Carmen 1
Cui dono lepidum novum libellum
arida modo pumice expolitum?
Corneli, tibi: namque tu solebas
meas esse aliquid putare nugas.
Iam tum, cum ausus es unus Italorum
omne aevum tribus explicare cartis
doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis.
Quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli
qualecumque, quod, o patrona virgo,
plus uno maneat perenne saeclo.
Poem 1
To whom do I give my charming new booklet
just now polished with dry pumice?
To you, Cornelius, since you were wont
to think my trifles were something
even then when you alone of the Italians
dared to unfold all of time, by Jupiter,
in three learned and laborious volumes.
So take as your own whatever sort of book
this is, and by the grace of my patron Muse
may it endure for more than a single age.