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3. Moschos, Europa
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So she [Europa] spake, and
smiling, she sat down on the back of the bull, and the others were
about to follow her. But the bull leaped up immediately, now he
had gotten her that he desired, and swiftly he
sped to the deep. The maiden turned, and called again and again
to her dear playmates, stretching out her hands, but they could
not reach her. The strand he gained, and forward he sped like a
dolphin, faring with unwetted hooves over the wide waves.
Moschus, Idyl II - Translation : Gutenberg
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4. Ovide, Les
Métamorphoses, Livre II
[2,860] sed quamvis mitem metuit contingere
primo,
mox adit et flores ad candida porrigit ora.
gaudet amans et, dum veniat sperata voluptas,
oscula dat manibus; vix iam, vix cetera differt;
et nunc adludit viridique exsultat in herba,
nunc latus in fulvis niveum deponit harenis;
paulatimque metu dempto modo pectora praebet
virginea plaudenda manu, modo cornua sertis
inpedienda novis; ausa est quoque regia virgo
nescia, quem premeret, tergo considere tauri,
[2, 870] cum deus a terra siccoque a
litore sensim
falsa pedum primis vestigia ponit in undis;
inde abit ulterius mediique per aequora ponti
fert praedam: pavet haec litusque ablata relictum
respicit et dextra cornum tenet, altera dorso
inposita est; tremulae sinuantur flamine vestes.
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[2,860] but, daring not to touch him, stood apart
until her virgin fears were quieted ; then, near him, fragrant
flowers in her hand she offered, - tempting, to his gentle mouth
: and then the loving god in his great joy kissed her sweet hands,
and could not wait her will. Jove then began to frisk upon the
grass, or laid his snow-white side on the smooth sand, yellow
and golden. As her courage grew he gave his breast one moment
for caress, or bent his head for garlands newly made, wreathed
for his polished horns. The royal maid, unwitting what she did,
at length sat down upon the bull's broad back.
[2,870] Then by degrees the god moved from the land and from the
shore, and placed his feet, that seemed but shining hoofs, in
shallow water by the sandy merge; and not a moment resting bore
her thence, across the surface of the Middle Sea, while she affrighted
gazed upon the shore so fast receding. And she held his horn with
her right hand, and, steadied by the left, held on his ample back,
and in the breeze her waving garments fluttered as they went..
Edition Brookes More (Perseus Digital Project)
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5. Arthur Rimbaud,
Soleil et Chair
Zeus, Taureau, sur son cou berce comme une enfant
Le corps nu d'Europé, qui jette son bras blanc
Au cou nerveux du Dieu frissonnant dans la vague.
Il tourne lentement vers elle son oeil vague ;
Elle, laisse traîner sa pâle joue en fleur
Au front de Zeus ; ses yeux sont fermés ; elle meurt
Dans un divin baiser, et le flot qui murmure
De son écume d'or fleurit sa chevelure.
Arthur Rimbaud, Reliquaire, Soleil et chair,
1870 |
Sun and Flesh
- Zeus, the Bull, cradles on his neck like a child
The nude body of Europa who throws her white arm
Round the God's muscular neck which shivers in the wave.
Slowly he turns his dreamy eye towards her ;
She, droops her pale flowerlike cheek
On the brow of Zeus ; her eyes are closed ; she is dying
In a divine kiss, and the murmuring waters
Strew the flowers of their golden foam on her hair.
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