Wine, my dear boy, and truth are said to go together; and we, when drunk, must be truthful.
§29.3κἤγω μὲν τὰ φρενῶν ἐρέω κέατʼ ἐν μυχῷ.
So I indeed will tell what lies in the depth of my heart.
§29.4οὐκ ὄλας φιλέειν μʼ ἐθέλησθʼ ἀπὸ καρδίας.
You do not wish to love me with all your heart.
I know; for half my life I hold through your beautiful form, but the rest is ruined.
And when you wish, I lead a day like the blessed gods; but when you do not wish, I am utterly in darkness.
§29.9πῶς ταῦτʼ ἄρμενα, τὸν φιλέοντʼ ἀνίαις δίδων;
How is this fitting, to deliver the one who loves you to anguishes?
But if you would obey me at all, a youth to an older man, you would fare better yourself and would praise me for it.
Make one nest in one tree, where no wild crawling thing will reach.
But now, today you hold one branch, tomorrow another, and you seek one after another from one to another.
§29.16καἰ μέν σευ τὸ κάλον τις ἴδων ῥέθος αἰνέσαι, §29.17τῷ δʼ εὔθυς πλέον ἢ τριέτης ἐγένευ φίλος, §29.18τὸν πρῶτον δὲ φιλεῦντα τρίταιον ἐθήκαο.
And if someone sees and praises your beautiful face, you immediately become his friend of more than three years, and you make your first lover a friend of only three days.
§29.19ἄνδρων τῶν ὑπερανορέων δοκίμοις πνέειν.
You seem to breathe of the prominent among overbearing men.
§29.20φίλη δʼ, ἇς κʼ ἔτʼ ἔῃς, τὸν ὕμοιον ἔχην ἄει.
But love always, as long as you live, to have one like yourself.
§29.21αἰ γὰρ ὧδε πόῃς, ἄγαθος μὲν ἀκούσεαι §29.22ἐξ ἄστων· ὁ δέ τοί κʼ Ἔρος οὐ χαλέπως ἔχοι, §29.23ὃς ἄνδρων φρένας εὐμαρέως ὑποδάμναται, §29.24κἤμε μάλθακον ἐξ ἐπόησε σιδαρίω.
For if you do so, you will hear good things from the citizens; and Eros will not be harsh to you— he who easily subdues the minds of men, and made even me soft, who was of iron.
§29.25ἀλλὰ πὲρ ἀπάλω στύματός σε πεδέρχομαι §29.26ὀμνάσθην, ὅτι πέρυσιν ἦσθα νεώτερος, §29.27χὥτι γηραλέοι πέλομες πρὶν ἀποπτύσαι §29.28καὶ ῥύσοι, νεότατα δʼ ἔχην παλινάγρετον §29.29οὐκ ἔστι· πτέρυγας γὰρ ἐπομμαδίαις φόρη, §29.30κἄμμες βαρδύτεροι τὰ ποτήμενα συλλάβην.
But by your soft mouth I entreat you to remember that last year you were younger, and that we become old and wrinkled before we can spit out, and it is not possible to regain youth; for youth has wings on its shoulders, and we are too slow to catch flying things.
§29.31ταῦτα χρὴ νοέοντα πέλην ποτιμώτερον, §29.32καί μοι τὠραμένῳ συνέραν ἀδόλως σέθεν, §29.33ὅπως, ἁνίκα τὰν γένυν ἀνδρεΐαν ἔχῃς, §29.34ἀλλάλοισι πελώμεθʼ Ἀχιλλέϊοι φίλοι.
Thinking of these things, you ought to be more agreeable, and love me back without guile, who love you, so that, when you have a manly chin, we may be to each other like Achilles and his friend.
§29.35αἰ δὲ ταῦτα φέρην ἀνέμοισιν ἐπιτρόπῃς, §29.36ἐν θύμῳ δὲ λέγῃς
τί με δαιμόνιʼ ἐνόχλης; §29.37νῦν μὲν κἠπὶ τὰ χρύσεα μᾶλʼ ἔνεκεν σέθεν §29.38βαίην καὶ φύλακον νεκύων πεδὰ Κέρβερον, §29.39τότα δʼ οὐδὲ καλεῦντος ἐπʼ αὐλεΐαις θύραις §29.40προμόλοιμί κε παυσάμενος χαλέπω πόθω.
But if you commit these things to the winds to carry away, and say in your heart: "Why do you trouble me, strange man?" now indeed, for your sake, I would go even for the golden apples, and to Cerberus, the watcher of the dead; but then, even if you called me at the courtyard doors, I would not go forth, having ceased from my harsh desire.