Horace,

Carmina 3.9

“Dōnec grātus eram tibi

nec quisquam potior bracchia candidae

cervīcī iuvenis dabat,

Persārum viguī rēge beātior”.

“Dōnec non aliā magis 

arsistī neque erat Lydia post Chloēn,

multī Lydia nōminis

Rōmānā viguī clārior Īliā”.

“Mē nunc Thressa Chloē regit,

dulcēs docta modōs et citharae sciens,

prō quā nōn metuam morī,

sī parcent animae fāta superstitī”.

“Mē torret face mūtuā

Thūrīnī Calais fīlius Ornytī,

prō quō bis patiar morī, 

sī parcent puerō fāta superstitī".

"Quid sī prisca redit Venus

dīductōsque iugō cōgit aēneō,

sī flāva excutitur Chloē

reiectaeque patet iānua Lydiae?" 

"Quamquam sīdere pulchrior

ille est, tū levior cortice et improbō

īrācundior Hādriā,

tēcum vīvere amem, tēcum obeam libens".

“So long as I pleased you and no other young man was more welcome to put his arms round your pale neck, I thrived, happier than the king of the Persians”.

“So long as you burned more fiercely for no other girl, and Lydia was not of less regard than Chloe, I thrived, Lydia of great renown, more famous than Roman Ilia”.

“Thracian Chloe rules me now, learned in sweet rhythms and skilled in lyre-playing; for her I will not fear to die, if the fates spare her soul and let it live”.

“Calais, the son of Ornytus of Thurii, roasts me with a torch which burns us both; for him I will endure to die twice over, if the fates spare the boy and let him live”.

“What if our former love returns and grips us with a yoke of bronze although we have been separated, if my love for blonde Chloe is dispelled, and the door lies open for Lydia whom I once rejected?”

“Although he is more handsome than a star, and you are lighter than cork, and more quick-tempered than the cruel Adriatic, I would love to live with you, I would gladly die with you”.

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