Chapter CVIII: On Cominius

If by the verdict o' folk thy hoary old age (O Cominius!)
Filthy with fulsomest lust ever be doomed to the death,
Make I no manner of doubt but first thy tongue to the worthy
Ever a foe, cut out, ravening Vulture shall feed;
Gulp shall the Crow's black gorge those eye-balls dug from their sockets,
5
Guts of thee go to the dogs, all that remains to the wolves.

If, O Cominius, by the people's vote thy hoary age made filthy by unclean practices shall perish, forsure I doubt not but that first thy tongue, hostile to goodness, cut out, shall be given to the greedy vulture-brood, thine eyes, gouged out, shall the crows gorge down with sable maw, thine entrails [shall be flung] to the dogs, the members still remaining to the wolf.

CVIIII.

Iocundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
Hunc nostrum internos perpetuomque fore.
Di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit,
Atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,
Vt liceat nobis tota producere vita 5
Alternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitae.

CVIIII.

TO LESBIA ON HER VOW OF CONSTANCY.

Gladsome to me, O my life, this love whose offer thou deignest
Between us twain lively and lusty to last soothfast.
(Great Gods!) grant ye the boon that prove her promises loyal,
Saying her say in truth spoken with spirit sincere;
So be it lawful for us to protract through length of our life-tide 5
Mutual pact of our love, pledges of holy good will!

My joy, my life, thou declarest to me that this love of ours shall last ever between us. Great Gods! grant that she may promise truly, and say this in sincerity and from her soul, and that through all our lives we may be allowed to prolong together this bond of holy friendship.

CX.

Aufilena, bonae semper laudantur amicae:
Accipiunt pretium, quae facere instituunt.
Tu quod promisti, mihi quod mentita inimica's,
Quod nec das et fers saepe, facis facinus.
Aut facere ingenuaest, aut non promisse pudicae, 5
Aufilena, fuit: sed data corripere
Fraudando + efficit plus quom meretricis avarae,
Quae sese tota corpore prostituit.