OVID'S ART OF LOVE. BOOK III.
Wherein be recommends rules and inftructions to the fair fex in the conduct of their amours, after having already compofed two books for the use of men upon the same fubject.
HE men are arm'd, and for the fight prepare,
And now we must inftruct and arm the fair.
Both fexes, well appointed, take the field,
And mighty Love determine which shall yield.
Man were ignoble, when thus arm'd, to show
Unequal force against a naked foe:
No glory from fuch conqueft can be gain'd,
And odds are always by the brave difdain'd.
But fome exclaim, What frenzy rules your
Would you increafe the craft of womankind?
Teach them new wiles and arts! as well you may
Inftruct a fnake to bite or wolf to prey.
But fure too hard a cenfure they pursue,
Who charge on all the failings of a few.
Examine first impartially each fair,
Then as the merits or condemn or spare.
If Menelaus and the king of men
With justice of their fifter-wives complain;
If falfe Eriphyle forfook her faith,
And for reward procur'd her husband's death,
Penelope was loyal ftill and chafte,
Tho' twenty years her lord in absence past.
Reflect how Laudamia's truth was try'd,
Who, tho' in bloom of youth and beauty's pride,
To share her husband's fate untimely dy'd.
Think how Alcefte's piety was prov'd,
Who loft her life to fave the man fhe lov'd.
"Receive me, Capaneus!" Evadne cry'd,
"Nor death itself our nuptials fhall divide;
"To join thy aches pleas'd I fhall expire."
She faid, and leap'd amid the fun'ral fire.
Virtue herself a goddess we confess,
Both female in her name and in her dress:
No wonder, then, if to her fex inclin'd,
She cultivates with care a female mind.
But these exalted fouls exceed the reach
Of that foft art which I pretend to teach.
My tender bark requires a gentle gale,
A little wind will fill a little fail.
Of sportful loves I fing, and show what ways
The willing nymph must use her bliss to raise,
And how to captivate the man fhe 'd please.
Woman is foft, and of a tender heart,
Apt to receive, and to retain Love's dart:
Man has a breaft robuft, and more fecure;
It wounds him not fo deep, nor hits fo fure,
Men oft' are falfe; and if you fearch with care,
You'll find lefs fraud imputed to the fair.
The faithlefs Jafon from Medea fled,
And made Creusa partner of his bed.
Bright Ariadne, on an unknown shore,
Thy abfence, perjur'd Thefeus! did deplore.
If then the wild inhabitants of air
Forbore her tender lovely limbs to tear,
It was not owing, Thefeus! to thy care.
Inquire the caufe, and let Demophoon tell
Why Phyllis by a fate untimely fell:
To thee, Eliza! was unfaithful found;
Nine times, in vain, upon the promis'd day,
She fought th' appointed fhore, and view'd the fea;
Her fall the fading trees confent to mourn,
And fhed their leaves round her lamented urn.
The prince fo far for piety renown'd,
To thee forlorn, and languishing with grief,
His fword alone he left, thy last relief
Ye ruin'd Nymphs! fhall I the cause impart
Of all your woes?'t was want of needful art.
Love of itself too quickly will expire,
But pow'rful art perpetuates defire.
Women had yet their ignorance bewail'd,
Had not this art by Venus been reveal'd.
Before my fight the Cyprian goddess shone,
And thus fhe faid; "What have poor women done?
"Why is that weak defenceless sex expos'd,
"On ev'ry fide by men well-arm'd enclos'd?
"Twice are the men inftructed by thy Mufe,
"Nor muft fhe now to teach the fex refuse.
"The bard who injur'd Helen in his fong
"Recanted after, and redress'd the wrong.
"And you, if on my favour you depend,
"The cause of women while you live defend.”
This faid, a myrtle sprig, which berries bore,
She gave me, (for a myrtle wreath he wore)
The gift receiv'd, my fenfe enlighten'd grew,
And from her prefence inspiration drew.
Attend, ye Nymphs! by wedlock unconfin'd,
And hear my precepts, while fhe prompts my mind.
Ev'n now, in bloom of youth and beauty's prime,
Beware of coming age, nor waste your time:
Now while you may, and rip'ning years invite, 90
Enjoy the seasonable sweet delight;
For rolling years, like flealing waters, glide,
Nor hope to stop their ever-ebbing tide:
Think not hereafter will the lofs repay,
For ev'ry morrow will the tafte decay,
And leave lefs relish than the former day.
I've seen the time when on that wither'd thorn
The blooming rofe vy'd with the blushing Morn;
With fragrant wreaths I thence have deck'd my head,
And fee how leaflefs now, and how decay'd!
And you, who now the lovefick youth reject,
Will prove in age what pains attend neglect;
None then will press upon your midnight hours,
Nor wake to ftrew your street with morning flow'rs:
Then nightly knockings at your door will cease, 105
Whofe noiseless hammer then may ruft in peace.
Alas! how foon a clear complexion fades!
How foon a wrinkled skin plump flesh invades !
And what avails it tho' the fair one fwears
She from her infancy had fome gray hairs?
She grows all hoary in a few more years,
And then the venerable truth appears.
The fnake his skin, the deer his horns, may cast,
And both renew their youth and vigour past,
But no receipt can humankind relieve,
Doom'd to decrepit age without reprieve,
Then crop the flow'r which yet invites your eye,
And which ungather'd on its stalk must die.
Befides, the tender sex is form'd to bear,
And frequent births too foon will youth impair: 120 Continual harvest wears the fruitful field,
And earth itself decays too often till'd.
Thou didst not, Cynthia! fcorn the Latmian fwain, Nor thou, Aurora! Cephalus difdain;
The Paphian Queen, who for Adonis' fate
So deeply mourn'd, and who laments him yet,
Has not been found inexorable fince,
Witness Harmonia and the Dardan prince.
|