Cupid Stealing a Foot and the Turn to Love Poetry — Ovid, The Loves Book 1 (1.1.1–1.1.30), Latin & English

Arma gravi numero violentaque bella parabam

I was preparing to tell of arms and violent wars

Edere, materia conveniente modis.

in grave meter, with the material matching the rhythm.

Par erat inferior versus: risisse Cupido

The lower verse was equal; Cupid is said to have laughed

Dicitur atque unum surripuisse pedem.

and to have stolen away one foot.

'Quis tibi, saeve puer, dedit hoc in carmina iuris?¹

’Who gave you, cruel boy, this right over poetry?

Pieridum vates, non tua turba sumus.

We are the bards of the Pierides, not your crowd.

Quid, si praeripiat flavae Venus arma Minervae,

What if Venus should snatch away the arms of golden-haired Minerva,

Ventilet accensas flava Minerva faces?

while golden-haired Minerva fanned the kindled torches?

Quis probet in silvis Cererem regnare iugosis,

Who would approve of Ceres reigning in the mountainous forests,

Lege pharetratae virginis arva coli?

while the fields are cultivated under the law of the quivered maiden?

Crinibus insignem quis acuta cuspide Phoebum

Who would equip Phoebus, distinguished for his hair, with a sharp spear,

Instruat, Aoniam Marte movente lyram?

while Mars plays the Aonian lyre?

Sunt tibi magna, puer, nimiumque potentia regna;

Great and too powerful are your realms, boy;

Cur opus adfectas, ambitiose, novum?

why do you aspire to a new task, ambitious one?

An, quod ubique, tuum est? tua sunt Heliconia tempe?

Or is everything everywhere yours? Are the valleys of Helicon yours?

Vix etiam Phoebo iam lyra tuta sua est?

Is his own lyre now scarcely safe even for Phoebus?

Cum bene surrexit versu nova pagina primo,

When a new page has risen well with the first verse,

Attenuat nervos proximus ille meos;

that next one weakens my strength;

Nec mihi materia est numeris levioribus apta,

nor do I have material suitable for lighter rhythms,

Aut puer aut longas compta puella comas.²'

either a boy or a girl with her long hair adorned.’

Questus eram, pharetra cum protinus ille soluta³

I had complained, when straightway he, having loosened his quiver,

Legit in exitium spicula facta meum,

selected arrows made for my destruction,

Lunavitque genu sinuosum fortiter arcum,

and stoutly bent the curved bow against his knee,

'Quod' que 'canas,⁴ vates, accipe' dixit 'opus!'

and said: ‘Receive, O bard, the work that you may sing!’

Me miserum! certas habuit puer ille sagittas.

Ah, wretched me! That boy had unerring arrows.

Uror, et in vacuo pectore regnat Amor.

I burn, and Love reigns in my empty breast.

Sex mihi surgat opus numeris, in quinque residat:

Let my work rise in six feet, and fall back in five:

Ferrea cum vestris bella valete modis!

farewell, iron wars, with your meters!

Cingere litorea flaventia tempora myrto,

Gird your golden temples with myrtle from the shore,

Musa, per undenos emodulanda pedes!

O Muse, to be sung in eleven feet!

Syntax notes4 items

1.1.5hoc... iuris
The neuter pronoun accusative hoc takes the genitive iuris as a partitive genitive, meaning 'this much of right' or 'this authority'.
1.1.20longas compta puella comas
The accusative comas is an accusative of specification (or Greek accusative) modifying the perfect passive participle compta, meaning 'a girl adorned with respect to her long hair'.
1.1.21Questus eram, pharetra cum protinus ille soluta
An inverted cum clause (cum inversum), where the main clause uses the pluperfect questus eram and the cum clause introduces the main action with the perfect tense legit... lunavitque. pharetra soluta is an ablative absolute.
1.1.24Quod... canas
The subjunctive present canas in the relative clause introduced by quod (with opus as its antecedent) expresses purpose, meaning 'a work for you to sing'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.1.1-1.1.30