Plea to Cupid for Release from Love's Warfare — Ovid, The Loves Book 2 (2.9a.1–2.9a.24), Latin & English

O numquam pro re¹ satis indignande Cupido,

O Cupid, never to be resented enough in proportion to your conduct,

O in corde meo desidiose puer —

O boy, sluggish in my heart —

Quid me, qui miles numquam tua signa reliqui,

Why do you hurt me, who as a soldier never left your standards,

Laedis, et in castris vulneror ipse meis?

and why am I myself wounded in my own camp?

Cur tua fax urit, figit tuus arcus amicos?

Why does your torch burn, why does your bow pierce friends?

Gloria pugnantes vincere maior erat.²

The glory to conquer those who fight back would have been greater.

Quid? non Haemonius, quem cuspide perculit, heros

What? Did not the Haemonian hero, as for the man he had struck with his spear,

Confossum medica postmodo iuvit ope?

help him afterwards with healing aid when he was pierced?

Venator sequitur fugientia; capta relinquit

The hunter pursues fleeing things; he leaves behind captured things,

Semper et inventis ulteriora petit.

and always seeks things further than what has been found.

Nos tua sentimus, populus tibi deditus, arma;

We, a people dedicated to you, feel your weapons;

Pigra reluctanti cessat in hoste manus.

your hand, lazy, ceases against a resisting enemy.

Quid iuvat in nudis hamata retundere tela

What pleasure does it give to blunt barbed weapons in bare bones?

Ossibus? ossa mihi nuda relinquit amor.

Love leaves me bare bones.

Tot sine amore viri, tot sunt sine amore puellae! —

There are so many men without love, so many girls without love! —

Hinc tibi cum magna laude triumphus eat.

From here let a triumph go for you with great praise.

Roma, nisi inmensum vires promosset in orbem,

Rome, unless she had extended her strength into the immense world,

Stramineis esset nunc quoque tecta casis.

would even now be covered with straw-roofed cottages.

Fessus in acceptos miles deducitur agros;

The tired soldier is led off into the fields he received;

Mittitur in saltus carcere liber equus;

the horse, freed from the starting gate, is sent into the pastures;

Longaque subductam celant navalia pinum,

and the long shipyards conceal the hauled-up pine ship,

Tutaque deposito poscitur ense rudis.

and the wooden sword is demanded in safety, the iron sword being laid aside.

Me quoque, qui totiens merui³ sub amore puellae,

Me too, who have served so many times under the love of a girl,

Defunctum placide vivere tempus erat.⁴

it was time to live peacefully, having finished my service.

Syntax notes4 items

2.9a.1pro re
The preposition pro here means "in proportion to" or "in accordance with," and res refers to Cupid's conduct or actions. Thus, "in proportion to your deeds / conduct."
2.9a.6erat
The indicative imperfect erat is used here to express a potential or unfulfilled propriety/obligation in past or present time without a formal conditional clause ("it would have been a greater glory to conquer...").
2.9a.23merui
The military verb merere (or mereri) literally means "to earn pay," serving as a shorthand for stipendia merere ("to serve as a soldier"). It continues the metaphor of the poet as a soldier of love (miles amoris).
2.9a.24tempus erat
The imperfect tempus erat ("it was time") is used to express that the proper time for an action has already arrived or passed, conveying a sense of unfulfilled propriety or a complaint that the peaceful retirement has not yet materialized.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-10-12)

2026-10-12 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.9a.1-2.9a.24