Humanitext Reader

Ovid · Sorrows §3.8.1-3.8.42

Fantasies of Return and Prayer for a Milder Exile

Passage 29 of 60 · Latin

Summary

The poet fantasizes about returning instantly to his homeland and family using mythical vehicles or wings, but quickly realizes this is impossible and instead prays for a change of exile location. Weakened in both body and mind by the harsh environment of Pontus, he longs for death but hopes the Emperor might show mercy by granting a milder place of exile.

§3.8.1Nunc ego Triptolemi cuperem consistere curru, §3.8.2misit in ignotam qui rude semen humum; §3.8.3nunc ego Medeae vellem frenare dracones, §3.8.4quos habuit fugiens arce, Corinthe, tua, §3.8.5nunc ego iactandas optarem sumere pennas, §3.8.6sive tuas, Perseu, Daedale, sive tuas: §3.8.7ut tenera nostris cedente volatibus aura §3.8.8aspicerem patriae dulce repente solum, §3.8.9desertaeque domus vultus, memoresque sodales, §3.8.10caraque praecipue coniugis ora meae.
Now I would wish to stand in Triptolemus’ chariot, he who sent the untried seed into the unknown earth; now I would wish to bridle Medea’s dragons, which she had when she fled from your citadel, Corinth; now I would choose to take wings to be fluttered, whether yours, Perseus, or yours, Daedalus: so that, as the gentle breeze yielded to our flight, I might suddenly look upon the sweet soil of my homeland, and the face of my deserted home, and my mindful companions, and especially the dear face of my wife.
§3.8.11stulte, quid haec frustra votis puerilibus optas, §3.8.12quae non ulla tibi fertque feretque dies?
Fool, why do you wish for these things in vain with childish prayers, which no day brings or will bring to you?
§3.8.13si semel optandum est, Augusti numen adora, §3.8.14et, quem sensisti, rite precare deum.
If you must wish once and for all, adore the divinity of Augustus, and duly pray to the god whom you have felt.
§3.8.15ille tibi pennasque potest currusque volucres §3.8.16tradere: det reditum, protinus ales eris.
He can deliver both wings and swift chariots to you: let him grant a return, and immediately you will be winged.
§3.8.17si precer hoc—neque enim possum maiora rogare— §3.8.18ne mea sint, timeo, vota modesta parum, §3.8.19forsitan hoc olim, cum iam satiaverit iram, §3.8.20tum quoque sollicita mente rogandus erit.
If I should pray for this—for indeed I cannot ask for greater things— I fear lest my prayers be not modest enough; perhaps some day, when he has already sated his anger, even then he will have to be asked with an anxious mind.
§3.8.21quod minus interea est, instar mihi muneris ampli, §3.8.22ex his me iubeat quolibet ire locis,
What is less than that in the meantime, equal to a grand gift for me, let him command me to go anywhere from these places.
§3.8.23nec caelum nec aquae faciunt nec terra nec aurae; §3.8.24ei mihi, perpetuus corpora languor habet!
Neither the climate, nor the waters, nor the earth, nor the breezes suit me; ah me, a perpetual languor possesses my body!
§3.8.25seu vitiant artus aegrae contagia mentis, §3.8.26sive mei causa est in regione mali, §3.8.27ut tetigi Pontum, vexant insomnia, vixque §3.8.28ossa tegit macies nec iuvat ora cibus; §3.8.29quique per autumnum percussis frigore primo §3.8.30est color in follis, quae nova laesit hiems, §3.8.31is mea membra tenet, nec viribus adlevor ullis, §3.8.32et numquam queruli causa doloris abest.
Whether the contagion of a sick mind corrupts my limbs, or the cause of my ill lies in the region, since I touched Pontus, sleeplessness vexes me, and scarcely does thinness cover my bones, nor does food please my mouth; and that color which, through autumn, at the first touch of cold, is in the leaves, which the new winter has harmed, that color possesses my limbs, nor am I relieved by any strength, and the cause of my complaining pain is never absent.
§3.8.33nec melius valeo, quam corpore, mente, sed aegra est §3.8.34utraque pars aeque binaque damna fero.
I am no better in mind than in body, but sick is each part equally, and I bear a double loss.
§3.8.35haeret et ante oculos veluti spectabile corpus §3.8.36astat fortunae forma legenda meae: §3.8.37cumque locum moresque hominum cultusque sonumque §3.8.38cernimus, et, qui sim qui fuerimque, subit, §3.8.39tantus amor necis est, querar ut cum Caesaris ira, §3.8.40quod non offensas vindicet ense suas.
There clings and stands before my eyes like a visible body the form of my fortune, to be clearly read: and when I perceive the place, the customs, the attire, and the language of the men, and it comes to my mind who I am and who I was, so great is my love of death, that I complain against Caesar’s anger because he does not avenge his injuries with a sword.
§3.8.41at, quoniam semel est odio civiliter usus, §3.8.42mutato levior sit fuga nostra loco.
But since he has once used his hatred in a civil manner, let our exile be lighter by a change of place.

Notes

  1. 3.8.1cuperem — The forms cuperem (as well as vellem in 3.8.3 and optarem in 3.8.5) are in the imperfect subjunctive, used independently to express an unaccomplishable wish in the present.
  2. 3.8.16det — det is a present subjunctive acting as a conditional or concessive clause ('if he should grant a return'). protinus ales eris functions as its apodosis (future indicative).
  3. 3.8.21quod minus — quod is a relative pronoun wrapping its own antecedent ('that which is less [than return]'), serving as the accusative object of iubeat in the next line. iubeat is an optative subjunctive ('may he command...').
  4. 3.8.23faciunt — An intransitive usage of facio meaning 'to suit', 'to agree with (one's health)', or 'to be good for'.
  5. 3.8.39querar ut — ut is a conjunction introducing a consecutive clause (result clause) triggered by tantus in the preceding line, taking the subjunctive querar. quod (in 3.8.40) explains the cause of the complaining (querar).

Cite this passage

Ovid, Sorrows §3.8.1-3.8.42. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi008.humanitext-lat2:3.8.1-3.8.42

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