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Name: Propertius Date: 50 – 15 BCE Region: Assisium [modern Italy] Citation: Elegies 2.4.16-22 |
Whoever is into girls is my enemy now;
whoever is into guys, is now my friend.
Safely a gay man meanders down the tranquil streams of love,
what harm can such meager waves harm you?
A boyfriend can often change his mind with a single word,
but a girlfriend can scarcely change her feelings even when paid in your blood.
Sic est incautum, quidquid habetur amor.
Hostis si quis erit nobis, amet ille puellas:
gaudeat in puero, si quis amicus erit.
Tranquillo tuta descendis flumine cumba:
quid tibi tam parvi litoris unda nocet?
Alter saepe uno mutat praecordia verbo,
altera vix ipso sanguine mollis erit.
Hostis si quis erit nobis, amet ille puellas:
gaudeat in puero, si quis amicus erit.
Tranquillo tuta descendis flumine cumba:
quid tibi tam parvi litoris unda nocet?
Alter saepe uno mutat praecordia verbo,
altera vix ipso sanguine mollis erit.
Propertius [Sextus Propertius; 50-15 BCE, modern Italy]
was an Italian-born Roman lyric poet whose love poetry provides insight into
the customs of Augustan Rome. Like Catullus and Tibullus, Propertius
used a pseudonym for the object of his attention; many of his love poems were
addressed to “Cynthia.”
