Horace, Odes 1.5

Carm. 1.5.1Quis multā gracilis tē puer in rosā
perfūsus liquidīs urget odōribus
grātō, Pyrrha, sub antrō?

What slender boy, drenched in liquid perfumes, is pressing you among many roses in a pleasant grotto, Pyrrha?

Note. Metre: Fourth Asclepiadean. The ode's word order mirrors its picture: the boy and Pyrrha are wrapped by the setting. Quis ... gracilis puer, 'what slender boy'; multā ... in rosā, 'on many a rose' (a bed of roses); perfūsus liquidīs odōribus, 'drenched with liquid perfumes'; grātō sub antrō, 'in a pleasant grotto'.

Carm. 1.5.4Cui flāvam religās comam
5simplex munditiīs?

For whom do you tie back your golden hair, simple in your elegance?

Note. simplex munditiīs, 'simple in your elegance' (Milton's 'plain in thy neatness'): the plainness is itself a lure.

Carm. 1.5.5Heu quotiēns fidem
mūtātōsque deōs flēbit et aspera
nigrīs aequora ventīs
ēmīrābitur īnsolēns
quī nunc tē fruitur crēdulus aureā,
10quī semper vacuam, semper amābilem
spērat, nescius aurae
fallācis.

Alas, how often will he weep over your faithfulness and the gods changed, and, unused to it, marvel at the seas rough with black winds, the man who now, trusting, enjoys you, golden one, who hopes you will always be free for him, always lovable, unaware of the treacherous breeze.

Note. fidem mūtātōsque deōs, 'your faithfulness and the changed gods' (i.e. her broken promises and his luck turned). Love is a sea: aspera nigrīs aequora ventīs, 'the seas rough with black winds', which the newcomer (īnsolēns, 'unused to it') will be astonished at (ēmīrābitur). aureā goes with tē: fruor takes the ablative. aura here is both 'breeze' and the 'gleam' of Pyrrha's golden hair.

Carm. 1.5.12Miserī, quibus
intemptāta nitēs.

Wretched are those to whom you shine untried.

Note. intemptāta nitēs, 'you shine untried': Pyrrha is like a calm sea that dazzles those who have not yet sailed it.

Carm. 1.5.13Mē tabulā sacer
vōtīvā pariēs indicat ūvida
15suspendisse potentī
vestīmenta maris deō.

As for me, the sacred wall shows by a votive tablet that I have hung up my dripping clothes to the god who rules the sea.

Note. Saved sailors hung a tablet in a temple of the sea god, with their wet clothes, to fulfil a vow. tabulā vōtīvā, 'by its votive tablet'; potentī maris deō, 'to the god who rules the sea'. Horace has survived the storm of Pyrrha.