Book II, Elegy 32

Who sees thee sins: he then that hath not seen thee will not desire thee: 'tis the eyes must bear the blame. Else why at Praeneste seekst thou oracles of double import? Why seekst thou the walls of Aeaean Telegonus? Why does thy chariot bear thee so oft to Herculean Tibur? Why so oft does the Appian Way lead thee to Lanuvium?

Ah that thou wouldst walk here in all thine hours of leisure! but the world forbids me trust thee, when it beholds thee hurry in frenzy with kindled torches to the Arician grove, and bear lights in honour of the goddess Trivia. Forsooth, thou carest naught for Pompey's colonnade, with its shady columns, bright-hung with gold-embroidered curtains; naught for the avenue thick-planted with plane-trees rising in trim rows; nor the waters that flow from Maro's slumbering form and run, their Naiads babbling through all the streets of Rome, till at the last, with sudden plunge, they vanish in the Triton's mouth.

Thou deceiv'st thyself; thy wanderings reveal some secret passion; 'tis not the city, 'tis my eyes thou flyest. Thou strivest in vain; empty are the wiles thou spinnest against me; with little skill thou spreadst familiar snares for me, whom experience has taught. But for myself it matters little; the loss of thine honest name will be no less great than it deserves to be. For of late rumour spake ill of thee in mine ears, and a tale of evil ran through all the city.

And yet thou shouldst not trust these bitter words; scandal has ever been the doom of beauty. Thine honour has ne'er been blasted by the crime of poisoning; thou, Phoebus, wilt bear witness that her hands are unsullied. And if thou hast spent one night or two in long-drawn wantoning, such petty crimes vex me not a whit. The daughter of Tyndareus left her fatherland for the love of a stranger, and yet was brought home alive without condemnation. Venus herself is said to have been seduced by the lust of Mars, yet none the less had she honour alway in heaven. Though Ida's mount tell how a goddess, loved the shepherd Paris, and lay with him among his flocks, yet all this the band of sister Hamadryads beheld, and the old Sileni and the father of their company himself; and with them thou, Naiad, didst gather in the glens of Ida wild apples falling to thy hand upstretched beneath the boughs.

After a host of sinners such as these does any ask: "Why is she so rich?" "Who gave? Whence came his gifts?" O Rome in these our days, thy happiness is full to overflowing, if one girl act not as her fellows do. All these things did Lesbia before Cynthia, wherefore Lesbia's follower is of a surety less hateful. He that hopes still to find the ancient Tatii, and the strict Sabine, has but lately set foot in our city. Sooner shalt thou have power to dry the waters of the deep and pluck down the lofty stars with mortal hand, than bring it to pass that our maids should refuse to sin. Such was the fashion in the reign of Saturn, and when Deucalion's waves overflowed the world; but after Deucalion's flood in the days of old, tell me, who was ever able to keep his bed chaste, what goddess could ever bide alone with one god only? The wife of great Minos, once, 'tis said, was seduced by the snowy form of a fierce bull, nor was Danae girt in her tower of bronze less unable to keep her chastity and deny mighty Jove. But if thou hast taken the women of Greece and of Rome for patterns, live ever in freedom; I blame thee not.