Classic Poem

(Catullus, XLV)

Septimius thus his [ ] love addressed,
His darling Acme in his arms sustained,
" My Acme, may I perish if my breast
Burns not for thee with love to madness strained,
And more — if I am not prepared to give
To thee such earnest love unchanged by time
As any human heart can feel and live,
Then may I roam through Lybia's burning clime
And meet alone the ravenous lion's roar."
He spoke and at the word the God of love,
The God of love, as from the right before,
Sneezed from the left, and did the vow approve.
But Acme, lightly turning back her head,
Kissed with that rosy mouth the inebriate eyes
Of the sweet youth, and kissed again and said:
" My life, and what far more than life I prize,
So may we to the end of time obey
Love our sole master, as my bosom owns
A flame that with far more resistless sway
Thrills through the very marrow of my bones."
She spoke and Love, as from the right before,
Sneezed from the left hand and the vow approved.
Needing no other omen to implore,
With mutual soul they love and are beloved;
His Acme only does Septimius prize
All Syria and all Britain's wealth above;
And Acme for Septimius only sighs,
And finds in him alone her sole delight and love.
Whoe'er a more auspicious passion saw,
Or any mortals under happier law?