Something Else Again Part 3

But Love has double-crossed me. How can Beauty be so fair?

The grace of her, the face of her--and oh, her yellow hair!

And oh, the wondrous walk of her! So doth a G.o.ddess glide.

Jove's sister--ay, or Pallas--hath no statelier a stride.

Fair as Ischomache herself, the Lapithanian maid; Or Brimo when at Mercury's side her virgin form she laid.

Surrender now, ye G.o.ddesses whom erst the shepherd spied!

Upon the heights of Ida lay your vest.i.tures aside!

And though she reach the countless years of the c.u.maean Sibyl, May never, never Age at those delightful features nibble!

II

I thought that I was wholly free, That I had Love upon the shelf; "Hereafter," I declared in glee, "I'll have my evenings to myself."

How can such mortal beauty live?

(Ah, Jove, thine errings I forgive!)

Her tresses pale the sunlight's gold; Her hands are featly formed, and taper; Her--well, the rest ought not be told In any modest family paper.

Fair as Ischomache, and bright As Brimo. _Quaeque_ queen is right.

O G.o.ddesses of long ago, A shepherd called ye sweet and slender.

He saw ye, so he ought to know; But sooth, to her ye must surrender.

O may a million years not trace A single line upon that face!

Propertius's Bid for Immortality

Book III, Ode 3

_"Carminis interea nostri redaemus in orbem----"_

Let us return, then, for a time, To our accustomed round of rhyme; And let my songs' familiar art Not fail to move my lady's heart.

They say that Orpheus with his lute Had power to tame the wildest brute; That "Variations on a Theme"

Of his would stay the swiftest stream.

They say that by the minstrel's song Cithaeron's rocks were moved along To Thebes, where, as you may recall, They formed themselves to frame a wall.

And Galatea, lovely maid, Beneath wild Etna's fastness stayed Her horses, dripping with the mere, Those Polypheman songs to hear.

What marvel, then, since Bacchus and Apollo grasp me by the hand, That all the maidens you have heard Should hang upon my slightest word?

Taenerian columns in my home Are not; nor any golden dome; No parks have I, nor Marcian spring, Nor orchards--nay, nor anything.

The Muses, though, are friends of mine; Some readers love my lyric line; And never is Calliope Awearied by my poetry.

O happy she whose meed of praise Hath fallen upon my sheaf of lays!

And every song of mine is sent To be thy beauty's monument.

The Pyramids that point the sky, The House of Jove that soars so high, Mausolus' tomb--they are not free From Death his final penalty.

For fire or rain shall steal away The crumbling glory of their day; But fame for wit can never die, And gos.h.!.+ I was a gay old guy!

A Lament

Propertius: Book II, Elegy 8

_"Eripitur n.o.bis iam pridem cara puella----"_

While she I loved is being torn From arms that held her many years, Dost thou regard me, friend, with scorn, Or seek to check my tears?

Bitter the hatred for a jilt, And hot the hates of Eros are; My hatred, slay me an thou wilt, For thee'd be gentler far.

Can I endure that she recline Upon another's arm? Shall they No longer call that lady "mine"

Who "mine" was yesterday?

For Love is fleeting as the hours.

The town of Thebes is draped with moss, And Ilium's well-known topless towers Are now a total loss.

Fell Thebes and Troy; and in the grave Have fallen lords of high degree.

What songs I sang! What gifts I gave!

... _She_ never fell for me.

Bon Voyage--and Vice Versa

Propertius: Elegy VIII, Part 1

_"Tune igitur demens, nec te mea cura moratur?"_

O Cynthia, hast thou lost thy mind?

Have I no claim on thine affection?

Dost love the chill Illyrian wind With something pa.s.sing predilection?

And is thy friend--whoe'er he be-- The kind to take the place of _me_?

Ah, canst thou bear the surging deep?

Canst thou endure the hard s.h.i.+p's-mattress?

For scant will be thy hours of sleep From Staten Island to Cape Hatt'ras; And won't thy fairy feet be froze With treading on the foreign snows?