Tandem venit amor, qualem texisse pudori
quam nudasse alicui sit mihi fama magis.
exorata meis illum Cytherea Camenis
attulit in nostrum deposuitque sinum.
exsolvit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret,
dicetur si quis non habuisse sua.
non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis,
ne legat id nemo quam meus ante, velim,
sed peccasse iuvat, vultus componere famae
taedet: cum digno digna fuisse ferar.
(Sulpicia, Corpus Tibullianum 3.13)
At last love has come; and such a love it is that the rumor of having concealed it would shame me more than baring all. Entreated by my Muses’ prayers, Cythera’s mistress has brought and placed him in my lap. Venus has fulfilled her promises. Let my joys be told by all of whom it can be said that they have missed their own. I would not choose to entrust my messages to tablets under seal, that none might read them before my lover. Instead my sin delights me, and I am loath to compose a mask for rumor. Let me be said to have been worthy of my worthy beloved. (tr. Alison Keith)
Crambe Repetita 