Humanitext Reader

Ovid · The Loves §1.15.1-1.15.42

Defense Against Envy and Immortal Fame Through Poetry

Passage 17 of 53 · Latin

Summary

The poet responds to the accusations of "Envy" who charges him with laziness, asserting his pursuit of immortal fame through poetry rather than conventional careers in the military or law. He reviews the immortal legacy of great Greek and Roman poets, declaring that his own work will likewise survive death and grant him eternal life.

§1.15.1Quid mihi Livor edax, ignavos obicis annos, §1.15.2Ingeniique vocas carmen inertis opus; §1.15.3Non me more patrum, dum strenua sustinet aetas, §1.15.4Praemia militiae pulverulenta sequi, §1.15.5Nec me verbosas leges ediscere nec me §1.15.6Ingrato vocem prostituisse foro?
Why, devouring Envy, do you charge me with lazy years, and call my song the work of a listless mind; demanding that I, while vigorous age supports me, in the manner of our fathers, should pursue the dusty rewards of military service, or that I should not learn wordy laws, nor prostitute my voice in the ungrateful forum?
§1.15.7Mortale est, quod quaeris, opus.
What you seek is a mortal work.
mihi fama perennis §1.15.8Quaeritur, in toto semper ut orbe canar.
For me, everlasting fame is sought, so that I may be sung of always in the whole world.
§1.15.9Vivet Maeonides, Tenedos dum stabit et Ide, §1.15.10Dum rapidas Simois in mare volvet aquas; §1.15.11Vivet et Ascraeus, dum mustis uva tumebit, §1.15.12Dum cadet incurva falce resecta Ceres.
Maeonides will live as long as Tenedos and Ida shall stand, and as long as Simois shall roll his rapid waters into the sea; the Ascraean also will live, as long as the grape shall swell with must, and as long as Ceres, cut down by the curved sickle, shall fall.
§1.15.13Battiades semper toto cantabitur orbe; §1.15.14Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet.
Battiades will always be sung of in the whole world; though he is not strong in genius, he is strong in art.
§1.15.15Nulla Sophocleo veniet iactura cothurno; §1.15.16Cum sole et luna semper Aratus erit; §1.15.17Dum fallax servus, durus pater, inproba lena §1.15.18Vivent et meretrix blanda, Menandros erit; §1.15.19Ennius arte carens animosique Accius oris §1.15.20Casurum nullo tempore nomen habent.
No loss will come to the Sophoclean buskin; Aratus will remain forever with the sun and moon; As long as the deceitful slave, the harsh father, the wicked bawd and the coaxing courtesan shall live, Menander will exist; Ennius, lacking in art, and Accius of the spirited voice, possess a name that will perish at no time.
§1.15.21Varronem primamque ratem quae nesciet aetas, §1.15.22Aureaque Aesonio terga petita duci?
What age will not know Varro and the first ship, and the golden fleece sought by the Aesonian leader?
§1.15.23Carmina sublimis tunc sunt peritura Lucreti, §1.15.24Exitio terras cum dabit una dies; §1.15.25Tityrus et segetes Aeneiaque arma legentur, §1.15.26Roma triumphati dum caput orbis erit; §1.15.27Donec erunt ignes arcusque Cupidinis arma, §1.15.28Discentur numeri, culte Tibulle, tui; §1.15.29Gallus et Hesperiis et Gallus notus Eois, §1.15.30Et sua cum Gallo nota Lycoris erit.
The songs of sublime Lucretius are destined to perish only then, when a single day shall give the earth over to destruction; Tityrus and the crops and the arms of Aeneas will be read, as long as Rome shall be the capital of the triumphed-over world; As long as the fires and bows are the weapons of Cupid, your measures, elegant Tibullus, will be learned; Gallus will be known to the Western and Gallus to the Eastern peoples, and his own Lycoris will be known along with Gallus.
§1.15.31Ergo, cum silices, cum dens patientis aratri §1.15.32Depereant aevo, carmina morte carent.
Therefore, though flints and the share of the patient plow perish with time, songs are free from death.
§1.15.33Cedant carminibus reges regumque triumphi, §1.15.34Cedat et auriferi ripa benigna Tagi!
Let kings and the triumphs of kings yield to songs, and let the bountiful bank of gold-bearing Tagus yield also!
§1.15.35Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo §1.15.36Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua, §1.15.37Sustineamque coma metuentem frigora myrtum, §1.15.38Atque a sollicito multus amante legar!
Let the common crowd admire cheap things; but to me let golden-haired Apollo serve cups filled with Castalian water, and may I wear on my hair the myrtle that fears the cold, and be read much by anxious lovers!
§1.15.39Pascitur in vivis Livor; post fata quiescit, §1.15.40Cum suus ex merito quemque tuetur honos.
Envy feeds upon the living; after death it rests, when each man's own honor protects him according to his merit.
§1.15.41Ergo etiam cum me supremus adederit ignis, §1.15.42Vivam, parsque mei multa superstes erit.
Therefore, even when the final fire shall have consumed me, I shall live, and a great part of me will survive.

Notes

  1. 1.15.3Non me more patrum... sequi — The infinitive phrases spanning 1.15.3 to 1.15.6 (sequi, ediscere, prostituisse) function as direct object clauses (accusative with infinitive) governed by the verb obicis (to charge/accuse) in 1.15.1. The structure expresses the charges of "Envy" against the poet for not pursuing traditional Roman civic duties such as military service and forensic oratory.
  2. 1.15.14Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet — The conjunction quamvis, which introduces a concessive clause, normally requires the subjunctive mood in classical prose, but in poets like Ovid, it is frequently used with the indicative (here, valet) to state a fact. This expresses the traditional literary judgment on Callimachus, who was deemed to lack raw genius (ingenium) but to excel in poetic craftsmanship (ars).
  3. 1.15.35vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo — The series of verbs from 1.15.35 to 1.15.38 (miretur, ministret, sustineam, legar) are all in the present subjunctive, serving as jussive or optative subjunctives to express wishes or commands. The dative mihi (to/for me) goes with the verb ministret (serve/provide), contrasting the poet's high artistic aspirations with the cheap desires of the common crowd (vulgus).

Cite this passage

Ovid, The Loves §1.15.1-1.15.42. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.15.1-1.15.42

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.