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2

Priapus

Obscure poteram tibi dicere: 'da mihi, quod tu
   des licet assidue, nil tamen inde perit.
da mihi, quod cupies frustra dare forsitan olim,
   cum tenet obsessas invida barba genas,
quodque Iovi dederat, qui raptus ab alite sacra
   miscet amatori pocula grata suo,
quod virgo prima cupido dat nocte marito,
   dum timet alterius vulnus inepta loci.'
simplicius multo est 'da pedicare' Latine
   dicere: quid faciam? crassa Minerva mea est.

 

Darkly might I to thee say: Oh give me for ever and ever
What thou may'st constantly give while of it nothing be lost:
Give me what vainly thou'lt long to bestow in the days that are coming
When that invidious beard either soft cheek shall invade;
What unto Jove gave he who, borne by the worshipful flyer,
Mixes the gratefullest cups, ever his leman's delight;
What on the primal night maid gives to her love-longing bridegroom
Dreading ineptly the hurt dealt to a different part.
Simpler far to declare in our Latin, Lend me thy buttocks;
What shall I say to thee else? Dull's the Minerva of me.

Covertly I might say to thee, 'Give me what thou may'st continually give, without anything being thence lost to thee. Give to me what thou wilt, perchance, vainly long to give in time to come, when the envious beard invades thy youthful checks; what he gave to Jove, who, carried off by the sacred bird, now mingles luscious cups for his Royal lover; what the virgin-bride gives on the first night to her eager husband, while she is senselessly fearing the wound in another part.' 'Tis much simpler to say, in plain English, 'Give me thy buttocks!'; how else can I put it? Mine is a dull brain.


Next: 3. These tablets, sacred to the Rigid God