Humanitext Reader

Ovid · Letters from the Black Sea §4.11.1-4.11.22

Letter to Gallio: Condolences on the Death of His Wife

Passage 47 of 52 · Latin

Summary

The poet apologizes to his friend Gallio for not having mentioned him in his poems before, and offers condolences on the loss of Gallio's wife, suggesting that time has likely softened the grief and that a new marriage might bring him happiness.

§4.11.1Gallio, crimen erit vix excusabile nobis, §4.11.2carmine te nomen non habuisse meo.
Gallio, it will be a scarcely excusable crime for me, that you have not had a name in my song.
§4.11.3tu quoque enim, memini, caelesti cuspide facta §4.11.4fovisti lacrimis vulnera nostra tuis.
For you too, I remember, cherished our wounds made by the heavenly spearpoint with your tears.
§4.11.5atque utinam rapti iactura laesus amici §4.11.6sensisses ultra, quod quererere, nihil!
And would that, injured by the loss of your snatched friend, you had felt nothing further to complain of!
§4.11.7non ita dis placuit, qui te spoliare pudica §4.11.8coniuge crudeles non habuere nefas.
It did not please the gods so, who, cruel, did not hold it a sin to despoil you of your chaste wife.
§4.11.9nuntia nam luctus mihi nuper epistula venit, §4.11.10lectaque cum lacrimis sunt tua damna meis.
For recently a letter came to me as a messenger of grief, and your losses were read with my tears.
§4.11.11sed neque solari prudentem stultior ausim, §4.11.12verbaque doctorum nota referre tibi:.
But neither would I, more foolish, dare to console you who are wise, nor to repeat to you the well-known words of the learned.
§4.11.13finitumque tuum, si non ratione, dolorem §4.11.14ipsa iam pridem suspicor esse mora.
And I suspect that your grief, if not by reason, has already long since been ended by delay itself.
§4.11.15dum tua pervenit, dum littera nostra recurrens §4.11.16tot maria ac terras permeat, annus abit.
While your letter arrives, while our returning letter traverses so many seas and lands, a year slips away.
§4.11.17temporis officium est solacia dicere certi, §4.11.18dum dolor in cursu est et petit aeger opem.
It is the duty of a specific time to speak consolations, while grief is in progress and the sick person seeks help.
§4.11.19at cum longa dies sedavit vulnera mentis, §4.11.20intempestive qui movet illa, novat.
But when a long day has quieted the wounds of the mind, he who stirs them unseasonably, renews them.
§4.11.21adde quod (atque utinam verum tibi venerit omen. ) §4.11.22coniugio felix iam potes esse novo.
Add that (and would that a true omen has come to you!) you can now be happy in a new marriage.

Notes

  1. 4.11.2carmine te nomen non habuisse meo — This accusative with infinitive clause functions as an appositive explaining the content of 'crimen erit vix excusabile nobis' (it will be a scarcely excusable crime for me) in the preceding line, or as the subject of that sentence.
  2. 4.11.6sensisses ultra, quod quererere, nihil — The pluperfect subjunctive 'sensisses' introduced by 'utinam' (in line 5) expresses a past unfulfilled wish ('would that you had felt...'). 'quod quererere' is a relative clause modifying 'nihil', with the imperfect subjunctive 'quererere' (2nd person singular of the deponent 'queror') expressing restriction or characteristic.
  3. 4.11.11stultior ausim — 'ausim' is an archaic perfect subjunctive 1st person singular (from 'audeo', to dare) functioning as a potential subjunctive ('I would not dare'). 'stultior' is a comparative adjective functioning predicatively, contrasted with 'prudentem' (referring to Gallio, the object of 'solari'), meaning 'I, more foolish [than you].'
  4. 4.11.13finitumque tuum, si non ratione, dolorem — 'finitum ... dolorem' belongs to the accusative with infinitive clause (with 'esse' in line 14, forming 'finitum esse dolorem') which is the object of 'suspicor' (line 14). The conditional clause 'si non ratione' (if not by reason) is hyperbatically inserted between the possessive 'tuum' and the noun 'dolorem'.

Cite this passage

Ovid, Letters from the Black Sea §4.11.1-4.11.22. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi009.humanitext-lat2:4.11.1-4.11.22

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