Discern ye, O
unwedded
girls, the youths?
Catullus - Carmina
O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 185
O Hymen Hymenaeus.
39.
Groom, now 'tis meet thou hither pace,
With bride in genial bed to blend,
For sheenly shines her flowery face
Where the white chamomiles contend 190
With poppies blushing red.
40.
Yet bridegroom (So may Godhead deign
Help me! ) nowise in humbler way
Art fair, nor Venus shall disdain
Thy charms, but look! how wanes the day: 195
Forward, nor loiter more!
41.
No longer loitering makest thou,
Now comest thou. May Venus good
Aid thee when frankly takest thou
Thy wishes won, nor true Love woo'd 200
Thou carest to conceal.
42.
Of Afric's wolds and wilds each grain,
Or constellations glistening,
First reckon he that of the twain
To count alone were fain to bring 205
The many thousand joys.
43.
Play as ye please: soon prove ye deft
At babying babes,--'twere ill design'd
A name thus ancient should be left
Heirless, but issue like of kind 210
Engendered aye should be.
44.
A wee Torquatus fain I'd see
Encradled on his mother's breast
Put forth his tender puds while he
Smiles to his sire with sweetest gest 215
And liplets half apart.
45.
Let son like father's semblance show
(Manlius! ) so with easy guess
All know him where his sire they know,
And still his face and form express 220
His mother's honest love.
46.
Approve shall fair approof his birth
From mother's seed-stock generous,
As rarest fame of mother's worth
Unique exalts Telemachus 225
Penelope's own son.
47.
Fast close the door-leaves, virgin band:
Enow we've played. But ye the fair
New-wedded twain live happy, and
Functions of lusty married pair 230
Exercise sans surcease.
O Fosterer of the Helicon Hill, sprung from Urania, who beareth the gentle
virgin to her mate, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Twine round thy temples sweet-smelling flowerets of marjoram; put on thy
gold-tinted veil; light-hearted, hither, hither haste, bearing on snowy
foot the golden-yellow sandal:
And a-fire with the joyous day, chanting wedding melodies with ringing
voice, strike the ground with thy feet, with thine hand swing aloft the
pine-link.
For Vinia--fair as Idalian Venus, when stood before the Phrygian judge--a
virgin fair, weds Manlius 'midst happy auspices.
She, bright-shining as the Asian myrtle florid in branchlets, which the
Hamadryads nurture for their pleasure with besprinkled dew.
Wherefore, hither! leaving the Aonian grot in the Thespian Rock, o'er which
flows the chilling stream of Aganippe.
And summon homewards the mistress, eager for her new yoke, firm-prisoning
her soul in love; as tight-clasping ivy, wandering hither, thither, enwraps
the tree around.
And also ye, upright virgins, for whom a like day is nearing, chant ye in
cadence, singing "O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus! "
That more freely, hearing himself to his duty called, will he bear hither
his presence, Lord of true Venus, uniter of true lovers.
What god is worthier of solicitation by anxious amourists? Whom of the
celestials do men worship more greatly? O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen
Hymenaeus!
Thee for his young the trembling father beseeches, for thee virgins unclasp
the zone from their breasts, for thee the fear-full bridegroom harkeneth
with eager ear.
Thou bearest to the youngster's arms that flower-like damsel, taken from
her mother's bosom, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Nor lacking thee may Venus take her will with fair Fame's approbation; but
she may, with thy sanction. With such a God who dares compare?
Lacking thee, no house can yield heirs, nor parent be surrounded by
offspring; but they may, with thy sanction. With such a God who dares
compare?
Nor lacking thy rites may our land be protected e'en to its boundaries; but
it may, with thy sanction. With such a God who dares compare?
Gates open wide: the virgin is here. See how the torch-flakes shake their
gleaming locks? Let shame retard the modest:
* * * *
Yet hearing, greater does she weep, that she must onwards go.
Cease thy tears. For thee there is no peril, Aurunculeia, that any woman
more beauteous from Ocean springing shall ever see the light of day.
Thou art like the hyacinthine flower, wont to stand aloft 'midst varied
riches of its lordling's garden. But thou delayest, day slips by: advance,
new mated one.
Advance, new mated, now in sight, and listen to our speech. Note how the
torch-flakes shake their glittering tresses: advance, new mated one.
Nor given to ill adulteries, nor seeking lawless shames, shall thy husband
ever wish to lie away from thy soft breasts,
But as the lithe vine amongst neighbouring trees doth cling, so shall he be
enclasped in thine encircled arms. But day slips by: advance, new mated
one.
O nuptial couch * * * * with feet of ivory white.
What joys are coming to thy lord, in gloom o' night, in noon of day. Let
him rejoice! but day slips by: advance, new mated one.
High raise, O boys, the torches: I see the gleaming veil approach. Come,
chant in cadence, "O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus. "
Nor longer silent is lewd Fescinnine jest, nor to the boys the nuts deny,
ingle, hearing thy master's love has flown.
Give nuts to the boys, O listless ingle; enough of days thou hast played
with nuts: now 'tis meet to serve Talassius. O ingle, give the nuts!
The country lasses slighted were by thee, O ingle, till to-day: now the
bride's tiresman shaves thy face. Wretched, wretched ingle, give the nuts.
They say that from thy hairless ingles, O sweet-scented bridegroom, thou
canst scarce abstain: but abstain thou! O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen
Hymenaeus.
We know that these delights were known to thee only when lawful: but to the
wedded these same no more are lawful. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen
Hymenaeus!
Thou also, bride, what thy husband seekest beware of denying, lest he go
elsewhere in its search. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Look, thy husband's home is thine, potent and goodly, and shall be thine
for ever more. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Until with trembling movement thine hoary brow nods ever to everything. O
Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Lift o'er the threshold with good omen thy glistening feet, and go through
the polished gates. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Look! thy lord within, lying on Tyrian couch, all-expectant waits for thee.
O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Not less than in thine, in his breast burns an inmost flame, but more
deeply inward. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
Unloose the damsel's slender arm, O purple-bordered youth: now let her
approach her husband's couch. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus.
Ye good dames of fair renown to aged spouses, put ye the damsel a-bed. O
Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus.
Now thou mayst come, O bridegroom: thy wife is in the bridal-bed, with face
brightly blushing as white parthenice 'midst ruddy poppies.
But, O bridegroom (so help me the heaven-dwellers) in no way less beautiful
art thou, nor doth Venus slight thee. But the day slips by: on! nor more
delay.
Nor long hast thou delayed, thou comest now. May kindly Venus help thee,
since what thou dost desire thou takest publicly, and dost not conceal true
love.
Of Afric's sands and glittering stars the number first let him tell, who
wishes to keep count of your many-thousand sports.
Sport as ye like, and speedily give heirs. It does not become so old a name
to be sans heirs, but for similar stock always to be generated.
A little Torquatus I wish, from his mother's bosom reaching out his dainty
hands, and smiling sweetly at his father with lips apart.
May he be like his sire Manlius, and easily acknowledged by every stranger,
and by his face point out his mother's faithfulness.
May such praise confirm his birth from true mother, such fame unique as
rests with Telemachus from best of mothers, Penelope.
Close ye the doors, virgins: enough we've sported. But, fair bride and
groom, live ye well, and diligently fulfil the office of vigorous youth.
LXII.
Vesper adest, iuvenes, consurgite: Vesper Olympo
Expectata diu vix tandem lumina tollit.
Surgere iam tempus, iam pingues linquere mensas,
Iam veniet virgo, iam dicetur Hymenaeus.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! 5
Cernitis, innuptae, iuvenes? consurgite contra:
Nimirum Oetaeos ostendit noctifer ignes.
Sic certest; viden ut perniciter exiluere?
Non temere exiluere, canent quod vincere par est.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! 10
Non facilis nobis, aequales, palma paratast,
Adspicite, innuptae secum ut meditata requirunt.
Non frustra meditantur, habent memorabile quod sit.
Nec mirum, penitus quae tota mente laborent.
Nos alio mentes, alio divisimus aures: 15
Iure igitur vincemur, amat victoria curam.
Quare nunc animos saltem convertite vestros,
Dicere iam incipient, iam respondere decebit.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Hespere, qui caelo fertur crudelior ignis? 20
Qui natam possis conplexu avellere matris,
Conplexu matris retinentem avellere natam
Et iuveni ardenti castam donare puellam.
Quid faciunt hostes capta crudelius urbe?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! 25
Hespere, qui caelo lucet iocundior ignis?
Qui desponsa tua firmes conubia flamma,
Quae pepigere viri, pepigerunt ante parentes
Nec iunxere prius quam se tuus extulit ardor.
Quid datur a divis felici optatius hora? 30
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
* * * *
Hesperus e nobis, aequales, abstulit unam
* * * *
_Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee_!
* * * *
Namque tuo adventu vigilat custodia semper.
Nocte latent fures, quos idem saepe revertens,
Hespere, mutato conprendis nomine Eous. 35
At libet innuptis ficto te carpere questu.
Quid tum, si carpunt, tacita quem mente requirunt?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Vt flos in saeptis secretus nascitur hortis,
Ignotus pecori, nullo convolsus aratro, 40
Quem mulcent aurae, firmat sol, educat imber
* * * *
Multi illum pueri, multae optavere puellae:
Idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungui,
Nulli illum pueri, nullae optavere puellae:
Sic virgo, dum intacta manet, dum cara suis est; 45
Cum castum amisit polluto corpore florem,
Nec pueris iocunda manet, nec cara puellis.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Vt vidua in nudo vitis quae nascitur arvo
Numquam se extollit, numquam mitem educat uvam, 50
Sed tenerum prono deflectens pondere corpus
Iam iam contingit summum radice flagellum;
Hanc nulli agricolae, nulli coluere bubulci:
At si forte eademst ulmo coniuncta marito,
Multi illam agricolae, multi coluere bubulci: 55
Sic virgo dum intacta manet, dum inculta senescit;
Cum par conubium maturo tempore adeptast,
Cara viro magis et minus est invisa parenti.
_Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee_! 58b
At tu ne pugna cum tali coniuge virgo.
Non aequomst pugnare, pater cui tradidit ipse, 60
Ipse pater cum matre, quibus parere necessest.
Virginitas non tota tuast, ex parte parentumst,
Tertia pars patrist, pars est data tertia matri,
Tertia sola tuast: noli pugnare duobus,
Qui genero sua iura simul cum dote dederunt. 65
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
LXII.
NUPTIAL SONG BY YOUTH AND DAMSELS.
(Epithalamium. )
_Youths. _
Vesper is here, O youths, rise all; for Vesper Olympus
Scales and in fine enfires what lights so long were expected!
Time 'tis now to arise, now leave we tables rich laden,
Now shall the Virgin come; now chaunt we the Hymenaeus.
Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! 5
_Damsels. _
View ye the Youths, O Maids unwed? Then rise to withstand them:
Doubtless the night-fraught Star displays his splendour Oetean.
Sooth 'tis so; d'ye sight how speedily sprang they to warfare?
Nor for a naught up-sprang: they'll sing what need we to conquer.
Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! 10
_Youths. _
Nowise easy the palm for us (Companions! ) be proffer'd,
Lo! now the maidens muse and meditate matter of forethought
Nor meditate they in vain; they muse a humorous something.
Yet naught wonder it is, their sprites be wholly in labour.
We bear divided thought one way and hearing in other: 15
Vanquish't by right we must be, since Victory loveth the heedful.
Therefore at least d'ye turn your minds the task to consider,
Soon shall begin their say whose countersay shall befit you.
Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!
_Damsels. _
Hesperus! say what flame more cruel in Heaven be fanned? 20
Thou who the girl perforce canst tear from a mother's embraces,
Tear from a parent's clasp her child despite of her clinging
And upon love-hot youth bestowest her chastest of maidenhoods!
What shall the foeman deal more cruel to city becaptured?
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! 25
_Youths. _
Hesperus! say what flame more gladsome in Heavens be shining?
Thou whose light makes sure long-pledged connubial promise
Plighted erewhile by men and erstwhile plighted by parents.
Yet to be ne'er fulfilled before thy fire's ardours have risen!
What better boon can the gods bestow than hour so desired? 30
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!
_Damsels. _
* * * *
Hesperus! one of ourselves (Companions! ) carried elsewhither
* * * *
_Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! _
_Youths. _
* * * *
For at thy coming in sight a guard is constantly watching.
Hidden o'nights lurk thieves and these as oft as returnest,
Hesper! thou seizest them with title changed to Eous. 35
Pleases the bevy unwed with feigned complaints to accuse thee.
What if assail they whom their souls in secrecy cherish?
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!
_Damsels. _
E'en as a flow'ret born secluded in garden enclosed,
Unto the flock unknown and ne'er uptorn by the ploughshare, 40
Soothed by the zephyrs and strengthened by suns and nourish't by showers
* * * *
Loves her many a youth and longs for her many a maiden:
Yet from her lissome stalk when cropt that flower deflowered,
Loves her never a youth nor longs for her ever a maiden:
Thus while the virgin be whole, such while she's the dearling of
kinsfolk; 45
Yet no sooner is lost her bloom from body polluted,
Neither to youths she is joy, nor a dearling she to the maidens.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!
_Youths_.
E'en as an unmated vine which born in field of the barest
Never upraises head nor breeds the mellowy grape-bunch, 50
But under weight prone-bowed that tender body a-bending
Makes she her root anon to touch her topmost of tendrils;
Tends her never a hind nor tends her ever a herdsman:
Yet if haply conjoined the same with elm as a husband,
Tends her many a hind and tends her many a herdsman: 55
Thus is the maid when whole, uncultured waxes she aged;
But whenas union meet she wins her at ripest of seasons,
More to her spouse she is dear and less she's irk to her parents.
_Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! _
_Youths and Damsels_.
But do thou cease to resist (O Maid! ) such bridegroom opposing,
Right it is not to resist whereto consigned thee a father,
Father and mother of thee unto whom obedience is owing.
Not is that maidenhood all thine own, but partly thy parents!
Owneth thy sire one third, one third is right of thy mother,
Only the third is thine: stint thee to strive with the others,
Who to the stranger son have yielded their dues with a dower! 65
Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!
YOUTHS.
Vesper is here, arise ye youths: Vesper at last has just borne aloft in the
heavens his long-looked-for light. Now 'tis time to arise, now to leave the
fattened tables, now comes the virgin, now is said the Hymenaeus. Hymen O
Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Maidens_.
Discern ye, O unwedded girls, the youths? Arise in response: forsooth the
Star of Eve displays its Oetaean fires. Thus 'tis; see how fleetly have
they leapt forth? Nor without intent have they leapt forth, they will sing
what 'tis meet we surpass. Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Youths_.
Nor easily is for us, O comrades, the palm prepared; see ye how they talk
together in deep thought. Nor in vain do they muse, they have what may be
worthy of memory. Nor be wonder: for inwardly toil they with whole of their
minds. Our minds one way, our ears another, we have divided: wherefore by
right are we conquered, for victory loveth solicitude. So now your minds at
the least turn ye hither, now their chant they begin, anon ye will have to
respond. Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Maidens_.
Hesperus! what crueler light is borne aloft in the heavens? Thou who canst
pluck the maid from her mother's enfolding, pluck from her mother's
enfolding the firm-clinging maid, and canst give the chaste girl to the
burning youngster. What more cruel could victors in vanquished city
contrive? Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Youths_.
Hesperus! what more jocund light is borne aloft in the heavens? Thou who
dost confirm with thy flame the marriage betrothals which the men had
pledged, the parents had pledged of aforetime, nor may they be joined in
completion before thy flame is borne aloft. What can the gods give more
gladsome than that happy hour? Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Maidens_.
* * * * Hesperus from us, O comrades, has stolen one away * * * * _Hymen O
Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! _
_Youths_.
* * * * For at thy advent a guard always keeps watch. Thieves lie in wait
by night, whom often on thy return, O Hesperus, thou hap'st upon, when with
thy changed name Eous. Yet it doth please the unwedded girls to carp at
thee with plaints fictitious. But what if they carp at that which in
close-shut mind they long for? Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Maidens_.
As grows the hidden flower in garden closed, to kine unknown, uprooted by
no ploughshare, whilst the winds caress it, the sun makes it sturdy, and
the shower gives it growth * * * * many a boy and many a girl longs for it:
this same when pluckt, deflowered from slender stalklet, never a boy and
never a girl doth long for it: so the virgin, while she stays untouched, so
long is she dear to her folk; when she hath lost her chaste flower from her
body profaned, nor to the boys stays she beauteous, nor is she dear to the
girls. Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
_Youths_.
As the widowed vine which grows in naked field ne'er uplifts itself, ne'er
ripens a mellow grape, but bending prone 'neath the weight of its tender
body now and again its highmost bough touches with its root; this no
husbandmen, no herdsmen will foster: but if this same chance to be joined
with marital elm, it many husbandmen, many herdsmen will foster: so the
virgin, whilst she stays untouched, so long does she age, unfostered; but
when fitting union she obtain in meet time, dearer is she to her lord and
less of a trouble to parent. _Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! _
_Youths and Maidens_.
But struggle not 'gainst such a mate, O virgin. 'Tis improper to struggle,
thou whose father hath handed thee o'er, that father together with thy
mother to whom obedience is needed. Thy maidenhead is not wholly thine, in
part 'tis thy parents': a third part is thy father's, a third part is given
to thy mother, a third alone is thine: be unwilling to struggle against
two, who to their son-in-law their rights together with dowry have given.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!
LXIII.
Super alta vectus Attis celeri rate maria
Phrygium ut nemus citato cupide pede tetigit
Adiitque opaca, silvis redimita loca deae,
Stimulatus ibi furenti rabie, vagus animis,
Devolsit ilei acuto sibi pondera silice. 5
Itaque ut relicta sensit sibi membra sine viro,
Etiam recente terrae sola sanguine maculans
Niveis citata cepit manibus leve typanum,
Typanum, tuom Cybebe, tua, mater, initia,
Quatiensque terga taurei teneris cava digitis 10
Canere haec suis adortast tremebunda comitibus.
'Agite ite ad alta, Gallae, Cybeles nemora simul,
Simul ite, Dindymenae dominae vaga pecora,
Aliena quae petentes velut exules loca
Sectam meam executae duce me mihi comites 15
Rabidum salum tulistis truculentaque pelage
Et corpus evirastis Veneris nimio odio,
Hilarate erae citatis erroribus animum.
Mora tarda mente cedat: simul ite, sequimini
Phrygiam ad domum Cybebes, Phrygia ad nemora deae, 20
Vbi cymbalum sonat vox, ubi tympana reboant,
Tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo,
Vbi capita Maenades vi iaciunt ederigerae,
Vbi sacra sancta acutis ululatibus agitant,
Vbi suevit illa divae volitare vaga cohors: 25
Quo nos decet citatis celerare tripudiis. '
Simul haec comitibus Attis cecinit notha mulier,
Thiasus repente linguis trepidantibus ululat,
Leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant,
Viridem citus adit Idam properante pede chorus. 30
Furibunda simul anhelans vaga vadit, animam agens,
Comitata tympano Attis per opaca nemora dux,
Veluti iuvenca vitans onus indomita iugi:
Rapidae ducem sequuntur Gallae properipedem.
Itaque ut domum Cybebes tetigere lassulae, 35
Nimio e labore somnum capiunt sine Cerere.
Piger his labante langore oculos sopor operit:
Abit in quiete molli rabidus furor animi.
Sed ubi oris aurei Sol radiantibus oculis
Lustravit aethera album, sola dura, mare ferum, 40
Pepulitque noctis umbras vegetis sonipedibus,
Ibi Somnus excitam Attin fugiens citus abiit:
Trepidante eum recepit dea Pasithea sinu.
Ita de quiete molli rapida sine rabie
Simul ipsa pectore Attis sua facta recoluit, 45
Liquidaque mente vidit sine queis ubique foret,
Animo aestuante rusum reditum ad vada tetulit.
Ibi maria vasta visens lacrimantibus oculis,
Patriam allocuta maestast ita voce miseriter.
'Patria o mei creatrix, patria o mea genetrix, 50
Ego quam miser relinquens, dominos ut erifugae
Famuli solent, ad Idae tetuli nemora pedem,
Vt aput nivem et ferarum gelida stabula forem
Et earum operta adirem furibunda latibula?
Vbinam aut quibus locis te positam, patria, reor? 55
Cupit ipsa pupula ad te sibi dirigere aciem,
Rabie fera carens dum breve tempus animus est.
Egone a mea remota haec ferar in nemora domo?
Patria, bonis, amicis, genitoribus abero?
Abero foro, palaestra, stadio et guminasiis? 60
Miser a miser, querendumst etiam atque etiam, anime.
Quod enim genus figuraest, ego non quod habuerim?
Ego mulier, ego adolescens, ego ephebus, ego puer,
Ego guminasi fui flos, ego eram decus olei:
Mihi ianuae frequentes, mihi limina tepida, 65
Mihi floridis corollis redimita domus erat,
Linquendum ubi esset orto mihi sole cubiculum.
Ego nunc deum ministra et Cybeles famula ferar?
Ego Maenas, ego mei pars, ego vir sterilis ero?
Ego viridis algida Idae nive amicta loca colam? 70
Ego vitam agam sub altis Phrygiae columinibus,
Vbi cerva silvicultrix, ubi aper nemorivagus?
Iam iam dolet quod egi, iam iamque paenitet. '
Roseis ut huic labellis sonitus celer abiit,
Geminas deorum ad aures nova nuntia referens, 75
Ibi iuncta iuga resolvens Cybele leonibus
Laevumque pecoris hostem stimulans ita loquitur.
'Agedum' inquit 'age ferox i, fac ut hunc furor _agitet_,
Fac uti furoris ictu reditum in nemora ferat,
Mea libere nimis qui fugere imperia cupit. 80
Age caede terga cauda, tua verbera patere,
Fac cuncta mugienti fremitu loca retonent,
Rutilam ferox torosa cervice quate iubam. '
Ait haec minax Cybebe religatque iuga manu.
Ferus ipse sese adhortans rapidum incitat animo, 85
Vadit, fremit, refringit virgulta pede vago.
At ubi umida albicantis loca litoris adiit,
Teneramque vidit Attin prope marmora pelagi,
Facit impetum: illa demens fugit in nemora fera:
Ibi semper omne vitae spatium famula fuit. 90
Dea magna, dea Cybebe, Didymei dea domina,
Procul a mea tuos sit furor omnis, era, domo:
Alios age incitatos, alios age rabidos.
LXIII.
THE ADVENTURES OF ATYS.
O'er high deep seas in speedy ship his voyage Atys sped
Until he trod the Phrygian grove with hurried eager tread
And as the gloomy tree-shorn stead, the she-god's home, he sought
There sorely stung with fiery ire and madman's vaguing thought,
Share he with sharpened flint the freight wherewith his form was fraught.
5
Then as the she-he sensed limbs were void of manly strain
And sighted freshly shed a-ground spot of ensanguined stain,
Snatched she the timbrel's legier load with hands as snowdrops white,
Thy timbrel, Mother Cybebe, the firstings of thy rite,
And as her tender finger-tips on bull-back hollow rang 10
She rose a-grieving and her song to listening comrades sang.
"Up Gallae, hie together, haste for Cybebe's deep grove,
Hie to the Dindymenean dame, ye flocks that love to rove;
The which affecting stranger steads as bound in exile's brunt
My sect pursuing led by me have nerved you to confront 15
The raging surge of salty sea and ocean's tyrant hand
As your hate of Venus' hest your manly forms unmann'd,
Gladden your souls, ye mistresses, with sense of error bann'd.
Drive from your spirits dull delay, together follow ye
To hold of Phrygian goddess, home of Phrygian Cybebe, 20
Where loud the cymbal's voice resounds with timbrel-echoes blending,
And where the Phrygian piper drones grave bass from reed a-bending,
Where toss their ivy-circled heads with might the Maenades
Where ply mid shrilly lullilooes the holiest mysteries,
Where to fly here and there be wont the she-god's vaguing train, 25
Thither behoves us lead the dance in quick-step hasty strain. "
Soon as had Atys (bastard-she) this lay to comrades sung
The Chorus sudden lulliloos with quivering, quavering tongue,
Again the nimble timbrel groans, the scooped-out cymbals clash,
And up green Ida flits the Choir, with footsteps hurrying rash. 30
Then Atys frantic, panting, raves, a-wandering, lost, insane,
And leads with timbrel hent and treads the shades where shadows rain,
Like heifer spurning load of yoke in yet unbroken pride;
And the swift Gallae follow fain their first and fleetfoot guide.
But when the home of Cybebe they make with toil out-worn 35
O'er much, they lay them down to sleep and gifts of Ceres scorn;
Till heavy slumbers seal their eyelids langourous, drooping lowly,
And raving phrenzy flies each brain departing softly, slowly.
But when Dan Sol with radiant eyes that fire his face of gold
Surveyed white aether and solid soil and waters uncontrol'd, 40
And chased with steeds sonorous-hooved the shades of lingering night,
Then sleep from waking Atys fled fleeting with sudden flight,
By Nymph Pasithae welcomed to palpitating breast.
Thus when his phrenzy raging rash was soothed to gentlest rest,
Atys revolved deeds lately done, as thought from breast unfolding, 45
And what he'd lost and what he was with lucid sprite beholding,
To shallows led by surging soul again the way 'gan take.
There casting glance of weeping eyes where vasty billows brake,
Sad-voiced in pitifullest lay his native land bespake.
"Country of me, Creatress mine, O born to thee and bred, 50
By hapless me abandoned as by thrall from lordling fled,
When me to Ida's groves and glades these vaguing footsteps bore
To tarry 'mid the snows and where lurk beasts in antres frore
And seek the deeply hidden lairs where furious ferals meet!
Where, Country! whither placed must I now hold thy site and seat? 55
Lief would these balls of eyes direct to thee their line of sight,
Which for a while, a little while, would free me from despite.
Must I for ever roam these groves from house and home afar?
Of country, parents, kith and kin (life's boon) myself debar?
Fly Forum, fly Palestra, fly the Stadium, the Gymnase? 60
Wretch, ah poor wretch, I'm doomed (my soul! ) to mourn throughout my
days,
For what of form or figure is, which I failed to enjoy?
I full-grown man, I blooming youth, I stripling, I a boy,
I of Gymnasium erst the bloom, I too of oil the pride:
Warm was my threshold, ever stood my gateways opening wide, 65
My house was ever garlanded and hung with flowery freight,
And couch to quit with rising sun, has ever been my fate:
Now must I Cybebe's she-slave, priestess of gods, be hight?
I Maenad I, mere bit of self, I neutral barren wight?
I spend my life-tide couch't beneath high-towering Phrygian peaks? 70
I dwell on Ida's verdant slopes mottled with snowy streaks,
Where homes the forest-haunting doe, where roams the wildling boar?
Now, now I rue my deed foredone, now, now it irks me sore! "
Whenas from out those roseate lips these accents rapid flew,
Bore them to ears divine consigned a Nuncio true and new; 75
Then Cybebe her lions twain disjoining from their yoke
The left-hand enemy of the herds a-goading thus bespoke:--
"Up feral fell! up, hie with him, see rage his footsteps urge,
See that his fury smite him till he seek the forest verge,
He who with over-freedom fain would fly mine empery. 80
Go, slash thy flank with lashing tail and sense the strokes of thee,
Make the whole mountain to thy roar sound and resound again,
And fiercely toss thy brawny neck that bears the tawny mane! "
So quoth an-angered Cybebe, and yoke with hand untied:
The feral rose in fiery wrath and self-inciting hied, 85
A-charging, roaring through the brake with breaking paws he tore.
But when he reached the humid sands where surges cream the shore,
Spying soft Atys lingering near the marbled pave of sea
He springs: the terror-madded wretch back to the wood doth flee,
Where for the remnant of her days a bondmaid's life led she. 90
Great Goddess, Goddess Cybebe, Dindymus dame divine,
Far from my house and home thy wrath and wrack, dread mistress mine:
Goad others on with Fury's goad, others to Ire consign!
Over the vast main borne by swift-sailing ship, Attis, as with hasty
hurried foot he reached the Phrygian wood and gained the tree-girt gloomy
sanctuary of the Goddess, there roused by rabid rage and mind astray, with
sharp-edged flint downwards wards dashed his burden of virility. Then as he
felt his limbs were left without their manhood, and the fresh-spilt blood
staining the soil, with bloodless hand she hastily hent a tambour light to
hold, taborine thine, O Cybebe, thine initiate rite, and with feeble
fingers beating the hollowed bullock's back, she rose up quivering thus to
chant to her companions.
"Haste ye together, she-priests, to Cybebe's dense woods, together haste,
ye vagrant herd of the dame Dindymene, ye who inclining towards strange
places as exiles, following in my footsteps, led by me, comrades, ye who
have faced the ravening sea and truculent main, and have castrated your
bodies in your utmost hate of Venus, make glad our mistress speedily with
your minds' mad wanderings. Let dull delay depart from your thoughts,
together haste ye, follow to the Phrygian home of Cybebe, to the Phrygian
woods of the Goddess, where sounds the cymbal's voice, where the tambour
resounds, where the Phrygian flautist pipes deep notes on the curved reed,
where the ivy-clad Maenades furiously toss their heads, where they enact
their sacred orgies with shrill-sounding ululations, where that wandering
band of the Goddess is wont to flit about: thither 'tis meet to hasten with
hurried mystic dance. "
When Attis, spurious woman, had thus chanted to her comity, the chorus
straightway shrills with trembling tongues, the light tambour booms, the
concave cymbals clang, and the troop swiftly hastes with rapid feet to
verdurous Ida. Then raging wildly, breathless, wandering, with brain
distraught, hurrieth Attis with her tambour, their leader through dense
woods, like an untamed heifer shunning the burden of the yoke: and the
swift Gallae press behind their speedy-footed leader. So when the home of
Cybebe they reach, wearied out with excess of toil and lack of food they
fall in slumber. Sluggish sleep shrouds their eyes drooping with faintness,
and raging fury leaves their minds to quiet ease.
But when the sun with radiant eyes from face of gold glanced o'er the white
heavens, the firm soil, and the savage sea, and drave away the glooms of
night with his brisk and clamorous team, then sleep fast-flying quickly
sped away from wakening Attis, and goddess Pasithea received Somnus in her
panting bosom. Then when from quiet rest torn, her delirium over, Attis at
once recalled to mind her deed, and with lucid thought saw what she had
lost, and where she stood, with heaving heart she backwards traced her
steps to the landing-place. There, gazing o'er the vast main with
tear-filled eyes, with saddened voice in tristful soliloquy thus did she
lament her land:
"Mother-land, O my creatress, mother-land, O my begetter, which full sadly
I'm forsaking, as runaway serfs are wont from their lords, to the woods of
Ida I have hasted on foot, to stay 'mongst snow and icy dens of ferals, and
to wander through the hidden lurking-places of ferocious beasts. Where, or
in what part, O mother-land, may I imagine that thou art? My very eyeball
craves to fix its glance towards thee, whilst for a brief space my mind is
freed from wild ravings. And must I wander o'er these woods far from mine
home? From country, goods, friends, and parents, must I be parted? Leave
the forum, the palaestra, the race-course, and gymnasium? Wretched,
wretched soul, 'tis thine to grieve for ever and for aye. For whatso shape
is there, whose kind I have not worn? I (now a woman), I a man, a
stripling, and a lad; I was the gymnasium's flower, I was the pride of the
oiled wrestlers: my gates, my friendly threshold, were crowded, my home was
decked with floral coronals, when I was wont to leave my couch at sunrise.
Now shall I live a ministrant of gods and slave to Cybebe? I a Maenad, I a
part of me, I a sterile trunk! Must I range o'er the snow-clad spots of
verdurous Ida, and wear out my life 'neath lofty Phrygian peaks, where stay
the sylvan-seeking stag and woodland-wandering boar? Now, now, I grieve the
deed I've done; now, now, do I repent! "
As the swift sound left those rosy lips, borne by new messenger to gods'
twinned ears, Cybebe, unloosing her lions from their joined yoke, and
goading the left-hand foe of the herd, thus doth speak: "Come," she says,
"to work, thou fierce one, cause a madness urge him on, let a fury prick
him onwards till he return through our woods, he who over-rashly seeks to
fly from my empire. On! thrash thy flanks with thy tail, endure thy
strokes; make the whole place re-echo with roar of thy bellowings; wildly
toss thy tawny mane about thy nervous neck. " Thus ireful Cybebe spoke and
loosed the yoke with her hand. The monster, self-exciting, to rapid wrath
his heart doth spur, he rushes, he roars, he bursts through the brake with
heedless tread. But when he gained the humid verge of the foam-flecked
shore, and spied the womanish Attis near the opal sea, he made a bound: the
witless wretch fled into the wild wold: there throughout the space of her
whole life a bondsmaid did she stay. Great Goddess, Goddess Cybebe, Goddess
Dame of Dindymus, far from my home may all thine anger be, O mistress: urge
others to such actions, to madness others hound.
LXIIII.
Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus
Dicuntur liquidas Neptuni nasse per undas
Phasidos ad fluctus et fines Aeetaeos,
Cum lecti iuvenes, Argivae robora pubis,
Auratam optantes Colchis avertere pellem 5
Ausi sunt vada salsa cita decurrere puppi,
Caerula verrentes abiegnis aequora palmis.
Diva quibus retinens in summis urbibus arces
Ipsa levi fecit volitantem flamine currum,
Pinea coniungens inflexae texta carinae. 10
Illa rudem cursu prima imbuit Amphitriten.
Quae simulac rostro ventosum proscidit aequor,
Tortaque remigio spumis incanduit unda,
Emersere freti canenti e gurgite vultus
Aequoreae monstrum Nereides admirantes. 15
Atque illic alma viderunt luce marinas
Mortales oculi nudato corpore Nymphas
Nutricum tenus extantes e gurgite cano.
Tum Thetidis Peleus incensus fertur amore,
Tum Thetis humanos non despexit hymenaeos, 20
Tum Thetidi pater ipse iugandum Pelea sanxit.
O nimis optato saeclorum tempore nati
Heroes, salvete, deum genus, o bona matrum
Progenies, salvete iterum _placidique favete_.
Vos ego saepe meo, vos carmine conpellabo,
Teque adeo eximie taedis felicibus aucte 25
Thessaliae columen Peleu, cui Iuppiter ipse,
Ipse suos divom genitor concessit amores.
Tene Thetis tenuit pulcherrima Nereine?
Tene suam Tethys concessit ducere neptem,
Oceanusque, mari totum qui amplectitur orbem? 30
Quoi simul optatae finito tempore luces
Advenere, domum conventu tota frequentat
Thessalia, oppletur laetanti regia coetu:
Dona ferunt prae se, declarant gaudia voltu.
Deseritur Cieros, linquunt Phthiotica tempe, 35
Crannonisque domos ac moenia Larisaea,
Pharsalum coeunt, Pharsalia tecta frequentant.
Rura colit nemo, mollescunt colla iuvencis,
Non humilis curvis purgatur vinea rastris,
Non falx attenuat frondatorum arboris umbram, 41
Non glaebam prono convellit vomere taurus, 40
Squalida desertis rubigo infertur aratris.
Ipsius at sedes, quacumque opulenta recessit
Regia, fulgenti splendent auro atque argento.
Candet ebur soliis, collucent pocula mensae, 45
Tota domus gaudet regali splendida gaza.
Pulvinar vero divae geniale locatur
Sedibus in mediis, Indo quod dente politum
Tincta tegit roseo conchyli purpura fuco.
Haec vestis priscis hominum variata figuris 50
Heroum mira virtutes indicat arte.
Namque fluentisono prospectans litore Diae
Thesea cedentem celeri cum classe tuetur
Indomitos in corde gerens Ariadna furores,
Necdum etiam sese quae visit visere credit, 55
Vt pote fallaci quae tum primum excita somno
Desertam in sola miseram se cernat arena.
Inmemor at iuvenis fugiens pellit vada remis,
Inrita ventosae linquens promissa procellae.
Quem procul ex alga maestis Minois ocellis, 60
Saxea ut effigies bacchantis, prospicit, eheu,
Prospicit et magnis curarum fluctuat undis,
Non flavo retinens subtilem vertice mitram,
Non contecta levi + velatum pectus amictu,
Non tereti strophio lactantes vincta papillas, 65
Omnia quae toto delapsa e corpore passim
Ipsius ante pedes fluctus salis adludebant.
Set neque tum mitrae neque tum fluitantis amictus
Illa vicem curans toto ex te pectore, Theseu,
Toto animo, tota pendebat perdita mente. 70
A misera, adsiduis quam luctibus externavit
Spinosas Erycina serens in pectore curas
Illa tempestate, ferox quom robore Theseus
Egressus curvis e litoribus Piraei
Attigit iniusti regis Gortynia tecta. 75
Nam perhibent olim crudeli peste coactam
Androgeoneae poenas exolvere caedis
Electos iuvenes simul et decus innuptarum
Cecropiam solitam esse dapem dare Minotauro.
Quis angusta malis cum moenia vexarentur, 80
Ipse suom Theseus pro caris corpus Athenis
Proicere optavit potius quam talia Cretam
Funera Cecropiae nec funera portarentur,
Atque ita nave levi nitens ac lenibus auris
Magnanimum ad Minoa venit sedesque superbas. 85
Hunc simulac cupido conspexit lumine virgo
Regia, quam suavis expirans castus odores
Lectulus in molli conplexu matris alebat,
Quales Eurotae progignunt flumina myrtus
Aurave distinctos educit verna colores, 90
Non prius ex illo flagrantia declinavit
Lumina, quam cuncto concepit corpore flammam
Funditus atque imis exarsit tota medullis.
Heu misere exagitans inmiti corde furores
Sancte puer, curis hominum qui gaudia misces, 95
Quaeque regis Golgos quaeque Idalium frondosum,
Qualibus incensam iactastis mente puellam
Fluctibus in flavo saepe hospite suspirantem!
Quantos illa tulit languenti corde timores!
Quam tum saepe magis + fulgore expalluit auri! 100
Cum saevom cupiens contra contendere monstrum
Aut mortem oppeteret Theseus aut praemia laudis.
Non ingrata tamen frustra munuscula divis
Promittens tacito succepit vota labello.
Nam velut in summo quatientem brachia Tauro 105
Quercum aut conigeram sudanti cortice pinum
Indomitum turben contorquens flamine robur
Eruit (illa procul radicitus exturbata
Prona cadit, late quast impetus obvia frangens),
Sic domito saevom prostravit corpore Theseus 110
Nequiquam vanis iactantem cornua ventis.
Inde pedem sospes multa cum laude reflexit
Errabunda regens tenui vestigia filo,
Ne labyrintheis e flexibus egredientem
Tecti frustraretur inobservabilis error. 115
Sed quid ego a primo digressus carmine plura
Conmemorem, ut linquens genitoris filia voltum,
Vt consanguineae conplexum, ut denique matris,
Quae misera in gnata deperdita laetabatur,
Omnibus his Thesei dulcem praeoptarit amorem, 120
Aut ut vecta rati spumosa ad litora Diae
_Venerit_, aut ut eam devinctam lumina somno
Liquerit inmemori discedens pectore coniunx?
Saepe illam perhibent ardenti corde furentem
Clarisonas imo fudisse e pectore voces, 125
Ac tum praeruptos tristem conscendere montes,
Vnde aciem in pelagi vastos protenderet aestus,
Tum tremuli salis adversas procurrere in undas
Mollia nudatae tollentem tegmina surae,
Atque haec extremis maestam dixisse querellis, 130
Frigidulos udo singultus ore cientem.
'Sicine me patriis avectam, perfide, ab oris,
Perfide, deserto liquisti in litore, Theseu?
Sicine discedens neglecto numine divom
Inmemor a, devota domum periuria portas? 135
Nullane res potuit crudelis flectere mentis
Consilium? tibi nulla fuit clementia praesto,
Inmite ut nostri vellet miserescere pectus?
At non haec quondam nobis promissa dedisti,
Vane: mihi non haec miserae sperare iubebas, 140
Sed conubia laeta, sed optatos hymenaeos:
Quae cuncta aerii discerpunt irrita venti.
Iam iam nulla viro iuranti femina credat,
Nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles;
Quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci, 145
Nil metuunt iurare, nihil promittere parcunt:
Sed simulac cupidae mentis satiata libidost,
Dicta nihil meminere, nihil periuria curant.
Certe ego te in medio versantem turbine leti
Eripui, et potius germanum amittere crevi, 150
Quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore dessem.
Pro quo dilaceranda feris dabor alitibusque
Praeda, neque iniecta tumulabor mortua terra.
Quaenam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena?
Quod mare conceptum spumantibus expuit undis? 155
Quae Syrtis, quae Scylla rapax, quae vasta Charybdis?
Talia qui reddis pro dulci praemia vita.
Si tibi non cordi fuerant conubia nostra,
Saeva quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis,
At tamen in vostras potuisti ducere sedes, 160
Quae tibi iocundo famularer serva labore,
Candida permulcens liquidis vestigia lymphis
Purpureave tuum consternens veste cubile.
Sed quid ego ignaris nequiquam conqueror auris,
Externata malo, quae nullis sensibus auctae 165
Nec missas audire queunt nec reddere voces?
Ille autem prope iam mediis versatur in undis,
Nec quisquam adparet vacua mortalis in alga.
Sic nimis insultans extremo tempore saeva
Fors etiam nostris invidit questibus aures. 170
Iuppiter omnipotens, utinam ne tempore primo
Gnosia Cecropiae tetigissent litora puppes,
Indomito nec dira ferens stipendia tauro
Perfidus in Creta religasset navita funem,
Nec malus hic celans dulci crudelia forma 175
Consilia in nostris requiesset sedibus hospes!
Nam quo me referam? quali spe perdita nitar?
Idomeneosne petam montes? a, gurgite lato
Discernens ponti truculentum ubi dividit aequor?
An patris auxilium sperem? quemne ipsa reliqui, 180
Respersum iuvenem fraterna caede secuta?
Coniugis an fido consoler memet amore,
Quine fugit lentos incurvans gurgite remos?
Praeterea nullo litus, sola insula, tecto,
Nec patet egressus pelagi cingentibus undis: 185
Nulla fugae ratio, nulla spes: omnia muta,
Omnia sunt deserta, ostentant omnia letum.
Non tamen ante mihi languescent lumina morte,
Nec prius a fesso secedent corpore sensus,
Quam iustam a divis exposcam prodita multam, 190
Caelestumque fidem postrema conprecer hora.
Quare facta virum multantes vindice poena,
Eumenides, quibus anguino redimita capillo
Frons expirantis praeportat pectoris iras,
Huc huc adventate, meas audite querellas, 195
Quas ego vae! misera extremis proferre medullis
Cogor inops, ardens, amenti caeca furore.
