Hoc mihi contingat. Sit dives iure, furorem
Let this befall me: May wealth be earned by one
Qui maris et tristes ferre potest pluvias.
Who bears grim rain and seas that froth and foam.
O quantum est auri pereat potiusque smaragdi,
O how much better that our gold and gems be lost
Quam fleat ob nostras ulla puella vias.
Than any girl be crying on account of our journeys!
Te bellare decet terra, Messalla, marique,
Mesalla, it is right you fight on land and sea
Ut domus hostiles praeferat exuvias;
So spoils of war may decorate your home!
Me retinent vinctum formosae vincla puellae,
Chains of a gorgeous girl restrain me, and I linger
Et sedeo duras ianitor ante fores.
Like a doorman at her stubborn door.
Non ego laudari curo, mea Delia; tecum
I want no praise, my Delia, if I am with you,
Dum modo sim, quaeso segnis inersque vocer.
I’m asking to be labelled weak and dull.
Te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit hora,
May I behold you when my final hour comes;
Te teneam moriens deficiente manu.
As I die, let me hold you as hands fail.
Flebis et arsuro positum me, Delia, lecto,
Delia, when flames engulf my bier weep for me,
Tristibus et lacrimis oscula mixta dabis.
And then you’ll mix your kisses with sad tears.
Flebis: non tua sunt duro praecordia ferro
You’ll weep, for stubborn iron doesn’t wrap your breast,
Vincta, neque in tenero stat tibi corde silex.
Nor is there flint inside your tender heart.
Illo non iuvenis poterit de funere quisquam
Nobody, neither man nor maiden, could return
Lumina, non virgo, sicca referre domum.
Home from that funeral and be dry-eyed.
Tu manes ne laede meos, sed parce solutis
Do not do damage to my spirit! Delia, spare
Crinibus et teneris, Delia, parce genis.
Your unbound hair and spare your tender cheeks.