Humanitext Reader

Ovid · Sorrows §3.6.1-3.6.38

Appeal to a Close Friend to Seek a Milder Exile

Passage 27 of 60 · Latin

Summary

The poet reminds his close friend of their long-standing, public friendship and deep mutual trust, asking him to use his influence with the emperor to seek a less harsh place of exile. He reiterates that his offense was born of mere error and foolishness rather than any malicious intent.

§3.6.1Foedus amicitiae nec vis, carissime, nostrae, §3.6.2nec, si forte velis, dissimulare potes, §3.6.3donec enim licuit, nec te mihi carior alter, §3.6.4nec tibi me tota iunctior urbe fuit, §3.6.5isque erat usque adeo populo testatus, ut esset §3.6.6paene magis quam tu quamque ego notus, amor; §3.6.7quique est in caris animi tibi candor amicis— §3.6.8cognita sunt ipsi, quem colis, ista viro.
My dearest friend, you do not wish, nor, even if by chance you should wish, are you able to dissimulate the bond of our friendship, for as long as it was permitted, no other was dearer to me, nor was anyone more closely joined to you than I in the whole city, and that love was so well attested to the people that it was almost more known than you and than I; and that sincerity of mind which you have toward dear friends— is known to the very man whom you cherish.
§3.6.9nil ita celabas, ut non ego conscius essem, §3.6.10pectoribusque dabas multa tegenda meis: §3.6.11cuique ego narrabam secreti quicquid habebam, §3.6.12excepto quod me perdidit, unus eras.
you used to conceal nothing in such a way that I was not sharing the knowledge of it, and you used to give many things to my heart to be kept secret: and I used to tell whatever secret I had to you, who were the only one, except for that which ruined me.
§3.6.13id quoque si scisses, salvo fruerere sodali, §3.6.14consilioque forem sospes, amice, tuo.
If you had known that too, you would be enjoying your companion safe, and I should be unharmed, my friend, by your counsel.
§3.6.15sed mea me in poenam nimirum fata trahebant: §3.6.16omne bonae claudunt utilitatis iter.
But my fates were doubtless dragging me to punishment: they close every path of good utility.
§3.6.17sive malum potui tamen hoc vitare cavendo, §3.6.18seu ratio fatum vincere nulla valet, §3.6.19tu tamen, o nobis usu iunctissime longo, §3.6.20pars desiderii maxima paene mei, §3.6.21sis memor, et siquas fecit tibi gratia vires, §3.6.22illas pro nobis experiare, rogo, §3.6.23numinis ut laesi fiat mansuetior ira, §3.6.24mutatoque minor sit mea poena loco, §3.6.25idque ita, si nullum scelus est in pectore nostro, §3.6.26principiumque mei criminis error habet.
Whether, however, I could have avoided this evil by being careful, or whether no reason has the power to conquer fate, you nevertheless, O you most closely joined to us by long usage, almost the greatest part of my longing, be mindful, and if favor has made any strength for you, try those, I ask, on our behalf, so that the anger of the injured deity may become milder, and my punishment may be less, the place being changed, and that in this way, if there is no crime in our heart, and error holds the beginning of my offense.
§3.6.27nec breve nec tutum, quo sint mea, dicere, casu §3.6.28lumina funesti conscia facta mali; §3.6.29mensque reformidat, veluti sua vulnera, tempus §3.6.30illud, et admonitu fit novus ipse pudor, §3.6.31et quaecumque adeo possunt afferre pudorem, §3.6.32illa tegi caeca condita nocte decet,
It is neither brief nor safe to say by what chance my eyes were made conscious of the fatal evil; and my mind dreads that time, just like its own wounds, and at the reminder, shame itself becomes new, and whatever things can bring shame in such a way, it is fitting that those, hidden, be covered by blind night.
§3.6.33nil igitur referam nisi me peccasse, sed illo §3.6.34praemia peccato nulla petita mihi, §3.6.35stultitiamque meum crimen debere vocari, §3.6.36nomina si facto reddere vera velis,
Therefore I shall relate nothing except that I have erred, but that in that error no rewards were sought by me, and that my crime ought to be called foolishness, if you should wish to restore true names to the deed.
§3.6.37quae si non ita sunt, alium, quo longius absim, §3.6.38quaere; suburbana est hic mihi terra locus.
If these things are not so, seek another place from which I may be further away; here the land is a suburban place to me.

Notes

  1. §3.6.4nec te mihi carior alter, / nec tibi me tota iunctior urbe fuit — The subject of fuit is the indefinite alter (another) understood in the first half of the line. me in the second half is an ablative of comparison ('than me'). tota urbe serves as an ablative of place or scope ('in the whole city').
  2. §3.6.8quique est in caris animi tibi candor amicis — / cognita sunt ipsi, quem colis, ista viro. — quique candor is an adjectival relative clause, antecedent to the demonstrative pronoun ista (neuter plural, referring collectively to the quality). viro (referring to Caesar Augustus) is a dative of agent with the perfect passive participle cognita.
  3. §3.6.14id quoque si scisses, salvo fruerere sodali, / consilioque forem sospes, amice, tuo. — A mixed contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The condition (si-clause) is in the pluperfect subjunctive scisses (= scivisses), while the conclusions are in the imperfect subjunctive fruerere (= fruereris, deponent second person singular) and forem (= essem), expressing a present ongoing state or result from a past hypothesis.
  4. §3.6.35nil igitur referam nisi me peccasse, sed illo / praemia peccato nulla petita mihi, / stultitiamque meum crimen debere vocari — Accusative with infinitive constructions dependent on the main verb referam ('I shall relate'). The clause me peccasse is parallel to nulla praemia petita [esse] (with ellipsis of esse) and stultitiam debere vocari meum crimen (where meum crimen is the subject of debere, and stultitiam is the predicate noun).

Cite this passage

Ovid, Sorrows §3.6.1-3.6.38. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi008.humanitext-lat2:3.6.1-3.6.38

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