Ep. 7.4.1Ais lēgisse tē hendecasyllabōs meōs;You say that you have read my hendecasyllables; Ep. 7.4.1requīris etiam quemadmodum coeperim scrībere, homō ut tibi videor sevērus, ut ipse fateor nōn ineptus.you also ask how I came to start writing them, a serious man, as I seem to you, and, as I myself admit, not a frivolous one. Ep. 7.4.2Numquam ā poēticē - altius enim repetam - aliēnus fuī;I have never — for I shall go back further — been a stranger to poetry; Ep. 7.4.2quīn etiam quattuordecim nātus annōs Graecam tragoediam scrīpsī.indeed, at fourteen years old I wrote a Greek tragedy. Ep. 7.4.2"Quālem?"'What sort?' Ep. 7.4.2inquis.you say. Ep. 7.4.2Nesciō;I do not know; Ep. 7.4.2tragoedia vocābātur.it was called a tragedy. Ep. 7.4.3Mox, cum ē mīlitiā rediēns in Īcariā īnsulā ventīs dētinērer, Latīnōs elegōs in illud ipsum mare ipsamque īnsulam fēcī.Later, when on my way back from military service I was held up by the winds on the island of Icaria, I composed Latin elegiacs on that very sea and that very island. Ep. 7.4.3Expertus sum mē aliquandō et hērōō, hendecasyllabīs nunc prīmum, quōrum hic nātālis haec causa est.I have occasionally tried my hand at heroic verse too, and now for the first time at hendecasyllables, of which this is the birth and this the cause.
Ep. 7.4.3Legēbantur in Laurentīnō mihi librī Asinī Gallī dē comparātiōne patris et Cicerōnis.At my Laurentine villa the books of Asinius Gallus on the comparison between his father and Cicero were being read to me. Ep. 7.4.3Incidit epigramma Cicerōnis in Tīrōnem suum.There came up an epigram of Cicero's on his Tiro. Ep. 7.4.4Dein cum merīdiē - erat enim aestās - dormītūrus mē recēpissem, nec obrēperet somnus, coepī reputāre maximōs ōrātōrēs hoc studiī genus et in oblectātiōnibus habuisse et in laude posuisse.Then, when I had retired at midday — for it was summer — to sleep, and sleep would not steal over me, I began to reflect that the greatest orators had both counted this kind of pursuit among their amusements and held it to their credit. Ep. 7.4.5Intendī animum contrāque opīniōnem meam post longam dēsuētūdinem perquam exiguō temporis mōmentō id ipsum, quod mē ad scrībendum sollicitāverat, hīs versibus exarāvī: Cum librōs Gallī legerem, quibus ille parentī ausus dē Cicerōne dare est palmamque decusque, lascīvum invēnī lūsum Cicerōnis et illō spectandum ingeniō, quō sēria condidit et quō hūmānīs salibus multō variōque lepōre magnōrum ostendit mentēs gaudēre virōrum.I set my mind to it, and contrary to my own expectation, after long disuse, in a very brief moment of time, I set down in these verses the very thing that had prompted me to write: As I was reading the books of Gallus, in which he dared to give his father the palm and the glory over Cicero, I came upon a playful jest of Cicero's, worth admiring for that same genius with which he composed his serious works, and with which he showed that the minds of great men delight in humane wit and in much and varied charm.
Ep. 7.4.6Nam queritur quod fraude malā frūstrātus amantem paucula cēnātō sibi dēbita sāviā Tīrō tempore nocturnō subtrāxerit.For he complains that Tiro, by wicked deceit, cheated his lover and withheld, in the night-time, the few kisses owed to him after dinner. Ep. 7.4.5bHīs ego lēctīs "cūr post haec" inquam "nostrōs cēlāmus amōrēs nūllumque in medium timidī damus atque fatēmur Tīrōnisque dolōs, Tīrōnis nōsse fugācēs blanditiās et fūrta novās addentia flammās?"Having read these lines I said: 'Why after this do we hide our loves, and timidly bring none into the open, and why do we not confess that we too know Tiro's wiles, Tiro's fleeting caresses and the stolen favours that add new flames?' Ep. 7.4.7Trānsiī ad elegōs;I moved on to elegiacs; Ep. 7.4.7hōs quoque nōn minus celeriter explicuī, addidī aliōs facilitāte corruptus.these too I dashed off no less quickly, and, seduced by the ease of it, I added others. Ep. 7.4.7Deinde in urbem reversus sodālibus lēgī;Then, back in the city, I read them to my friends; Ep. 7.4.7probāvērunt.they approved. Ep. 7.4.8Inde plūra metra sī quid ōtiī, ac maximē in itinere temptāvī.After that I tried more metres whenever I had any leisure, and especially on journeys.
Ep. 7.4.8Postrēmō placuit exemplō multōrum ūnum sēparātim hendecasyllabōrum volūmen absolvere, nec paenitet.Finally I decided, following the example of many, to complete a separate volume of hendecasyllables on its own, and I do not regret it. Ep. 7.4.9Legitur dēscrībitur cantātur etiam, et ā Graecīs quoque, quōs Latīnē huius libellī amor docuit, nunc citharā nunc lyrā personātur.It is read, copied, even sung, and it is performed, now on the cithara, now on the lyre, by Greeks as well, whom love of this little book has taught Latin. Ep. 7.4.10Sed quid ego tam glōriōsē?But why do I talk so boastfully? Ep. 7.4.10Quamquam poētīs furere concessum est.Still, poets are allowed to rave. Ep. 7.4.10Et tamen nōn dē meō sed dē aliōrum iūdiciō loquor;And yet I am speaking not of my own judgement but of other people's; Ep. 7.4.10quī sīve iūdicant sīve errant, mē dēlectat.and whether they judge rightly or are mistaken, it delights me. Ep. 7.4.10Ūnum precor, ut posterī quoque aut errent similiter aut iūdicent.One thing I pray: that posterity too may either be mistaken or judge in the same way.
Ep. 7.4.10Valē.Farewell.