It recently happened that
the breakup of a relationship of a celebrity couple was big news here. My
newspaper has no show news (it is a serious newspaper!) and I was barely aware
of their existence, let alone their relationship. A divorce though can be an
inspiration for literature or in a fictional relationship it gives the writer a
good excuse for emotional firework. That is exactly what happens here: it has
finally dawned to Propertius that his relationship with Cynthia is disastrous
and he is leaving her with an accompaniment of curses. It must have relieved
him.
Propertius 3.25
Risus eram positis inter convivia mensis,
et de me poterat quilibet esse
loquax.
quinque tibi potui servire fideliter annos:
ungue meam morso saepe querere
fidem.
nil moveor lacrimis: ista
sum captus ab arte;
semper ab insidiis, Cynthia, flere soles.
flebo ego discedens, sed
fletum iniuria vincit:
tu bene conveniens non sinis ire iugum.
limina iam nostris valeant lacrimantia verbis,
nec tamen irata ianua fracta
manu.
at te celatis aetas gravis urgeat annis,
et veniat formae ruga sinistra tuae!
vellere tum cupias albos a stirpe capillos,
iam speculo rugas increpitante
tibi,
exclusa inque vicem fastus patiare superbos,
et quae fecisti facta queraris
anus!
has tibi fatalis cecinit
mea pagina diras:
eventum formae disce timere tuae!
convivium: guests
at a dinner, dinner company
positis mensis:
at the (well) arranged tables
loquax, acis; gossiping
quinque annos:
i.e. since book 1 of the elegies had been published (Cynthia is first of all a fictional
character.)
ungue morso:
with bitten nail (mordeo momordi morsum)
querere = quereris: you shall grieve (queror questus)
arte: `trick’
ab insidiis:
insidiously
flebo…vincit:
breaking up will hurt Propertius too (note the emphatic ego, but the injustice done to him is stronger
bene conveniens:
happily married/ living together
ire iugum:
the yoke (of love) to move (further)
limina valeant:
farewell threshold
lacrimantia:
wet from tears
irata manu:
with angry fist (though his words were full of tears, Propertius poetic ego controlled
himself and he did not smash the door to pieces)
urgeat: the
first of the subjunctives expressing curses (may the burden of old age press
upon you!)
celatis annis:
with its hidden years (i.e. spent in loneliness; to be connected with gravis aetas)
forma:
beauty
ruga:
wrinkle
vello (-ere): to tear out
a stirpe: from
the root
capillus:
hair
iam: some editions
have ah
speculum:
mirror
increpito:
to harass, scold (the mirror is confronting you with your wrinkles)
exclusa:
rejected
in vicem: in
turn
fastus superbos:
haughty arrogance
patior passus: to suffer (patiare = patiaris)
quae facta fecisti
anus (f.):
old woman
has fatalis
(= fatales) diras: these dire fates
pagina:
page, poem
cano cecini
(-ere): prophesy
eventus, us
(m.): outcome, fate
Translation by A.S. Kline
(2002, 2008)
I was laughed at among the
guests seated for the banquet, and whoever wished was able to gossip of me. I
managed to serve you faithfully for five years: you’ll often grieve for my
loyalty with bitten nails.
Tears have no effect on
me: I was ensnared by those wiles: Cynthia you only ever wept with guile. I
will weep, in departing, but insult overcomes tears: you would not allow the
yoke to move in harmony.
Now goodbye to the
threshold weeping at my words: to the entrance never hurt by my hand in anger.
But let age’s weight burden you with secret years and luckless lines furrow
your features! May you long then to tear out your white hairs by their roots,
ah, when the mirror rebukes you with your wrinkles, and may you in turn,
rejected, suffer proud arrogance, and, changed to an old woman, regret your
deeds!
These are the dread events
my pages prophesy: learn to fear the fate of your beauty!
