Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
BkIII:XX The Conflict
BkIII:XX The Conflict
Pyrrhus, you can’t see how dangerous it is
to touch the Gaetulian lioness’ cub?
Soon you’ll be running from all that hard fighting,…
BkIII:XVII The Approaching Storm
BkIII:XVII The Approaching Storm
Aelius, noble descendant of ancient
Lamus (and they say the Lamiae of old
were named from him, the ancestral line,
BkIII:XV Too Old
BkIII:XV Too Old
O, dear wife of poor Ibycus,
put an end to your wickedness, at last, and all
of your infamous goings-on:
now you…
BkIII:XIV Augustus Returns
BkIII:XIV Augustus Returns
O citizens, conquering Caesar is home
from the Spanish shores, who, like Hercules, now
was said to be seeking that laurel, tha…
BkIII:X Cruel One
BkIII:X Cruel One
If you drank the water of furthest Don, Lyce,
married to some fierce husband, you’d still expose me
to the wailing winds of your native…
BkIII:XII Neobule, to Herself
BkIII:XII Neobule, to Herself
Girls are wretched who can’t allow free play to love, or drown their cares
with sweet wine, those who, terrified, go around in fe…
BkIII:VII Be True
BkIII:VII Be True
Why weep, Asterie, for Gyges, whom west winds
will bring back to you at the first breath of springtime,
your lover constant in faith, <…
BkIII:V No Surrender
BkIII:V No Surrender
We believe thunderous Jupiter rules the sky:
Augustus is considered a god on earth,
for adding the Britons, and likewise
the w…
BkIII:IV Temper Power With Wisdom
BkIII:IV Temper Power With Wisdom
O royal Calliope, come from heaven,
and play a lengthy melody on the flute,
or, if you prefer, use your clear voice,
BkIII:II Dulce Et Decorum Est
BkIII:II Dulce Et Decorum Est
Let the boy toughened by military service
learn how to make bitterest hardship his friend,
and as a horseman, with fearful …
BkII:XVII We’ll Go Together
BkII:XVII We’ll Go Together
Why do you stifle me with your complaining?
It’s neither the gods’ idea nor mine to die
before you, Maecenas, you’re the grea…
BkII:XX Poetic Immortality
BkII:XX Poetic Immortality
A poet of dual form, I won’t be carried
through the flowing air on weak or mundane wings,
nor will I linger down here on earth…
BkII:XIV Eheu Fugaces
BkII:XIV Eheu Fugaces
Oh how the years fly, Postumus, Postumus,
they’re slipping away, virtue brings no respite
from the wrinkles that furrow our brow, <…
BkII:XV Excess
BkII:XV Excess
Not long now and our princely buildings will leave
few acres under the plough, ornamental
waters appearing everywhere, spread
wider …
BkII:XII Terentia’s Singing
BkII:XII Terentia’s Singing
You’d not wish the theme of Numantia’s fierce wars
matched to the lyre’s soft tones, nor cruel Hannibal,
nor the Sicilian Sea…
BkII:X The Golden Mean
BkII:X The Golden Mean
You’ll live more virtuously, my Murena,
by not setting out to sea, while you’re in dread
of the storm, or hugging fatal shores
BkII:VII A Friend Home From the Wars
BkII:VII A Friend Home From the Wars
O Pompey, often led, with me, by Brutus,
the head of our army, into great danger,
who’s sent you back, as a citizen,…
BkII:V Be Patient
BkII:V Be Patient
She’s not ready to bear a yoke on her bowed
neck yet, she’s not yet equal to the duty
of coupling, or bearing the heavy
weight of…
BkII:II Money
BkII:II Money
Crispus, silver concealed in the greedy earth
has no colour, and you are an enemy
to all such metal unless, indeed, it gleams
from se…
BkII:IV Loving A Servant Girl
BkII:IV Loving A Servant Girl
Phocian Xanthis, don’t be ashamed of love
for your serving-girl. Once before, Briseis
the Trojan slave with her snow-white …
BkI:XXXVI Numida’s Back Again
BkI:XXXVI Numida’s Back Again
With music, and incense, and blood
of a bullock, delight in placating the gods
that guarded our Numida well,
who’s re…
BkI:XXXVIII The Simple Myrtle
BkI:XXXVIII The Simple Myrtle
My child, how I hate Persian ostentation,
garlands twined around lime-tree bark displease me:
forget your chasing, to find …
BkI:XXXIV Fortune’s Changes
BkI:XXXIV Fortune’s Changes
Once I wandered, an expert in crazy wisdom,
a scant and infrequent adorer of gods,
now I’m forced to set sail and return,
BkI:XXXII To the Lyre
BkI:XXXII To the Lyre
I’m called on. O Lyre, if I’ve ever played
idle things with you in the shade, that will live,
for a year or more, come and utter a …