This
vigor lasted to the very end, and was not broken by the length of her
illness or by the fear of death; so leaving, alas! to us yet more and
weightier reasons for our grief and our regret. Oh the sadness, the
bitterness of that death! Oh the cruelty of the time when we lost her,
worse even than the loss itself! She had been betrothed to a noble
youth; the marriage day had been fixed, and we had been invited. How
great a joy changed into how great a sorrow! I cannot express in words
how it went to my heart when I heard Fundanus himself (this is one of
the grievous experiences of sorrow) giving orders that what he had meant
to lay out on dresses, and pearls, and jewels, should be spent on
incense, unguents, and spices.
--Tr. Alfred J. Church
TO LESBIA'S SPARROW
Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque,
Et quantumst hominum venustiorum.
Passer mortuus est meae puellae,
Passer, deliciae meae puellae,
Quem plus illa oculis suis amabat:
Nam mellitus erat suamque norat
Ipsa tam bene quam puella matrem,
Nec sese a gremio illius movebat,
Sed circumsiliens modo huc modo illuc
Ad solam dominam usque pipiabat.
Qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum
Illuc unde negant redire quemquam.
At vobis male sit, malae tenebrae
Orci, quae omnia bella devoratis:
Tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis.
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