TEXT AND TRANSLATIONS
61
VI
For if now she flees, quickly she shall follow
And if she spurns gifts, soon shall she offer them,
Yea, if she knows not love, soon shall she feel it
Even reluctant.
VII
Come then, I pray, grant me surcease from sorrow,
Drive away care, I beseech thee, O goddess
Fulfil for me what I yearn to accomplish,
Be thou my ally.
A number of other versions in English are of interest for historical or poetical reasons. The first translation of the poem, that by Ambrose Philips in 1711, has chiefly historical and bibliographical importance.
A HYMN TO VENUS
I
O Venus beauty of the skies,
To whom a thousand temples rise,
Gaily false in gentle smiles,
Full of love-perplexing wiles;
O goddess from my heart remove
The wasting cares and pains of love.
