Recalling the Lover's Faults and Defending the Poet — Ovid, The Cure of Love, lines 299–369, Latin & English

299

Saepe refer tecum sceleratae facta puellae,

Often recall with yourself the deeds of the wicked girl,

300

Et pone ante oculos omnia damna tuos.

and place all your losses before your eyes.

'Illud et illud habet, nec ea contenta rapina est:

’She has this and that, nor is she content with that plunder:

Sub titulum¹ nostros misit avara lares.

that greedy woman sent our household gods under the auction title.

Sic mihi iuravit, sic me iurata fefellit,

Thus she swore to me, thus having sworn she deceived me,

Ante suas quotiens passa iacere fores!

how many times did she allow me to lie before her doors!’

305

Diligit ipsa alios, a me fastidit amari;

She herself loves others, she disdains to be loved by me;

Institor, heu, noctes, quas mihi non dat, habet!'

alas, a peddler holds the nights which she does not give to me!’

Haec tibi per totos inacescant omnia sensus:

Let all these things grow sour for you throughout your entire senses:

Haec refer, hinc odii semina quaere tui.

recall these, seek from here the seeds of your hatred.

Atque utinam possis etiam facundus in illis

And would that you could also be eloquent in them!

310

Esse! dole tantum, sponte disertus eris.

Only grieve, you will be eloquent of your own accord.

Haeserat in quadam nuper mea cura puella:

Lately, my care had clung to a certain girl:

Conveniens animo non erat illa meo:

she was not suitable to my mind:

Curabar propriis aeger Podalirius herbis,

I was being cured as a sick Podalirius by my own herbs,

Et, fateor, medicus turpiter aeger eram.

and, I confess, I was a physician shamefully sick.

315

Profuit adsidue vitiis insistere amicae,

It was profitable to insist continually on the faults of the mistress,

Idque mihi factum saepe salubre fuit.

and that having been done was often healthy for me.

'Quam mala' dicebam 'nostrae sunt crura puellae!'

’How bad,’ I said, ‘are the legs of our girl!’

Nec tamen, ut vere confiteamur, erant.

And yet, to confess truly, they were not.

'Brachia quam non sunt nostrae formosa puellae!'

’How far from beautiful are the arms of our girl!’

320

Et tamen, ut vere confiteamur, erant.

And yet, to confess truly, they were.

'Quam brevis est!' nec erat; 'quam multum poscit amantem!'

’How short she is!’ (nor was she); ‘how much she demands from her lover!’

Haec odio venit maxima causa meo.

This came as the greatest cause of my hatred.

Et mala sunt vicina bonis; errore sub illo²

And bad things are adjacent to good things; under that error,

Pro vitio virtus crimina saepe tulit.

virtue has often borne accusations in place of a vice.

325

Qua potes, in peius dotes deflecte puellae,

In whatever way you can, bend the virtues of the girl into worse,

Iudiciumque brevi limite falle tuum.

and deceive your judgment by a narrow boundary.

Turgida, si plena est, si fusca est, nigra vocetur:

Let her be called bloated if she is full-figured, and black if she is dark:

In gracili macies crimen habere potest.

leanness in a slender girl can be turned into an accusation.

Et poterit dici petulans, quae rustica non est:

And she who is not rustic can be called impudent:

330

Et poterit dici rustica, siqua proba est.

and she can be called rustic if any is virtuous.

Quin etiam, quacumque caret tua femina dote,

Moreover, whatever virtue your woman lacks,

Hanc moveat, blandis usque precare sonis.

urge her to this, pray constantly with coaxing sounds.

Exige uti cantet, siqua est sine voce puella:

Demand that she sing if there is any girl without a voice:

Fac saltet, nescit siqua movere manum.

make her dance if any does not know how to move her hand.

335

Barbara sermone est? fac tecum multa loquatur;

Is she rude in speech? Make her speak much with you;

Non didicit chordas tangere? posce lyram.

has she not learned to touch the strings? Ask for the lyre.

Durius incedit? fac inambulet; omne papillae

Does she walk too stiffly? Make her walk about; do breasts

Pectus habent? vitium fascia nulla tegat.

occupy her whole chest? Let no breastband cover that fault.

Si male dentata est, narra, quod rideat, illi;

If she has bad teeth, tell her something that she may laugh at;

340

Mollibus est oculis? quod fleat illa, refer.

has she soft eyes? Tell her something that she may weep.

Proderit et subito, cum se non finxerit ulli,³

It will also be useful suddenly, when she has not adorned herself for anyone,

Ad dominam celeres mane tulisse gradus.

to have carried swift steps in the morning to your mistress.

Auferimur cultu; gemmis auroque teguntur

We are carried away by dress; by gems and gold

Omnia; pars minima est ipsa puella sui.

everything is covered; the girl herself is the least part of herself.

345

Saepe ubi sit, quod ames, inter tam multa requiras;

Often you may ask where that which you love is among so many things;

Decipit hac oculos aegide dives Amor.

wealthy Love deceives the eyes with this aegis.

Improvisus ades, deprendes tutus inermem:

Arrive unexpected; you will safely catch her unarmed:

Infelix vitiis excidet illa suis.

unfortunately, she will fall away by her own faults.

Non tamen huic nimium praecepto credere tutum est:

Yet it is not too safe to trust this precept:

350

Fallit enim multos forma sine arte decens.

for a fitting beauty without art deceives many.

Tum quoque, compositis cum collinet ora venenis,

Then also, when she smears her face with compounded potions,

Ad dominae vultus (nec pudor obstet) eas.

go to the face of your mistress (nor let shame stand in the way).

Pyxidas invenies et rerum mille colores,

You will find boxes and a thousand colors of things,

Et fluere in tepidos oesypa lapsa sinus.

and sheep-grease melting and flowing into warm bosoms.

355

Illa tuas redolent, Phineu, medicamina mensas:

Those remedies smell of your tables, Phineus:

Non semel hinc stomacho nausea facta meo est.

not once from here has nausea been made for my stomach.

Nunc tibi, quae medio veneris praestemus in usu,

Now I will speak to you of those things which we should provide in the midst of love’s practice:

Eloquar: ex omni est parte fugandus amor.

love must be routed from every part.

Multa quidem ex illis pudor est mihi dicere; sed tu

To be sure, it is a shame for me to say many of those things; but you

360

Ingenio verbis concipe plura meis.

conceive more in your mind from my words.

Nuper enim nostros quidam carpsere libellos,

For lately some have criticized my little books,

Quorum censura⁴ Musa proterva mea est.

by whose judgment my Muse is wanton.

Dummodo sic placeam, dum toto canter in orbe,

As long as I please thus, as long as I am sung in the whole world,

Quamlibet impugnent unus et alter opus.

let one or another attack my work as they please.

365

Ingenium magni livor detractat Homeri:

Envy detracts from the genius of great Homer:

Quisquis es, ex illo, Zoile, nomen habes.

whoever you are, Zoilus, you have your name from him.

Et tua sacrilegae laniarunt carmina linguae,

And sacrilegious tongues tore at your poems also,

Pertulit huc victos quo duce Troia deos.

under whose guidance Troy brought its conquered gods to this place.

Summa petit livor; perflant altissima venti:

Envy seeks the highest; winds blow hardest upon the summits.

Syntax notes4 items

302Sub titulum
The phrase sub titulum mittere (to send under the notice/title) means to put property up for sale or auction by posting an advertisement. Here, it refers to being forced to sell one's ancestral home due to the mistress's greed.
323errore sub illo
An inversion (hyperbaton) occurs where the preposition sub (under) is placed between the noun errore and the pronoun illo. Poetically, it is to be understood as sub illo errore (under that error).
341se non finxerit ulli
The verb se fingere (with the reflexive pronoun) means "to adorn oneself" or "to put on makeup." The dative ulli functions as a dative of advantage ("for anyone"), meaning she has not dressed up for anyone.
362Quorum censura
The antecedent of the relative genitive quorum is quidam (certain people) in the preceding line, meaning "in whose judgment / by whose criticism."

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

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi005.humanitext-lat2:299-369