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'sicine me patriis auectam, perfide, ab aris
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132
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"Thus then, having borne me afar from my father's
home,
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perfide, deserto liquisti in litore, Theseu?
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133
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thus hast thou left me, faithless, faithless Theseus,
on the lonely shore?
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sicine discedens neglecto numine diuum,
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134
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thus departing, unmindful of the will of the gods,
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immemor a! deuota domum periuria portas?
|
135
|
forgetful, ah! dost thou carry to thy home the curse
of perjury?
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nullane res potuit crudelis flectere mentis
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136
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could nothing bend the purpose of thy cruel mind?
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consilium? tibi nulla fuit clementia praesto,
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137
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was no mercy present in thy soul,
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immite ut nostri uellet miserescere pectus?
|
138
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to bid thy ruthless heart incline to pity for me?
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at non haec quondam blanda promissa dedisti
|
139
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Not such were the promises thou gavest me once
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uoce mihi, non haec miserae sperare iubebas,
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140
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with winning voice, not this didst thou bid me hope,
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sed conubia laeta, sed optatos hymenaeos,
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141
|
ah me! no, but a joyful wedlock, but a desired espousal;
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quae cuncta aereii discerpunt irrita uenti.
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142
|
all which the winds of Heaven now blow abroad in
vain.
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nunc iam nulla uiro iuranti femina credat,
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143
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Henceforth let no woman believe a man's oath,
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nulla uiri speret sermones esse fideles;
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144
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let none believe that a man's speeches can be trustworthy.
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quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci,
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145
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They, while their mind desires something and longs
eagerly to gain it,
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|
nil metuunt iurare, nihil promittere parcunt:
|
146
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nothing fear to swear, nothing spare to promise;
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sed simul ac cupidae mentis satiata libido est,
|
147
|
but as soon as the lust of their greedy mind is satisfied,
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dicta nihil metuere, nihil periuria curant.
|
148
|
they fear not then their words, they heed not their
perjuries.
|
|
certe ego te in medio uersantem turbine leti
|
149
|
I -- thou knowest it -- when thou wert tossing in
the very whirl of death,
|
|
eripui, et potius germanum amittere creui,
|
150
|
saved thee, and set my heart rather to let my brother
go
|
|
quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore dessem.
|
151
|
than to fail thee, now faithless found, in thy utmost
need.
|
|
pro quo dilaceranda feris dabor alitibusque
|
152
|
And for this I shall be given to beasts and birds
to tear as a prey;
|
|
praeda, neque iniacta tumulabor mortua terra.
|
153
|
my corpse shall have no sepulture, shall be sprinkled
with no earth.
|
|
quaenam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena,
|
154
|
What lioness bore thee under a desert rock?
|
|
quod mare conceptum spumantibus exspuit undis,
|
155
|
what sea conceived thee and vomited thee forth from
its foaming waves?
|
|
quae Syrtis, quae Scylla rapax, quae uasta Carybdis,
|
156
|
what Syrtis, what ravening Scylla, what waste Charybdis
bore thee,
|
|
talia qui reddis pro dulci praemia uita?
|
157
|
who for sweet life returnest such meed as this?
|
|
si tibi non cordi fuerant conubia nostra,
|
158
|
If thou hadst no mind to wed with me
|
|
saeua quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis,
|
159
|
for dread of the harsh bidding of thy stern father,
|
|
attamen in uestras potuisti ducere sedes,
|
160
|
yet thou couldst have led me into thy dwellings
|
|
quae tibi iucundo famularer serua labore,
|
161
|
to serve thee as a slave with labour of love,
|
|
candida permulcens liquidis uestigia lymphis,
|
162
|
laving thy white feet with liquid water,
|
|
purpureaue tuum consternens ueste cubile.
|
163
|
or with purple coverlet spreading thy bed.
|
|
sed quid ego ignaris nequiquam conquerar auris,
|
164
|
" But why should I, distracted with woe, cry in vain
|
|
externata malo, quae nullis sensibus auctae
|
165
|
to the senseless airs-the airs that are endowed with
no feeling,
|
|
nec missas audire queunt nec reddere uoces?
|
166
|
and can neither hear nor return the messages of my
voice?
|
|
ille autem prope iam mediis uersatur in undis,
|
167
|
He meanwhile is now tossing almost in mid-sea,
|
|
nec quisquam apparet uacua mortalis in alga.
|
168
|
and no human being is seen on the waste and weedy
shore.
|
|
sic nimis insultans extremo tempore saeua
|
169
|
Thus fortune too, full of spite, in this my supreme
hour
|
|
fors etiam nostris inuidit questibus auris.
|
170
|
has cruelly grudged all ears to my complaints.
|
|
Iuppiter omnipotens, utinam ne tempore primo
|
171
|
Almighty Jupiter, I would the Attic ships
|
|
Gnosia Cecropiae tetigissent litora puppes,
|
172
|
had never touched Gnosian shores,
|
|
indomito nec dira ferens stipendia tauro
|
173
|
nor ever the faithless voyager, bearing the dreadful
tribute
|
|
perfidus in Cretam religasset nauita funem,
|
174
|
to the savage bull, has fastened his cable in Crete,
|
|
nec malus hic celans dulci crudelia forma
|
175
|
nor that this evil man, hiding cruel designs under
a fair outside,
|
|
consilia in nostris requiesset sedibus hospes!
|
176
|
had reposed in our dwellings as a guest!
|
|
nam quo me referam? quali spe perdita nitor?
|
177
|
For whither shall I return, lost, ah, lost? on what
hope do I lean?
|
|
Idaeosne petam montes? at gurgite lato
|
178
|
shall I seek the mountains of Sidon? how broad the
flood,
|
|
discernens ponti truculentum diuidit aequor.
|
179
|
how savage the tract of sea which divides them from
me!
|
|
an patris auxilium sperem? quemne ipsa reliqui
|
180
|
Shall I hope for the aid of my father? -- whom I
deserted of my own will,
|
|
respersum iuuenem fraterna caede secuta?
|
181
|
to follow a lover dabbled with my brother's blood!
|
|
coniugis an fido consoler memet amore?
|
182
|
Or shall I console myself with the faithful love
of my spouse,
|
|
quine fugit lentos incuruans gurgite remos?
|
183
|
who is flying from me, bending his tough oars in
the wave?
|
|
praeterea nullo colitur sola insula tecto,
|
184
|
and here too is naught but the shore, with never
a house, a desert island;
|
|
nec patet egressus pelagi cingentibus undis.
|
185
|
no way to depart opens for me; about me are the waters
of the sea;
|
|
nulla fugae ratio, nulla spes: omnia muta,
|
186
|
no means of flight, no hope; all is dumb,
|
|
omnia sunt deserta, ostentant omnia letum.
|
187
|
all is desolate; all shows me the face of death.
|
|
non tamen ante mihi languescent lumina morte,
|
188
|
Yet my eyes shall not grow faint in death,
|
|
nec prius a fesso secedent corpore sensus,
|
189
|
nor shall the sense fail from my wearied body,
|
|
quam iustam a diuis exposcam prodita multam
|
190
|
before I demand from the gods just vengeance for
my betrayal,
|
|
caelestumque fidem postrema comprecer hora.
|
191
|
and call upon the faith of the heavenly ones in my
last hour.
|
|
quare facta uirum multantes uindice poena
|
192
|
Therefore, O ye that visit the deeds of men with
vengeful pains,
|
|
Eumenides, quibus anguino redimita capillo
|
193
|
ye Eumenides, whose foreheads bound with snaky hair
|
|
frons exspirantis praeportat pectoris iras,
|
194
|
announce the wrath which breathes from your breast,
|
|
huc huc aduentate, meas audite querellas,
|
195
|
hither, bither haste, hear my complaints
|
|
quas ego, uae misera, extremis proferre medullis
|
196
|
which I (ah, unhappy!) bring forth from my inmost
heart
|
|
cogor inops, ardens, amenti caeca furore.
|
197
|
perforce, helpless, burning, blinded with raging
frenzy.
|
|
quae quoniam uerae nascuntur pectore ab imo,
|
198
|
For since my woes come truthfully from the depths
of my heart,
|
|
uos nolite pati nostrum uanescere luctum,
|
199
|
suffer not ye my grief to come to nothing:
|
|
sed quali solam Theseus me mente reliquit,
|
200
|
but even as Theseus had the heart to leave me desolate,
|
|
tali mente, deae, funestet seque suosque.'
|
201
|
with such a heart, ye goddesses, may he bring ruin
upon himself and his own!"
|