Amores

Ovid

Ovid. Ovid's Art of Love (in three Books), the Remedy of Love, the Art of Beauty, the Court of Love, the History of Love, and Amours. Dryden, John, et al., translator. New York: Calvin Blanchard, 1855.

  1. Ah fatal art! ah fatal care, and pains!
  2. That robb'd me of the dearest of my chains.
  3. Nor of a black, nor of a golden hue
  4. They were, but of a dye between the two.
  5. How could you hurt, or poison with perfume,
  6. Those curls that were so easy to the comb?
  7. That to no pains expos'd you, when you set
  8. Their shining tresses for young hearts a net?
  9. That ne'er provok'd you with your maids to war,
  10. For hurting you with your entangled hair?
  11. You ne'er were urg'd to some indecent fray,
  12. Nor in a fury snatch'd the comb away.
  13. The teeth ne'er touch'd you, and her constant care,
  14. Without ill arts, would have preserv'd your hair.
  15. Behind your chair I oft have seen her stand,
  16. And comb and curl it with a gentle hand:
  17. Oft have I seen it on your shoulders play
  18. Uncomb'd, as on your purple bed you lay.
  19. Your artless tresses with more charms appear,
  20. Than when adorn'd with all your cost and care.