DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0567
484
POMPEII
as if the would-be versifier found original composition more dif-
ficult than he had anticipated.
Several distichs extol the power of love, as the following,
which, taken from some unknown poet, is found in several
places : Quisquis amat, valeat, pcreat qui nescit amare; Bis tanto
pereat quisquis amare vetat: —
‘ Good health be with you, lovers all;
Who knows not how to love, be cursed;
But oh may double ruin fall
On him who sets out love to worst! ’
A similar thought finds expression in a single line, perhaps also
a quotation : Nemo est bellus nisi qui amavit mulierem, — ‘He
who has never been in love can be no gentleman.’
Not all the Pompeians, however, viewed the matter so seri-
ously. To the first line of the couplet just quoted a scribbler of
a cynical turn in one instance joined a parody, to the effect that
those who are in love may well avoid the use of hot baths, on
the principle that ‘the burnt child dreads the fire,’ — Nam
nemo fiammas ustus amare potest.
The uselessness of interference with the course of love is also
made prominent. In this distich, apparently from some poet,
the scribbler seems to have made a slight change to meet a
specific case, substituting obiurgat for custodit or some similar
word: Alliget hie auras, si quis obiurgat amantes, Et vetat
assiduas currere fontis aquas, —■
‘ Whoever has' a mind
To hinder lovers’ way,
Let him go zephyrs bind
Or running waters stay.’
Ancient lovers nevertheless had their fears, and the follow-
ing couplet, which is no doubt borrowed from a poet, appears
also, in a slightly different form, on a wall in Rome : Si quis
forte meam cupiet violare puellam, Ilium in desertis montibus
urat Amor, —
‘If any man shall seek
My girl from me to turn,
On far-off mountains bleak
May Love the scoundrel burn.’
POMPEII
as if the would-be versifier found original composition more dif-
ficult than he had anticipated.
Several distichs extol the power of love, as the following,
which, taken from some unknown poet, is found in several
places : Quisquis amat, valeat, pcreat qui nescit amare; Bis tanto
pereat quisquis amare vetat: —
‘ Good health be with you, lovers all;
Who knows not how to love, be cursed;
But oh may double ruin fall
On him who sets out love to worst! ’
A similar thought finds expression in a single line, perhaps also
a quotation : Nemo est bellus nisi qui amavit mulierem, — ‘He
who has never been in love can be no gentleman.’
Not all the Pompeians, however, viewed the matter so seri-
ously. To the first line of the couplet just quoted a scribbler of
a cynical turn in one instance joined a parody, to the effect that
those who are in love may well avoid the use of hot baths, on
the principle that ‘the burnt child dreads the fire,’ — Nam
nemo fiammas ustus amare potest.
The uselessness of interference with the course of love is also
made prominent. In this distich, apparently from some poet,
the scribbler seems to have made a slight change to meet a
specific case, substituting obiurgat for custodit or some similar
word: Alliget hie auras, si quis obiurgat amantes, Et vetat
assiduas currere fontis aquas, —■
‘ Whoever has' a mind
To hinder lovers’ way,
Let him go zephyrs bind
Or running waters stay.’
Ancient lovers nevertheless had their fears, and the follow-
ing couplet, which is no doubt borrowed from a poet, appears
also, in a slightly different form, on a wall in Rome : Si quis
forte meam cupiet violare puellam, Ilium in desertis montibus
urat Amor, —
‘If any man shall seek
My girl from me to turn,
On far-off mountains bleak
May Love the scoundrel burn.’