Amores

Ovid

Ovid. Ovid's Art of Love (in three Books), the Remedy of Love, the Art of Beauty, the Court of Love, the History of Love, and Amours. Dryden, John, et al., translator. New York: Calvin Blanchard, 1855.

  1. Thus when with soaring wings I seek renown,
  2. Thou pluck'st my pinions, and I flutter down.
  3. Could I on such mean thoughts my muse employ,
  4. I want a mistress, or a blooming boy."
  5. Thus I complain'd; his bow the stripling bent,
  6. And chose an arrow fit for his intent.
  7. The shaft his purpose fatally pursues;
  8. " Now, poet, there's a subject for thy muse,"
  9. He said: (too well, alas, he knows his trade,)
  10. For in my breast a mortal wound he made.
  11. Far hence ye proud Hexameters remove,
  12. My verse is pac'd, and tramell'd into love.
  13. With myrtle wreaths my thoughtful brows enclose,
  14. While in unequal verse I sing my woes.