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. To leave my wicked courses I begin,
  2. As years deprive me of the gust of sin.
  3. On Cupid's neck I should have trod when young,
  4. And vanquish'd him when my desires were strong.
  5. In that there had been virtue; now there's none,
  6. The world will say so; let the world say on.
  7. Much opposition I shall meet; perhaps,
  8. The lewd will laugh, and threaten a relapse.
  9. To bear reproaches I must be prepar'd,
  10. Easy's the end, when the beginning's hard;
  11. Content let me the present pain endure,
  12. For the sharp medicine is the patient's cure.
  13. How oft you have expos'd me to the cold,
  14. While in your arms you did my rival hold!
  15. How like a slave have I been forc'd to wait
  16. All weathers, and how oft have watched the gate!
  17. As if your house was trusted to my care
  18. And I, your sentinel, did duty there.
  19. Oft have I seen your sated lover come
  20. With looks, as if he long'd to be at home.