Ars Amatoria
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
1.1.1
In Cupid's schoolThe poet here lays down the proposition of the work, which he comprehends in the two first verses: he then invokes the assistance of the gods and begins his narration., whoe'er would take degree
1.1.2
Must learn his rudiments by reading me,One must learn to love, and what to love: for love is so far from being forbidden, that there is nothing so commendable, provided the object is good.
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Seamen with sailing art their vessels move;
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Art guides the chariot: art instructs to love.
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Of ships and chariots others know the rule;
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But I am master in Love's mighty school.
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Cupid indeed is obstinate and wild,
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A stubborn godHe speaks of love who is very seldom guided by reason.; but yet the god's a child:
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Easy to govern in his tender age,
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Like fierce Achilles in his pupilage:
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That hero, born for conquestThis alludes to his killing Hector, as in the 22nd book of Homer's Iliads., trembling stood
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Before the centaur, and receiv'd the rod.
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As Chiron mollified his cruel mind
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With art; and taught his warlike hands to wind
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The silver strings of his melodious lyre;Achilles, when he was a lad, was put to this centaur to be educated.
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So love's fair goddess does my soul inspire
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To teach her softer arts; to sooth the mind,
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And smooth the rugged breasts of human kind.
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Yet Cupid and Achilles, each with scorn
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And rage were fill'd; and both were goddess-born.Cupid was the son of Venus, and Achilles of Thetis. Both were children alike, and both hard to govern. For, indeed, the passions of love and glory are not easily overcome by reason, which ought always to be mistress.
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The bull reclaim'd and yolk'd, the burden draws:This he says to show us that love may also be tamed by habit. Ovid is full of these sort of similes.
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The horse receives the bit within his jaws.
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And stubborn love shall bend beneath my sway,
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Tho' struggling oft he tries to disobey.
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He shakes his torch, he wounds me with his darts;
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But vain his force, and vainer are his arts.
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The more he burns my soul, or wounds my sight,
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The more he teaches to revenge the spite.
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I boast no aid the Delphian god affords,
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Nor auspice from the flight of chattering birds,From whence the ancients drew their auguries. To which the poet here alludes.
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Nor Clio, nor her sisters, have I seen,
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As Hesiod saw them on the shady green:Ovid names Clio only, of all the nine, in this place. The fable tells us, she and her sisters were born of Jupiter's caresses of Mnemosyne, that is, memory.
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Experience makes my work a truth so tried,
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You may believe; and Venus be my guide.It has been before observed, that Ovid invokes the goddess of love to assist his song, as Lucretius does the same divinity for his world of nature, as being the mother of all generations, and all productions.
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Far hence ye vestals be, who bind your hair;The author forewarns all virgins, and chaste persons, not to follow, in all things, the precepts of his book.
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And wives, who gowns below your ancles wear.
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I sing the brothels loose and unconfin'd,
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Th' unpunishable pleasures of the kind;
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Which all alike for love or money find.
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You, who in Cupid's roll inscribe your name,
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First seek an object worthy of your flame;The poet here gives his advice as to three things: to seek after an amiable object: to win it by respect and complacency, and not to lose it after once gotten.
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Then strive, with art, your lady's mind to gain;
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And last, provide your love may long remain.
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On these three precepts all my work shall move:
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These are the rules and principles of love.
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Before your youth with marriage is oppress't,That is, while you are a freeman, unmarried, and not engaged to any other mistress. The truest meaning that can be given, is, that while you are young, and are not yet troubled with the infirmities of age (for an old man in love is ridiculous) choose where you please.
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Make choice of one who suits your humour best
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And such a damsel drops not from the sky;
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She must be sought for with a curious eye.
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The wary angler, in the winding brook,
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Knows what the fish, and where to bait his hook.
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The fowler and the huntsman know by name
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The certain haunts and harbour of their game.
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So must the lover beat the likeliest grounds;
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Th' Assemblies where his quarries most abound:
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Nor shall my novice wander far astray;
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These rules shall put him in the ready way.
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Thou shalt not fail around the continent,
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As far as Perseus or as Paris went:
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For Rome alone affords thee such a store,
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As all the world can hardly shew thee more.
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The face of heav'n with fewer stars is crown'd,
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Than beauties in the Roman sphere are found.
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Whether thy love is bent on blooming youth,
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On dawning sweetness, in unartful truth;
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Or courts the juicy joys of riper growth;
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Here may'st thou find thy full desires in both:
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Or if autumnal beauties please thy sight
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(An age that knows to give and take delight;)
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Millions of matrons, of the graver sort,
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In common prudence, will not balk the sport.
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In summer's heats thou need'st but only go
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To Pompey's cool and shady portico;This was a shady walk which Pompey built for the people; and there were several in Rome of the same sort; but the most admirable one of all the porticos, was the Corinthian, near the Flaminian cirque, built by Cneius Octavius.
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Or Concord's fane; or that proud edifice
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Whose turrets near the bawdy suburbs rise;
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Or to that other portico, where stands
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The cruel father urging his commands.
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And fifty daughters wait the time of rest,
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To plunge their poniards in the bridegroom's breast.
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Or Venus' temple; where, on annual nights,
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They mourn Adonis with Assyrian rites.It was the custom among the Romans, to meet in the temples of Venus to mourn Adonis; of which the prophet Ezekiel speaks, (Ezek. viii. 14.); and infamous acts of lewdness were there committed, if we may believe Juvenal in his sixth satire.
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Nor shun the Jewish walk, where the foul drove
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On sabbaths rest from everything but love.There were great numbers of the Jews at Rome in Augustus's reign, who were allowed full liberty to exercise their ceremonies, according to the law of Moses. And the Roman ladies went often to see them out of curiosity, which gave occasion for assignations at their synagogues.
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Nor Isis' temple; for that sacred whore
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Makes others, what to Jove she was before;That is, many women were debauched by Isis's means, as she was by Jupiter under the name of Io.
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And if the hall itself be not belied,
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E'en there the cause of love is often tried;
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Near it at least, or in the palace yard,
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From whence the noisy combatants are heard.
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The crafty counsellors, in formal gown,The following verses are a happy paraphrase of Ovid; in whose time we find the long robe dealt as much with the stola, etc., as it does in our own.
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There gain another's cause, but lose their own.
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Their eloquence is nonpluss'd in the suit;
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And lawyers, who had words at will, are mute.
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Venus from her adjoining temple smiles
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To see them caught in their litigious wiles;
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Grave senators lead home the youthful dame,We see these assemblies were composed of all sorts of persons; upon which our French author remarks thus: " This does not very well agree to the practice in our days; and I cannot comprehend how gallant women could frequent the courts of justice : where it is to be supposed, nobody came but such as had business and suits depending."
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Returning clients when they patrons came.
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But above all, the Playhouse is the place;It must be owned, the theatres, amphitheatres, cirques, hippodromes, and all places where the public feasts and rejoicings were kept, were very fatal to the chastity of the women of old.
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There's choice of quarry in that narrow chace:
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There take thy stand, and sharply looking out,
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Soon may'st thou find a mistress in the rout,
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For length of time or for a single bout.
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The Theatres are berries for the fair;
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Like ants or mole-hills thither they repair;
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Like bees to hives so numerously they throng,
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It may be said they to that place belong:
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Thither they swarm who have the public voice;
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There choose, if plenty not distracts thy choice.
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To see, and to be seen, in heaps they run;
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Some to undo, and some to be undone.
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From Romulus the rise of plays began,
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To his new subjects a commodious man;
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Who, his unmarried soldiers to supply,
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Took care the commonwealth should multiply;
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Providing Sabine women for his braves,
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Like a true king, to get a race of slaves.
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His playhouse, not of Parian marble made,
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Nor was it spread with purple sails for shade;
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The stage with rushes or with leaves they strew'd;This idea of the Roman theatres in their infancy, may put us in mind of our own which we read of in the old poets, in Black-friars, the Bull-and-mouth, and Barbican, not much better than the strollers at a country-fair. Yet this must be said for them: that the audience were much better treated; their fare was good, though the house was homely. Which cannot be said of the Roman infant-stage, their wit and their theatres were alike rude; and the Shakspeares and Jonsons of Rome did not appear till the stage was pompous, and the scene magnificent.
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No scenes in prospect, no machining god.
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On rows of homely turf they sat to see,
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Crown'd with the wreaths of ev'ry common tree.
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There, while they sit in rustic majesty,
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Each lover had his mistress in his eye;
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And whom he saw most suiting to his mind,
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For joys of matrimonial rape design'd.
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Scarce could they wait the plaudit in their haste;
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But ere the dances and the song were past,
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The monarch gave the signal from his throne,At which the soldiers were to fall on the women. The poet and his translators make an agreeable description of this rape. Some say there were thirty of these Sabines ravished: others, as Valerius Antius, make the number to be four hundred and twenty-seven: and Jubas, as Plutarch writes in the life of Romulus, swells it to six hundred.
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And rising, bade his merry men fall on.
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The martial crew, like soldiers, ready press'd,
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Just at the word (the word too was the best),
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With joyful cries each other animate;
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Some choose, and some at hazard seize their mate.
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As doves from eagles, or from wolves the lambs,
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So from their lawless lovers fly the dames.
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Their fear was one, but not one face of fear:
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Some rend the lovely tresses of the hair:
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Some shriek, and some are struck with dumb despair.
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Her absent mother one invokes in vain;
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One stands amaz'd, not daring to complain;
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The nimbler trust their feet, the slow remain.
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But nought availing, all are captives led,
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Trembling and blushing, to the genial bed.
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She who too long resisted or denied,
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The lusty lover made by force a bride,
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And with superior strength compell'd her to his side,
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Then sooth'd her thus! "My soul's far better part,
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Cease weeping, nor afflict thy tender heart;
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For what thy father to thy mother was,
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That faith to thee, that solemn vow I pass !
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Thus Romulus became so popular;
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This was the way to thrive in peace and war;
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To pay his army, and fresh whores to bring:
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Who wouldn't fight for such a gracious king!
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Thus love in theatres did first improve,
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And theatres are still the scene of love.
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Nor shun the chariots and the courser's race;
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The circus is no inconvenient place.
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No need is there of talking on the hands;
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Nor nods, nor signs, which lovers understand.It is plain by this, the ancient Romans used to make love by signs on their fingers like the modern Spaniards and Portuguese; and this talking on the fingers is very common among us ever since Dr. Holder and Dr. Wallis taught by Mr. Popham, who was born deaf and dumb, with whom I have, however, myself held a conversation of many hours, and that many hundred times, by the help of our fingers. But the poet says there was no occasion of this dumb language at the cirque; for there was so much noise, that lovers might entertain one another as they pleased, without fear of being overheard.
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But boldly next the fair your seat provide,Young men are apt enough to do this of themselves, and need no advice; yet Juvenal, like Ovid, puts them in mind of it.
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Close as ye can to hers-and side by side.
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Pleas'd or unpleas'd, no matter, crowding sit;
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For so the laws of public shows permit.
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Then find occasion to begin discourse;
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Enquire whose chariot this, and whose that horse?
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To whatsoever side she is inclin'd,
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Suit all her inclinations to her mind;
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Like what she likes, from thence your court begin.
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And whom she favours, wish that he may win.
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But when the statues of the deities
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In chariots roll'd, appear before the prize;
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When Venus comes, with deep devotion rise.
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If dust be on her lap, or grains of sand,
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Brush both away with your officious hand.
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If none there be, yet brush that nothing thence,
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And still to touch her lap make some pretence.
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Touch any thing of hers, and if her train
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Sweep on the ground, let it not sweep in vain;
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But gently take it up and wipe it clean;
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And while you wipe it, with observing eyes,
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Who knows but you may see her naked thighs!
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Observe who sits behind her, and beware,
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Lest his encroaching knees should press the fair
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Light service takes light minds, for some can tell
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Of favours won by laying cushions well;
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By fanning faces some their fortunes meet,
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And some by laying footstools for their feet.
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These overtures of love the circus gives,
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Nor at the sword play less the lover thrives;
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For there the son of Venus fights his prize,
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And deepest wounds are oft receiv'd from eyes.
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One, while the crowd their acclamations make,
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Or while he bets and puts his ring to stake,
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Is struck from far and feels the flying dart,
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And of the spectacle is made a part.
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Caesar would represent a naval fight,The naval combats were represented in a place dug on purpose on the banks of the Tiber; it was called Naumachia; and when occasion required the river water was let into it. Tacitus, in his twelfth book, makes mention of a representation of the naval battle of Actium.
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For his own honour and for Rome's delight.
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From either sea the youths and maidens come,
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And all the world was then contain'd in Rome!
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In this vast concourse, in this choice of game,
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What Roman heart but felt a foreign flame!
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Once more our prince prepares to make us glad,
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And the remaining east to Rome will add.Augustus having put an end to the war in Spain, undertook an expedition into Asia, and began the Parthian war; in which he recovered the ensigns that had been taken from the Romans in the defeat of Crassus, which these verses refer to.
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Rejoice, ye Roman soldiers, in your urns,
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Your ensigns from the Parthians shall return,
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And the slain Crassi shall no longer mourn.
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A youth is sent those trophies to demand,
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Ard bears his father's thunders in his hand;
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Doubt not th' imperial boy in wars unseen,
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In childhood all of Caesar's race are men.
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Celestial seeds shoot out before their day,
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Prevent their years, and brook no dull delay.
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Thus infant Hercules the snakes did press,
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And in his cradle did his sire confess.
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Bacchus a boy, yet like a hero fought,
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And early spoils from conquer'd India brought.
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Thus you your father's troops shall lead to fight,
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And thus shall vanquish in your father's right.
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These rudiments you to your lineage owe;
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Born to increase your titles as you grow.
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Brethren you had, revenge your brethren slain;
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You have a father, and his rights maintain.
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Arm'd by your country's parent and your own,
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Redeem your country and restore his throne.
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Your enemies assert an impious cause;
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You fight both for divine and human laws.
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Already in their cause they are o'ercome;
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Subject them too, by force of arms, to Rome.
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Great father Mars with greater Caesar join,
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To give a prosperous omen to your line;
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One of you is, and one shall be divine.
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I prophesy you shall, you shall o'ercome;
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My verse shall bring you back in triumph home:
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Speak in my verse, exhort to loud alarms;
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0, were my numbers equal to your arms,
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Then would I sing the Parthians' overthrow;
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Their shot averse sent from a flying bow
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The Parthians, who already flying fight,
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Already give an omen of their flight.
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0, when will come the day, by heaven designed,
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When thou, the best and fairest of mankind,
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Drawn by white horses, shalt in triumph ride,He alludes to the triumphs of the Roman conquerors: they were wonderfully magnificent, accompanied with rich spoils and pictures of rivers, mountains, cities, and provinces conquered by them: not to speak of the captive kings and great captains that followed the victor's car in chains: but there is so much insolence in this custom, that, with all its magnificence, we cannot in our own times relish it.
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With conquer'd slaves attending on thy side;
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Slaves that no longer can be safe in flight:
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O glorious object, O surprising sight,
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O day of public joy, too good to end in night!
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On such a day, if thou, and next to thee,
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Some beauty sits the spectacle to see;
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If she enquires the names of conquer'd kings,
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Of mountains, rivers, and of hidden springs,
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Answer to all thou know'st; and if need be,
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Of things unknown seem to speak knowingly:
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This is Euphrates, crown'd with reeds; and there
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Flows the swift Tigris, with his sea-green hair.
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Invent new names of things unknown before:
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Call this Armenia, that the Caspian shore;
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Call this a Mede, and that a Parthian youth;
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Talk probably,-no matter for the truth.
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In feasts, as at our shows, new means abound;
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More pleasure there, than that of wine, is found.
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The Paphian goddess there her ambush lays;
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And love, betwixt the horns of Bacchus plays:
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Desires increase at ev'ry swilling draught;
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Brisk vapour add new vigour to the thought.
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There Cupid's purple wings no flight afford,
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But wet with wine, he flutters on the board.
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He shakes his pinions, but he cannot move;
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Fix'd he remains, and turns a maudlin love.
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Wine warms the blood, and makes the spirits flow;
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Care flies, and wrinkles from the forehead go;
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Exalts the poor, invigorates the weak,
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Gives mirth and laughter, and a rosy cheek.
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Bold truth it speaks; and spoken, dare maintain;
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And brings our old simplicity again.
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Love sparkles in the cup and fills it higher;
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Wine feeds the flames, and fuel adds to fire.
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But choose no mistress in thy drunken fit;
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Wine gilds too much their beauties and their wit.
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Nor trust thy judgment when the tapers dance;The night is an ill time to choose a mistress in. We have a saying in England, "Women and linen look best by candle-light."
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But sober, and by day thy suit advance.
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By daylight Paris judg'd the beauteous three;The Phrygian shepherd, to judge the beauty of these three goddesses demanded to see them naked; and the goddess were so eager to have the question decided by him, that they made no scruple to satisfy his demands.
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And for the fairest did the prize decree.
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Night is a cheat, and all deformities
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Are hid, or lessen'd, in her dark disguise.
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The sun's fair light each error will confess,
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In face, in shape, in jewels, and in dress.
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Why name I ev'ry place where youths abound?
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'Tis loss of time; and a true fruitful ground.
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The Baian baths, where ships at anchor ride,
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And wholesome streams from sulphur fountains glide;
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Where wounded youths are by experience taught,
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The waters are less healthful than they thought,
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Or Dian's fane, which near the suburb lies;This temple was in the neighbourhood of Rome, in a valley, where there is also a sacred wood. There were abundance of candles used in it, as we read in Ovid de Fastis.
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Where priests, for their promotion, fight a prize.The sovereign priest of Diana, Aricina, called himself king, and often got that dignity by gaining the better of his opponent in single combat.
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That maiden goddess is love's mortal foe,
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And much from her his subjects undergo.
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Thus far the sportful muse, with myrtle bound,
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Has sung where lovely lasses may be found,
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Now let me sing, how she who wounds your mind,
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With art, may be to cure your wounds inclined.The celestial Venus is more charming than the terrestrial, and divine love soon extinguishes carnal, which burns with an obscure fire: whereas the divine enlightens those that it warms with holy desires; it leaves no string behind it and never has an end.
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Young nobles, to my laws attention lend,
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And all you vulgar of my school attend.
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First then believe, all women may be won;
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Attempt with confidence, the work is done.
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The grasshopper shall first forbear to sing
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In summer season, or the birds in spring;
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Than women can resist your flatt'ring skill;
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E'en she will yield who swears she never will.
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To secret pleasures both the sexes move;
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But women most, who most dissemble, love;
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'Twere best for us, if they would first declare;
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Avow their passion, and submit to prayer.
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The cow by looing tells the bull her flame;
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The neighing mare invites her stallion to the game.
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Man is more temp'rate in his lust than they;
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And more than woman can his passion sway.
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Biblis, we know, did first her love declare,
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And had recourse to death in her despair.
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Her brother she, her father Myrrha sought;Myrrha's love of her father Cinyras is not a fable. At least Pliny relates this adventure as a memorable story, and says Cinyras lived two hundred and ten years, and that his daughter took her mother's place, while she was busied about the sacrifices to Ceres. But that her father discovering her insolence, ran after her a long time with a sword in his hand. The fable adds, she got away by favour of the night, and fled to the Sabeans, where she was changed into a tree, which bears her name. See the 10th book of the Metamorphoses.
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And lov'd; but lov'd not as a daughter ought.
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Now from a tree she stills her od'rous tears;
1.263.324
Which yet the name of her who shed 'em bear.
1.263.325
In Ida's shady vale a bull appeared,Pasiphae, daughter of the sun, and wife to Minos king of Crete, is fabled to be enamoured of a bull: and Daedalus, the famous mechanic, assisted her to enjoy her detestable desires, by making a machine like a cow; within which she was caressed by her gallant. From this intrigue the Minotaur was born, half man and half bull, who was enclosed in a labyrinth, and by the assistance of Ariadne killed by Theseus.
1.263.326
White as the snow, the fairest of the herd;
1.263.327
A beauty spot of black there only rose,
1.263.328
Betwixt his equal horns and ample brows;
1.263.329
The love and wish of all the Cretan cows.
1.263.330
The queen beheld him as his head he rear'd;
1.263.331
And envied ev'ry leap he gave the herd.
1.263.332
A secret fire she nourished in her breast;
1.263.333
And hated ev'ry heifer he caress'd.
1.263.334
A story known, and known for true, I tell;
1.263.335
Nor Crete, though lying, can the truth conceal.
1.263.336
She cut him grass (so much can love command)
1.263.337
She strok'd, she fed him with her royal hand;
1.263.338
Was pleas'd in pastures with the herd to roam,
1.263.339
And Minos by the bull was overcome.
1.263.340
Cease, Queen, with gems t'adorn thy beauteous brows,
1.263.341
The monarch of thy heart no jewel knows.
1.263.342
Nor in thy glass compose thy looks and eyes;
1.263.343
Secure from all thy charms thy lover lies:
1.263.344
Yet trust thy mirror, when it tells thee true,
1.263.345
Thou art no heifer to allure his view.
1.263.346
Soon wouldst thou quit thy royal diadem
1.263.347
To thy fair rivals; to be horned like them.
1.263.348
If Minos please, no lover seek to find;
1.263.349
If not, at least seek one of human kind.
1.263.350
The wretched queen the Cretan court forsakes;
1.263.351
In woods and wilds her habitation makes;
1.263.352
She curses ev'ry beauteous cow she sees;
1.263.353
"Ah, why dost thou my lord and master please!
1.263.354
And think'st, ungrateful creature as thou art,
1.263.355
With frisking awkardly to gain his heart."
1.263.356
She said; and straight commands with frowning look,
1.263.357
To put her, undeserving, to the yoke.
1.263.358
Or feigns some holy rites of sacrifice,
1.263.359
And sees her rival's death with joyful eyes;
1.263.360
Then when the bloody priest has done his part,
1.263.361
Pleas'd, in her hand she holds the beating heart;
1.263.362
Nor from a scornful taunt can scarce refrain,
1.263.363
Go, fool, and strive to please my love again"
1.263.364
Now she would be Europa.—Io now;This known fable is told us thus: Jupiter falling in love with Europa daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and taking the shape of a bull, ravished her in the Dictaean cave; and begot Minos and Radamanthus. The fable of Io is this; she is said to be the daughter of Inachus debauched by Jupiter and turned into a cow ; which jealous Juno perceiving, she begged the cow; and commanded Argos, who had a hundred eyes, to watch her; but Mercury killed her keeper by Jupiter's orders. Upon which Juno struck Io with madness, and she flung herself into the sea, which from her was called the Ionian, and swimming to Egypt, was there worshipped by the name of Isis, having first resumed her shape, and married king Osiris.
1.263.365
(One bare a bull. and one was made a cow.)
1.263.366
Yet she at last her brutal bliss obtain'd,
1.263.367
And in a wooden cow the bull sustained;
1.263.368
Fill'd with his seed, accomplish'd her desire,
1.263.369
Till, by his form, the son betray'd the sire.
1.327.370
If Atreus' wife to incest had not run,Atreus's wife's name was Aeropa. She suffered herself to be debauched by her brother-in-law, Thyestes.
1.327.371
(But ah, how hard it is to love but one!)
1.327.372
His coursers Phoebus had not driv'n away,
1.327.373
To shun that sight, and interrupt the day.
1.327.374
Thy daughter, Nissus, pull'd thy purple hair;Her name was Scylla, and she betrayed her father, in favour of her gallant, Minos.
1.327.375
And barking sea-dogs yet her bowels tear.
1.327.376
At sea and land Atrides sav'd his life;
1.327.377
Yet fell a prey to his adult'rous wife.Clytemnestra, and the adulterer Aegistheus, murdered Agamemnon: upon whose death Seneca wrote the tragedy called Agamemnon.
1.327.378
Who knows not what revenge Medea sought,
1.327.379
When the slain offspring bore the father's fault!
1.327.380
Thus Phoenix did a woman's love bewail;Phoenix the son of Amyntor, enjoyed a woman whom his father loved. His father was so enraged at him, that he imprecated all the miseries he could think of to light upon his son: whose children dying, he withdrew to Peleus, father of Achilles, who committed to him the care of his son's education.
1.327.381
And thus Hippolytus by Phaedra fell.Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, was pulled to pieces by horses. Our author in his French observations says this fable is admirably well represented in the tragedy of Seneca.
1.327.382
These crimes revengeful matrons did commit!
1.327.383
Hotter their lust, and sharper is their wit.
1.327.384
Doubt not from them an easy victory;
1.327.385
Scarce of a thousand dames will one deny.
1.327.386
All women are content that men should woo;
1.327.387
She who complains, and she who will not do.
1.327.388
Rest then secure, whate'er thy luck may prove,
1.327.389
Not to be hated for declaring love:
1.327.390
And yet how canst thou miss, since womankind
1.327.391
Is frail and vain; and still to change inclin'd?
1.327.392
Old husbands, and stale gallants, they despise;
1.327.393
And more another's than their own they prize.
1.327.394
A larger crop adorns our neighbour's field,
1.327.395
More milk his kine from swelling udders yield.
1.365.396
First gain the maid; by her thou shalt be sure
1.365.397
A free access, and easy to procure;
1.365.398
Who knows what to her office does belong,
1.365.399
Is in the secret, and can hold her tongue,
1.365.400
Bribe her with gifts, with promises, and pray'rs;
1.365.401
For her good word goes far in love affairs.
1.365.402
The time and fit occasion leave to her,
1.365.403
When she most amply can thy suit prefer.
1.365.404
The time for maids to fire their lady's blood
1.365.405
Is when they find her in a merry mood.
1.365.406
When all things at her wish and pleasure move;
1.365.407
Her heart is open then, and free to love.
1.365.408
Then mirth and wantonness to lust betray,
1.365.409
And smooth the passage to the lover's way.
1.365.410
Troy stood the siege, when fill'd with anxious care
1.365.411
One merry fit concluded all the war.
1.365.412
If some fair rival vex her jealous mind,
1.365.413
Offer thy service to revenge in kind.
1.365.414
Instruct the damsel, while she combs her hair,
1.365.415
To raise the choler of that injur'd fair;
1.365.416
And sighing, make her mistress understand
1.365.417
She has the means of vengeance in her hand.
1.365.418
Then, naming thee, thy humble suit prefer;
1.365.419
And swear thou languishest and diest for her.
1.365.420
Then let her lose no time, but push at all;
1.365.421
For women soon are rais'd, and soon they fall.
1.365.422
Give their first fury leisure to relent,
1.365.423
They melt like ice, and suddenly repent.
1.365.424
T' enjoy the maid, will that thy suit advance?
1.365.425
'Tis a hard question, and a doubtful chance.
1.365.426
One maid corrupted, bawds the better for't;
1.365.427
Another for herself would keep the sport.
1.365.428
Thy bus'ness may be furthered or delay'd,
1.365.429
But by my counsel, let alone the maid
1.365.430
E'en tho' she should consent to do the feat;
1.365.431
The profit's little, and the danger great.
1.365.432
I will not lead thee through a rugged road,
1.365.433
But where the way lies open, safe and broad,
1.365.434
Yet if thou find'st her very much thy friend,
1.365.435
And her good face her diligence commend,
1.365.436
Let the fair mistress have the first embrace,
1.365.437
And let the maid come after in her place.
1.365.438
But this I will advise, and mark my words,
1.365.439
For 'tis the best advice my skill affords;
1.365.440
If needs thou with the damsel wilt begin,
1.365.441
Before th' attempt is made, make sure to win;
1.365.442
For then the secret better will be kept,
1.365.443
And she can tell no tales when once she's dipt.
1.365.444
'Tis for the fowler's int'rest to beware,
1.365.445
The bird intangled, should not 'scape the snare.
1.365.446
The fish once prick'd avoids the bearded hook,
1.365.447
And spoils the sport of all the neighb'ring brook.
1.365.448
But if the wench be thine, she makes thy way,
1.365.449
And for thy sake, her mistress will betray;
1.365.450
Tell all she knows, and all she hears her say
1.365.451
Keep well the counsel of thy faithful spy;
1.365.452
So shalt thou learn whene'er she treads awry.
1.399.453
All things the stations of their seasons keep;
1.399.454
And certain times there are to sow and reap.
1.399.455
Ploughmen and sailors for the season stay,
1.399.456
One to plough land, and one to plough the sea;
1.399.457
So should the lover wait the lucky day.
1.399.458
Then stop thy suit, it hurts not thy design;
1.399.459
But think another hour she may be thine.
1.399.460
And when she celebrates her birth at home,
1.399.461
Or when she views the public shows of Rome;
1.399.462
Know all thy visits then are troublesome.
1.399.463
Defer thy work, and put not then to sea,
1.399.464
For that's a boding and a stormy day.
1.399.465
Else take thy time, and when thou canst, begin;
1.399.466
To break a Jewish sabbath, think no sin;
1.399.467
Nor e'en on superstitious days abstain;
1.399.468
Nor when the Romans were at Allia slain.That was a very unfortunate day for the people of Rome, their army being cut in pieces by the Gauls near the river Allis, the 15th of the calends of August, in the year of the city 363.
1.399.469
Ill omens in her frowns are understood;
1.399.470
When she's in humour, ev'ry day is good.
1.399.471
But than her birthday seldom comes a worse,
1.399.472
When bribes and presents must be sent of course;On the mistress's birthday: these presents were commonly cakes; but we find the ladies were not satisfied with cakes only, they wanted pendants for the ears; and the way to get them is much the same in the gallant world now as in Ovid's days.
1.399.473
And that's a bloody day that costs thy purse.
1.399.474
Be stanch; yet parsimony will be vain:
1.399.475
The craving sex will still the lover drain.
1.399.476
No skill can shift them off, nor art remove;
1.399.477
They will be begging when they know we love.
1.399.478
The merchant comes upon th' appointed day,
1.399.479
Who shall before thy face his wares display.
1.399.480
To choose for her she craves thy kind advice,
1.399.481
Then begs again to bargain for the price;
1.399.482
But when she has her purchase in her eye,
1.399.483
She hugs thee close, and kisses thee to buy;
1.399.484
"'Tis what I want, and 'tis a pen'orth too;
1.399.485
In many years I will not trouble you."
1.399.486
If you complain you have no ready coin,-
1.399.487
No matter, 'tis but writing of a line;
1.399.488
A little bill, not to be paid at sight:
1.399.489
(Now curse the time when thou wert taught to write.)
1.399.490
She keeps her birthday; you must send the cheer:
1.399.491
And she'll be born a hundred times a year.
1.399.492
With daily lies she dribs thee into cost;
1.399.493
That ear-ring dropt a stone, that ring is lost.
1.399.494
They often borrow what they never pay;There are few coquets who will lose anything for want of asking; they borrow what they never tend to restore; and this jilting humor is so livelily painted here by the poet, that one would think he had lived in another reign than that of Augustus.
1.399.495
What e'er you lend her, think it thrown away.
1.399.496
Had I ten mouths and tongues to tell each art,
1.399.497
All would be wearied ere I told a part.
1.437.498
By letters, not by words, thy love begin;
1.437.499
And ford the dangerous passage with thy pen;
1.437.500
If to her heart thou aim'st to find the way,
1.437.501
Extremely flatter and extremely pray.
1.437.502
Priam by pray'rs did Hector's body gain;
1.437.503
Nor is an angry god invok'd in vain.
1.437.504
With promis'd gifts her early mind bewitch,
1.437.505
For e'en the poor in promise may be rich.
1.437.506
Vain hopes awhile her appetite will stay;
1.437.507
'Tis a deceitful, but commodious way.
1.437.508
Who gives is mad ; but make her still believe
1.437.509
'Twill come, and that's the cheapest way to give.
1.437.510
E'en barren lands fair promises afford,
1.437.511
But the lean harvest cheats the starving lord.
1.437.512
Buy not thy first employment, lest it prove
1.437.513
Of bad example to thy future love ;
1.437.514
But get it gratis, and she'll give thee more,
1.437.515
For fear of losing what she gave before.
1.437.516
The losing gamester shakes the box in vain,
1.437.517
And bleeds, and loses on, in hopes to gain.
1.437.518
Write then, and in thy letter, as I said,
1.437.519
Let her with mighty promises be fed.
1.437.520
Cydyppe by a letter was betray'd,
1.437.521
Writ on an apple to th' unwary maid;
1.437.522
She read herself into a marriage vow,
1.437.523
(And every cheat in love the gods allow.)
1.437.524
Learn eloquence, ye noble youth of Rome,-
1.437.525
It will not only at the bar o'ercome:
1.437.526
Sweet words the people and the senate move;
1.437.527
But the chief end of eloquence is love.
1.437.528
But in thy letter hide thy moving arts,
1.437.529
Affect not to be thought a man of parts;
1.437.530
None but vain fools to simple women preach:
1.437.531
A learned letter oft has made a breach.
1.437.532
In a familiar style your thoughts convey,
1.437.533
And write such things as, present, you would say;
1.437.534
Such words as from the heart may seem to move;
1.437.535
'Tis wit enough to make her think you love.
1.437.536
If seal'd she sends it back, and will not read,
1.437.537
Yet hope, in time, the business may succeed.
1.437.538
In time the steer will to the yoke submit,
1.437.539
In time the restive horse will bear the bit.
1.437.540
E'en the hard ploughshare use will wear away,
1.437.541
And stubborn steel in length of time decay.
1.437.542
Water is soft and marble hard, and yet
1.437.543
We see soft water through hard marble eat.
1.437.544
Though late, yet Troy at length in flames expir'd;
1.437.545
And ten years more, Penelope had tir'd.
1.437.546
Perhaps she writes, and answers with disdain,
1.437.547
And sharply bids you not to write again:
1.437.548
What she requires, she fears you would accord;
1.437.549
The jilt would not be taken at her word.
1.487.550
Meantime, if she be carried in her chair,
1.487.551
Approach, but do not seem to know she's there:
1.487.552
Speak softly, to delude the standers by;
1.487.553
Or, if aloud, then speak ambiguously.
1.487.554
If sauntering in the portico she walk,
1.487.555
Move slowly too, for that's a time for talk;
1.487.556
And sometimes follow, sometimes be her guide,
1.487.557
But when the crowds permit, go side by side.
1.487.558
Nor in the playhouse let her sit alone,
1.487.559
For she's the playhouse and the play in one;
1.487.560
There thou may'st ogle, or by signs advance
1.487.561
Thy hand, and seem to touch her hand by chance.
1.487.562
Admire the dancer who her liking gains,
1.487.563
And pity in the play the lover's pails ;
1.487.564
For her sweet sake the loss of time despise,
1.487.565
Sit while she sits, and when she rises rise.
1.487.566
But dress not like a fop, nor curl your hair,
1.487.567
Nor with a pumice make your body bare;
1.487.568
Leave those effeminate and useless toys
1.487.569
To eunuchs, who can give no solid joys.
1.487.570
Neglect becomes a man-this Theseus found;
1.487.571
Uncurl'd, uncomb'd, the nymphs his wishes crowned.
1.487.572
The rough Hippolytus was Phaedra's care,
1.487.573
And Venus thought the rude Adonis fair.
1.487.574
Be not too finical, but yet be clean,
1.487.575
And wear well fashioned clothes, like other men;
1.487.576
Let not your teeth be yellow or be foul,
1.487.577
Nor in wide shoes your feet too loosely roll.
1.487.578
Of a black muzzle and long beard beware,
1.487.579
And let a skilful barber cut your hair;
1.487.580
Your nails be pick'd from dirt, and even par'd;
1.487.581
Nor let your nasty nostrils bud with beard.
1.487.582
Cure your unsav'ry breath; gargle your throat;
1.487.583
And free your armpits from the ram and goat.In this expression, which is Ovid's in the main, the Romans bore with an idea that perhaps the delicacy of the moderns will be offended with. The smell of a ram or goat is very rank, and from those animals the proverb came.
1.487.584
Dress not, in short, too little or too much;
1.487.585
And be not wholly French nor wholly Dutch.
1.525.586
Now Bacchus calls me to his jolly rites:Wine is favourable to lovers, inspiring them at once with boldness and vigour.
1.525.587
Who would not follow when a god invites?
1.525.588
He helps the poet, and his pen inspires;
1.525.589
Kind and indulgent to his former fires.
1.525.590
Fair Ariadne wander'd on the shore
1.525.591
Forsaken now; and Theseus loves no more;
1.525.592
Loose was her gown, dishevel'd was her hair,
1.525.593
Her bosom naked, and her feet were bare;
1.525.594
Exclaiming, on the water's brink she stood,
1.525.595
Her briny tears augment the briny flood;
1.525.596
She shriek'd and wept, and both became her face,
1.525.597
No posture could that heav'nly form disgrace.
1.525.598
She beat her breast: - "The traitor's gone," said she;
1.525.599
"What shall become of poor forsaken me?
1.525.600
What shall become-" She had not time for more,
1.525.601
The sounding cymbals rattled on the shore.Cymbals. drums, little bells, and pipes, were Bacchus and mother Cybele's consort.
1.525.602
She swoons for fear, she falls upon the ground;
1.525.603
No vital heat was in her body found.
1.525.604
The Mimallonian dames about her stood,
1.525.605
And scudding satyrs ran before their god.
1.525.606
Silenus on his ass did next appear,
1.525.607
And held upon the mane (the god was clear).
1.525.608
The drunken sire pursues, the dames retire;
1.525.609
Sometimes the drunken dames pursue the drunken sire.
1.525.610
At last he topples over on the plain;
1.525.611
The satyrs laugh, and bid him rise again.
1.525.612
And now the god of wine came driving on,
1.525.613
High on his chariot by swift tigers drawn.
1.525.614
Her colour, voice, and sense forsook the fair;
1.525.615
Thrice did her trembling limbs for flight prepare,
1.525.616
And thrice affrighted did her flight forbear.
1.525.617
She shook like leaves of corn when tempests blow,
1.525.618
Or slender reeds that in the marshes grow.
1.525.619
To whom the god-" Compose thy fearful mind;
1.525.620
In me a truer husband thou shalt find.
1.525.621
With heav'n I will endow thee, and thy star
1.525.622
Shall with propitious light be seen afar,
1.525.623
And guide on seas the doubtful mariner."
1.525.624
He said; and from his chariot leaping light,
1.525.625
Lest the grim tigers should the nymph affright,
1.525.626
His brawny arms around her waist he threw,
1.525.627
(For gods whate'er they please with ease can do,)
1.525.628
And swiftly bore her thence; th' attending throng
1.525.629
Shout at the sight, and sing the nuptial song.It was an ancient custom to sing hymns of joy at weddings; which hymns were called epithalamius, or hymeneans, from a certain Athenian named Hymen, who, as Servins reports, delivered maids from a terrible trouble, or which they used to invoke him when they married, as the god who eased them of the burden of their maidenheads: le liberateur de leur virginité as my French author has it; and whether it is more a slavery or a burden, let the satirists determine.
1.525.630
Now in full bowls her sorrow she may steep;
1.525.631
The bridegroom's liquor lays the bride asleep.
1.569.632
But thou, when flowing cups in triumph ride,The poet's directions how the lover should behave himself at table, are very considerable in the affair he is speaking of.
1.569.633
And the lov'd nymph is seated by thy side,
1.569.634
Invoke the god and all the mighty powers,
1.569.635
That wine may not defraud thy genial hours.
1.569.636
Then in ambiguous words thy suit prefer,
1.569.637
Which she may know were all address'd to her.
1.569.638
In liquid purple letters write her name,Spill some wine and write her name. This is not worthy the Roman elegance in all things; and, as a late commentattor observes upon this occasion they could have no tablecloths; for otherwise Ovid's advice is not feasible.
1.569.639
Which she may read, and reading find the flame.
1.569.640
Then may your eyes confess your mutual fires,
1.569.641
(For eyes have tongues, and glances tell desires ;)
1.569.642
Whene'er she drinks, be first to take the cup;
1.569.643
And where she laid her lips, the blessing sup.
1.569.644
When she to carving does her hand advance,
1.569.645
Put out thy own, and touch it as by chance.
1.569.646
Thy service e'en the husband must attend;This and the verses that follow show that Ovid did not mean very honestly, and the decree of the senate was obtained against him for this crime, as it is pretended, because it was strictly forbidden by the Roman laws to corrupt married women, to prevent the abuses which might happen in succession, and the injuring another man in taking from him what only belongs to himself.
1.569.647
(A husband is a most convenient friend.)
1.569.648
Seat the fool cuckold in the highest place,
1.569.649
And with thy garland his dull temples grace'
1.569.650
Whether below or equal in degree,
1.569.651
Let him be lord of all the company,
1.569.652
And what he says be seconded by thee.
1.569.653
Tis common to deceive thro' friendship's name,
1.569.654
But common though it be, 'tis still to blame;
1.569.655
Thus factors frequently their trust betray,
1.569.656
And to themselves their masters' gains convey.
1.569.657
Drink to a certain pitch, and then give o'er;
1.569.658
Thy tongue and feet may stumble, drinking more.
1.569.659
Of drunken quarrels in her sight beware;
1.569.660
Pot valour only serves to fright the fair.
1.569.661
Eurytion justly fell, by wine oppress't,Eurythus, or Eurytion, was one of the centaurs at Pirithous's wedding, who got so drunk that he attempted to ravish Hippodamia, the bride; but Theseus knocked him down with a bowl, and made him bring up his wine again with blood.
1.569.662
For his rude riot at a wedding-feast.
1.569.663
Sing, if you have a voice; and shew your parts
1.569.664
In dancing, if endu'd with dancing arts.
1.569.665
Do anything within your power to please;
1.569.666
Nay, e'en affect a seeming drunkenness;
1.569.667
Clip every word; and if by chance you speak
1.569.668
Too home, or if too broad a jest you break,
1.569.669
In your excuse the company will join,
1.569.670
And lay the fault upon the force of wine.
1.569.671
True drunkenness is subject to offend,
1.569.672
But when 'tis feign'd 'tis oft a lover's friend:
1.569.673
Then safely you may praise her beauteous face,
1.569.674
And call him happy who is in her grace;
1.569.675
Her husband thinks himself the man design'd,
1.569.676
But curse the cuckold in your secret mind.
1.569.677
When all are risen and prepar'd to go,
1.569.678
Mix with the crowd and tread upon her toe;
1.569.679
This is the proper time to make thy court,
1.569.680
For now she's in the vein, and fit for sport.
1.569.681
Lay bashfulness, that rustic virtue, by;Modesty is a vice, when it hinders us from doing anything that is profitable to us; and the misfortune is, it generally comes upon us most unseasonably, and when it should not. When it should, we commonly miss it; and when we do not want it, it is impertinent.
1.569.682
To manly confidence thy thoughts apply.
1.569.683
On fortune's foretop timely fix thy hold;
1.569.684
Now speak and speed. for Venus loves the bold.
1.569.685
No rules of rhetoric here I need afford;He talks of modesty, and says, if the lover banishes it, he has no occasion for eloquence; for love and fortune favour the bold.
1.569.686
Only begin, and trust the following word:
1.569.687
It will be witty of its own accord.
1.569.688
Act well the lover; let thy speech abound
1.569.689
In dying words, that represent thy wound;
1.569.690
Distrust not her belief; she will be mov'd:
1.569.691
All women think they merit to be lov'd.
1.615.692
Sometimes a man begins to love in jest,
1.615.693
And after feels the torment he possess't.
1.615.694
For your own sakes be pitiful, ye fair,
1.615.695
For a feign'd passion may a true prepare.
1.615.696
By flatteries we prevail on womankind,
1.615.697
As hollow banks by streams are undermin'd:
1.615.698
Tell her her face is fair, her eyes are sweet;
1.615.699
Her taper fingers praise, and little feet.
1.615.700
Such praises e'en the chaste are pleas'd to hear;
1.615.701
Both maids and matrons hold their beauty dear.
1.615.702
Once naked Pallas with Jove's queen appear'd,
1.615.703
And still they grieve that Venus was preferr'd.
1.615.704
Praise the proud peacock, and lie spreads his train:
1.615.705
Be silent, and lie pulls it in again.
1.615.706
Pleas'd is the courser in his rapid race;
1.615.707
Applaud his running, and he mends his pace.
1.615.708
But largely promise and devoutly swear,
1.615.709
And, if need be, call ev'ry god to hear.
1.615.710
Jove sits above, forgiving with a smile
1.615.711
The perjuries that easy maids beguile.
1.615.712
He swore to Juno by the Stygian lake;
1.615.713
Forsworn, lie dares not an example make,
1.615.714
Or punish falsehood, for his own dear sake.
1.615.715
'Tis for our interest the gods should be;
1.615.716
Let us believe them; I believe they see,
1.615.717
And both reward and punish equally.
1.615.718
Not that they live above like lazy drones,Speaking of the gods, according to the stoics' opinion, which, contrary to the Epicureans, asserted that the deities concerned themselves in the affairs of this world.
1.615.719
Or kings below, supine upon their thrones;
1.615.720
Lead then your lives as present in their sight;
1.615.721
Be just in dealings, and defend the right;
1.615.722
By fraud betray not, nor oppress by might.
1.615.723
But 'tis a venial sin to cheat the fair;
1.615.724
All men have liberty of conscience there.
1.615.725
On cheating nymphs a cheat is well design'd,
1.615.726
'Tis a profane and a deceitful kind.This is a very severe reflection on the sex, and it is hoped, whatever it might be in Ovid's time, the scandal will not stick now.
1.615.727
'Tis said that Egypt for nine years was dry,
1.615.728
Nor Nile did floods, nor heav'n did rain supply.
1.615.729
That slaughter'd guests would kindly moisture bring.
1.615.730
The king replied, "On thee the lot shall fall;
1.615.731
Be thou, my guest, the sacrifice for all."
1.615.732
Thus Phalaris Perillus taught to low,
1.615.733
And made him season first the brazen cow.
1.615.734
A rightful doom, the laws of nature cry,
1.615.735
'Tis, the artificers of death should die.
1.615.736
Thus justly women suffer by deceit,
1.615.737
Their practice authorises us to cheat.
1.615.738
Beg her, with tears, thy warm desires to grant;
1.615.739
For tears will pierce a heart of adamant.
1.615.740
If tears will not be squeezed, then rub your eye,
1.615.741
Or 'noint the lids, and seem at least to cry.
1.615.742
Kiss, if you can; resistance if she make,
1.615.743
And will not give you kisses, let her take.
1.615.744
" Fy, fy, you naughty man," are words of course;
1.615.745
She struggles but to be subdu'd by force.
1.615.746
Kiss only soft, I charge you, and beware
1.615.747
With your hard bristles not to brush the fair.
1.615.748
He who has gain'd a kiss, and gains no more,
1.615.749
Deserves to lose the bliss he got before.
1.615.750
If once she kiss, her meaning is exprest;
1.615.751
There wants but little pushing for the rest;
1.615.752
Which if thou dost not gain, by strength or art,
1.615.753
The name of clown then suits with thy desert;
1.615.754
'Tis downright dulness, and a shameful part.
1.615.755
Perhaps she calls it force, but if she 'scape,
1.615.756
She will not thank you for th' omitted rape.
1.615.757
The sex is cunning to conceal their fires;
1.615.758
They would be forc'd e'en to their own desires.
1.615.759
They seem t' accuse you with a down-cast sight,
1.615.760
But in their souls confess you did them right.
1.615.761
Who might be forc'd, and yet untouch'd depart,
1.615.762
Thank with their tongues, but curse you with their heart.
1.615.763
Fair Phoebe and her sister did prefer,
1.615.764
To their dull mates, the noble ravisher.To their dull mates the noble ravisher. Phoebe and Ilara were two daughters of Leucippus, both famous for their beauty. Their father promised them in marriage to Idas and Lynceus, but Castor and Pollux stole them away from him. Idas and Lynceus pursuing the ravishers, Caster fell by the hands of Lynceus, and Lynceus was himself slain by Pollux: Idas running upon the latter to revenge the death of his companion, was struck to the ground thunder at Pollux feet; which Ovid has elegantly described in his de Fastis.
1.681.765
What Deidamia did in days of yore,
1.681.766
The tale is old but worth the telling o'er.
1.681.767
When Venus had the golden apple gain'd,
1.681.768
And the just judge fair Helen had obtained;
1.681.769
When she with triumph was at Troy receiv'd,
1.681.770
The Trojans joyful, while the Grecians griev'd:
1.681.771
They vow'd revenge of violated laws,
1.681.772
And Greece was arming in the cuckold's cause;
1.681.773
Achilles, by his mother warn'd from war,
1.681.774
Disguis'd his sex, and lurk'd among the fair.
1.681.775
What means Aeacides to spin and sew ?
1.681.776
With spear and sword in field thy valour show!
1.681.777
And leaving this, the noble Pallas know.Minerva or Pallas was not only the goddess of arms, but of arts and manufactures. The poet means he has learnt of her enough to spin, let him now learn of her the more glorious exercise of arms.
1.681.778
Why dost thou in that hand the distaff wield,
1.681.779
Which is more worthy to sustain the shield?
1.681.780
Or with that other draw the woolly twine,
1.681.781
The same the fates for lector's thread assign?
1.681.782
Banish thy falchion in thy powerful hand,
1.681.783
Which can alone the pond'rous lance command.
1.681.784
In the same room by chance the royal maid
1.681.785
Was lodg'd, and, by his seeming sex, betrayed,
1.681.786
Close to her side the youthful hero laid.
1.681.787
I know not how his courtship he began;
1.681.788
But, to her cost, she found it was a man.
1.681.789
'Tis thought she struggled, but withal 'tis thought
1.681.790
Her wish was to be conquer'd, when she fought.
1.681.791
For when disclos'd, and hast'ning to the field,
1.681.792
He laid his distaff down and took the shield,
1.681.793
With tears her humble suit she did prefer,
1.681.794
And thought to stay the grateful ravisher.
1.681.795
She sighs, she sobs, she begs him not to part;
1.681.796
And now 'tis nature what before was art.
1.681.797
She strives by force her lover to detain,
1.681.798
And wishes to be ravish'd once again.
1.681.799
This is the sex; they will not first begin,
1.681.800
But when compelled, are pleas'd to suffer sin.
1.681.801
Is there, who thinks that woman first should woo?
1.681.802
Lay by thy self-conceit, thou foolish beau.
1.681.803
Begin, and save their modesty the shame;
1.681.804
'Tis well for thee, if they receive thy flame.
1.681.805
'Tis decent for a man to speak his mind;
1.681.806
They but expect th' occasion to be kind.
1.681.807
Ask, that thou may'st enjoy; she waits for this:
1.681.808
And on thy first advance depends thy bliss.
1.681.809
E'en Jove himself was forc'd to sue for love;
1.681.810
None of the nymphs did first solicit Jove.
1.681.811
But if you find your pray'rs increase her pride,
1.681.812
Strike sail awhile, and wait another tide.
1.681.813
They fly when we pursue; but make delay.
1.681.814
And when they see you shaken, they will stay.
1.681.815
Sometimes it profits to conceal your end;
1.681.816
Name not yourself her lover, but her friend.
1.681.817
How many skittish girls have thus been caught?
1.681.818
He prov'd a lover, who a friend was thought.
1.681.819
Sailors by sun and wind are swarthy made;
1.681.820
A tann'd complexion best becomes their trade.
1.681.821
'Tis a disgrace to ploughmen to be fair;
1.681.822
Bluff cheeks they have, and weather-beaten hair.
1.681.823
Th' ambitious youth who seeks an olive crown,
1.681.824
Is sun-burnt with his daily toil, and brown;
1.681.825
But if the lover hopes to be in grace,
1.681.826
Wall be his looks, and meagre be his face.
1.681.827
That colour from the fair compassion draws;
1.681.828
She thinks you sick, and thinks herself the cause.
1.681.829
Orion wander'd in the woods for love.Orion fell in love with the nymph Lyrice, some name her Lynce, from a lynx, a wild beast so called, which is Merula's interpretation. But though who this Lyrice was is not very well known, yet it is not likely that Orion should be so passionately enamoured of a wild beast, and it is very probable he might be so charmed with a beautiul damsel.
1.681.830
His paleness did the nymphs to pity move;
1.681.831
His gastly visage argu'd hidden love.
1.681.832
Nor fail a night-cap in full health to wear;
1.681.833
Neglect thy dress, and discompose thy hair.
1.681.834
All things are decent, that in love avail.
1.681.835
Read long by night, and study to be pale.
1.681.836
Forsake your food, refuse your needful rest;
1.681.837
Be miserable that you may be blest.
1.739.838
Shall I complain, or shall I warn you most?
1.739.839
Faith, truth, and friendship, in the world are lost;
1.739.840
A little and an empty name they boast.
1.739.841
Trust not thy friend, much less thy mistress praise;
1.739.842
If he believe, thou man'st a rival raise.
1.739.843
'Tis true, Patroclus, by no lust misled,
1.739.844
Sought not to stain his dear companion's bed.Patroclus, son of Menoeceus, and grandson of Actor, who having killed Clytonymus, son of Amphidamus, was banished his country, and came to Phthia, where he remained with Peleus, Achilles's father, his kinmnan. By these means he contracted a strict friendship with Achilles, and accompanied him to the siege of Troy, where he was killed.
1.739.845
Nor Pylades Hermione embrac'd;Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen, who married her cousin-german, Orestes. Pylades was her husband's friend, and therefore he would not offer to corrupt his wife. This king was the son of Strophius king of Phocis.
1.739.846
Ev'n Phaedra to Pirithous still was chaste.
1.739.847
But hope not thou, in this vile age to find
1.739.848
Those rare examples of a faithful mind.
1.739.849
The sea shall sooner with sweet honey flow;
1.739.850
Or from the furze pears and apples grow.
1.739.851
We sin with gust, we love by fraud to gain,
1.739.852
And find a pleasure in our fellow's pain.
1.739.853
From rival foes you may the fair defend;
1.739.854
But would you ward the blow, beware your friend.
1.739.855
Beware your brother, and your next of kin;
1.739.856
But from your bosom friend your care begin.
1.739.857
Here had I ended, but experience finds,
1.739.858
That sundry women are of sundry minds;
1.739.859
With various crotchets fill'd, and hard to please,
1.739.860
They therefore must be caught by various ways.
1.739.861
All things are not produced in any soil;This is one of Ovid's happy ways of making use of common similes, and this and others are brought in here, to show a lover must comport himself variously, according to the various humors of women.
1.739.862
This ground for wine is proper, that for oil.
1.739.863
So 'tis in men, but more in woman-kind;
1.739.864
Diff'rent in face, in manners, and in mind.
1.739.865
But wise men shift their sails with ev'ry wind;
1.739.866
As changeful Proteus varied oft his shape,
1.739.867
And did in sundry forms and figures 'scape.
1.739.868
A running stream, a standing tree became,
1.739.869
A roaring lion, or a bleating lamb.
1.739.870
Some fish with harpoons, some with darts, are struck,This gives us a various idea, and livelily expresses the author's thoughts, that women are to be caught several ways.
1.739.871
Some drawn with nets, some hang upon the hook;
1.739.872
So turn thyself; and imitating them,
1.739.873
Try several tricks, and change thy stratagem.
1.739.874
One rule will not for diff'rent ages hold;
1.739.875
The jades grow cunning, as they grow more old.
1.739.876
Then talk not bawdy to the bashful maid;
1.739.877
Broad words will make her innocence afraid.
1.739.878
Nor to an ign'rant girl of learning speak;
1.739.879
She thinks you conjure when you talk in Greek.
1.739.880
And hence 'tis often seen, the simple shun
1.739.881
The learn'd, and into vile embraces run.
1.739.882
Part of my task is done, and part to do:
1.739.883
But here 'tis time to rest myself and you.To cast anchor, as Ovid says, Hic teneat nostras anchora iacta rates, as one arrived at a port, where, though he is not to stay long, he intends to refresh himself.