Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ODES I, 33: 'ALBI, NE DOLEAS' by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS

First Line: LOVE MOCKS US ALL. THEN CAST ASIDE
Last Line: LOVE MOCKS US ALL!

LOVE mocks us all. Then cast aside
These tuneful plaints, my Albius tried
For heartless Glycera, from thee
Fled to a younger lover. See,
Low-browed Lycoris burns denied

For Cyrus; he -- though goats shall bide
With wolves ere she in him confide --
Turns, with base suit, to Pholoe: --
Love mocks us all!

So Venus wills, and joys to guide
'Neath brazen yoke pairs ill-allied
In form and mind. So linked she me
(Whom worthier wooed) to Myrtale,
Fair, but less kind than Hadria's tide: --
Love mocks us all!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net