Extant Works

And the honor of his lineage vied; I received him falling
To the earth, and cherished him in my bosom. Nor did my hand,
My son, cease to adorn his neck and cheeks, nor to comb
His hair with rich amomum an aromatic spice. A sweet image
Sprang forth for me. Look from afar at the honors of his lofty brow,
And the elevation of his hair. Measure how much further
He rises above the Latin mothers, as much as the daughter of Latona Diana
Surpasses the Nymphs, and as much as I myself excel the Nereids.
120 With this man, it was fitting for me to arise from the azure
Waves, and he was able to sit in my shell.
And if he had been able to climb the flame-bearing seats
the heavens, and to enter those homes, you yourselves, O Loves Cupid's companions, would have wandered.
Although bountiful gifts have granted him blessed senses,
He conquers riches in spirit. Already the greedy Seres the Chinese are sought
To despoil the Augustan grove, and for the Clymenian related to Phaethon
Shoots to be lacking, nor do the green sisters the Heliades weep enough.
Already few fleeces redden with Sidonian dye.
And rare crystals are frozen from long-lived snows.
130 For him, the Hermus and the Tagus run down with tawny silt.
(Nor is this enough for his refinements) for him I ordered Glaucus
And Proteus, and every Nereid to search.
If you had seen him through the fields of Thessaly, O Phoebe Diana,
Daphne would have wandered safely. On the shore of Naxos,
Near him, would this man have been seen in a bed,
And the fugitive would have left the deserted daughter of Gnossus Ariadne and Euan Bacchus.
And if Juno had not appeased me with long complaints,
The Ruler Jupiter would have taken on false wings and horns in the ether,
And would have fallen to this man in true gold.
140 But it will be given to the youth, to whom you, my supreme power,