If anyone among this people does not know the art of loving, let him read this, and, instructed by the read poem, let him love.
By art swift ships are moved with sail and oar, by art light chariots: by art Love must be ruled.
§1.5Curribus Automedon lentisque erat aptus habenis, §1.6Tiphys in Haemonia puppe magister erat: §1.7Me Venus artificem tenero praefecit Amori; §1.8Tiphys et Automedon dicar Amoris ego.
Automedon was skilled in chariots and pliant reins, Tiphys was the master on the Haemonian ship: Venus appointed me as master over tender Love; I shall be called the Tiphys and Automedon of Love.
He indeed is wild, and of a kind to resist me often: but he is a boy, an age soft and fit to be ruled.
The son of Philyra perfected the boy Achilles with the lyre, and subdued his wild spirit with gentle art.
He who so many times terrified his allies, so many times his enemies, is believed to have feared the aged old man.
Those hands which Hector was to feel, at his master's demand, he offered to the blows, as ordered.
Chiron was teacher to Aeacus' descendant, I am the teacher of Love: Both are fierce boys, both born of a goddess.
§1.19Sed tamen et tauri cervix oneratur aratro, §1.20Frenaque magnanimi dente teruntur equi; §1.21Et mihi cedet Amor, quamvis mea vulneret arcu §1.22Pectora, iactatas excutiatque faces.
But yet even the bull's neck is burdened with the plow, and the bit is worn by the tooth of the high-spirited horse; And to me Love will yield, although he wounds my breast with his bow, and shakes his brandished torches.
§1.23Quo me fixit Amor, quo me violentius ussit, §1.24Hoc melior facti vulneris ultor ero: §1.25Non ego, Phoebe, datas a te mihi mentiar artes, §1.26Nec nos aëriae voce monemur avis, §1.27Nec mihi sunt visae Clio Cliusque sorores §1.28Servanti pecudes vallibus, Ascra, tuis: §1.29Usus opus movet hoc: vati parete perito; §1.30Vera canam: coeptis, mater Amoris, ades!
The more violently Love has pierced me, the more violently he has burned me, the better avenger shall I be of the wound that has been made: I will not falsely claim, Phoebus, that the arts were given to me by you, nor am I warned by the voice of an aerial bird, nor did Clio and Clio's sisters appear to me as I kept sheep in your valleys, Ascra: Experience drives this work: obey the experienced poet; I shall sing the truth: favor my undertakings, mother of Love!
Be far away, thin headbands, emblem of modesty, and the long flounce that covers the feet to the middle.
We shall sing of safe love and permitted intrigues, and in my poem there shall be no crime.
First, take pains to find what you may wish to love, you who now for the first time come as a soldier to new arms.
The next labor after this is to win over the pleasing girl: the third, that the love may last for a long time.
This limit, this space will be marked out by our chariot: this will be the turning-post to be grazed by the swift wheel.
§1.41Dum licet, et loris passim potes ire solutis, §1.42Elige cui dicas 'tu mihi sola places. ' §1.43Haec tibi non tenues veniet delapsa per auras: §1.44Quaerenda est oculis apta puella tuis.
While it is permitted, and you can go everywhere with loose reins, choose her to whom you may say, 'You alone please me.' She will not come to you gliding down through the thin air: the suitable girl must be sought by your eyes.
§1.45Scit bene venator, cervis ubi retia tendat, §1.46Scit bene, qua frendens valle moretur aper; §1.47Aucupibus noti frutices; qui sustinet hamos, §1.48Novit quae multo pisce natentur aquae: §1.49Tu quoque, materiam longo qui quaeris amori, §1.50Ante frequens quo sit disce puella loco.
The hunter knows well where to stretch his nets for stags, he knows well in which valley the gnashing boar tarries; the bushes are known to bird-catchers; he who holds the fishhooks knows which waters swim with many a fish: You too, who seek material for a long love, first learn in which place girls are numerous.
I will not command you, as you search, to give sails to the wind, nor must a long road be trodden by you that you may find.
§1.53Andromedan Perseus nigris portarit ab Indis, §1.54Raptaque sit Phrygio Graia puella viro, §1.55Tot tibi tamque dabit formosas Roma puellas, §1.56'Haec habet' ut dicas 'quicquid in orbe fuit. ' §1.57Gargara quot segetes, quot habet Methymna racemos, §1.58Aequore quot pisces, fronde teguntur aves, §1.59Quot caelum stellas, tot habet tua Roma puellas: §1.60Mater in Aeneae constitit urbe sui.
Though Perseus carried off Andromeda from the dark Indians, and the Greek girl was snatched by the Phrygian man, Rome will give you so many and such beautiful girls, that you will say, 'This place has whatever was in the world.' As many crops as Gargara has, as many grape-clusters as Methymna has, as many fish as are covered by the sea, as many birds by the leaves, as many stars as the sky has, so many girls does your Rome have: His mother has settled in the city of her own Aeneas.
§1.61Seu caperis primis et adhuc crescentibus annis, §1.62Ante oculos veniet vera puella tuos: §1.63Sive cupis iuvenem, iuvenes tibi mille placebunt.
Whether you are captivated by the first and still growing years, a true girl will come before your eyes: or if you desire a young woman, a thousand young women will please you.
§1.64Cogeris voti nescius esse tui: §1.65Seu te forte iuvat sera et sapientior aetas, §1.66Hoc quoque, crede mihi, plenius agmen erit.
You will be forced to be ignorant of your own wish: or if by chance a later and wiser age pleases you, this band too, believe me, will be very full.
§1.67Tu modo Pompeia lentus spatiare sub umbra, §1.68Cum sol Herculei terga leonis adit: §1.69Aut ubi muneribus nati sua munera mater §1.70Addidit, externo marmore dives opus.
You only stroll at leisure under the Pompeian shade, when the sun approaches the back of the Herculean lion: or where the mother added her own gifts to the gifts of her son, a work rich with foreign marble.
§1.71Nec tibi vitetur quae, priscis sparsa tabellis, §1.72Porticus auctoris Livia nomen habet: §1.73Quaque parare necem miseris patruelibus ausae §1.74Belides et stricto stat ferus ense pater.
Nor let it be avoided by you, the portico which, sprinkled with ancient paintings, holds the name of Livia, its founder: and where the daughters of Belus, who dared to prepare death for their wretched cousins, the Danaids, and their fierce father stands with drawn sword.