The Art of Love by Ovid

Author:Ovid [Ovid]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Literature & Fiction, History & Criticism, Criticism & Theory, Movements & Periods, Poetry, Ancient; Classical & Medieval
ISBN: 9780307801838
Amazon: B00BVJG468
Publisher: Modern Library
Published: 2013-02-20T05:00:00+00:00

[LATIN: Quis dubitet, quin…]

Yes, you’ve guessed right, I’d have every girl enhance

Her image by knowing how to dance,

So that when wine’s poured and guests call for an act,

She can oblige. Why not? Stage stars attract

Applause, such are the ballet’s charms,

By the sinuous movements of their hips and arms.

I feel ashamed to offer advice

About trivia, but girls should play knucklebones and dice

And board-games. You have to think ahead. Sacrifice

Or protect a piece? Retreat or attack?

For instance, in tric-trac,

Or the war-game, you mustn’t be rash, but plan

Coolly when under a pincer attack you lose a man,

And your lone king’s driven back to where he began.

Then there’s spillikins—the problem’s lifting

Them one by one without the whole heap shifting;

Backgammon—a twelve-point board with the same

Number of zones as the tricky year; and the game

With a small board and three counters each side—you fill

Three squares in a row for the kill.

There are any number, all sorts

Of games and sports:

It’s a shame when girls won’t learn them, for where they’re played

Friendships are easily made.

Yet cleverly exploiting the dice’s roll

Matters far less than self-control.

In games we’re rash, in our eagerness we reveal

The naked passions we feel:

Rage shows its ugly face, and lust for gain,

There are arguments, brawls, raw nerves, pain,

The air’s thick with accusations and the sound

Of raised voices, angry gods are invoked all round,

Someone’s suspicious—“The slate must be wiped clean!”—

Indeed, I’ve often seen

Tears running down faces.

If you want to stay in men’s good graces,

May Jupiter be your saviour

And keep you from such barbarous behaviour!

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.