Ovid: Amores II.5 Flashcards
nullus amor tanti est (abeas pharetrate Cupido),
ut mihi sint totiens maxima vota mori.
vota mori mea sunt, cum te peccasse recordor,
in mihi perpetuum nata puella malum.
No love is of such value (go away, Cupid with your quiver),
That I have so often very great wishes to die.
The wishes to die are mine, when I remember that you have been unfaithful,
Girl born for my never-ending misfortune.
non mihi deceptae nudant tua facta tabellae
nec data furtive munera crimen habent.
o utinam arguerem sic, ut non vincere possem!
me miserum, quare tam bona causa mea est?
Disguised wax tablets do not expose your deeds to me
Nor do secretly given gifts give grounds for an accusation.
Oh if only I argued so, that I could not win my case!
Unhappy me, why is my case so good?
felix, qui quod amat defendere fortiter audet,
cui sua ‘non feci’ dicere amica potest.
ferreus est nimiumque suo favet ille dolori,
cui petitur victa palma cruenta rea.
Happy is he, who dares to defend bravely the thing which he loves,
To whom his girlfriend can say, “I did not do it!”
He is hard hearted and favours his own pain too much,
Who seeks a conquered female defendant in a blood-stained palm.
ipse miser vidi, cum me dormire putares,
sobrius apposito crimina vestra mero:
multa supercilio vidi vibrante loquentes;
nutibus in vestris pars bona vocis erat.
Myself, unhappy, I saw your crimes,
When you thought that I was sleeping, sober, with neat wine served:
I saw you saying many things with a flickering eyebrow;
A good part of language was in your nods.
non oculi tacuere tui conscriptaque vino
mensa, nec in digitis littera nulla fuit.
sermonem agnovi, quod non videatur, agentem
verbaque pro certis iussa valere notis.
Your eys were not silent, and the table written
In wine, nor was there no letter in your fingers.
I recognised the conversation, discussing what it did not appear to discuss,
And the words made to stand for certain secret codes.
iamque frequens ierat mensa conviva relicta;
compositi iuvenes unus et alter erant:
inproba tum vero iungentes oscula vidi
(illa mihi lingua nexa fuisse liquet),
And now, with the table abandoned, many guests had gone;
Young men, drowsy with wine, were there one and another:
But then I saw you joining disloyal kisses
(It is clear to me that they had been tied by the tongue)
qualia non fratri tulerit germana severo,
sed tulerit cupido mollis amica viro;
qualia credibile est non Phoebo ferre Dianam,
sed Venerem Marti saepe tulisse suo.
The sort which a sister would have not given to a stern brother,
But a compliant girl-friend would have given to an eager husband;
The sort which it is believable that Diana did not give to Phoebus,
But that Venus had often given to her own Mars.
‘quid facis?’ exclamo ‘quo nunc mea gaudia defers?
iniciam dominas in mea iura manus.
haec tibi sunt mecum, mihi sunt communia tecum:
in bona cur quisquam tertius ista venit?’
“What are you doing?” I cry out, “To where are you now bestowing my joys?”
I shall lay my masterly hands onto my right!
These for you are with me, for me they are shared with you:
Why has any third party come into possession of that property?
haec ego, quaeque dolor linguae dictavit; at illi
conscia purpureus venit in ora pudor.
quale coloratum Tithoni coniuge caelum
subrubet, aut sponso visa puella novo;
I said these things, which pain dictated to my tongue; but for her
A purple shame came on her guilty face.
Just like the sky is tinged with purple, coloured by the wife
Of Tithonus, or a girl seen by a new fiancé;
quale rosae fulgent inter sua lilia mixtae
aut, ubi cantatis, Luna, laborat equis;
aut quod, ne longis flavescere possit ab annis,
Maeonis Assyrium femina tinxit ebur:
Just like roses shine, mixed among their lilies
Or, when the Moon-goddess struggles, her horses enchanted,
Or the Assyrian ivory, which the Maeonian woman has dyed,
So that it cannot turn yellow from the long years:
his erat aut alicui color ille simillimus horum,
et numquam casu pulchrior illa fuit.
spectabat terram: terram spectare decebat;
maesta erat in vultu: maesta decenter erat.
That colour was very similar to these or to some one of these,
And she was never more beautiful by chance.
She was looking at the ground: it was fitting for her to look at the ground;
She was sorrowful in her face: she was becomingly sorrowful.
sicut erant (et erant culti) laniare capillos
et fuit in teneras impetus ire genas;
ut faciem vidi, fortes cecidere lacerti:
defensa est armis nostra puella suis.
It was my impulse to tear her hairs just as they were (and they were well-groomed)
And to go for her tender cheeks;
When I saw her face, my strong arms fell:
My girl was defended by her own weapons.
qui modo saevus eram, supplex ultroque rogavi
oscula ne nobis deteriora daret.
risit et ex animo dedit optima, qualia possent
excutere irato tela trisulca Iovi:
I, who was just now cruel, pleaded in supplication and of my own accord,
That she would not give me worse kisses.
She smiled and from her heart gave excellent kisses, the sort which could have
Shaken off the three-forked weapons from angry Jupiter:
torqueor infelix, ne tam bona senserit alter,
et volo non ex hac illa fuisse nota.
haec quoque quam docui multo meliora fuerunt,
et quiddam visa est addidicisse novi.
I am tormented, unhappy me, lest the other men felt such good kisses,
And I want those kisses not to have been of this quality.
These kisses too, were much better than I taught,
And she appeared to have learned in addition something new.
quod nimium placuere, malum est, quod tota labellis
lingua tua est nostris, nostra recepta tuis.
nec tamen hoc unum doleo, non oscula tantum
iuncta queror, quamvis haec quoque iuncta queror:
The fact that they pleased too much is bad, the fact that your whole tongue
Was welcomed by my lips is bad, and mine by yours.
And however I am not upset by this alone, I complain not only that
The kisses were joined, although I also complain that they were joined:
