Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

BOOK NINE

* XL
NUPTIAL FA1 I OURS
WHEN Diodorus sailed from Egypt's shore
His prize to take at Rome, Philaenis swore,
If he returned, she'ld give him that sweet kiss
Which even Sabine matrons know is bliss.
His ship was wrecked, but through the raging main
He swam to land her promise to obtain.
Yet even so he seems a laggard spouse:
I'ld ne'er embark if my girl made such vows.
XLI
PONTICE, quod numquam futuis, sed paelice laeua
Uteris et Veneri seruit amica manus,
Hoc nihil esse putas? Scelus est, mihi crede, sed ingens,
Quantum uix animo concipis ipse tuo.
Nempe semel futuit, generaret Horatius ut tres;
Mars semel, ut geminos Ilia casta daret.
Omnia perdiderat si masturbatus uterque
Mandasset manibus gaudia foeda suis.
Ipsam crede tibi naturam dicere rerum
' Istud quod digitis, Pontice, perdis, homo est.'
XLI I
FOR STELLA, THAT HE MA Y GAIN THE
CONSULSHIP
FOR ever may Myrina's wealth be thine,
Phoebus, and swan-song give thee joy divine,
The Muses do thy will in loyal truth,
Thy Pythian priestess ever say thy sooth,
And may the Palace-glory far above
These lesser joys-still worship thee and love,
If thou wilt ask and Caesar grant thy plea,
The fasces for my Stella; then to thee
Will I, thy debtor, build an altar fair
With rustic greenery, and offer there
A yearling steer bedecked with gilded horn;
Delay no more, he is already born.
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