Non ubi sim novi (elegiac couplet)

Non ubi sim novi; totum cor gestit ob illam

tintinnantque aures; sudor adest gelidus!

I don't know where I am; my entire heart leaps
because of her; and my ears ring; the chill sweat appears!

Laetitiae Florent (elegiac couplet)

Laetitiae florent! rosae velut imbre iuvante;
praesens Musa beat; flos redit ipse lyrae!

Joys are flowering, like roses, with rain's help

My Muse, when present, gladdens me;

& the very flower of my lyre returns!

Ingreditur crocea (elegiac couplet)

(1)
Ingreditur crocea mea candens veste puella
conspicua ut caelis stella micans placidis !

There! She enters, dazzling in a saffron yellow gown
Striking, like a star glittering in the tranquil heavens.

(2)
Ingreditur crocea mea candens veste puella
conspicuum ut sidus nocte micans placida!

Look! My girl enters brilliant in her golden dress
remarkable, like a star glittering in the tranquil night.

Serta dabo pulchrae (elegiac couplet)

serta dabo pulchrae necnon mea carmina verbis
si potero, pulchris; grata utinam tibi sint!

I shall give garlands to you, beautiful one,
and songs in beautiful words, if I can.
May they be pleasing to you!

Quid pudeat nudam (elegiac couplet)

Quid pudeat nudam monstrare, puella, figuram

laudandam speciem si tribuunt Veneres?

Why should it be a source of shame

to show your figure nude

if the Graces fair assigned to you

a body to be praised?

Urbe Salis Remanet (elegiac couplet)

urbe salis remanet veniat dum raeda puella

longa volans alte, terram aditura otii!

She waits in the Salt City

until the long carriage,

flying high, should arrive,
fixing to go to the land of leisure!

Dicere non formae (elegiac couplet)

Dicere non formae quis sit pars pulchrior ausim

O, mea vita, tuae: tota figura placet!

I'd not venture to say what part of your form

is the more beautiful, my dear:

For your figure, every part of it, pleases!

Externo non est (elegiac couplet, draft)

externo non est usus medicamine, bella,
cum niteant nudae membra venusta tibi!

There is no need for external cosmetics, pretty girl,
since your charming figure is beautiful when you are bare.

Non Mors Obveniet (elegiac couplet; draft)

non mors obveniet nobis; redimicula taetri
franget dura metus omnia magnus Amor!

Death will not come upon us as an obstacle;
all the hard bonds of baleful fear, great Love
will break to pieces.

Urbe abeo celebri (elegiac couplet)

urbe abeo celebri, mea quando est rure puella
Pax ibi de pinis lenta cadit nitidis.

I leave the crowded city, whenever my girl is in the country
There the peace slowly drops from the luxuriant pines.

Saevus Venit Amor (elegiac couplet)

Saevus venit Amor princeps; Elegia secuta est
dein Nox Insomnis, plenaque charta precum.

Firs savage desire came; Lady Elegy followed him,
then Sleepless Night, and the page filled with prayers.

Purpurea indutam (elegiac couplet)

Purpurea indutam repetit suspiria pubes
te mirans, forma flagrat et illa tua!

The young men, marvelling at you in purple dress

try to catch their breath, and by your beauty

are set ablaze.

Carmina donorum (elegiac couplet)

Carmina donorum vice quis, mea Musa, ferentem
laudes ne dicat me tacuisse tuas!

Translation (iambic pentameter)

Gifts for song in off'ring made, my Muse,
that I denied your praise let no one claim!

Purpuream Munda (elegiac couplet)

purpuream munda croceamve puella vel albam

vestem si inducat, pulchra sit illa tamen.

No matter if she, elegant as she is, should wear
a purple, or saffron-yellow, or white dress
she would be pretty still.

Fulva non dignar (elegiac couplet)

Fulva non dignar tibi versus scribere harena
dissolvant memores ne vada saeva tui!

Translation (iambic pentameter, draft.)

I will not deign to scratch on yellow sand
nor give my couplets to the fickle strand
lest of our young romance th' inscribed lays
the savage main dissolve and wash away.