ODES - III.9 ODES - III.9
Horace (Q. Horatius Flaccus) trans. Colin Sydenham
....."Donec gratus eram tibi
nec quisquam potior bracchia candidae
.....cervici iuvenis dabat,
Persarum vigui rege beatior."

....."donec non alia magis
arsisti neque erat Lydia post Chloen,
.....multi Lydia nominis
Romana vigui clarior Ilia."

....."me nunc Thraessa Chloe regit,
dulcis docta modos et citharae sciens,
.....pro qua non metuam mori,
si parcent animae fata superstiti."

....."me torret face mutua
Thurini Calais filius Ornyti,
.....pro quo bis patiar mori,
si parcent puero fata superstiti."

....."quid si prisca redit Venus
diductosque iugo cogit aeneo,
.....si flava excutitur Chloe
reiectaeque patet ianua Lydiae?"

....."quamquam sidere pulchrior
ille est, tu levior cortice et improbo
.....iracundior Hadria,
tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens."
 ....."While I was still your favourite, and
no rival round your snowy neck could fling
.....his arms, my fortune prospered more
than all the treasure of the Persian king."

....."While you loved no-one more than me,
and Lydia’s overshadowed Chloe’s name,
.....my reputation prospered more
than even Roman Ilia's acclaim."

....."Now Thracian Chloe is my queen,
an expert in sweet verses and the lyre;
.....to save her life I shall not shrink
from death myself, if so the Fates require."

....."For Calaïs from Thurii
with well-requited passion I’m on fire;
.....to save his life I shall embrace
my death twice over, if the Fates require."

....."What if the former love returns,
to link the sundered pair with brazen chain?
.....If fair-haired Chloe is shut out,
and jilted Lydia free to call again?"

....."Though he is handsome as a star,
and you as sullen as a stormy sky
.....and fickle as a bobbing cork,
with you I'd gladly live and gladly die."
Transl. copyright © Colin Sydenham 2006 







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