Propertius 2.17

Question 1

mentiri noctem, promissis ducere amantem,

hoc erit infectas sanguine habere manus!

Answer 1

to lie about the night, to lead a lover on with promises,

That’s to own hands dyed with his blood!

Question 2

horum ego sum vates, quotiens desertus amaras

explevi noctes, fractus utroque toro.

Answer 2

I’m the poet of these things, so often whiling away

bitter nights alone, tossing from side to side in bed.

Question 3

vel tu Tantalea moveare ad flumina sorte,
ut liquor arenti fallat ab ore sitim;
vel tu Sisyphios licet admirere labores,
difficile ut toto monte volutet onus;

Answer 3

Whether you’re moved by Tantalus’s fate beside the water,
Parched as the liquid ebbs from his thirsty mouth,
or whether you may admire Sisyphus’s labour,
rolling his awkward burden up all the mountain side:

Question 4

durius in terris nihil est quod vivat amante,

nec, modo si sapias, quod minus esse velis.

Answer 4

nothing in the world lives more harshly than a lover,

Nor, if you’re at all wise, is there anything that you’d wish less

Question 5

quem modo felicem invidia admirante ferebant,

nunc decimo admittor vix ego quoque die.

Answer 5

I whom envious admiration once considered happy,

I am hardly allowed entrance, now, one day in ten.

Question 6

nunc iacere e duro corpus iuvat, impia, saxo,

sumere et in nostras trita venena manus;

Answer 6

Now, impious girl, I’d enjoy hurling my body

From some hard rock, or taking powdered drugs in my fingers.

Question 7

nec licet in triviis sicca requiescere luna,

aut per rimosas mittere verba fores.

Answer 7

I can’t even sleep at the crossroads under the clear moon,

or send my words through the crack in the door.

Question 8

quod quamvis ita sit, dominam mutare cavebo:

tum flebit, cum in me senserit esse fidem.

Answer 8

but though its fact I’ll take care not to change my mistress:
But then she’ll cry, when she senses loyalty, in me.