring forth fruit; it destroys the thorny brambles. Cultivation softens the sourness of the apple...
Elegy X. He Complains To Ceres That, During : ELEGY X HE COMPLAINS TO CERES THAT, DURING HER FESTIVAL, HE IS NOT SUFFERED TO SHARE HIS MISTRESS' COUCH. HERE is the yearly festival of Ceres come round again: and my lady has to sleep in a lonely bed. Golden-tressd Ceres, with thy fine hair adorned with ears of corn, wherefore, on thy feast day...
Elegy I. The Poet Explains How It Is He Comes : p. 3 ELEGY I: THE POET EXPLAINS HOW IT IS HE COMES TO SING OF LOVE INSTEAD OF BATTLES. WAS about to sing, in heroic strain, of arms and fierce combats. 'Twas a subject suited to my verse, whose lines were all of equal measure. But Cupid, so 'tis said, began to laugh, and stole away one foot. Who...
Elegy Viii. He Asks Cypassis How In The World : p. 45 ELEGY VIII HE ASKS CYPASSIS HOW IN THE WORLD CORINNA COULD HAVE FOUND THEM OUT. YOU wonderful little hair-dresser, who only ought to have goddesses' hair to tend, Cypassis, whom in a stolen moment of delight I found by no means unexpert, you who suit your mistress so well, and me better...
Elegy Ix. On The Death Of Tibullus : ELEGY IX ON THE DEATH OF TIBULLUS. IF the mother of Memnon, if the mother of Achilles, mourned for their dead sons; if the mighty goddesses are not insensible to the blows of, Fate, then, plaintive Elegy, unbind thy sorrowing tresses; never, alas, did thy name so well befit thee as at this hour...
Elegy Xiv. To His Mistress, Who, Contrary : ELEGY XIV: TO HIS MISTRESS, WHO, CONTRARY TO HIS COUNSEL, DYED HER HAIR WITH NOXIOUS COMPOSITIONS, AND HAS NEARLY BECOME BALD. DID I not say to thee, "Cease to dye thy hair?" And now thou hast no longer any hair to dye. Nevertheless, hadst thou not been stubborn, where was there anything more...
The Loves. Book I : p. 1 THE LOVES BOOK I p. 2 "EPIGRAM" "We who of late numbered five books, are now but three. 'Twas Ovid our author willed it so. If you win no joy from reading us, the abstraction of two books will at least lessen your displeasure." P. OVIDI NASONIS LIBER PRIMVS AMORES "Epigramma Ipsius" Qui modo...
Elegy Ix. He Beseeches Cupid Not To Discharge : p. 46 ELEGY IX HE BESEECHES CUPID NOT TO DISCHARGE ALL HIS ARROWS AT HIM ALONE. O THOU who dost never weary of tormenting me, who never givest me any peace of mind, why, Cupid, dost thou treat me thus, who never ceased to march beneath thy banner? Why dost thou wound me thus? Why scorchest thou...
Elegy X. He Tells Graecinus How, Despite : p. 48 ELEGY X HE TELLS GRCINUS HOW, DESPITE WHAT HE SAYS TO THE CONTRARY, IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE IN LOVE WITH TWO WOMEN AT THE SAME TIME. TWAS thou, oh, yes, I mind me well, 'twas thou, Grcinus, who wast wont to say a man could never love two women at a time. 'Tis, then, through thee that I have...
List Of Illustrations : LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE LOVE, WITH FLUSHED CHEEKS, HOLDS IN HER FRAIL ARMS THE AMPHORA OF BACCHUS "Frontispiece SHE DELIGHTETH TO PROFANE THE CHASTITY OF THE MARRIAGE BED 16 TO PRESS HER SOFTLY TO MY SIDE 24 A BACK COVERED WITH WEALS 44 HE WILL TELL THEE HOW MANY THROATS HE HAS CUT 82...
Elegy Iii. He Appeals Once More To Bago : p. 37 ELEGY III: HE APPEALS ONCE MORE TO BAGOAS, WHO HAD PROVED INFLEXIBLE. AH me, that my mistress should be entrusted to thy care, thou who art nor man nor woman, thou who can'st never know the mutual joy that lovers give--and take. He who was the first to rob little boys of that which makes...
Elegy Xv. He Bids Farewell To His Want : ELEGY XV HE BIDS FAREWELL TO HIS WANTON MUSE, TO COURT ONE, MORE AUSTERE. SEEK a new Poet, mother of tender Loves. I'm now rounding the last mark with my elegies. Those songs which I, a child of the Pelignian countryside, have written, have been a delight to me and they have not put me to shame. If...
Elegy Xiv. On Corinna's Recovery He Writes : ELEGY XIV ON CORINNA'S RECOVERY HE WRITES TO HER AGAIN CONCERNING HER ATTEMPT AT ABORTION AND TELLS HER HOW NAUGHTY SHE HAS BEEN. WHAT avails it that our women should be free from the perils of the field, that they should not be called upon, buckler in hand, to march with our doughty troops if...
Elegy Xiii. He Beseeches Isis To Come : ELEGY XIII HE BESEECHES ISIS TO COME TO THE AID OF CORINNA IN HER CONFINEMENT. MY rash Corinna, seeking to rid herself of the burden she bears in her womb, hath risked the loss of her own life. For having thus, unknown to me, courted so great a danger, she merits all my wrath; but wrath gives way...
Elegy Vii. He Assures Corinna That He H : ELEGY VII: HE ASSURES CORINNA THAT HE HAS NEVER HAD ANY GUILTY COMMERCE WITH CYPASSIS, HER MAID. Oh, are you always going to be bringing some charge against me? No sooner have I succeeded in rebutting one than you trump up another. I'm sick of this perpetual bickering. If I happen to run my eye...
Elegy Iii. He Commends Himself To His Mistress : p. 6 ELEGY III: HE COMMENDS HIMSELF TO HIS MISTRESS BY THE MERITS OF HIS POETRY, THE PURITY OF HIS MORALS, AND BY THE VOW OF HIS UNCHANGEABLE FIDELITY. My prayer is just: let the fair one who has so lately captivated my heart love me ever, or so act that I shall love her ever. Nay, but 'tis too...
Elegy Vii. The Poet Reproaches Himself : ELEGY VII THE POET REPROACHES HIMSELF FOR HAVING FAILED IN HIS DUTY TOWARDS HIS MISTRESS. IS she not fair, is she not accomplished? Have I not long hungered to possess her? Yet she, yes, she of all women in the world, I have held in my arms and to no purpose. To my shame I confess it, I have l...
Elegy I. He Tells Wherefore, Instead : p. 32 p. 33 ELEGY I: HE TELLS WHEREFORE, INSTEAD OF THE WARS OF THE GIANTS, WHICH HE HAD COMMENCED, HE IS CONSTRAINED TO SING OF LOVE. BEHOLD here another work of Ovid, who was born in the moist land of the Peligni, of Ovid who singeth to the world of his own follies. This time, again, 'twas Love...
Elegy Ii. The Circus : ELEGY II THE CIRCUS. THOUGH I am sitting here, it's not in the least because I am interested in the racing; all the same! I want your favourite to win. What I've come here for is to talk to you, to sit near you and to tell you how tremendously I love you. So you are looking at the races, I am...
Elegy Iv. He Confesses His Inclinati : ELEGY IV: HE CONFESSES HIS INCLINATION FOR LOVE AND HIS ADMIRATION FOR ALL MANNER OF WOMEN. I MAKE no pretence of justifying the laxity of my morals; I never resort to untruthful pretexts to excuse my wanderings from the path of virtue. I freely confess my faults, if such avowals can serve any...
Elegy Xviii. To Macer. To Whom He Excuses : ELEGY XVIII TO MACER: TO WHOM HE EXCUSES HIMSELF FOR GIVING HIMSELF UP WHOLLY TO EROTIC VERSE. WHILST in your verse you are depicting the wrath of Achilles, and are investing with their first arms the heroes who are bound by their oaths, I, Macer, am tasting the sweets of repose in the shade...
Elegy V. His Delight At Having Obtained Corinna's : ELEGY V: HIS DELIGHT AT HAVING OBTAINED CORINNA'S FAVOURS 'TWAS summer, and already past the hour of noon. I flung myself on my couch to rest my limbs. My windows were but half open. The light of my chamber was like the light of the woods, or like the glow which follows after sunset; or father...
Elegy Ix. He Compareth Love With War : p. 19 ELEGY IX: HE COMPARETH LOVE WITH WAR. THY lover is a soldier, and Cupid hath his camp. Aye, believe me, Atticus, every lover is a soldier. The age which suiteth war is also favourable to Venus. A fig for an elderly soldier! A fig for an elderly lover! The age which generals demand in a brave...
Elegy Iii. To His Mistress, Whom He Has Found : ELEGY III TO HIS MISTRESS, WHOM HE HAS FOUND TO BE FORSWORN. SHALL I believe any longer that the gods exist? She has broken her sworn oath, and her loveliness is unimpaired. Long was her hair before she took the gods to witness. Now that she has deceived them, it is just as long. The whiteness...
Elegy Xi. He Seeks To Dissuade Corinn : ELEGY XI HE SEEKS TO DISSUADE CORINNA FROM GOING TO BAI. YES, it was the ship of pine hewn on Mount Pelion, that first opened a path over the wonder-stricken billows--a path beset with perils and bestrewn with reefs--the ship of pine which, amid the clashing rocks, bore away the ram famed for its...
Elegy V. A Dream : ELEGY V A DREAM. TWAS night, and sleep had weighed down my weary eyelids, when this vision came to terrify my soul. On the side of a hill looking towards the south was a grove thickly planted with oaks, and multitudes of birds found shelter amid their branches. Beneath was a wide expanse clad...
Elegy Xi. Weary At Length Of His Mistress' : ELEGY XI WEARY AT LENGTH OF HIS MISTRESS' INFIDELITIES, HE SWEARS THAT HE WILL LOVE HER NO LONGER. I HAVE had a lot to put up with, and I've put up with it a great deal too long. I am completely out of patience with you. My heart is tired out. Away with you, base Love! My slavery is over; I have...
Introduction. Ii : INTRODUCTION II The society into which Ovid was received after his refusal of the qustorship, and in which he gained that intimate knowledge of women which make his love poems such masterpieces of feminine psychology, was one of the most brilliant that the world has ever known. p. xii Out...
Elegy Xii. He Rejoices At Having At Last : ELEGY XII HE REJOICES AT HAVING AT LAST WON THE FAVOURS OF CORINNA. COME, bind ye my brows, ye laurels of victory, for I have conquered; lo, in my arms I hold her, this wonderful Corinna, whom husband, watchman, oaken door and all such enemies to love, were guarding from the invader. This is...
Title Page : THE LOVE BOOKS OF OVID BEING THE AMORES, ARS AMATORIA, REMEDIA AMORIS AND MEDICAMINA FACIEI FEMINEAE OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO TRANSLATED OUT OF THE LATIN BY J. LEWIS MAY ILLUSTRATED BY JEAN DE BOSSCHERE PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR RARITY PRESS, NEW YORK, 1930 (NO COPYRIGHT). Title Page Cover Scanned...
Elegy Xix. To A Man With Whose Wife He Was In Love : ELEGY XIX TO A MAN WITH WHOSE WIFE HE WAS IN LOVE. FOOL, if you don't want to keep an eye on your wife for your own sake, at least do so for mine, that it may whet my desire for her. What we can have for the asking we never want; to forbid a thing adds ardour to our longing. He must have a heart...
Elegy X. He Endeavours To Dissuade His Mistress : ELEGY X. HE ENDEAVOURS TO DISSUADE HIS MISTRESS FROM BECOMING A COURTESAN. SUCH as she who, snatched away from the banks of the Eurotas in the Phrygian ships, was for her two husbands the cause of so long a war; such as was Leda when cunning Jupiter, hidden beneath the deceptive disguise...
Elegy Xiv. To His Mistress : p. 92 ELEGY XIV TO HIS MISTRESS. NAY, seeing how very beautiful you are, I won't deny you a few frailties. But what I don't want, and can't stand, is to know about them. No, I'm not going to take high moral ground; I'm not going to insist on your being a paragon of virtue and all that; but I want...
Elegy Vi. He Conjures The Porter To Open : ELEGY VI. HE CONJURES THE PORTER TO OPEN THE DOOR OF HIS MISTRESS'S HOUSE. HAPLESS porter, laden with unmerited fetters, push me back this cruel door upon its hinges. 'Tis little enough I ask of thee. No, do but open it a little, just enough for me to pass in sideways. I have long been a lover...
Introduction. Iv : INTRODUCTION IV It will readily be seen that in these poems there is no hint of the "lacrim rerum", the sense of tears in mortal things. All is bright, sunny, sensuous and superficial, incomparably elegant, irresistibly charming, and completely insincere. If the note of sadness steals in once...
Elegy Ii. To The Eunuch Bagoas, Begging Him : ELEGY II: TO THE EUNUCH BAGOAS, BEGGING HIM TO GIVE HIM ACCESS TO THE FAIR ONE COMMITTED TO HIS CHARGE. THOU, Bagoas, who art entrusted with the task of guarding thy mistress, lend me thine ear. I have but a couple of words to say to you, but they are weighty ones. Yesterday I saw a lady walking...
Elegy Vi. To A River Which Has Overflowed : p. 75 ELEGY VI TO A RIVER WHICH HAS OVERFLOWED ITS BANKS AND HINDERED THE POET, WHO WAS HASTENING TO HIS MISTRESS. RIVER, whose soft, muddy banks are overgrown with reeds, I am hastening to my mistress. Stay thy course a while. No bridge hast thou, nor oarless bark to ferry me with a rope across...
Elegy Viii. He Curses A Certain Old Wom : ELEGY VIII: HE CURSES A CERTAIN OLD WOMAN OF THE TOWN WHOM HE OVERHEARS INSTRUCTING HIS MISTRESS IN THE ARTS OF A COURTESAN. THERE exists (give ear, all ye who are fain to know a prostitute), there exists a certain old hag named Dipsas. Her name she deriveth from her calling. Never, in a sober...
Elegy Xii. He Calls Down Curses On The Tablets : ELEGY XII: HE CALLS DOWN CURSES ON THE TABLETS WHICH BRING HIM WORD OF HIS MISTRESS'S REFUSAL. MOURN and lament with me! My tablets have come back, with this one sad word upon them scored: "Impossible!" I have some belief in omens. Just now, as she went out, Nape struck her foot against...
Elegy Vi. He Laments The Death Of The Parrot : ELEGY VI: HE LAMENTS THE DEATH OF THE PARROT HE HAD GIVEN TO HIS MISTRESS. OUR parrot, winged mimic of the human voice, sent from farthest Ind, is dead. Come ye in flocks, ye birds, unto his obsequies. Come, ye pious denizens of the air; beat your bosoms with your wings and with your rigid claws...
Elegy Viii. To His Mistress, Complaining : ELEGY VIII TO HIS MISTRESS, COMPLAINING THAT SHE HIS GIVEN PREFERENCE TO A WEALTHIER RIVAL. AND who now attaches any value to the liberal arts, or looks on poetry as worth a straw? Time was when genius was held more precious than gold; now, if you've no money, you are accounted the veriest...
Introduction. I : p. v INTRODUCTION I PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO was born at Sulmo--the modern Sulmona--on March the 20th, 43 B.C. He was fortunate in his birthplace, and it may not perhaps be over fanciful to ascribe the airy charm, the delicate grace, which his Muse so plentifully displays, at least as much to his...
Introduction. Iii : INTRODUCTION III The "Art of Love", in which he sets forth the rules of amatory intrigue, is divided into three parts. Of these, the first deals with choosing the woman to whom you intend to lay siege. "First catch your hare." The hunter knows where to spread his nets to enmesh the stag; the fowler...
Elegy Xvii. He Complains To Corinna Th : ELEGY XVII HE COMPLAINS TO CORINNA THAT SHE IS TOO CONCEITED ABOUT HER GOOD LOOKS. IF anyone deems it a disgrace to be the slave of a beautiful woman, well then, I will plead guilty to the charge. Let him declare me an infamous fellow if he will, only let the goddess who rules over Paphos...
The Art Of Love. Book Ii : p. 122 p. 123 p. 124 p. 125 THE ART OF LOVE BOOK II SING, and sing again Io Pan! The quarry that I was hot upon hath fallen into my toils. Let the joyous lover set the laurel crown upon my brow and raise me to a loftier pinnacle than Hesiod of Ascra or the blind old bard of Monia. Thus did Priam's...
The Art Of Love. Book I : p. 95 p. 96 p. 97 THE ART OF LOVE BOOK I IF there be anyone among you who is ignorant of the art of loving, let him read this poem and, having read it and acquired the knowledge it contains, let him address himself to Love. By art the swift ships are propelled with sail and oar; there is art...
Elegy Xv. The Poets Alone Are Immortal : ELEGY XV: THE POETS ALONE ARE IMMORTAL. WHEREFORE dost thou blame me, gnawing Envy, for consuming my days in slothfulness; wherefore callest thou my verses the employment of an idle mind? Why dost thou reproach me for not following in the footsteps of my forefathers, for not seeking, while vigorous...
Elegy Xv. To The Ring Which He Is Sending : p. 55 ELEGY XV TO THE RING WHICH HE IS SENDING TO HIS MISTRESS. O LITTLE ring that art going to encircle my fair mistress's finger, thou that no value hast save the giver's love that goes with thee, be charming in her sight. May she with delight receive thee and straightway slip thee on her finger...
Elegy I. The Tragic And The Elegiac Muse : p. 64 p. 65 ELEGY I THE TRAGIC AND THE ELEGIAC MUSE STRIVE FOR THE POSSESSION OF OVID. THERE is an age-old forest which for many a year the axe has never touched. They say that it is sacred to a god. In its midst is a sacred well sheltered by a grotto, hewn out of the rock; and all around, birds...
Elegy Vii. He Curses Himself For Having Maltreated : p. 13 ELEGY VII: HE CURSES HIMSELF FOR HAVING MALTREATED HIS MISTRESS. LOAD my guilty hands with fetters, if thou be my friend, now that my anger has departed. Rage it was, look you, that made me raise my hand against my mistress. O madman that I was I To think it was my hand that made her weep...
Love's Cure : p. 181 p. 182 p. 183 LOVE'S CURE LOVE, had read the title of this work. "'Tis war," said he, "I see 'tis war that's now declared against me." O, Cupid, do not so accuse thy poet; do not so accuse me, who so oft beneath thy sway have carried the standards thou didst give into my care. No Diomede am...
Elegy Xvi. To Corinna, Beseeching Her : p. 56 ELEGY XVI TO CORINNA, BESEECHING HER TO VISIT HIM IN HIS COUNTRY HOME AT SULMO. BEHOLD me at Sulmo, in the land of the Peligni. It is a little spot, but bright and clean with its streams of sparkling water. Though the scorching sun may crack the earth, though the Dog Star shine his fiercest...
Elegy Xiii. The Festival Of Juno At Falisci : ELEGY XIII THE FESTIVAL OF JUNO AT FALISCI. AS my wife was born at fruitful Falisci, we went to visit those walls which long ago were conquered, Camillus, by thee. The priestesses were making ready to celebrate the festival of the chaste Juno by holding solemn games and by the sacrifice of a heifer...
Elegy Xii. He Laments That His Poems Have : ELEGY XII HE LAMENTS THAT HIS POEMS HAVE MADE HIS MISTRESS TOO WELL KNOWN. WHAT day was that, ye birds of mournful plumage, when ye sang things of evil. presage to my love-affairs? What star shall I suspect is moving counter to my fate, what gods shall I complain are making war against me...
Elegy Xi. He Asks Nape To Deliver A Love : ELEGY XI: HE ASKS NAPE TO DELIVER A LOVE-LETTER TO HER MISTRESS. O THOU who with such happy art dost bind and range thy mistress's hair, thou whom 'twere unjust to place in the ranks of ordinary servants, Nape, as skilful in contriving nocturnal assignations as in conveying missives to my beloved...
