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. Oh ! that thy mind we in thy face did view,
  2. Less lovely that thou wert, or else more true.
  3. How diffrent are thy manners and thy sight!
  4. Thy deeds forbid us and thy eyes invite.
  5. Thy actions shock us, and thy beauty moves,
  6. And he who hates thy faults, thy person loves.
  7. Happy, ah ! ever happy should I be,
  8. If I no charms or no defects could see.
  9. Thee I conjure by all our past delights,
  10. Our cheerful days and our transporting nights,
  11. By all the imprecated gods above,
  12. To whom thou art forsworn, but most by Love,
  13. By thy fair face, which I as much adore
  14. As all those gods, and own as much its pow'r,
  15. Forgive me this offence, and I'll offend no more.
  16. Be what thou wilt, thy humour good or ill,
  17. I'll love thee, thou shalt be my mistress still
  18. Ah, let my passion ever favour find,
  19. Or be it with, or be't against my mind,
  20. But rather let me sail before the wind.