Ars Amatoria

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; Congreve, William; translators. New York: Calvin Blanchard, 1855.

Now Bacchus calls me to his jolly rites:[*](Wine is favourable to lovers, inspiring them at once with boldness and vigour.)
Who would not follow when a god invites?
He helps the poet, and his pen inspires;
Kind and indulgent to his former fires.
Fair Ariadne wander'd on the shore
Forsaken now; and Theseus loves no more;
Loose was her gown, dishevel'd was her hair,
Her bosom naked, and her feet were bare;
Exclaiming, on the water's brink she stood,
Her briny tears augment the briny flood;
She shriek'd and wept, and both became her face,
No posture could that heav'nly form disgrace.
She beat her breast: - "The traitor's gone," said she;
"What shall become of poor forsaken me?
What shall become-" She had not time for more,
The sounding cymbals rattled on the shore.[*](Cymbals. drums, little bells, and pipes, were Bacchus and mother Cybele's consort.)
She swoons for fear, she falls upon the ground;
No vital heat was in her body found.
The Mimallonian dames about her stood,
And scudding satyrs ran before their god.
Silenus on his ass did next appear,
And held upon the mane (the god was clear).
The drunken sire pursues, the dames retire;
Sometimes the drunken dames pursue the drunken sire.
At last he topples over on the plain;
The satyrs laugh, and bid him rise again.
And now the god of wine came driving on,
High on his chariot by swift tigers drawn.
Her colour, voice, and sense forsook the fair;
Thrice did her trembling limbs for flight prepare,
And thrice affrighted did her flight forbear.
She shook like leaves of corn when tempests blow,
Or slender reeds that in the marshes grow.
To whom the god-" Compose thy fearful mind;
In me a truer husband thou shalt find.
With heav'n I will endow thee, and thy star
Shall with propitious light be seen afar,
And guide on seas the doubtful mariner."
He said; and from his chariot leaping light,
Lest the grim tigers should the nymph affright,
His brawny arms around her waist he threw,
(For gods whate'er they please with ease can do,)
And swiftly bore her thence; th' attending throng
Shout at the sight, and sing the nuptial song.[*](It was an ancient custom to sing hymns of joy at weddings; which hymns were called epithalamius, or hymeneans, from a certain Athenian named Hymen, who, as Servins reports, delivered maids from a terrible trouble, or which they used to invoke him when they married, as the god who eased them of the burden of their maidenheads: le liberateur de leur virginité as my French author has it; and whether it is more a slavery or a burden, let the satirists determine.)
Now in full bowls her sorrow she may steep;
The bridegroom's liquor lays the bride asleep.

But thou, when flowing cups in triumph ride,[*](The poet's directions how the lover should behave himself at table, are very considerable in the affair he is speaking of.)
And the lov'd nymph is seated by thy side,
Invoke the god and all the mighty powers,
That wine may not defraud thy genial hours.
Then in ambiguous words thy suit prefer,
Which she may know were all address'd to her.
In liquid purple letters write her name,[*](Spill some wine and write her name. This is not worthy the Roman elegance in all things; and, as a late commentattor observes upon this occasion they could have no tablecloths; for otherwise Ovid's advice is not feasible.)
Which she may read, and reading find the flame.
Then may your eyes confess your mutual fires,
(For eyes have tongues, and glances tell desires ;)
Whene'er she drinks, be first to take the cup;
And where she laid her lips, the blessing sup.
When she to carving does her hand advance,
Put out thy own, and touch it as by chance.
Thy service e'en the husband must attend;[*](This and the verses that follow show that Ovid did not mean very honestly, and the decree of the senate was obtained against him for this crime, as it is pretended, because it was strictly forbidden by the Roman laws to corrupt married women, to prevent the abuses which might happen in succession, and the injuring another man in taking from him what only belongs to himself.)
(A husband is a most convenient friend.)
Seat the fool cuckold in the highest place,
And with thy garland his dull temples grace'
Whether below or equal in degree,
Let him be lord of all the company,
And what he says be seconded by thee.
Tis common to deceive thro' friendship's name,
But common though it be, 'tis still to blame;
Thus factors frequently their trust betray,
And to themselves their masters' gains convey.
Drink to a certain pitch, and then give o'er;
Thy tongue and feet may stumble, drinking more.
Of drunken quarrels in her sight beware;
Pot valour only serves to fright the fair.
Eurytion justly fell, by wine oppress't,[*](Eurythus, or Eurytion, was one of the centaurs at Pirithous's wedding, who got so drunk that he attempted to ravish Hippodamia, the bride; but Theseus knocked him down with a bowl, and made him bring up his wine again with blood.)
For his rude riot at a wedding-feast.
Sing, if you have a voice; and shew your parts
In dancing, if endu'd with dancing arts.
Do anything within your power to please;
Nay, e'en affect a seeming drunkenness;
Clip every word; and if by chance you speak
Too home, or if too broad a jest you break,
In your excuse the company will join,
And lay the fault upon the force of wine.
True drunkenness is subject to offend,
But when 'tis feign'd 'tis oft a lover's friend:
Then safely you may praise her beauteous face,
And call him happy who is in her grace;
Her husband thinks himself the man design'd,
But curse the cuckold in your secret mind.
When all are risen and prepar'd to go,
Mix with the crowd and tread upon her toe;
This is the proper time to make thy court,
For now she's in the vein, and fit for sport.
Lay bashfulness, that rustic virtue, by;[*](Modesty is a vice, when it hinders us from doing anything that is profitable to us; and the misfortune is, it generally comes upon us most unseasonably, and when it should not. When it should, we commonly miss it; and when we do not want it, it is impertinent.)
To manly confidence thy thoughts apply.
On fortune's foretop timely fix thy hold;
Now speak and speed. for Venus loves the bold.
No rules of rhetoric here I need afford;[*](He talks of modesty, and says, if the lover banishes it, he has no occasion for eloquence; for love and fortune favour the bold.)
Only begin, and trust the following word:
It will be witty of its own accord.
Act well the lover; let thy speech abound
In dying words, that represent thy wound;
Distrust not her belief; she will be mov'd:
All women think they merit to be lov'd.