Pupula

O utinam liceat collo complexa tenere
braciola et teneris oscula ferre labe(l)lis
i nunc ventis tua gaudia, pupula, crede
crede mihi, levis est natura virorum
saepe ego cu(m) media vigilare(m) perdita nocte
haec mecum medita(n)s: multos Fortuna quos supstulit alte
hos modo proiectos subito praecipitesque premit
sic Venus ut subito coiunxit corpora amantum
dividit lux et se (paries? quid? ama?)
(CIL IV.5296)

Oh, if only I (fem.) could hold my gentle arms around you
and press my kisses on your tender lips. Go now, girl, confide your
joys to the winds:
believe me, flighty is the nature of men. These things I’ve often
meditated
lying awake in despair in the middle of the night: many has Fortune
raised on high
then suddenly let fall headlong, oppressing them with worst trouble.
Likewise, though Venus in a moment unites the bodies of lovers,
the first light divides them and [you (Venus) would separate their love.]
(tr. John G. Younger)

Note: I don’t know on what reconstruction of the text the last few words of Mr. Younger’s translation are based.