TANDEM VENIT AMOR ... | LOVE PROCLAIMED |
Sulpicia | tr. A. S. Kline |
Tandem venit amor, qualem texisse pudori quam nudasse alicui sit mihi fama magis. Exorata meis illum Cytherea Camenis adtulit in nostrum deposuitque sinum. Exsolvit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret, dicetur siquis non habuisse sua. Non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis, ne legat id nemo quam meus ante, velim, sed peccasse iuvat, vultus conponere famae taedet: cum digno digna fuisse ferar |
Love has come at last, such love that to hide it in shame would be worse than being spoken of for showing it. Won over by my Muse, Venus of Cythera, brought him, and placed him here in my arms. Venus fulfils what she promised: let my joy be told, spoken by him who has no joy of his own. I wouldn’t want to order any of my letters sealed so that none can read them before my lover does. I delight in my sin: I loathe composing my looks for public opinion: let them declare worth meets worth. |
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Transl. Copyright © A. S. Kline