Io Restored, from the Metamorphoses (Trot)

He/ that one (Jupiter), having embraced the necks of his wife with arms,

asks that at length she end the punishments, and "in future

give (up) fears," he says, "never to you a cause of sorrow

will this feminine thing/ these neuter things be," and he orders the Stygian swamps to hear this.

As the goddess was soothed, she/ that one (Io) takes/ seizes her former faces

and becomes what she was before. The bristles fall/ flee from her body,

horns decrease/ shrink to nothing, the orb of light becomes narrower/ closer together,

the wide mouth draws together/ contracts, upper arms and shoulders return,

and the hoof, having melted away/ dissolved, is diminished into five nails:

of the cow nothing is left/ remains to the form/shape (that is, her form has nothing left of the cow) except whiteness in her.

And by the office/ kindness of two feet the happy/ content nymph/ girl/ maiden

is erected/ erects herself and fears to speak, lest by the habit/ custom/ character of a cow/ young female ox

she should low/ bellow, and timidly tries again the suspended/ intermitted words.

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Intro - English - Latin - Trot

Animal Poetry

Translations by Ursula Whitcher, 2001