65

To Priapus

Hic tibi, qui rostro crescentia lilia mersit,
caeditur e tepida victima porcus hara:
ne tamen exanimum facias pecus omne, Priape,
horti sit, facias, ianua clausa tui.

This, with his snout aye alert to uproot the lilies a-blowing,
Slain for thy victim 's the pig bred in the stye's tepid reek.
But, an thy will be not to murther the herd, O Priapus,
Grant of thy grace yon gate into the garden be shut.

This pig, which has crushed the rising lilies with his snout, is sacrificed to thee--a victim warm from the stye. But lest thou shouldst cause the whole herd to be annihilated, O Priapus, bid the gate of thy garden to be closed.[2]

[1. The effeminate come, allured by the pleasure of being sodomised.

2. The priestesses of Priapus were sometimes represented in marble sculptures as clothed with hides of swine.]