Page:The poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus - Francis Warre Cornish.djvu/73



For now shall Vinia wed with Manlius, Vinia as fair as Venus who dwells in Id^lium, when she came to the Phrygian judge; a good marden with a good omen,

like the Asian myrtle shining with flowering sprays, which the Hamadryad goddesses with dewy moisture nourish as a plaything for themselves. 5

Hither then, come hither, haste to leave the Aonian caves of the Thespian rock, which the nymph Aganippe cooling besprinkles from above; 3°

and call to her home the lady of the house, full of desire for her new husband, binding her heart with love, as the clinging ivy here and there straying clasps the tree.

Ye too with me, unwedded virgins, for whom a like day is coming, come, in measure say, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus! ,

that hearing himself summoned to his own office, hither more readily may come the herald of chaste Venus, the coupler of chaste love.

c. 8