[B] These verses are extracted from the second book of Pontano's
_Hendecasyllabi_ (Aldus, 1513, p. 208). They so vividly paint the
amusements of a watering-place in the fifteenth century that I have
translated them:
With me, let but the mind be wise, Gravina, With me haste to the
tranquil haunts of Baiae, Haunts that pleasure hath made her home, and
she who Sways all hearts, the voluptuous Aphrodite. Here wine rules, and
the dance, and games and laughter; Graces reign in a round of mirthful
madness; Love hath built, and desire, a palace here too, Where glad
youths and enamoured girls on all sides Play and bathe in the waves in
sunny weather, Dine and sup, and the merry mirth of banquets Blend with
dearer delights and love's embraces, Blend with pleasures of youth and
honeyed kisses, Till, sport-tired, in the couch inarmed they slumber.
Thee our Muses invite to these enjoyments; Thee those billows allure,
the myrtled seashore, Birds allure with a song, and mighty Gaurus Twines
his redolent wreath of vines and ivy.