Nor yet abruptly should you leave the fair
And, like Ulysses, drive them to despair:
1
To no such violent methods I'll advise,
Nor aid a lover while his mistress dies.
I mean not Cupid's purple wings to clip,
775
Nor break his bow, or feather'd arrows strip.
The counsels that I gave are just and true,
Do you as faithfully my rules pursue.
Phoebus, to thee once more for aid I run;
Assist me, as thou hast already done.
780
He comes, he comes, he'll instantly appear,
His quiver, and his sounding harp I hear,
2
Both signs most certain that the god is near.
Compare your bastard scarlet with the right,
3
The difference will appear, though both are bright.
785
Your charmer so by first rate beauties place,
And her defects by brighter lustre trace.
Pallas was tall and graceful, sternly fair,
And Juno carried a majestic air;
Singly they pleas'd, and by each other charm'd,
790
But both by Venus' presence were disarm'd.
4
Nor manhood yet must you so far disgrace
As to become the vassal of a face,
Nor to mere beauty your devotion pay;
Her breeding, humor, and her manners weigh;
795
But in the scale of an impartial mind,
Or inclination will your judgment blind.
Remedia amoris. P. Ovidius Naso. New York. 1855.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.