ACME AND SEPTIMIUS, OR THE

ENTIRE AFFECTION.

FROM CATULLUS.-CARMEN XLV.

'OH, Acme love!' Septimius cried,
As on his lap he held his bride,-
• If all my heart is not for thee,
And doats not on thee desperately,
And if it doat not more and more,
As desperate heart ne'er did before,

ACMEŃ Septimius, suos amores,

Tenens in gremio, Mea,' inquit, Acme,

Ni te perdite amo, atque amare porro
Omnes sum assidue paratus annos,

Quantum qui pote plurimum perire,

May I be doom'd, on desert ground,
To meet the lion in his round!"*

He said; and Love, on tiptoe near him,
Kind at last, and come to cheer him, †
Clapp'd his little hands to hear him.

* The ancients believed, that perjured persons were particularly liable to encounter wild beasts.

+ It has been supposed, that the passage here, which is rather obscurely expressed in the original, at least to modern apprehensions, alludes to some difficulties, with which the lovers had met, and which had hitherto prevented their union.

Solus in Libya, Indiave tosta,

Casio veniam obvius leoni.'

Hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistram ut ante,
Dextram sternuit, approbationem.

But Acme to the bending youth

Just dropping back that rosy mouth,
Kiss'd his reeling, hovering eyes,

And O my life, my love!' replies,
'So may our constant service be
To this one only Deity,

As with a transport doubly true

He thrills your Acme's being through !'

She said; and Love, on tiptoe near her,
Kind at last, and come to cheer her,
Clapp'd his little hands to hear her.

At Acme, leviter caput reflectens,
Et dulcis pueri ebrios ocellos
Illo purpureo ore suaviata,

Sic,' inquit,mea vita, Septimille,
Huic uno domino usque serviamus,
Ut multo mihi major acriorque

Ignis mollibus ardet in medullis.

Hoc ut dixit, Amor sinistram ut ante,

Dextram sternuit approbationem.

Favour'd thus by heav'n above,
Their lives are one return of love;
For he, poor fellow, so possess'd,
Is richer than with East and West,-
And she, in her enamour'd boy,
Finds all that she can frame of joy.

Now who has seen, in Love's subjection,

Two more blest in their connection,

Or a more entire affection?

Nunc ab auspicio bono profecti,
Mutuis animis amant, amantur.
Unam Septimius misellus Acmen
Mavolt quam Syrias Britanniasque ;
Uno in Septimio fidelis Acme

Facit delicias libidinesque.

Quis ullos homines beatiores

Vidit? Quis Venerem auspicatiorem?

HORACE TO PYRRHA.

ODE V. LIB. I.

PYRRHA, what ardent stripling now,
In one of thy embower'd retreats,
Would press thee to indulge his vow

Amidst a world of flow'rs and sweets? For whom are bound thy tresses bright With unconcern so exquisite ?

Alas, how oft shall he bewail

His fickle stars and faithless gale,

QUIS multa gracilis te puer in rosa
Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus

Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?

Cui flavam religas comam

Simplex munditiis? Heu, quoties fidem

Mutatosque deos flebit, et aspera