Propertius
1st century BC Roman elegiac poet
Sextus Propertius (50 BC – 16 BC) was a Roman elegiac poet in Maecenas' circle.
Quotes
editElegies
edit- Neque assueto mutet amore torum.
- Never change when love has found its home.
- I, i, 36.
- Nudus Amor formam non amat artificem.
- Love is naked, and loves not beauty gained by artifice.
- I, ii, 8; translation by G.P. Goold
- Navita de ventis, de tauris narrat arator,
Enumerat miles vulnera, pastor oves.- The sailor tells of winds, the ploughman of bulls,
the soldier counts his wounds, the shepherd his sheep. - II, i, 43–4.
- The sailor tells of winds, the ploughman of bulls,
- Qua pote quisque, in ea conterat arte diem.
- Let each man pass his days in that wherein his skill is greatest.
- II, i, 46.
- Aut patrio qualis ponit vestigia ponto
Mille Venus teneris cincta Cupidinibus.- O like Venus attended by a thousand tender Cupids, setting foot upon the sea that gave her birth.
- II, ii, 9-10.
- Quod si deficiant vires, audacia certe
Laus erit: in magnis et voluisse sat est.- What though strength fails? Boldness is certain to win praise. In mighty enterprises, it is enough to have had the determination.
- Variant translation: Even if strength fail, boldness at least will deserve praise: in great endeavors even to have had the will is enough.
- II, x, 5.
- Quicumque ille fuit, puerum qui pinxit Amorem
nonne putas miras hunc habuisse manus?
is primum vidit sine sensu vivere amantes- Whoever he was who first depicted Amor as a boy, don’t you think it was a wonderful touch? He was the first to see that lovers live without sense.
- II, xii, 1-3; translation by A. S. Kline
- Whoever he was who first depicted Amor as a boy, don’t you think it was a wonderful touch? He was the first to see that lovers live without sense.
- Nemo in amore videt.
- No one in love can see.
- II, xiv, 18.
- No one in love can see.
- Errat, qui finem vesani quaerit amoris:
verus amor nullum novit habere modum- He errs that seeks to set a term to the frenzy of love; true love hath no bound.
- II, xv, 29; translation by H.E. Butler
- He errs that seeks to set a term to the frenzy of love; true love hath no bound.
- Absenti nemo non nocuisse velit.
- Let no one be willing to speak ill of the absent.
- II, xix, 32.
- Unus quisque sua noverit ire via.
- Let each man have the wit to go his own way.
- II, xxv, 38.
- Semper in absentes felicior aestus amantes.
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- II, xxxiii, 43.
- Cedite Romani scriptores, cedite Grai!
Nescio quid maius nascitur Iliade.- Make way, you Roman writers, make way, Greeks!
Something greater than the Iliad is born.- Of Virgil’s Aeneid.
- II, xxxiv, 65.
- Make way, you Roman writers, make way, Greeks!
- Sunt aliquid Manes: letum non omnia finit,
Luridaque evictos effugit umbra rogos.- There is something beyond the grave; death does not end all, and the pale ghost escapes from the vanquished pyre.
- IV, vii, 1.
- Magnum iter ascendo; sed dat mihi gloria vires
- I am climbing a difficult road; but the glory gives me strength.
- IV. 10. 3
- I am climbing a difficult road; but the glory gives me strength.