Sulpicia 13 [Appendix Tibulliana 3.13]

I have found love at last. I must be able to talk about it openly, without shame.

1  amor: “love,” i.e. the god as well as the emotion.

1–2  quālem ... // ... magis:. the point of this complicated sentence is that a reputation for having hidden her love would be more disgraceful than revealing it to someone (alicui). 

1  quālem: “the sort (of love) which,” direct object of texisse. qualis is often used with the correlative talis implied, as here (LS qualis II).

1  tēxisse: from tegō, tegere, tēxī, tēctum, "cover," "conceal." Tēxisse and nūdāsse (line 2) are both perfect infinitives. The infinitives are the subjects of the sentence. Re-order: tēxisse quālem (amōrem) magis quam nūdasse (amōrem) alicui sit fāma pudōrī mihi.

1–2  pudōrī ... sit mihi fama: pudōrī is dative of purpose in a double dative construction with mihi (line 2), introduced by the predicate nominative fama; sit is potential subjunctive: “would be a scandal that brought shame on me.” LS fama II.B.2.

The distance between fāma and pudōrī in the line echoes the poet’s claim that her desire to tell everyone about her love and her shame are in opposition to each other. 

2    quam magis: = magis quam, “rather than.” 

3    exōrāta: from exōrō (1), “won over by entreaty.”

3    illum: could be amor / Amor, or “the boyfriend,” who is named as Cerinthus in later poems. 

3  Cytherēa: Cytherēa, –ae, f., “the Cytherean,” i.e. Venus, associated with the Aegean island of Cythera, mod. Kythira. 

3  Camēnīs: Camēnae, –ārum, f. pl., “the Muses,” originally Italian goddesses later identified with the Greek Muses. By metonymy the word can mean simply “poetry” or “poems” (LS Camena I.B), as it likely does here. There is a nice juxtaposition between the Greek epithet Cytherēa and the Roman epithet Camēnīs.

4   in nostrum ... sinum: "into my lap," or perhaps “into my arms" (LS sinus II. A.2.a). The "royal we" is common in poetry. Sinum can also mean a hiding place or place of concealment.

4   dēposuitque: postponed -que joins attulit and dēposuit.

5  prōmissa: neut. pl. direct object of exsolvit.

5  nārret: present subjunctive in the apodosis of a future less vivid condition. The protasis comes in line 6. 

6   dīcētur sī quis nōn habuisse sua: sī quis dīcētur nōn habuisse sua (gaudia): anyone said to be lacking the joys of love can at least talk about the speaker’s happiness.

6  quis = aliquis after sī.

7  Nōn ego ... mandāre: take velim with mandāre. “I would not want to commit (acc.) to (dat.).” LS mando II.A. ego is emphatic.

8  nē legat id nēmō quam meus ante:  nē nēmō (= aliquis) legat id antequam meus (amicus legat id). 

8  nēmō: = aliquis, subject of a negative purpose clause, best translated here as “anyone.” 

8  meus: “my lover” or “my man.”

9   sed peccāsse iuvat: peccāsse = pecāvisse. lit., “but it helps to have sinned,” i.e., “I’m proud of the fact that I have sinned.”

9  vultūs compōnere: “to compose my face,” or “to arrange my face,” i.e. pretend to be something I am not. Vultūs is plural, but should be taken as singular, as often in poetry.

9  famae: dative of purpose, “for the sake of my reputation.” Fulkerson notes that ad famam would be more regular. The phrase has a similar connotation to ad speciem. Adjectives like ideonus that commonly take the dative case can likewise take ad + accusative. 

9  taedet: “it’s tiresome (to me),” i.e. “I’m tired of” + infinitive. Impersonal use of the verb.

10   cum dignō: supply virō.

10  ferar:  “let me be said” (jussive subjunctive) or “I will be said” (future indicative) + fuisse. The subjunctive is more likely in this context, as she is stating a desire (LS fero II. B. 7). For fero meaning “to say,” compare the very common fertur “it is said.” 

10  fuisse: take as esse.