105 ΠΙΟ nocte tamen quam luce magis: nox grata puellis, tura damus lacrimamque super, qua sparsa relucet, 115 quando ego, te reducem cupidis amplexa lacertis, languida laetitia solvar ab ipsa mea? 120 quando erit, ut lecto mecum bene iunctus in uno quae mihi dum referes, quamvis audire iuvabit, sed cum Troia subit, subeunt ventique fretumque, 125 hoc quoque, quod venti prohibent exire carinas, 124. sollicito Merkel sollicitae Riese solliciti P. 107. mendaces: because in slumber she sees mendacia somnia, apparently bringing Protesilaus to her side. 111. adoro i.e. to ward off any untoward effect; cf. Pers. 2, 15: Tiberino in gurgite mergis mane caput bis terque, et noctem flumine purgas. 114. Cf. Prop. 4, 3, 60. 116. languida laetitia . . . ab... mea fainting for very joy.' — 130 quis velit in patriam vento prohibente reverti? ipse suam non praebet iter Neptunus ad urbem. non subiti casus, numinis ista morast. quid petitur tanto nisi turpis adultera bello? dum licet, Inachiae vertite vela rates! 135 sed quid ago? revoco? revocaminis omen abesto, blandaque conpositas aura secundet aquas. Troasin invideo, quae sic lacrimosa suorum funera conspicient, nec procul hostis erit: ipsa suis manibus forti nova nupta marito inponet galeam barbaraque arma dabit. arma dabit, dumque arma dabit, simul oscula sumet hoc genus officii dulce duobus eritproducetque virum, dabit et mandata reverti, et dicet 'referas ista fac arma Iovi!' 140 145 ille ferens dominae mandata recentia secum pugnabit caute respicietque domum. exuet haec reduci clipeum galeam que resolvet 137. Troasin Salmasius Troas P Troadas GV. quae sic vulg. quae si Heinsius (P?) qui sic V (P?) quamvis Lehrs. 150 excipietque suo corpora lassa sinu. nos sumus incertae; nos anxius omnia cogit, dicimus, amplexus accipit illa meos. 155 crede mihi, plus est, quam quod videatur, imago: adde sonum cerae Protesilaus erit. 160 165 hanc specto teneoque sinu pro coniuge vero, si tibi cura mei, sit tibi cura tui! 161-162. bracketed by Postgate. 152. cera: wax likenesses of lovers are referred to in Rem. Am. 723: si potes, et ceras remove. 158. Cf. Prop. 4, 11, 83. 159. numina: i.e. reditus corpusque tuum; cf. Fast. 2, 842: perque tuos Manes, qui mihi numen erunt. 162. quod tecum vulg. mox tutum Riese. 161. perque: to be taken with caput. — ut videam: optative. 162. ipse in person,' rather than have his ashes brought home by some kind friend. 164. sive: Laodamia avoids speaking the ill-omened word referring to death. 5 TRISTIVM LIBER PRIMVS 3 Cum subit illius tristissima noctis imago, qua mihi supremum tempus in urbe fuit, cum repeto noctem, qua tot mihi cara reliqui, labitur ex oculis nunc quoque gutta meis. iam prope lux aderat, qua me discedere Caesar TRISTIA, 1, 3 Cf. Ovid's last night in Rome. Intr. § 38. This is one of the most pathetic pictures Ovid has left us, designed, indeed, to move Augustus to relent, yet true to life in its details. 1-4: The thought of that night moves me to tears. 5-12: Though the time had arrived, I was too dazed to act or plan. 13-26: At length, trying to collect myself, I spoke farewells; it seemed like a funeral, or the fall of Troy. 27-46: As it grew late, I addressed the gods; my wife, too, with sobs and disheveled locks, offered many vain petitions. 4768: Night hastened. Often I essayed to go, yet multiplied excuses for delay. Why hurry from Rome to Scythia? Every moment with my dear ones is precious. 6976: But amid my tears and goodbyes up rose the daystar, and I tore myself away. 77-90: Loud was the wailing of my loved ones. My wife would fain have accompanied me; but I went like one going alone to his own obsequies. 91-102: They say she swooned, then reviving cried unto the gods and mourned as for the dead. She longed to die; but may she rather live for me!' 1. subit: the thought is commonly completed by animum or a similar word; cf. Met. 7, 170: animum subiit Aeeta relictus. 2. in urbe from the city' no Roman could bear long to be separated; cf. Intr. § 38; Cic. Ad Att. 5, II, I: non dici potest quam flagrem desiderio urbis. IO 15 20 finibus extremae iusserat Ausoniae. nec spatium fuerat, nec mens satis apta parandi: torpuerant longa pectora nostra mora. non mihi servorum, comites non cura legendi, non aptae profugo vestis opisve fuit. non aliter stupui, quam qui Iovis ignibus ictus ut tamen hanc animi nubem dolor ipse removit, adloquor extremum maestos abiturus amicos, quocumque adspiceres, luctus gemitusque sonabant, 6. finibus extremae . . . Ausoniae = finibus extremis Ausoniae. Residence at Tomi would remove the poet entirely from the western land' of promise. 7. parandi depends upon spatium. 8. longa . . . mora: not to be taken absolutely, of course (cf. v. 7); but from the time the news of the decree of banishment reached him on the island of Elba till the day of his actual departure from Rome there had been little enough time for actual preparations, but all too much opportunity for brooding over his fate. 9. Note the careless inconsistency of construction, in harmony with the mood of the writer at the time. As the sentence against Ovid was only relegatio, he might take with him what or whom he pleased. 13. animi nubem: i.e. the torpor of v. 8. 15. extremum: for the last time.' 16. modo belongs with multis; cf. Hor. Car. 1, 35, 26: diffugiunt cadis cum faece siccatis amici, ferre iugum pariter dolosi. 17. uxor: cf. 4, 10, 73, n. 19. nata: cf. 4, 10, 75, n. This daughter's second husband was Cornelius Fidus, who was at this time proconsul in Africa. 21. adspiceres: cf. H. 602, 3 and 4. |