Iam non Armenios iaculis terrebis et arcu, 55 per campos volucrem non agitabis equum; dilecto caruit Byzantius ore senatus; curia consiliis aestuat orba tuis: emeritam suspende togam, suspende pharetram; ad Veneris partes ingeniumque redi. 60 non bene Gradivo lenonia dextera servit. suscipiet famulum te Cytherea libens. insula laeta choris, blandorum mater Amorum: nulla pudicitiae cura placere potest. prospectant Paphiae celsa de rupe puellae 65 sollicitae, salvam dum ferat unda ratem. sed vereor, teneant ne te Tritones in alto lascivas doctum fallere Nereidas, aut idem cupiant pelago te mergere venti, Gildonis nuper qui tenuere fugam. 70 inclita captivo memoratur Tabraca Mauro, naufragio Cyprus sit memoranda tuo. vecturum moriens frustra delphina vocabis; ad terram solos devehit ille viros. quisquis adhue similes eunuchus tendit in actus, 75 respiciens Cyprum desinat esse ferox. * * * * * Page 183 wealth thy son shall inherit? In no other way couldst thou have been father to an emperor.[103] Why insatiably weary heaven with a woman’s plaints? A haven of refuge is prepared for thee on the shores of Cyprus. Thou hast plunged the world in war with barbary; the sea, believe me, is safer than the land. No longer wilt thou strike terror into the Armenians with javelin and bow, no more scour the plain on thy fleet charger. The senate of Byzantium has been deprived of thy loved voice; uncertainty holds the august assembly that is now deprived of thy counsels. Hang up thy toga, retired consul; hang up thy quiver, veteran soldier; return to Venus’ service; that is thy true calling. The pander’s hand knows not to serve Mars featly; Cytherea will right gladly take back her slave. Dancing fills the island of Cyprus, home of the happy loves; there purity commands no respect. Paphian maidens gaze forth from the high cliffs, anxious till the wave has brought thy bark safe to land. Yet fear I lest the Tritons detain thee in the deep to teach them how they may seduce the sportive Nereids, or that those same winds which hindered Gildo’s flight may seek to drown thee in the sea. Tabraca owes its fame to the overthrow of the Moor; may Cyprus win prestige from thy shipwreck. In vain will thy last breath be spent in calling on the dolphin to carry thee to shore: his back bears only men.[104] Hereafter should any eunuch attempt to emulate thine actions let him turn his eye towards Cyprus and abate his pride.