Thrace, steeped in the passionate love of war.
Original text (Latin)
Original text (Latin)
Pleasant is it to the unhappy to speak, and to recall the sorrows of old time.
It was forbidden to man to know what to-morrow's day would bring.
And bold Stesichorus and rash Sappho, who feared not Leucas but took the manly leap.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
Not for the body, but for the heart; companion and company are needed.
Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies,
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise.
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Statius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.