The Amores is Ovid’s first published series of
poems and it made him instantly famous. In this cycle of three books Ovid describes his love for
Corinna, a young upper-class, married girl. This makes the relationship rather
complicated and messages must be given through servants. In the following poem
Ovid asks Nape, a servant of Corinna, to deliver a message written on a wax
tablet to his object of love. He wants immediately an answer back as he hopes
to spend the night with her. At first he wants the tablet fully written back,
but then he realises that it might be to burdensome for Corinna and a simple
`veni’ `come’ is enough. Certain of a positive answer he concludes by saying
that he will place these tablets in the temple of Venus and dedicate these faithful
servants (fidas ministras) to himself.
Yes, these very tablets who were just
before cheap maple-tree wood!
As the Amores is a cycle of related poems it is
a bit unfair to pick out just one as if one reads just one chapter of a book
without knowing what happened before or how the story will end. It reminds me of LP records or cd’s with the
100 most loved pieces of classical music: the openings choir of the Bach’s
Matthew Passion is followed by the adagio of Rachmaninoff’s second piano
concerto and then an aria from Die Zauberflöte etc. These are pieces of music –
though beautiful in themselves – without context. From the next poem we know
that Corinna was too busy to receive Ovid… And the tablets? Use them for funereal firewood!
Ovid is
very much a tongue in cheek writer with lots of self-mockery and this Corinna
is in all likelihood just a poetic construct and not a reflection of a real
love-affair.
Ovid, Amores book 1 XI
Colligere
incertos et in ordine ponere crines
docta neque ancillas inter habenda Nape,
inque
ministeriis furtivae cognita noctis
utilis et dandis ingeniosa notis
saepe
venire ad me dubitantem hortata Corinnam, 5
saepe laboranti fida reperta mihi—
accipe
et ad dominam peraratas mane tabellas
perfer et obstantes sedula pelle moras!
nec
silicum venae nec durum in pectore ferrum,
nec tibi simplicitas ordine maior
adest. 10
credibile
est et te sensisse Cupidinis arcus—
in me militiae signa tuere tuae!
si
quaeret quid agam, spe noctis vivere dices;
cetera fert blanda cera notata manu.
Dum
loquor, hora fugit. vacuae bene redde tabellas, 15
verum continuo fac tamen illa legat.
adspicias
oculos mando frontemque legentis;
et tacito vultu scire futura licet.
nec
mora, perlectis rescribat multa, iubeto;
odi, cum late splendida cera vacat. 20
conprimat
ordinibus versus, oculosque moretur
margine in extremo littera rasa meos.
Quid
digitos opus est graphio lassare tenendo?
hoc habeat scriptum tota tabella 'veni!'
non ego
victrices lauro redimire tabellas
25
nec Veneris media ponere in aede
morer.
subscribam: 'VENERI FIDAS SIBI NASO MINISTRAS
DEDICAT, AT NUPER VILE FUISTIS ACER.'
1-6 is a
flattering vocative: you Nape, who etc. In line 7 there is finally the verb accipe
She is docta colligere incertos crin es:
skilful in binding up loose hanging hair (of Corinna) and making a beautiful coiffure.
inter habenda: to be reckoned amongst
cognitus: approved, tested
furtivus: stealthy
nota: message
saepe venire ad me dubitantem hortata Corinnam = saepe hortata Corinnam dubitantem ad me venire
laboranti fida reperta mihi: found trustful for me being
troubled
peratas tabellas: written tablets (peraro: to furrow, also to `furrow’i.e. to write a wax tablet)
mane: (this) morning (probably referring to when the tabellae were written, not to the
delivery.)
sedulus : persistent
pello pepuli pulsum: to
expel
mora: delay, hindrance
silicum venae: veins of flint (i.e. Nape, don’t be heartless!)
simplicitas ordine maior: i.e. for your position (ordo) you must have some intelligence to
understand that it is urgent!
te sensisse Cupidinis arcus: i.e. she too must have been in
love
in me: for the sake of me
tueor tuitus sum: to defend
militiae signa: love is often compared to a military campaign
(me) spe
noctis vivere: that I live in the
hope of spending the night with her
blanda
cera: the flattering wax
vacuae: i.e. when she has a spare moment
continuo: immediately
adspicias mando: I bid you to look at
scire futura licet: it is possible to know the coming things from
perlectis (tabellis)
rescribat multa, iubeto: when the tablets have been read through,
order her to write many thing back (note that iubeto is a formal imperative.)
late
vacat: is widely
splendida: not `splendid’ but `shining’
conprimat: Corinna
ordinibus versus: i.e. to write as small as possible
moretur littera rasa:
let an erased letter detain (rasa
can either mean `scratched, inscribed’ or `erased’(but still legible). I opt
for the last interpretation .)
quid opus est: what is the use of
graphium: writing-style
non...nec...morer
victrix vitricis (f.) : (female) victor (the tablets as
voictors)
redimio: to crown
media in aede = in
media aede: in the middle of the temple
moror moratus sum: to hesitate, delay
acer aceris (n.): (wood of the) maple-tree
Translation
by Cristopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593)
In
skilfull gathering ruffled haires in order,
Nape
free-borne, whose cunning hath no border,
Thy
service for nights scapes is knowne commodious
And to
give signes dull wit to thee is odious.
Corinna
clips me oft by thy perswasion,
Never to
harme me made thy faith evasion.
Receive
these lines, them to my Mistrisse carry,
Be
sedulous, let no stay cause thee tarry.
Nor
flint, nor iron, are in thy soft brest
But pure
simplicity in thee doth rest.
And tis
suppos'd Loves bowe hath wounded thee,
Defend
the ensignes of thy warre in mee.
If, what
I do, she askes, say hope for night,
The rest
my hand doth in my letters write.
Time
passeth while I speake, give her my writ
But see
that forth-with shee peruseth it.
I charge
thee marke her eyes and front in reading,
By
speechiesse lookes we guesse at things succeeding.
Straight
being read, will her to write much backe,
I hate
faire Paper should writte matter lacke.
Let her
make verses, and some blotted letter
On the
last edge to stay mine eyes the better.
What
neede she tyre her hand to hold the quill,
Let this
word, come, alone the tables fill.
Then
with triumphant laurell will I grace them
And in
the midst of Venus temple place them.
Subscribing
that to her I consecrate
My
faithfull tables being vile maple late.
Translation
by A.S. Klyne (2001) (Great that this industrious translator has put so many of
his translations on line!)
Book I
Elegy XI: His Note to Her
Skilled at gathering unruly hair and setting
it in place
Nape’s
not just an ordinary lady’s maid,
she’s
known to be useful in the secret service
of
night: clever at carrying messages between us:
often
exhorting a hesitant Corinna to come:
often
faithfully labouring to find things out for me –
here
take these wax tablets by hand to my lady
and be
sure to avoid obstructions and delay!
There’s
no stony vein or harsh metal in your breast,
older than
the others, there’s no foolishness in you.
It’s
easy to believe that you’ve felt Cupid’s arrows –
see the
traces of your battles in me!
If she
asks how I am, say I live in hope at night:
you’ll
carry the rest in your hand, flattering waxen words.
While I
speak, time flies. Give her them when she’s free,
Make
sure though that she reads them straight away.
Watch
her eyes and brow as she chews them over:
and know
that a silent face may show the future.
When
she’s read it I need a long reply, and no delay:
I hate
it when the clear wax is mostly empty.
Let her
squeeze the lines in ranks, and hold my eyes
with
letters that graze the edges of the margins.
Why
should she weary her fingers holding a pen?
One word can take up the whole tablet: ‘Come!’
I won’t
hesitate to wreathe the victorious tablets with laurel
and set
them up in the centre of Venus’s temple.
I’ll
write: ‘Naso dedicates these loyal servants to Venus,
these
tabets that till now were worthless maple-wood.’
The
complete translation of book 1:
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