Rose Garland: Translations from
Callimachus, Horace, Martial

Margaret Graver

Callimachus, Ep. 4

To Catch a Thief

At first, the wounded stranger gave no sign
of his condition. Ah, but that painful breath,
drawn through his heart, just as he drained his wine
the third time - did you notice? - and his wreath,
(rose-leaves all dropping, wilted long ago)
told it: somewhere, this man was badly burned.
A wild conjecture? No, by god, I know
the traces. Being a thief myself, I've learned.

Horace, Ode 1.38

Persicos odi, puer, apparatus
displicent nexae philyra coronae
mitte sectari rosa quo locorum
sera moretur.

Simplici myrto nihil allabores
sedulus curo. neque te ministrum
dedecet myrtus neque me sub arta
vite bibentem.

The Myrtle and the Rose

Youth, I despise the Persic state:
your fine-wove garlands fail to please;
cease to frequent the spots where rose-
trees blossom late.

Simple, unworked, the myrtle's all
my anxious care - love's myrtle shames
not you, the pourer, nor me drinking where
vines close above.

Martial 7.89

I, felix rosa, mollibusque sertis
nostri cinge comas Apollinaris;
quas tu nectere candidas, sed olim,
sic te semper amet Venus, memento.

 

Age in Love

Go, lucky rose; garland the fair
Apollinaris' gleaming hair
with gentle touch. And when the gleam
grows silver, as it will in time,
bind him again - and so renew
the love that Venus keeps for you.

 

[Return to Contents]