Having spoken these things, or at least things not different from these, I was carried through the waters yielding to me of their own accord.
§18.77Unda repercussae radiabat imagine lunae, §18.78Et nitor in tacita nocte diurnus erat; §18.79Nullaque vox usquam, nullum veniebat ad aures §18.80Praeter dimotae corpore murmur aquae.
The wave gleamed with the reflected image of the moon, and there was a daytime brightness in the silent night; and no voice anywhere, no sound came to my ears except the murmur of the water parted by my body.
Only the halcyons, mindful of their beloved Ceyx, seemed to me to lament some sweet thing.
And now, with my arms weary under both shoulders, I bravely lift myself high to the surface of the waters.
§18.85Ut procul aspexi lumen, 'meus ignis in illo est: §18.86Illa meum,' dixi, 'litora lumen habent!' §18.87Et subito lassis vires rediere lacertis, §18.88Visaque, quam fuerat, mollior unda mihi.
When I saw the light from afar, I said: "My fire is in that; those shores hold my light!" And suddenly strength returned to my weary arms, and the wave seemed softer to me than it had been.
That I might not feel the cold of the icy deep, love, which glows in my eager breast, ensures.
The more I approach and the nearer the shores become, and the less distance remains, the more I delight to go.
But when I can also be seen, straightway you, as a spectator, add courage to me, and make me strong.
Even now, by swimming, I strive to please my mistress, and I toss my arms before your eyes.
§18.97Te tua vix prohibet nutrix descendere in altum — §18.98Hoc quoque enim vidi, nec mihi verba dabam.
Your nurse can scarcely keep you from going down into the deep — for I saw this too, and I was not deceiving myself.
Nor yet did she prevent, although she held you back as you went, your foot from becoming wet in the edge of the water.
§18.101Excipis amplexu feliciaque oscula iungis — §18.102Oscula, di magni, trans mare digna peti! — §18.103Eque tuis demptos umeris mihi tradis amictus, §18.104Et madidam siccas aequoris imbre comam.
You receive me in your embrace and join happy kisses — kisses, great gods, worthy of being sought across the sea! — And you hand over to me the garments taken from your shoulders, and dry my hair, wet with the sea's spray.
The rest of the night knows, and we, and the accomplice tower, and the light which shows me my way through the shallows.
§18.107Non magis illius numerari gaudia noctis §18.108Hellespontiaci quam maris alga potest; §18.109Quo brevius spatium nobis ad furta dabatur, §18.110Hoc magis est cautum, ne foret illud iners.
The joys of that night can no more be numbered than the seaweed of the Hellespontic sea; The shorter the space of time granted to us for our secret love, the more care was taken that it should not be idle.
§18.111Iamque fugatura Tithoni coniuge noctem §18.112Praevius Aurorae Lucifer ortus erat; §18.113Oscula congerimus properata sine ordine raptim §18.114Et querimur parvas noctibus esse moras.
And now Lucifer, the forerunner of Aurora, had arisen, as the wife of Tithonus was about to put the night to flight; We heap up hurried kisses without order, in haste, and complain that the nights have so little delay.
And so, having delayed under the bitter warning of your nurse, I seek the cold shores, leaving the tower.
§18.117Digredimur flentes, repetoque ego virginis aequor §18.118Respiciens dominam, dum licet, usque meam.
We part weeping, and I seek again the maiden's sea, looking back at my mistress all the while, as long as it is permitted.
§18.119Siqua fides vero est, veniens hinc esse natator, §18.120Cum redeo, videor naufragus esse mihi.
If there is any truth, coming here I seem to be a swimmer, but when I return, I seem to myself to be shipwrecked.
This too, if you will believe: the way to you seems downward; when I return from you, it is a steep slope of sluggish water.
§18.123Invitus repeto patriam — quis credere possit?
Reluctantly I seek my country again — who could believe it?
§18.124Invitus certe nunc moror urbe mea.
Reluctantly, certainly, I now tarry in my own city.
Ah me! why are we, joined in mind, separated by waves, and though we have one soul, one land does not hold us both?
§18.127Vel tua me Sestos, vel te mea sumat Abydos; §18.128Tam tua terra mihi, quam tibi nostra placet.
Either let your Sestos receive me, or let my Abydos take you; your land pleases me as much as ours pleases you.
§18.129Cur ego confundor, quotiens confunditur aequor?
Why am I troubled as often as the sea is troubled?
§18.130Cur mihi, causa levis, ventus obesse potest?
Why can the wind, a light cause, hinder me?
Now the curved dolphins know our love, nor do I think I am unknown to the fish.
Now the worn path of the accustomed waters lies open, not otherwise than a road pressed by many a wheel.
§18.135Quod mihi non esset nisi sic iter, ante querebar; §18.136At nunc per ventos hoc quoque deesse queror.
That I had no path except this way, I used to complain before; but now, because of the winds, I complain that even this is lacking.
§18.137Fluctibus inmodicis Athamantidos aequora canent, §18.138Vixque manet portu tuta carina suo; §18.139Hoc mare, cum primum de virgine nomina mersa, §18.140Quae tenet, est nanctum, tale fuisse puto.
The waters of Athamantis foam with immoderate waves, and scarcely does a ship remain safe in its own port; I think this sea was such when it first obtained its name from the drowned maiden whom it holds.
This place is infamous enough for the lost Helle, and even if it should spare me, it holds an accusation in its very name.
§18.143Invideo Phrixo, quem per freta tristia tutum §18.144Aurea lanigero vellere vexit ovis; §18.145Nec tamen officium pecoris navisve requiro, §18.146Dummodo, quas findam corpore, dentur aquae.
I envy Phrixus, whom the golden sheep with woolly fleece carried safe through the sad straits; Yet I do not ask for the service of a beast or a ship, provided that the waters, which I may cleave with my body, are granted.