§685aiuncta Neroni!
joined to Nero!
§685baffligat humo violenta manus §686similes nimium vultus dominae §687ipsamque toris detrahat altis §688petat infestis mox et flammis §689telisque feris principis aulam.
Let a violent hand dash them to the ground, that face too similar to its mistress, and drag her herself down from her high bed, and soon attack with hostile flames and fierce weapons the palace of the prince.
§690Quo trepida gressum coniugis thalamis tui §691effers, alumna, quidve secretum petis §692turbata vultu? cur genae fletu madent?
Whither, trembling, do you direct your steps from the bedchamber of your husband, my foster-child, or why do you seek a secret place, disturbed in your countenance? Why are your cheeks wet with weeping?
§693certe petitus precibus et votis dies §694nostris refulsit: Caesari iuncta es tuo §695taeda iugali, quem tuus cepit decor §696et culpa †Senecae, tradidit vinctum tibi §697genetrix Amoris, maximum numen, Venus.
Surely the day, sought by our prayers and vows, has shone upon us: you are joined to your Caesar by the bridal torch; your beauty captured him, and the fault of Seneca; and the mother of Love, the greatest deity, Venus, delivered him bound to you.
§698o qualis altos quanta pressisti toros §699residens in aula! vidit attonitus tuam §700formam senatus, tura cum superis dares §701sacrasque grato spargeres aras mero, §702velata summum flammeo tenui caput; §703et ipse lateri iunctus atque haerens tuo §704sublimis inter civium laeta omina §705incessit habitu atque ore laetitiam gerens §706princeps superbo: talis emersam freto §707spumante Peleus coniugem accepit Thetin, §708quorum toros celebrasse caelestes ferunt, §709pelagique numen omne consensu pari.
Oh, of what character, how great did you press the lofty couch, residing in the palace! The astonished Senate beheld your beauty, when you gave incense to the gods above and sprinkled the sacred altars with pleasing wine, your head covered at the top with a thin bridal veil; and the prince himself, joined and clinging to your side, amid the joyful omens of the citizens, advanced, bearing joy in his bearing and countenance, the proud prince: just so did Peleus receive his wife Thetis, emerged from the foaming sea, whose marriage bed they say the celestials celebrated, and every deity of the sea with equal consent.
§710quae subita vultus causa mutavit tuos?
What sudden cause has changed your countenance?
§711quid pallor iste, quid ferant lacrimae doce.
Teach me what that pallor, what those tears mean.
§712Confusa tristi proximae noctis metu §713visuque, nutrix, mente turbata feror, §714defecta sensu.
Confounded by the sad dread of the past night and by the vision, nurse, I am carried away, disturbed in mind, deprived of sense.
laeta nam postquam dies §715'sideribus atris cessit et nocti polus, §716inter Neronis iuncta complexus mei §717somno resolvor; nec diu placida frui §718quiete licuit.
For after the joyful day yielded to the dark stars and the heavens to night, joined in the embraces of my Nero I was dissolved in sleep; nor was I permitted to enjoy peaceful quiet for long.
visa nam thalamos meos §719celebrare turba est maesta: resolutis comis §720matres Latinae flebiles planctus dabant; §721inter tubarum saepe terribilem sonum §722sparsam cruore coniugis genetrix mei §723vultu minaci saeva quatiebat facem, §724quam dum sequor coacta praesenti metu, §725diducta subito patuit ingenti mihi §726tellus hiatu; lata quo praeceps toros §727cerno iugales pariter et miror meos, §728in quis residi fessa.
For a sad crowd seemed to throng my bedchamber: with disheveled hair the Latin mothers were uttering tearful lamentations; amid the often terrible sound of trumpets, the mother of my husband, sprinkled with gore, was savagely shaking a torch with a threatening countenance, which while I followed, forced by immediate fear, suddenly the earth parted and lay open to me with a huge chasm; headlong down into which broad opening I see my marriage bed likewise, and I marvel at it, upon which I sat down exhausted.
venientem intuor §729comitante turba coniugem quondam meum §730natumque; properat petere complexus meos §731Crispinus, intermissa, libare oscula: §732irrupit intra tecta cum trepidus mea §733ensemque iugulo condidit saevum Nero.
I behold approaching accompanied by a crowd, my former husband and my son; Crispinus hastens to seek my embraces and to imprint the interrupted kisses: when trembling Nero burst into my house and plunged his cruel sword into his throat.
§734tandem quietem magnus excussit timor; §735quatit ossa et artus horridus nostros tremor §736pulsatque pectus; continet vocem timor, §737quam nunc fides pietasque produxit tua.
At last great fear shook off my sleep; a dreadful trembling shakes my bones and limbs and beats my breast; fear restrains my voice, which now your loyalty and affection have drawn forth.
Alas! what do the shades of the underworld threaten me with, or whose blood did I see of my husband?
§740Quaecumque mentis agitat intentus vigor, §741ea per quietem sacer et arcanus refert §742veloxque sensus.
Whatever the intent vigor of the mind ponders, the sacred, secret, and swift sense brings back during sleep.
coniugem thalamos toros §743vidisse te miraris amplexu novi §744haerens mariti? sed movent laeto die §745pulsata palmis pectora et fusae comae?
Do you wonder that you saw your husband, bed, and couch while clinging in the embrace of your new husband? But do the breasts beaten by hands and the disheveled hair move you on this joyful day?
They lamented the divorce of Octavia within the sacred household gods of her brother and the paternal hearth.
§748fax illa, quam secuta es, Augustae manu §749praelata clarum nomen invidia tibi §750partum ominatur.
That torch, which you followed, held before you by the hand of the Augusta, foretells that a famous name will be produced for you through envy.
inferum sedes toros §751stabiles futuros spondet aeternae domus.
The abode of the underworld promises that your marriage bed will be stable in an eternal home.
As for your prince having plunged his sword into the throat: he will not stir up wars, but will cover the iron in peace.
§754recollige animum, recipe laetitiam, precor.
Collect your mind, recover your joy, I pray.
§755timore pulso redde te thalamis tuis.
With fear banished, return yourself to your bedchamber.
§756Delubra et aras petere constitui sacras, §757caesis litare victimis numen deum, §758ut expientur noctis et somni minae §759terrorque in hostes redeat attonitus meos.
I have resolved to seek the shrines and sacred altars, to appease the divinity of the gods with slain victims, so that the threats of night and sleep may be expiated, and the thunderstruck terror may return upon my enemies.
Do you undertake vows for me, and with pious prayers adore the gods above, so that our present state may remain.
§762Si vera loquax fama Tonantis §763furta et gratos narrat amores §764(quem modo Ledae pressisse sinum §765tectum plumis pennisque ferunt, §766modo per fluctus raptam Europen §767taurum tergo portasse trucem), §768quae regit et nunc deseret astra, §769petet amplexus, Poppaea, tuos, §770quos et Ledae praeferre potest §771et tibi, quondam cui miranti §772fulvo, Danae, fluxit in auro.
If talkative rumor tells the true stealthy escapades and pleasing loves of the Thunderer (whom they say now pressed the bosom of Leda covered with feathers and wings, now carried Europa, snatched away through the waves, as a fierce bull upon his back), he who rules the stars will even now desert them, and will seek your embraces, Poppaea, which he can prefer even to Leda's and to yours, Danae, to whom once, marveling, he flowed in yellow gold.
§773formam Sparte iactet alumnae §774licet et Phrygius praemia pastor: §775vincet vultus haec Tyndaridos §776qui moverunt horrida bella §777Phrygiaeque solo regna dedere.
Though Sparta boast the beauty of her foster-daughter, and the Phrygian shepherd his prize: she will conquer with her countenance that of the daughter of Tyndareus, who stirred up dreadful wars and laid the kingdoms of Phrygia level with the soil.