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. Is verse or herbs the source of present harms ?
  2. Am I a captive to Thessalian charms ?
  3. Has some enchantress this confusion brought,
  4. And in soft wax my tortur'd image wrought
  5. Deep in the liver is the needle fix'd ?
  6. Plagues she by numbers, or by juices mix'd?
  7. By numbers sudden the ripe harvest die,
  8. And fruitful urns no more their streams supply;
  9. Oaks shed, unshook, their acorns at the call,
  10. And the vine wonders why her clusters fall.
  11. Why may not magic act on me the same,
  12. Unstring the nerves, and quite untune the frame!
  13. Gall'd at the heart, and longing to perform,
  14. I rais'd indeed, but rais'd an empty storm;
  15. Most disappointed when the most propense,
  16. And shame was second cause of impotence.
  17. What limbs I touch'd ! and only touch'd ! oh, fie!
  18. Where was the blissful touch ? her shift can vie
  19. In feasts like these, and touch as well as I.
  20. Yet to touch her e'en Nestor might grow young,