- Source
- Ovid. P. Ovidius Naso, Volume 1: Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina faciei femineae, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris. Ehwald, Rudolf; Merkel, Rudolph; editors. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1907.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.14.1-1.14.56
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The poet laments that his mistress has lost all of her beautiful hair due to excessive dyeing and heat treatment, offering her comfort while criticizing her vanity.
Dicebam 'medicare tuos desiste capillos!'
I used to say, ‘Stop treating your hair with potions!’
Tingere quam possis, iam tibi nulla coma est.
Now you have no hair left for you to dye.
At si passa fores,1 quid erat spatiosius illis?
But if you had allowed it to be, what was more abundant than those locks?
Contigerant imum, qua patet usque, latus.
They had reached all the way down to the bottom of your flank.
Quid, quod2 erant tenues, et quos ornare timeres?
What of the fact that they were so fine, such as you would fear to dress?
Vela colorati qualia Seres habent,
like the veils that the colorfully clad Seres have,
Vel pede quod gracili deducit aranea filum,
or the thread that a spider draws down with its slender foot,
Cum leve deserta sub trabe nectit opus.
when it weaves its light work beneath an abandoned beam.
Nec tamen ater erat nec erat tamen aureus ille,
Yet that color was neither black nor was it golden,
Sed, quamvis neuter, mixtus uterque color —
but, though neither, a mixture of both —
Qualem clivosae madidis in vallibus Idae
such as, in the wet valleys of hilly Ida,
Ardua derepto cortice cedrus habet.
the towering cedar has when its bark is stripped away.
Adde, quod et dociles et centum flexibus apti
Add that they were both easy to manage and suited for a hundred curls,
Et tibi nullius causa doloris erant.
and they were the cause of no pain to you.
Non acus abrupit, non vallum pectinis illos.
No hairpin tore them, no row of teeth on the comb damaged them.
Ornatrix tuto corpore semper erat;
The hair-stylist was always safe in her person;
Ante meos saepe est oculos ornata nec umquam
often she was styled before my eyes, and never
Bracchia derepta saucia fecit acu.
did she scratch and wound the maid’s arms with a snatched-up pin.
Saepe etiam nondum digestis mane capillis
Often, too, in the morning, with her hair not yet arranged,
Purpureo iacuit semisupina toro.
she lay half-reclined on her purple couch.
Tum quoque erat neclecta decens, ut Threcia Bacche,
Even then she was beautiful in her neglect, like a Thracian Bacchant,
Cum temere in viridi gramine lassa iacet.
when she lies exhausted at random on the green grass.
Cum graciles essent tamen et lanuginis instar,
Though they were nevertheless so delicate and like down,
Heu, male vexatae quanta tulere comae!
alas, what sufferings did those badly abused locks endure!
Quam se praebuerunt ferro patienter et igni,
How patiently they submitted themselves to iron and fire,
Ut fieret torto nexilis orbe sinus!
so that a bound curl might be made in a twisted ring!
Clamabam: 'scelus est istos, scelus urere crines!
I used to cry out: ‘It is a crime, a crime to burn those tresses!’
Sponte decent; capiti, ferrea, parce tuo!
’They are beautiful of themselves; spare your head, cruel girl!’
Vim procul hinc remove! non est, qui debeat uri;
’Remove all force far from here! This is not hair that ought to be burned;’
Erudit admotas ipse capillus acus.3'
’the hair itself instructs the pins brought near to it.’
Formosae periere comae — quas vellet Apollo,
The beautiful hair has perished — which Apollo would have wished,
Quas vellet capiti Bacchus inesse suo!
which Bacchus would have wished to be on his own head!
Illis contulerim, quas quondam nuda Dione
I would have compared them to those which once the naked Dione
Pingitur umenti sustinuisse manu.
is painted as holding up with her wet hand.
Quid male dispositos quereris periisse capillos?
Why do you lament that your poorly arranged hair has perished?
Quid speculum maesta ponis, inepta, manu?
Why do you put down the mirror with a sad hand, foolish girl?
Non bene consuetis a te spectaris ocellis;
You are not looked at by yourself with eyes that are accustomed to you;
Ut placeas, debes inmemor esse tui.4
in order to please yourself, you must be unmindful of yourself.
Non te cantatae laeserunt paelicis herbae,
No enchanted herbs of a rival have harmed you,
Non anus Haemonia perfida lavit aqua;
no treacherous old crone washed you with Haemonian water;
Nec tibi vis morbi nocuit — procul omen abesto! —
Nor has the power of sickness harmed you — far be the omen! —
Nec minuit densas invida lingua comas.
nor has an envious tongue thinned your thick hair.
Facta manu culpaque tua dispendia sentis;
You feel the loss caused by your own hand and fault;
Ipsa dabas capiti mixta venena tuo.
you yourself were administering mixed poisons to your own head.
Nunc tibi captivos mittet Germania crines;
Now Germany will send you captive tresses;
Tuta triumphatae munere gentis eris.
you will be safe by the gift of a triumphed-over nation.
O quam saepe comas aliquo mirante rubebis,
Oh, how often will you blush when someone admires your hair,
Et dices: 'empta nunc ego merce probor,
and say: ‘I am now praised for a purchased commodity,’
Nescio quam pro me laudat nunc iste Sygambram.
’that man is now praising some Sygambrian woman instead of me.’
Fama tamen memini cum fuit ista mea.'
’Yet I remember when that glory was my own.’
Me miserum! lacrimas male continet oraque dextra
Miserable me! She can hardly contain her tears, and with her right hand
Protegit ingenuas picta rubore genas.
protects her noble cheeks, painted with a blush.
Sustinet antiquos gremio spectatque capillos,
She holds her former hair in her lap and gazes at it,
Ei mihi, non illo munera digna loco!5
ah me, gifts not worthy of that place!
Collige cum vultu mentem! reparabile damnum est.
Compose your mind along with your face! The damage is repairable.
Postmodo nativa conspiciere coma.
By and by you will be seen with your natural hair.
- 1.14.3passa fores
The second-person singular pluperfect subjunctive of patior (to allow, leave alone), with "fores" acting as "esses." In combination with the main clause "quid erat...", it forms a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence.
- 1.14.5Quid, quod
An idiomatic formula meaning "What of the fact that...?" or "What shall we say of...?", used to introduce and emphasize a new fact in addition to the preceding context.
- 1.14.30Erudit admotas ipse capillus acus
Literally, "the hair itself instructs the hairpins brought near to it." It uses personification to describe how the hair is so naturally compliant and easy to style that the pins adapt to it effortlessly, as if being guided by the hair.
- 1.14.38debes inmemor esse tui
The adjective "inmemor" governs "tui", which is the objective genitive of the second-person singular pronoun. Meaning "you must be unmindful of yourself," it suggests that for the mistress to find any pleasure or self-approval now, she must ignore her current altered reflection in the mirror.
- 1.14.54non illo munera digna loco
"Gifts (the lost former beautiful hair) not worthy of that place (her lap)." Since the adjective "digna" governs the ablative case, "illo loco" is in the ablative. It ironically and pathetically terms the shorn or fallen locks resting on her lap as "gifts."