#LatinForTheDay - 11 April

"at tu finge elegos, pellax opus (haec tua castra!),
scribat ut exemplo cetera turba tuo.
militiam Veneris blandis patiere sub armis,
et Veneris pueris utilis hostis eris.
nam tibi victricis quascumque labore parasti...

"eludet palmas una puella tuas:
illius arbitrio noctem lucemque videbis;
gutta quoque ex oculis non nisi iussa cadet.
et bene cum fixum mento decusseris uncum,
nil erit hoc: rostro te premet ansa tuo."

Propertius, Elegies 4.1b.135-144

'You'll pen elegies - an intoxicating task: this is your station.
The rest of the poetic mob will follow your lead.
You'll serve under the banners of tender Venus and
Venus' boys will draw down on you as their foe.
But whatever conquests you earn from your service...

'One girl will mock your victories.
At her command you'll see both darkness and daylight;
Not even a single tear will roll from your eye if not at her command.
Even if you shake her snagged lure from your mouth,
It'll not help: she has you hook, line, and sinker.'

The last instalment of Propertius for these Latin threads! Tacitus lands tomorrow!

The Image at the head of this thread is 'In the Tepidarium' by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1881 (Lady Lever Art Gallery).

#LatinForTheDay