"Nominibus mollire licet mala: fusca vocetur, Nigrior Illyrica cui pice sanguis erit: Si straba, sit Veneri similis: si rava, Minervae: Sit gracilis, macie quae male viva sua est; Dic habilem, quaecumque brevis, quae turgida, plenam, Et lateat vitium proximitate boni."
— Ars Amatoria

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026
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PoetryOvid
Original Language: English

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With names you soften shortcomings; let her be called swarthy whose blood is blacker than Illyrian pitch; if cross-eyed, she is like Venus; yellow-haired, like Minerva; call her slender whose thinness impairs her health; if short, call her trim; if stout, of full body; let its nearness to a virtue conceal a fault. — Book II, line 657 (tr. J. H. Mozley)